-
- Автор сценария:
- Джордж Лукас
-
- Режиссер:
- Джордж Лукас
Первый эпизод знакомит нас с юным Анакином Скайуокером, мальчиком с особым даром, не осознающим, что путешествие, в которое он отправился, превратит его в зловещего Дарта Вейдера. Оби-Ван Кеноби, мудрый старый джедай из первых частей фильма, пока еще только молодой отважный ученик, а Палпатин, известный как ужасный Император, — амбициозный сенатор Галактической Республики. Это то самое время, когда рыцари-джедаи являются хранителями мира и спокойствия в нестабильной галактике, и юная королева сражается за спасение своего народа. А в тени таится темная сила, выжидая нужного момента для атаки.
СКАЧАТЬ
STAR WARS : EPISODE 1 : THE PHANTOM MENACE "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...." A vast sea of stars serves as the backdrop for the MAIN TITLE, followed by a ROLL UP, which crawls up into infinity. "EPISODE 1 THE PHANTOM MENACE" "Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlaying star systems is in dispute. Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo. While the congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict....." PAN DOWN to reveal a small space cruiser heading TOWARD CAMERA at great speed. PAN with the cruiser as it heads towardthe beautiful green planet of Naboo, which is surrounded by hundreds of Trade Federation battleships. INT. REPUBLIC CRUISER - COCKPIT In the cockpit of the cruise, the CAPTAIN and PILOT maneuver closer to one of the battleships. QUI-GON (O.S.) Captain. The Captain turns to an unseen figure sitting behind her. CAPTAIN Yes, sir? QUI-GON (O.S.) Tell them we wish to board at once. CAPTAIN Yes, sir. The CAPTAIN looks to her view screen, where NUTE GUNRAY, a Neimoidian trade viceroy, waits for a reply. CAPTAIN With all due respect for the Trade Federation, the Ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor wish to board immediately. NUTE Yes, yes, of coarse...ahhh...as you know, our blockade is perfectly legal, and we'd be happy to recieve the Ambassador...Happy to. The screen goes black. Out the cockpit window, the sinister battleship looms ever closer. EXT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - DOCKING BAY - SPACE (FX) The small space cruiser docks in the enormous main bay of the Federation battleship. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - DOCKING BAY - SPACE A PROTOCOL DROID, TC-14, waits at the door to the docking bay. Two WORKER DROIDS, PK-4 and EG-9 watch. PK-4 They must be important if the Viceroy sent one of those useless protocol gearheads to greet them. The door opens, and the Republic cruiser can be seen in the docking bay. Two darkly robed figures are greeted by TC-14. TC-14 I'm TC-14 at your service. This way, please. They move off down the hallway. EG-9 A Republic cruiser! That's trouble...don't you think? PK-4 I'm not made to think. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - CONFERENCE ROOM A door slides open, and the two cloaked shapes are led PAST CAMERA into the formal conference room by TC-14. TC-14 I hope you honoured sirs with the most comfortable here. My master will be with you shortly. The droid bows before OBI-WAN KENOBI and QUI- GON JINN. He backs out the door and it closes. The JEDI lower their hoods and look out a large window at the lush green planet of Naboo. QUI-GON sixty years old, has long white hair in a ponytail. He is tall and striking, with blue eyes. OBI-WAN is twenty five, with very short brown hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. Several exotic, bird-like creatures SING in a cage near the door. OBI-WAN I have a bad feeling about this. QUI-GON I don't sense anything. OBI-WAN It's not about the mission, Master, it's somethging...elsewhere...elusive. QUI-GON Don't center on your anxiety, Obi- Wan. Keep your concentration here and now where it belongs. OBI-WAN Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future... QUI-GON ...but not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the living Force, my young Padawan. OBI-WAN Yes, Master...how do you think the trade viceroy will deal with the chancellor's demands? QUI-GON These Federation types are cowards. The negotiations will be short. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - BRIDGE NUTE GUNRAY and DAULTRAY DOFINE stand, stunned, before TC- 14. NUTE (shaken) What?!? What did you say? TC-14 The Ambassadors are Jedi Knights, I believe. DOFINE I knew it! They were sent to force a settlement, eh. Blind me, we're done for! NUTE Stay calm? I'll wager the Senate isn't aware of the Supreme Chancellor's moves here. Go. Distract them until I can contact Lord Sidious. DOFINE Are you brain dead? I'm not going in there with two Jedi! Send the droid. Dofine turns to TC-14, who lets out a squeaky sigh. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - CONFERENCE ROOM OBI-WAN Is it their nature to make us wait this long? The door to the conference room slides open, and TC-14 enters with a tray of drinks and food. QUI-GON No. I sense an unusual amount of fear for something as trivial as this dispute. Obi-Wan takes a drink. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - BRIDGE Nute, Dofine, and Rune Haako are before the hologram of Darth Sidious, a robed figure whose face is obscured by a hood. DOFINE This scheme of yours has failed, Lord Sidious. The blockade is finished! We dare not go against these Jedi. DARTH SIDIOUS You seem more worried about the Jedi than you are of me, Dofine. I am amused.. Viceroy! Nute, looking very nervous, steps forward. NUTE Yes, My lord. DARTH SIDIOUS I don't want that stunted slime in my sight again. Do you understand? NUTE Yes, My Lord. Nute gives Dofine a fierce look, and Dofine, terrified, rushed off the bridge. DARTH SIDIOUS This turns of events is unfortunate. We must accelerate our plans, Viceroy. Begin landing your troops. NUTE Ahh, My Lord, is that, Legal? DARTH SIDIOUS I will make it legal. NUTE And, the Jedi?? DARTH SIDIOUS The Chancellor should never have brought them into this. Kill them, immediatly. NUTE Ye..Yes, My Lord. As you wish. INT. REPUBLIC CRUISER - COCKPIT - DOCKING BAY In the Cockpit of the Cruiser, the Captain and Pilot look up and see a gun turret swing around and point directly at them. PILOT Captain !? Look !! CAPTAIN No! Warn... EXT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - HANGER BAY The battle gun fires. The Republic Cruiser explodes. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - CONFERENCE ROOM Gui-Gon and Obi-Wan leap up to a standing position with their light sabers drawn. TC-14 jumps back, startled, spilling the drinks tray. TC-14 Ahhh, Sorry, sir. The Viceroy... Gui-Gon and Obi-Wan turn off their swords and listen intently. A faint hissing sound can be heard. GUI-GON Gas! Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan each taken a sudden deep breath and holding it. The exotic bird-like creatures in the cage dorp dead. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - HALLWAY A hologram of NUTE , surrounded by BATTLE DROIDS, appears in the conference room hallway. NUTE They must be dead by now. Blast, what's left of them. The hologram fades off, as a BATTLE DROID, OWO-1, cautiously opens the door. A deadly green cloud billows from the room. BATTLE DROIDS cock their weapons as a figure stumbles out of the smoke. It is TC-14 , carrying the tray of drinks. TC-14 Oh, excuse me, so sorry. The PROTOCOL DROID passes the armed camp just as two flashing laser swords fly out of the deadly fog, cutting down several BATTLE DROIDS before they can fire. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - BRIDGE The bridge is a cocophony of alarms. NUTE and RUNE watch OWO- 1 on the viewscreen. OWO-1 Not sure exactly what... OWO-1 is suddenly cut in half in mid-sentence. RUNE gives NUTE a worried look. NUTE What in blazes is going on down there? RUNE Have you ever encountered a Jedi Knight before, sir? NUTE Well, not exactly, but I don't... (panicked) Seal off the bridge. RUNE That won't be enough, sir. The doors to the bridge SLAM shut. NUTE I want destroyer droids up here at once!!! RUNE We will not survive this. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - HALLWAY - OUTSIDE BRIDGE QUI-GON cuts several BATTLE DROIDS in half, creating a shower of sparks and metal parts. OBI-WAN raises his hand, sending several BATTLE DROIDS crashing into the wall. QUI-GON makes his way to the bridge door and begins to cut through it. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - BRIDGE The CREW is very nervous as sparks start flying around the bridge door. QUI-GON and OBI-WAN are on the view screen. NUTE Close the blast doors!!! The huge, very thick blast door slams shut, followed by a second door, then a third. There is a hissing sound as the huge doors seal shut. QUI-GON tabs the door with his sword. The screen goes black as a red spot appears in the center of the blast door. RUNE ...They're still coming through! On the door, chunks of molten metal begin to drop away. NUTE Impossible!! This is impossible!! RUNE Where are those destroyer droids?! INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - HALLWAY - OUTSIDE BRIDGE Ten ugly destroyer WHEEL DROIDS roll down the hallway at full speed. Just before they get to the bridge area, they stop and transform into their battle configuration. QUI-GON can't see them but senses their presence. QUI-GON Destroyer droids! OBI-WAN Offhand, I'd say this mission is past the negotiaion stage. The WHEEL DROIDS, led by P-59, rush the entry area from three hallways, blasting away with their laser guns. They stop firing and stand in a semi-circle as the smoke clears. OBI- WAN and QUI-GON are nowhere to be seen. P-59 Switch to bio...There they are! The Jedi materialize at the far end of the hallway and dash through the doorway that slams shut. The WHEEL DROIDS blast away at the two JEDI with their laser swords. OBI-WAN They have shield generators! QUI-GON It's a standoff! Let's go! INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - BRIDGE NUTE and RUNE stand on the bridge, watching the view screen as the WHEEL DROIDS' POV speeds to the doorway. RUNE We have them on the run, sir...they're no match for destroyer droids. TEY HOW Sir, they've gone up the ventilation shaft. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - MAIN BAY QUI-GON and OBI-WAN appear at a large vent in a giant hanger bay. They are careful not to be seen. Thousands of BATTLE DROIDS are loading onto landing craft. QUI-GON Battle droids. OBI-WAN It's an invisible army. QUI-GON It's an odd play for the Trade Federation. We've got to warn the Naboo and contact Chancellor Valorum. Let's split up. Stow aboard separate ships and meet down on the planet. OBI-WAN You were right about one thing, Master. The negotiations were short. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - BRIDGE TEY HOW recieves a transmission. TEY HOW Sir, a transmission from the planet. RUNE It's Queen Amidala herself. NUTE At last we're getting results. On the view screen, QUEEN AMIDALA appears in her throne room. Wearing her elaborate headdress and robes, she sits, surrounded by the GOVERNING COUNCIL and FOUR HANDMAIDENS, EIRTAE, YANE, RABE, and SACHE. NUTE Again you come before me, Your highness. The Federation is pleased. AMIDALA You will not be pleased when you hear what I have to say, Viceroy...Your trade boycott of our planet has ended. NUTE smirks at RUNE. NUTE I was not aware of such a failure. AMIDALA I have word that the Senate is finally voting on this blockade of yours. NUTE I take it you know the outcome. I wonder why they bother to vote. AMIDALA Enough of this pretense, Viceroy! I'm aware the Chancellor's Ambassadors are with you now, and that you have beencommanded to reach a settlement. NUTE I know nothing about any Ambassadors...you must be mistaken. AMIDALA, surprised at his reaction, studies him carefully. AMIDALA Beware, Viceroy....the Federation is going too far this time. NUTE Your Highness, we would never do anything without the approval of the Senate. You assume too much. AMIDALA We will see. The QUEEN fades off, and the view screen goes black. RUNE She's right, the Senate will never.... NUTE It's too late now. RUNE Do you think she suspects an attack? NUTE I don't know, but we must move quickly to disrupt all communications down there. INT. NABOO PALACE - THRONE ROOM The QUEEN, EIRTAE, SACHE and her Governor, SIO BIBBLE, stand before a hologram of SENATOR PALPATINE, a thin, kindly man. PALPATINE ...How could that be true? I have assurances from the Chancellor...his Ambassaodrs did arrive. It must be the...get...negotiate... The hologram of PALPATIONE sputters and fades away. AMIDALA Senator Palpatine?!? (turns to Panaka) What's happening? Capt. Panaka turns to his SARGEANT. CAPT. PANAKA Check the transmission generators... BIBBLE A malfunction? CAPT. PANAKA It could be the Federation jamming us. Your Highness. BIBBLE A communications disruption can only mean one thing. Invasion. AMIDALA Don't jump to conclusions, Governor. The Federation would not dare go that far. CAPT. PANAKA The Senate would revoke their trade franchise, and they'd be finished. AMIDALA We must continue to rely on negotiation. BIBBLE Negotiation? We've lost all communications!...and where atre the Chancellors Ambassadors? How can we negotiate? We must prepare to defend ourselves. CAPT. PANAKA This is a dangerous situation, Your Highness. Our security volunteers will be no match against a battle- hardened Federation army. AMIDALA I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war. EXT. SPACE LANDING CRAFT - TWILIGHT (FX) Six landing craft fly in formation toward the surface of the planet Naboo. EXT. NABOO SWAMP - SHALLOW LAKE - TWILIGHT Three landing craft slowly descend through the cloud cover of the perpetually gray twilight side of the planet. One by one, the Federation warships land in the eerie swamp. OBI- WAN's head emerges from the mud of a shallow lake. For in the background, the activities of the invasion force can be seen in the mist. OBI-WAN takes several deep breaths, then dissapears again under the muddy swamp. Troop Transports (MTT's) emerge from the landing craft. EXT. NABOO EDGE OF SWAMP / GRASS PLAINS - TWILIGHT (FX) The droid invasion force moves out of the swamp and onto a grassy plain. OOM-9, in his tank, looks out over the vast ARMY marching across the rolling hills. A small hologram of RUNE and NUTE stands on the tank. RUNE ...and there is no trace of the Jedi. They may have gotton onto one of your landing craft. OOM-9 If they are down here, sir, we'll find them. We are moving out of the swamp and are marching on the cities. We are meeting no resistance. NUTE Excellent. EXT. NABOO SWAMP - TWILIGHT QUI-GON runs through the strange landscape, glancing back to see the monstrous troop transports, emerging from the mist. Animals begin to run past him in a panic. An odd, frog-like Gungan, JAR JAR INKS, squats holding a clam he has retrieved from the murky swamp. The shell pops open. JAR JAR's greta tongue snaps out and grabs the clam, swallowing it in one gulp. JAR JAR looks up and sees QUI-GON and the other creatures running like the wind toward him. One of the huge MTT's bears down on the JEDI like a charging locomotive. JAR JAR stands transfixed, still holding the clam shell in one hand. JAR JAR Oh, noooooooooo! JAR JAR drops the shell and grabs onto QUI-GON as he passes. The JEDI is caught by surprise. JAR JAR Hey, help me! Help me!! QUI-GON Let go! The machine is about tp crush them as QUI-GON drags JAR JAR behind him. Just as the transport is about to hit them, QUI- GON drops, and JAR JAR goes splat into the mud with him. The transport races overhead. QUI-GON and JAR JAR pull themselves out of the mud. They stand watching the war machine dissapear into the mist. JAR JAR grabs QUI-GON and hugs him. JAR JAR Oyi, mooie-mooie! I luv yous! The frog-like creature kisses the JEDI. QUI-GON Are you brainless? You almost got us killed! JAR JAR I spake. QUI-GON The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. Now get outta here! QUI-GON starts to move off, and JAR JAR follows. JAR JAR No...no! Mesa stay...Mesa yous humble servaunt. QUI-GON That wont be necessary. JAR JAR Oh boot tis! Tis demunded byda guds. Tis a live debett, tis. Mesa culled Jaja Binkss. In the distance, two STAPS burst out of the mist at high speed, chasing OBI-WAN. QUI-GON I have no time for this now... JAR JAR Say what? The two STAPS barrell down on OBI-WAN. JAR JAR Oh, nooooo! Weesa ganna.... QUI-GON throws JAR JAR into the mud. QUI-GON Stay down! His head pops up. JAR JAR ...dieeee! The two troops fire laser bolts at OBI-WAN. QUI-GON deflects the bolts back, and the STAPS blow up. One-two. OBI-WAN is exhausted and tries to catch his breath. OBI-WAN Sorry, Master, the water fried my weapon. OBI-WAN pulls out his burnt laser sword handle. QUI-GON inspects it, as JAR JAR pulls himself out of the mud. QUI-GON You forgot to turn your power off again, didn't you? OBI-WAN nods sheeplishly. QUI-GON It won't take long to recharge, but this is a lesson I hope you've learned, my young Padawan. OBI-WAN Yes, Master. JAR JAR Yousa sav-ed my again, hey? OBI-WAN What's this? QUI-GON A local. Let's go, before more of those droids show up. JAR JAR Mure? Mure did you spake??!? OBI-WAN and QUI-GON start to run. JAR JAR tries to keep up. JAR JAR Ex-squeeze me, but da moto grande safe place would be Otoh Gunga. Tis where I grew up...Tis safe city. They all stop. QUI-GON A city! (JAR JAR nods his head) Can you take us there? JAR JAR Ahhh, will...on second taut...no, not willy. QUI-GON No??! JAR JAR Iss embarrissing, boot... My afrai my've bean banished. My forgoten der Bosses would do terrible tings to my. Terrible tings if my goen back dare. A PULSATING SOUND is heard in the distance. QUI-GON You hear that? JAR JAR shakes his head yes. QUI-GON That's the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way... OBI-WAN When they find us, they will crush us, grind us into little pieces, then blast us into oblivion! JAR JAR Oh! Yousa point is well seen. Dis way! Hurry! JAR JAR turns and runs into the swamp. EXT. NABOO SWAMP LAKE - TWILIGHT QUI-GON, OBI-WAN and JAR JAR run into a murky lake and stop as JAR JAR tries to catch his breath. The TRANSPORTS ARE HEARD in the distance. QUI-GON Much farther? JAR JAR Wesa goen underwater, okeyday? QUI-GON and OBI-WAN pull out small capsule from their utility belts that turn into breathing masks. JAR JAR My warning yous. Gungans no liken outlaunders. Don't expict a wern welcome. OBI-WAN Don't worry, this has not been our day for warm welcomes. JAR JAR jumps, does a double somersault with a twist, and dives into the water. Breath masks on, QUI-GON and OBI-WAN wade in after him. EXT. NABOO LAKE - UNDERWATER QUI-GON and OBI-WAN swim behind JAR JAR, who is very much at home in the water. Down they swim into murky depths. In the distance the glow of Otoh Gunga, an underwater city made up of large bubbles, becomes more distinct. They approach the strange, art nouveau habitat. JAR JAR swims magically through one of the bubble membranes, which seals behind him. OBI-WAN and QUI-GON follow. INT. OTOH GUNGA - CITY SQUARE GUNGANS in the square scatter when they see the strange JEDI. Four GUARDS armed with long electro-poles ride two-legged KAADUS into the square. The GUARDS, led by CAPTAIN TARPALS, point their lethal poles at the dripping trio. JAR JAR Heyo-dalee, Cap'n Tarpals, Mesa back! CAPT. TARPALS Noah gain, Jar Jar. Yousa goen tada Bosses. Yousa in big dudu this time. CAPT. TARPALS gives JAR JAR a slight zap with his power pole. JAR JAR jumps and moves off, followed by the two JEDI. JAR JAR How wude. INT. OTOH GUNGA - HIGH TOWER BOARD ROOM The Bosses' Board Room has bubble walls, with small lighted fish swimming around outside like moving stars. A long circular judge's bench filled with GUNGAN OFFICIALS dominates the room. OBI-WAN and QUI-GON stand facing BOSS NASS, who sits on a bench higher than the others. BOSS NASS Yousa cannot bees hair. Dis army of mackineeks up dare tis new weesong! QUI-GON That droid army is about to attack the Naboo. We must warn them. BOSS NASS Wesa no like da Naboo! Un dey no like uss-ens. Da Naboo tink day so smarty den us-ens. Day tink day brains so big. OBI-WAN After those droids take control of the surface, they will come here and take control of you. BOSS NASS No, mesa no tink so. Mesa scant talkie witda Naboo, and no nutten talkie it outlaunders. Dos mackineeks no comen here! Dey not know of uss-en. OBI-WAN You and the Naboo form a symbiont circle. What happens to noe of you will affect the other. You must understand this. BOSS NASS Wesa wish no nutten in yousa tings, outlaunder, and wesa no care-n about da Naboo. QUI-GON (waves his hand) Then speed us on our way. BOSS NASS Wesa gonna speed yousaway. QUI-GON We need a transport. BOSS NASS Wesa give yousa una bongo. Da speedest way tooda Naboo tis goen through da core. Now go. QUI-GON Thank you for your help. We go in peace. QUI-GON and OBI-WAN turn to leave. OBI-WAN Master, whats a bongo? QUI-GON A transport, I hope. The JEDI notice JAR JAR in chains to one side, waiting to hear his verdict. QUI-GON stops. JAR JAR gives him a forlorn look. JAR JAR Daza setten yous up. Goen through da planet core is bad bombin!! QUI-GON Thank you, my friend. JAR JAR Ahhh...any hep hair would be hot. JAR JAR's soulful look is counterpointed by a sheepish grin. OBI-WAN We are short of time, Master. QUI-GON We'll need a navigator to get us through the planet's core. This Gungan my be of help. QUI-GON walks bact to BOSS NASS. QUI-GON What is to become of Jar Jar Binks here? BOSS NASS Binkss brokeen the nocombackie law. Hisen to be pune-ished. QUI-GON He has been a great help to us. I hope the punishment will not be too severe. BOSS NASS Pounded unto death. JAR JAR (grimacing) Oooooh...Ouch! OBI-WAN looks concerned. QUI-GON is thinking. QUI-GON We need a navigator to get us through the planet's core. I have saved Jar Jar Binks' life. He owes me what you call a "life debt." BOSS NASS Binks. Yousa havena liveplay with thisen hisen? JAR JAR nods and joins the JEDI. QUI-GON waves his hand. QUI-GON Your gods demand that his life belongs to me now. BOSS NASS Hisen live tis yos, outlauder. Begone wit him. JAR JAR Count mesa outta dis! Better dead here, den deader in da core...Yee guds, whata mesa sayin?! EXT. NABOO CITY - UNDERWATER - SUB (FX) A strange little submarine propels itself away from the Otoh Gunga, leaving the glow of the settlement in the distance. INT. SUB COCKPIT - UNDERWATER OBI-WAN in the co-pilots seat, JAR JAR guides the craft. JAR JAR Dis is nusen. OBI-WAN Master, why do you keep dragging these pathetic life forms along with us?...Here, take over. JAR JAR Hey, ho? Where wesa goen?? QUI-GON You're the navigator. JAR JAR Yo dreamen mesa hopen... QUI-GON Just relax, the Force will guide us... JAR JAR Ooooh, maxibig..."da Force"...Wellen, dat smells stinkowiff. JAR JAR veers the craft to the left and turns the lights on. The coral vistas are grand, fantastic, and wonderous. OBI-WAN Why were you banished, Jar Jar? JAR JAR Tis a long tale, buta small part wawdabe mesa... ooooh... aaaa... clumsy. OBI-WAN They banished you because you're clumsy? As the little sub glides into the planet core, a large dark shape begins to follow. JAR JAR Mesa cause-ed mabee one or duey lettal bitty axadentes...yud-say boom da gasser, un crash Der Bosses heyblibber...den banished. Suddenly there is a loud CRASH, and the little craft lurches to one side. QUI-GON looks around and sees a huge, lumimnous OPEE SEA KILLER has hooked them with its long gooey tongue. QUI-GON Full speed ahead. Instead of full ahead, JAR JAR jams the controls into reverse. The sub flies into the mouth of the creature. JAR JAR Oooops. OBI-WAN Give me the controls. OBI-WAN takes over the controls and the OPEE SEA KILLER instantly releases the sub from its mouth. JAR JAR Wesa free! As the sub zooms away they see a larger set of jaws, munching on the hapless KILLER. The jaws belong to the incredible SANDO AQUA MONSTER. The lights on the tiny sub begin to flicker as they cruise deeper into the gloom. QUI-GON There's always a bigger fish. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - BRIDGE NUTE and RUNE stand before a hologram of DARTH SIDIOUS. NUTE The invasion is on schedule, My Lord. DARTH SIDIOUS Good. I have the Senate bogged down in procedures. By the time this incident comes up for a vote, they will have no choice but to accept your control of the system. NUTE The Queen has great faith the Senate will side with her. DARTH SIDIOUS Queen Amidala is yound and naive. You will find controlling her will not be difficult. You have done well, Viceroy. NUTE Thank you, My Lord. DARTH SIDIOUS fades away. RUNE You didn't tell him about the missing Jedi? NUTE No need to report that to him, until we have something to report. INT. SUB COCKPIT - UNDERWATER Sparks are flying, and water is leaking into the cabin. The sound of the power drive drops. OBI-WAN ...we're losing power. OBI-WAN is working with the sparking wires. JAR JAR panics. QUI-GON Stay calm. We're not in trouble yet. JAR JAR What yet? Monstairs out dare! Leak'n in here, all'n sink'n, and nooooo power! You nutsen! WHEN YOUSA TINK WESA IN TROUBLE?!!!? OBI-WAN Power's back. The lights flicker on, revealing an ugly COLO CLAW FISH right in front of them. JAR JAR Monstairs back! The large COLO CLAW FISH is surprised and rears back. The sub turns around and speeds away. JAR JAR Wesa in trouble now?? QUI-GON Relax. QUI-GON puts his hand on JAR JAR's shoulder. JAR JAR relaxes into a coma. OBI-WAN You overdid it. The COLO CLAW FISH leaps after the fleeing sub as it shoots out of the tunnel and into the waiting jaws of the SANDO AQUA MONSTER. OBI-WAN This is not good! JAR JAR regains consciousness. JAR JAR Wesa dead yet?? Oie Boie! JAR JAR's eyes bulge, and he faints again. The sub narrowly avoids the deadly teeth of the AQUA MONSTER. The COLO CLAW FISH chasing them isn't so lucky. It is munched in half by the larger predator. The little sub slips away. QUI-GON Head for that outcropping. EXT. THEED - MAIN ROAD INTO THEED - DAY (FX) The long columns of the DROID ARMY move down the main road leading to Theed, the Naboo capital. EXT. THEED PLAZA - DAY (FX) As the QUEEN watches helplessly from a window in the palace, a transport carrying NUTE and RUNE lands in Theed Plaza. They exit the transport. NUTE Ah, victory! INT. NABOO LAKE - UNDERWATER - SUB (FX) The little sub continue to propel itself toward the surface, which is brightly lit. JAR JAR Wesa dude it! EXT. THEED - ESTUARY - DAY Paradise. Billowing clouds frame a romantic body of water. There is a LOUD RUSH OF BUBBLES, and a small sub bobs to the surface. The current in the estuary begins to pull the sub backward into a fast moving river. OBI-WAN switches off the two remaining bubble canopies. QUI-GON stands up to look around. JAR JAR lets out a sigh of relief. JAR JAR Wesa safe now. QUI-GON Get this thing started. JAR JAR Dissen berry good. Hey? OBI-WAN What is it? JAR JAR looks back to where they're drifting. He sees they are headed for a huge waterfall. JAR JAR What!!?? Oie boie! OBI-WAN tries to start the engine. The long props behind the sub slowly begin to rotate. OBI-WAN struggles until finally, a few feet short of the waterfall, the sub starts and is able to generate enough power to stop drifting backward in the powerful current. The sub slowly moves forward. In the background, QUI-GON takes a cable out of his belt. The engine coughs and dies. They start drifting backward again. JAR JAR panics. JAR JAR Iyiiyi, wesa die'n here, hey! QUI-GON shoots the thin cable, and it wraps itself around a railing on the shore. The sub pulls the cable taut, and the little craft hangs precariously over the edge of the waterfall. QUI-GON Come on... OBI-WAN climbs out of the sub and pulls himself along the cable. QUI-GON starts in after him. QUI-GON Come on, Jar Jar. JAR JAR No! Too scary! OBI-WAN Get up here! JAR JAR No a mighty no! JAR JAR looks back and sees he is hanging over the waterfall. JAR JAR Oie boie...mesa comen. Mesa comen! JAR JAR starts to climb out of the sub. OBI-WAN is on shore and helps to pull QUI-GON out of the water. OBI-WAN That was close. BATTLE DROID 3B3 (O.S.) Drop your weapons! The TWO JEDI turn around to see a BATTLE DROID standing in front of them. BATTLE DROID 3B3 JAR JAR Whoa!!! EXT. THEED - PALACE - DAY The waterfalls of Theed sparkle in the noonday sun. INT. THEED - PALACE THRONE ROOM - DAY QUEEN AMIDALA, SIO BIBBLE, and FIVE OF HER HANDMAIDENS (EIRTAE, YANE, PADME, RABE, SACHE) are surrounded by TWENTY DROIDS. Capt. Panaka and FOUR NABOO GUARDS are also held at gunpoint. NUTE and RUNE stand in the middle of the room. BIBBLE ...how will you explain this invasion to the Senate? NUTE The Naboo and the Federation will forge a treaty that will legitimize our occupation here. I've been assured it will be ratified by the Senate. AMIDALA I will not co-operate. NUTE Now, now, your Highness. You are not going to like what we have in store for your people. In time, their suffering will persuade you to see our point of view. Commander. (OOM-9 steps forward) Process them. OOM-9 Yes, sir! (turns to his sergeant) Take them to Camp Four. The SERGEANT marches the GROUP out of the throne room. EXT. PALACE - PLAZA - DAY QUEEN AMIDALA, PADME, EIRTA, YANE, RABE, SACHE, Capt. Panaka, SIO BIBBLE, and FOUR GUARDS are led out of the palace by ten BATTLE DROIDS. The plaza is filled with tanks and BATTLE DROIDS, which they pass on their way to the detention camp. Unbeknownst to them, QUI-GON, OBI-WAN, and JAR JAR sneak across on a walkway above the plaza and jump from a balcony to begin an attack to rescue the QUEEN. FOUR BATTLE DROIDS are instantly cut down. MORE DROIDS move forward and are also cut down by the JEDIS' flashing lightsabres until there is only the DROID SERGEANT left. The SERGEANT starts to run but is pulled back to QUI-GON by the Force, until finally he is dispatched by the JEDI. JAR JAR Yousa guys bombad! QUEEN AMIDALA and the OTHERS are amazed. JAR JAR is getting used to this. They move between two buildings. QUI-GON Your Highness, we are the Ambassadors, for the Supreme Chancellor. BIBBLE Your negotiations seem to have failed, Ambassador. QUI-GON The negotiations never took place. Your Highness, we must make contact with the republic. Capt. Panaka steps forward. CAPT. PANAKA They've knocked out all our communications. QUI-GON Do you have transports? CAPT. PANAKA In the main hanger. This way. THEY disappear down an alleyway as the ALARMS are sounded INT. CENTRAL HANGER - HALLWAY - DAY Capt. Panaka cracks open a side door to the central hanger. QUI-GON looks in over his shoulder. OBI-WAN, JAR JAR, and the rest of the group are behind him. They see several Naboo spacecraft guarded by about FIFTY BATTLE DROIDS. ALARMS can be heard in the distance. CAPT. PANAKA There are too many of them. QUI-GON That won't be a problem. (to Amidala) Your Highness, under the circumstances, Isuggest you come to Coruscant with us. AMIDALA Thank you, Ambassador, but my place is here with my people. QUI-GON They will kill you if you stay. BIBBLE They wouldn't dare. CAPT. PANAKA They need her to sign a treaty to make this invasion of theirs legal. They can't afford to kill her. QUI-GON The situation here is not what it seems. There is something else behind all this, Your Highness. There is no logic in the Federation's move here. My feelings tell me they will destroy you. BIBBLE Please, Your Highness, reconsider. Our only hope is for the Senate to side with us... Senator Palpatine will need your help. CAPT. PANAKA Getting past their blockade is impossible, Your Highness. Any attempt to escape will be dangerous. BIBBLE Your Highness, I will stay here and do what I can...They will have to retain the Council of Governors in order to maintain control. But you must leave... The QUEEN turns to PADME and EIRTAE. AMIDALA Either choice presents a great risk...to all of us... PADME We are brave, Your Highness. QUI-GON If you are to leave, Your Highness, it must be now. AMIDALA Then, I will plead our case before the Senate. (to Bibble) Be careful, Governor. INT. CENTRAL HANGER - DAY The door opens to the main hanger. QUI-GON, OBI-WAN, JAR JAR, Capt. Panaka, TWO GUARDS, and THREE HANDMAIDENS (PADME, EIRTAE, RABE), followed by QUEEN AMIDALA, head for a sleek chrome spacecraft. SIO BIBBLE, YANE and SACHE stay behind. The HANDMAIDENS begin to cry. CAPT. PANAKA We need to free those pilots. Capt. Panaka points to TWENTY GUARDS, GROUND CREW, and PILOTS held in a corner by SIX BATTLE DROIDS. OBI-WAN I'll take care of that. OBI-WAN heads toward the group of captured pilots. QUI-GON and the QUEEN, Capt. Panaka, JAR JAR, and the rest Of the GROUP approach the GUARDS at the ramp of the Naboo craft. GUARD DROID Where are you going? QUI-GON I'm Ambassador for the Supreme Chancellor, and I'm taking those people to Coruscant. DROID GUARD You're under arrest! The DROID GUARD draws his weapon, but before any of the DROIDS can fire, they are cut down. OTHER GUARDS run to their aid. OBI-WAN attacks the GUARDS around the PILOTS. QUI-GON stands, fighting off DROIDS as the OTHERS rush on board the spacecraft. OBI-WAN, the FREED PILOTS (including RIC OLIE), GUARDS and GROUND CREW MEMBERS rush on board the ship. The OTHER PILOTS and GUARDS race to SIO BIBBLR. After everyone has made it onto the ship, QUI-GONjumps on board. ALARMS sound. MORE DROIDS rush into the hanger and fire as the ship takes off. EXT. THEED - HANGER ENTRY - DAY (FX) The ship exits the hanger. BATTLE DROIDS standing in the hanger shoot at them. EXT. SPACE (FX) The sleek spacecraft speeds away from the planet of Naboo and heads for the deadly Federation blockade. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - COCKPIT The PILOT, RIC OLIE, navigates toward the massive battleship, QUI-GON and Capt. Panaka watch. RIC OLIE ...our communications are still jammed. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - DROID HOLD JAR JAR is led into a low, cramped doorway by OBI-WAN. OBI-WAN Now stay here, and keep out of trouble. OBI-WAN closes the door. JAR JAR looks around and sees a long row of five short, dome-topped ASTRO DROIDS (R-2 units). The all look alike, except for thier paint color, and they all seem to be shut down. JAR JAR Ello, boyos. (no response) Disa wanna longo trip...hey? JAR JAR taps a bright red R-2 UNIT on the head, and its head pops up a bit. He lets out a gasp as he lifts the head. JAR JAR Tis opens?...Oooops! Many springs and things come flying out. JAR JAR quickly closes it again, very embarrassed. JAR JAR Yoi! Just yoken! EXT. SPACE BATTLE The Naboo Spacecraft, surrounded by explosions, head even closer to the massive Federation battle ships. INT.NABOO SPACECRAFT - COCKPIT RIC OLIE There's the blockade, hang on. Alarm sounds fill the Cockpit as Obi-Wan enters. RIC OLIE The shield generator's been hit. Our deflector shields can't withstand this. Power down... Hopefully the repair droids can fix it. