Can it really be that there are Star Wars fans who see George Lucas’s Episode I – The Phantom Menace, once considered the emblem of everything that went wrong with the long-running space saga, as a bona fide classic ripe for rehabilitation 25 years on? As the much-derided 1999 film returns to cinemas this weekend, there are rumblings in the ether that millennials, and perhaps those even younger, are completely unaware of just how much of a disaster it was. Then again, perhaps those of us who remember its debut in cinemas should be prepared to listen to voices from a new generation. Was it really so bad after all?
Part of the problem is that where it was once a rare blot on the galactic landscape, a Star Wars movie that failed to live up to the glories of the original trilogy, these days it’s far, far away from being the only rubbish film in the canon. In fact, it could be argued that when considering movies such as the execrable The Rise of Skywalker, the middling Solo: A Star Wars Story and the two painful prequel follow-ups, The Phantom Menace is closer to the mean average for the saga than it is to the bottom of the Dagobah swamp.
Where once we were shocked that something so tonally misguided, blithely racist and prosaically bloodless could be tagged with the famous title, we now have the Star Wars Holiday Special to remind us that it can get worse. Back at the turn of the century, few of us were aware that 70s and 80s misfires like this even existed – see also Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor – it being the pre YouTube era when all but the most studious of geeks were blissfully ignorant of them.
This is how I am as well, I think there are dozens of us who feel this way but most of us are closeted because it’s so popular to hate on Episode 1.
It’s part of the reason why the sequel series lands so flat for me. The prequel trilogy expanded the galaxy of star wars in so many interesting ways. New worlds, species, technology, etc. The Sequels really don’t add anything from a world building perspective, they actually make the galaxy feel even smaller.
Lol I’ve always imagined the loudest haters are people who grew up with the EU and we’re disappointed when GL took it a different way. And then their kids probably inherited those beliefs but not necessarily because they formed them themselves.
Most people I talk to IRL who love star wars love all 6 films plus RO. Love I guess is a strong word. Like - love. The prequels have too much swagger, too many banger scores, too many stunning visuals and concepts and characters to not love em. And sure the CW TV series really helps some character arcs, but that just goes to show how solid of a base there was.
I admit they have flaws. 2 always has such a down turn of energy for me, but it is what it is. Top 7 star wars films for sure lol.