Memories of a Phantom

[Banky]

I have always been curious to the XIXAX communties response to Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace.  I think this film was the most anticipated film of all time.  I wasnt around for the opening of the original three but i can only imagine if you were, TPM must have been exciting to see.  I grew up on the origianl three but i wasnt a fanatic by any means.  I also didnt think that TPM was all that bad.  Yes it failed to capture the magic of the original three and yes the kid and Jar Jar were annoying, but i still liked it.  In fact i liked AOTC as well.  Now by no stretch are the movies great but they had the most impossible standards of any movie ever made.  I know most people say that "The New Ones Sucked" but i also want to hear the stories of those who anticipated this movie as if it were JC coming back.  I want to hear anyones thoughts.  I think Mag talked about this briefly in another thread but i wanted to hear some stories in retrospect.

[TheVoiceOfNick]

The New Ones Sucked.    


Ok, fine...  Yes, George Lucas had a lot to live up to, but I think he made these movies in such a way, that it completely took a 180 degree turn from the originals... especially Phantom... AOTC wasn't so bad, I thought... especially after repeated viewings on DVD... I definetly think that Phantom is one of the worst movies, Star Wars or not, ever made... it was a kids movie, almost a farce on the original trilogy, self-referencial for nostalgia's sake... I will always take into account the story from Phantom, so I can attach it to later movies, but I have otherwise decided to dis-own Phantom Menace.  It doesn't exist to me... it's like a bastard child that won't get my child support payments... just like Godfather 3.

[nix]

The new ones suck!

I think AOTC is just as bad as Phantom. In fact, the final battle (Maul/ob1/Liam) was great. It's just everything else that sucked complete ass. AOTC had no such shining moment.

[Banky]

the point of this thread is to go into detail and not be as vauge as "The New ones Sucked"

[Fernando]

I have always been curious to the XIXAX communties response to Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace.  I think this film was the most anticipated film of all time.  

Could be, but my anticipation for that year or for the past three years for that matter, was for EWS, it was a sick obsession, and after EWS my attention was on Magnolia which development I followed religiously through Gregg's site.

But about Ep. I, yes, I was waiting for it, but not as much as those I mentioned.

I wasnt around for the opening of the original three but i can only imagine if you were, TPM must have been exciting to see.  I grew up on the origianl three but i wasnt a fanatic by any means.  

I was around the time they were released, and I can tell you categorically that as a kid when I saw Darth Vader's entrance in SW:ANH it was the best thing I've ever seen, it was so in your face and the f/x were out of this world, as soon as I saw him I immediately wanted to be that guy, always was fond for the bad guys though Han was a favourite of mine too.

As for TPM, I was excited, but unfortunately the memory of the film is that it was a huge let down.

I also didnt think that TPM was all that bad.  Yes it failed to capture the magic of the original three and yes the kid and Jar Jar were annoying, but i still liked it.  

As a mater of fact, I saw it a few months ago and thought it wasn't as bad as I remembered it; now that you mention Jar Jar,, that was a huge part of me being let down.

In fact i liked AOTC as well.  Now by no stretch are the movies great but they had the most impossible standards of any movie ever made.  I know most people say that "The New Ones Sucked" but i also want to hear the stories of those who anticipated this movie as if it were JC coming back.  I want to hear anyones thoughts.  I think Mag talked about this briefly in another thread but i wanted to hear some stories in retrospect.

I liked AOTC, it was way better than TPM, hope E-III is better than the previous two. Still think GL should had hired a director for these films, though problems could be more on the scripts than directing, but still other's fresh take on the saga might had a better outcome (IMO).


Banky, you owe me big time for this reply, if I ever ask anything you must answer, even if it's to say 'go fuck yourself' got it?  

[Banky]

Banky, you owe me big time for this reply, if I ever ask anything you must answer, even if it's to say 'go fuck yourself' got it?  

ill try

[Gold Trumpet]

When Phantom came out, I was a freshman in high school and the local movie theatre had first showing right after school. A few friends and I went there right afterwards.
Now, we completely though we wouldn't get in but there were other friends who had skipped school to stand in line and they were at the front so we just cut in line. All the middle age nerds were pissed! They looked at us like they wanted to kill us. We just blew them off and due to their low confidence level, they didn't do anything. I was actually really looking forward to the movie.
I never was raised on Star Wars or anything, but fuck, my friends talked about it non stop so I automatically was excited. The trailed looked good. I saw the originals right after the trailer debuted and they were ok movies. Nothing grand for me. I kinda excused them because they were made so long ago. I figured the new ones would be great though.
So I'm in the movie theatre and it is only 3/4 packed. It seems everyone just assumed the theatre would be full in a sec and so most people didn't show up even. My friends and I had good seats too. The fucking audience ejaculated as soon as they saw that, "A long time ago in a galaxy far....." Then with the Star Wars title and music, everyone cheered. I was kinda into it just because everyone was nuts. My friends were all skaters and they were going nuts. I thought it was weird they'd be into these kind of films, but ok. During the movie, the shit went bad. My friends excused the lame dialogue and minimal action. I couldn't. I was bored. I didn't want to make my frustations obvious, because, fuck, this was their day. I always bash shit in a prick way so I didn't do it during this film (future Matrix sequel would not be so lucky). But, they did crack and start to moan and groan when the mother fucker himself, Jar Jar Binks, started sharing dialogue time with everyone else. He was annoying! I could see they were annoyed too so i leaned over and tapped a guy in the arm and was like, "C'mon, this is shit!" He sadly nodded in agreement. Everyone in our group hated the guy. They were fanboys still and liked everything else, but hated Jar Jar.
After the movie, we walked home and discussed the best way to kill Jar Jar if we ever had the chance.