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - DROID HOLD The lights go on, and all the Droids are activated. Droids rush to an exterior air lock, except for the red one, who runs into a wall. JAR JAR holds on for dear life. One Little blue Astro Droid, who is especially dedicated, lets out a loud screech as he passes JAR JAR, causing the Gungan to jump. The little Droid enters an air lock and is ejected onto the exterior of the ship. CAPT. PANAKA Stay on course! QUI-GON Do you have a cloaking device? CAPT. PANAKA No, this is not a warship, we have no weapons. We're a non- violent people, that is why the Federation was brave enough to attack us. RIC OLIE We won't make it. The shields are gone. EXT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - FEDERATION BATTLESHIP The Droids pop onto the exterior of the Naboo Spacecraft; the ship races across the surface of the massive Federation Battleship, as its guns blast two Astro Droids to pieces. OBI-WAN We're losing droids fast. CAPT. PANAKA If they can't get those shield generators fixed we will be sitting ducks. RIC OLIE The shields are gone. EXT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - ENGINES The Federation Battleship blows away one more Atro Droid. The blue Droid connects some wires, causing sparks to fly. RIC OLIE Powers back! That little droid did it. He bypassed the main power drive. Deflector shield up, at maximum. The lone BLUE DROID finishes his repairs and goes back into the ship. The Naboo spacecraft races away from the Federation battleship. RIC OLIE There's not enough power to get us to Coruscant...the hyperdrive is leaking. QUI-GON We'll have to land somewhere to refuel and repair the ship. QUI-GON studies a star chart on a monitor. OBI-WAN Here, Master. Tatooine... It's small, out of the way, poor... The Trade Federation has no presence there. CAPT. PANAKA How can you be sure? QUI-GON It's controlled by the Hutts... CAPT. PANAKA The Hutts?? OBI-WAN It's risky... but there's no alternative. CAPT. PANAKA You can't take Her Royal Highness there! The Hutts are gangsters... If they discovered her... QUI-GON ...It would be no different than if we landed on a system controlled by the Federation... except the Hutts aren't looking for her, which gives us an advantage. CPATAIN PANAKA takes a deep breath in frustration. EXT. SPACE - NABOO SPACECRAFT (FX) The Naboo spacecraft races away. INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - CONFERENCE ROOM NUTE and RUNE sit around a conference table with a hologram of DARTH SIDIOUS. NUTE We control all the cities in the North and are searching for any other settlements... DARTH SIDIOUS Destroy all high-ranking officials, Viceroy... slowly... quietly. And Queen Amidala, has she signed the treaty? NUTE She has disappeared, My Lord. One Naboo cruiser got pat the blockade. DARTH SIDIOUS Viceroy, find her! I want that treaty signed. NUTE My Lord, it's impossible to locate the ship. It's out of our range. DARTH SIDIOUS ...not for a Sith... A second SITH LORD appears behind DARTH SIDIOUS. DARTH SIDIOUS ...Viceroy, this is my apprentice. Lord Maul. He will find your lost ship. NUTE Yes, My Lord. The hologram fades off. NUTE This is getting out of hand...now there are two of them. RUNE We should not have made this bargain. What will happen when the Jedi become aware of these Sith Lords? INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - QUEENS CHAMBERS QUI-GON, OBI-WAN, Capt. Panaka, and the LITTLE BLUE DROID stand before QUEEN AMIDALA and her THREE HANDMAIDENS, PADME, EIRTAE and RABE. CAPT. PANAKA ...An extremely well put together little droid. Without a doubt, it saved the ship, as well as our lives. AMIDALA It is to be commended... what is its number? The LITTLE BLUE DROID lets out a series of bleeps. Capt. Panaka leans over and scrapes some dirt off of the side of the DROID and read the number: CAPT. PANAKA R2-D2, Your Highness. AMIDALA Thank you, Artoo Detoo. You have proven to be very loyal... Padme! PADME bows before the QUEEN. AMIDALA Clean this droid up the best you can. It deserves our gratitude... (to Panaka) Continue, Captain. Capt. Panaka looks nervously to OBI-WAN and QUI-GON. QUI-GON Yor Highness, we are heading for a remote planet called Tatooine. It is a system far beyond the reach of the Trade Federation. There we will be able to make needed repairs, then travel on to Coruscant. CAPT. PANAKA Your Highness, Tatooine is very dangerous. It's controlled by an alliance of gangs called the Hutts. I do not agree with the Jedi on this. QUI-GON You must trust my judgement, Your Highness. AMIDALA and PADME exchange looks. PADME moves next to the DROID. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - MAIN AREA PADME sits in the Main Area, cleaning R2-D2, the brave little Astra Droid. JAR JAR pops out of an open door. JAR JAR Hidoe! Both PADME and ARTOO jump and let out a little SCREAM. The Gungan is embarrassed that he frightened them. JAR JAR Sorry, nomeanen to scare yousa. PADME That's all right. JAR JAR I scovered oily back dare. Needen it? PADME Thank you. This little guy is quite a mess. JAR JAR hands PADME the oil can. JAR JAR Mesa Ja Ja Binksss... PADME I'm Padme, I attend Her Highness, You're a Gungan, aren't you? (Jar Jar nods) How did you end up here with us? JAR JAR Me no know... mesa day starten pitty okeyday witda brisky morning munchen. Den boom... getten berry skeered, un grabbed dat Jedi, and before mesa knowen it... pow! Mesa here. (he shrugs) ...getten berry berry skeered. ARTOO BEEPS a sympathetic beep. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - COCKPIT OBI-WAN, QUI-GON, and Capt. Panaka watch over RIC OLIE'S shoulder. A large yellow planet appears directly ahead. RIC OLIE searches his scopes. OBI-WAN That's it. Tatooine. RIC OLIE There's a settlement...a spaceport, looks like. QUI-GON Land near the outskirts. We don't want to attract any attention. EXT. TATOOINE - SPACE (FX) The ship heads toward the planet of Tatooine. EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT - NABOO SPACECRAFT - DAY (FX) The Naboo spacecraft lands in the desert in a swirl of dust. The spaceport of Mos Espa is seen in the distance. EXT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - MAIN AREA OBI-WAN is hoisting the hyperdrive out of a floor panel. JAR JAR rushes up to him and falls to his knees. JAR JAR Obi-Wan, sire, pleeese, no mesa go! OBI-WAN Sorry, Qui-Gon's right. You'll make things less obvious. JAR JAR walks back to ARTOO in the hallway as QUI-GON (dressed as a farmer) enters the main area. OBI-WAN The Hyperdrive generator is gone. We will need a new one. QUI-GON moves closer to OBI-WAN and speaks quietly to him. QUI-GON Don't let them send ant transmissions. Be wary... I sense a disturbance in the Force. OBI-WAN I fell it also, Master. QUI-GON goes into the hallway to meet up with ARTOO and JAR JAR. They head to the exit ramp. EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT - SPACESHIP - DAY They start their trek across the desert toward the city of Mos Espa. In the distance, a strange looking caravan makes its way toward the spaceport. JAR JAR Dis sun doen murder tada skin. From the spaceship, Capt. Panaka and PADME run toward them. CAPT. PANAKA Wait! QUI-GON stops as they catch up. PADME is dresses in rough peasant's garb. CAPT. PANAKA Her Highness commands you to take her handmaiden with you. She wishes for her to observe the local... QUI-GON No more commands from Her Highness today, Captain. This spaceport is not going to be pleasant... CAPT. PANAKA The Queen wishes it. She is curious about this planet. PADME I've been trained in defense... I can take care of myself. CAPT. PANAKA Don't make me go back and tell her you refuse. QUI-GON I don't have time to argue. But this is not a good idea. Stay close to me. He gives PADME a stern look. EXT. MOS ESPA - STREET - DAY The little GROUP walks down the main street of Mos Espa. They pass dangerous looking citizens of all types. PADME looks around in awe at this exotic enviroment. QUI-GON ...moisture farms for the most part, but also a few indigenous tribes and scavengers. The few spaceports like this one are havens for those who do not wish to be found... PADME ....like us. JAR JAR is in a constant state of panic. ARTOO whistles along, with perfect confidence. JAR JAR Dissen berry berry bad. (steps in ooze) Ooooh...icky...icky...goo. EXT. MOS ESPA - JUNK DEALER PLAZA - DAY The GROUP comes to a little plaza surrounded by several junk spaceship dealers. QUI-GON We'll try one of the smaller dealers. They head for a little junk shop that has a huge pile of broken spaceships stacked up behind it. INT. WATTO'S JUNK SHOP - DAY QUI-GON, JAR JAR, PADME, and ARTOO enter the dingy junk shop and are greeted by WATTO, a pudgy blue alien who flies on short little wings like a hummingbird. WATTO (SUBTITLED) Hi chuba da naga? (What do you want?) QUI-GON I need parts for a J-type 327 Nubian. WATTO Ah yes, ah yes. Nubian. We have lots of that. What kinda junk? (subtitled) Peedenkel! Naba dee unko (Boy, get in here! Now!) QUI-GON My droid here has a readout of what I need. A disheveled boy, ANAKIN SKYWALKER, runs in from the junk yard. He is about nine years old, very dirty, and dressed in rags. WATTO raises a hand, and ANAKIN flinches. WATTO (SUBTITLED) Coona tee-tocky malia? (What took you so long?) ANAKIN (SUBTITLED) Mel tassa cho-passa... (I was cleaning the bin like you...) ANAKIN (SUBTITLED) WATTO (SUBTITLED) Chut-Chut! Ganda doe wallya. (Never mind! Watch the store) Me dwana no bata. (I've got some selling to do here.) (to Gui-Gon) Soooo, let me take- a thee out back. Ni you'll find what you need. ARTOO and QUI-GON follow WATTO toward the junk yard, leaving JAR JAR with PADME and the young boy ANAKIN. JAR JAR picks up a gizmo, trying to figure out its purpose. QUI-GON takes the part out of his hand and puts it back. QUI-GON Don't touch anything. JAR JAR makes a rude face to QUI-GON's back and sticks out his long tongue. ANAKIN sits on the counter, pretending to clean a part, staring at PADME. She is the most beautiful creaure he has ever seen in his life. PADME is a little embarrassed by his stare, but she musters up an amused smile. Finally, he gets the courage to speak. ANAKIN Are you an angel? PADME What? ANAKIN An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They live on the Moons of Iego I thimk. They are the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They are good and kind, and so pretty they make even the most hardened spice pirate cry. PADME looks at him, not knowing what to say. PADME : I've never heard of angels. ANAKIN You must be one...maybe you just don't know it. PADME You're a funny little boy. How do you know so much? ANAKIN Since I was very little, three, I think. My Mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us, betting on the Podraces, to Watto, who's a lot better master than Gardulla, I think. PADME You're... a slave? ANAKIN looks at PADME defiantly. ANAKIN I am a person! My name is Anakin. PADME I'm sorry. I don't fully understand. (looking around) This is a strange world to me. ANAKIN studies her intently. ANAKIN You are a strange girl to me. JAR JAR pushes the nose on what appears to be a LITTLE DROID, and it instantly comes to life, grows legs and arms, and starts marching around, knocking over everything. JAR JAR hold on but can't stop it. ANAKIN Hit the nose! JAR JAR hits the nose, and the DROID collapses back into its original state. ANAKIN and PADME laugh. ANAKIN watches PADME straighten her hair. EXT. WATTO'S JUNK YARD - BEHIND SHOP - DAY WATTO reads a small portable monitor he is holding. He stands before a hyperdrive. WATTO ...Here it is...a T-14 hyperdrive generator!! Thee in luck, I'm the only one hereabouts who has one...but thee might as well buy a new ship. It would be cheaper, I think...Sying of which, how's thee going to pay for all this? QUI-GON I have 20,000 Republic dataries. WATTO Republic credits?!? Republic credits are no good out here. I need something more real... QUI-GON I don't have anything else. (raising his hand)) But credits will do fine. WATTO No they won'ta. QUI-GON, using his mind power, waves his hand again. QUI-GON Credits will do fine. WATTO No, they won'ta. What you think you're some kinda Jedi, waving your hand around like that? I'm a Toydarian. Mind tricks don'ta work on me-only money. No money, no parts! No deal! And no one else has a T-14 hyperdrive, I promise you that. INT. WATTO'S JUNK SHOP - DAY JAR JAR pulls a part out of a stack of parts to inspect it, and they all come tumblimg down. He struggles to catch them, only to knock more down. ANAKIN and PADME are oblivious. ANAKIN ...wouldn't have lasted long if I weren't so good at fixing things. I'm making my own droid... QUI-GON hurries into the shop, followed by ARTOO. QUI-GON We're leaving. JAR JAR follows QUI-GON. PADME gives ANAKIN a loving look. PADME I'm glad I met you, ...ah... ANAKIN ...Anakin. PADME Anakin. ANAKIN Anakin Skywalker. PADME Padme Naberrie. PADME turns, and ANAKIN looks sad as he watches her leave. ANAKIN I'm glad I met you too. WATTO enters the junk yard, shaking his head. WATTO (SUBTITLED) Ootmians! Tinka me chasa hopoe ma booty na nolia. (Outlanders! They think because we live so far from the center, we don't know nothing.) ANAKIN (SUBTITLED) La lova num botaffa. (They seemed nice to me.) WATTO (SUBTITLED) Fweepa niaga. Tolpa da bunky dunko. (Clean the racks, then you can go home.) ANAKIN lets out a "yipee" and runs out the back. EXT. MOS ESPA - STREET - ALCOVE - DAY QUI-GON, ARTOO, JAR JAR, and PADME have found a quiet spot between two buildings. The busy street beyond is filled with dangerous looking creatures. QUI-GON is talking on his com- link, while JAR JAR nervously watches the street. OBI-WAN is in the main hold of the Naboo craft. QUI-GON ...Obi-Wan, you're sure there isn't anything of value left on board? OBI-WAN (V.O.) A few containers of supplies, the Queen's wardrobe, maybe. Not enough for you to barter with. Not in the ammounts you're talking about. QUI-GON All right. Another solution will present itself. I'll check back. QUI-GON puts his comlink away and starts out into the main street. JAR JAR grabs his arm. JAR JAR Noah gain...da beings hereabouts cawazy. Wesa be robbed un crunched. QUI-GON Not likely. We have nothing of value, that's our problem. EXT. MOS ESPA - STREET - MARKET - DAY QUI-GON, PADME, JAR JAR, and ARTOO move out into the street. JAR JAR is walking behind the others. They walk by an outdoor cafe filled with a rough gang of aliens, one of which is especially ugly, SEBULBA, a spider-like creature. JAR JAR stops for a moment in front of a stall selling dead frogs hanging on a wire. He looks around to see if anyone is looknig, then sticks out his tongue, and gets hold of one, pulling it into his mouth. Unfortunately, the frog is tied tightly to the wire. The vendor suddenly appears. VENDOR Hey, that will be seven truguts!! JAR JAR opens his mouth in surprise, and the frog snaps away, ricochets around the market, and lands in Sebulba's soup, splashing him. As JAR JAR moves away from the VENDOR, SEBULBA jumps up on the table and grabs the hapless Gungan. SEBULBA (SUBTITLED) Chuba!! (You!!) JAR JAR Who, mesa?? SEBULBA (SUBTITLED) Ni chuba na?? (Is this yours??) SEBULBA holds the frog up to the Gungan threateningly. SEVERAL OTHER CREATURES start to gather. SEBULBA shoves JAR JAR to the ground. The Gungan desperately tries to scramble to safety. JAR JAR (to himself) Why mesa always da one?? ANAKIN (O.S.) Because you're afraid. JAR JAR turns to see ANAKIN pushing his way next to him. The boy stands up to SEBULBA in a very self-assured way. ANAKIN (SUBTITLED) Chess ko, Sebulba...Coo wolpa tooney rana. (Careful, Sebulba...This one's very connected.) SEBULBA stops his assault on JAR JAR and turns to ANAKIN. SEBULBA (SUBTITLED) Tooney rana nu pratta dunko, shag. (Connected?? Whada you mean, slave?) ANAKIN (SUBTITLED) Oh da Hutt...cha porko ootman geesa...me teesa rodda co pana pee choppa chawa. (As in Hutt...big time outlander, this one... I'd hate to see you diced before we race again.) SEBULBA (SUBTITLED) Neek me chowa, wermo, mo killee ma klounkee (Next time we race, wermo, it will be the end of you!) Una noto wo shag, me wompity du pom pom. (If you weren't a slave, I'd squash you right now.) SEBULBA turns away. ANAKIN (SUBTITLED) Eh, chee bana do mullee ra. (Yeah, it'd be a pity if you had to pay for me.) QUI-GON, PADME and ARTOO arrive. ANAKIN Hi! Your buddy here was about to be turned into orange goo. He picked a fight with a Dug. An especially dangerous Dug called Sebulba. JAR JAR Nosir, nosir. Mesa hate crunchen. Dat's da last ting mesa wanten. QUI-GON Nevertheless, the boy is right... you were heading for trouble. Thank you, my young friend. PADME looks at ANAKINB and smiles; he smiles back. They start walking down the crowded street. JAR JAR Mesa doen nutten! ANAKIN Fear attracts the fearful. He was trying to overcome his fear by squashing you... be less afraid. PADME And that works for you. ANAKIN To a point. (he smiles) EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT - SPACESHIP - DAY OBI-WAN stands in front of the Naboo spacecraft as the wind picks up and begins to whip at his robe. Capt. Panaka exits the ship and joins him. OBI-WAN This storm's going to slow them down. CAPT. PANAKA It looks pretty bad. We'd better seal the ship. Capt. Panaka'S comlink sounds off. CAPT. PANAKA Yes? (listens) We'll be right there. EXT. MOS ESPA - STREET - FRUIT STAND - DAY ANAKIN and the GROUP stop at a fruit stand run by a jolly, but very poor, old lady named JIRA. ANAKIN How are you feeling today, Jira? JIRA The heat's never been kind to me, you know, Annie! ANAKIN Guess what? I've found that cooling unit I've been searching for. It's pretty beat up, but I'll have it fixed up for you in no time, I promise. JIRA You're a fine boy, Annie. ANAKIN I'll take four pallies today. (to Padme) You'll like these... ANAKIN reaches in his pocket and comes up with three coins. He drops one. QUI-GON picks it up, revealing for a moment, his lightsabre. ANAKIN Whoops, I thought I had more... Make thgat three, I'm not hungry. The wind picks up. SHOP OWNERS are starting to close up their shops as JIRA gives them their pallies. JIRA Gracious, my bones are aching... storm's coming on, Annie. You'd better get home quick. ANAKIN (to QUI-GON) Do you have shelter? QUI-GON We'll head back to our ship. ANAKIN Is it far? PADME On the outskirts. ANAKIN You'll never reach the outskirts in time... sandstorms are very, very dangerous. Come with me. Hurry! The GROUP follows ANAKIN as he rushes down the windy street. EXT. MOS ESPA - SLAVE QUARTERS - STREET - SANDSTORM - DAY The wind is blowing hard as QUI-GON, JAR JAR, and PADME follow ANAKIN down the street and into a slave hovel. INT. ANAKIN'S HOVEL - MAIN ROOM - DAY QUI-GON, JAR JAR, ARTOO, and PADME enter a small living space. ANAKIN Mom! Mom! I'm home. JAR JAR Dissen cozy. Anakin's mother, SHMI SKYWALKER, a warm, friendly woman of forty, enters from her work area and is startled to see the room full of people. SHMI Oh, my!! Annie, what's this? ANAKIN These are my friends, Mom. This is Padme, and...gee, I don't know any of your names. QUI-GON I'm Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is Jar Jar Binks. ARTOO lets out a little beep. PADME ...and our droid, Artoo-Detoo. ANAKIN I'm building a droid. You wanna see? SHMI Anakin! Why are they here? ANAKIN A sandstorm, Mom. Listen. The wind HOWLS outside. QUI-GON Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter. ANAKIN Come on! Let me show you Threepio! ANAKIN leads PADME into the other room. ARTOO follows, beeping all the way. QUI-GON takes five small capsules from his utility belt and hands them to SHMI. QUI-GON I have enough food for a meal. SHMI Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. I'm sorry if I was abrupt. I'll never get used to Anakin's surprises. QUI-GON He's a very special boy. SHMI looks at him as if he's discovered a secret. SHMI Yes, I know. INT. ANAKIN'S HOVEL - BEDROOM - DAY ANAKIN shows off his ANDROID, which is lying on his workbench. There is one eye in the head; the body, arms, and legs have no outer coverings. ANAKIN Isn't he great?! He's not finished yet. PADME He's wonderful! ANAKIN You reall like him? He's a protocol droid...to help Mom. Watch! ANAKIN pushes a switch, and the DROID sits up. Anakin rushes around, grabs an eye and puts it in one of the sockets. THREEPIO How do you do, I am See-Threepio, Human Cyborg Relations. How might I serve you? PADME He's perfect. ANAKIN When the storm is over, you can see my racer. I'm building a Podracer! PADME smiles at his enthusiasm. ARTOO lets out a flurry of beeps and whistles. THREEPIO I beg your pardon... what do you mean I'm naked? ARTOO BEEPS THREEPIO My parts are showing? Oh, my goodness. How embarrassing! INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - QUEENS CHAMBERS AMIDALA, EIRTAE, RABE, and OBI-WAN watch a very bad transmission of a SIO BIBBLE hologram. BIBBLE ...cut off all food supplies until you return... the death toll is catastrophic... we must bow to their wishes, Your Highness...Please tell us what to do! If you can hear us, Your Highness, you must contact me... AMIDALA looks upset...almost nervous. OBI-WAN It's a trick. Send no reply... Send no transmission of any kind. INT. ANAKIN'S HOVEL - MAIN ROOM - DAY QUI-GON listens to his comlink. OBI-WAN is in the cockpit. OBI-WAN ...the Queen is upset... but absolutly no reply was sent. QUI-GON It sounds like bait to establish a connection trace. OBI-WAN What if it is true and the people are dying? QUI-GON Either way, we're running out of time. EXT. CORUSCANT - BALCONY OVERLOOKING CITY - NIGHT DARTH SIDIOUS and DARTH MAUL look out over the vast city. DARTH MAUL Tatooine is sparsely populated. If the trace was correct, I will find them quickly, Master. DARTH SIDIOUS Move against the Jedi first... you will then have no difficulty taking the Queen back to Naboo, where she will sign the treaty. DARTH MAUL At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge. DARTH SIDIOUS You have been well trained, my young apprentice, they will be no match for you. It is too late for them to stop us now. Everything is going as planned. The Republic will soon be in my command. The hologram of DARTH MAUL fades off as DARTH SIDIOUS looks out over the city. EXT. MOS ESPA - SANDSTORM - DAY The giant sandstorm engulfs the town, including the Naboo spaceship on the outskirts of the city center, where Watto's ship is; and the slave quarters, where drifts of sand begin building up against Anakin's house. INT. ANAKIN'S HOVEL - MAIN ROOM - DAY QUI-GON, ANAKIN, SHMI, JAR JAR, and PADME are seated around a makeshift table, having dinner as the wind howls outside. JAR JAR slurps his soup rather loudly. Everyone looks at him. He turns a little brighter red. SHMI All slaves have transmitters placed inside their bodies somewhere. ANAKIN I've been working on a scanner to try and locate them, but no luck. SHMI Any attempt to escape... ANAKIN ...and they blow you up...poof! PADME and JAR JAR are horrified. JAR JAR How wude. PADME I can't believe there is still slavery in the galaxy. The Republic's anti- slavery laws... SHMI The Republic doesn't exist out here... we must survive on our own. An awkward silence. ANAKIN attempts to end the embarrassment. ANAKIN Have you ever seen a Podrace? PADME shakes her head no. She notices the concern of SHMI. JAR JAR snatches some food from a bowl at the other end of the table with his tongue. QUI-GON gives him a dirty look. QUI-GON They have Podracing on Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous. ANAKIN I'm the only human who can do it. SHMI looks at her son. ANAKIN Mom, what? I'm not bragging. It's true. Watto says he's never heard of a human doing it. QUI-GON You must have Jedi reflexes if you race Pods. ANAKIN smiles. JAR JAR attempts to snare another bit of food from the bowl with his tongue, but QUI-GON, in a flash, grabs it between his thumb and forefinger. JAR JAR is startled. QUI-GON Don't do that again. JAR JAR tries to acknowledge with some silly mumbling. QUI- GON lets go of the tongue, and it snaps back into JAR JAR's mouth. ANAKIN I... I was wondering... something... QUI-GON What? ANAKIN Well, ahhh... you're a Jedi Knight, aren't you? QUI-GON What makes you think that? ANAKIN I saw your laser sword. Only Jedi carry that kind of weapon. QUI-GON leans back and slowly smiles. QUI-GON Perhaps I killed a Jedi and stole it from him. ANAKIN I don't think so... No one can kill a Jedi Knight. QUI-GON I wish that were so... ANAKIN I had a dream I was a Jedi. I came back here and freed all the slaves... have you come to free us? QUI-GON No, I'm afraid not... ANAKIN I think you have... why else would you be here? QUI-GON thinks for a moment. QUI-GON I can see there's no fooling you... (leans forward) You mustn't let anyone know about us... we're on our way to Coruscant, the central system in the Republic, on a very important mission, and it must be kept secret. ANAKIN Coruscant... wow... how did you end up here in the outer rim? PADME Our ship was damaged, and we're stranded here until we can repair it. ANAKIN I can help! I can fix anything! QUI-GON I believe you can, but our first job is to aquire the parts we need... JAR JAR Wit no-nutten mula to trade. PADME These junk dealers must have a weakness of some kind. SHMI Gambling. Everything here revolves around betting on those awful races. QUI-GON Podracing... Greed can be a powerful ally.. if it's used properly. ANAKIN I've built a racer! It's the fastest ever... There's a big race tomorrow, on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod. It's all but finished... SHMI Anakin, settle down. Watto won't let you... ANAKIN Watto doesn't know I've built it. (to Qui-Gon)) You could make him think it's your's, and you could get him to let me pilot it for you. QUI-GON looks to SHMI. She is upset. SHMI I don't want you to race, Annie... It's awful. I die every time Watto makes you do it. ANAKIN But Mom, I love it... and they need help... they're in trouble. The prize money would more than pay for the parts they need. JAR JAR Wesa ina pitty bad goo. GUI-GON Your mother's right. Is there anyone friendly to the Republic who might be able to help us? SHMI shakes her head no. ANAKIN We have to help them, Mom...you said that the biggest problem in the universe is no one helps each other... SHMI Anakin, don't... JAR JAR belches. There is silence for a moment as they eat. PADME I'm sure Qui-Gon doesn't want to put your son in danger. We will find another way... SHMI No, Annie's right, there is no other way... I may not like it, but he can help you... he was meant to help you. ANAKIN Is that a yes? That is a yes! The storm continues to rage outside the slave hovel. EXT. MOS ESPA - JUNK DEALER PLAZA - DAY The storm has passed. VENDORS and STREET PEOPLE clean up the mess and rebuild their food stalls. JAR JAR sits on a box in front of Watto's parts shop, watching all the activity with growing nervousness. ARTOO is standing next to him. PADME stops QUI-GON as he is about to enter the shop. PADME Are you sure about this? Trusting our fate to a boy we hardly know. The Queen will not approve. QUI-GON The Queen does not need to know. PADME Well, I don't approve. QUI-GON turns and starts into the shop. INT. WATTO'S JUNK SHOP - DAY WATTO and ANAKIN are in the middle of an animated discussion in Huttese. WATTO Patta go bolla! ANAKIN No batta! WATTO Pedunky. Maa kee cheelya. ANAKIN Bayno, Bayno! QUI-GON walks in, and WATTO and ANAKIN join him. WATTO The boy tells me you wanta sponser hi insa race. You can't afford parts. How can you do this? Not on Republic credits, I think. (he laughs) QUI-GON My ship will be the entry fee. QUI-GON pulls a small object that looks like a watch out of his pocket, and a hologram of the Naboo spacecraft appears about a foot long in front of WATTO. He studies it. WATTO Not bad... not bad... a Nubian. QUI-GON It's in good order, except for the parts we need. WATTO ...but what would the boy ride? He smashed up my Pod in the last race. It will take some time to fix it. ANAKIN is embarrassed and steps forward. ANAKIN Ahhhh....it wasn't my fault really... Sebulba flashed me with his vent ports. I actually saved the Pod... mostly. WATTO (laughing)) That you did. The boy is good, no doubts there. QUI-GON I have... acquired a Pod in a game of chance. "The fastest ever built." WATTO I hope you didn't kill anyone I know for it. (laughs)) So, you supply the Pod and the entry fee; I supply the boy. We split the winnings fifty-fifty, I think. QUI-GON Fifty-fifty!?! If it's going to be fifty-fifty, I suggest you front the cash for the entry. If we win, you keep all the winnings, minus the cost of the parts I need... If we lose, you keep my ship. WATTO thinks about this. ANAKIN tries not to be nervous. QUI-GON Either way, you win. WATTO (SUBTITLED) Deal! Yo bana pee ho-tah, meedee ya. (Your friend is a follish one, methinks.) EXT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - TATOOINE DESERT - DAY OBI-WAN stands outside the Naboo spacecraft, speaking into his comlink. QUI-GON is on the back porch of the hovel. OBI-WAN What if this plan fails, Master? We could be stuck here for a long time. QUI-GON (V.O.) A ship without a power supply will not get us anywhere, and there is something about this boy... EXT. MOS ESPA - SLAVE QUARTERS - PORCH - DAY QUI-GON puts the comlink away as SHMI comes onto the porch PADME, ANAKIN, JAR JAR, and ARTOO work on the engines of the Podracer in the courtyard below. QUI-GON You should be proud of your son. He gives without any thought of reward. SHMI He knows nothing of greed. He has... QUI-GON He has special powers. SHMI Yes... QUI-GON He can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It is a Jedi trait. SHMI He deserves better than a slave's life. QUI-GON The Force is unusally strong with him, that much is clear. Who was his father? SHMI There was no father, that I know of... I carried him, I gave him birth... I can't explain what happened. Can you help him? QUI-GON I'm afraid not. Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early, and he would have become Jedi, no doubt...he has the way. But it's too late for him now, he's too old. EXT. MOS ESPA - SLAVE QUARTERS - BACK YARD - DAY KITSTER (a young boy about Anakin's age), SEEK (a boy of ten), AMEE (a girl of six), and WALD (a Greedo Type, six years old) join ANAKIN, JAR JAR, ARTOO, and PADME securing some wiring. ANAKIN Padme and Jar Jar, this is my friend Kitster, and Seek, Amee, and Wald. All whistle, hoot, and speak a greeting. KITSTER Wow, a real Astro Droid...how'd you get so lucky? ANAKIN This isn't the half of it. I'm entered in the Boonta Race tomorrow! KITSTER What? With this?? WALD (SUBTITLED) Annie, Jesko na joka. (You are such a joke, Annie.) AMEE You've been working on that thing for years. It's never going to run. SEEK Come on, let's go play ball. Keep it up, Annie, and you're gonna be bug squash. SEEK, WALD, and AMEE take off, laughing. JAR JAR is fiddling with one of the energy binder plates. ANAKIN Hey! Jar Jar! Stay away from those energy binders... JAR JAR Who, mesa? ANAKIN If your hand gets caught in that beam, it will go numb for hours. JAR JAR peeks at the energy plate; it makes a little electronic pop, zaps him in the mouth and jumps back. JAR JAR tries to say something, but his mouth is numb and his words are garbled. JAR JAR Ouch-dats muy bigo Oucho. (gibberish) KITSTER But you don't even know if this thing will run. ANAKIN It will. QUI-GON approaches the GROUP and gives ANAKIN a small battery. JAR JAR gets his hand caught in the afterburner and tries to tell Anakin, but can't get words out that make sense. QUI-GON I think it's time we found out. Use this power charge. ANAKIN Yes, sir!! ANAKIN jumps into the little capsule behind the two giant engines. He puts the power pack back into the dashboard. EVERYONE backs away, except for JAR JAR who calls for help. Finally PADME frees him and the engines ignite with a ROAR. EVERYONE cheers. EXT. MOS ESPA - SLAVE QUARTERS - PORCH - DAY SHMI, watching from the porch, smiles sadly. EXT. SLAVE QUARTERS - BALCONY - NIGHT ANAKIN sits on the balcony rail of his hovel as QUI-GON tends to a cut. The BOY leans back to look at the vast blanket of stars in the sky. QUI-GON Sit still, Annie. Let me clean this cut. ANAKIN There are so many! Do they all have a system of planets? QUI-GON Most of them. ANAKIN Has anyone been to them all? QUI-GON (laughs) Not likely. ANAKIN I want to be the first one to see them all... Ouch! QUI-GON wipes a patch of blood off ANAKIN'S arm. QUI-GON There, good as new... SHMI yells from inside the hovel. SHMI (O.S.) Annie, bedtime! QUI-GON scrapes ANAKIN's blood onto a comlink chip. ANAKIN What are you doing? QUI-GON Checking your blood for infections. ANAKIN I've never seen... SHMI (O.S.) Annie! I'm not goiung to tell you again! QUI-GON Go on, you have a big day tomorrow. (beat) Goodnight. ANAKIN rolls his eyes and runs into the hovel. QUI-GON takes the blood stained chip and inserts it into the comlink, then calls OBI-WAN. QUI-GON Obi-Wan... OBI-WAN Yes, Master. QUI-GON Make an analysis of this blood sample I'm sending you. OBI-WAN Wait a minute... QUI-GON I need a midi-chlorian count. OBI-WAN All right. I've got it. QUI-GON What are your readings? OBI-WAN Something must be wrong with the transmission. QUI-GON Here's a signal check. OBI-WAN Strange. The transmission seems to be in good order, but the reading's off the chart... over twenty thousand. QUI-GON (almost to himself) That's it then. OBI-WAN Even Master Yoda doesn't have a midi- chlorian count that high! QUI-GON No Jedi has. OBI-WAN What does it mean? QUI-GON I'm not sure. The JEDI KNIGHT looks up and sees SHMI in the doorway watching him. Embarrassed, she goes back into the kitchen while QUI-GON ponders the situation. EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT MESA - NIGHT The sinister looking Sith spacecraft lands on top of a desert mesa at dus, scattering a herd of banthas. DARTH MAUL walks to the edge of the mesa and studies the landscape with a pair of electrobinoculars. He picks out the lights of three different cities in the distance, then pushes buttons on his electronic armband. Six football-sized PROBE DROIDS float out of the ship and head off in three different directions toward the cities. DARTH MAUL stands on the mesa and watches them through his electrobinoculars. EXT. MOS ESPA - SLAVE QUARTERS - PORCH - SUNRISE Padme exits the hovel. EXT. MOS ESPA - SLAVE QUARTERS - BACK YARD - SUNRISE As the twin suns rise, ARTOO is busy painting the racing Pod. ANAKIN is asleep. PADME passes ARTOO. PADME I hope you're about finished. ARTOO whistles a positive reply. PADME sees KITSTER riding toward them on an EOPIE, a strange camel-lile creature. He is leading a second EOPIE behind him. PADME goes over to ANAKIN. He looks very vulnerable as he sleeps. She watches him, then touches him on the cheek. ANAKIN wakes up, yawns, and looks at her, a little puzzled. ANAKIN You were in my dream... you were leading a huge army into battle. PADME I hope not, I hate fighting. Your mother wants you to come in and clean up. We have to leave soon. ANAKIN stands up and stretches just as KITSTER arrives. ANAKIN Hook 'em up, Kitster. (to Padme)) I won't be long. Where's Qui-Gon? PADME He and Jar Jar left already. They're with Watto at the arena. EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - MAIN