h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Since the release of "The Phantom Menace", the first-in-chronological-sequence but fourth-to-be-made Star Wars film, it is now apparently incredibly cool to dismiss the movie as childish, immature, relying to much on special effects and the suchlike. This is because most people forget that it is actually aimed at children. To affect such a degree of coolness, state in a bored voice "Well, I can appreciate the high quality of computer generated imagery, but it's really just setting up the plot for Lucas' next two money-spinning forays into the Star Wars phenomenon". Refuse to buy any products with "The Phantom Menace" featured on them (warning: you may starve) and claim you think it's not a patch on the original(s) which you saw first time round in a grotty cinema somewhere and were the first person in your area to see them, and you liked them before they became big, etc. Even if you weren't born in 1977. Now sit back and watch your street cred soar.

I agree with you to some extent - the hype (especially the negative press the film garnered even before it's release) was upsetting. But still I get the images of theaters filled to the brim with 20 and 30 somethings giggling like school children from the first drum-roll. The way I see it is, if you loved the films as a child (because you're right, there definitely is a "made for kids" element to the series), you'll quite possibly still love them as an adult. And I personally love the fact that I still remember the first time I saw each of the films - and I can now compare "why" I loved them at five (shoot 'em up action and weird creatures) and "why" I love them at twenty-five (dry sarcastic quips and storyline). That's a very good thing to carry with me every time I watch them. But most adults I've met who've never seen them up until now tend to be a little...detatched. There isn't a gleam in their eyes when they watch them.

So if you needed "hype" to see the new installment (as opposed to the heartfelt longing of every "grown-up" Star Wars fan(atic) and every six year old kid), then you might not have enjoyed the experience as much as others. But for the rest of us, I think I can safely say that we saw the newest feature and loved it - and the same would go even if LucasFilm hadn't created a single new toy of push-pop.

I have to (again) agree with you about the negative hype. I think what people have forgotten is that this is the first in the series.
The scene is being set here and as such things, should be hinted at, you wouldn't go into a normal film and expect within the first 5 minutes that there be all out war, complete with stunning effects. Yet this is what people were expecting from The Phantom Menace.

I went into the film expecting a scene setter and as such was not disappointed, in fact pleasantly supprised. There is a lot happening in the Phantom Menace if people will just take the time to 'read between the lines'.

Isn't it difficult to discuss the merits of the film without giving away the plot line!!

I think the media have been unfair towards the film, Lucas did his best to keep the plot line secret and out of the media for as long as possible. For this reason I think the press have started a backlash against the film.

As discussed the whole reason for the episode 1 is to act as the foundation for parts 2 & 3, and I beleive it manages this quite well. However, having said that it could have been better as there are parts of the film where id doesn't flow too well and which I get the feeling have just been put in to show off how clever the special effects are (a prime example being the under water scene).

Any comments (but please be gentle)

What Plot line was that ??, I cant say i noticed one.
ALL of the special effects were so unnesesary. What made the original ones great was the obvious time and effort spent on the action seqences. In Episode One you could almost see the Blue screen behind every camera shot.
one little point...if he had made the films in the right order, wouldnt the whiole surprise about Anakin/Darth being Lukes father have been given away ??
By the way i hate Jar Jar too !

Blue screen, eh? Funny, since 99.9% of the movie was made using computer graphics. Hmmmm...Well, you obviously didn't like it. But I wonder, if you don't mind sharing with us, how you felt about the film when you compare it to the other three? Did you, in fact, even like the Star Wars series to begin with? (Which is okay if you didn't - I just have a hard time understanding why people who didn't like the movie tell everyone they know about how they hated it, when in fact they've NEVER liked Star Wars in the first place.)

As far as plot (or lack thereof in your case) goes...wait, I'm gonna make a stab at it:

Anakin = Young Vader, he gets swayed to the Dark Side by Senator (Chancellor when we leave him) Palpatine, before that he's taught by Obi-Wan and he'll father Luke and Leia, who go on to save the universe from the Evil Emperor (again, Palpatine) and Anakin (old Vader) from himself.

