Director: George Lucas
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Ray Park
Story rating: 2 1/2 discs (out of 4)
Story review: The expected prologue crawl (“Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic … “) sets the tone for what’s to come. In a dull-as-an-Al-Gore-speech reworking of the Arthurian legend, sage Jedi warrior Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), befriend the young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who would later become Darth Vader. The galactic government has been weakened, and when the giant Trade Federation threatens the peaceful planet of Naboo, it seems that nobody will step in to defend its queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) and her people. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are sent to help settle the dispute and discover the extent of the planet’s peril. In the course of their adventures, they meet a young slave, Anakin, whom Qui-Gon senses is destined to bring balance to the Force. Despite Obi-Wan’s objections, he decides to train Anakin as a Jedi Knight. Yes, there’s a bigger picture here; Lucas is laying the groundwork for prequels to come. As we already know, Anakin will eventually become evil, old Darth Vader but not until he’s old enough to woo Amidala and produce the fruit of his loins, Luke and Leia. These plot points promise thrills, romance, and intrigue–all the things sorely lacking from this installment.
Features rating: 3 1/2 discs (out of 4)
Features review: To his credit, George Lucas spared no expense in assembling a fine double-DVD treatment of this film.
The greatest example of his expenditure can be seen in the seven deleted scenes, which are unfinished segments that were brought up to final-cut quality especially for inclusion in a documentary here. The extended pod race is a nice touch.
There are also an additional dozen or so short documentaries (each emphasizing different aspects of the film with varying degrees of success).
But it’s the hour-long documentary that shines, ranking as one of the best available on DVD. It’s an informative and thoroughly non-promotional “making-of” feature that really gets into all aspects of the production process. Lucas also includes multi-angle visual storyboards and, along with a passel of collaborators, offers a strong if tech-heavy commentary.
Additionally, the excellent audio commentary features not only Lucas but producer Rick McCallum, sound guru Ben Burtt, ILM animation director Rob Coleman and ILM special effects supervisors John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires. Again, it’s a little tech heavy (Lucas is usually ponderous and pedantic), but deeply insightful and enlightening.
Bottom line: The story’s a little slow, but the effects and imagery are spectacular. The DVD only serves to enhance them, and this two-disc set is definitely worth buying.
Special features list:
Disc One
o Languages: English, French, Spanish
o Subtitles: English
o Audio commentary by director George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires.
Disc Two
o Exclusive deleted scenes documentary with seven deleted scenes
o “The Making of The Phantom Menace“: Hour-long documentary
o Multi-angle storyboard-to-animatic-to-film segment
o Five featurettes exploring The Phantom Menace‘s story line, design, costumes, visual effects and fight scenes
o Award-winning 12-part Web documentary on the production of The Phantom Menace
o Never-before-seen production photo gallery
o Theatrical posters and print campaigns
o Theatrical teaser and launch trailers, plus seven TV spots
o “Star Wars: Starfighter–The Making of a Game” featurette from LucasArts
o DVD-ROM Weblink to exclusive Star Wars content
