20 Years Ago.....

[Analyzer]

I knew nothing about the movie beyond the brief images from any trailers I saw. This was way before I spent lots of time on the internet. Work back then had restricted access and I didn't waste much time on my dial-up modem searching out stuff.

Just a few years earlier they had starting releasing the special editions on the big screen, but this was going the be the first new Star Wars movie I had seen since 1983. So much potential!

So going in I had no idea what to expect other than it was a new Star Wars movie. The opening fanfare into the the crawl had me on the edge of the seat.

However, I remember leaving the theater later feeling disappointed. It had some good moments, but overall, for all the excitement going into it, it had failed to deliver. The acting was terrible, the story was kind of boring. The pod Race was entertaining. Darth Maul was pretty cool, and believe it or not, has one of my favorite scenes in a Star Wars film. The one where they get separated during the light saber battle and Maul paces like a caged tiger while Qui Gon mediates

But overall, so much wasted potential.

I did not know if it was because I was too old for Star Wars now, or what. I think if I was a kid and had no previous knowledge of Star Wars it probably would have been great, but as a 29 year old at the time, who had seen the original in theaters, it felt empty and failed to rekindle the magic that the original trilogy had delivered for me.

I don't hate it, but it's also not something I can sit down and watch anytime it shows up on TV (like A New Hope or Empire )

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I still like it. I was never disappointed with any of these until the Sequels came out.

 

[russellsch]

People were camping in line to get tickets. I couldn't, cause I had to work.... so I had my friend, who was in high school, do the camping for me . I brought him dinner & breakfast.
My first viewing I thought it was great. The second viewing... not so much. & so on, & so on, until now, I can't remember the last time when I watched it all the way through. If I throw it in now, it's for the pod race to test a new piece of sound equipment for my home theater.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

These two guys at the 0:40 mark have kept me giggling for 20 years...

How I wish the same cameras had been upon them to record the exact moment when the Phantom Menace broke their hearts and crushed their dreams.

Yes, for many fans, this was the first time that “Star Wars” subverted their expectations (anyone else tired of that phrase?). Indeed, the “Phantom Menace Experience” may well be ground zero for what has become described as “toxic fandom”.

The passing of the years has not given me rose-tinted glasses about the exciting tale of trade negotiations, flat cardboard characters, and that whacky court jester, Jar Jar Binks.

 

[Psab keel]

Lol. My buddy and I camped out the night or two before the premiere to get tickets. I'd read all the spoilers so I had an idea of what to expect going in, though I wasn't sure that everything I read would be in the final cut of the movie. Like I've said though, while the movie itself might not be very good, the time leading up to it and after it's release is filled with great memories of high school and friends.

 

[d_jedi1]

I enjoyed it then and I enjoy it now.
Now, that's not to say that I feel like it's a perfect film or anything and I absolutely feel like most of us here could have written a better film BUT that doesn't stop me from enjoying it.
Unlike certain sequels.

 

[Kylash]

Somehow the website I made 20 years ago with pics from this day is still live...

Unfortunatly this theater has been shuttered for a few years now and has become a car dealership parking lot

 

[Halliwax]

Somehow the website I made 20 years ago with pics from this day is still live...

View attachment 1021173 View attachment 1021174

Unfortunatly this theater has been shuttered for a few years now and has become a car dealership parking lot

Freak’n awesome

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

It's got its problems, no doubt, but I never hated or was disappointed with it. I thought it was okay. Still do. It's certainly not the OT but it never could have been nor should it have been. The only thing that it should've had as good as the originals were the character relationships and the chemistry between the leads. Had it had that, it could've made all the ideas of the PT a lot easier to swallow.

 

[JediMichael]

Tone Jar Jar way down, clean up some of the politic stuff and have the actors chemistry better.....could have made a more interesting film.
I've wondered if them first finding Anakin a bit older would have changed stuff. 12 to 13, showing a bit of that darkness in him.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I still don't get how people are so put off by the barely there political stuff. It's there to show how, or a part of how, Sidious took control of the Republic. What's there isn't even that much beyond some of the crawl and a vote in the Senate. It's not even that complicated. The Sith are using the Trade Federation to cause an incident which will allow Sidious to maneuver into being Chancellor. That's it.

And the complaint about Anakin's age. I'm not just picking on you JediMichael . I hear that complaint, but then when ROTS came out some of the same people complained that Anakin's fall was too quick (from what was shown on screen) and we didn't see a buildup. I think that would be hard to do beyond what we did see because Obi Wan says in ANH they were good friends. I don't think Obi Wan would have hung around if Anakin was going around killing space puppies and generally being a Dark Side jerk! Not to mention that would ring major alarm bells with the Council.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

Also him being young and still considered too old by the Jedi to train, I felt, was meant to show just how kind of messed up the Council had been. The fact they still took him on and put in ideas in his head that he was going to be a big deal one day also shows how great his ego had become as a result. He had high hopes and expectations, and when things didn't happen as he was lead to believe, he becomes dissatisfied, disgruntled and rebellious as an adult. I think that comes across in the movies when looked as a whole. Delivered in a very clunky manner, but had they been a bit tighter as individual films, it would've been much more comprehensive and acceptable.

I still think had he been older, people would've still complained and called him an "edge-lord."

 

[tcsmit29]

In my opinion, he should have been closer in age to Padme so that their relationship in the AOTC didn't feel so awkward. The later relationship never felt right. We should have gotten some scenes of them doing things together in TPM that would set the stage for their reunion at the beginning of AOTC. More chemistry between the actors would have helped also. And better dialog.