[modage]

~rougerum

i was a senior in high school.  i had worked at the movie theatre for about 2 years with all of my friends but we'd decided that we hated our boss, so as a little present we decided to leave them shortstaffed during the Phantom Menace.  there were about 6 of us whom had been there longer than any other employees and we put in our two weeks notice two weeks and one day before the phantom menace was released.  our boss was so pissed he ran out after us shouting "never come back!" so we didnt have to work the last two weeks after all.  and even funnier, is that we had been planning this for so long that we all had secured jobs together elsewhere and already started working there by this point.

[Ghostboy]

I was a senior in high school too, and it's almost embarassing how hyped I was. My last day of exams was the day it opened, and I dressed up as a Jedi. It was basically all I could think about.

I was raised on Star Wars. That's all I cared about when I was little. So it meant a lot to me to finally have a new one come out. It took me a few months to admit that it wasn't very good.

Same with AOTC, although it's still exponentially better.

[modage]

It's almost embarassing how hyped I was. It took me a few months to admit that it wasn't very good.
Same with AOTC, although it's still exponentially better.

me too.  it didnt sink in till repeated viewings that i had been let down.

[Gold Trumpet]

~rougerum

i was a senior in high school.  i had worked at the movie theatre for about 2 years with all of my friends but we'd decided that we hated our boss, so as a little present we decided to leave them shortstaffed during the Phantom Menace.  there were about 6 of us whom had been there longer than any other employees and we put in our two weeks notice two weeks and one day before the phantom menace was released.  our boss was so pissed he ran out after us shouting "never come back!" so we didnt have to work the last two weeks after all.  and even funnier, is that we had been planning this for so long that we all had secured jobs together elsewhere and already started working there by this point.

such a brilliant way of quitting. When I was 17, I tried to get a job at that local movie theatre i mentioned. During that summer, I went there every week and asked about availabalities. Every week, the answer was no. Then at the end of the summer, the manager just told me with school starting and people returning from summer jobs elsewhere, there'd be no chance for me anytime soon. Few days later, I go there to catch a movie and I see like 5 new people hired! All super cute girls who likely knew nothing about movies! I was so pissed. When I got a job at a super market, the same manager was a customer and saw me and congratulated me on getting a job. I said "thanks", but in the most evil tone and look i could give him. he hasn't said shit to me since.

I do want to quit my current job like that in some way. its hard cause i work in a produce market. i'm thinking of working a night shift and instead of working, removing all the produce from the tables and putting them back in the cooler and leaving the entire department completely empty. when the manager shows up in the morning, he'll be pissed. it could be good.

[NEON MERCURY]

......::sips on some of his cognac::

well..i think hoinestly now that time has passed ALL OF THE STAR WARS FILMS FIT PERFECTLY W/EACH OTHER. IMO...

when you think about it the strikes agaisnt phantom are ..dialogue , and jar jar....THE STORY IT SELF I THOUGHT WAS FINE AND JUST AS COL/MUNDANE/AWE-STRIKING/ETC/ETC/ LIKE ALL THE OTHER ONES ARE..COMPARE THE STORIES IN ALL THREE Films and it fits right in.....

as for the dialogue yes its cheesy and hokey......JUST LIKE THE OTHER PHUCKING THREE FILMS AND LIKE THE MATRIX ALSO.......::

also the reason why i think that people like the later three more is because the generations that have grown up w/ the older films  are not use to seeing  the newer sensibilities, r kitsche, cliched facets that ecompass phantom and attack of the clones.....so the humor or dialogue in the newer films are just like the humor dialogue or what ever indiosyncracies that encompass the older ones ....It's just now that thhe "older: fans aren't use to it being spread in thier beloved star wars films....
Bu tif you notice the kids growin gup on phantom and attack/clones love these films just like we loved the older ones.....

and as for pattack of the clones its just as good as the older ones also....
**and now their is better actors/actresses in the newer films ta boot.....

BUT IN THE END THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY MAKES ANY AND EVERY SCI-FI/FANTASY FILM WEAK IN COMPARISON...

[RegularKarate]

I was a HUGE Star Wars geek when this came out...  granted, I did NOT at any moment consider dressing up.