HANGER - DAY RACE CREWS mill about outside the Main Hanger. INT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - MAIN HANGER - DAY The hanger is a large building with a dozen or so Podracers being readied for the race. ALIEN CREWS and PILOTS rush about, making last minute fixes on their vehicles. WATTO, QUI-GON, and JAR JAR walk through the activity. WATTO ...I want to see your spaceship the moment the race is over. QUI-GON Patience, my blue friend. You'll have your winnings before the suns set, and we'll be far away from here. WATTO Not if your ship belongs to me, I think... I warn you, no funny business. QUI-GON You don't think Anakin will win? WATTO stops before an orange racer. Sitting to one side, having his shoulders and neck massaged by TWIN YOBANAS, is SEBULBA. WATTO Don't get me wrongo. I have great faith in the boy. He's a credit to your race, but Sebulba there is going to win, I think. QUI-GON Why? WATTO He always wins. (laughs) I'm betting heavily on Sebulba. QUI-GON I'll take that bet. WATTO (suddenly stops laughing) What??!! What do you mean? QUI-GON I'll wager my new racing pod against... say... the boy and his mother. WATTO A Pod for slaves. I don't think so... well, poerhaps. Just one...the mother, maybe...the boy isn't for sale. QUI-GON The boy is small, he can't be worth much. WATTO shakes his head. QUI-GON For the fastest Pod ever built?! WATTO shakes his head again. QUI-GON Both, or no bet. WATTO No Pod's worth two slaves... not by a long shot... one slave or nothing. QUI-GON The boy, then... WATTO pulls out a small cube from his pocket. WATTO We'll let fate decide. Blue it's the boy, red his mother... WATTO tosses the cube down. QUI-GON lifts his hand slightly; it turns blue. QUI-GON smiles. WATTO is angry. WATTO You won the small toss, outlander, bou you won't win the race, so... it makes little difference. ANAKIN and PADME enter the hanger on one of the EOPIES, pulling an engine. KITSTER, on the other EOPIE, is pulling another engine. With THREEPIO walking alongside, ARTOO trundles behind, pulling the Pod with SHMI sitting on it. WATTO passes ANAKIN as he leaves. WATTO (SUBTITLED) Bonapa keesa pateeso, o wanna meetee chobodd. (Better stop your friends betting, or I'll end up owning him, too.) WATTO walks off, laughing. ANAKIN What did he mean by that? QUI-GON I'll tell you later. ARTOO beeps at THREEPIO. THREEPIO Oh my! Space travel sounds rather perilous. ARTOO emits a series of beeps. THREEPIO I can assure you they will never get me onto one of those dreadful starships! KITSTER (to Anakin) This is so wizard! I'm sure you'll do it this time, Annie. PADME Do what? KITSTER Finish the race, of course! PADME You've never won a race? ANAKIN Well... not exactly... PADME Not even finished?! ANAKN looks sheepish. ANAKIN ...but Kitster's right, I will this time. QUI-GON Of course you will. EXT. MOS ESPA - STREET - DAY One of Darth Maul's PROBE DROIDS slowly floats down the main street of Tatooine. It looks in shops and studies PEOPLE as it searches for OBI-WAN, QI-GON, or the QUEEN. EXT. MOS ESPA - DESERT RACE ARENA - DAY An EXTREME HIGH WIDE ANGLE reveals a vast arena in the Tatooine desert. A large semi-circular amphitheatre that holds at least a hundred thousand people dominates the landscape. Large viewing platforms loom over the racetrack. INT. MOS ESPA - ARENA ANNOUNCER'S BOX - DAY (FX) A two-headed ANNOUNCER describes the scene. FODE/BEED A: Toogi! Toogie! (Greetings) Toong mee cha kulkah du Boonta magi! tah oos azalus ooval Poddraces. (We have perfect weather today for the Boonta classic. The most hazardous of all Podraces.) B : That's absolutly right. And a big turnout here, from all corners of the Outer Rim territories. I see the contestants are making their way out onto the starting grid. EXT. MOS ESPA - DESERT RACE ARENA - DAY On the left side of the tracks across from the grandstands, a line of Podracers emerges from the large hanger, surrounded by several CREW MEMBERS. Pods are pulled by a wide variety of CREATURES and are led by aliens carrying flags. The PILOTS stand facing the royal box. FODE/BEED (O.S.) A : La Yma beestoo (Yes, there they are!) B : I see Ben Quadinaros from the Tund system. A : ...eh Gasgano doowa newpa Ord Petrovia! (And Gasgano in thenew Ord Pedrovia.) B : Two time winner, Boles Roor... A : Poo tula moosta, woe grane champio Sebulba du Pixelito! Splastyleeya bookie ookie!! (On the front line the reigning champion, Sebulba from Pixelito. By far the favorite today.) B : And a late entry, Anakin Skywalker, a local boy. A : Wampa peedunkee unko ( I hope he has better luck this time.) B : I see the flaggers are moving onto the track. EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - GRANDSTAND - DAY Colorful canopies shade some of the SPECTATORS. VENDORS sell barbecued creature parts and colorful drinks. EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - ROYAL BOX - DAY (FX) All the PILOTS bow from the waist as JABBA THE HUTT enters the box and waves to the crowd. FODE/BEED A : O grandio lust, Jabba Du Hutt, amu intoe tah parena. (His honor, our glorious host, Jabba the Hutt has entered the arena.) The crowd ROARS. SEVERAL OTHER SLUG-LIKE HUTTS follow, along with humans and aliens. Several SLAVE GIRLS on a chain are led alongside JABBA. JABBA (SUBTITLED) Chowbaso! Tam ka chee Boonta rulee ya, kee madda hodrudda du wundee. (Welcome!) Sebulba tuta Pixelito... EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - STARTING GRID - DAY SEBULBA, who is right next to ANAKIN, stands and waves to his fans. A small pep band plays as his fans wave and cheer. KITSTER attaches the giant engins to Anakin's Pod with a long cable. SHMI gives ANAKIN a big hug and kiss. She looks him right in the eye. SHMI Be safe. ANAKIN I will, Mom. I promise. She leaves as ANAKIN checks the cable hitches. JABBA ...Mawhonic tuta Hok, Teemto Pagalies tuta Moonus Mandel, Anakin SKywalker tuta Tatoonine.... The CROWD YELLS. ANAKIN waves to the crowd, as JABBA continues with his introductions. SEBULBA moves over to one of Anakin's engines. KITSTER and JAR JAR unhitch the EOPIES, and KITSTER leads them away. ARTOO beeps that everything is OK. JAR JAR pats ANAKIN on the back. JAR JAR Dis berry loony, Annie. May da guds be kind, mesa palo. PADME comes up and gives ANAKIN a little kiss on the cheeek. SEBULBA bangs on a part protruding from Anakin's engine. He looks around to see if anyone has noticed. PADME You carry all our hopes. ANAKIN I won't let you down. PADME moves away as SEBULBA edges his way next to ANAKIN and gives him a sinister grin. SEBULBA Bazda wahota, shag. Dobiella Nok. Yoka to Bantha poodoo. (You won't walk away from this one, slave scum! You're Bantha poodoo.) ANAKIN (SUBTITLED) Cha skrundee da pat, sleemo. (Don't count on it, slime-ball.) ANAKIN looks the evil SEBULBA in the eye with a cold stare. QUI-GON approaches, and SEBULBA backs off toward his racer. JABBA (SUTITLED) ...Ka bazza kundee hodrudda! (...Let the challenge begin!) The CROWD lets out a LOUD CHEER. QUI-GON helps ANAKIN into his Pod. The boy straps himself into the tiny racer. QUI-GON Are you all set, Annie? (Anakin nods) Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel. Don't think. Trust your instincts. (he smiles) May the Force be with you. QUI-GON steps away as ANAKIN puts on his goggles. The PILOTS flip switches, and powerful energy binders shoot between the engines. ANAKIN flips a switch, and his engine starts. The incredible ROAR of high-powered engines igniting echoes throughout the arena. One driver, ODY MANDRELL, yells at a droid (DUM-4) to get away from the front of his engine. The crowd is tense. EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - STARTING GRID - DAY The giant power-house engines torque as the PILOTS gun them. The PILOTS flip switches, and poerful energy binders shoot between the engines. Aliens carrying large flags move off the track. JAR JAR covers his eyes. JAR JAR Mesa no watch. Dissen ganna be messy! FODE/BEED A : Ya pawa culka doe rundee! (The power couplings are being activated) B : Hey, it looks like they're clearing the grid. EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - VIEWING PLATFORM - DAY SHMI looks nervously to QUI-GON as he enters a veiwing platform. PADME and JAR JAR are already on board. The platform rises like an elevator. SHMI Is he nervous? QUI-GON He's fine. PADME You Jedi are far too reckless. The Queen... QUI-GON The Queen trusts my judgment, young handmaiden. You should too. PADME You assume too much. EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA ANNOUNCER'S BOX - DAY (FX) FODE/BEED B : Start your engines. The earth-pounding ROAR of the engines revving is deafening. EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - ROYAL BOX - DAY (FX) Jabba bites off the head of a frog and spits it at a gong, signaling the start of the race. EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - STARTING GRID - DAY On a bridge over the track, a great green light at the center flashes. The Podracers shoot forward with a high-pitches scream. ANAKIN'S engine floods and coughs - then dies. All the other Podracers except one swerve around him and dissapear down the track. The slave boy struggles to get his racer started. The two-headed announcer reports. FODE/BEED (O.S.) A : An dare ovv! (And they're off!) B : Oh...wait. Little Skywalker has stalled. PADME and JAR JAR are very dissapointed with ANAKIN. QUI-GON puts his arm around a very worried SHMI to comfort her. Finally, Anakin's engines ignite. He zooms away after the receeding pack of competitors, leaving one quadra-Pod racer still trying to get started. The two-headed ANNOUNCER describes the race as it progresses. FODE/BEED (O.S.) B : And there goes Skywalker... He'll be hard pressed to catch up with the leaders today. EXT. MOS ESPA - RACETRACK - DAY (FX) The Podracers fly across the desert. SEBULBA is running neck and neck with MAWHONIC. They round the first turn in the track, side by side. SEBULBA drives his Pod into his rival, forcing him into the wall of a large rock formation. MAWHONIC crashes in a spectacular display of fire and smoke. ANAKIN is much faster than the back-end stragglers and passes them easily. One of the drivers, GASGANO, won't let ANAKIN by. ANAKIN tries to pass him on one side and is cut off. He then tries to pass him on the other side ansd is cut off. As they come up on a cliff drop-off, ANAKIN backs off, then guns it as GASGANO goes over the cliff. ANAJIN accelerates so fast that he sails right over the top of GASGANO and speeds away. Four TUSKEN RAIDERS perched above the race course fire their rifles at the Pods racing in the canyon below them. One shot ricochets off the back of Anakin's Pod. FODE/BEED B : Looks like a few Tusken Riaders have campe out on the canyon dune turn. EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - VIEWING PLATFORM - DAY JABBA THE HUTT and the crowd watch the progress of the race on small, hand-held view screens. JAR JAR is looking over the shoulder of a strange alien named FANTA. JAR JAR Where's Skywalker? FANTA moves the view screen out of Jar Jar's view. PADME, SHMI, and QUI-GON watch another screen and look worried. ARTOO, down in the pits with KITSTER, lets out a worried sigh. The driver of the quadra-Pod looks worried. EXT. MOS ESPA - RACETRACK - DAY (FX) ANAKIN is powering around corners and over hills and cliffs, passing other racers right and left. SEBULBA is in the lead. He is being challenged by another racer, XELBREE. SEBULBA slows a little, and as XELBREE pulls alongside, he opens a side vent on the racer's engine and the exhaust starts to cut through the alien's engine. The blast cuts along the engine until finally it EXPLODES. SEBULBA deftly veers away. ANAKIN works his way through a dense mass of racers as they zoom over a dune sea, kicking up dust. His Pod shakes violently as he goes over a jump. One of the Podracers, ODY, catches one of his engines in the sand, and the whole thing EXPLODES. EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - VIEWING PLATFORM - DAY QUI-GON sits quietly, meditating. PADME and SHMI search the landscape for any sign of the racers. JAR JAR is still annoying FANTA for information. The crowd SCREAMS. WATTO is laughing with his friends, confident in Anakin's defeat. The quadra-Pod engines start just as the racers come around the corner. The DRIVER, BEN QUADINAROS, puts it in gear, and the four engines go off in all directions, EXPLODING in a spectacular display. The Pod drops to the ground as SEBULBA enters the arena, closely followed by all the OTHER RACERS. KITSTER strains to see as ARTOO beeps excitedly. The announcer continues. FODE/BEED (O.S.) B ; There goes Quadinaros' power couplings. A : Sebulba! Ka pa me cheespa wata! (Here comes Sebulba in record time.) QUI-GON, PADME, SHMI, and JAR JAR yell for joy as ANAKIN passes. JAR JAR is very nervous and pounds on the back of his alien neighbor, FANTA. JAR JAR What gooie-on? FANTA Bug off. Lap two. SEBULBA and the pack race past the main arena. The crowd stands and YELLS as the Podracers scream off into the distance. QUI-GON and PADME look worried. JAR JAR He musta crash-ud. PADME Here he comes! EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - PIT AREA - DAY (FX) ARTOO lets out an excited whistle, as KITSTER yells. THREEPIO : He has to complete two more circuits? Oh dear! EXT. MOS ESPA - RACETRACK - DAY (FX) Sure enough, coming around the bend is ANAKIN, quickly gaining on the pack. The two-headed announcer describes the action. The crowd goes wild. FODE/BEED (O.S.) B : It looks like Skywalker is moving up through the field. He's in... A : Steeth pa nagoola! (Sixth place, not bad.) ANAKIN continues to gain on the pack. Tension for SHMI and PADME is unbearable. ODY stops in the pits. Droids work on his engines. DUM-4 stands in front of the engine and is sucked in, causing the engine to die. DUM-4 is spit out the back of the engine, very bent up. The engine lets out one final wheeze, then EXPLODES in a puff of smoke. FODE/BEED (O.S.) A : Ody Mandrell! Coona wa wunda dunko! (Ody Mandrell into the pits for some attention.) ODY Droids! TERTER is getting close to SEBULBA, who purposely breaks a small part off his Pod, sending it into Terter's engine, causing him to veer into ANAKIN, and unhooks one of the main straps on Anakin's engines that links the Pod to his engines. ANAKIN struggles to keep control of the little Pod. It whips about wildly. As the Pod swings near the broken engine strap, ANAKIN grabs for it. Finally, he catches the strap and manages to unhook it to the Pod. SEBULBA cuts the engine of OBITOKI with his side exhaust, and the racer crashes with a cloud of dust. A THIRD RACER, HABBA, flie into the cloud of dust and crashes into OBITOKI. ANAKIN rounds a corner and heads into the cloud of smoke. He hits a part of one of the engines but regains control. FODE/BEED (O.S.) B :At the start of the third and final lap, Sebulba is in the lead, closely followed by Skywalker... ANAKIN finally catches up with SEBULBA, and runs neck and neck over the rough terrain. JAR JAR, QUI-GON, SHMI, and PADME all SCREAM s ANAKIN comes through the arena. The lights in the tower indicate that this is the third and last lap. WATTO begins to worry. SEBULBA uses his side exhaust port to try to cut through Anakin's engines. ANAKIN manages to avoid having his engine disabled but is forced off course. FODE/BEED (O.S.) B : Skywalker is forced onto the service ramp! A : Oh noah! On a tight corner, ANAKIN dives to the inside and takes the lead. FODE/BEED (O.S.) B : Amazing... a controlled thrust and he's back on course! What a move! SEBULBA is furious. He stay's right on Anakin's tail, crowding him and pushing him through the turns. SEBULBA pushes ANAKIN harder, and the young boy has a difficult time keeping control. One of the parts on Anakin's engines begins to shake loose. ANAKIN sees it and switches over to an auxiliary system. While he is trying to accomplish this maneuver, SEBULBA races past him. ANAKIN tries to get around SEBULBA, to no avail. Every move ANAKIN makes, SEBULBA is able to block. Finally, ANAKIN fakes a move into the inside as he usually does, then tries to go around SEBULBA on the outside. They race sid by side down the final stretch of the track. FODE/BEED (O.S.) B : He's catching Sebulba. A : Inkabunga. (Incredible!) SEBULBA veers toward ANAKIN and bangs into his Pod. He crashes into ANAKIN over and over. The young boy struggles to maintain control as the steering rods on the two Pods become hooked together. SEBULBA laughs at ANAKIN. FODE/BEED (O.S.) B : That little human being is out of his mind. A : Punda tah punda! (They're neck and neck!) B : They're side by side! A : Bongo du bongu! (Shoulder to shoulder!) As they head for the final stretch, ANAKIN fights to unlock the steering rods by trying to pull away from SEBULBA. The strain on the steering rod is tremendous. Suddenly, ANAKIN's steering arm breaks, and his Pos starts spinning. The release of tension sends SEBULBA into an ancient statue. One engine EXPLODES, then the other. SEBULBA skids through the fire-balls, blackened, but unhurt. He slides to a smoking stop, gets out of his racer, and throws what's left of a shifter arm on the ground. Suddenly he realizes his pants are on fire, and he struggles to put them out. ANAKIN flies through the EXPLOSION as the crowd stands, CHERRING. PADME and JAR JAR jump up and down with excitment, PADME screaming for joy. ARTOO and KITSTER whistle hysterically. QUI-GON and SHMI smile. ANAKIN races over the finish line, the winner. INT. MOS ESPA - ARENA ANNOUNCERS BOX - DAY (FX) The two-headed announcer excitedly calls the finish. FODE/BEED B : It's Skywalker! The crowd are going nuts! Oh Ah Oh Ah (rock head in tandem with partner) EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - DAY As ANAKIN stops the Podracer, KISTER turns up, and they embrace. Hundreds of SPECTATORS join them and put ANAKIN on their shoulders, marching off, CHEERING AND CHANTING. Darth Maul's PROBE DROIDS move through the crowd. INT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - PRIVATE BOX - DAY Several ALIENS leave Watto's box, laughing and counting their money. WATTO sees QUI-GON standing in the doorway. WATTO You! You swindled me! You knew the boy was going to win! Somehow you knew it! I lost everything. WATTO flies up to QUI-GON and puts his face right up against QUI-GON's. QUI-GON simply smiles. QUI-GON Whenever you gamble, my freind, eventually you'll lose. Bring the parts to the main hanger. I'll come by your shop later so you can release the boy. WATTO You can't have him! It wasn't a fair bet! QUI-GON Would you like to discuss it with the Hutts...I'm sure they can settle this. WATTO No, no! I want no more of your tricks! Take him! The SITH PROBE DROID watches with great interest. EXT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - MAIN HANGER - DAY The Main Hanger is almost deserted as RACERS depart. INT. MOS ESPA - ARENA - MAIN HANGER - DAY JAR JAR gives ANAKIN a great hug, then PADME gives him a hug, then SHMI. ANAKIN Ah, gee...enough of this... SHMI It's so wonderful, Annie. You have brought hope to those who have none. I'm so very proud of you... PADME We owe you everything. ANAKIN Just feeling this good was worth it. In the background, QUI-GON has harnessed the EOPIES to containers full of parts. QUI-GON Padme. Jar Jar, let's go, we've got to get these parts back to the ship. The GROUP walks over to QUI-GON and the EOPIES. PADME climbs on behind QUI-GON. JAR JAR swings up onto the second EOPIE, only to slwly slide off the other side. ARTOO whistles. ANAKIN and SHMI wave as they ride off. QUI-GON I'll return the eopies by midday. EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT - NABOO SPACECRAFT - DAY ARTOO cruises ahead of QUI-GON and PADME, who are riding one of the EOPIES; JAR JAR ridses the other. They stop in front of the sleek Naboo spacecraft. OBI-WAN comes out of the ship and joins them. QUI-GON Start getting this hyperdrive generator installed. I'm going back...some unfinished business. I won't be long. OBI-WAN Why do I sense we've picked up another pathetic life form...? QUI-GON It's the boy who's responsible for getting those parts. On a hill far overlooking the Naboo spacecraft, the SITH PROBE DROID turns and speeds away. EXT. TATOOINE - STREET - SLAVE QUARTERS - DAY ANAKIN and A GREEDO are rolling around on the floor, fighting. About A DOZEN OR SO KIDS are standing around them, yelling. Suddenly, a long shadow is cast over the TWO BOYS; they stop fighting and look up. QUI-GOMN is towering above them. KITSTER is with them. QUI-GON What's this? ANAKIN He said I cheated. QUI-GON Did you? ANAKIN No! QUI-GON Do you still think he cheated? GREEDO Yes. QUI-GON Well, Annie. You know the truth... You will have to tolerate his opinion, fighting won't change it. QUI-GON moves off down the street. Anakin follows. The GREEDO wanders over to WALD who has been watching the goings-on. WALD Keep this up, Greedo, and you're gonna come to a bad end. Farther down the street QUI-GON and ANAKIN head toward Anakin's hovel. QUI-GON takes a handful of credits from beneath his poncho and hands them to the boy. QUI-GON These are yours. We sold the Pod. ANAKIN (suddenly beaming)) Yes! INT. ANAKIN'S HOVEL - MAIN ROOM - DAY SHMI is cleaning up as ANAKIN bursts through the door, followed by QUI-GON. ANAKIN Mom, he sold the Pod. Look at all the money we have! ANAKIN pulls a bag of coins out of his pocket. SHMI Oh, my goodness, That's wonderful. QUI-GON And Anakin has been freed. ANAKIN What?!? QUI-GON You're no longer a slave. ANAKIN jumps for joy! SHMI is stunned. ANAKIN Did you hear that, Mom? (to Qui-Gon) Was that part of the prize, or what? QUI-GON Let's just say Watto has learned an important lesson about gambling. SHMI Now you can make your dreams come true, Annie. You're free! (turns to Qui-Gon) Will you take him with you? Is he to become a Jedi? QUI-GON Our meeting was not a coincidence. Nothing happens by accident. (to Anakin) You are strong with the Force, but you may not be accepted by the Coucil. ANAKIN A Jedi! Mighty blasters, you mean I get to go with you in your starship and everything?! QUI-GON kneels down to the boy. QUI-GON Anakin, training to be a Jedi will not be a easy challenge. And if you succeed, it will be a hard life. ANAKIN But it's what I want. What I've always dreamed about. Can I go, Mom?! QUI-GON This path has been placed for you, Annie; the choice to take it is yours alone. ANAKIN thinks, looks to his mother, then to QUI-GON. ANAKIN I want to go. QUI-GON Then, pack your things. We haven't much time. ANAKIN Yipee!! ANAKIN hugs his mom and starts for the other room, then stops. SHMI and QUI-GON give each other a knowing look. ANAKIN has realized something. ANAKIN What about Mom? Is she free too? You're coming, aren't you, Mom QUI-GON I tried to free your mother, Annie, but Watto wouldn't have it. ANAKIN But the money from selling... QUI-GON It's not nearly enough. SHMI comes over to her son and sits next to him. Taking both of his hands in hers, she draws him close. SHMI Son, my place is here. My future is here. It is time for you to let go... to let go of me. I cannot go with you. ANAKIN I want to stay with you. I don't want things to change. SHMI You can't stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting. Listen to your feelings; Annie, you know what's right. ANAKIN takes a deep breath, drops his head. QUI-GON and SHMI exchange a look of concern. When ANAKIN raises up, there are tears in his eyes. ANAKIN I'm going to miss you so much, Mom... SHMI I love you, Annie... now hurry. ANAKIN and SHMI hug. ANAKIN runs into the other room. SHMI Thank you. QUI-GON I will watch after him. You have my word. Will you be all right? SHMI He was in my life for such a short time. INT. ANAKIN'S HOVEL - SECOND ROOM - DAY ANAKIN has thrown the last of his things in a small backpack. As he leaves, he stops and pushes the button that wakes his droid up. THREEPIO stares at him blankly. ANAKIN Well, Threepio, I'm free...and I'm going away...in a starship... THREEPIO Master, Annie, you are my maker, and I wish you well. Although I'd like it better if I were a little less naked. ANAKIN I'm sorry I wasn't able to finish you, Threepio... give you coverings and all... I'm going to miss working on you. You've been a great pal. I'll make sure Mom doesn't sell you or anything. Bye. THREEPIO stares at ANAKIN as he rushes out of the room. THREEPIO Sell me?!? EXT. MOS ESPA - STREET - SLAVE QUARTERS - DAY KITSTER runs up to ANAKIN as he and QUI-GON exit Anakin's hovel. SHMI stands in the doorway. ANAKIN pulls a handful of coins out of his pocket and gives them to KITSTER. KITSTER There are so many of us who want you to stay, Annie... You're a hero. ANAKIN I... (looks to Shmi) I... have to go. QUI-GON has moved a short way down the street. KITSTER Well. ANAKIN Well. KITSTER Thank's for every moment you've been here. You're my best friend. ANAKIN I won't forget. ANAKIN hugs KITSTER and runs toward QUI-GON, then stops to look back at his mother standing in the doorway. He turns back to QUI-GON, then turns and runs back to his mother. ANAKIN (starting to cry) I can't do it, Mom. I just can't. SHMI hugs ANAKIN. QUI-GON watches from the distance. She kneels down and looks him in the face. SHMI Annie, remember when you climbed the great dune in order to chase the Banthas away so they wouldn't be shot... Remember how you collapses several times, exhausted thinking you couldn't do it? ANAKIN shakes his head. SHMI This is one of those times when you have to do something you don't think you can do. I know how strong you are, Annie. I know you can do this... ANAKIN Will I ever see you again? SHMI What does your heart tell you? ANAKIN I hope so...yes...I guess. SHMI Then we will see each other again. ANAKIN I.. will become a Jedi and I will come back and free you, Mom... I promise. SHMI No matter where you are, my love will be with you. Now be brave, and don't look back... don't look back. ANAKIN I love you so much. SHMI hugs ANAKIN, then turns him around so he is facing QUI- GON, and off he marches, like the brave little trooper that he is. He marches right past QUI-GON, starring right ahead, tears in his eyes, determined not to look back. EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT MESA - DAY The PROBE DROID beeps and whistles to DARTH MAUL. The SITH LORD gets on a speeder bike and follows the PROBE DROID into Mos Espa. EXT. MOS ESPA - STREET - FRUIT STAND - DAY ANAKIN and QUI-GON exit WATTO'S and stop before JIRA'S fruit stand. ANAKIN hands JIRA some coins. ANAKIN I've been freed, and I'm going away. Buy yourself a cooling unit with this... Otherwise I'll worry about you. JIRA is astonished. She stares, not knowing what to say. JIRA Can I give you a hug? ANAKIN Sure. She gives him a hug. JIRA I'll miss you, Annie... there isn't a kinder boy in the galaxy. You be careful... ANAKIN runs to join QUI-GON, who has already started down the street. As they walk along together, QUI-GON notices something out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, without breaking his stride, he ignites his laser sword, swing around, and lunges forward and cuts a lurking PROBE DROID in half. QUI-GON inspects the sparking and fizzing DROID. ANAKIN What is it? QUI-GON Probe droid. Very unusual... not like anything I've seen before. Come on. QUI-GON and ANAKIN start running. EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT - NABOO SPACECRAFT - DAY QUI-GON and ANAKIN run toward the Naboo spacecraft. ANAKIN is having a hard time keeping up. ANAKIN Master Qui-Gon,sir, wait! QUI-GON turns to answer and sees a DARK-CLOAKED FIGURE bearing down on a speeder bike. QUI-GON Anakin, drop! ANAKIN drops to the ground just as DARTH MAUL sweeps over him. DARTH MAUL jumps off his speeder bike, and before he has hit the ground, the Sith Lord has swund a death blow with his laser sword that is barely blocked by QUI-GON. ANAKIN picks himself up. The two galactic warriors, Sith and Jedi, are bashing each other with incredible blows. They move in a continual cloudof dust, smashing everything around them. This is a fierce fight. ANAKIN gets up, bewildered by the confrontation. QUI-GON Annie, get to the ship! Take off! Go! Go! QUI-GON struggles to fend off the relentless onslaught as ANAKIN races to the ship. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - HALLWAY ANAKIN runs into the main hallway of the spaceship, where PADME and Capt. Panaka are working. ANAKIN Qui-Gon's in trouble. He says to take off...now!! CAPT. PANAKA Who are you? PADME He's a friend. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - COCKPIT Capt. Panaka, ANAKIN, and PADME rush into the cockpit where OBI-WAN and RIC OLIE are checking the hyperdrive. CAPT. PANAKA Qui-Gon is in trouble, he says to take off! PILOT I don't see anything. OBI-WAN Over there! Fly low! In the distance is a small cloud of dust. EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT - NABOO SPACECRAFT - DAY QUI-GON and DARTH MAUL continue theirsword battle. Leaping over one another in an incredible display of acrobatics, the two warrios hear the ship fly over them a few feet off the ground. QUI-GON almost dissapears for a moment. Before DARTH MAUL knows what's happening, QUI-GON is on the spacecrat's ramp. EXT. TATOOINE - NABOO SPACECRAFT RAMP - DAY The SITH LORD immediately jumps onto the ramp after QUI-GON, but barely makes it. His heels hang over the edge of a forty- foot drop. QUI-GON swings his laser sword with all his might and knocks DARTH AMUL off the ramp and onto the desert floor. The ramp closes, and the Naboo craft rockets away, leaving the Sith Lord standing alone. EXT. SPACE - NABOO SPACECRAFT (FX) The sleek spacecraft rockets away from the planet Tatooine. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - HALLWAY ANAKIN and OBI-WAN rush into the hallway to find QUI-GON collapsed on the floor opposite the entry. ARTOO is looking over him. The JEDI is breathing hard, wet with sweat and covered in dirt. ANAKIN Are you all right? QUI-GON I think so... that was a surpirse I wont soon forget. OBI-WAN What was it? QUI-GON I don't know... but he was well trained in the Jedi arts. My guess is he was after the Queen... ANAKIN Do you think he'll follow us? QUI-GON We'll be safe enough once we're in hyperspace, but I have no doubt he knows our destination. ANAKIN What are we going to do about it? OBI-WAN gives ANAKIN a "who are you?" look. ANAKIN returns an innocent stare. QUI-GON We will be patient. Anakin Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi. ANAKIN Pleased to meet you. Wow! You're a Jedi too? OBI-WAN gives the boy a skeptical look. INT. COCKPIT - SPACE RIC OLIE pulls back on the hyperdrive. OBI-WAN, QUI-GON, and ANAKIN watch. QUI-GON Let's hope this hyperdrive works and Watto didn't get the last laugh. The stars streak outside the cockpit window. EXT. SPACE - NABOO SPACECRAFT (FX) The ship streaks into hyperspace. EXT. THEED - STREET - NIGHT (FX) SEVERAL FEDERATION DROIDS patrol a deserted city street. The Palace can be seen in the distance. INT. NABOO PALACE - THRONE ROOM - THEED - NIGHT NUTE sits in a strange, mechanical walking chair, which approaches SIO BIBBLE and SEVERAL OTHER NABOO OFFICIALS. RUNE follows a few paces behind. DROID GUARDS surround SIO BIBBLE and THE OTHERS as FOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS watch. NUTE When are you going to give up this pointless strike? Your Queen is lost, your people are starving, and you, Governor, are going to die, much sooner than your people, I'm afraid. Take him away! BIBBLE This invasion will gain you nothing. We're a democracy. The people have decided... They will not live under your tyranny. BIBBLE is taken away as OOM-9 approaches NUTE. OOM-9 My troops are in position to begin searching the swamps for these rumored underwater villages... they will not stay hidden for long. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - MAIN AREA The ship is asleep. The lights are dim as PADME walks into the main room. She goes to a monitor and watches the BIBBLE plea recording. JAR JAR is stretched out on the floor, snoring. ARTOO is to one side, cooing as he rests. PADME appears tired. She senses someone watching her and turns around with a start. She sees ANAKIN sitting in the corner, shivering and looking verydejected. She goes over to him. He looks up at her with tears in his eyes. He is holding his arms to keep himself warm. PADME Are you all right? ANAKIN It's very cold. PADME gives him her over-jacket. PADME You're from a warm planet, Annie. Too warm for my taste. Space is cold. ANAKIN You seem sad. PADME The Queen is...worried. Her people are suffering...dying. She must convince the Senate to intervene, or...I'm not sure what will happen. ANAKIN I'm...I'm not sure what's going to happen to me. I dunno if I'll ever see you again.. (he pulls something from his pocket) I made this for you. Sou you'd remember me. I carved it out of a japor snippet... It will bring you good fortune. ANAKIN hands a wooden pendant to PADME. She inspects it, then puts it around her neck. PADME It's beautiful, but I don't need this to remember you. Many things will change when we reach the capital, Annie. My caring for you will always remain. ANAKIN I care for you too. Only I...miss... ANAKIN is disturbed about something. Tears are in his eyes. PADME ...You miss your mother. ANAKIN looks at her, unable to speak. She hugs him. EXT. SPACE - PLANET CORUSCANT (FX) MOVE with the ship as it heads toward Coruscant. INT. CORUSCANT - CITYSCAPE - NABOO SPACECRAFT - DAY (FX) The spacecraft dlies over the endlesscityscape of Coruscant, the capital of the galaxy. