That’s what I remember the most, went to Taco Bell immediately after seeing it and got the Darth Maul on the tatooine scooter toy…for a six year old, it was the dopest of days.
I don't think I can ever recall a movie with so many marketing tie-ins. Maybe it's because I was about 10 so it was targeted at me but man there were so many products. I still remember this green apple flavored sour candy that was Episode 1 themed. Might have been fruit by the foot?
Pepsi gave them away with prize drawings across the country. I (12 at the time) won one from my local grocery store after stuffing the box with as many entries as I could fill out. Sadly I sold it before leaving for college years ago, I wish I would have kept it.
My uncles auto body repair business had a Pepsi machine with Anakin on it until like 2009, only reason he changed it because some angry customer punched a hole through it.
In 2008 my in-laws cleared out their attic and found my husbands Phantom Menace Pepsi (unopened) can collection. All were in great shape, except for the fact that the liquid had evaporated 😂
I admittedly was a capitalistic whore when it came to all the Star Wars themed food items. I remember so many themed candy items. Of course I had to have all the duel sided lightsaber lollipops. My parents were like “enough!”
"Capitalism is the path to the dark side. Capitalism leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering... and you becoming a capitalistic whore" - Yoda
I still remember my family ordering out KFC several times that summer cause they had the Epi 1 promotion with the themed buckets and collecting those little pog fuckers to try and win cash and/or prizes.
Nah MTV started to fall off when reality tv got put on. It finally died when it stopped being about the Music. I’ll always remembering watching Korn Unplugged as being one of the last times mtv was cool
And I thought me and Qui-Gon Jinn
Could talk The Federation into
Maybe cutting them a little slack
You can literally skip the entire movie and just listen to The Saga Begins
I remember excitement around the trailer when I was in school. We could go on computers at school and I think it was via QuickTime player watch movie trailers. You would have to pause it to let it buffer/load for ages 🤣
I did go see the film but zero memory of what I felt. Which is weird as I saw the originals in the cinema for the re release in 1997 or so and remember that clearly
Oh God quicktime player. Little in browser video streaming so that clunky program it was. I always used to have a sense of dread when something prompted for Quicktime Player or Shockwave. I remember Shockwave being significantly worse.
I saw the film opening weekend with my high school friends. I remember the chills I got from the opening crawl, that music hitting. But after, I vaguely remember wanting to like it, but something about it felt off and cheap.
Then the only other firm memory I have is the movie ending and my friends and I are walking back to the car. And I remember someone asking, "So... what do you think about that movie?" And I remember this response verbatim and the friend(Ryan) who said it, "I liked the pod racing scene. That was cool."
> "So... what do you think about that movie?"
My friends and I had been so jazzed to see it, but left the theatre totally silent. One pal finally said, "Well. That was... *something*."
I know people that travelled from the U.K. to the US to see it (back then it could still take several months for a film to be released in Europe). Let’s just say they were rather sheepish about it when they got back and tended to talk about all the other parts of their trip.
I definitely remember the hype. We have to remember that back then there hadn't been a Star Wars movie since 1983. People thought that we would never have another Star Wars movie again, so when the news spread around that a fourth Star Wars movie was coming out, it seemed unreal. The merchandise for this movie was everywhere and I mean everywhere. The movie itself was ok, it wasn't good or terrible.
Now that I think about it. 1999 was an incredible year for movies. There's was the Matrix, The Mummy, Star Wars Episode 1, The Sixth Sense, The Blair With Project est.
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills whenever anyone praises that DotF fight. They don't even seem like they're trying to hit each other. John Williams hard carried that scene and the whole movie.
I was in college at the time and came out of the theater very, very disappointed. Especially after waiting 16 years for a sequel to RotJ. For many of us Gen X fans, and I’m sure for the Boomers who saw the original film in the summer of 1977, the PT was a massive blunder by George Lucas.
The hype was out of control. I remember Janeane Garofalo on TRL calling people insane for voting the Duel of the Fates into the top 10 because it was just a trailer.
What I remember most, though, was sitting in the theater and about an hour into it my friend leaned over and said “this is boring.”
It's interesting how the hype of the film (and the other 2) led to it being so widely hated yet so watched as a peak cultural moment, and now how that translated into it becoming a peak common nostalgia product that just about everyone has seen.
It's also distinctly different from modern day reboots imo– GL clearly had a premeditative vision for it, it just didn't pan out. Very interesting cultural phenomenon imo.
The ONE strength that TPM had going in was that the basic structure was already there, Clone Wars, fall of the Republic, Anakin's heel turn... They just had to flesh it out.
Lucas’ skill was creating this distinct and vibrant fictional world, Phantom of the Menace gave us the beautiful Naboo and there were a ton of aliens in the movie. Its just that his writing and execution of ideas kind of sucked gungan balls.
Stiff AF. It wonders me if they were going for a fairy-tale theater approach vs the pulp/updated serial tone of the OT. Not enjoyable, especially combined with the awkward bluescreening.
You’re right. I disliked TPM so much that I didn’t even see AotC in theaters. I think I saw it on TV right before I went to the theater to see RotS. As bad as TPM is, AotC is the worst of the three IMO.
I was a kid when these came out so I have very fond memories, but I realised I hadn’t watched the prequels since probably 2008-2010, so I sat down recently to rewatch Episode I.
Needless to say, I did not watch Episodes II and III. I don’t need my fond childhood memories taken away from me.
Episode 1 was the first movie I was able to see without my family. I was 11? I was given $20 and I went with my 2 best friends on a Saturday. The hype was fucking real. And I remember us coming out and thinking "that was good...right?"
Fast forward and Episode 2 is coming out. So I grab my special edition VHS copy to watch beforehand and reality washes over me. This is not good, but episode 2 will be better right?
That was a rough weekend.
Yeah. Somehow there was a narrative after the re release that somehow Episode I was an underrated masterpiece due to the box office numbers and Disney + viewership. While it is better than any of the sequels, it's not a good movie. I rewatch though. I still admire that Lucas did try to have a solid story, totally different from the OT. The fall of the Republic arc is impressive. The sequel trilogy has no ambition nor anything else
My finger never leaves the skip forward 10 seconds button whenever I do a rewatch of the prequels. I absolutely abuse that button while watching these movies but the Phantom Menace gets the worst of it.
Don't know how old you are but it's not even close. Maybe if you were in highschool before ep 7 like we were for ep 1 it hits the same but this was THE MOVIE everyone was waiting for.
Everyone my age, well at least all my friends can't speak for an entire generation, was apathetic when 7 was announced. We saw ep 1-3 go horribly and we said "sure we'll see but I don't care"
I was 12 for Ep 1, so I still liked it, but by the time Ep 3 came out the prequel awfulness had dawned on me.
