Jul 04, 2001 07:01 PM
1912 Views
“You see, there’s this little brat and some camp alien with lop rabbit ears and they take on the universe, with help from these other lop eared rabbits from the swamp and they win!!!”
Now don’t get me wrong, but imagine the scene;
You are a highly successful movie director, and some guy walks into the office and says the previous sentence to you.
I would get the impression that he was selling me a cross between Watership Down and the Mighty Ducks!
What this turned out to be was a light-hearted attempt at creating the atmosphere of the first star wars movie. (Episode 23 I think?)
A cast of stars helped string this movie along, and the few lines that Ewan McGregor had reinforced his not quite Stardom position in Hollywood.
It actually begs the question, was Ewan cheaper than anyone else.
I am being a bit critical here, as Ewan plays some good parts, but I fear that here, he played third sting to the lop eared, long tongued lizard with a horses head! (Jar Jar Blinks, a very camp character, computer generated and at a glance, looks like he is wearing flares!)
Liam Neeson plays Qui-Gon Jinn, the Jedi master, and Ewan his apprentice, Obi Wan Kenobi.
Together the do the usual Jedi stunts including deflecting bullets back towards the Droids etc.
Now the special effects in this movie far outshone the other star wars movies, and a hint of Starship Troopers, and even the Mummy Returns came to mind when seeing the ranks of enemy druids, waiting to attack the good guys!
I know that TMR was made after SW1, but I am just pointing out the similarities, I am not going into the depths of research to find out if theses effects were done by the same guy/company.
In fact, that I have only just watched this for the first time today, tells you that I am not an avid fan of either Star Wars or Sci-Fi in general.
No, the reason I write this op is so people with similar views to mine may just be swayed for or against watching this.
Now I will not tell you too much of the story, but this bit I think is essential as it seems to drag on for a good half of the movie.
Liam and his crew are forced to land on a planet when their spacecraft develops problems (Original!)
The only place that has spares for their ship does not take cash. Or at least not theirs!
Don’t worry though, there is a boy who looks about 8, who is the best pod pilot in the Universe, which brings me to the question of why he was working as a slave in the scrap dealers shop!
The Force however, senses this boy has the power to save them all!
The boy’s name?
Anakin Skywalker, father of Luke for you original SW guy’s and girls.
Phantom Menace, as this is half the title, is an avid Man Utd fan, as he has painted his face in red and Black, and even his laser sword thingummy is Red!
He gets a whole 5 minutes of this movie, and is a Darth Vader Prodigy,
For those who have seen the movie, I saw him in the pub the other day!
How did I know it was him?
He ordered two half’s!
If you haven’t seen the movie, you will get that joke after you have.
Ray Park plays Dauth Maul, or the Phantom Menace.
Other star turns belong to;
Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker (Jingle all the way)
Natalie Portman plays Queen Amidala (Mars Attacks)
And even Samuel L Jackson makes an appearance as a Jedi Knight on the council.
If I had to give an overall impression of this movie it would be in two ways.
1) If you are a sci-fi buff, and enjoy the visual aspects of special effects and computer generated animation, then you will enjoy this very much.
2) If you want to watch a movie on a Sunday Afternoon that wont tax you brain, and that the whole family can enjoy, this is the one.
Not a bad movie, but Ewan is capable of a lot better roles, and I bet he gets them.
Angus