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - COCKPIT ANAKIN looks out the cockpit window in awe. RIC OLIE Coruscant...the capital of the Republic...the entire planet is one big city. ANAKIN Wow! It's so huge! INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - DAY (FX) The ship flies through the cityscape of Coruscant. EXT. CORUSCANT - SENATE LANDING PLATFORM - DAY Supreme Chancellor VALORUM, SEVERAL GUARDS, and SENATOR PALPATINE stand on a landing platform. The sleek Naboo spacecraft lands on the platform high above the street level of the galactic capital. The ramp lowers. OBI-WAN, QUI-GON, JAR JAR and ANAKIN descend the ramp first and bow before PALPATINE and VALORUM. Capt. Panaka, TWO GUARDS, QUEEN AMIDALA, then PADME, RABE, EIRTAE, and MORE GUARDS descend the ramp. QUEEN AMIDALA stops before the group. ANAKIN and JAR JAR stand to one side, looking at the huge city. PADME smiles at ANAKIN. PALPATINE bows before the Queen. PALPATINE It is a great gift to see you alive, Your Majesty. May I present Supreme Chancellor Valorum. VALORUM Welcome, Your Highness. It is an honor to finally meet you in person. I must relay to you how distressed everyone is over the currant situation. I've called for a special session of the Senate to hear your position. AMIDALA I am grateful for your concern, Chancellor. PALPATINE starts to lead QUEEN AMIDALA and her RETINUE off the platform toward a waiting air taxi. PALPATINE There is a question of precedure, but I feel confident we can overcome it... JAR JAR and ANAKIN start to follow, then stop, noticing that OBI-WAN and QUI-GON are staying with the SUPREME CHANCELLOR. QUEEN AMIDALA waves to the duo to follow her. ANAKIN looks back to QUI-GON, and he nods to go ahead. ANAKIN and JAR JAR join the QUEEN, PALPATINE, PADME, RABE and EIRTAE in the taxi. PALPATINE gives the Gungan and the boy in the back of the taxi a skeptical look. JAR JAR leans over to ANAKIN. JAR JAR Da Queens- a bein grossly nice, mesa tinks. (he looks around) Pitty hot! VALORUM and the JEDI watch the taxi move off into the city. QUI-GON I must speak with the Jei Council immediately, Your Honor. The situation has become more complicated. INT. PALPATINE'S QUARTERS - ANTEROOM - DAY QUEEN AMIDALA is sitting listening to PALPATINE. EIRTAE and RABE stand behind the QUEEN; PADME is nowhere to be sen. ANAKIN and JAR JAR are waiting in an adjoining room. They can see the Queen but cannot hear what is being said. JAR JAR Dissen all pitty odd to my. ANAKIN Don't look at me. I don't know what's going on. Capt. Panaka enters, then goes into the room with QUEEN AMIDALA. INT. PALPATINE'S QUARTERS - LIVING AREA - DAY PALPATINE is pacing as Capt. Panaka enters. EIRTAE and RABE stand to one side. PALPATINE ...the Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates who are only looking out for themselves and their home sytems. There is no interest in the common good...no civility, only politics...its disgusting. I must be frank, Your Majesty, there is little chance the Senate will act on the invasion. AMIDALA Chancellor Valorum seems to think there is hope. PALPATINE If I may say so, Your Majesty, the Chancellor has little real power...he is mired down by baseless accusations of corruption. A manufactured scandal surrounds him. The bureaucrats are in charge now. AMIDALA What options do we have? PALPATINE Our best choice would be to push for the election of a stronger Supreme Chancellor. One who will take control of the bureaucrats, enforces the laws, and give us justice. You could call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum. AMIDALA He has been our strongest supporter. Is there any other way? PALPATINE Our only other choice would to be to submit a plea to the courts... AMIDALA There's no time for that. The courts take even longer to decide things than the Senate. Our people are dying, Senator...more and more each day. We must do something quickly to stop the Federation. PALPATINE To be realistic, Your Highness, I'd say we're going to have to accept Federation control for the time being. AMIDALA There is something I cannot do. EXT. TEMPLE OF THE JEDI - DAY (FX) A unique building with it tall spires stands out against the Coruscant skyline. A small transport passes by the vast temple. INT. TEMPLE OF THE JEDI - COUNCIL CHAMBERS - DAY QUI-GON stands in a tall stately room. Twelve JEDI sit in a semi-circle. OBI-WAN stands behind QUI-GON in the center of the room. The Senior Jedi is MACE WINDU. To his left is an alien Jedi named KI-ADI-MUNDI, and to his right, the Jedi Master, YODA. QUI-GON ...my only conclusion can be that it was a Sith Lord. MACE WINDU A Sith Lord?!? KI-ADI Impossible! The Sith have been extinct for a millenium. YODA The very Republic is threatened, if involved the Sith are. MACE WINDU I do not believe they could have returned without us knowing. YODA Hard to see, the dark side is. Discover who this assassin is, we must. KI-ADI I sense he will reveal himself again. MACE WINDU This attack was with purpose, that is clear, and I agree the Queen is the target. YODA With this Naboo queen you must stay, Qui-Gon. Protect her. MACE WINDU We will use all our resources here to unravel this mystery and discover the identity of your attacker... May the Force be with you. YODA May the Force be with you. OBI-WAN turns to leave, but QUI-GON continues to face the Council. YODA Master Qui-Gon more to say have you? QUI-GON With your permission, my Master. I have encountered a vergence in the Force. YODA A vergence, you say? MACE WINDU Located around a person? QUI-GON A boy... his cells have the highest concentration of midi-chlorians I have seen in a life form. It is possible he was conceived by the midi-chlorians. MACE WINDU You're referring to the prophesy of the one who will bring balance to the Force...you believe it's this boy?? QUI-GON I don't pressume... YODA But you do! Rrevealed your opinion is. QUI-GON I request the boy be tested. The JEDI all look to one another. They nod and turn back to OBI-WAN and QUI-GON. YODA Trained as a Jedi, you request for him? QUI-GON Finding him was the will of the Force...I have no doubt of that. There is too much happening here... MACE WINDU Bring him before us, then. YODA Tested he will be. INT. QUEENS QUARTERS - CORUSCANT - DAY Anakin, tentative, walks down one of the long hallways in Senator Palpatine's quarters. He stops before a dor that is flanked by TWO GUARDS. GUARD May I help you, son? ANAKIN I'm...I'm looking for the handmaiden, Padme. The GUARD speaks into his comlink as ANAKIN looks around a bit nervously. GUARD The boy is here to see Padme. RABE Send him in. The doors open, and ANAKIN enters the Queen's quarters. RABE greets ANAKIN as TWO OTHER HANDMAIDENS come and go into the next room. ANAKIN I'd like to speak with Padme, if I could. RABE I'm sorry, Annie. Padme is not here right now. The Queen speaks out in the next room. AMIDALA (O.S.) Who is it? RABE Anakin Skywalker, to see Padme, Your Highness. The QUEEN moves into the doorway and studies ANAKIN. ANAKIN bows and looks down, then takes a peek at her. AMIDALA I've sent Padme on an errand. ANAKIN I'm going to the Jedi temple to start my training, I hope. The QUEEN just stares at him. ANAKIN I may not see her again... and... I just wanted to say goodbye. AMIDALA We will tell her for you. We're sure her heart goes with you. ANAKIN bows again. ANAKIN Thank you, Your Highness. I'm sorry to have disturbed you. The QUEEN dissapears behind the doorway, and ANAKIN exits. EXT. CORUSCANT - GALACTIC SENATE BUILDING - DAY (FX) A large, distinctive looking domed building stands out amid the cityscape of Coruscant. INT. MAIN ROTUNDA - GALACTIC SENATE - DAY The Senate chambers are huge. Thousands of SENATORS and their AIDES sit in the circular assembly area. CHANCELLOR VALORUM sits in an elevated area in the center. Hindreds of AIDES and DROIDS hurry about. SENATOR PALPATINE, QUEEN AMIDALA, EIRTA, RABE, and Capt. Panaka sit in the Naboo congressional box, which is actually a floating platform. PALPATINE leans over to the QUEEN. PALPATINE If the Federation moves to defer the motion...Your Majesty, Ibeg of you to ask for a resolution to end this congressional session. AMIDALA I wish I had your confidence in this, Senator. PALPATINE You must force a new election for Supreme Chancellor... I promise you there are many who will support us... it is our best chance... Your Majesty, our only, chance. AMIDALA You truely believe Chancellor Valorum will not bring our motion to a vote? PALPATINE He is distracted...he is afraid. He will be of no help. VALORUM The Chair recognizes the Senator from the sovereign system of Naboo. The Naboo congressional box floats into the center. PALPATINE Supreme Chancellor, delegates of the Senate. A tragedy has occured on our peaceful system of Naboo. We have become caugt in a dispute you're all well aware of, which began right here with the taxation of trade routes, and has now engulfed our entire planet in the oppresion of the Trade Federation. A second box rushes into the center of the Senate. It is filled with Federation trade barons led by LOTT DOD, the Senator for the Federation. LOTT DOD This is outrageous! I object to the Senator's statements! VALORUM The Chair does not recognize the Senator from the Trade Federation at this time. Please return to your station. LOTT DOD reluctantly moves back to his place. PALPATINE To state our allegations, I present Queen Amidala, the recently elected ruler of Naboo, to speak on our behalf. QUEEN AMIDALA stands and addresses the assembly. There is some applause. AMIDALA Honorable representatives of the Republic, distinguished delegates, and Your Honor Supreme Chancellor Valorum, I come to you under the gravest of circumstances. The Naboo system has been invaded by force. Invaded...against all the laws of the Republic by the Droid Armies of the Trade... LOTT DOD I object! There is no proof. This is incredible. We recommend a commision be sent to Naboo to assertain the truth. VALORUM Overruled. LOTT DOD Your Honor, you cannot allow us to be condemned without reasonable observation. It's against all the rules of procedure. A third box representing Malastare moves into the center of the room. AKS MOE, the Ambassador, addresses the convention. AKS MOE The Congress of Malastare concurs with the honorable delegate from the Trade Federation. A commision must be appointed...that is the law. VALORUM The point... VALORUM confers with several of his AIDES and VICE CHAIRMAN MAS AMEDDA. PALPATINE whispers something to the QUEEN. PALPATINE Enter the bureaucrats, the true rulers of the Republic, and on the payroll of the Trade Federation, I might add. This is where Chancellor Valorum's strength will dissapear. VALORUM The point is conceded...Section 523A take precedence here. Queen Amidala of the Naboo, will you defer your motion to allow a commission to explore the validity of your accusations? QUEEN AMIDALA is angry but remains composed. AMIDALA (angrily) I will not defer... I have come before you to resolve this attack on our sovereignty now. I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee. If this body is not capable of action, I suggest new leadership is needed. I move for a "vote of no confidence"...in Chancellor Valorum's leadership. VALORUM What?...No! This causes a great stir in the assembly. A loud mumur cresendos into a roar of approval and jeers. CHANCELLOR VALORUM is stunned and stands speechless. His Vice Chair, MAS AMEDDA, takes over. MAS AMEDDA Order! We shall have order... Things settledown a little. The Federation box settles next to AMIDALA. PRINCE BAIL ORGANA moves his box into the arena. BAIL ORGANA Alderaan seconds the motion for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum. MAS AMEDDA The motion has been seconded by Bail Organa of Alderaan. MAS AMEDDA turns to the confused VALORUM, and whispers something to him. BAIL ORGANA There must be no delays. The motion is on the floor and must be voted upon in this session. LOTT DOD The Trade Federation moves the motion be sent to the procedures committee for study. The assembly begins to chant. VALORUM talks to MAS AMEDDA. ASSEMBLY Vote now! Vote now! Vote now! PALPATINE stands next to AMIDALA. PALPATINE You see, Your Majaesty, the tide is with us... Valorum will be voted out, I assure you, and they will elect in a new Chancellor, a strong Chancellor, one who will not let our tragedy continue... MAS AMEDDA The Supreme Chancellor requests a recess. Tomorrow we will begin the vote. The Federation delegation is furious. VALORUM turns to PALPATINE. VALORUM Palpatine, I thought you were my ally...my friend. You have betrayed me! How could you do this? EXT. PALACE OF THE JEDI - BALCONY - SUNSET OBI-WAN and QUI-GON stand outside the palace on a balcony. OBI-WAN The boy will not pass the Council's tests, Master, and you know it. He is far too old. QUI-GON Anakin will become A Jedi... I promise you. OBI-WAN Don't defy the Council, Master..not again. QUI-GON I will do what I must. OBI-WAN Master, you could be sitting on the Council by now if you would just follow the code. They will not go along with you this time. QUI-GON You still have much to learn, my young apprentice. INT. PALACE OF THE JEDI - COUNCIL CHAMBERS - SUNSET ANAKIN stands before the TWELVE JEDI. MACE WINDU holds a small hand-held viewing screen. In rapid succession, images flash across the screen. ANAKIN A ship...a cup...a speeder. MACE WINDU turns the viewing screen off and nods toward YODA. YODA Good, good, young one. How feel you? ANAKIN Cold, sir. YODA Afraid are you? ANAKIN No, sir. MACE WINDU Afraid to give up your life? ANAKIN I don't think so. ANAKIN hesitates for a moment. YODA See through you, we can. MACE WINDU Be mindful of your feelings... KI-ADI YOur thoughts dwell on your mother. ANAKIN I miss her. YODA Afraid to lose her..I think. ANAKIN (a little angry) What's that got to do with anything? YODA Eveything. Fear is the path to the dark side... fear leads to anger... anger leads to hate.. hate leads to suffering. ANAKIN (angrily) I am not afraid! YODA A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. I sense much fear in you. ANAKIN (quietly) I am not afraid. YODA Then continue, we will. INT. PALPATINES QUARTERS - SUNSET QUEEN AMIDALA is standing, staring out the window, with JAR JAR. The lights of the city shimmer before them. EIRTAE and SABE stand near the door. JAR JAR turns to face the QUEEN and sees her sadness. JAR JAR Mesa wonder why da guds invent pain? AMIDALA To motivate us, I imagine... JAR JAR Yousa tinken yousa people ganna die? AMIDALA I don't know. JAR JAR Gungans ganna get pasted too, eh? AMIDALA I hope not. JAR JAR Gungans do die'n without a fight.... wesa warriors. Wesa gotta grand army. Dat why you no liken us, metinks. PALPATINE and Capt. Panaka rush into the rom and bow before the QUEEN. CAPT. PANAKA Your Highness, Senator Palpatine has been nominated to succeed Valorum as Supreme Chancellor. PALPATINE A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. I promise, Your Majesty, if I am elected, I will bring democracy back to the Republic. I will put an end to corruption. The Trade Fedreation will lose its influence over the bureaucrats, and our people will be freed. AMIDALA Who else can be nominated? CAPT. PANAKA Bail Antilles of Alderaan and Ainlee Teem of Malastare. PALPATINE I feel confident...our "situation" will create a strong sympaphy vote for us... I will be Chancellor, I promise you. AMIDALA I fear by the time you have control of the bureaucrats, Senator, there will be nothing left of our cities, our people, our way of life... PALPATINE I understand your concern, Your Majesty; unfortunately, the Federation has possession of our planet. The law is in their favor. AMIDALA With the Senate in transition, there is nothing more I can do here...Senator, this is your arena. I feel I must return to mine. I have decided to go back to Naboo. My place is with my people. PALPATINE Go back!! But, Your Majesty, be realistic! You would be in danger. They will force you to sign the treaty. AMIDALA I will sign no treaty, Senator. My fate will be no different from that of our people. Captain! CAPT. PANAKA Yes, Your Highness? AMIDALA Ready my ship! CAPT. PANAKA Please, Your Majesty, stay here...where it's safe. AMIDALA No place is safe, if the Senate doesn't condemn this invasion. It is clear to me now that the Republic no longer functions as a democracy. If you win the election, Senator, I know you will do everything possible to stop the Federation. I pray you will bring sanity and compassion back to the Senate. AMIDALA and her RETINUE exit the room. PALPATINE has a self- satisfied smile on his face. INT. TEMPLE OF THE JEDI - COUNCIL CHAMBERS - TWILIGHT ANAKIN, OBI-WAN, and QUI-GON stand before the TWELVE MEMBERS OF THE JEDI COUNCIL. YODA ...Correct you were, Qui-Gon. MACE WINDU His cells contain a high concentration of midi-chlorians. KI-ADI The Force is strong with him. QUI-GON He's to be trained, then. The COUNCIL MEMBERS look to one another. MACE WINDU No. He will not be trained. ANAKIN is crestfallen; tears begin to form in his eyes. QUI-GON No??!! OBI-WAN smiles. MACE WINDU He is too old. There is already too much anger in him. QUI-GON He is the chosen one...you must see it. YODA Clouded, this boy's future is. Masked by his youth. QUI-GON I will train him, then. I take Anakin as my Padawan learner. OBI-WAN reacts with surprise. ANAKIN watches with interest. YODA An apprentice, you have, Qui-Gon. Impossible, to take on a second. MACE WINDU We forbid it. QUI-GON Obi-Wan is ready... OBI-WAN I am ready to face the trials. YODA Ready so early, are you? What know you of ready? ANAKIN watches as QUI-GON and OBI-WAN exchange angry looks. QUI-GON Headstrong....and he has much to learn about the living Force, but he is capabe. There is little more he will learn from me. YODA Our own council we will keep on who is ready. More to learn, he has... MACE WINDU Now is not the time for this...the Senate is voting for a new Spreme Chancellor. Queen Amidala is returning home, which will put pressure on the Federation, and could widen the confrontation. YODA And draw out the Queen's attacker. KI-ADI Events are moving fast...too fast. MACE WINDU Go with the Queen to Naboo and discover the identity of the dark warrior. That is the clue we need to unravel this mystery of the Sith. YODA Young Skywalker's fate will be decided later. QUI-GON I brought Anakin here; he must stay in my charge. He has nowhere else to go. MACE WINDU He is your ward, Qui-Gon...we will not dispute that. YODA Train him not. Take him with you, but train him not! MACE WINDU Protect the Queen, but do not intercede if it comes to war until we have the Senate's approval. YODA May the Force be with you. OBI-WAN, QUI-GON, and ANAKIN leave. EXT. CORUSCANT - SENATE LANDING PLATFORM - NIGHT QUI-GON, OBI-WAN, and ANAKIN stand on the landing platform outside the ship. ARTOO whistles a happy tune as he leans over the edge of the platform, watching the traffic. Suddenly, he leans over too far and falls overboard. After a moment, he reappears, using his on-board jets to propel himself back onto the landing platform. The wind whips at ANAKIN as he listens to the JEDI. OBI-WAN It is not disrespect, Master, it is the truth. QUI-GON From your point of view.... OBI-WAN The boy is dangerous...they all sense it. Why can't you? QUI-GON His fate is uncertain, not dangerous. The Council will decide Anakin's future...that should be enough for you. Now get on board! OBI-WAN reluctantly boards the Naboo spacecraft followed by ARTOO. QUI-GON goes over to ANAKIN. ANAKIN Master Qui-Gon, sir, I do not wish to be a problem. QUI-GON You won't be, Annie....I'm not allowed to train you, so I want you to watch me and be mindful...always remember, your focus determines your reality. Stay close to me and you will be safe. ANAKIN Master, sir... I've been wondering... what are midi-chlorians? QUI-GON Midi-chlorians are a microcopic lifeform that reside within all living cells and communicates with the Force. ANAKIN They live inside of me? QUI-GON In your cells. We are symbionts with the midi-chlorians. ANAKIN Symbionts? QUI-GON Life forms living together for mutual advantage. Without the midi-chlorians, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. They continually speak to you, telling you the will of the Force. ANAKIN They do?? QUI-GON When you learn to quiet your mind, you will hear them speaking to you. ANAKIN I don't understand. QUI-GON With time and training, Annie...you will. Two taxis pull up, and Capt. Panaka, SENATOR PALPATINE, TWENTY OR SO TROOPS, GUARDS, and OFFICERS walk briskly toward the ship, followed by QUEEN AMIDALA, PADME, EIRTAE, and finally, JAR JAR. AMIDALA and her HANDMAIDENS stop before the JEDI. QUI-GON Your Highness, it is our pleasure to continue to serve and protect you. AMIDALA I welcome your help. Senator Palpatine fears the Federation means to destroy me. QUI-GON I promise you, I will not let that happen. AMIDALA enters the ship, followed by her HANDMAIDENS. JAR JAR hugs QUI-GON and ANAKIN. JAR JAR Wesa goen home! They ALL move onto the ship. The ship takes off. INT. NABOO PALACE - THRONE ROOM - THEED - NIGHT NUTE and RUNE stand before a hologram of DARTH SIDIOUS. DARTH SIDIOUS The Queen is on her way to you. I regret she is of no further use to us. When she gets there, destroy her. NUTE Yes, my Lord. DARTH SIDIOUS Viceroy, is the planet secure? NUTE Yes, my Lord, we have taken over the last pockets of primitive life forms. We are in complete control of the planet now. DARTH SIDIOUS Good. I will see to it that in the Senate, things stay as they are. I am sending Darth Maul to join you. He will deal with the Jedi. NUTE Yes, my Lord. DARTH SIDIOUS fades off. RUNE A Sith lord here with us?!! INT. SPACE - NABOO SPACECRAFT COCKPIT ANAKIN stands next to the PILOT, RIC OLIE, pointing to various buttons and gauges. ANAKIN ...and that one? RIC OLIE The forward stabalizer. ANAKIN And those control the pitch? RIC OLIE You catch on pretty quick. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - QUEEN'S CHAMBERS SABE and EIRTAE stand behind QUEEN AMIDALA as she talks with QUI-GON and Capt. Panaka. OBI-WAN and JAR JAR watch. CAPT. PANAKA The moment we land the Federation will arrest you, and force you to sign the treaty. QUI-GON I agree... I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish by this. AMIDALA I'm going to take back what's ours. CAPT. PANAKA There are only twelve of us, Your Highness....we have no army. QUI-GON I cannot fight a war for you, Your Highness, only protect you. AMIDALA Jar Jar Binks! JAR JAR looks around, puzzled. JAR JAR Mesa, Your Highness? AMIDALA Yes. I need your help. INT. NABOO CRUISER COCKPIT - DAY The Naboo Cruiser heads toward the lush green planet. There is only one Federation battle cruiser orbiting. OBI-WAN and Capt. Panaka spot it on the view screen. PANAKA The blockade's gone. OBI-WAN The war's over...No need for it now. RIC OLIE I have one battleship on my scope. OBI-WAN A droid control ship. PANAKA They've probably spotted us. OBI-WAN We haven't much time. INT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - MAIN HOLD The QUEEN, Capt. Panaka, TROOPS, and HANDMAIDENS get ready to disembark as the ship alnds. The elevator door slides open, and ANAKIN emerges into the hold area. He see PADME and run up to her. ANAKIN Hi! Where have you been? PADME Annie! What are you doing here? ANAKIN I'm with Qui-Gon... but... they're not going to let me be a Jedi. I'm too old. PADME This is going to be dangerous, Annie. ANAKIN Is it? I can help... Where are we going? PADME To war, I'm afraid. The Queen has had to make the most difficuld decision of her life. She doesn't believe in fighting, Annie. We are a peaceful people... ANAKIN I want to help...I'm glad you're back. ANAKIN smiles. PADME smiles back. EXT. NABOO SWAMP - DAY The Naboo spacecraft has landed in the Gungan swamp. TROOPS unload the ships in the background as OBI-WAN approaches QUI- GON. OBI-WAN Jar Jar is on his way to the Gungan city, Master. QUI-GON's thoughts are elsewhere. QUI-GON Good. OBI-WAN and QUI-GON stand silently for a moment. OBI-WAN Do you think the Queen's idea will work? QUI-GON The Gungans will not easily be swayed, and we cannot use our power to help her. OBI-WAN I'm... I'm sorry for my behavior, Master. It is not my place to disagree with you about the boy. I am grateful you think I am ready for the trials. QUI-GON looks at him for a long moment. QUI-GON You have been a good apprentice. You are much wiser than I am, Obi-Wan. I foresee you will become a great Jedi Knight. EXT. NABOO SWAMP - UNDERWATER - DAY (FX) JAR JAR swims down into Bubble City. INT. OTOH GUNGA - CITY SQUARE JAR JAR enters the main square of the bubble city. He stands, stunned, in amazement and fear. He is nervous and shaking. JAR JAR Ello! Where das everybody? The plaza is empty. He notices that many of the buildings are shot up as if there had been a battle of some kind. EXT. NABOO SWAMP LAKE - DAY JAR JAR exits the swamp lake and walks over to QUEEN AMIDALA, Capt. Panaka, OBI-WAN, and QUI-GON. PADME, EIRTAE, RABE, ANAKIN, and ARTOO, FOUR PILOTS, and EIGHT GUARDS stand in the background near the starship. JAR JAR Dare-sa nobody dare. All gone. Some kinda fight, I tink. Sorry, no Gungas...no Gungas. CAPT. PANAKA Do you think they have been taken to camps? OBI-WAN More likely they were wiped out. JAR JAR No... mesa no tink so. Gungan hiden. When in trouble, go to sacred place. Mackineeks no find them dare. QUI-GON Do you know where they are? EXT. NABOO SWAMP - DAY The GROUP follows JAR JAR as he moves through the swamp. JAR JAR stops and sniffs the air. The GROUP stop behind him. JAR JAR Dissen it. JAR JAR makes a strange chattering noise. Suddenly, out of nowhere, CAPTAIN TARPALS and SIX OTHER GUNGAN TROOPS riding on KAADUS emerge from the brush. JAR JAR Heyo-dalee, Captain Tarpals. CAPT. TARPALS Binks!! Noah gain! JAR JAR We comen to see da boss. CAPTIAN TARPALS rolls his eyes. CAPT. TARPALS Ouch time, Binks... Ouch time for all-n youse. EXT. NABOO SACRED TEMPLE RUINS - DAY JAR JAR, QUEEN AMIDALA, ANAKIN, ARTOO, QUI-GON, OBI-WAN, PADME, RABE, EIRTAE, and the rest of her group are led through a clearing full of GUNGAN refugees. At the far end are the ruins of a grand temple with massive carved heads. BOSS NASS and several other COUNCIL MEMBERS walk out on the top of a three-quarter- submerged head. BOSS NASS Jar Jar, yousa payen dis time. Who's da uss-en others?? QUEEN AMIDALA steps forward. Capt. Panaka and the JEDI stand behind her. AMIDALA I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo...I come before you in peace. BOSS NASS Naboo biggen. Yousa bringen da Mackineeks... Dya busten uss-en omm. Yousa all bombad. Yousa all die'n, mesa tink. Capt. Panaka and HALF A DOZEN GUARDS and PILOTS look around nervously, and the GUNGAN TROOPS lower their long power poles. The JEDI stay relaxed. ANAKIN watches everything with great interest. AMIDALA We wish to form an alliance... Suddenly, PADME steps forward. PADME Your Honor... ARTOO whistles a quiet "uh oh." BOSS NASS Whosa dis? PADME I am Queen Amidala (points to Queen) This is my decoy... my protection... my loyal bodyguard. ANAKIN is stunned. OBI-WAN and QUI-GON give each other a knowing look. PADME ...I am sorry for my deception, but under the circumstances it has become necessary to protect myself. Although we do not always agree, Your Honor, our two great societies have always lived in peace...until now. The Trade Federation has destroyed all that we have worked so hard to build. You are in hiding, my people are in camps. If we do not act quickly, all will be lost forever...I ask you to help us...no, I beg you to help us. PADME drops to her knees and prostrates herself before BOSS NASS. There is a gasp from Capt. Panaka, HIS TROOPS, and the HANDMAIDENS. PADME We are your humble servants...our fate is in your hands. Slowly, Capt. Panaka and his TROOPS bow down before the GUNGAN COUNCIL. Then the HANDMAIDENS, ANAKIN, and finally the JEDI. The GUNGANS are puzzled by this. BOSS NASS begins to laugh. BOSS NASS Yousa no tinken yousa greater den da Gungans.. Mesa like dis. Maybe wesa bein friends. INT. NABOO PALACE - THRONE ROOM - DAY NUTE, RUNE, and DARTH MAUL walk with a hologram of DARTH SIDIOUS. NUTE ...we've sent out patrols. We've already located their starship in the swamp... It won't be long, My Lord. DARTH SIDIOUS This is an unexpected move for her. It's too aggresive... Lord Maul, be mindful. DARTH MAUL Yes, my Master. DARTH SIDIOUS Be patient... Let them make the first move. EXT. NABOO EDGE OF SWAMP/ GRASS PLAINS - DAY A GUNGAN SENTRY sits on top of the ancient temple heah, searching the landscape with a pair of electrobinoculars. He sees something and yells down to ANAKIN at the foot of the statue. GUNGAN LOOKOUT Daza comen! ANAKIN All right. They're here! ANAKIN yells and runs over to PADME and the JEDI, who are discussing a battle plan with FIVE GUNGAN GENERALS. SABE and EIRTAE stand nearby. BOSS NASS puts his arm around JAR JAR. BOSS NASS Yousa doen grand. Jar Jar bringen da Naboo together. JAR JAR Oh, no, no, no... BOSS NASS So, wesa maken yousa Bombad General. JAR JAR General??! Oh, no.. JAR JAR's eyes roll back, his tongue flops out and he faints. FOUR SPEEDERS pull up to the GROUP. Capt. Panaka and a DOZEN OR SO GUARDS and PILOT pile out and join the group. PADME What is the situation? CAPT. PANAKA Almost everyone's in camps. A few hundred police and guards have formed an underground movement. I brought as many of the keaders as I could. The Federation Army's also much larger than we thought, and much stronger. Your Highness, this is a battle I do not think we can win. PADME The battle is a diversion. The Gungans must draw the Droid Army away from the cities. We can enter the city using the secret passages on the waterfall side. Once we get to the main entrance, Capt. Panaka will create a diversion, so that we can enter the palace and capture the Viceroy. Without the Viceroy, they will be lost and confused. QUI-GON and OBI-WAN look on with interest. PADME What do you think, Master Jedi? QUI-GON The Viceroy will be well guarded. CAPT. PANAKA The difficulty's getting into the throne room. Once we're inside, we shouldn't have a problem. QUI-GON There is a possibility with this diversion many Gungans will be killed. BOSS NASS Wesa ready to do are-sa part. JAR JAR smiles a very worried and sheepish grin. ANAKIN watches with interest, as does ARTOO. PADME We have a plan which should immobilize the Droid Army. We will send what pilots we have to knock out the Droid control ship which is orbiting the planet. If we can get past their rayshields, we can sever communication and their droids will be helpless. QUI-GON A well-conceived plan. However, there's great risk. The weapons on your fighters may not penetrate the shields on the control ship. OBI-WAN And there's an even bigger danger. If the Vicroy escapes, Your Highness, he will return with another droid army. PADME That is why we must not fail to get to the Viceroy. Everything depends on it. INT. THEED - PALACE - THRONE ROOM - DAY NUTE, RUNE, DARTH MAUL, OOM-9, and a hologram of DARTH SIDIOUS walk through the throne room. DARTH SIDIOUS ...she is more foolish than I thought. NUTE We are sending all available troops to meet this army of hers assembling near the swamp. It appears to be made up of primitives. We do not expect much resistance. OOM-9 I am increasing security at all Naboo detention camps. DARTH MAUL I feel there is more to this, My Master. The two Jedi may be using the Queen for their own purposes. DARTH SIDIOUS The Jedi cannot become involved. They can only protect the Queen. Even Qui-Gon Jinn will not break that conenant.... This will work to our advantage... NUTE I have your approval to proceed then, My Lord. DARTH SIDIOUS Proceed. Wipe them put...all of them. INT. NABOO SWAMP LAKE - DAY (FX) All is peaceful. SMALL CRITTERS drink out of a large swamp lake. Suddenly there is a disturbance in the middle of the lake. A rush of bubbles, then a GUNGAN SOLDIER riding a KAADU emerges from the water, followed by SEVERAL OTHERS. FROGS and OTHER LITTLE ANIMALS flee in all directions as the GUNGAN ARMY marches through the swamp. The KAADU shake themselves off as they exit the lake. When JAR JAR's KAADU shakes off, JAR JAR falls off. SOLDIERS on huge, lizard-like FAMBAAS with large shield generators mounted on their backs follow the marching WARRIORS. The GUNGAN ARMY heads out of the swamp and onto the rolling grassy hills. HUNDREDS OF GUNGAN WARRIORS march in lon lines toward the horizon. Federation tanks move up to a ridge and stop. In the distance they see the GUNGAN ARMY marching toward them. The GUNGAN GENERAL CEEL sees the tanks on the ridge and orders a halt. The GUNGANS are spread out in a large line. JAR JAR is nervous. GENERAL CEEL signals to the shield operators. GENERAL CEEL Energize the shields. A red ray shoots out of the generator and blasts into a large dish on the back of a second FAAMBA and spreads like an umbrella over the assembled WARRIORS. EXT. THEED - CENTRAL PLAZA - DAY PADME, followed by EIRTAE, OBI-WAN, QUI-GON, ANAKIN, and ARTOO, stealthily makes her way toward the entrance to the main hanger. They are followed by about TWENTY NABOO GUARDS, PILOTS, and TROOPS. They stop, and PADME uses a small red laser light to signal across the plaza to Capt. Panaka, RABE and TWENTY OTHER ASSORTED NABOO TROOPS. They signal back. QUI-GON leans over to ANAKIN. QUI-GON Once we get inside, Annie, you find a safe placeto hide and stay there. ANAKIN Sure. QUI-GON And stay there! DROID TROOPS mill about the tank-filled plaza. At the far end of the plaza, SEVERAL DROIDS begin to run and fire. NABOO SOLDIERS begin to fire back at the BATTLE DROIDS. As the ruckus erupts at one end of the plaza, PADME and her TROOPS rush into the main hanger. Capt. Panaka and HIS SOLDIERS continue to engage the DROIDS outside. INT. THEED - CENTRAL HANGER - DAY ALARMS ARE SOUNDING a PADME, the JEDI, ANAKIN, EIRTAE, and PADME's TROOPS rush into the hanger. BATTLE DROIDS begin firing at them as they run for cover. ANAKIN runs under a Naboo fighter. The JEDI deflect bolts aimed at PADME back onto the BATTLE DROIDS, causing them to EXPLODE. INT. THEED - PALACE THRONE ROOM - DAY NUTE, RUNE, and FOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS watch the plaza battle on a large view screen. NUTE I thought the battle was going to take place far from here...this is too close! RUNE What is going on? DARTH MAUL enters the throne room. DARTH MAUL I told you there was more to this... the Jedi are involved. EXT. NABOO GRASS PLAINS - DAY (FX) The Federation tanks begin to fire on the GUNGANS, but they are protected by their energy shield. The tanks stop firing, and the GUNGANS CHEER, until they see the doors to the massive transports open, and racks of BATTLE DROIDS are pulled out and lined up by a squad of STAPS. The BATTLE DROIDS reconfigure into their standing position. The GUNGANS get ready for an attack. OOM-9 gives the command to move forward, and THOUSANDS OF DROIDS march toward the GUNGANS. The GUNGANS power up their weapons. The DROIDS slowly march through the protective shield and start firing. The GUNGANS throw their power poles and fling small balls of energy with slingshots. The WARRIORS dump large balls of energy into mortars that heat up and fire the energy goo onto the BATTLE DROIDS, causing them to short out. The battle rages and the GUNGANS defend their shield generators against the ARMY OF DROIDS. OOM-9 watches from a tank on a hill overlooking the battle. INT. THEED - CENTRAL HANGER - DAY ANAKIN hides behind one of the Naboo fighters, ducking as large bolts whiz past and EXPLODE near him. PADME and the TWO JEDI destroy BATTLE DROIDS right and left. The QUEEN'S TROOPS and EIRTAE also blast away at the DROIDS. PADME signals to her pilots. PADME Get to your ships! The PILOTS and ARTOO UNITS run for the Naboo fighter craft stacked in the hanger bay. ONE OF THE PILOTS jumps into a fighter right above where ANAKIN is hiding. FIGHTER PILOT Better find a new hiding place, kid. I'm taking this ship. The ship begins to levitate out of the hanger. BATTLE DROIDS fire at it as it falls in behind five other fighters. ARTOO whistles to ANAKIN from a second fighter not far away. ANAKIN runs and jumps into the second fighter to hide. EXT. THEED - CENTRAL PLAZA - DAY (FX) Two Naboo starfighters exit the main hanger. A tank fires at them, hitting one of them, which causes it to pinwheel into the ground and EXPLODE. INT. THEED - CENTRAL HANGER - DAY Capt. Panaka, SABE and NABOO TROOPS rush into the hanger and overwlm the few remaining BATTLE DROIDS. PADME, OBI-WAN, and QUI-GON join forces with Capt. Panaka. PADME My guess is the Viceroy is in the throne room. She looks to QUI-GON. QUI-GON