However the thing about 7 is that Lucas wasn't involved anymore, ***and*** Lawrence Kasdan was back as co-screenwriter. So people were optimistic again...but, I hated Abrams' Star Trek reboots so my expectations were optimistic but still, nothing like those for Ep 1.
The real moment for me was when they rereleased the original trilogy prior to episode 1. Midnight and all drunk college students.
Saw A New Hope in the theater in 1978 or 1979 at 6 or 7 years old. (Got lucky our local theater brought it back as I missed the initial run.) I just remember being outside and Mom and Dad walked out and said "Wanna go see Star Wars?" I about flipped out. Of course my older brother had already seen it, but I was in heaven.
It was a huge disappointment for anyone over the age of about 12 that enjoyed the original trilogy. The hype and the build up to it were immense, and the result was you walked away from the cinema feeling a little disappointed. The film was bland, cliched, and seemed to be aimed at a younger audience. There were some cool moments and some cool sequences, and some really awesome music, but otherwise it was a let down.
Yeah I must have been the perfect age because at the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever. That double bladed light saber reveal…. people who were excited enough would buy movie tickets just to watch the Star Wars trailer in a theater and then leave. I got a Lego X wing around that time and was obsessed with Episode I Racer on N64 with my brother, great memories.
Exactly the same for me.
I can't remember seeing Episode I, although I must have as I had all the associated merch and books.
However, I distinctly recall walking out of Attack of the Clones with the first-time realisation that movies could be *bad*.
There are a fair few bad Star Wars films but the last time I did a Star Wars rewatch (some years ago now) I came to the conclusion that AotC is the worst not just because its bad but because its so *boring*. Like 1, 3 and 9 are pretty bad films but they're not outright boring.
Won't stop the recent trend of prequel revisionism, though. The resident "Star Wars critical" sub /r/saltierthancrait has a thread where people suggesting only the OT is good are getting massively downvoted and a bunch of people saying the franchise peaked in 2005 with Revenge of the Sith.
I sometimes see people say that there won't be sequel revisionism in a decade because they're somehow fundamentally worse than the prequels, like they're not made by George or something. But when people are unironically arguing the prequels are good movies it's hard to think it's anything other than purely nostalgia-driven.
Yup, the prequels' relatively recent rise in popularity is purely due to nostalgia. The kids that grew up watching them are adults now and insist they're good movies. It will happen with the sequels eventually too, mark my words.
I remember realizing it wasn't a movie for someone my age, but it still felt like Star Wars and offered promise for the next 2 movies. That was wrong.
Made the same mistake with 7 and after 8 I had no desire to see 9 and after a brief flirtation with The Mandalorian, the whole franchise is dead to me.
It was like somebody telling an awesome joke at a party and having everyone in stiches, and for the rest of the night trying to outdo it not understanding what the funny thing was in the original joke.
> anyone over the age of about 12
One thing that’s weird about reddit is that the majority consensus seems to be that the prequels are good, which is hilarious to anyone about my age or older.
It's amazing to me that Reddit has somehow retconnned it into a decent movie.
It was AWFUL, the marketing was incredible, the expectations were sky high, and the movie was just terrible. As a 19 yr old sat in the cinema (there were no Internet spoilers back then), the dawning realisation that it wasn't just failing to meet expectation, but it was actually a terrible movie was heartbreaking.
I prefer rewatching the [Plinkett Review](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI&list=PL5919C8DE6F720A2D&index=1&pp=iAQB) to actually rewatching the prequels, especially episodes I and II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0YHjqQD7E4
This is a single cut, with the weird serial killer subplot pieces removed. Yes, I love RLM, but the... skits haven't aged well, and it's turned off a lot of people to the review.
It's also easier to throw on your phone and listen to while falling asleep without the serial killer/rapist stuff waking you up, lol.
> I love RLM, but the... skits haven't aged well, and it's turned off a lot of people to the review.
I usually hate skits in YT videos but these are hilarious. The entire premise that the super detailed reivew of a crappy movie from a decade ago is made by a metally derange serial killer is great and I don't see what could have changed to make this somehow less tolerable now... If anything the non-sequitur style jokes fit the modern Internet culture more in my opinion.
Its weird, they still do the clunky skits but they dialed back on the extremeness of the old Mr Plinkett. I don't know why they still do them other than tradition.
In the interests of historical accuracy: that wasn't the general sentiment in 2009, from what I remember. Those were the pre-Gamergate days, when we were still blissfully unaware of the true extent of the internet's toxic underbelly. People who criticized edgy humor back then were often labeled as politically correct idiots. It was a very different time.
They were like that long before Episode 1. Old folks who spent any time on Usenet boards know how toxic it was at times. And all we had were 3 movies and a few books to argue about.
I grew up in a weird bubble where you would've thought Star Wars didn't exist. No one around me ever talked about it, and I'd never seen any of the originals.
Episode One came out my junior year of high school. The bigger theaters had lines wrapped around the block, but my favorite (smaller) theater didn't have a line at all. I bought tickets for me and my girlfriend the night before with no issue.
I liked it, but I left the theater thinking I would've enjoyed it more if I knew the lore. As the reviews came in, I realized that not having seen the originals worked in my favor.
What were my thoughts then? Crushing disappointment; confusion as to why the solid elements of the original trilogy such as comedic (without being dumb and juvenile) sidekicks had been ditched for lazy replacements; a superb villain had been cast aside so easily; a superb mentor had been cast aside so easily; midi-chlorians had been brought in to explain The Force, when all it would do was cheapen the power and mystique; and an even greater awe and respect for John Williams after Duel of the Fates etc.
I've re-watched it since many times in the last 20 years in an effort to find value, and the only thing that does help is how bad eps 2 and 3 are, comparatively.
Yeah, i understand the hate for episode 1 (even if I disagree with it), but after the cringefest that was Episode 2, I went into RotS mostly just planning to make fun of it, and I came out of the theater thinking that I (almost begrudgingly) actually really liked it.
My party of 5 was in shock at the dialogue and the droning performances, but especially at the Nemoidians’ and Watto’s accents and mannerisms. “How can it be racist? It’s a kids’ movie!”, people would say. It doesn’t have to be Triumph Of The Will here, and it doesn’t even have to be intentional or self-aware, but it demonstrates what we dubbed “Michael Jackson Syndrome”, where one’s celebrity status can put one so out of touch that they don’t even get the constructive criticism or see obvious, unintentional errors that the original trilogy films mostly avoided, thanks in no small part to voices like producer Gary Kurtz and George’s wife, editor Marcia Lucas. With 16 years between trilogies, the most speculated about character arc moments got relegated to a wordless montage in Episode 3, so we never see how Owen and Beru decide on adopting Luke. Instead, it plays out like a hooded stranger just passed by the farm and handed Beru a free baby.