I, like a trillion others, grew up on the originals and we all made a big deal about seeing the rereleases (had to drive out of town to see them in THX every other week they were out)

When Phantom Menace came out, I was working at a movie theater in a smallish town and no one had any doubt about this movie being the BEST EVER (a lot of red faces now).  

The theater manager had just joined on with our theater (The old one had a heart attack) and was kind of a prick.  His deal was that NO ONE would get to see Star Wars for free for the first month and a half.  So I made a deal with the prick manager... I asked him to just let me buy tickets one hour before they went public (about two weeks before the release)... he agreed and after collecting money from all my friends (and being quite popular with some people who weren't really my friends), I ended up buying about a hundred and twenty bucks worth of tickets.  

They were having the midnight showings (12:01, 12:15. 12:30) and then normal showings the next day.  My friend Frances and I were a little more into Star Wars than the other guys and gals so we bought our tickets for the midnight showing and four showings the next day (I'm a little embarrassed admiting that now).

So, I was a projectionist at the time and the prints didn't arrive until the day of the midnight showing so we were in a huge huring building them up.  come about 9:30 pm, the manager gives and admits that the prints should at least run through once before the show to check for misplices and I was off work, so I ended up getting to watch it.  I check my watch after watching it the first time  and see that it's time to go meet my friends who have been waiting all this time outside in line for the midnight show.

I get outside and from far away, they all wave to me and I yell back (making sure that all the people in line hear me too) "I just saw it!".   It's not like I had any plot that people didn't already have access to via the book released a week before, but people crowded me just the same... asking all these questions.  Finally, someone says "So, how was it?" and for the first time, I thought about it and had to admit to myself "you know, it was kind of disapointing".

I still watched the midnight showing and two showings the next day, but after the second, I just had to admit that it wasn't all that great and not worth seeing this many times.  I sold my remaining tickets and went home to give up the hope that the new trilogy would be the best thing to happen since the first trilogy.

[modage]

that story was sad.  i'm sure there are 1000 of those from geeks the world over.  

[Find Your Magali]

Old guy perspective:

I absolutely agree that there will never be, in my lifetime, another film as anticipated as "The Phantom Menace." Not even close. It was absolutely crazy. We were practically counting the weeks and days and hours once Jan. 1, 1999, rolled around. This was the original case (since copied) of going to movies JUST because you knew the magical trailer was attached. And, my god, did that brilliant trailer ever ratchet up the anticipation to an insane level....

I grew up with Star Wars. Saw all three films of the original trilogy in the theatres when they were released. I played with and wore out the original Kenner Star Wars figures (if I had been wise enough to just leave the damn things in their boxes, I could have sold them by now and retired    ) ... I was in fourth grade when I got that sizzling Dynamite magazine with the Empire Strikes Back cover. I was 12 when Return of the Jedi came out. ... We thought we'd have movies like that forever. That every summer would be filled with magic. Maybe not always Star Wars magic, but some kind of magic -- Raiders, ET, Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Back to the Future....

And then Star Wars went away, and we grew up...

High school came. Lightsabers and Jedi and aliens were replaced by solid movies like The Untouchables, Die Hard and Top Gun -- Guns and bullets and jet fighters and hostages and explosions. Good stuff, but not the stuff of dreams and magic.

College came. Indiana Jones returned, and THAT was cool. It was an event movie that delivered, unlike Batman, or Robin Hood. Spielberg and Lucas and Ford were back to their old tricks and I saw it over and over, because that was my childhood back up there on the screen, while I was in college, supposedly learning to be an adult.

So then you graduate and the years kind of blend into each other. There are solidly entertaining movies -- Forrest Gump, Goodfellas, Apollo 13, Seven, Con-Air, Toy Story, Speed. And you enjoy going to the movies and you go quite a bit. But it always seems there is something missing...

But it's not the movies that have changed. It's you...

And so one day you pick up an issue of Entertainment Weekly and there it is on the cover -- George Lucas has started production on the three Star Wars prequels. Some guy named Ewan McGregor (who you might only know from a guest shot on ER) is going to be Obi-Wan Kenobi and Liam Neeson is going to play his Jedi mentor.

And from that moment on, not a day goes by that you don't think about the fact that A NEW STAR WARS MOVIE IS COMING OUT. Your childhood is coming back.

The night finally comes. A whole group of folks from the newspaper has tickets to the 1 a.m. showing, so that we can see the movie after somehow going through the motions of putting out a newspaper and making deadline with flying colors.

And, on opening night, "The Phantom Menace" was fantastic. Maybe I didn't exactly get my childhood back that night, but I came closer than I had with any other movie since the mid-1980s. Oh, the holes and problems were apparent even at the first viewing, but we didn't discuss them, didn't even think about them. I was just appreciative that, for a couple hours, I had a chance to sit in a darkened theatre and re-enter the Star Wars universe.

For those couple of hours on opening night -- and the five other times I saw "The Phantom Menace" that summer of 1999 -- I wasn't a 28-year-old who worked too hard, drank too much, didn't exercise enough and had let the love of his life get away. I was as close I was ever going to be to feeling what it was like to be a kid again. When the magic was real.