I agree. They start to head for the exit, on the way passing the fighter where ANAKIN is hiding. ARTOO whistles a greeting as ANAKIN peeps out of the cockpit. ANAKIN Hey! Wait for me. QUI-GON No, Annie, you stay there. Stay right where you are. ANAKIN But, I... QUI-GON Stay in that cockpit. They head for the exit. As they are about to go through the door, suddenly everyone scatters, revealing DARTH MAUL standing in the doorway. Capt. Panaka, PADME, and HER TROOPS back away. QUI-GON and OBI-WAN step forward. QUI-GON We'll handle this... The TWO JEDI take off their capes and ignite their laser swords. DARTH MAUL takes off his cape, and ignites his laser sword. Both ends of the sword light up. At the far end of the hanger, SIX WHEEL DROIDS roll in and transform into their battle position. ARTOO calls ANAKIN's attention to the DROIDS. The JEDI begin to fight the Sith Lord. ANAKIN Oh, no... The DROIDS begin to advance and start firing on PADME and HER TROOPS. ANAKIN We gotta do something, Artoo. ARTOO whistles a reply. Suddenly, the ship's systems go on, and the ship begins to levitate. ANAKIN All right, thanks Artoo! Great idea! I'll take over. Let's see... ANAKIN steers the ship toward the DROIDS. He pushes a button, and the ship begins to shake. ANAKIN Where's the trigger? Oops, wrong one.. Maybe this one.... ANAKIN pushes a second button, and the lasers begin to fire, wiping out several DESTROYER DROIDS. ARTOO whistles a cheer. ANAKIN Yeah, all right. "Droid blaster." Yeah! The JEDI are engaged in a fierce sword fight with DARTH MAUL. They have moved into the center of the hanger. While the WHEEL DROIDS are momentarily distracted by ANAKIN, Capt. Panaka, PADME, and HER TROOPS exit into a palace hallway. The WHEEL DROIDS start firing at ANAKIN. There are EXPLOSIONS all around him. ANAKIN Oops...shield up! Always on the right...shields always on the right. ANAKIN flips several switches, and the after-burner ignites. ANAKIN I know we're moving. I'll shut the energy drive down. The fighter rockets out of the hanger. ARTOO and ANAKIN hold on for dear life. ANAKIN Oops!! Wrong one. ARTOO beeps. ANAKIN I'm not doing anything! ARTOO beeps. ANAKIN I know...I didn't push anything. The SITH LORD's moves are incredible. He is fighting the TWO JEDI at once, flipping into the air, outmaneuvering them at every turn. INT. NABOO STARFIGHTER - COCKPIT - SPACE The Naboo fleet leaves the planet and heads toward the space station. RIC OLIE Bravo Flight A, take on the fighters. Flight B, make the run on the transmitter. BRAVO TWO Roger, Bravo Leader. The fleet approaches the space station. Many Federation fighters exit the hangers and attack. RIC OLIE Enemy fighters straight ahead! EXT. NABOO GRASS PALINS - DAY JAR JAR's clumsiness works for him in the battle. He gets caught up in the wiring of a blasted DROID, dragging the torso around with him, the DROID's gun firing randomly, accidently blasting SEVERAL DROIDS in one process. OOM-9 decides to send in the WHEEL DROIDS and gives the signal. HUNDREDS OF WHEEL DROIDS roll out of the transports and head down toward the battle. They slowly roll through the deflector shields, then transform themselves once they get on the other side. The GUNGANS blast the WHEEL DROIDS with energy balls. The DESTROYER DROIDS blast many GUNGANS. INT. NABOO STARFIGHTER - COCKPIT - SPACE A giant dogfight ensues. ANAKIN's fighter flies into space above Naboo. ARTOO beeps a worried concern. ANAKIN The Autopilot is searching for what other ships? ARTOO beeps and whistles. ANAKIN There is no manual override, Artoo. You'll have to rewire it or something. ARTOO chirps that he's trying. ANAKIN Look! There they are! That's where the autopilot is taking us. ANAKIN's fighter flies toward the Federation Battleship. INT. THEED - CENTRAL HANGER - DAY The SITH LORD drives the JEDI out of the hanger and nto the power generator area next door. INT. THEED - POWER GENERATOR PIT - DAY Three swords are crossed in an intense display of swordmanship. The JEDI and the SITH LORD fight their way across the narrow bridge of the Theed power generator. DARTH MAUL jumps onto the bridge above them. The JEDI follow, one in front of the SITH LORD and one behind. They continue their sword fight. INT. THEED - PALACE - HALLWAY - DAY PADME, Capt. Panaka, EIRTAE, SABE and THIER TROOPS are trapped in a hallway by BATTLE DROIDS. PADME We don't have time for this, Captain. CAPT. PANAKA Let's try the outside stairway. Capt. Panaka blasts a hole in the window, and they make their way outside the building onto a ledge about six stories above a raging waterfall. SABE, EIRTAE and about TWENTY NABOO SOLDIERS stay in the hallway to hold off the BATTLE DROIDS. EXT. THEED - PALACE - OVER WATERFALL - DAY PADME, Capt. Panaka, and about TEN OTHER NABOO SOLDIERS are lined up along the edge. They have pulled small attachments out of their pistols and fire at a ledge about four stories above them. Thin cables shoot out of the pistols and are embedded into the ledge. PADME, Capt. Panaka, and the OTHERS begin to climb up the wall. EXT. NABOO GRASS PLAINS DAY The GUNGAN ARMY is no match for the DESTROYER DROIDS. JAR JAR tries to run from the BATTLE DROIDS. GENERAL CEEL Retreat! Retreat! The GUNGANS begin to turn and run, on foot, on their kaadu, and in wagons. JAR JAR attempts to escape on a wagon of energy balls but only manages to unhitch the back gate, causing all of the energy balls to roll out of the wagon and down the hill. JAR JAR scrambles to avoid being hit by one of the balls. FOUR DESTROYER DROIDS aren't so lucky. They get blasted by the energy balls. The GUNGANS renew their attack on the DROID ARMY. JAR JAR's bumbling destroys several more DESTROYER DROIDS. INT. NABOO STARFIGHTER - COCKPIT -SPACE ANAKIN finds himself in the middle of the space battle. A ship explodes behind him (over his left shoulder). ANAKIN Whoo, boy! This is tense! He looks forward to see enemy ships approaching head on. ANAKIN Oops! Artoo, get us off Autopilot! ARTOO screams a reply. ANAKIN I've got control? ANAKIN fips switches. ANAKIN Okay, let's go left! He moves the controls left and the ship responds, turning left. ANAKIN Yes...I've got control. You did it, Artoo! ARTOO beeps ANAKIN Go back!?! Qui-Gon told me to stay in this cockpit and that's what I'm gonna do. Now c'mon! An enemy fighter comes into his sights. ANAKIN pushes the controls and instead of firing, his fighter accelerates past the enemy ship. ANAKIN Oops! Whoa! Now the enemy ship is on his tail. He tries evasive maneauvers. ANAKIN I'll try spinning, that's a good trick. ANAKIN rolls the ship as ARTOO screams desperately. ANAKIN I know we're in trouble! Hang on! The way out of this mess is the way we got into it. ARTOO beeps a reply. ANAKIN Which one? This one? ANAKIN yanks on the reverse thrusters and the ship slows instantly- the enemy fighter shoots past and explodes against the space station. INT. NABOO STARFIGHTER - COCKPIT - SPACE The SQUADRON attacks the space station. RIC OLIE Bravo flight...go for the central bridge. BRAVO TWO Roger, Bravo Leader. The attack is fruitless. RIC OLIE Their deflector shield is too strong. We'll never get through it. Meanwhile, ANAKIN is being chased by another fighter. ARTOO shrieks. ANAKIN I know, Artoo! This isn't Podracing! The enemy ship fires and hits ANAKIN's fighter, sending it into a spin. ARTOO screams. ANAKIN We're hit! ANAKIN regains control as his ship enters the space station hanger. ANAKIN Great gobs of bantha poo-doo! ANAKIN's ship dodges parked transport ships and other obstacles. A huge bulkhead blocks his way. ARTOO beeps. ANAKIN I'm trying to stop! I'm trying to stop! Whoa! ANAKIN hits the reverse thrusters and the ship skids to a stop on the hanger deck. ARTOO givesout a worried whistle. ANAKIN All right! All right! Get the system started! ANAKIN ducks down to adjust a control panel. ANAKIN Everything's overheated. All the lights are red. ARTOO sees DROIDS appraoching, and beeps frantically. INT. THEED - POWER GENERATOR PIT - DAY The laser sword battle continues on the small catwalk around the vast power pit. DARTH MAUL kicks OBI-WAN off one of the ramps and he falls several levels. QUI-GON knocks the DARK LORD off another ramp, and he lands hard on a ramp two levels below. QUI-GON jumps down after him. The DARK LORD backs away along the catwalk into a small door. QUI-GON follows as OBI-WAN runs to catch up. INT. THEED - POWER GENERATOR ELECRIC BEAM - HALLWAY The SITH LORD, followed by QUI-GON, enters a long hallway filled with a series of deadly rays that go on and off in a pulsing pattern that shoots down the corridor every minute or so. DARTH MAUL makes it down several walls of deadly rays before they close. QUI-GON is one wall away from the DARK LORD. OBI-WAN is just starting into it and is five walls way from DARTH MAUL. The JEDI must wait until the next pulse to advance down the corridor. OBI-WAN is impatient and paces, waiting for the wall of rays to open. QUI-GON sits and meditates. The SITH LORD tries to patch up his wounds. INT. THEED - PALACE - HALLWAY TO THRONE ROOM A window in the hallway blasts apart. PADME, Capt. Panaka, and HER SOLDIERS climb into the hallway. They head for the door to the throne roo. Suddenly, two DESTROYER DROIDS skitter in front of the door. PADME turns around and sees TWO MORE appear at the far end of the hallway, trapping them in the middle. PADME throws down her pistol and turns to Capt. Panaka. PADME Throw down your weapons. They win this round. CAPT. PANAKA But we can't.... PADME Captain, I said throw down your weapons. Capt. Panaka and HIS MEN throw down their weapons. EXT. NABOO GRASS PLAINS - DAY A DESTROYER DROID blasts one of the shield generators, causing it to EXPLODE. The protective shield begins to weaken and fall apart.OOM-9 sees the shield weaken and orders his tanks forward. The GUNGAN GENERAL signals a retreat as the tanks enter the battle. The GUNGANS flee as fast as they can. JAR JAR is blown off his KAADU and lands on one of the tank guns. A GUNGAN WARRIOR signals JAR JAR to jump off. JAR JAR is afraid. The gun swings around trying to knock JAR JAR off. JAR JAR hangs from the tank barrel as it moves along. Finally, he jumps onto a KAADU behind a GUNGAN WARRIOR. EXPLOSIONS from the tank fire are everywhere. It is chaos. INT. THEED - POWER GENERATOR ELECTRIC BEAM - HALLWAY The electric rays cycle as QUI-GON sits meditating. The wall of the deadly rays turn away, and OBI-WAN starts running toward QUI-GON and the DARK LORD. When the wall between QUI- GON and DARTH MAUL opens, QUI-GON is in a split second fighting the DARK LORD with a ferocity not seen before. They move into the area at the end of the corridor called the melting pit, a small area that is mostly made up of a deep hole. The electron ray gates begin to close. OBI-WAN tries to make it to the melting pit but is caught one gate short. He slides to a stop just before he hits the deadly electron field. QUI-GON and DARTH MAUL battle around the melting pit as a frustrated OBI-WAN watches. DARTH MAUL cathces QUI-GON off guard. The SITH makes a quick move, bashes his lightsaber handle into QUI-GON's chin, and runs him through. QUI-GON slumps to the floor in a heap. EXT. NABOO GRASS PLAINS - DAY The GUNGANS have beeb overrun. Some flee into the hills, chased by BATTLE DROIDS on STAPS. Many OTHERS are herded into groups by BATTLE DROIDS and DESTROYER DROIDS. JAR JAR and GENERAL CEEL are held in a small group with OTHER OFFICERS. JAR JAR Dissa bad, berry bombad. GENERAL CEEL Mesa hopen dissa working for da Queen. INT. THED - PALACE THRONE ROOM - DAY PADME, Capt. Panaka, and SIX OTHER OFFICERS are brought by TEN BATTLE DROIDS before NUTE and RUNE and FOUR NEIMOIDIAN COUNCIL MEMBERS. NUTE Your little insurrection is at an end, Your Highness. Time for you to sign the treaty... and end this pointless debate in the Senate. SADBE dressed like the Queen appears in the doorway with SEVERAL TROOPS. Several destroyed battle droids can be seen in the distance. SABE I will not be signing any treaty, Viceroy, because you've lost! NUTE and THE OTHERS are stunned to see a SECOND QUEEN. NUTE yells at the TEN GUARDS in the room. NUTE After her! This one is a decoy! SIX OF THE DROIDS rush out of the throne room after SABE. NUTE turns to PADME. NUTE Your Queen will not get away with this. PADME slumps down on her throne and immediately hits a security button that opens a panel in her desk opposite Capt. Panaka. PADME grabs two pistols, tosses one of the to Capt. Panaka and one to an OFFICER. She takes a third pistol and BLASTS the last of the BATTLE DROIDS. The OFFICERS rush to the door control panel as PADME hits the switch to close the door. The OFFICER at the door jams the controls. Capt. Panaka throws more pistols to the OTHER GUARDS. The NEIMODIANS are confused and afraid. PADME Now, Viceroy, this is the end of your occupation here. NUTE Don't be absurd. There are too few of you. It won't be long before hundreds of destroyer droids break in to rescue us. INT. THEED - POWER GENERATOR - MELTING PIT OBI-WAN screams as the pulsing electron gate opens, and the SITH LORD attacks him. The DARK LORD is relentless in his assault on the young JEDI. OBI-WAN and DARTH MAUL use the Force to fling objects at each other as they fight. DARTH MAUL seems to have the upper hand as OBI-WAN grows weary. DARTH MAUL catches OBI-WAN off guard, and the JEDI slips into a melting pit. He is barely able to hold onto a nozzle on the side of the pit. DARTH MAUL grin evilly at OBI-WAN as he kicks OBI-WAN's lightsaber down the endless shaft. The SITH LORD smiles as he goes in for the kill. At the last moment, OBI-WAN jumps up out of the pit, calls QUI-GON's lightsaber to hi, throwing DARTH MAUL off. The young JEDI swings with a vengeance, cutting the SITH down. DARTH MAUL falls into the melting pit to his death. OBI-WAN rushes over to QUI-GON, who is dying. OBI-WAN Master! Master! QUI-GON It is too late...It's... OBI-WAN No! QUI-GON Obi-Wan promise... promise me you'll train the boy... OBI-WAN Yes, Master... QUI-GON He is the chosen one... he will... bring balance... train him! QUI-GON dies. OBI-WAN cradles his Master, quietly weeping. INT. NABOO STARFIGHTER - COCKPIT - FEDERATION HANGER ANAKIN peeks over the edge of the cockpit to see BATTLE DROIDS surrounding the ship. He ducks back down. ANAKIN Uh oh. This is not good. He looks at the dashboard to see red lights. ANAKIN The systems are still overheated, Artoo. The BATTLE DROID CAPTAIN walks up to the ship and sees ARTOO. BATTLE DROID CAPTAIN Where's your pilot? ARTOO beeps a reply. BATTLE DROID CAPTAIN You're the pilot? ARTOO whistles. BATTLE DROID CAPTAIN Let me see your identification! ANAKIN sees the dashboard lights go from red to green. ANAKIN Yes...we have ignition. He flips the switch and the engine starts. BATTLE DROID CAPTAIN (seeing Anakin) You! Come out of there or we'll blast you! ANAKIN Not if I can help it! Shields up! ANAKIN flips a switch and the ship levitates, knocking over the BATTLE DROID CAPTAIN. The OTHER DROIDS shoot, but the lasers are deflected by ANAKIN's shields. ARTOO beeeps. ANAKIN his should stop them. ANAKIN fires lasers as the ship begins to rotate. ANAKIN ...and take this! He presses a button and launches two torpedos which miss the DROIDS. ANAKIN Darn...I missed! The two torpedos fly down a hallway and explode inside the reactor room. ANAKIN Let's get out of here! ANAKIN's ship roars through the hanger deck, bouncing over the DROIDS. ANAKIN Now, this is Podracing! Whoopee! INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - BRIDGE TEY HOW turns to CAPTAIN DOFINE. TEY HOW Sir, we're losing power... There is some problem with the main reactor... DOFINE Impossible!! I don't... The bridge explodes. INT. NABOO FIGHTER - COCKPIT - SPACE RIC OLIE watches in amazement as the Federation battleship starts to explode from the inside out. BRAVO TWO What's that?? It's blowing up from the inside. RIC OLIE I don't know, we didn't hit it. BRAVO THREE Look! One of ours! Outta the main hold!! EXT. NABOO GRASS PLAINS - DAY Suddenly, all of the DROIDS begin to shake upside down, run around in circles, then stop. The GUNGANS carefully move out to inspect the FROZEN DROIDS. JAR JAR pushes one of the BATTLE DROIDS, and it falls over. JAR JAR Wierdind... EXT. THEED - CENTRAL HANGER - DAY ANAKIN and ARTOO follow the squad of yellow Naboo starfighters into the main hanger. INT. THEED - CENTRAL HANGER - DAY RIC OLIE and the OTHER PILOTS gather around as they exit their ships. BRAVO TWO He flew into the hold, behind the deflector shield and blasted the main reactor... BRAVO THREE Amazing... They don't teach that in the academy. ANAKIN's ship skids to a stop behind the other Naboo starfighters. RIC OLIE, BRAVO TWO, the OTHER PILOTS, and GROUND CREW rush to his ship. RIC OLIE We're all accounted for. Who flew that ship? ANAKIN sheepishly opens the cockpit and stands up. All the PILOTS stare in amazement. ANAKIN I'm not going to get into trouble, am I? ARTOO beeps. oh. oh. INT. MAIN HANGER - COURTYARD - DAY The large, grand cruiser of the Supreme Chancellor lands in the courtyard of the main hanger. Capt. Panaka and TWENTY TROOPS guard NUTE GUNRAY and RUNE HAAKO. OBI-WAN, the QUEEN, and her HANDMAIDENS stand before the NEIMOIDIANS. PADME Now, Viceroy, you are going to have to go back to the Senate and explain all this. CAPT. PANAKA I think you can kiss your Trade franchise goodbye. The main ramp of the cruiser is lowered as OBI-WAN and Capt. Panaka lead the VICEROY and HIS ASSISTANT toward the ship. The GRAND CHANCELLOR PALPATINE and SEVERAL REPUBLIC GUARDS descend the walkway, followed by YODA and SEVERAL OTHER JEDI MASTERS. The CHANCELLOR PALPATINE is greeted by the QUEEN. AMIDALA Congratulations on youer election, Chancellor. It is so good to see you again. PALPATINE It's good to be home. Your boldness has saved our people, Your Majesty. It is you who should be congratulated. Together we shall bring peace and prosperity to the Republic. OBI-WAN greets YODA and the OTHER JEDI as Capt. Panaka takes the NEIMODIANS onto the cruiser. INT. TURRET ROOM - NABOO PALACE - LATE DAY The sun streams into the multi-windowed room at a low angle. It is not quite sunset. YODA paces before OBI-WAN, who is kneeling in the center of the room. YODA Confer on you, the level of Jedi Knight the Coucil does. But agree on you taking this boy as your Padawan learner, I do not. OBI-WAN Qui-Gon believed in him. I believe in Qui-Gon. YODA The Chosen One the boy may be; nevertheless, grave danger I fear in his training. OBI-WAN Master Yoda, Igave Qui-Gon my word. I will train Anakin. Without the approval of the Council if I must. YODA Qui-Gon's defiance I sense in you. Need that, you do not. Agree, the council does. Your apprentice, young Skywalker will be. EXT. THEED - CENTRAL PLAZA - FUNERAL TEMPLE STEPS - SUNSET QUI-GON's body goes up in flames as the JEDI COUNCIL, the QUEEN, SIO BIBBLE, Capt. Panaka, the HANDMAIDENS, and ABOUT ONE HUNDRED NABOO TROOPES, TWENTY OTHER JEDI, PALPATINE, OBI- WAN (standing with ANAKIN), JAR JAR, BOSS NASS, and TWENTY OTHER GUNGAN WARRIORS watch. There is a drum roll that stops. Doves are released, and the body is gone. ANAKIN looks to OBI-WAN. OBI-WAN He is one with the Force, Anakin...You must let go. ANAKIN What will happen to me now? OBI-WAN I am your Master now. You will become a Jedi, I promise. To one side, MACE WINDU turns to YODA. MACE WINDU There is no doubt. The mysterious warrior was a Sith. YODA Always two there are... no more... no less. A master and an apprentice. MACE WINDU But which one was destroyed, the master or the apprentice? They give each other a concerned look. EXT. THEED - CENTRAL PLAZA - DAY CHILDEREN SING and throw flowers on the passing GUNGAN SOLDIERS. The CROWDS CHEER. It is a grand parade. QUEEN AMIDALA stands next to the SUPREME CHANCELLOR PALPATINE, ANAKIN, OBI-WAN, SIO BIBBLE, and the JEDI COUNCIL. ARTOO stands in front of the QUEEN'S HANDMAIDENS and whistles at the parade. QUEEN AMIDALA and PALPATINE smile at one another In the parade are BOSS NASS and his GUARDS, JAR JAR and GENERAL CEEL. The GUNGANS ride KAADU. They stop before the QUEEN and walk up the steps to stand by her side. BOSS NASS holds up the Globe of Peace. EVERYONE CHEERS. The parade marches on. IRIS OUT: END TITLES
- «Каждая сага имеет начало».
- — Слоган фильма (источник)
«Звёздные войны. Эпизод I: Скрытая угроза» (англ. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) — научно-фентезийный фильм 1999 года, сценаристом и режиссёром которого выступил Джордж Лукас. Это четвёртый фильм саги «Звёздные войны» и первая её глава согласно внутренней хронологии. В 2012 году он стал первым фильмом франшизы, вышедшим в 3D формате.
Фильм начинается с того, что два джедаяДжедайДжедай/Канон, назначенных послами для разрешения торговых разногласий, прибыли на орбиту находящейся в опасности планеты НабуНабуНабу/Канон. Когда напряжённая ситуация обернулась военным вторжением, джедаи, вместе с Падме АмидалойПадме Амидала НаберриПадме Амидала/Канон, королевой планеты, покинули Набу, в надежде добраться до столицы Галактической РеспубликиГалактическая РеспубликаГалактическая Республика/Канон — планеты КорусантКорусантКорусант/Канон. Там они надеялись найти мирное и дипломатическое разрешение возникших разногласий, приведших к конфликту. Однако во время полёта их корабль совершил вынужденную посадку для ремонта на планете ТатуинТатуинТатуин/Канон. Там джедаи встретили Энакина СкайуокераЭнакин СкайуокерЭнакин Скайуокер/Канон, мальчика рабаРабствоРабство/Канон, который обладал необычной связью с Великой СилойСилаСила/Канон. После возвращения на Набу герои обнаружили, что ситуация оказалась намного хуже, чем казалась изначально: ситхиСитхиСитхи/Канон, древние враги джедаев, которые считались уничтоженными, вернулись спустя тысячу лет.
Фильм вышел 19 мая 1999 года, спустя почти 16 лет после выхода последнего на тот момент фильма саги «Звёздные войны. Эпизод VI: Возвращение джедая». Выход картины сопровождался обширной пиар-кампанией в средствах массовой информации, и на него возлагались большие надежды. Несмотря на смешанные отзывы как критиков так и поклонников, фильм заработал $924.3 миллиона в мировом прокате, став самым прибыльным фильмом саги «Звёздные войны» без учёта инфляции. Переиздание фильма в формате Blu-ray вышло в сентября 2011 года, а 10 февраля 2012 года в кинотеатрах вышла переработанная версия в формате 3D.
Фильм стал первой крупной историей эпохи приквелов и, согласно новой каноничной внутренней хронологии «Звёздных войн», являлся отправной точкой для пятнадцатилетней истории этого временного промежутка. События фильма получили развитие в двух последующих частях трилогии приквелов, а также в анимационном фильме «Звёздные войны: Войны клонов» и в одноимённом телесериале. Множество сюжетов Легенд «Звёздных войн» также рассказывали о событиях или, в большей или меньшей степени, относились к событиям, показанных в «Скрытой угрозе» и её продолжениях.
Вступление
Давным-давно,
в далёкой-далёкой галактике…
Эпизод I
СКРЫТАЯ УГРОЗА
Неспокойные времена настали для Галактической Республики. Налогообложение торговых путей к отдаленным солнечным системам стало причиной раздоров.
В стремлении добиться своего обуянная алчностью Торговая Федерация с помощью мощных боевых кораблей взяла в кольцо блокады маленькую планету Набу, лишив её всех поставок.
В то время как члены Конгресса Республики ведут напряженные дебаты в связи с тревожными событиями, Верховный канцлер втайне от всех поручил двум рыцарям-джедаям — хранителям мира и справедливости в Галактике — урегулировать конфликт…
Сюжет
- «У меня нехорошие предчувствия».
«Я ничего не заметил».
«Это не связано с нашей миссией. Это нечто… неуловимое». - — Оби-Ван Кеноби — Квай-Гону Джинну (источник)
Квай-Гон Джинн и Оби-Ван Кеноби приготовились с боем покинуть корабль Торговой федерации.
Спор между Торговой федерациейТорговая федерацияТорговая федерация/Канон и отдалёнными звёздными системами Галактической РеспубликиГалактическая РеспубликаГалактическая Республика/Канон приводит к блокаде небольшой планеты НабуНабуНабу/Канон. КанцлерВерховный канцлерВерховный канцлер/Канон Республики ВалорумФинис ВалорумФинис Валорум/Канон тайно отправляет на флагман Торговой федерации двух рыцарей-джедаевРыцарь-джедайРыцарь-джедай/Канон Квай-Гон ДжиннаКвай-Гон ДжиннКвай-Гон Джинн/Канон и его падаванаПадаванПадаван/Канон Оби-Вана КенобиОби-Ван КенобиОби-Ван Кеноби/Канон в качестве послов. Заданием джедаев является вступить в переговоры с вице-королемВице-король Торговой федерацииВице-король Торговой федерации/Канон Нутом ГанреемНут ГанрейНут Ганрей/Канон и уладить конфликт, однако они не подозревают, что глава Федерации подчиняется таинственному Дарту СидиусуПалпатинШив Палпатин, — тому, кто приказывает Ганрею вторгнуться на Набу, а послов-джедаев — убить по их прибытии. В то время как республиканский корабльСияющий VIIСияющий VII/Канон уничтожен, Квай-Гон и Оби-Ван избегают отравления при помощиКонтроль дыханияКонтроль дыхания/Канон СилыСилаСила/Канон, после чего прорываются сквозь дроидов-стражников и попадают на поверхность планеты, спрятавшись в десантном корабле Торговой федерацииДесантный корабль C-9979Десантный корабль C-9979/Канон. Вскоре королеваКоролеваКоролева/Канон АмидалаПадме Амидала НаберриПадме Амидала/Канон выходит на связь с Ганреем и выражает своё неодобрение блокады Набу, на что тот отвечает, что блокада полностью законна и получила одобрение в Сенате РеспубликиГалактический СенатГалактический Сенат/Канон. Сразу после диалога Ганрей отдаёт приказ заблокировать все средства связи на планете и начать вторжение. В момент, когда связь неожиданно прерывается, Амидала ведёт разговор с сенаторомсенаторсенатор/Канон Палпатином о послах, отправленных на переговоры с Федерацией. Губернатор Сио БибблСио БибблСио Биббл/Канон выражает предположение, что сбой связи является первым признаком вторжения захватчиков.
Джедаи освободили королеву и её стражников от конвоирующих их боевых дроидов.
Среди набуанских болот и лесов Квай-Гон спасает аборигена-изгоя, Джа-Джа БинксаДжа-Джа БинксДжа-Джа Бинкс/Канон, который приводит их в подводное поселениеОто-ГунгаОто-Гунга/Канон своего народаГунганыГунганы/Канон и помогает таким образом скрыться от сил вторжения. Сами же войска Торговой Федерации осаждают столицу ТидТидТид/Канон и берут в заложники лидера планеты, королеву Амидалу, одновременно занимаясь поисками джедаев. Квай-Гон и Оби-Ван встречаются с вождём гунганов, БоссомБоссБосс/Канон НассомРугор НассРугор Насс/Канон, и просят его помочь населению Набу, однако Насс отказывается, хотя и предлагает им транспортТрёхпузырчатое бонгоГунганское подводное бонго. Вместе с этим Квай-Гон убеждает Насса отдать им Джа-Джа, поскольку того ждёт казнь за совершённые им преступления. Во время подводного путешествия сквозь ядро планеты, джедаи вместе с Бинксом подвергаются нападению несколькихМорской убийца опиМорской убийца опи/Канон морскихКоло-когтерыбаРыба-коготь коло/Канон чудищВодное чудовище сандоВодное чудовище сандо/Канон, вследствие чего транспорт повреждается, однако путники благополучно добираются до Тида, где спасают Амидалу от дроидов Федерации. При поддержке местных сил безопасностиКоролевские силы безопасности НабуКоролевские силы безопасности Набу/Канон они угоняют из доков королевский корабльНубийский королевский корабль 327 типа «J»Королевский звёздный корабль Набу, чтобы попытаться добраться до КорусантаКорусантКорусант/Канон, столицы Республики, где намереваются просить помощи у Сената. На орбите планеты звездолёт попадает под обстрел боевого корабля ФедерацииГрузовой корабль LH-3210 типа «Барышник»Грузовой корабль LH-3210 типа «Барышник»/Канон и едва не уничтожается, однако дроид-астромеханикДроид-астромеханикДроид-астромеханик/Канон R2-D2R2-D2R2-D2/Канон героически чинит корабль, позволив сбежать от захватчиков.
Ввиду серьёзных повреждений звездолёт вынужден совершить посадку на ближайшей планете. Невзирая на возражения капитана ПанакиКуарш ПанакаКуарш Панака/Канон — начальника службы безопасности Амидалы — временным убежищем становится отдалённая пустынная планета ТатуинТатуинТатуин/Канон, контролируемая хаттамиХаттыХатты/Канон. Вместе с Квай-Гоном и Джа-Джа в ближайший город Мос-ЭспаМос-ЭспаМос-Эспа/Канон направляется одна из служанок королевы, Падме. Вскоре они находят лавкуЗапчасти ВальдаМагазин Уотто/Канон тойдарианцаТойдарианцыТойдарианцы/Канон-старьёвщика УоттоУоттоУотто/Канон, у которого имеются нужные запчасти, однако торговец не намерен отдавать товар за республиканскую валютуГалактический стандартный кредитКредит/Канон, в чём не помогают даже трюки Силы Квай-Гона. Там же, в лавке, Падме знакомится с мальчиком-рабом по имени Энакин СкайуокерЭнакин СкайуокерЭнакин Скайуокер/Канон, который, очарованный красотой девушки и заметивший световой меч Квай-ГонаСветовой меч Квай-Гона ДжиннаСветовой меч Квай-Гона Джинна/Канон, решает помочь путникам. Поскольку начинается песчаная буря, мальчик приводит троицу в дом, знакомя со своей мамой ШмиШми Скайуокер-ЛарсШми Скайуокер-Ларс/Канон и сконструированным лично им дроидом C-3POC-3POC-3PO/Канон. Во время обеда обсуждается положение рабов на Татуине и местные гонкиГонки на подахГонки на подах/Канон — единственный, как считает Шми, выход получить запчасти от Уотто. Энакин вызывается пилотом гоночного подаГоночный подГоночный под/Канон, несмотря на протесты Квай-Гона и матери, однако в итоге Шми соглашается, зная, что судьба её сына лежит за пределами Татуина. Несмотря на то, что Падме сомневается в мальчике, Квай-Гон заключает сделку с Уотто, ставя на кон набуанский корабль против запчастей к нему же. Энакин, будучи одарённым механикомТехникТехник/Канон, завершает ранее начатую гоночную машинуГоночный под Энакина СкайуокераГоночный под Энакина Скайуокера/Канон. Ощущая в мальчике Силу, Квай-Гон берёт у него кровь на анализ, благодаря чему узнаёт, что уровень мидихлорианМидихлорианыМидихлорианы/Канон Энакина больше, чем у любого из джедаев.
Энакин обогнал Себульбу во время гонки Бунта Ив Классик.
Под давлением Федерации Сио Биббл отправляет на корабль королевы сообщение, в котором просит о помощи, однако Оби-Ван запрещает отвечать, мотивируя тем, что это может быть ловушка. Тем не менее, владыка Дарт Сидиус получает известие о возможном местоположении беглецов, за которыми отправляет своего ученика, Дарта МолаДарт МолДарт Мол/Канон, предписав ему убийство джедаев — то, чего так долго ждал ученик — и захват королевы Амидалы. Мол сажает свой корабль-невидимкуКинжалКинжал/Канон на Татуине, где проводит поиск при помощи разведывательных дроидовРазведывательный дроид DRK-1 «Тёмный глаз»Разведывательный дроид DRK-1 «Тёмный глаз»/Канон. Утром, перед гонкой, уверенный в победе Энакина Квай-Гон заключает новое пари с Уотто, поставив гоночный под против мальчика-раба. Между тем, в великом состязании, помимо Энакина, участвует десяток других гонщиков, среди которых выделяется чемпион из расы даговДагиДаги/Канон по имени СебульбаСебульбаСебульба/Канон. Однако, невзирая на нечестные приёмы Себульбы, тускенских налётчиковНарод песковНарод песков/Канон и временные неполадки своей машины, Энакин Скайуокер вырывается в лидеры и побеждает в состязании. Уотто вынужден выполнить условия сделки, вследствие чего набуанский корабль получает нужные запчасти, а Энакин — свободу. Хотя мальчик рад случившемуся, он не желает оставлять маму, но Шми убеждает сына в обратном, уверенная, что Энакин однажды станет великим джедаем. Между тем, Дарт Мол находит нужный корабль и появляется в тот момент, когда команда собирается покинуть планету. Квай-Гон вступает с неожиданным противником в дуэльДуэль на Татуине (Набуанский кризис)Дуэль на Татуине (Набуанский кризис)/Канон на световых мечахСветовой мечСветовой меч/Канон и, не дав тому взобраться на корабль, благополучно сбегает сам.
Амидала и Палпатин на заседании Сената по вопросу кризиса на Набу.
По прибытию на Корусант сенатор Палпатин и королева Амидала обсуждают сложившуюся ситуацию: Палпатин сомневается в том, что Сенат поможет Набу. Между тем, Квай-Гон сообщает Совету джедаевВысший совет джедаевВысший совет джедаев/Канон о своём сражении с таинственным, но обученным воином, в котором подозревает ситха — представителя ордена Тёмной стороны СилыТёмная сторона СилыТёмная сторона Силы/Канон, однако он, как считалось, вымер тысячу лет назад. Также мастера Совета узнают об Энакине — о том, кого Квай-Гон называет «точкой сосредоточения Великой Силы» и кого называет ИзбраннымИзбранныйИзбранный/Канон, способным, согласно пророчеству, принести равновесие в Силу. Совет тестирует мальчика и, хотя уровень Силы испытуемого весьма высок, мастер ЙодаЙодаЙода/Канон замечает исходящий от Энакина страх, что может привести на Тёмную сторону. Одновременно с этим проходящее в Сенате заседание складывается не в пользу Набу, поскольку Федерация отрицает всяческую вину. Канцлер Валорум, находясь под давлением бюрократических законов и сотен сенаторов, не может разрешить ситуацию, и тогда, не без влияния Палпатина, королева Амидала выносит вотум недоверияВотум недоверияВотум недоверия/Канон руководителю Республики. Дальнейшие события приводят к срочным выборамВыборы Канцлера Республики, 32 ДБЯВыборы Канцлера Республики, 32 ДБЯ/Канон нового канцлера, а сенатор Палпатин становится одним из кандидатов.
Совет джедаев отказывается обучать мальчика, объясняя это тем, что Энакин слишком взрослый, и тогда Квай-Гон сам изъявляет желание быть наставником. Мастера напоминают об Оби-Ване, как о единственном падаване, в то время как сам Оби-Ван пытается убедить Совет в том, что он готов стать рыцаремРыцарь-джедайРыцарь-джедай/Канон. Тем не менее, джедаи вынуждены отложить обсуждение и вернуться к политическим вопросам, поскольку Амидала решает вернуться на Набу, к своему народуНабуанцыНабуанцы/Канон — Сенат, погрязший в бюрократии и коррупции, смог бы принять нужное решение слишком поздно. Оби-Ван и его наставник назначены Советом для сопровождения Амидалы. Поскольку Энакин летит с ними, Квай-Гон всё же даёт мальчику определённые наставления: в частности, объясняет роль мидихлориан, живущих в каждом существе и позволяющих джедаям касаться Силы. Во время перелёта Энакин дарит Падме талисманТалисман из джапораТалисман из джапора/Канон в знак своих чувств. Между тем, Оби-Ван, изначально поссорившийся с учителем из-за Энакина, просит прощения у Квай-Гона.
Босс Насс в Священном месте гунганов.
В то время как Федерация окончательно захватывает Набу, Дарт Сидиус, знающий о возвращении Амидалы, отправляет Мола к Ганрею, которому приказывает довести до конца начатое — заставить королеву подписать договор. Поскольку по успешному возвращению на родину Амидала уже познакомилась с Джа-Джа, первым делом она решает просить помощи у гунганов, чтобы набуанцы получили шанс сразить захватчиков. Однако Джа-Джа, наведавшийся в подводный город, сообщает, что все гунганы покинули поселение, после чего он отводит набуанцев и джедаев в священное местоСвященное место гунгановСвященное место гунганов/Канон, где Амидала просит у Босса Насса поддержки. Вождь гунганов отказывается, и тогда выходит Падме, которая раскрывает себя как настоящую королеву Амидалу, чьё место занимала верная служанкаСабеСабе/Канон. Мольбами Падме удаётся добиться союза, и пока гунганы собирают армиюВеликая армия гунгановВеликая армия гунганов/Канон, Панака и его люди освобождают заключённых из лагерей Федерации.