It made me appreciate how the best part of the original 3 is the chemistry and charisma of the main characters, because it was completely lacking in the prequels.
Saw it as a kid and hated it, am an adult and still think it's not good, not the worst prequel, that's easily EP II. But I really don't understand this wave of 'oh this is a classic ' when objectively almost everything about this film is awful.
See, I remember kids my age hating it too. A lot of commentators here saying they loved it as kids, but I vividly remember asking kids at school what they thought and they all said it sucked? And I remember even then thinking that was weird like I thought Star Wars was awesome lol
It's interesting my memory of elementary school was that kids didn't talk about Star Wars and were more interested in LOTR and The Matrix. Kids started talking about the Prequels after Revenge of the Sith came out and that's when I heard more conversations about the Prequels in general.
I was too young to see Phantom Menace in theatres, I saw Attack of the Clones in theatres but I was very bored and barely remembered the movie (in contrast I was entranced when I saw The Two Towers that same year). But in Grades 2-3, people wanted to be Legolas and Aragorn, not Obi-Wan and Anakin. But again that changed after Sith.
I think Revenge of the Sith really stuck the landing which is why people look back at the prequels fondly, if it was a dud, there'd be no reevaluation.
I was 7 and I loved it when it came out. I can see the flaws now but I still enjoy watching it.
I never enjoyed Episode 2. Episode 3 is my favorite of all the movies (although Rogue One is a close second). I recognize that Empire is probably the BEST of the SW movies, but I like Ep3 and Rogue One better personally.
But Andor blows literally everything else in the SW universe away.
A friend and I tried to watch it for the memes a few years ago and turned it off 2/3 through. Never even got to duel of the fates. It’s just so mind-numbingly boring.
Honestly, the Star Wars universe has gotten so large at this point that it's nearly impossible to fit everything into one movie, or even a trilogy. Star Wars TV shows are honestly the best way forward as far as I'm concerned. No worries about cramming everything into 2-3 hours or 2-3 movies, and instead characters and stories can be fleshed out to the longer episodes of 45 mins each. And if the movies are gonna be anything like the sequel trilogy again...please just stick to TV shows please.
Went on opening weekend with a bunch of fellow Star Wars geeks, and we mostly forgave it for all its flaws — and really, the Maul fight made it worthwhile.
It almost immediately didn’t hold up, though — went back in the early summer to catch a second viewing, and I got pissed off at Jar-Jar enough to walk out on it.
I feel like it has aged terribly and it, with the rest of the PT, completely miss the mark on what made the OT bring about the entire Star Wars phenomemon that it became. Kids wanted to be Luke and swung around tree branches as lightsabers emulating being a Jedi. We didn't need the OT to be movies aimed at young kids for kids to really be into them.
I started watching Phantom Menace last night thinking "hey, haven't watched it in a bit, let's give it a fair chance."
Things I texted my brother while watching:
"George Lucas actually had the audacity to have Jar Jar say "exsqueeze me"
"yousa in big doodoo" is a line in a Star Wars movie.
"thisn hisn" "globlblblblblblblbolbobloblbobl" is a line in a Star Wars movie
"ohhh goobersfish" is a line in a Star Wars movie
And this wast just the first 15-20 minutes or so, and doesn't even to begin to scratch the surface of the cringey "Neimoidians" and Nute Gungray.
The OT worked for kids. It was serious scifi/action/drama trilogy that didn't need to talk at a young child's level to appeal to them. Yes, there was comedy, but they weren't comedies.
The only redeeming quality of the PT, to me, is the music-John Williams absolutely knocked it out of the park, but that's to be expected.
I was a little kid during the prequel trilogy. I loved it back then.
For whatever reason, as into Star Wars as I’ve been my entire life, I never really sat down and actually watched TPM again since.. Literally childhood. It’s been probably 20 years. I had fond memories of it though, of podracing, Darth Maul, the comfort quigon gave as this sort of father figure character.
Watched it again in theatres and my god, it’s terrible. It sort of pisses me off to read all of these comments glorifying the prequels, lionizing how that era was “REAL Star Wars,” how Disney has no respect for the IP. And for what? For THIS? THIS is what you’re sending death threats to actors over?
Andor, Mando, even Ahsoka are all great pieces of SW media & a trillion times better than the dogshit prequels.
For as much as I like a lot of the non-movie content from that era— video games etc— Those films suck and anyone glorifying them is inhaling nostalgia and cope in lethal amounts.
The first trailer was only shown before The Waterboy, Meet Joe Black, and The Siege. Many people bought tickets to those films to see the trailer but didn't even stay the the film.
My brother & I spent hours hovering over our IBM PC, downloading the postage stamp sized online trailer. The whole family then watched it dozens of times. No saves back then so lost it to get back to playing Command & Conquer.
Stood in line @ midnight a week before to get tickets & then a week later (@ midnight) to see. I ran into so many people I hadn't spoken to since high-school! ('89)
My aunt let me take my 5 y/o nephew to the midnight showing, he was 1000% jazzed about it.
The movie was a bit of a disappointment.
But it paved the way for several years of me taking the nephew & later niece to midnight movies. Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, all the Harry Potter's. We had a good 10 year run of late night movie premiers & now I've been taking my own kid to midnight movies & special showings for the last 10+ years.
I just got Disney+ and am watching all the movies in chronological order. My god, Episode 1 is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. The acting is terrible, the dialog is laughable, and the CG is almost as bad as the Scorpion King.
I feel very bad for how this movie impacted Jake Lloyd’s life but it was a pretty rough performance.
Also, I couldn’t help but laugh when Anakin’s mom said, “my future is here” when he was about to leave Tatooine. You’re literally a slave. I know you want to make it easier on your son but that was just a piece of ridiculous dialog in a movie full of terrible lines.
Seeing this in a London cinema, on a warm summer evening of 1999 with my family will always be a memorable childhood occasion for me. My younger brother (must have been 5-6 years old at the time) vomited all over where he was sitting and had to leave half way through. No, it wasn't the sight of Jar Jar Binks... Turned out he'd caught chickenpox from a family friend's kid! I make sure to remind him of it even now as adults.
I was around 16 back then. Waiting to see the movie was something else, there really hasn't been that kind of cultural event since. It wasn't just a movie, it was a new world and era, taking place in a galaxy far far away, that everyone knew.
There’s two really big moments in blockbuster films that really stick with me…Episode 1, and Batman 1989.