I think that's it, and if you've seen the rest of the series this isn't a spoiler. If not, well it's good to know going into Episode One. Which was for me, by the way, an excellent and beautiful way of drawing us into the "past" from the "present". And I enjoyed this Episode all the more knowing that all hell (i.e. Clone Wars and Anakin's eventual turn to the Dark Side) is going to break loose in the next installments. This was the most "peaceful" of all the Episodes.

Moreover, it's a really good story. I'm sorry you couldn't enjoy it.

heh - well, I'll go with much of the points made here, but I would just say that surely Lucas could have made a character that would appeal to all ages, rather than one that is loved by the 10 year olds, but HATED LIKE SATAN by much of the rest of the population. The wookie worked....

The point may be that Lucas had to make a film that:
a) had to set up the next 2 in the prequel series
b) had to tie in with 4/5/6
C) had to satisfy the demands of several billion starwars fans all sure that they could do a better job and tell the story better.

a tough job, i think you will agree. He can't satisfy everybody, although just maybe he could have tweaked a few things.

i have seen Star Wars and I think the critics just need to have something to write so they pick up on the special effects and how there are too many. i don't see what was wrong with them and it isn't bad to have not much acting just look at Bug's Life and Toy Story. No acting what so ever and the kids thought thye were fantastic. It is a brilliant film and people should not believe the hype.

i have seen Star Wars and I think the critics just need to have something to write so they pick up on the special effects and how there are too many. i don't see what was wrong with them and it isn't bad to have not much acting just look at Bug's Life and Toy Story. No acting what so ever and the kids thought they were fantastic. It is a brilliant film and people should not believe the hype.

I actaully loved the First 3 star wars episodes to death !, i just thought that EP 1 was a Big dissapointment!! but nothing ever lives upto your expectations. it also supports the argument that no Seqeal or preqeal is ever as good as the first one. although before Ep1 star wars was in this catagory (along w/ Indiana Jones, Godfather, F/X murder by illusion), it now sadly is not !

Star Wars: The Franchise Menace was a little disappointing for me (and I went in with an open mind). I agree with what has been already said in terms of the film simply being there to set the scene. It's definitely an opener story.

I think what it lacked the most was charm. The first trilogy had charm by the bucketload. Leia/Han, C3P0/R2-D2 etc: characters that bounced off each other in a likable way. Even Darth and whiney old Luke had a spark that I didn't find in Episode One.

Perhaps it was because all of the characters were solemn ones (except Jar Jar, who was so much the other way that most found him annoying). Thoughtful Jedi, Restrained royalty and quietly scheming politicians.

I hope that these characters come out of their shells in Episode 2.

Oh, by the way, for those who do want spoilers (and for those who would like to hear the plot reduced to song) go to Weird Al Yankovic's impression of things at:

www.sagabegins.com

It's quite a lot of fun!

I love the first trilogy of Star Wars films and did enjoy Phantom Menace but I must agree it lacked a certain something.

The over-kill on computer effects was expected though I still found it difficult to concentrate on the characters at times.

I think irony was missing - Han Solo provided this in the trilogy. Jar Jar was very funny but was not enough.

I also feel we didn't get to know the characters enough, none of them feel like old friends and therefore you have difficulty getting that special empathetic link with them.

As a scene-setter it did it's job but the link to the characters we know and love was a little weak.

Finally, you didn't get that special feeling as you walked out of the theatre - you know, when you hear the music blasting through your brain and you walk along with wry smile and a satisfied feeling.

But - honestly - I did enjoy it. Even if the only feeling was that Star Wars is back and we have more to look forward to.

Pip

I was both impressed and disappointed by the Phantom Menace. On the whole it was an enjoyable experience but the big let down was the relaundering of all your favourite scenes from the other movies.