План боевых действий таков: пока гунганы отвлекают основные силы дроидовАрмия дроидов Торговой федерацииАрмия дроидов Торговой федерации/Канон, выманивая их из города, ударная группа проникает в Тид, где основной целью является ангар королевского дворцаКоролевский дворец ТидаКоролевский дворец Тида/Канон и истребителиЗвёздный истребитель N-1Звёздный истребитель N-1/Канон — единственная возможность уничтожить станцию управления дроидамиЛинейный корабль типа «Барышник»Линейный корабль типа «Барышник»/Канон на орбите Набу. Воинство Насса под командованием капитана ТарпальсаРус ТарпальсРус Тарпальс/Канон и новоявленного генерала Джа-Джа, встречает дроидов на травянистых равнинах за городом. Первая атака противника не наносит ущерба благодаря защитным полям гунганов, после чего пехотные войска дроидов проникают под щиты, и завязывается битва. Одновременно с этим ударная группа, ведомая Падме, Панакой и джедаями, пробивается в ангар, где звено набуанских пилотовЭскадрилья «Браво»Эскадрилья «Браво»/Канон садится на истребители и отправляется к орбите. Энакин, не отходящий от Квай-Гона, тем не менее, вынужден спрятаться в кабине одного из оставшихся истребителей, который вскоре намеренно поднимает транспорт в воздух, открывая огонь по дройдекамДройдекаДройдека/Канон и защищая таким образом своих друзей. Неожиданно на пути группы встаёт Дарт Мол — Квай-Гон и Оби-Ван вступают с ситхом в дуэль на световых мечах, пока Падме и её люди идут другим путём, поднимаясь к верхним этажам дворца при помощи подъёмных тросовСиловой гарпунСиловой гарпун/Канон. Обученный владению двухклинковым мечомДвухклинковый световой мечДвухклинковый световой меч/Канон, Мол не уступает джедаям, однако битва перемещается в комплекс плазмыКомплекс по переработке плазмыГенератор энергии Тида, где в какой-то момент Оби-Ван выбывает из сражения.
Квай-Гон и Оби-Ван вступили в схватку с Дартом Молом во время битвы за Набу.
Несмотря на техническое превосходство гунганов, битва складывается не в их пользу, когда дроиды уничтожают генератор защитного поля. В дело вступают танки ФедерацииБронированный штурмовой танкБронированный штурмовой танк/Канон, обращающие врага в бегство; Джа-Джа и Тарпальс оказываются в числе окружённых дроидами гунганов. Поражение альянса кажется неизбежным, поскольку и королева с охранниками, попадающие в засаду, сдаются Ганрею. В этот момент Энакин, случайно доставленный на орбиту автопилотом, присоединяется к космическому сражению, где набунацы-пилоты, ведомые Риком ОлиеРик ОлиеРик Олие/Канон, тщетно пытаются сбить станцию. Когда R2-D2 отключает автопилот, а Энакин разбирается с управлением, его подбивают дроиды-истребителиБоевой дроид-истребитель с изменяемой геометриейБоевой дроид-истребитель с изменяемой геометрией/Канон, вследствие чего мальчик совершает аварийную посадку внутри ангара станции. Здесь R2 удаётся починить корабль, и тогда Энакин атакует местных дроидов, однако выпущенные протонные торпедыПротонная торпедаПротонная торпеда/Канон повреждают критические системы станции, после чего та взрывается изнутри, а дроиды в космосе и на поверхности — выходят из строя. Падме и её подчинённые успешно расправляются с сопротивлением Ганрея, арестовывая главу Федерации. Между тем, Оби-Ван, отрезанный от схватки силовым полем, вынужден наблюдать, как ситх в поединке с Квай-Гоном теснит мастера и пронзаетШиакБой на световых мечах/Канон его световым мечом. После исчезновения поля ведомый местью Оби-Ван сам сражается с Молом, но, несмотря на то, что ученику-джедаю удаётся перерубить напополам световой меч противника, Дарт Мол продолжает бой с одним клинком и толчком Силы сбрасывает противника в шахту. Зацепившись за выступ, Оби-Ван оставляет ярость, а затем концентрируется и прыгает вверх, одновременно притягивая световой меч павшего учителя, чтобы рассечьСай токРасчленение/Канон противника. Поверженный ученик Сидиуса падает в тёмную бездну. Перед смертью Квай-Гон просит Оби-Вана стать учителем Энакина, и тот даёт слово, что сделает из мальчика джедая.
Сенатор Палпатин одерживает победу в выборах и, став новоиспечённым лидером Республики, первым делом прилетает на Набу. Пока Нут Ганрей отправляется отбывать наказание за свои преступления, канцлер поздравляет королеву Амидалу с её победой, а юному Энакину обещает «следить за успехами». Члены Совета джедаев также прибывают на Набу, где мастер Йода жалует Оби-Вану звание рыцаря и от лица Совета даёт разрешение обучать Энакина; сам Энакин узнаёт об этом на похоронахПохороны Квай-Гона ДжиннаПохороны Квай-Гона Джинна/Канон Квай-Гона, в ходе которых тело погибшего мастера с почестями кремируютКремацияКремация/Канон. Йода и мастер ВиндуМейс ВиндуМейс Винду/Канон, обсуждая произошедшее, соглашаются с выводом об участии ситхов, что означает лишь одно: древнейшие враги джедаев возвращаются из небытия, но, поскольку ситхов всегда двоеПравило двухПравило двух/Канон — учитель и ученик — кроме погибшего на Набу существует другой.
Гунганы и жители Набу празднуют общую победу.
Спустя сутки, жители Набу и гунганы устраивают в Тиде большой праздник с парадом в честь освобождения Набу от Торговой Федерации. Кульминацией торжества становится вручение королевой Амидалой подаркаСфера мираСфера мира/Канон Боссу Нассу в знак дружбы и уважения между двумя народами.
Создание
Разработка концепции
Во время написания сценария к оригинальному фильму «Звёздные войны», Джордж Лукас осознал, что придуманная им история слишком объёмна, чтобы уместить её в один фильм. Оригинальная картина задумывалась как своеобразное введение в обширную сюжетную арку, которая должна была раскрыться в продолжениях, в случае успеха первого фильма. Впоследствии, «Звёздные войны» эволюционировали из одного фильма, в целую серию[1][2]. Во время работы над третьим черновым вариантом фильма, Лукас заключил контракт, давший ему разрешение на создание двух продолжений. Работая над сценарием, он параллельно создавал предысторию придуманного им мира[3]. Во время подготовки сценария к первому сиквелу «Империя наносит ответный удар», Лукас провёл много времени, обдумывая дальнейшее развитие сюжета. Он сделал Дарта Вейдера, центрального отрицательного персонажа первого фильма, отцом главного героя — Люка СкайуокераЛюк СкайуокерЛюк Скайуокер/Канон, и создал предысторию, согласно которой Вейдер некогда был рыцарем-джедаемРыцарь-джедайРыцарь-джедай/Канон Энакином СкайуокеромЭнакин СкайуокерЭнакин Скайуокер/Канон — могущественным воином, павшим на Тёмную сторону Силы[3]. Создав предысторию, Лукас принял решение превратить серию в трилогию, переименовав фильм из «Эпизода II» в «Эпизод V»[4]. К финальному фильму трилогии — «Возвращение джедая», Вейдер превратился в трагического персонажа, в конечном итоге, искупившего свои грехи. Как сказал Лукас, он был «сожжён» и теперь мог отдохнуть от истории[5].
После потери большей части своего состояния из-за развода в 1987 году, Джордж Лукас принял решение о возвращении к работе над «Звёздными войнами», и неофициально отменил свою трилогию сиквелов, действие которой должно было развернуться после событий «Возвращения джедая». Это произошло из-за того, что у Лукаса уже была готова объёмная предыстория, поэтому идея приквелов всё больше захватывала его[3]. В начале 1990-х интерес к «Звёздным войнам» вновь возродился, причиной чему стали комиксы Dark Horse и книжная трилогия Тимоти Зана. Видя по-прежнему огромный интерес к его идеям для трилогии приквелов и стремительное развитие компьютерных спецэффектов, Лукас подтвердил своё возвращение в режиссёрское кресло новых фильмов по созданной им саге[3]. В 1993 году, в журнале «Variety» и некоторых других источниках, появилось подтверждение того, что он начал работу над приквелами. Работу Лукас начал с описания общих черт сюжета. Главным героем стал Энакин Скайуокер, сменивший Оби-Вана КенобиОби-Ван КенобиОби-Ван Кеноби/Канон, а фильмы должны были раскрыть трагедию становления Дарта Вейдера. Вместе с этим, Лукас начал изменять хронологию приквелов относительно оригинальной серии, наполняя их историю и добавляя предыстории, которые должны были существовать параллельно или каким-то образом касаться оригинальной истории. Таким образом, приквелы должны были стать отправной точкой единой истории, начавшейся в детстве Энакина и завершившейся вместе с его смертью. Это был первый шаг по превращению франшизы в сагу[3].
Джордж Лукас начал работу по написанию сценария новой трилогии «Звёздных войн» 1 ноября 1994 года[6]. Под сценарий был адаптирован пятнадцатистраничный набросок Лукаса, написанный им в 1976 году, и предназначавшийся для помощи в отслеживании предыстории персонажей и основных событий, произошедших до событий оригинальной трилогии[6]. В нём Энакин впервые был описан как ребёнок двенадцатилетнего возраста, однако Лукас исправил его возраст на девять лет, пояснив это тем, что так было проще объяснить эмоциональную привязанность мальчика к его матери после их разлуки. В результате, юный возраст Энакина вынудил Лукаса переписать его участие в финальной битве, вставив небольшую сцену, в которой тот разбирается в управлении корабля с помощью подсказок R2-D2R2-D2R2-D2/Канон, что сделало историю более правдоподобной[7]. Рабочий подзаголовок фильма звучал как «Происхождение» (англ. The Beginning)[6]. Позже Лукас раскрыл настоящий подзаголовок — «Скрытая угроза»; подразумевая ПалпатинаПалпатинШив Палпатин, скрывавшего свою истинную личность злого Лорда ситховЛорд ситховЛорд ситхов/Канон, за образом добропорядочного государственного служащего[8].
Огромный бюджет и возможности, открывшиеся благодаря развитию компьютерных эффектов, позволили Лукасу создать, как он говорил: «более грандиозные, более масштабные сцены — сделать «Звёздные войны» такими, какими я всегда мечтал их видеть.»[9] История первого фильма новой трилогии оканчивалась одновременно пятью сюжетными линиями, которые плавно перетекали одна в другую. В центре сюжета стояло намерение Палпатина занять пост канцлера, для достижения которой он возглавил атаку Торговой федерацииТорговая федерацияТорговая федерация/Канон на НабуНабуНабу/Канон, куда были отправлены джедаи, которые встретили Энакина, и на фоне всего этого произошло возрождение лордов ситхов. Как и в оригинальной трилогии, в «Скрытой угрозе» Лукас выстроил повествование таким образом, что смог раскрыть несколько поднятых тем в одном фильме. Двойственность являлась одной из основных тем фильма: королева АмидалаПадме АмидалаПадме Амидала/Канон, скрывающаяся за личностью служанки, Палпатин, играющий за обе стороны конфликта и Оби-Ван, конфликтующий со своим упорным наставником, но в итоге приходящий к выводу, что Квай-ГонКвай-Гон ДжиннКвай-Гон Джинн/Канон противостоял своей бунтарской натуре, и приняв свои обязанности. В фильме также была сильная линия равновесия: Энакин якобы являлся избранным, решения которого должны были принести равновесие в Силу и у всех персонажей был тот, кто мог повлиять на них. Лукас говорил: «Энакину нужна мать, Оби-Вану нужен учитель, Дарту Сидиусу нужен ученик», это всё было необходимо, так как без взаимодействий и диалогов «у вас не будет драмы.»[7]
Предварительное производство и дизайн
До того, как Лукас взялся за написание сценария, его производственный партнёр Ричард Мак-Каллум занялся подготовкой к фильму. Мак-Калум признался, что многие его наработки для сериала «Хроники молодого Индианы Джонса» воплотились в работе над «Скрытой угрозой». Это и долгосрочные контракты с актёрами и арендаторами павильонов, и работа с недавними выпускниками, не имевшими опыта работы в кинематографе, и создание декораций и пейзажей с помощью компьютерных технологий. В апреле 1994 года, Мак-Калум начал подбор художников в художественных, архитектурных и дизайнерских учебных заведениях, и спустя полгода он начал поиски натуры с производственным дизайнером Гэвином Боке. Арт-директор Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) Даг Чан очень впечатлил своими работами Мак-Калума и был назначен директором по дизайну[7][10].
За три или четыре месяца до начала Лукасом работы над написанием сценария, Чан и его команда дизайнеров начали просмотр тысяч дизайнерских работ к фильму[11]. Чан говорил, что Лукас хотел, чтобы «Эпизод I» отличался от остальных фильмов «Звёздные войны». Он должен был быть «богаче и стать частью того периода, так как это была история, приведшая к «Новой надежде». Ключевыми локациями должны были стать три планеты, на которых были места, сильно различающиеся своим дизайном: города людей и гунгановГунганыГунганы/Канон на Набу, различные экстерьеры и интерьеры зданий на КорусантеКорусантКорусант/Канон. За исключением города гунганов, дизайн которого был вдохновлен направлением ар-нуво, все остальные места имели некоторое внешнее сходство с реальными строениями. Концептуальные рисунки Ральфа Маккуорри, созданные для оригинальной трилогии, послужили основой для создания Мос-ЭспыМос-ЭспаМос-Эспа/Канон, который также создавался под впечатлением от старых тунисских отелей и зданий. Он также имел некоторые черты, такие как рынок, отличающие его от Мос-ЭйслиМос-ЭйслиМос-Эйсли/Канон, показанного в «Новой надежде». Рисунки Маккуорри послужили основой и для создания Корусанта, в частности, конструкция метрополиса, которая послужила основой для здания СенатаЗдание СенатаЗдание Сената/Канон[7]. Позже Боке развил идеи команды Чана, переведя концепты в конструкторские чертежи окружения и архитектурных стилей, и сделал их приближенными к реальному миру, чтобы «дать зрителям возможность глубже погрузиться» в фильм[7]. Некоторые элементы фильма были созданы под впечатлением от оригинальной трилогии. Так, описывая боевых дроидов, Лукас указал на то, что они являются предшественниками штурмовиковШтурмовикШтурмовик/Канон. Чан отталкивался от этого ориентира при создании боевых дроидовБоевой дроид B1Боевой дроид B1/Канон, делая их похожими на имперских солдат. Однако, создавая их облик, он делал большой уклон в общую стилистику фильма, поэтому в их дизайне использовались удлинённые черты, перенятые Чаном в племенном африканском искусстве[9].
Террил Уитлэтч, у которой был опыт работы в зоологии и анатомии, занималась дизайном существ. Многие инопланетные существа представляли собой гибриды, состоящие из комбинаций черт реальных животных. Порой, прорабатывались целые пищевые цепи, несмотря на то, что в фильме был показан лишь небольшой процент всех трудов художника. Уитлэтч также разработала детальные скелеты большинства персонажей и лицевые мышцы Джа-Джа БинксаДжа-Джа БинксДжа-Джа Бинкс/Канон, с которыми работали аниматоры ILM. Каждое созданное существо отражало окружение, в котором оно находилось. Так, существа с Набу делались более привлекательными, так как планета была «пышной и более благосклонной к животным», в то время как существа ТатуинаТатуинТатуин/Канон имели грубый вид с «обветренной шкурой, защищающей их от суровых условий пустыни», а на Корусанте обитали двуногие, похожие на людей, инопланетяне[7].
Дуэль Квай-Гона Джина и Дарта Мола. Лукас желал ускорить битвы на световых мечах, сделать их более интенсивными, чтобы показать какие были джедаи в период их расцвета.
Для разработки нового боевого стиля джедаев в новой трилогии был приглашён постановщик трюков Ник Гиллард. Он провёл параллель между битвой на световых мечах и игрой в шахматы, где «каждый удар, был шахом». Гиллард считал, что используя оружие ближнего боя, джедаи должны были выработать боевой стиль, объединяющий несколько стилей сражения на мечах, начиная с кэндо и других стилей кэндзюцу, и заканчивая различными размашистыми техниками, таким как теннисный размах и рубящий стиль. Для тренировок Лайама Нисона и Эвана Макгрегора Гиллард написал последовательность ударов протяжённостью почти 60 секунд, объединяющие по пять или шесть серий ударов в течение битвы[12]. Позже Лукас определил джедаев как «переговорщиков», а не машин для убийства. Предпочтение, отдаваемое джедаями рукопашному поединку, должно было подчеркнуть их духовную и интеллектуальную роль[12]. Поскольку Гиллард считал, что прыжки актёров и каскадёров, выполненные при помощи специальных тросов, выглядели нереалистично, он принял решение использовать портативные катапульты, которые подбрасывали их в воздух на самом деле[7].
Чтобы передать более сложное общественное устройство в новых фильмах, по сравнению с оригинальной трилогией, Лукас решил использовать более сложные костюмы. Дизайнер Триша Биггар и её команда создали более 1000 костюмов, которые были вдохновлены одеждой различных культур[13]. Биггар работала в тесном сотрудничестве с дизайнером концептов Иэном Маккейгом для создания цветовой палитры, подходящей жителям каждой из показанных в фильме планет: Татуин следовал «Новой надежде», с её выцветшей на солнце одеждой цвета песка, одежда Корусанта была серых, коричневых и чёрных оттенков, а люди Набу облачались в зелёный и золотой, в то время как гунганы носили «похожую на их собственную кожу» кожаную одежду. Костюмы джедаев переняли классический образ из оригинальных фильмов[7]. Костюм Оби-Вана был основан на костюме, который носил Алек Гиннесс в «Новой надежде». Лукас говорил, что он и Биггар просмотрели все концепты и «перевели эти наброски в ткани, выкройки и материалы, которые не выглядели глупыми в реальности.» Биггар также консультировалась с Гиллардом, для создания более практичных костюмов, которые подошли бы для боевых сцен, и отделом разработки существ, чтобы определить ткани, которые «не будут носимыми» на коже инопланетных существ. Огромный отдел на киностудии Leavesden был отдан под размещение 250 костюмов главных персонажей и 5000 костюмов массовки[7].
Съёмки
Остатки Мос-Эспа в Тунисской пустыне.
Съёмки, проходящие большей частью на киностудии Leavesden в Англии, начались 26 июня 1997 года, и закончились 30 сентября в том же году. Leavesden была арендована на два с половиной года, для того, чтобы съёмочная команда могла вернуться туда после окончания основных съёмок и доснять всё необходимое[7]. Лесные сцены Набу снимались в парке Кассиобери, что в Уотфорде, Хартфордшир[14][15]. Дополнительные съёмки проходили между августом 1998 года и февралём 1999, после чего Лукас показал черновой вариант фильма своим друзьям и коллегам в мае 1998 года[7]. Большая часть экшен-сцен и трюков была отснята второй командой Роджера Кристиана, которая работала параллельно с основной командой, чтобы успеть завершить съёмки вовремя[7].
Для съёмок сцен Татуина вновь была выбрана Тунисская пустыня[16]. Мос-Эспа был построен недалеко от города Таузар. На третьи сутки возле Таузара, ночью, неожиданная песчаная буря накрыла место съёмок и уничтожила большое количество декораций и реквизита. Производственная команда смогла быстро устранить повреждения, поэтому съёмки в Тунисе закончились без задержек и ровно в запланированный срок[17]. Итальянский Королевский дворец в Казерте использовался в качестве интерьера для Королевского дворцаКоролевский дворец ТидаКоролевский дворец Тида/Канон города ТидаТидТид/Канон[16]. На период съёмок, продлившихся четыре дня, он был закрыт для посетителей. Сцены взрывов были сняты на фоне воссоздающих облик итальянского дворца декораций, построенных на студии Leavesden[7].
Reggia Di Caserta (Казерта, Италия) послужил декорацией для воплощения Королевского дворца Набу.
Для того чтобы грамотно спланировать съёмочный период, был создан стенд с раскадровками, где отмечались сцены, которые было необходимо снимать на натуре, и сцены, снятые на фоне синего экрана хромакея, которые позже обрабатывались с помощью CGI. Зачастую декорации строились фрагментами, многие из них не превышали в высоту роста актёров задействованных в сцене. Хромакей широко использовался для дополнения цифровыми объектами декораций, создания задников и персонажей, которых было бы сложно воплотить без использования CGI. Также компьютерные эффекты использовались для корректировки сцен, в которых, по указанию кинооператора Дэвида Таттерсолла, необходимо было скрыть мощные лампы прожекторов, освещавших декорации. Специалист по визуальным эффектам Джон Нолл написал специальный скрипт, удалявший синие и зелёные отражения экранов хромакея со всех отражающих поверхностей. Нолл, который находился на съёмочной площадке на протяжении большей части съёмок, тесно сотрудничал с Таттерсоллом, чтобы убедиться, что эффекты выстрелов будут корректно смотреться после добавления компьютерной графики. Все камеры на съёмочной площадке были оборудованы специальным модулем, собиравшим технические данные, необходимые специалистам при добавлении CGI[7].
«Скрытая угроза» стала последним фильмом «Звёздных войн», снятым на 35 мм плёнку. Некоторые сцены, в особенности те, где использовались спецэффекты, были сняты на камеры высокой чёткости. Это было сделано для того, чтобы протестировать производительность цифровой записи, которую Лукас и Мак-Каллум считали следующим логическим шагом развития кинематографа. Цифровые технологии удешевили процесс съёмок. По сравнению с высокой стоимостью оцифровки снятого материала, стоимость прямой съёмки на цифровые камеры с записью на цифровые носители, удобные для последующей обработки и наложения компьютерных спецэффектов, обходилась дешевле. Для съёмок всех последующих фильмов использовались видеокамеры высокой чёткости Sony CineAlta[7][18].
На монтаж отснятого материала ушло два года. Пол Мартин Смит начал свою работу в Англии, сфокусировавшись на тяжёлых сценах диалогов. Бен Бёртт, бывший звуковым дизайнером фильма, отвечал за последовательность действия под руководством Лукаса. Система нелинейного монтажа сыграла ключевую роль в переносе на экран видения Лукаса своего фильма. Он постоянно перестраивал, исправлял и перерабатывал кадры и сцены. Финальное сведение звука было окончено в марте 1999 года, и в последующие месяцы фильм был окончен, после добавления в некоторые кадры недостающих визуальных спецэффектов.
Эффекты
- «Написание сценария в этот раз было более приятным, потому что меня ничто не сдерживало. Вы не сможете написать ни один из этих фильмов, если не будете знать, как это можно реализовать. Имея CGI в своём распоряжении, я знал, что смогу воплотить всё что захочу.»
- — Джордж Лукас
Более 1950 кадров «Скрытой угрозы» содержали визуальные эффекты. Единственной сценой, снятой без компьютерной обработки, был момент выпуска газа в переговорную комнату, в которой находились джедаи[19]. Работа по созданию спецэффектов была настолько интенсивной, что руководителям трёх подразделений пришлось разделить весь объём работы между своими подразделениями. Джон Нолл руководил работой на съёмочной площадке и работой над сценами гонок на подах и космических сражений. Деннис Мьюрен управлял работой по созданию подводных сцен и наземных битв. Скотт Сквайрс, вместе с командой миниатюрщиков и аниматоров, работал над эффектами световых мечей[7].
Ахмед Бест, в образе Джа-Джа Бинкса, во время съёмок сцены диалога с Джейком Ллойдом.
До начала работы над фильмом многие использованные в нём спецэффекты ещё не были разработаны, а добиться того же уровня качества, используя стандартные миниатюрные модели мэт-пэйнтинг и различные методы съёмки, не представлялось возможным. Однако, к тому времени, когда началась работа над «Скрытой угрозой», качество CGI значительно улучшилось, благодаря множеству фильмов, созданных при помощи этой технологии. Перед началом работы над эффектами Нолл просмотрел 3500 изображений раскадровки, с пояснениями Лукаса о том, какие кадры будут сняты на натуре и в каких будут использованы визуальные эффекты. Позже Нолл говорил, что услышав пояснения по раскадровке, он не имел ни малейшего понятия о том, как это воплотить на экране. В итоге было принято решение совместить стандартные методы создания спецэффектов с новейшими цифровыми технологиями, чтобы зритель не смог различить, где какая используется технология. Ноллу и его команде по созданию визуальных эффектов пришлось написать новое программное обеспечение, способное решить поставленные задачи. Так была создана программа симуляции ткани, позволяющая создать реалистичную одежду для цифровых персонажей, созданных для фильма. Ещё одной задачей было создание компьютерных персонажей, способных гармонично взаимодействовать с живыми актёрами. Во время съёмок сцен с участием цифровых персонажей, Лукас приводил на съёмочную площадку актёров, озвучивающих этих персонажей, и разыгрывал сцену с ними. После чего актёры озвучки удалялись из кадра методами цифровой обработки, и казалось, будто актёры играют свои роли в одиночку. Позже в кадр добавляли CGI персонажей и их взаимодействие с живыми актёрами выглядело очень естественным и реалистичным[20]. Также Лукас использовал CGI для добавления или удаления актёров в некоторых сценах[19]. Физические модели и миниатюры использовались для создания более реалистичных сцен общего плана, фонов, визуального расширения пространства и моделей техники, которые сканировались для создания цифровых моделей или использовались для съёмок космических кораблей и гоночных подов[7].
Наученный горьким опытом предыдущих фильмов, когда съёмки приходилось откладывать из-за отсутствия или проблем с реквизитом, необходимым для воссоздания R2-D2, Лукас позволил отделению ILM и отделу разработки спецэффектов в Великобритании создавать свои версии робота. Таким образом, было создано девять моделей R2-D2: одна для актёра Кенни Бейкера, который управлял дроидом изнутри, семь было создано специалистами из ILM и были оборудованы двумя небольшими двигателями, способными перемещать груз массой до 200 кг. Эти модели использовались в основном в качестве декораций. Ну и последний R2-D2 был создан специалистами из британской студии. Он оборудовался двумя или тремя пневматическими ногами. Эта модель использовалась для съёмок в Тунисе, так как её электропривод подходил для езды по песку[21].
Изначально Лукас планировал создать большинство инопланетян при помощи компьютерной графики, однако, если создание какого-то существа было экономически целесообразнее с использованием классических масок и аниматроники, то их созданием занималась команда Ника Дадмэна. Таким образом были созданы неймодианцыНеймодианцыНеймодианцы/Канон, фоновые персонажи в Мос-Эспа, Совете джедаевСовет джедаевСовет джедаев/Канон и Галактическом СенатеГалактический СенатГалактический Сенат/Канон. Команда Дадмэна приступила к созданию существ за полгода до начала основных съёмок. Костюмы неймодианцев, которых изначально планировалось создавать на компьютере, были готовы и доставлены на съёмочную площадку всего за день до начала съёмок сцен с их участием. Для отбора существ, к которым требовалось создать костюмы, Дадмэн наведывался на Ранчо Скайуокера, где просматривал существ из оригинальной трилогии, которых можно было бы реализовать, и перечитывал сценарий, чтобы отделить тех, которых нельзя было создать без использования CGI[7].
Во время исследования того, как должны выглядеть гоночные подыГоночный подГоночный под/Канон, команда специалистов по визуальным эффектам посетили свалку реактивных самолётов, находящуюся вблизи города Финикс, в Аризоне и забрали оттуда четыре двигателя от самолёта Boeing 747[19]. Специалисты по спецэффектам создали полноразмерные копии двигателей, которые были отправлены в Тунис, чтобы использовать их для съёмок. Однако кроме сцены с Джейком Ллойдом в гидравлически управляемой кабине и нескольких сцен с реальными моделями гоночных подов, вся остальная гонка была создана на компьютере[7][16].
Музыка
Как и к предыдущим фильмам «Звёздные войны», музыка к фильму «Звёздные войны. Эпизод I: Скрытая угроза» была написана композитором Джоном Уильямсом. Он начал компоновать саундтрек в октябре 1998 года и начал запись с London Voices и Лондонским симфоническим оркестром на студии Эбби-Роуд 10 февраля 1999 года. Уильямс решил использовать электронные инструменты, такие как синтезаторы, чтобы усилить звук и хоровую составляющую, что позволило «захватить волшебную, мистическую силу, которую оркестру обычно не удаётся воспроизвести», и создать атмосферу фильма «более загадочной и таинственной и менее милитаристской», чем в оригинальной трилогии[22]. В одной из наиболее известных композиций «Дуэль судеб», используется хоровое пение, для придания большей религиозности, и создания ощущения, будто находишься в храме, во время эпической дуэли на световых мечах[23]. При написании темы Энакина Уильямс старался отразить невинность его детства и предзнаменовать его превращение в Дарта Вейдера, используя элементы «Имперского марша»[22].
Саундтрек фильма был издан Sony Classical Records 4 мая 1999 года. Структура альбома была несколько перестроена и отличалась от построения музыки в фильме. Уильямс пошёл на это сознательно, так как объём носителя не позволял поместить всю музыку фильма на один диск[24]. Двухдисковое «Полное издание» увидело свет 14 ноября 2000 года. Альбом почти полностью повторял порядок композиций, в котором они располагались в фильме, со всеми обработками[25].
Источники вдохновения и отсылки
Раскраска лица Дарта Мола является своеобразной отсылкой к каноническому для христианской религии изображению Дьявола.
Как и в предыдущих фильмах «Звёздные войны», в «Скрытой угрозе» присутствуют отсылки как к историческим событиям, так и к фильмам, которые Джордж Лукас смотрел в юности. Обычной практикой для фильмов «Звёздные войны», стало сплетение нескольких различных мифологий вместе[26].
Джедаи практикуют похожую на дзэн медитацию и боевые искусства так же, как это делали древние японские воины самураи. Имя «Квай-Гон» (англ. Qui-Gon) является адаптацией термина цигун (англ. Qigong), обозначающего древнее китайское искусство, включающее в себя практику китайских боевых искусств, медитативную практику и гимнастические упражнения, направленные на освобождение от телесных зажимов и энергетических блоков, а также на контроль жизненной энергии называемой «Чи» или «Ци» (англ. Chi или Qi). Слово Чи (англ. Chi) (Китайский), ки (англ. ki ) (Японский) и индийский эквивалент «Прана» обозначают энергию, которая, как считается, протекает через все живые организмы, и исходит от единого источника всех чи (или энергии) который известен как «Путь» или «Дао» (англ. Tao) в китайской философии. В даосской философии Путь происходит из инь и ян, противоположных, но взаимодополняющих аспектах реальности и природы. В отличие от китайской философии, в которой инь и ян не являлись моральными качествами, в Зурванизме, древнем персидском философском течении, присутствовало учение о том, что дуализм сил тьмы и света скован вечным противостоянием, будучи сторонами единой «Силы», силой самого времени, Зурвана — олицетворявшего время и пространство. Источником этих элементов в основном являются восточные и иранские религии и мифы[26].
В фильме также много отсылок и к христианской мифологии. К примеру — Дарт Мол. При создании его образа дизайнеры отталкивались от традиционного изображения Дьявола в христианстве, где тот предстаёт с красной кожей и рогами[26]. Татуировки на лице Мола созданы под впечатлением от ритуальных татуировок коренного народа Бразилии[9]. Фильмы цикла «Звёздные войны» отличает довольно сильное соответствие истории Энакина Скайуокера и христианской легенды о Мессии: он «избранный», тот, кому предначертано принести баланс в Силу, был рождён от непорочного зачатия и через соблазн присоединившийся к ситхам. Однако падение Энакина на тёмную сторону Силы, на какое-то время, лишило его возможности исполнить пророчество «избранного». История непорочного зачатия была переплетена с концепцией разработанной Джозефом Кэмпбеллом в его работе «Герой с тысячью лицами», которая, в значительной степени, повлияла на Лукаса во время работы над сценарием оригинальной трилогии «Звёздные войны»[26].
Японские фильмы, такие как фильм Акиры Куросавы «Скрытая крепость», повлиявший на Лукаса при создании оригинального фильма «Звёздные войны», также стали источником вдохновения для режиссёра и при создании «Скрытой угрозы». Историки кинематографа Джефф Кинг и Таня Кшивийска писали: «Костюмы и грим … являются смесью готичного и восточного, что, к тому же, ещё и очень футуристично. Готическое наиболее сильно проявляется в демонических рогах Дарта Мола, а чёрно-красная раскраска его лица напоминает древние японские маски, изображающие демонов». Кинг и Кшивийска писали: «Конский хвост [причёска] Квай-Гона и положение Оби-Вана как ученика позволяет рассматривать их взаимоотношения с точки зрения самурайских традиций». Также они добавляют: «Амидала, в соответствии с её статусом и характером, имеет несколько весьма официальных нарядов … под которые создаются причёски, обрамляющие макияж, свойственный актёрам традиционных японских театров»[27].
Релиз
Один из самых популярных рекламных постеров к фильму.
Выход «Скрытой угрозы» сопровождался огромным интересом как среди поклонников, так и среди широкой аудитории. Одновременно с выходом «Скрытой угрозы» в прокат вышло несколько фильмов других киностудий. Среди них были такие студии как DreamWorks и Universal Studios, выпустившие «Любовное послание» и «Ноттинг-Хилл» соответственно. В результате, «Любовное послание» ожидал кассовый провал, в то время как «Ноттинг-Хилл» показал довольно неплохой результат, заняв второе место по сборам, оказавшись довольно близко к «Скрытой угрозе»[28]. По оценкам Challenger, Gray & Christmas of Chicago, консалтинговой фирмы, специализирующейся на вопросах трудоустройства, 2.2 миллиона штатных сотрудников не вышли на работу в день премьеры фильма, принеся таким образом общий ущерб экономике США в размере 293 миллионов долларов. По сообщению «The Wall Street Journal», число работников, сообщивших о своём намерении не выходить на работу в день премьеры, было настолько велико, что некоторые компании объявили этот день выходным[29]. Многие поклонники, чтобы попасть на фильм в день премьеры, начинали занимать очередь перед кинотеатрами за месяц до начала продажи билетов[30].
Множество очередей перед кинотеатрами появилось после объявления о том, что билеты на фильм начнут продаваться лишь за две недели до премьеры. Это было связано с опасением, что те поклонники, которые решат совершить семейный поход на премьеру, не смогут получить билеты, либо будут вынуждены покупать их по более высокой цене. По этой причине было принято решение продавать билеты по классической схеме продажи, непосредственно перед показом[31]. Однако, после встречи с представителями Национальной ассоциации владельцев кинотеатров, Lucasfilm согласились на предварительную продажу билетов, начиная с 12 мая 1999 года, на условии, что в одни руки будет отпускаться не более 12 билетов[32]. В результате, некоторые из предварительно проданных билетов были перепроданы «спекулянтами» по цене более $100 за штуку, что, по утверждению главы дистрибьюции, было «ужасно», и который заявил, что именно этого они и старались избежать[33]. По сообщению «Daily Variety» владельцы кинотеатров получили строгие инструкции от Lucasfilm, согласно которым, фильм обязан был демонстрироваться в крупнейших залах кинотеатров в течении первых 8—12 недель, а отчисления дистрибьютору 20th Century Fox должны были поступить в течении семи дней[34].