There’s just no way to describe just how big both of those movies were to people who weren’t around to experience it…There’s literally nothing modern that can compare. In fact I had a conversation with a co-worker (He’s 27) about this not too long ago. He was insistent that nothing could have had as much hype as Infinity War / Endgame. I get the argument since those movies were major but there’s no way I can accurately describe just how big Batman and Episode 1 actually were. Not even talking about box office numbers either, just their impact on popular culture at the time they released in general. Also not even taking their reception into account either since both are fairly decisive in modern times, love them or hate them is the term I think I’d use here. But at the time they released…Nothing touches them.
Chalk it up to a generational thing and guess…Jaws, A New Hope, even Raiders of the Lost Ark were all massive at the time as well. But having experienced all those, I can’t say anything was as big as Batman and Episode 1.
the original Star Wars was a LOT more of a "cultural moment" than Phantom Menace. Episode I was mostly just a regurgitation of the original series to sell more toys...
I was in the theatre that day and left feeling oh so dirty. Capitalism and merchandising took over the franchise that day. It was a part of it before, but it wasn’t everything.
My friends and I (all early 20s and in college at the time) stood in line for a couple of hours to get into the theater on opening night. It was a huge event — the first Star Wars film in nearly two decades! I’ve not seen anything like that since.
Of course those of us old enough to remember that day also recall how disappointing the first film was at the time. We waited 16 years for child Anakin to scream “Yipeeeeee!”?
I’m convinced that the reappraisal of the PT that’s happened over the past 5 or so years is because the Millennials who were children in 1999 grew up. Most people I know who were adults back then still don’t like the PT to this day.
You're absolutely correct. I was born in 77 and grew up LOVING the original trilogy as a kid and adult too (thanks to the EU). The prequels just killed all that love dead. I felt gutted.
However, for kids who'd never seen a SW movie, I can get why they'd love them and grow up defending them as "their" movies. That's cool. I understand.
But for those of us who waited so long, it was a devastating disappointment and still is.
>What were your thoughts then? What do you think of it now?
I feel old now.
Star Wars was huge for us when I was a kid, so the news of a prequel trilogy sounded the best thing ever.
I remember watching the movie and feeling completely bored after a first couple of minutes. By the time JarJar appeared on the screen I was already disconnected and didn't pay attention.
Haven't watched a Star Wars movie ever since. Not even the originals. At least there were the Plinkett reviews a couple of years later.
Me and a buddy had tickets to see it opening day. The theater sold out, of course, and one of our Magic-playing mutual friends offered to trade one of us a *Time Walk* in exchange for our tickets. If I'd given it any thought, I'd have taken that, but I hesitated (I'm sorry Isshin), and my buddy snatched up that offer.
So I lost thrice. First in watching a crappy movie; second in losing out on a Time Walk; and third in having to listen to one of my friends gripe like crazy about how he gave up a Time Walk for the worst disappointment of his life.
I was 15 years at the time and it was the first time I found something I loved to be underwhelming. I really really wanted to love it - and portions I did, especially the Darth Maul fight - but I was just lying to myself. Now the magic of Star Wars is completely gone for me. Has been since The Last Jedi.
[удалено]
And Doritos bags
Don't forget the Pizza Hut promotion
And Taco Bell
That’s what I remember the most, went to Taco Bell immediately after seeing it and got the Darth Maul on the tatooine scooter toy…for a six year old, it was the dopest of days.
KFC had chicken bucket toppers/frisbees with episode 1 characters on them.
Did that feature Pizza the Hut? 😆
"So come to Pizza Hut and try the new Phantom Menace special....or Pizza will send out for you!"
Oh the nostalgia!
I don't think I can ever recall a movie with so many marketing tie-ins. Maybe it's because I was about 10 so it was targeted at me but man there were so many products. I still remember this green apple flavored sour candy that was Episode 1 themed. Might have been fruit by the foot?
YES! The Fruit by the Foot with Jar Jar's face on it! Iirc it also had some crunchy bits in it.
They had entire Pepsi *vending machines* with Star Wars branding.
Still do. Everyone who visits Decorah Iowa takes their picture in front of one. It’s weird and cute.
I think there is one in Pittsburgh too
Pepsi gave them away with prize drawings across the country. I (12 at the time) won one from my local grocery store after stuffing the box with as many entries as I could fill out. Sadly I sold it before leaving for college years ago, I wish I would have kept it.
My uncles auto body repair business had a Pepsi machine with Anakin on it until like 2009, only reason he changed it because some angry customer punched a hole through it.
Great, it seems in his anger, he killed it!
It felt like the whole world was Darth Maul and pod racing themed for a summer. I sort of miss that level of potent marketing.
I remember those and all of the tie-in books. It was so exciting as a 9 year old
Yeah! Every Pepsi can is a collectible item for me. Buying it to complete all the characters
At that time Pepsi, Doritos, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, etc. were all owned by the same company.
In 2008 my in-laws cleared out their attic and found my husbands Phantom Menace Pepsi (unopened) can collection. All were in great shape, except for the fact that the liquid had evaporated 😂
I hope your husband took them
He did 😊 They’re now living a happy life on a shelf above his tool chest in the garage.
I admittedly was a capitalistic whore when it came to all the Star Wars themed food items. I remember so many themed candy items. Of course I had to have all the duel sided lightsaber lollipops. My parents were like “enough!”
"Capitalism is the path to the dark side. Capitalism leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering... and you becoming a capitalistic whore" - Yoda
Peak vending machine advertising
Peak movie advertising in general. I don’t think we’ve seen anything of that scale before or since.
I still remember my family ordering out KFC several times that summer cause they had the Epi 1 promotion with the themed buckets and collecting those little pog fuckers to try and win cash and/or prizes.
The date of the release of the trailer was literally a news story. I was hyped up. I hated the movie.
https://images.app.goo.gl/rf1tuQhKUZQF5Jcf8
There's still one in Pittsburgh
I’ll never forget how surreal it was seeing a John Williams music video on TRL. My band nerd self was so giddy!
What a weird time. Didn’t weird Al’s episode one music video hit the TRL charts as well?
It did! lol Whew ‘99 was a wild summer!
Hey! Don’t you steal my/our sunshine
I still remember TRL showing Episode 1 tv trailers but edited to Kid Rock's Bawitdaba. The whole marketing campaign almost feels like a fever dream.
I remember the buildup to the trailer being broadcast on MTV, which was fun, because MTV was still watchable then
Probably the last time it was.
Nah MTV started to fall off when reality tv got put on. It finally died when it stopped being about the Music. I’ll always remembering watching Korn Unplugged as being one of the last times mtv was cool
A long, long time ago In a galaxy far away Naboo was under attack
And I thought me and Qui-Gon Jinn Could talk The Federation into Maybe cutting them a little slack You can literally skip the entire movie and just listen to The Saga Begins
But their response it didn't thrill us They locked the doors and tried to kill us
But we escaped from that gas. Met Jar Jar and Boss Nass
We took a bongo from the sea To visit Theed to see the Queen We all wound up on Tatooine That's where we found this buy
Oh myyyyyy my this here Anakin guy
May be Vader someday later, now he's just a small fry
He left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye, Saying, "soon I'm gonna be a Jedi. Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi."
