Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1999
	Director: George Lucas (THX 1138)
	Actors: Hayden Christensen (Pusher), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting), Liam Neeson (Batman Begins)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 21.04.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: In a Galaxy far far away, the peace in the Republic is threatened by the Trade Federation. Two Jedi knights (Neeson & McGregor), keepers of the peace, are sent to negotiate an end to the blockade of the planet Naboo ruled by princess Amidala (Portman).
Review: As I have know the original Star Wars trilogy all my life, I remember vividly the excitation around the release of a new movie by George Lucas in 1999. I remember reading the announcement of a new trilogy in my Mad Movies magazine around 1995, watching in loop the very appetizing teaser and trailer, queuing at midnight in front of the Gaumont cinema in Reims to see the movie first, and finally loosing one contact lens halfway through the movie thus seeing the end with one eye only! I can't believe that was more than 15 years ago. I keep a fond memory of the first 15 minutes (until the Jedis land on Naboo) as it was a comeback to a Universe I had wanted to see again in a long time. I liked the movie at that time, and watched it many times since in VHS mostly and once in DVD. I think it works better when you don't know what follows in the two next episodes. Jar Jar Binks didn't bother me as it did many fans (he DOES exaggerate the comedy sometimes), I was just too happy to see Jedi knights in action, spaceships with nice new designs, loads of droids and alien creatures, and the boy that will become the terrifying Darth Vader. The encounter with R2D2 and C3PO seems a bit out of place but had to be expected. An there are some very good things too: Qui Gon Jin, Kenobi's mentor and played by Liam Neeson who may be the best actor in the cast, the final space battle has a limited scope and stakes but looks good when you ave been waiting 15 years for such battle, and finally the duel with Darth Maul and his double light sable is exhilarating, in particular thanks to the great musical choice of using male choirs but also because of a dynamic fight choreography, sorely missing from the two following episodes. On the down side most actors don't really look motivated (and this will get worse in the next movies). For the Blu-ray edition George Lucas has extended the Pod race scene (already quite lengthy) with several stunts and conflicts between the racers, all of them with special effects that don't even looks finalized, and an embarrassing lack of music and sound effects. I had a lot of trouble setting up my projector to get good colors for the scenes on Tatooine and during the final duel, and I have now read that the colorimetry of the movie was indeed changed. One change that was welcome is the replacement of the creepy-looking Yoda puppet by the same digital character that will be used in the following movies. Not such a bad Star Wars movie in itself, but I think it is often despised because it announced a whole disappointing trilogy.
Rating: 6 /10