You want to see Luke blowing up the death star? How about Anakin blowing up the andriod warrior ship? The presentation ceremony at the end of the film was almost a carbon copy of the ending of Star Wars. The parallels between Queen Armadillo (or whatever) and Princess Leia are pretty obvious. As for the Light Sabre..... it seems that an essential component of each Star Wars movie is to have a fight to the death with these on a platform raised far above the ground. Darth Maul was a bit of a difference but we all know he is really based on the guy from The Prodigy.

And what about the really thinly veiled racial stereotypes? Most people picked up the Jar Jar Binks is just a black and white minstral one. However, what about the guys who are setting up the trade blockage of Queen Armadillo's planet. They dress like something from Ancient China, speak english with an asian accent and have mirrored "inscruitable" eyes.

Is George Lucas trying to say that we should laugh at blacks and mistrust Asians? Even more disturbing was the political situation between Jar Jar's people and the Queens people. It is never really spelled out but I got the distinct impression that Jar Jar comes from a race of dispossessed people, forced to live underwater by the Queens facist government who did not want to acknowledge them until there was a threat of interplanetary war. More in common with Australian Aborigines or Native Americans that blacks. Maybe it will take potential invasion from Mars to sort out Land Rights for the indigenous peoples of Earth?

I think it says something that, even with these serious flaws, I really enjoyed the movie. As other wise researchers have pointed out, it needs to be placed in the context as the first in a series of 6 movies. It does a reasonable job of this. The first 3 movies each revealled a piece to the puzzle, and to my mind, the big piece in this movie is the role of the Emporer as Dark Master. This makes things a lot more clear. I also loved the scenes in the intergalactic parliament and the Jedi Knight council. However, Yoda looked older with the hair, not younger as was intended.

The dumbest piece of information was that Anakin is the product of a virgin birth. This is bloody ridiculous and most people in the cinema laughed at this revalation. I would think that a so called Science Fiction movie would give a technological explanation rather than a pseudo-spiritual one.

But that's Star Wars, where mistrust of technology is endemic to the story (use the force Luke, don't use that really expensive targeting technology that the Rebel Alliance has probably sacrificed many brave soilders to obtain, use the force). I never think of Star Wars as Science Fiction. It is more like Robin Hood set in space.

Finally, something must be said about Jedi Knight fashion. Why do they drape? And what is it with the natural fibres? For my money, the Jedis were the stars of Phantom Menace (loved the scene at the beginning where Obi Wan and his master fight their way into the ship with the bad guy Asians. They stay totally cool, together and centered while doing amazing tricks with the light sabres. Excellent stuff!)and they deserve an upgrade. I for one would like to see a young Obi Wan in a tight fitting rubber suit aka Batman.....

I love Star Wars, and I love Star Trek. What I love about Star Wars is the lack of scientific and technological explanation - the spiritual journey so to speak. Star Trek is cool for the opposite reason - technobabble is fine by me. It's just part of the show.

Having said that I was really cheesed off by something as spiritual as the force being reduced to a piece of technobabble like the number of midichorians (SP) in your blodd stream! AAAAAAARGH!

Hope your not counting me in with those who hate it. As I said earlier it set the path for the next 2 films
(and the original 3), and I beleive it did it well. I draw the line at Jar Jar though.

I'm looking forward to the next 2 episodes and I'm also hoping that Playstation2 does come out with a DVD Drive
as I've heard that the DVD release of Phantom will be very nice indeed.

I agree if the force is to do with the stuff in ya blood stream why dont normal people just inject them selves with it ?....and create a super Jedi kick ass race ?

Excellent plan. Maybe McDonalds could mix the stuff into some promotional burgers then we could ALL be Jedi knights

Jedi blood transfusions. Jedi organ donors. Or just very active Jedi procreation. Galactical domination wouldn't be too difficult...