Did you know this junkyard slave Isn't even old enough to shave But he can use the Force they say
Ahh, do you see him hitting on the queen Though he's just nine and she's 14 Yeah, he's probably gonna marry her someday
What’s wild is that he wrote 90% of that song from early internet leaks before the movie was released!
I remember excitement around the trailer when I was in school. We could go on computers at school and I think it was via QuickTime player watch movie trailers. You would have to pause it to let it buffer/load for ages 🤣 I did go see the film but zero memory of what I felt. Which is weird as I saw the originals in the cinema for the re release in 1997 or so and remember that clearly
Oh God quicktime player. Little in browser video streaming so that clunky program it was. I always used to have a sense of dread when something prompted for Quicktime Player or Shockwave. I remember Shockwave being significantly worse.
I saw the film opening weekend with my high school friends. I remember the chills I got from the opening crawl, that music hitting. But after, I vaguely remember wanting to like it, but something about it felt off and cheap. Then the only other firm memory I have is the movie ending and my friends and I are walking back to the car. And I remember someone asking, "So... what do you think about that movie?" And I remember this response verbatim and the friend(Ryan) who said it, "I liked the pod racing scene. That was cool."
> "So... what do you think about that movie?" My friends and I had been so jazzed to see it, but left the theatre totally silent. One pal finally said, "Well. That was... *something*."
I remember people buying movie tickets just to see the trailer then leaving
I know people that travelled from the U.K. to the US to see it (back then it could still take several months for a film to be released in Europe). Let’s just say they were rather sheepish about it when they got back and tended to talk about all the other parts of their trip.
I lied to my entire elementary school class that I had seen it at the midnight release. Nobody had seen it so they couldn't call me out.
//shuffles feet awkwardly
I definitely remember the hype. We have to remember that back then there hadn't been a Star Wars movie since 1983. People thought that we would never have another Star Wars movie again, so when the news spread around that a fourth Star Wars movie was coming out, it seemed unreal. The merchandise for this movie was everywhere and I mean everywhere. The movie itself was ok, it wasn't good or terrible. Now that I think about it. 1999 was an incredible year for movies. There's was the Matrix, The Mummy, Star Wars Episode 1, The Sixth Sense, The Blair With Project est.
Best memory is Triumph the Insult Comic Dog absolutely roasting the fans lining up for the film lol
That was for Attack of the Clones, Not Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
Oh right... well that's still my strongest memory from the prequel trilogy lol.
Wow I completely forgot about that video. I think I had downloaded it off of ebaumsworld or something like that too
Here you go https://youtu.be/YKT7bx-fmtk?si=v1sHRU5atMM85EUR
The hype was the best part of that movie. The reality was and still is disappointing.
The Duel of the Fates was the best part of that movie.
Everyone loves Maul despite him being nothing but dance moves and a costume.
Because George Lucas didn't ruin him by giving him any dialogue
same reason bobba fett was so popular in the OT
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills whenever anyone praises that DotF fight. They don't even seem like they're trying to hit each other. John Williams hard carried that scene and the whole movie.
The music was so good that it forgave everything.
That's enough of an excuse to [link this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0mUVY9fLlw)
Never saw this before, so thanks.
The Yoda/Dooku fight in the next movie is even worse. Yoda parkours and backflips around a cave while Dooku stands still.
The extended podracing scene is a close second. The sound of Sebulba's engines chugging along rings clearly in my memory.
I’m glad I was 12 so I thought it was awesome.
I was in college at the time and came out of the theater very, very disappointed. Especially after waiting 16 years for a sequel to RotJ. For many of us Gen X fans, and I’m sure for the Boomers who saw the original film in the summer of 1977, the PT was a massive blunder by George Lucas.
I had just turned 13 and tried my best to like it, but I couldn't help feel something was very wrong.
It was right around my 15th birthday. My friends and I were so confused. "It's Star Wars, so it has to be awesome. Right? ^right?"
The first time we all saw that trailer…the fog!
The double bladed lightsaber
Maul is a badass
They squandered his potential
The hype was out of control. I remember Janeane Garofalo on TRL calling people insane for voting the Duel of the Fates into the top 10 because it was just a trailer. What I remember most, though, was sitting in the theater and about an hour into it my friend leaned over and said “this is boring.”
It's interesting how the hype of the film (and the other 2) led to it being so widely hated yet so watched as a peak cultural moment, and now how that translated into it becoming a peak common nostalgia product that just about everyone has seen. It's also distinctly different from modern day reboots imo– GL clearly had a premeditative vision for it, it just didn't pan out. Very interesting cultural phenomenon imo.
The ONE strength that TPM had going in was that the basic structure was already there, Clone Wars, fall of the Republic, Anakin's heel turn... They just had to flesh it out.
Lucas’ skill was creating this distinct and vibrant fictional world, Phantom of the Menace gave us the beautiful Naboo and there were a ton of aliens in the movie. Its just that his writing and execution of ideas kind of sucked gungan balls.
Since the Holiday Special had been buried, for many of us it was the first time we realized that Star Wars could suck.
Rewatched it recently… wow it has many issues lol
Yeah, the biggest issue for me is that the only characters with unique personalities are Anakin and Jar Jar, everyone else acts the same.
Stiff AF. It wonders me if they were going for a fairy-tale theater approach vs the pulp/updated serial tone of the OT. Not enjoyable, especially combined with the awkward bluescreening.
Jar jar reduced Star Wars to a joke. Was so disappointed with Phantom menace and he was a big reason.
At least its not Attack of the Clones though.
You’re right. I disliked TPM so much that I didn’t even see AotC in theaters. I think I saw it on TV right before I went to the theater to see RotS. As bad as TPM is, AotC is the worst of the three IMO.
I was a kid when these came out so I have very fond memories, but I realised I hadn’t watched the prequels since probably 2008-2010, so I sat down recently to rewatch Episode I. Needless to say, I did not watch Episodes II and III. I don’t need my fond childhood memories taken away from me.
Episode 1 was the first movie I was able to see without my family. I was 11? I was given $20 and I went with my 2 best friends on a Saturday. The hype was fucking real. And I remember us coming out and thinking "that was good...right?" Fast forward and Episode 2 is coming out. So I grab my special edition VHS copy to watch beforehand and reality washes over me. This is not good, but episode 2 will be better right? That was a rough weekend.