Несмотря на опасения не закончить фильм к сроку, за две недели до премьеры Lucasfilm перенёс дату релиза с 21 мая на 19 мая 1999 года. На ShoWest Convention, Лукас заявил, что это сделано для того, чтобы дать фанатам «фору», чтобы самые нетерпеливые смогли посмотреть фильм в течении недели, оставив семьям возможность сходить на фильм в выходные. В знак того, что будущее кинематографа за цифровыми технологиями, Лукас объявил о выходе фильма в четырёх залах с цифровыми проекторами 18 июня 1999 года[35]. Одиннадцать благотворительных премьер состоялись по всем Соединённым Штатам 16 мая 1999 года. В Лос-Анджелесе состоялось мероприятие, с корпоративным доступом в $5,000 и $25,000, средства с которого пошли в Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation[36]. Остальные благотворительные премьеры прошли в Далласе, средства с которой пошли в Children’s Medical Center, Нью-Йоркскую премьеру проводил Aubrey Fund, собиравший средства для Pediatric Cancer Research находящегося в Sloan-Kettering Hospital, средства с премьеры в Филадельфии пошли в Big Brother/Sister Assn., и премьера в Вашингтоне собирала средства для Children’s National Medical Center. Согласно отчёту, некоторые билеты продавались по цене в $500, а некоторые места в зале были зарезервированы для детей из малоимущих семей[37].
Маркетинг
Lucasfilm потратили 20 миллионов долларов на рекламную компанию фильма и подписание лицензионных соглашений с Hasbro, Lego, Tricon Global Restaurants и PepsiCo[38]. Lucasfilm также помогла фан-клубу «Звёздных войн» организовать мероприятие под названием Star Wars Celebration, прошедшее в Денвере, Колорадо, с 30 апреля по 2 мая 1999 года[39].
Тизер «Скрытой угрозы» был показан перед фильмом «Знакомьтесь, Джо Блэк» 17 ноября 1998 года, и, как сообщали СМИ, люди платили за полный сеанс, чтобы посмотреть небольшой тизер «Звёздных войн»[40]. Второй трейлер был показан 12 марта 1999 года, перед фильмом «Командир эскадрильи». И снова многие поклонники пошли на фильм, чтобы посмотреть новый трейлер[41]. В тот же день в Интернете появилась пиратская версия трейлера, снятая в одном из кинотеатров, где проходил предпоказ[42]. На следующее утро трейлер был опубликован на официальном сайте фильма, и вскоре после этого его сервера оказались перегружены[43]. Показ полноценного трейлера вызвал больший ажиотаж, так как был показан не только в кинотеатрах, но также и на ShoWest Convention в Лас-Вегасе, и по телевидению на «Entertainment Tonight» и «Access Hollywood»[44]. Необычная рекламная компания прошла в Великобритании, где тизер был показан 2 декабря 1998 года, а затем, шестью неделями спустя, был изъят из кинотеатров[45].
Тизер-постер, на котором был изображён Энакин, отбрасывающий тень в форме силуэта Дарта Вейдера, был представлен 10 ноября 1998. Позже Лукас назначил художника Дрю Струзана, ответственного за постеры к Специальному изданию, в качестве основного художника для театральных постеров. Плакат был представлен 11 марта 1999 года. Для иностранных дистрибьюторов фильма Lucasfilm поставил условие, что единственным изображением, которым можно рекламировать фильм, должна быть иллюстрация Струзана, на которой разрешалось менять только текст, а все другие элементы должны были оставаться неизменными[46].
Выходу фильма сопутствовал выпуск множества связанной с ним продукции: видеоигра от LucasArts для PlayStation и PC[47], пинбольный аппарат от Williams[48], комиксовая адаптация в четырёх частях, выпущенная издательством Dark Horse Comics[49], и детская новеллизация, выпущенная издательством Scholastic[50]. Официальная новеллизация фильма была написана Терри Бруксом, который получил одобрение Лукаса и часто консультировался с ним[51].
Выход на видеоносителях
Сравнение кукольного ЙодыЙодаЙода/Канон, показанного в театральной и DVD версиях фильма, и его компьютерной модели, представленной в версии фильма на Blu-ray и в 3D версии.
Мировой релиз VHS версии фильма состоялся между 3 и 8 апреля 2000 года. В Северной Америке были выпущены две версии фильма: стандартная масштабированная версия и широкоэкранная версия коллекционного издания. В первые два дня продаж было продано 4,5 миллиона копий обычной версии фильма и 500 000 ограниченного издания[52]. «Скрытая угроза» стал первым фильмом серии «Звёздные войны», официально вышедшим на DVD 16 октября 2001 года. В это издание входило семь удалённых сцен, доработанных специально для DVD, дорожки с комментариями Лукаса и продюсера Ричарда Мак-Каллума и несколько документальных фильмов, включая полнометражный фильм «Создавая Эпизод I». «Скрытая угроза» стала самым продаваемым DVD в истории США, продавшись 2,2 миллионами копий за первую неделю начала продаж[53].
DVD версия была переиздана в составе трилогии приквелов 4 ноября 2008 года[54]. Laserdisc-версия «Скрытой угрозы» была выпущена в Японии за месяц до начала продаж DVD версии в США[55]. На Blu-ray Disc обе трилогии «Звёздных войн» вышли 16 сентября 2011 года[56]. В этой версии изображение «Скрытой угрозы» было восстановлено и улучшено, но пропали дополнительные материалы с предыдущего DVD релиза. Всего было восстановлено примерно 8 % кадров картины[57]. В Blu-ray версии «Скрытой угрозы» кукольный ЙодаЙодаЙода/Канон был заменён на CGI модель, созданную для второго и третьего фильмов трилогии приквелов[58].
7 апреля 2015 года Walt Disney Studios, Lucasfilm и 20th Century Fox совместно объявили о выходе шести первых фильмов саги «Звёздные войны» в цифровом формате. Так как студии Lucasfilm принадлежали права на распространение в цифровом формате Эпизодов I—III и V—VI, то Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment представила «Скрытую угрозу» на онлайн площадках 10 апреля 2015 года[59].
Несмотря на то, что после приобретения в 2012 году студии Lucasfilm Ltd., Walt Disney Company получила права на распространение всех будущих фильмов по вселенной «Звёздные войны», оригинальные права на распространение фильма «Звёздные войны. Эпизод IV: Новая надежда» в любом виде по всему миру остались у компании Fox, которая занималась его продюсированием и финансированием. Также Fox сохраняла права на коммерческий, некоммерческий показ и распространение физических копий последующих пяти картин, которые Lucasfilm производила и финансировала как независимая студия, до мая 2020 года, когда права должны были перейти к Disney. Такие сложные отношения между Fox и Disney, особенно пожизненное право Fox на Эпизод IV, являлось серьёзным препятствием для выпуска полного сборника из всех девяти фильмов, которые должны были выйти в будущем[60]. Но 14 декабря 2017 года The Walt Disney Company объявила о приобретении большей части материнской компании Fox, 21st Century Fox, включая киностудию и все права на распространение «Новой надежды»[61]. 20 марта 2019 года сделка о слиянии компаний была официально завершена[62]. За этим последовал анонс 12 апреля 2019 года выпуска полного собрания всех девяти фильмов саги «Звёздные войны», конвертированных под разрешение 4К, на Blu-ray в 2020 году[63].
3D версия
Афиша переиздания «Скрытой угрозы» в 3D формате.
28 сентября 2010 года было объявлено о том, что все шесть фильмов серии будут конвертированы в 3D. В связи с чем, каждый эпизод должен был вновь выйти в прокат, начиная со «Скрытой угрозы», которая была показана в кинотеатрах в феврале 2012 года.[64] Конвертирование проводила компания Prime Focus Limited, под чётким руководством специалистов ILM[65]. Однако, релиз 3D версий картин «Звёздные войны. Эпизод II: Атака клонов» и «Звёздные войны. Эпизод III: Месть ситхов» был отложен, после того, как Lucasfilm был приобретён The Walt Disney Company, которая решила сфокусироваться на разработке «Звёздные войны. Эпизод VII: Пробуждение Силы»[66].
Согласно высказыванию Джорджа Лукаса, 3D версия фильма является просто конвертированной версией фильма, выпущенной в 2011 на Blu-ray, без каких-либо добавлений или изменений[67]. Единственным подтверждённым изменением была магнитная палка Энакина, в сцене гонки на подах, которая была изменена, чтобы трёхмерная картинка точнее соответствовала оригинальному двухмерному изображению[68].
Релиз в России
27 июля 1999 года на телеканале «ОРТ» (ныне «Первый канал»), в программе «Тихий дом» Сергея Шолохова все тридцать минут были посвящены «Скрытой угрозе»[69]. 29 июля «Гемини Фильм Интернациональ» в рамках церемонии закрытия XXI Московского международного кинофестиваля в кинотеатре «Пушкинский» осуществил российскую кинопремьеру фильма «Эпизод I. Скрытая угроза»[70]. Для презентации фильма в Москву приехал продюсер картины Рик Маккаллум[71]. Перевод фильма сделала Ольга Воейкова[72], дубляж осуществляла студия «Невафильм»[73]; картина заработал в российском прокате 2.300.000$ и занял по итогам 1999 года второе место в целом и первое место среди зарубежных картин. В мировой кассе (без США и Канады) Россия заняла 30 место[74].
16 мая 2000 года «Лазер Видео Интернешнл» осуществил российский релиз VHS версии «Эпизод I. Скрытая угроза». По итогам российских продаж видеофильмов в 2000 году релиз занял третье место в целом и первое место среди зарубежных фильмов[75].
11 мая 2002 года телеканал «РТР» (ныне «Россия 1») осуществил российскую телепремьеру фильма «Эпизод I. Скрытая угроза»[76]. 15 мая 2005 телеканал «Первый канал» осуществил показ «Эпизод I. Скрытая угроза» со стереозвуком. В 2002 году телеканал «Россия» осуществил телепремьеру с монозвуком[77].
9 декабря 2010 года «Двадцатый Век Фокс СНГ» осуществил российские релизы DVD версий всех шести эпизодов, из которых пять (кроме «Эпизод III. Месть ситхов») выходили на российском DVD-рынке впервые. DVD выпускались в виде 6 однодисковых изданий, содержавших только соответствующий эпизод (без дополнительных материалов), и двух трёхдисковых изданий «Эпизоды I, II, III» и «Эпизоды IV, V, VI» (вновь только фильмы без дополнительных материалов)[78].
15 сентября 2011 «Двадцатый Век Фокс СНГ» осуществил российские релизы Blu-Ray всех шести эпизодов в виде двух трёхдисковых изданий «Эпизоды I, II, III» и «Эпизоды IV, V, VI» (только фильмы без дополнительных материалов) и полного девятидиского издания (6 дисков с фильмами и 3 диска с дополнительными материалами)[79].
3 февраля 2012 кинотеатр «Starlight на Багратионовской» (и ещё 10 кинотеатров по всей России), совместно с телеканалом «2×2» и «Двадцатый век Фокс СНГ» в рамках акции «Люк, я твой отец» провели эксклюзивный одноразовый предварительный показ «Эпизод I. Скрытая угроза в 3D» и более широкий кинопоказ анимационной пародии «Робоцып: Звёздные войны III»[80]. А 9 февраля состоялась российская кинопремьера фильма «Эпизод I. Скрытая угроза в 3D». Фильм заработал в российском прокате 2.442.000$. В мировой кассе (без США и Канады) Россия заняла 7 место[81].
Отзывы
Отзывы критиков
Фильм получил в основном смешанные отзывы. На начало 2015 года «Скрытая угроза» имела рейтинг обзоров 57 % на сайте Rotten Tomatoes, со средним баллом 5.8/10, основанном на 191 отзыве, с замечанием критиков: «Лукасу необходимо поработать над сюжетом и развитием персонажей, но в фильме есть множество конфеток для глаз, которые приковывают к экрану.»[82] Фильм также обладает 51 из 100 баллов на Metacritic, основанных на 36 обзорах[83]. На обоих сайтах у фильма наименьший рейтинг среди других фильмов серии «Звёздные войны», за исключением анимационных продолжений, таких как «Звёздные войны: Войны клонов». Критике подверглись многие аспекты сценария, особенно это касается персонажа Джа-Джа Бинкса, которого отрицательно восприняли многие старые поклонники серии, за его кукольность и за то, что его создали для увеличения продаж мерчендайза, а не как важного персонажа[84][85]. Кеннет Теран из «Los Angeles Times» описывал Бинкса как «большой промах, абсолютно комиксовый персонаж, который оказался абсолютно не смешным.» [86] В ответ на нелестные отзывы, Джордж Лукас раскритиковал американские СМИ за то, что те использовали комментарии из Интернета в качестве источников для новостей[87]. В 2002 году, во время выхода «Атаки клонов», Юэн Макгрегор сказал следующее, что «Скрытая угроза» была «довольно скучной», и добавил, «Мне кажется, что в Эпизоде II будет больше юмора и … цвета.»[88] Дрю Грант из «Salon.com», написала: «Возможно, обладающий полной творческой свободой, режиссёр Джордж Лукас и получал удовольствие, во время придумывания ‘комических’ сцен — без участия представителей студии и минимальном влиянии независимого участия актёров — но это путь на тёмную сторону.» [89]
В то же время, Роджер Эберт из «Chicago Sun-Times» дал фильму три звезды из четырёх, назвав его «удивительным достижением в области кинопроизводства», и добавил: «Лукас рассказал отличную историю.» Эберт также написал, что: «Если какие-то из персонажей менее проработаны, возможно так и должно было быть», потому как фильм открывает новую трилогию. Завершил он свой обзор, сказав, что вместо фильмов «Звёздный путь», режиссёры могли бы «давать мне прозрачные подводные города и огромный купол сената каждый день.»[90] Оуэн Глейберман из «Entertainment Weekly» поставил фильму оценку B и похвалил игру Лиама Нисона и боевые сцены[91]. В обзоре от «Entertainment Weekly» DVD версии фильма, Марк Бернанрин поставил ей C, назвав её «беспомощно выстроенной, ужасно написанной и рассчитанной на несовершеннолетних»[92]. Автор ReelViews.net Джеймс Берардинелли писал;
После просмотра картины, несмотря на все её недостатки, можно сказать — «Скрытая угроза» по прежнему является лучшей и самым весёлым «праздником за грош» из всего, что показывают в кинотеатре. В ней нет свежести оригинальных «Звёздных войн» и отсутствует тематическое разнообразие и повествовательная целостность «Империя наносит ответный удар», но она куда лучше «Возвращения джедая». На самом деле, после «Возвращения джедая» мне не хотелось вновь возвращаться к «Далёкой, далёкой галактике», но «Скрытой угрозой» Лукас вновь пробудил во мне интерес к серии.[93]
Эндрю Джонстон из «Time Out New York» писал: «Давайте взглянем правде в глаза — ни один фильм не удовлетворил бы столько ожиданий, сколько обрушилось на «Эпизод I: Скрытая угроза». Это не значит, что вышедший фильм стал разочарованием, напротив, он невероятно интересный, особенно если воспринимать его в отрыве от предыдущих работ. Как самостоятельный фильм, он предстаёт историей путешествия мальчика, банальной, но с ярким духовным подтекстом. Эффекты и постановка просто потрясающие, и они всегда работают на сюжет, а не иначе.»[94] Сьюзэн Вложина из «USA Today» назвала фильм «довольно достоверным» и отметила персонажей Дарта Мола и Уотто[95]. Девид Корнелиус с сайта efilmcritic.com сказал, что лучшие моменты фильма «не только уравновешивают слабые — они их полностью свергают.»[96] Колин Кеннеди из журнала «Empire» сказал, что несмотря на проблемы со сценарием, фильм «по прежнему доставит удовольствие от просмотра, из-за экшн-сцен, в которых показаны джедаи во всей их мощи.» Он отметил визуальную составляющую и игру Лиама Нисона, и назвал дуэли между Дартом Молом и джедаем — «самой лучшей битвой на световых мечах из всей саги»[97].
Журнал «Empire» внёс «Скрытую угрозу» в список «500 величайших фильмов всех времён»[98], в то время как «Entertainment Weekly» и Comcast внесли его в списки худших фильмов-продолжений[99][100]. Джеймс Берардинелли писал: «»Скрытая угроза» была, пожалуй, наиболее раздутой в прессе картиной за последнее десятилетие (если не больше), и в результате её репутация пострадала в связи с неудовлетворенностью безосновательно завышенных ожиданий.«[101] Уильям Арнольд из «Seattle Post-Intelligencer» согласился с тем, что многие негативные реакции относительно фильма были вызваны большой шумихой и высокими ожиданиями, он писал: «завышенные ожидания просто не могли быть воплощены, поэтому многие элементы фильма не смогли удивить зрителя.» Он также отметил что фильм был «хорошо и интересно снят» и был намного лучше других кассовых фильмов, вышедших в том же году: «Мумия» и «Матрица»[102].
Введение в мифологию саги мидихлорианМидихлорианыМидихлорианы/Канон — микроскопических организмов, являющихся посредником для пользования Силой — вызвало разногласия в среде поклонников. Некоторые рассматривали введение этой концепции как отрицание духовной составляющей Силы, однако в фильме по прежнему Сила изображалась как таинственная сущность, позволяющая использовать мидихлорианы для общения со всеми живыми существами. Историк кино Дэн Динелло говорил: «Многие фанатики «Звёздных войн» предали фильм анафеме, за то, что он свёл концепцию Силы до какой-то вирусной инфекции, на самом же деле, мидихлорианы стали своего рода биологическим интерфейсом, связывающим физические тела с духовной энергией.»[103] Религиозный эксперт Джон Ди. Капуто писал: «В описанном в «Евангелии от Лукаса» мире, неразрешимые противоречия, мучившие религиозных мыслителей на протяжении веков, пришли к примирению. Способности, которыми обладают мастера-джедаи получили совершенно правдоподобную научную основу, даже если сама связь выглядит по прежнему таинственно: клетки их тел имеют большую концентрацию мидихлориан, чем у обычных живых существ.»[104]
После выхода фильма начались споры о том, что представители инородных рас отражают расовые стереотипы. К примеру, глупый, бестолковый Джа-Джа Бинкс, с длинными, напоминающими дреды ушами и говорящий с сильным, как многие посчитали, карибским говором, напоминавшим ямайский креольский язык[105]. Жадные и коррумпированные неймодианцы из Торговой федерации говорили с восточно-азиатским акцентом, а беспринципный торговец УоттоУоттоУотто/Канон был воплощением стереотипов о евреях, напоминающем персонажа Феджина из произведений Чарльза Диккенса. Лукас опроверг эти сравнения[84]; однако, аниматор Роб Колман признался, что использовал образ Феджина, созданного Алеком Гиннессом для фильма «Оливер Твист», при создании Уотто[106]. Один из критиков описал Джа-Джа Бинкса как «раболепский и трусливый … стереотипный чёрный менестрель, наподобие Степина Фетчита»[89] Майкл Эрик Дайсон, профессор Джорджтаунского университета, говорил, что весь народ гунганов наводит на мысли о примитивных африканских племенах. Дайсон говорил, «Лидер племени Джа-Джа представляет из себя толстого, неуклюжего шута с громогласным голосом и это выглядит как карикатурное представление о вождях африканских племён.»[107].
Награды
«Скрытая угроза» была трижды выдвинута на премию «Оскар», в номинациях: За лучший звуковой монтаж, За лучшие визуальные эффекты и За лучший звук (Гэри Райдстром, Том Джонсон, Шон Мёрфи и Джон Мидгли); все из которых достались фильму «Матрица»[108][109]. Фильм получил семь наград премии «Золотая малина» в номинациях: За худший фильм, За худшую режиссуру, За худший сценарий, За худшую мужскую роль второго плана (Джейк Ллойд в роли Энакина), За худшую женскую роль второго плана (София Коппола за роль СашеСашеСаше/Канон), За худший актёрский дуэт (Джейк Ллойд и Натали Портман) и актёр сыгравший Джа-Джа Бинкса — Ахмед Бест — выиграл в номинации За худшую мужскую роль второго плана[110]. Фильм получил премию «Сатурн» в номинациях За лучшие костюмы и За лучшие спецэффекты[111], награду MTV Movie Award за лучшую экшн-сцену[112], и премию «Молодой актёр» за игру Джейка Ллойда[113]. Он также был номинирован, помимо прочего, на премию BAFTA за лучшие визуальные эффекты и звук[114], а также на премию «Грэмми» в категории За лучший альбом, являющийся саундтреком к фильму, телевидению или другому визуальному представлению[115].
Удалённые сцены
- Сцена с водопадом — Когда Квай-Гон, Оби-Ван и Джа-Джа попадают в Тид, на своём бонгоТрёхпузырчатое бонгоГунганское подводное бонго, они всплывают перед гигантским водопадом и вынуждены в спешке покинуть транспортное средство.
- Рассвет перед гонкой — Энакин проснулся на рассвете, чтобы подготовить свой под к гонке, и немного поговорил с Падме.
- Полная сцена подготовки к гонке — Эта сцена показывает больше участников гонки и существ из толпы. Позже была добавлена в DVD версии.
- Расширенный второй круг гонки — На этом круге подробнее показано, как СебульбаСебульбаСебульба/Канон «творчески интерпретировал правила гонки», и ещё одно доказательство особенности Энакина. Позже была добавлена в DVD версии.
- Драка Энакина и ГридоГридоГридо/Канон — Эта сцена должна была следовать после гонки и служила иллюстрацией вспыльчивости и злости, таившейся в Энакине, но Джордж Лукас вырезал её, так как хотел показать юного Энакина как исключительно положительного персонажа, который начнёт становиться злее с возрастом.
- Прощание с ДжиройДжираДжира/Канон — Эта сцена происходит, когда Квай-Гон и Энакин покидают Мос-Эспа и мальчик останавливается передохнуть и попрощаться с Джирой. Один из дроидов-разведчиковРазведывательный дроид DRK-1 «Тёмный глаз»Разведывательный дроид DRK-1 «Тёмный глаз»/Канон следует за ними в этот момент, до тех пор, пока Джинн не замечает его и, в конечном итоге — уничтожает его, проходя мимо «Пыльной уткиПыльная уткаПыльная утка/Канон».
- Сцена с воздушным такси — Сцена полёта на такси демонстрирует нам в течение примерно 10 секунд поверхность Корусанта. Позже была добавлена в DVD версии.
Сцена с водопадом
Рассвет перед гонкой
Полная сцена подготовки к гонке
Расширенный второй круг гонки
Драка Энакина и Гридо
Прощание с Джирой
Сцена с воздушным такси
Новеллизация
- Новеллизация фильма была написана Терри Бруксом. В неё входило три главы с материалом, созданным лично Бруксом и являющимся эксклюзивом для книги. В первых двух главах книги показана тревога Энакина перед гонкой и её последствия, а в последующий главе описывается столкновение между ним и раненым тускеномНарод песковНарод песков/Канон в пустыне.
Прежде чем написать книгу, Брукс встречался с Лукасом, от которого получил одобрение и поддержку, а также информацию о том, в каком ключе будут развиваться события Эпизода 2 и 3. Это можно заметить в таких моментах, как сцена с тускеном, которые, по иронии судьбы, становятся причиной смерти матери Энакина во втором эпизоде, и драка с родианскимРодианцыРодианцы/Канон мальчишкой Гридо, показывающий, как предстоящий уход Падме вызвал у Энакина приступ ярости (предвещая часть Эпизода III).
Новеллизация имела успех также из-за раскрытия части истории ситхов, в том числе и Дарта БэйнаДарт БэйнДарт Бэйн/Канон. В своих мемуарах, «Иногда магия случается», Терри Брукс упоминал о том, что Лукас беседовал с ним по телефону целый час, обсуждая историю джедаев и ситхов. Поэтому, информация, представленная в книге Брукса, получена им непосредственно от самого Лукаса. Также в этой новеллизации впервые была упомянута Гиперпространственная война Старка.
В своей книге «Иногда магия случается» Брукс посвятил целую главу написанию текстовой версии Эпизода I, чем, по его утверждению, он очень гордился и был счастлив взяться за эту работу.
Связь с другими источниками
В «Скрытой угрозе» впервые появляется Стража СенатаСтража СенатаСтража Сената/Канон, представители которой были облачены в синие доспехи, напоминающие доспехи Императорских гвардейцевИмператорская гвардияИмператорская гвардия/Канон из «Возвращения джедая». Таким образом, Стража Сената стала предшественницей Императорской гвардии.
Во время титров в самом конце фильма можно услышать тему юного Энакина, однако в самый последний момент титров тема сменяется на первые несколько нот темы Дарта Вейдера из Имперского марша и, когда пропадает последний логотип THX, можно услышать три тяжёлых вдоха Вейдера, что является отсылкой к тому, что Энакин в будущем превратится в Дарта Вейдера.
Видео
За кулисами
Интересные факты
- Первой в ходе съёмок была снята сцена разговора между Дартом Сидиусом и Дартом Молом.[источник?]
- Сцена битвы на световых мечах между Дартом Молом и Оби-Ваном с Квай-Гоном снималась на протяжении месяца. Это первая схватка такого рода, в которой принимали участие более двух джедаев или ситхов.[источник?]
- Звук трепещущих крыльев торговца Уотто был достигнут звукооператором Беном Бёрттом в результате раскрытия и закрытия обычного зонтика.[источник?]
- До съёмок в роли королевы Амидалы Натали Портман не видела ни одного фильма из оригинальной трилогии «Звёздных войн».[источник?]
- Натали Портман пропустила мировую премьеру «Скрытой угрозы» по причине подготовки к сессии в университете.[источник?]
- София Коппола и Кира Найтли получили короткие роли служанок Падме в фильме. Фактически поразительное внешнее сходство Натали Портман и Киры Найтли стало залогом последующей актёрской карьеры последней.[источник?]
- Вопреки распространённому мнению, в большинстве сцен королеву Амидалу под гримом играла не Натали Портман, игравшая Падме, а Кира Найтли.[источник?]
- Из-за высокого роста Лайама Нисона декораторам пришлось потратить ещё 150 000 долларов на новые декорации, в которых актёр смог бы уместиться.[источник?]
- На пресс-конференции, посвящённой выходу «Мести ситхов» на DVD, директор по анимации Роб Колман объявил, что готовится обновлённая версия «Скрытой угрозы», благодаря чему первый эпизод станет последним фильмом саги, в котором кукольного Йоду заменят генерированным при помощи цифровых технологий.[источник?]
- В титрах Джабба ХаттДжабба Десилиджик ТиуреДжабба Десилиджик Тиуре/Канон, открывающий гонки на подах, обозначен «Джабба Хатт в роли самого себя». Одновременно в титрах не указывается, что Иэн Макдайармид играет Дарта Сидиуса.
- «Скрытая угроза» — единственный фильм «Звёздных войн», в котором представлена уникальная способность джедаев к ускорению.[источник?]
- Передатчик (комлинкКомлинкКомлинк/Канон) Квай-Гон Джинна представляет собой слегка модифицированную бритву «Жиллетт Сенсор Эксель».[источник?]
- Образы всех гунганов были созданы на движке Джа-Джа Бинкса.[источник?]
- Во время битвы гунганов с войсками Федерации мелькает дроид с серийным номером «1138» на спине: это число входило в название первого полнометражного фильма Джорджа Лукаса, называвшегося «THX 1138».
- Один из кораблей, пролетающих над Корусантом за миг до разговора Дарта Сидиуса и Дарта Мола, идентичен «Дискавери» из «Космической одиссеи 2001 года». Спасательная капсула этого же корабля видна в сцене разговора между Квай-Гоном и Уотто на заднем плане среди прочих ржавых деталей в лавке УоттоМагазин УоттоМагазин Уотто/Канон на Татуине.[источник?]
- В сцене заседания Галактического Сената можно разобрать несколько делегаций, в том числе вукиВукиВуки/Канон и группу инопланетян, напоминающих знаменитого E.T. из фильма Стивена Спилберга «Инопланетянин».
- В ранних версиях сценария планета королевы Амидалы называлась УтапауУтапауУтапау/Канон, но в итоге это название отошло к планете, где Оби-Ван сражается с генералом ГривусомГривусГривус/Канон в «Мести ситхов».[источник?]
- Во время съёмок сражений Эван МакГрегор часто непроизвольно изображал звук светового меча.[источник?]
- Изначально Мэйс Винду должен был быть инопланетянином.
- «Падме» с санскрита означает «лотос».[источник?]
- Дарт Мол за весь фильм моргает всего пару раз. Это было вызвано тем, что сыгравшему его Рэю Парку было трудно моргать в контактных линзах, поэтому Парк предложил идею о злодее, который никогда не моргает.[источник?]
- Имя «Джа-Джа» придумал сын Лукаса.
- На роль юного Энакина Скайуокера пробовались Хейли Джоэль Осмент и Майкл Ангарано.[источник?]
Состав
Появления
Ссылки
Примечания и сноски
|
Звёздные войны. Эпизод I: Скрытая угроза |
---|
Книги |
Полные легендарные адаптации: Роман · Детский роман · Book-and-record · Mighty Chronicles · Movie Storybook · Звёздные войны Уильяма Шекспира Полные каноничные адаптации: Golden Book · Скрытая угроза (книга и CD) · Истории Трилогии приквелов Частичные легендарные адаптации: Дневник: Энакина Скайуокера · Дарта Мола · Королевы Амидалы Эпизод I: Приключения: 13: Опасность на Набу (Книга-игра) · 14: Гонка за свободу (Книга-игра) · 15: Последняя битва (Книга-игра) Приключения: 11: Опасность на Набу (Книга-игра) · 12: Гонка за свободу (Книга-игра) Пит-дроид Энакина · Энакин Скайуокер · Гонка Энакина за свободу · Опасности на глубине · Месть Дарта Мола · Дроиды спешат на помощь · Везде дроиды! · Генерал Джа-Джа · Проблемы гунган! · Джа-Джа Бинкс · Ошибка Джа-Джа · Побег джедаев · Встреча с Высшим советом джедаев · Приключения Оби-Вана на бонго · Гонка на подах! · Дневник королевы · На старт, внимание, гонка! · Спасти Набу! · Нападение ситха · Осторожно, Джа-Джа! Частичные каноничные адаптации: 5-минутные истории Звёздных войн · 5-минутные истории Звёздных войн наносят ответный удар |
Комиксы |
Легендарные комиксы: Серия комиксов: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · Сборник (TPB) · Сборник (HC) Приключения: ½ · Оби-Ван Кеноби · Королева Амидала · Квай-Гон Джинн · Энакин Скайуокер · Сборник Манга: 1 · 2 · Фотокомикс Каноничные комиксы: Трилогия-приквел: Графический роман |
Видеоигры |
Battle for Naboo · The Gungan Frontier · Jar Jar’s Journey · Jedi Power Battles · Obi-Wan Obi-Wan’s Adventures · Episode I: The Phantom Menace · Racer · Racer Arcade · Starfighter Super Bombad Racing |
Развивающие книги |
Сражения в цвете · Раскраска: герои и злодеи · Я — дроид · Я — джедай · Я — пилот · Я — королева Большая книга с клапанами · Micro-Vehicle Punch-Outs · Queen Amidala Paper Doll Book · Звёздные войны. Скрытая угроза: Полная коллекция наклеек |
За кулисами |
Искусство «Звёздных войн» · Иллюстрированный сценарий · Создавая «Эпизод I: Скрытая угроза» · Официальный журнал-сувенир · Оригинал сценария · Хроники «Звёздных войн»: Приквелы · Star Wars Storyboards: The Prequel Trilogy |
Справочники и руководства |
The Data File · The Gungan Frontier: Prima’s Official Strategy Guide · Эпизод I: Взгляд изнутри · Миры Звёздных войн. Эпизод I: Скрытая угроза · Jedi Power Battles: Prima’s Official Strategy Guide · Obi-Wan: Prima’s Official Strategy Guide · Portfolio · Prima’s Official Strategy Guide · Racer: Official Nintendo Player’s Guide · Racer: Prima’s Offical Strategy Guide · Secrets of the Sith · Scrapbook · Starfighter: Prima’s Official Strategy Guide · The Complete Saga · Звёздные войны в 100 сценах · Иллюстрированный словарь (Расширенное издание) · Кто есть кто · What’s What |
Другие материалы и товары |
Star Wars Customizable Card Game: Coruscant Limited · Star Wars Trading Card Game: The Phantom Menace · Tatooine Limited · Theed Palace Limited Insider’s Guide · Саундтрек · Серия игрушек |
(править) |
Эпизоды «Звёздных войн» |
|||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
---|
Сага «Звёздные войны»: |
Приквелы: «Скрытая угроза» · «Атака клонов» · «Месть ситхов» Оригинальные: «Новая надежда» · «Империя наносит ответный удар» · «Возвращение джедая» Сиквелы: «Пробуждение Силы» · «Последние джедаи» · «Скайуокер. Восход» |
Фильмы спин-оффы: |
Канон: «Войны клонов» · «Изгой-один» · «Хан Соло» · «История дроида» · Фильм Тайки Вайтити Фильм Кевина Файги · Фильм 2025 года · Фильм 2027 года · «Разбойная эскадрилья» · Безымянная трилогия Легенды: «Праздничный спецвыпуск» · «Караван смельчаков» · «Битва за Эндор» |
Игровые сериалы |
«Мандалорец» · «Книга Бобы Фетта» · «Оби-Ван Кеноби» · «Андор» · «Асока» «Минимальный экипаж» · «Аколит» · «Рейнджеры Новой Республики» · «Лэндо» |
Анимационные сериалы |
Канон: «Войны клонов» · «Повстанцы» · «Сопротивление» · «Бракованная партия» «Истории о джедаях» · «Приключения юных джедаев» Не каноничные: «Видения» Легенды: «Дроиды» · «Эвоки» · «Войны клонов» (2003) |
Анимационные мини веб-сериалы |
«Силы судьбы» · «Галактика приключений» · «Галактика существ» · «Галактические приятели» |
Другие материалы: |
Радиопостановки · Книги · Комиксы · Игры Мультимедийные проекты · Пародии · Аттракционы парков развлечений |
(править) |
На других языках
«Star Wars 1» redirects here. For the first Star Wars film, see Star Wars (film).
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace |
|
---|---|
Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan |
|
Directed by | George Lucas |
Written by | George Lucas |
Produced by | Rick McCallum |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | David Tattersall |
Edited by |
|
Music by | John Williams |
Production |
Lucasfilm Ltd. |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates |
|
Running time |
133 minutes[1][a] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $115 million[2] |
Box office | $1.027 billion[2] |
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Pernilla August, and Frank Oz. It is the fourth film in the Star Wars film series, the first film of the prequel trilogy and the first chronological chapter of the «Skywalker Saga». Set 32 years before the original trilogy, during the era of the Galactic Republic, the plot follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi as they try to protect Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo in hopes of securing a peaceful end to an interplanetary trade dispute. Joined by Anakin Skywalker—a young slave with unusually strong natural powers of the Force—they simultaneously contend with the mysterious return of the Sith. The film was produced by Lucasfilm, with 20th Century Fox distributing.
Following the release of Return of the Jedi, talks of a follow-up were proposed, but Lucas was unmotivated to return to the franchise. During the hiatus, the backstories he created for the characters, particularly Anakin’s own backstory, sparked interest in him to develop a prequel trilogy during the 1990s. After he determined that computer-generated imagery (CGI) had advanced to the level he wanted for the prequel trilogy’s visual effects, Lucas began writing The Phantom Menace in 1993, and production began in 1994. Filming started on June 26, 1997—at locations including Leavesden Film Studios and the Tunisian desert—and ended on September 30. The film marked Lucas’ first directorial effort after a 22-year hiatus following the original Star Wars[b] in 1977.