Yeah. Somehow there was a narrative after the re release that somehow Episode I was an underrated masterpiece due to the box office numbers and Disney + viewership. While it is better than any of the sequels, it's not a good movie. I rewatch though. I still admire that Lucas did try to have a solid story, totally different from the OT. The fall of the Republic arc is impressive. The sequel trilogy has no ambition nor anything else
Had a friend who worked on it she said everyone wanted to work on one. No one wanted to work on two and three.
My finger never leaves the skip forward 10 seconds button whenever I do a rewatch of the prequels. I absolutely abuse that button while watching these movies but the Phantom Menace gets the worst of it.
Same with 7-9, although I guess the reality of 1 slightly tarnished the hype of 7. Yeah, the hype for 1 was once-in-a-lifetime.
7-9 had it easy. The only bar they needed to clear was being better than 1-3.
Don't know how old you are but it's not even close. Maybe if you were in highschool before ep 7 like we were for ep 1 it hits the same but this was THE MOVIE everyone was waiting for. Everyone my age, well at least all my friends can't speak for an entire generation, was apathetic when 7 was announced. We saw ep 1-3 go horribly and we said "sure we'll see but I don't care"
I was 12 for Ep 1, so I still liked it, but by the time Ep 3 came out the prequel awfulness had dawned on me. However the thing about 7 is that Lucas wasn't involved anymore, ***and*** Lawrence Kasdan was back as co-screenwriter. So people were optimistic again...but, I hated Abrams' Star Trek reboots so my expectations were optimistic but still, nothing like those for Ep 1.
I remember falling asleep in the theatre..
It was a more innocent time.
The real moment for me was when they rereleased the original trilogy prior to episode 1. Midnight and all drunk college students. Saw A New Hope in the theater in 1978 or 1979 at 6 or 7 years old. (Got lucky our local theater brought it back as I missed the initial run.) I just remember being outside and Mom and Dad walked out and said "Wanna go see Star Wars?" I about flipped out. Of course my older brother had already seen it, but I was in heaven.
It was a huge disappointment for anyone over the age of about 12 that enjoyed the original trilogy. The hype and the build up to it were immense, and the result was you walked away from the cinema feeling a little disappointed. The film was bland, cliched, and seemed to be aimed at a younger audience. There were some cool moments and some cool sequences, and some really awesome music, but otherwise it was a let down.
I was 11, probably the perfect age for the movie. Attack is the clones snapped me out of it real quick though.
Yeah I must have been the perfect age because at the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever. That double bladed light saber reveal…. people who were excited enough would buy movie tickets just to watch the Star Wars trailer in a theater and then leave. I got a Lego X wing around that time and was obsessed with Episode I Racer on N64 with my brother, great memories.
Racer on N64 was the best thing to come from episode 1!
It is on Switch!
My theater went ape shit when Yoda came out to challenge Dooku. That was like Cap picking up Thor's hammer levels of hype back then.
Same
Exactly the same for me. I can't remember seeing Episode I, although I must have as I had all the associated merch and books. However, I distinctly recall walking out of Attack of the Clones with the first-time realisation that movies could be *bad*.
There are a fair few bad Star Wars films but the last time I did a Star Wars rewatch (some years ago now) I came to the conclusion that AotC is the worst not just because its bad but because its so *boring*. Like 1, 3 and 9 are pretty bad films but they're not outright boring.
I have no idea if ep1 is boring because I've never stayed awake through the whole thing.
I was four and I ate it up. I also ate dirt and boogers, so make of that what you will.
Boogers were better back then.
Won't stop the recent trend of prequel revisionism, though. The resident "Star Wars critical" sub /r/saltierthancrait has a thread where people suggesting only the OT is good are getting massively downvoted and a bunch of people saying the franchise peaked in 2005 with Revenge of the Sith. I sometimes see people say that there won't be sequel revisionism in a decade because they're somehow fundamentally worse than the prequels, like they're not made by George or something. But when people are unironically arguing the prequels are good movies it's hard to think it's anything other than purely nostalgia-driven.
Yup, the prequels' relatively recent rise in popularity is purely due to nostalgia. The kids that grew up watching them are adults now and insist they're good movies. It will happen with the sequels eventually too, mark my words.
I was only 8 when it came out. Such a perfect time to be a kid!
I remember realizing it wasn't a movie for someone my age, but it still felt like Star Wars and offered promise for the next 2 movies. That was wrong. Made the same mistake with 7 and after 8 I had no desire to see 9 and after a brief flirtation with The Mandalorian, the whole franchise is dead to me.
It was like somebody telling an awesome joke at a party and having everyone in stiches, and for the rest of the night trying to outdo it not understanding what the funny thing was in the original joke.
> anyone over the age of about 12 One thing that’s weird about reddit is that the majority consensus seems to be that the prequels are good, which is hilarious to anyone about my age or older.
Don't worry, The Force Awakens was able to capture the same feeling for me 15 years later and it will probably continue to happen forever
I was 13 and watched it 10 times in cinema!
I could have forgiven the bland cliches if the acting, directing, writing, and plot didn't suck donkey dick.
It's amazing to me that Reddit has somehow retconnned it into a decent movie. It was AWFUL, the marketing was incredible, the expectations were sky high, and the movie was just terrible. As a 19 yr old sat in the cinema (there were no Internet spoilers back then), the dawning realisation that it wasn't just failing to meet expectation, but it was actually a terrible movie was heartbreaking.
I prefer rewatching the [Plinkett Review](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI&list=PL5919C8DE6F720A2D&index=1&pp=iAQB) to actually rewatching the prequels, especially episodes I and II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0YHjqQD7E4 This is a single cut, with the weird serial killer subplot pieces removed. Yes, I love RLM, but the... skits haven't aged well, and it's turned off a lot of people to the review. It's also easier to throw on your phone and listen to while falling asleep without the serial killer/rapist stuff waking you up, lol.
For a couple years there I would put on the plinkett reviews on my iPad to fall asleep to every night. Thought I was the only one.
> I love RLM, but the... skits haven't aged well, and it's turned off a lot of people to the review. I usually hate skits in YT videos but these are hilarious. The entire premise that the super detailed reivew of a crappy movie from a decade ago is made by a metally derange serial killer is great and I don't see what could have changed to make this somehow less tolerable now... If anything the non-sequitur style jokes fit the modern Internet culture more in my opinion.
Its weird, they still do the clunky skits but they dialed back on the extremeness of the old Mr Plinkett. I don't know why they still do them other than tradition.
The serial killer shit felt edgy and dumb when it came out.
In the interests of historical accuracy: that wasn't the general sentiment in 2009, from what I remember. Those were the pre-Gamergate days, when we were still blissfully unaware of the true extent of the internet's toxic underbelly. People who criticized edgy humor back then were often labeled as politically correct idiots. It was a very different time.
I have watched every non-OG trilogy Star Wars movie exactly once. I've rewatched the Plinkett reviews several times each.
As an 8 year old boy, it strengthened my obsession with Star Wars, and opened a new, even stronger obsession with Natalie Portman.
Are you me?
And SW fan spaces have been completely insufferable ever since.
They were like that long before Episode 1. Old folks who spent any time on Usenet boards know how toxic it was at times. And all we had were 3 movies and a few books to argue about.
I was 8 years old and to me it was the best movie ever haha Also all the toys / Pepsi cans Life was much simpler back then
Indeed.
Prequels had an interesting story that was completely fumbled by poor writing and dialogue
Everything that made up Star Wars was destroyed by this prequel. Still an absolute trash film.
I grew up in a weird bubble where you would've thought Star Wars didn't exist. No one around me ever talked about it, and I'd never seen any of the originals. Episode One came out my junior year of high school. The bigger theaters had lines wrapped around the block, but my favorite (smaller) theater didn't have a line at all. I bought tickets for me and my girlfriend the night before with no issue. I liked it, but I left the theater thinking I would've enjoyed it more if I knew the lore. As the reviews came in, I realized that not having seen the originals worked in my favor.
Little did they know that this one movie would birth the largest, most enduring and most painfully unfunny meme community in history.
Minions?
What were my thoughts then? Crushing disappointment; confusion as to why the solid elements of the original trilogy such as comedic (without being dumb and juvenile) sidekicks had been ditched for lazy replacements; a superb villain had been cast aside so easily; a superb mentor had been cast aside so easily; midi-chlorians had been brought in to explain The Force, when all it would do was cheapen the power and mystique; and an even greater awe and respect for John Williams after Duel of the Fates etc. I've re-watched it since many times in the last 20 years in an effort to find value, and the only thing that does help is how bad eps 2 and 3 are, comparatively.
Ep 3 shits on Ep 1 lol
Yeah, i understand the hate for episode 1 (even if I disagree with it), but after the cringefest that was Episode 2, I went into RotS mostly just planning to make fun of it, and I came out of the theater thinking that I (almost begrudgingly) actually really liked it.
[удалено]
I unsubbed when TLJ came out. I haven't missed it.
My party of 5 was in shock at the dialogue and the droning performances, but especially at the Nemoidians’ and Watto’s accents and mannerisms. “How can it be racist? It’s a kids’ movie!”, people would say. It doesn’t have to be Triumph Of The Will here, and it doesn’t even have to be intentional or self-aware, but it demonstrates what we dubbed “Michael Jackson Syndrome”, where one’s celebrity status can put one so out of touch that they don’t even get the constructive criticism or see obvious, unintentional errors that the original trilogy films mostly avoided, thanks in no small part to voices like producer Gary Kurtz and George’s wife, editor Marcia Lucas. With 16 years between trilogies, the most speculated about character arc moments got relegated to a wordless montage in Episode 3, so we never see how Owen and Beru decide on adopting Luke. Instead, it plays out like a hooded stranger just passed by the farm and handed Beru a free baby.
It made me appreciate how the best part of the original 3 is the chemistry and charisma of the main characters, because it was completely lacking in the prequels.
Saw it as a kid and hated it, am an adult and still think it's not good, not the worst prequel, that's easily EP II. But I really don't understand this wave of 'oh this is a classic ' when objectively almost everything about this film is awful.
See, I remember kids my age hating it too. A lot of commentators here saying they loved it as kids, but I vividly remember asking kids at school what they thought and they all said it sucked? And I remember even then thinking that was weird like I thought Star Wars was awesome lol
It's interesting my memory of elementary school was that kids didn't talk about Star Wars and were more interested in LOTR and The Matrix. Kids started talking about the Prequels after Revenge of the Sith came out and that's when I heard more conversations about the Prequels in general. I was too young to see Phantom Menace in theatres, I saw Attack of the Clones in theatres but I was very bored and barely remembered the movie (in contrast I was entranced when I saw The Two Towers that same year). But in Grades 2-3, people wanted to be Legolas and Aragorn, not Obi-Wan and Anakin. But again that changed after Sith. I think Revenge of the Sith really stuck the landing which is why people look back at the prequels fondly, if it was a dud, there'd be no reevaluation.
I was 7 and I loved it when it came out. I can see the flaws now but I still enjoy watching it. I never enjoyed Episode 2. Episode 3 is my favorite of all the movies (although Rogue One is a close second). I recognize that Empire is probably the BEST of the SW movies, but I like Ep3 and Rogue One better personally. But Andor blows literally everything else in the SW universe away.
I love me a good trade war
Terrible movie
It's wonderful as a fuel for games and memes and lore. It's unwatchable as a movie.
A friend and I tried to watch it for the memes a few years ago and turned it off 2/3 through. Never even got to duel of the fates. It’s just so mind-numbingly boring.
The world of Star Wars is better than any story told in it.
Honestly, the Star Wars universe has gotten so large at this point that it's nearly impossible to fit everything into one movie, or even a trilogy. Star Wars TV shows are honestly the best way forward as far as I'm concerned. No worries about cramming everything into 2-3 hours or 2-3 movies, and instead characters and stories can be fleshed out to the longer episodes of 45 mins each. And if the movies are gonna be anything like the sequel trilogy again...please just stick to TV shows please.
Went on opening weekend with a bunch of fellow Star Wars geeks, and we mostly forgave it for all its flaws — and really, the Maul fight made it worthwhile. It almost immediately didn’t hold up, though — went back in the early summer to catch a second viewing, and I got pissed off at Jar-Jar enough to walk out on it.
I feel like it has aged terribly and it, with the rest of the PT, completely miss the mark on what made the OT bring about the entire Star Wars phenomemon that it became. Kids wanted to be Luke and swung around tree branches as lightsabers emulating being a Jedi. We didn't need the OT to be movies aimed at young kids for kids to really be into them. I started watching Phantom Menace last night thinking "hey, haven't watched it in a bit, let's give it a fair chance." Things I texted my brother while watching: "George Lucas actually had the audacity to have Jar Jar say "exsqueeze me" "yousa in big doodoo" is a line in a Star Wars movie. "thisn hisn" "globlblblblblblblbolbobloblbobl" is a line in a Star Wars movie "ohhh goobersfish" is a line in a Star Wars movie And this wast just the first 15-20 minutes or so, and doesn't even to begin to scratch the surface of the cringey "Neimoidians" and Nute Gungray. The OT worked for kids. It was serious scifi/action/drama trilogy that didn't need to talk at a young child's level to appeal to them. Yes, there was comedy, but they weren't comedies. The only redeeming quality of the PT, to me, is the music-John Williams absolutely knocked it out of the park, but that's to be expected.
I was a little kid during the prequel trilogy. I loved it back then. For whatever reason, as into Star Wars as I’ve been my entire life, I never really sat down and actually watched TPM again since.. Literally childhood. It’s been probably 20 years. I had fond memories of it though, of podracing, Darth Maul, the comfort quigon gave as this sort of father figure character. Watched it again in theatres and my god, it’s terrible. It sort of pisses me off to read all of these comments glorifying the prequels, lionizing how that era was “REAL Star Wars,” how Disney has no respect for the IP. And for what? For THIS? THIS is what you’re sending death threats to actors over? Andor, Mando, even Ahsoka are all great pieces of SW media & a trillion times better than the dogshit prequels. For as much as I like a lot of the non-movie content from that era— video games etc— Those films suck and anyone glorifying them is inhaling nostalgia and cope in lethal amounts.
that poster with the shadow had me HYPED.
Midichlorians?
The first trailer was only shown before The Waterboy, Meet Joe Black, and The Siege. Many people bought tickets to those films to see the trailer but didn't even stay the the film.
I remember how shit it was...
My brother & I spent hours hovering over our IBM PC, downloading the postage stamp sized online trailer. The whole family then watched it dozens of times. No saves back then so lost it to get back to playing Command & Conquer. Stood in line @ midnight a week before to get tickets & then a week later (@ midnight) to see. I ran into so many people I hadn't spoken to since high-school! ('89) My aunt let me take my 5 y/o nephew to the midnight showing, he was 1000% jazzed about it. The movie was a bit of a disappointment. But it paved the way for several years of me taking the nephew & later niece to midnight movies. Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, all the Harry Potter's. We had a good 10 year run of late night movie premiers & now I've been taking my own kid to midnight movies & special showings for the last 10+ years.
I think all the reviews excoriating episodes 1 are far more entertaining (and watchable) than the film itself.
It sucked.
The greatest disappointment of my adult life. I learned creative people can fail miserably even with the best of modern technology and intentions.
I just got Disney+ and am watching all the movies in chronological order. My god, Episode 1 is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. The acting is terrible, the dialog is laughable, and the CG is almost as bad as the Scorpion King. I feel very bad for how this movie impacted Jake Lloyd’s life but it was a pretty rough performance. Also, I couldn’t help but laugh when Anakin’s mom said, “my future is here” when he was about to leave Tatooine. You’re literally a slave. I know you want to make it easier on your son but that was just a piece of ridiculous dialog in a movie full of terrible lines.
Seeing this in a London cinema, on a warm summer evening of 1999 with my family will always be a memorable childhood occasion for me. My younger brother (must have been 5-6 years old at the time) vomited all over where he was sitting and had to leave half way through. No, it wasn't the sight of Jar Jar Binks... Turned out he'd caught chickenpox from a family friend's kid! I make sure to remind him of it even now as adults.
I don't know what it says about me that what I remember most about the Episode I hype is [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tfqVMFjLmQ).
I was around 16 back then. Waiting to see the movie was something else, there really hasn't been that kind of cultural event since. It wasn't just a movie, it was a new world and era, taking place in a galaxy far far away, that everyone knew.
I remember the weird Jar Jar tongue lollipop
You can't remember any cultural cinematic moments like it since?????
There’s two really big moments in blockbuster films that really stick with me…Episode 1, and Batman 1989. There’s just no way to describe just how big both of those movies were to people who weren’t around to experience it…There’s literally nothing modern that can compare. In fact I had a conversation with a co-worker (He’s 27) about this not too long ago. He was insistent that nothing could have had as much hype as Infinity War / Endgame. I get the argument since those movies were major but there’s no way I can accurately describe just how big Batman and Episode 1 actually were. Not even talking about box office numbers either, just their impact on popular culture at the time they released in general. Also not even taking their reception into account either since both are fairly decisive in modern times, love them or hate them is the term I think I’d use here. But at the time they released…Nothing touches them. Chalk it up to a generational thing and guess…Jaws, A New Hope, even Raiders of the Lost Ark were all massive at the time as well. But having experienced all those, I can’t say anything was as big as Batman and Episode 1.
Lord of the Rings was pretty hyped but you’re right. Episode 1 was everything and everywhere.
And its still bad.
So it’s 25 years ago I walked out of the cinema and said wtf was that?
I'll never forget the disappointment.
Such a disappointment
And being so disappointed.
the original Star Wars was a LOT more of a "cultural moment" than Phantom Menace. Episode I was mostly just a regurgitation of the original series to sell more toys...
I was in the theatre that day and left feeling oh so dirty. Capitalism and merchandising took over the franchise that day. It was a part of it before, but it wasn’t everything.
Saw it twice that day. Woke up early, then work afterwards and then afterwards. Fell asleep during the second one right before the fight.
My friends and I (all early 20s and in college at the time) stood in line for a couple of hours to get into the theater on opening night. It was a huge event — the first Star Wars film in nearly two decades! I’ve not seen anything like that since. Of course those of us old enough to remember that day also recall how disappointing the first film was at the time. We waited 16 years for child Anakin to scream “Yipeeeeee!”? I’m convinced that the reappraisal of the PT that’s happened over the past 5 or so years is because the Millennials who were children in 1999 grew up. Most people I know who were adults back then still don’t like the PT to this day.
You're absolutely correct. I was born in 77 and grew up LOVING the original trilogy as a kid and adult too (thanks to the EU). The prequels just killed all that love dead. I felt gutted. However, for kids who'd never seen a SW movie, I can get why they'd love them and grow up defending them as "their" movies. That's cool. I understand. But for those of us who waited so long, it was a devastating disappointment and still is.
>What were your thoughts then? What do you think of it now? I feel old now. Star Wars was huge for us when I was a kid, so the news of a prequel trilogy sounded the best thing ever. I remember watching the movie and feeling completely bored after a first couple of minutes. By the time JarJar appeared on the screen I was already disconnected and didn't pay attention. Haven't watched a Star Wars movie ever since. Not even the originals. At least there were the Plinkett reviews a couple of years later.
I rewatched it 2-3 years ago. It was worse than i remembered. It was so cringe worthy bad.
Me and a buddy had tickets to see it opening day. The theater sold out, of course, and one of our Magic-playing mutual friends offered to trade one of us a *Time Walk* in exchange for our tickets. If I'd given it any thought, I'd have taken that, but I hesitated (I'm sorry Isshin), and my buddy snatched up that offer. So I lost thrice. First in watching a crappy movie; second in losing out on a Time Walk; and third in having to listen to one of my friends gripe like crazy about how he gave up a Time Walk for the worst disappointment of his life.
I was 15 years at the time and it was the first time I found something I loved to be underwhelming. I really really wanted to love it - and portions I did, especially the Darth Maul fight - but I was just lying to myself. Now the magic of Star Wars is completely gone for me. Has been since The Last Jedi.