The Phantom Menace was released in theaters on May 19, 1999, almost 16 years after the premiere of Return of the Jedi. The film’s premiere was extensively covered by media and was widely anticipated because of the large cultural following the Star Wars saga had cultivated. Upon its release, The Phantom Menace received mixed reviews. While the visual effects, action sequences, musical score, and the performances of Neeson and McGregor were praised, criticism was largely focused on the screenplay, pacing, Lloyd’s performance, and characters, with Jar Jar Binks in particular receiving extremely negative reception. Furthermore, the film’s blend of complicated, politics-heavy storytelling and juvenile humor was perceived as incongruent. Despite the mixed reception, The Phantom Menace was a box-office success and broke numerous box-office records during its debut. It grossed more than $924.3 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1999, the second-highest-grossing film worldwide and in North America (behind Titanic), and the highest-grossing Star Wars film at the time (inflation notwithstanding). A 3D reissue, which earned an additional $102.7 million and brought the film’s overall worldwide takings to over $1 billion, was released in February 2012. Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) followed The Phantom Menace, rounding out the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
Plot[edit]
The Trade Federation creates turmoil in the Galactic Republic by blockading the planet Naboo in protest of recent legislation taxing major galactic trade routes. The Republic’s leader, Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, dispatches Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray. Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord and the Trade Federation’s secret benefactor, orders the Viceroy to kill the Jedi and begin a planetary invasion with an army of battle droids, but the Jedi escape and flee to Naboo. During the invasion, Qui-Gon rescues a Gungan outcast, Jar Jar Binks. Indebted to Qui-Gon, Jar Jar leads the Jedi to Otoh Gunga, the Gungans’ underwater city. The Jedi fail to persuade the Gungan leader, Boss Nass, to help the planet’s surface dwellers, but manage to obtain Jar Jar’s guidance and underwater transport to Theed, the capital city of Naboo. After rescuing Queen Amidala, the group make their escape from Naboo aboard her Royal Starship, intending to reach the Republic capital planet of Coruscant.
Passing through the Federation blockade, the ship is damaged in the crossfire, and its hyperdrive malfunctions. The ship lands for repairs on the outlying desert planet of Tatooine, situated beyond the Republic’s jurisdiction. Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, astromech droid R2-D2, and Queen Padmé Amidala (in disguise as one of her own handmaidens) visit the settlement of Mos Espa to purchase a new part for their hyperdrive. They encounter a junk dealer, Watto, and his nine-year-old slave, Anakin Skywalker, a gifted pilot and engineer who has built a protocol droid, C-3PO.
Qui-Gon senses a strong presence of the Force within Anakin, and is convinced that he is the prophesied «Chosen One,» destined to restore balance to the Force. With Watto refusing to accept payment in Republic currency, Qui-Gon wagers both the required hyperdrive part and Anakin’s freedom in a podrace. Anakin wins the race and joins the group to be trained as a Jedi, reluctantly leaving behind his mother, Shmi. En route to their starship, Qui-Gon encounters Darth Maul, Sidious’ apprentice, who was sent to capture Amidala. After a brief lightsaber duel Qui-Gon narrowly escapes aboard the starship with the others.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan escort Amidala to Coruscant so that she can plead her people’s case to Chancellor Valorum and the Galactic Senate. Qui-Gon informs the Jedi Council that his attacker was a Sith and subsequently asks for permission to train Anakin as a Jedi, but the Council refuses his request, concerned that Anakin’s age makes him vulnerable to the dark side of the Force. Undaunted, Qui-Gon vows to take up Anakin as his new apprentice. Meanwhile, Naboo’s Senator Palpatine persuades Amidala to call for a vote of no confidence in Valorum to elect a more capable leader in order to resolve the crisis. Though she is successful in pushing for the vote, Amidala grows frustrated with the now-apparent corruption in the Senate, and decides to return to Naboo. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are ordered by the Jedi Council to accompany the queen and investigate the return of the Sith, whom they had thought to be extinct for over a millennium.
On Naboo, Padmé reveals herself as the actual queen before the Gungans to gain their trust, and persuades them to help against the Trade Federation. Jar Jar is promoted to general and joins his tribe in a battle against the droid army, while Padmé leads the search for Gunray in Theed. Qui-Gon tells Anakin to hide inside a starfighter in the palace hangar, but he accidentally triggers its autopilot, and flies into space, joining the Naboo pilots in their battle against the Federation droid control ship. With R2’s help, Anakin pilots the fighter into the ship and causes its destruction from within, deactivating the droid army. Meanwhile, Maul, who has been dispatched by Sidious to assist Gunray, engages in a lightsaber duel with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Maul mortally wounds Qui-Gon, but is then sliced in half by Obi-Wan and falls down a shaft.[c] Qui-Gon asks Obi-Wan to train Anakin before dying in his arms.
Following the battle, Gunray is arrested by the Republic, and Palpatine is elected Chancellor. Master Yoda promotes Obi-Wan to the rank of Jedi Knight, and reluctantly accepts Anakin as Obi-Wan’s apprentice. A funeral is held for Qui-Gon, attended by the other Jedi, who contemplate that there is still one Sith remaining since there are always two of them. During a celebratory parade on Naboo, Padmé presents a gift of thanks to the Gungans to establish peace.
Cast[edit]
- Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi Master who discovers Anakin Skywalker and under the belief that he is destined to bring balance to the force as the prophesied «Chosen One», insists that the boy be trained as a Jedi, despite the Jedi Council’s refusal to do so. Lucas originally wanted to cast an American actor in the role, but cast Neeson (who is Northern Irish) because he considered that Neeson had great skills and presence. Lucas said Neeson was a «master actor, who the other actors will look up to, who has got the qualities of strength that the character demands.»[3]
- Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon’s twenty-five-year-old Jedi Padawan, who holds his master in high regard but questions his motives at times, especially when it seems he is breaking the rules of the Jedi. McGregor was cast from a shortlist of fifty actors, all of whom had to be compared to pictures of young Alec Guinness, who portrayed the elderly Obi-Wan, to make a believable younger version.[4] McGregor had a vocal coach to help his voice sound closer to Guinness’s. He also studied several of Guinness’s performances, from his early work and the original Star Wars films.[3]
- Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala, the fourteen-year-old Queen of Naboo, who hopes to protect her planet from the Trade Federation’s blockade invasion. Throughout most of the film, she uses her birth name Padmé Naberrie and poses as one of the queen’s handmaidens for protection. Over 200 actresses auditioned for the role.[5] The production notes stated that «The role required a young woman who could be believable as the ruler of that planet, but at the same time be vulnerable and open». Portman was chosen especially for her performances in Léon: The Professional (1994) and Beautiful Girls (1996), which impressed Lucas.[3] He stated, «I was looking for someone who was young, strong, along the lines of Leia [and] Natalie embodied all those traits and more».[3] Portman was unfamiliar with Star Wars before being cast,[3] but was enthusiastic about being cast as a character she expected to become a role model. Portman said, «It was wonderful playing a young queen with so much power. I think it will be good for young women to see a strong woman of action who is also smart and a leader.»[6]
- Jake Lloyd as Anakin «Ani» Skywalker, a nine-year-old slave boy and a skilled pilot who dreams of becoming a Jedi. Hundreds of actors were tested across the UK, Ireland, Canada, and the United States[3] before the producers settled on Lloyd, who Lucas considered met his requirements of «a good actor, enthusiastic and very energetic». Producer Rick McCallum said that Lloyd was «smart, mischievous, and loves anything mechanical—just like Anakin.»[7]
- Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine, a middle aged senator of Naboo and a secret Sith Lord who orchestrates the invasion of his home planet to get elected Supreme Chancellor. He is the Trade Federation’s mysterious benefactor, and the titular «Phantom Menace». McDiarmid was surprised when Lucas approached him sixteen years after Return of the Jedi to reprise the role of Palpatine, having assumed that a younger actor would play the role in the prequel films.[8]
- Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks, a clumsy Gungan exiled from his home and taken in by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Best was hired after casting director Robin Gurland saw him on a Stomp performance in San Francisco.[7] Best was originally intended to provide motion capture data, but his offer to voice the character was accepted. On the set, to provide references for the actors, Best was clothed in a suit made of foam and latex and a headpiece. Best’s filmed performance was later replaced with the computer-generated character.[9] Best frequently improvised movements to make Jar Jar look as clumsy and comedic as possible.[7]
- Anthony Daniels as the voice of C-3PO, a protocol droid built by Anakin. He lacks a metal covering in this film; R2-D2 humorously refers to it as being «naked». Industrial Light & Magic’s Michael Lynch, dressed in a color closely matching the background—in a manner similar to the Japanese puppet theater Bunraku— manipulated a skeletal C-3PO figure attached to his front while Daniels read his lines off-camera. The puppeteer was erased from the film during post-production.[7][10]
- Kenny Baker as R2-D2, an astromech droid from Naboo that saves Queen Amidala’s ship when other astro droids fail. Before the film’s production started, fans campaigned on the Internet to retain Baker as R2-D2; Lucas replied that the actor would reprise the role. Baker is used for scenes where R2-D2 bends forwards and backwards and wobbles from side-to-side. Robots and a digital model were used in other shots.[citation needed]
- Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker, Anakin’s mother, who is concerned for her son’s future and allows him to leave with the Jedi. August, a veteran of Swedish cinema, was chosen after auditioning with Liam Neeson. She was afraid of being rejected because of her accent.[9]
- Frank Oz as the voice of Yoda, the centuries-old Jedi Grandmaster and head of the Jedi Council who is apprehensive about allowing Anakin to be trained. Yoda was mostly portrayed as a puppet designed by Nick Dudman based on Stuart Freeborn’s original design. Oz controlled the puppet’s mouth, and other parts were controlled by puppeteers using remote controls.[9] Lucas fitted Yoda’s filming around Oz’s schedule as he finished and promoted In & Out.[11] A computer-generated Yoda is featured in two distant shots. Warwick Davis (who played the part of the Ewok Wicket W. Warrick in Return of the Jedi in 1983) portrays him in the scene where Obi-Wan becomes a Jedi Knight.[12] Lucas said he originally wanted to use a full-time digital Yoda, but the attempts did not work well enough at the time. Beginning with the 2011 Blu-ray release of The Phantom Menace, which was also used for the 3D reissue, a CG Yoda replaced the puppet entirely.[13]
- Oliver Ford Davies as Sio Bibble, the governor of Naboo.
- Hugh Quarshie as Captain Quarsh Panaka, Queen Amidala’s chief of security at the Theed Palace.
- Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu, a Jedi Master and high-ranking member of the Jedi Council who opposes training Anakin.
- Ray Park as Darth Maul, Darth Sidious’ Zabrak Sith apprentice, who wields a double-bladed lightsaber.
- Peter Serafinowicz as the voice of Darth Maul
- Terence Stamp as Finis Valorum, the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic who commissions Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to negotiate with the Trade Federation viceroy. Lucas described the character as a «good man but he’s beleaguered—a bit like [Bill] Clinton».[14]
- Keira Knightley as Sabé, one of Queen Amidala’s handmaidens who serves as her decoy throughout the majority of the film.
- Silas Carson as:
- Nute Gunray, the viceroy of the Trade Federation who leads Naboo’s invasion and tries to force Queen Amidala to sign a treaty to legitimize their occupation of the planet.
- Ki-Adi-Mundi, a wise and powerful Jedi Master who sits on the Council.
- Lott Dod, a Trade Federation Senator.
- An ill-fated pilot. This was the role for which Carson originally auditioned.[15]
- Jerome St. John Blake as:
- Rune Haako, Gunray’s chief lieutenant and Settlement Officer in the Trade Federation.
- James Taylor as the voice of Rune Haako.
- Oppo Rancisis, a Jedi Master and member of the Council.
- Orn Free Ta, a Twi-lek senator.
- Mas Amedda, a Chagrian politician and Vice Chair of the galactic senate.
- Rune Haako, Gunray’s chief lieutenant and Settlement Officer in the Trade Federation.
Additionally, Brian Blessed voiced Boss Nass, the leader of the Gungan tribe who allies with the Naboo surface dwellers; Andy Secombe voiced Watto, a junk dealer on Tatooine who owns Anakin and his mother as slaves; and Lewis MacLeod voiced Sebulba, an aggressive, scheming podracer who is Anakin’s main rival at the Boonta Eve podrace. Greg Proops and Scott Capurro voiced Fode and Beed, respectively, the two-headed announcer of the Boonta Eve Race. Alan Ruscoe appears as Jedi Master Plo Koon and Neimoidian Daultay Dofine, commander of the Trade Federation’s droid control ships. Ralph Brown plays Ric Olie, commander of the Naboo Royal Space Fighter Corps and chief pilot aboard Queen Amidala’s starship, while Matthew Wood appears as the Twi’lek Bib Fortuna alongside a CGI Jabba the Hutt, who is voiced by an uncredited actor. Dominic West plays the role of an unnamed Naboo guard, and Sofia Coppola appears as Saché, one of Amidala’s handmaidens. Christian Simpson appears as Lieutenant Gavyn Sykes.[16] Lindsay Duncan voices TC-14, a protocol droid on the Federation ship. Sally Hawkins made her screen debut as an uncredited villager.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
While writing the original Star Wars film,[b] Lucas decided the story was too vast to be covered in one film. He introduced a wider story arc that could be told in sequels if it became successful.[17][18] He negotiated a contract that allowed him to make two sequels, and over time created an elaborate backstory to aid his writing process.[19] While writing the second film, The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas considered directions in which to take the story. In the original trilogy, Darth Vader was revealed to have been Anakin Skywalker, a once-powerful Jedi Knight, and a traitor to the Jedi Order.[20] With this backstory in place, Lucas decided that the movies would work best as a trilogy.[21] In the trilogy’s final episode, Return of the Jedi, Vader is redeemed through an act of sacrifice for Luke.[22]
Throughout the 1980s, Lucas said he had no desire to return to Star Wars and had canceled his sequel trilogy by the time of Return of the Jedi. However, because Lucas had developed most of the backstory, the idea of prequels continued to fascinate him.[23] In the early 1990s, Star Wars saw a resurgence in popularity in the wake of Dark Horse’s comic line and Timothy Zahn’s trilogy of novels. Lucas saw that there was still a large audience for his idea of a prequel trilogy, and with the development of special effects generated with computer-generated imagery (CGI), Lucas considered returning to his saga and directing the film.[24] In 1993, it was announced in Variety and other sources that he would be making the prequels. Lucas began outlining the story; Anakin Skywalker rather than Obi-Wan Kenobi would be the protagonist, and the series would be a tragedy examining Darth Vader’s origins. A relic of the original outline was that Anakin would, like his son, grow up on Tatooine.[25] Lucas also began to change the prequels’ timeline relative to the original series; instead of filling in the tangential history, they would form the beginning of a long story that started with Anakin’s childhood and ended with his death. This was the final step toward turning the franchise into a saga.[26]
Lucas began writing the Star Wars prequel trilogy on November 1, 1994. The screenplay of Star Wars was adapted from Lucas’ 15-page outline that was written in 1976, which he designed to help him keep track of the characters’ backstories and events that occurred before the original trilogy.[27] Anakin was first written as a twelve-year-old, but Lucas reduced his age to nine because he felt that the lower age would better fit the plot point of Anakin being affected by his mother’s separation from him. Eventually, Anakin’s younger age led Lucas to rewrite his participation in the movie’s major scenes.[28] The film’s working title was The Beginning, with the title not being changed to The Phantom Menace until shortly before the film’s completion.[27] Lucas later revealed that the Phantom Menace title was a reference to Palpatine hiding his true identity as an evil Sith Lord behind the facade of a well-intentioned public servant.[29]
The larger budget and possibilities opened up by the use of digital effects made Lucas «think about a much grander, more epic scale—»which is what I wanted Star Wars to be».[30] The story ended with five simultaneous, ongoing plots, one leading to another. The central plot is Palpatine’s intent to become Chancellor, which leads to the Trade Federation’s attack on Naboo, the Jedi being sent there, Anakin being met along the way, and the rise of the Sith Lords. As with the original trilogy, Lucas intended The Phantom Menace to illustrate several themes throughout the narrative. Duality is a frequent theme; Amidala is a queen who passes as a handmaiden, Palpatine plays on both sides of the war, among others. «Balance» is frequently suggested; Anakin is supposedly «the one» chosen to bring balance to the Force—Lucas said, «Anakin needed to have a mother, Obi-Wan needed a Master, Darth Sidious needed an apprentice» as without interaction and dialogue, «you wouldn’t have drama».[31]
In November 2015, Ron Howard confirmed that he, Robert Zemeckis, and Steven Spielberg were approached by Lucas to direct The Phantom Menace. All three approached directors told Lucas that he should direct the film, as they each found the project «too daunting.»[32]
Pre-production and design[edit]
Before Lucas had started writing, his producing partner Rick McCallum was preparing for the film. McCallum stated that his experience with The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles led to many of his decisions on The Phantom Menace, such as long-term deals with actors and soundstages, the employment of recent graduates with no film experience, and the creation of sets and landscapes with digital technology. In April 1994, McCallum started searching for artists in art, architecture and design schools, and in mid-year he began location scouting with production designer Gavin Bocquet. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) art director Doug Chiang impressed McCallum the most and was hired as the design director.[33][34] Art development on the film began in January 1995.[35]
Within three to four months of Lucas beginning the writing process, Chiang and his design team started a two-year process of reviewing thousands of designs for the film.[36] Chiang stated that Lucas intended Episode I to be stylistically different from the other Star Wars films; it would be «richer and more like a period piece, since it was the history leading up to A New Hope.» The story takes place on three planets, some with varied environments such as the human and Gungan cities of Naboo and three buildings in Coruscant. With the exception of the Gungan city, which had an art nouveau-inspired visual, these locations would be given distinctive looks with some basis in the real world. The concept drawings of Ralph McQuarrie for the original trilogy served as the basis for Mos Espa—which was also inspired by old Tunisian hotels and buildings and had touches such as a marketplace to differentiate it from A New Hope‘s Mos Eisley—and Coruscant, in particular a metropolis design that became the basis for the Senate.[37] Bocquet would later develop the work of Chiang’s team and design the interiors, translating the concepts into construction blueprints with environments and architectural styles that had some basis in reality «to give the audience something to key into.»[38] Some elements were directly inspired by the original trilogy; Lucas described the battle droids as predecessors to the stormtroopers. Chiang uses that orientation to base the droids on the Imperial soldiers, only in the same style of stylized and elongated features seen in tribal African art.[30]
Terryl Whitlatch, who had a background on zoology and anatomy, was in charge of creature design. Many of the aliens are hybrids, combining features of real animals. At times, entire food chains were developed, even though only a small percentage of them would appear in the film. Whitlatch also designed detailed skeletons for the major characters and facial muscles on Jar Jar Binks as a reference for ILM’s animators. Each creature would reflect its environment; those on Naboo were more beautiful because the planet is «lush and more animal-friendly», Tatooine has rough-looking creatures «with weather-beaten leathery skin to protect them from the harsh desert elements», and Coruscant has bipedal, human-looking aliens.[39]
The film made extensive use of the new technique of digital pre-visualization, using computers to essentially create 3-D animated storyboards. This was done for dozens of scenes in the film but was first and primarily used in the pod race sequence. Animatic supervisor David Dozoretz, also an ILM alum, worked on this sequence for nearly three years, and at one point had a 25 minute version of the race, although the film only included a 9-minute version.
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi dueling Darth Maul. Lucas wanted the lightsaber battles to be fast and more intense than those of the original trilogy, depicting the Jedi in their prime. This scene was highly praised by critics and audiences.
Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard was recruited to create a new Jedi fighting style for the prequel trilogy. Gillard likened the lightsaber battles to a chess game «with every move being a check». Because of their short-range weapons, Gillard thought that the Jedi would have had to develop a fighting style that merged every swordfighting style, such as kendo and other kenjutsu styles, with other swinging techniques, such as tennis swings and tree-chopping. While training Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, Gillard wrote a sequence that lasted around 60 seconds and intended to be around five or six sequences per fight.[40] Lucas later referred to the Jedi as «negotiators» rather than high-casualty soldiers. The preference of hand-to-hand combat was intended to give a spiritual and intellectual role to the Jedi.[40] Because Gillard thought that the stunt jumps with the actors and stuntmen dangling from wires did not look realistic, air rams were used to propel them into the air instead.[41]
Lucas decided to make elaborate costumes, because the film’s society was more sophisticated than the one depicted in the original trilogy. Designer Trisha Biggar and her team created over 1,000 costumes that were inspired by various cultures.[42] Biggar worked closely with concept designer Iain McCaig to create a color palette for the inhabitants of each world: Tatooine followed A New Hope with sun-bleached sand colors, Coruscant had grays, browns, and blacks, and Naboo had green and gold for humans while Gungans wore «a leathery look, like their skin». The Jedi costumes followed the tradition from the original film;[43] Obi-Wan’s costume was inspired by the costume that was worn by Guinness. Lucas said he and Biggar would look at the conceptual art to «translat[e] all of these designs into cloth and fabric and materials that would actually work and not look silly». Biggar also consulted Gillard to ensure that the costumes would accommodate action scenes, and consulted the creature department to find which fabrics «wouldn’t wear too heavily» on the alien skins. A huge wardrobe department was set up at Leavesden Film Studios to create over 250 costumes for the main actors and 5,000 for the background ones.[44]
Nute Gunray’s Thai accent was chosen after Lucas and McCallum listened to various languages to decide how the Neimoidians would speak.[45] The character design of Watto was an amalgam of rejected ideas; his expressions were based on video footage of Secombe’s voice acting, photographs of animation supervisor Rob Coleman imitating the character, and modeler Steve Alpin saying Watto’s lines to a mirror.[46] Lucas described Sebulba’s design as «a spider crossed with an orangutan crossed with a sloth»,[47] with a camel-like face, and clothing inspired by medieval armor.[48]
Casting[edit]
After Samuel L. Jackson expressed interest in appearing in a Star Wars film, he was approached by casting director Robin Gurland to play Windu.[7] Rapper Tupac Shakur was also considered for the role of Mace Windu.[49] Ray Park, a martial arts champion with experience in gymnastics and sword fighting, was originally a member of the stunt crew.[7] Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard filmed Park to demonstrate his conception of the lightsaber battles. Lucas and McCallum were so impressed with the test tape that they gave Park the role of Maul. His voice was considered «too squeaky» and was dubbed over in post-production by Peter Serafinowicz.[9] Keira Knightley’s parents tried to convince her not to audition, but the teenage actress still sought a role since she was a Star Wars fan.[50] The casting was influenced by Knightley’s remarkable similarity to Natalie Portman, with the actress admitting their mothers could not tell each other apart.[51] Knightley was reported to have «cried every single day» due to finding the wardrobe uncomfortable.[50]
Over 3,000 actors auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker including Haley Joel Osment, Cameron Finley, Justin Berfield and Michael Angarano before Jake Lloyd was finalised.[52] Vinette Robinson auditioned for the role of Padmé Amidala.[53] Benicio del Toro was originally cast as Darth Maul but later left the project when the character’s lines were cut.[54] Michael Jackson expressed interest in playing Jar Jar Binks but he wanted to do it in prosthetic make ups while George Lucas wanted to do it in CGI.[55] Joseph Fiennes auditioned for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi and nearly landed the part until George Lucas’s young daughter rejected him upon meeting him during the second level of auditioning.[56]
Silas Carson was cast as Nute Gunray because another actor was uncomfortable with the costumes used by the Trade Federation characters, which were hot, exerted a lot of pressure on the bearer, and took about 15 minutes to apply. Hugh Quarshie considered the part of Panaka as «a good career move» and a production that would be fun to make.[57] Brian Blessed originally auditioned for the role of Sio Bibble, the Governor of Naboo,[58] for which he was considered «too loud».[59] Casting director Robin Gurland approached him to play Nass because it was a «bigger than life» character with «a kind of bravado».[60] Blessed described Nass as a «reluctant hero».[59] Sofia Coppola, daughter of Lucas’ long-time friend and creative partner Francis Ford Coppola, considers Lucas as «like an uncle to me». As she prepared the script for her directorial debut The Virgin Suicides, Coppola heard Lucas would make a new Star Wars film and asked him if she could accompany him during filming. Lucas offered Coppola a role in the royal entourage, which she accepted because it «seemed like a good vantage point to watch without getting in the way».[61]
Filming[edit]
Remains of Mos Espa in the Tunisian desert, near Nafta
Filming began on June 26, 1997, and ended on September 30 of that year, primarily taking place at Leavesden Film Studios in England. Leavesden was leased for a two and a half year period so the production company could leave the sets intact and return after principal photography had been completed.[62] The forest scenes on Naboo were filmed at Cassiobury Park in Watford, Hertfordshire.[63][64] Pick-ups were shot between August 1998 and February 1999 after Lucas screened a rough cut of the film for friends and colleagues in May 1998.[65] Most of the action and stunts were filmed by Roger Christian’s second unit, which worked alongside the main unit instead of afterwards because of the high number of shots to be completed daily.[41]
The Tunisian desert was again used for the Tatooine scenes;[66] Mos Espa was built outside the city of Tozeur. On the night following the third day of shooting in Tozeur, an unexpected sandstorm destroyed many of the sets and props. The production was quickly rescheduled to allow for repairs and was able to leave Tunisia on the date originally planned.[67] The Italian Caserta Palace was used as the interior of the Theed City Naboo Palace;[66] it was used as a location for four days after it had been closed to visitors. Scenes with explosions were filmed on replica sets in Leavesden.[68]
A binder with the film’s storyboards served as a reference for live-action filming, shots that would be filmed in front of a chroma key blue screen, and shots that would be composed using CGI. The sets were often built with the parts that would be required on screen; often they were built only up to the heights of the actors. Chroma key was extensively used for digital set extensions, backgrounds, or scenes that required cinematographer David Tattersall to seek powerful lamps to light the sets and visual effects supervisor John Knoll to develop software that would remove the blue reflection from shiny floors. Knoll, who remained on set through most of the production, worked closely with Tattersall to ensure that the shots were suitable to add effects later. The cameras were fitted with data capture models to provide technical data for the CGI artists.[69]
The Phantom Menace was the final Star Wars film to be shot on 35mm film until Episode VII (Star Wars: The Force Awakens). Some scenes, mostly of elements filmed by the special effects team, were shot on high definition, digital video tapes to test the performance of digital recordings, which Lucas and McCallum considered the next logical step because of the amount of digitizing—an expensive process compared to recording directly on digital media—for the compositing of computer-generated effects. All future films would be shot using Sony CineAlta high-definition video cameras.[70][71] Greg Proops and Scott Capurro were filmed wearing makeup and blue bodysuits so their heads could be joined in a computer-generated body. The visual effects crew did not like the original results and crafted Fode and Beed as an entirely computer generated alien.[72]
Editing took two years; Paul Martin Smith started the process in England and focused on dialogue-heavy scenes. Ben Burtt—who was also the film’s sound editor—was responsible for action sequences under Lucas’ supervision. Non-linear editing systems played a large part in translating Lucas’ vision; he constantly tweaked, revised, and reworked shots and scenes. The final sound mix was added in March 1999, and the following month, the film was completed after the delivery of the remaining visual effects shots.[73]
Effects[edit]
«Writing the script was much more enjoyable this time around because I wasn’t constrained by anything. You can’t write one of these movies without knowing how you’re going to accomplish it. With CG at my disposal, I knew I could do whatever I wanted».
—George Lucas[74]
The film saw a breakthrough in computer generated effects. About 1,950 of the shots in The Phantom Menace have visual effects. The scene in which toxic gas is released on the Jedi is the only sequence with no digital alteration.[47] The work was so extensive that three visual effects supervisors divided the workload among themselves—John Knoll supervised the on-set production and the podrace and space battle sequences, Dennis Muren supervised the underwater sequence and the ground battle, and Scott Squires, alongside teams assigned for miniature effects and character animation, worked on the lightsaber effects.[75]
Until the film’s production, many special effects in the film industry were achieved using miniature models, matte paintings, and on-set visual effects—although other films had made extensive use of CGI. Knoll previewed 3,500 storyboards for the film; Lucas accompanied him to explain factors of the shots that would be practical and those that would be created through visual effects. Knoll later said that on hearing the explanations of the storyboards, he did not know how to accomplish what he had seen. The result was a mixture of original techniques and the newest digital techniques to make it difficult for the viewer to guess which technique was being used. Knoll and his visual effects team wrote new computer software, including cloth simulators to allow a realistic depiction of the digital characters’ clothing, to create certain shots. Another goal was to create computer-generated characters that could act seamlessly with live-action actors. While filming scenes with CGI characters, Lucas would block the characters using their corresponding voice actors on-set. The voice actors were then removed and the live-action actors would perform the same scene alone. A CGI character would later be added into the shot to complete the conversation.[76] Lucas also used CGI to correct the physical presence of actors in certain scenes.[47] Practical models were used when their visuals helped with miniature sceneries for backgrounds, set extensions, and model vehicles that would be scanned to create the digital models or filmed to represent spaceships and podraces.[77]
Lucas, who had previously confronted problems with the props used to depict R2-D2, allowed ILM and the production’s British special effects department to create their own versions of the robot. Nine R2-D2 models were created; one was for actor Kenny Baker to be dropped into, seven were built by ILM and featured two wheelchair motors capable of moving 440 pounds (200 kg), enabling it to run and be mostly used in stage sets, and the British studio produced a pneumatic R2-D2 that could shift from two to three legs and was mostly used in Tunisia because its motor drive system allowed it to drive over sand.[78]
Lucas originally planned to create many of the aliens with computer graphics, but those that would be more cost-effectively realized with masks and animatronics were created by Nick Dudman’s creature effects team. These included the Neimoidians, background characters in Mos Espa, the Jedi Council, and the Galactic Senate. Dudman’s team was told where the creatures would be required six months before principal photography begun, and they rushed the production. The Neimodian suits, which were originally intended as digital characters, were delivered one day before they would be required on set. Dudman traveled to Skywalker Ranch to see the original creatures that could be reused, and read the script for a breakdown of scenes with practical creatures, leaving only the more outlandish designs to be created using CGI.[79]
To research for the podrace vehicles, the visual effects crew visited a jet aircraft junkyard outside Phoenix, Arizona and scavenged four Boeing 747 engines.[47] Life-sized replicas of the engines were built and sent to Tunisia to provide reference in the film. Except for Jake Lloyd inside a hydraulically controlled cockpit and a few practical podracer models, the entire podracing scene—which the effects crew designed to be as «out of this world» as possible—is computer-generated.[66][80]
Themes[edit]
Like previous Star Wars films, The Phantom Menace makes several references to historical events and films that George Lucas watched in his youth. The Star Wars films typically mix several concepts from different mythologies together, drawing heavily from the hero’s journey, an archetypical template developed by comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell.[81] This film also notably borrows from Ben Hur, including the podrace sequence, which mirrors the chariot race scene; additionally, the end celebration scene closely resembles a Roman parade in Ben Hur.[82]
The face of Darth Maul drew upon depictions of the devil.
There are many references to Christianity in the film, such as the appearance of Darth Maul, whose design draws heavily from traditional depictions of the devil, complete with red skin and horns.[81] The Star Wars film cycle features a similar Christian narrative involving Anakin Skywalker; he is the «Chosen One»—the individual prophesied to bring balance to the Force—who was conceived of a virgin birth. However, unlike Jesus, Anakin will eventually fall from grace and seemingly fail to fulfill his destiny (until the prophecy comes true in Return of the Jedi).[83]
Japanese films such as Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress influenced the original Star Wars film; scholars say that The Phantom Menace was likewise influenced by Korean and Japanese culture. Film historians Geoff King and Tanya Krzywinska write, «The costume and make-up designs … favour a mixture of the gothic and the oriental over anything very futuristic. The gothic is most strongly apparent in Darth Maul’s demonic horns and the red and black make-up mask that borrows from the facial designs found in depictions of Japanese demons». King and Krzywinska say that «Qui-Gon’s pony tail and Obi-Wan’s position of apprentice further encourage a reading in terms of the Samurai tradition». They also say «Amidala, in keeping with her status and character, has a number of highly formal outfits … to go with hair sculpted into a curve that frames make-up of a Japanese cast».[84]
The Jedi practice Zen-like meditation and martial arts, as did the ancient Japanese Samurai warriors. The name «Qui-Gon» adapts the term qigong, which refers to a Chinese discipline involving meditation and cultivation of the flow of the vital energy called «Chi» or «Qi» for healing, health, and combat. The words Ch’i (Chinese), gi (Korean), ki (Japanese), and the Indian term «Prana» all refer to the energy that is thought to flow through all living things, from the source of all chi (or power), which is «The Way» or «The Tao» in Chinese philosophy. In Taoist philosophy, from The Way, yin and yang—the opposing but complementary aspects of reality or nature—are born. Unlike Chinese philosophy, in which yin and yang are not moral qualities, the ancient Persian philosophy of Zurvanism taught that the dualism of dark and light forces are locked in an eternal battle while being two sides (or evolutes) of the same «Force», the force of time itself (Zurvan)—the prime mover. These elements derive primarily from Eastern and Iranian religions and myths.[81]
As with other Star Wars films, the themes about family and hope are featured prominently. In the episode «Legacy» of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, Dave Filoni explains that the use of «Duel of the Fates» during the lightsaber duel between Darth Maul against Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi represents the fight for the fate of Anakin Skywalker. According to Filoni, Qui-Gon Jinn acts like a father figure towards Anakin because he feels he needs one after taking him from his mother, having realized that the Jedi shouldn’t be opposed to love and care. In the end, Qui-Gon dies, and thus Anakin loses his father figure; Obi-Wan Kenobi ultimately becomes his master to honor Jinn’s dying wish despite his initial contempt for him, and while he comes to eventually see him like a brother as shown in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, he doesn’t act like a father, which coupled with the Jedi’s indifference, seals Anakin’s fate.[85]
Music[edit]
As with previous Star Wars films, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace‘s score was composed and conducted by John Williams. He started composing the score in October 1998 and began recording the music with the London Voices and London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios on February 10, 1999. Williams decided to use electronic instruments such as synthesizers to enhance the sound and choral pieces to «capture the magical, mystical force that a regular orchestra might not have been able to provide», and create an atmosphere that was «more mysterious and mystical and less military» than those of the original trilogy.[86] One of the most notable tracks is «Duel of the Fates», which uses the chorus to give a religious, temple-like feel to the epic lightsaber duel. The track was made into a music video.[87] While composing Anakin’s theme, Williams tried to reflect the innocence of his childhood and to foreshadow his transformation into Darth Vader by using slight suggestions of «The Imperial March» in the melody.[86]
The film’s soundtrack was released by Sony Classical Records on May 4, 1999. This album featured the score, which Williams restructured as a listening experience; it is not presented in film order and omits many notable cues from the film because of the space restriction of the compact disc.[88] A two-disc «Ultimate Edition» was released on November 14, 2000. The set features the entire score as it is heard in the film, including all of the edits and loops that were made for the sound mix.[89]
Marketing[edit]
Promotion[edit]
Lucasfilm spent US$20 million on the film’s advertising campaign and made promotional licensing deals with Hasbro, Lego, Tricon Global Restaurants, and PepsiCo.[90] Lucasfilm also helped the Star Wars fan club to organize an event called Star Wars Celebration, which was held in Denver, Colorado, between April 30 and May 2, 1999.[91]
The first teaser trailer was released on selected screens accompanying Meet Joe Black on November 13, 1998, and media reported that people were paying full admission at theaters to see the trailer. Other films that played this trailer included The Waterboy, The Siege and A Bug’s Life.[92] To keep fans from leaving before the movie was over, some theaters played the teaser an additional time after the film finished.[93] The second trailer debuted on March 12, 1999, with the film Wing Commander. Again, many fans paid full theater admission to watch the new trailer.[94] A bootlegged version of the preview was leaked to the Internet the same day.[95] The next morning, the trailer was released on the film’s official website and shortly afterwards the servers became overloaded.[96] This trailer had over 1 million downloads within its first 24 hours of release.[97] It would achieve the record for being the most downloaded trailer until the following April when it was surpassed by The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.[98] The theatrical trailer caused even more media attention because it was premiered in theaters and screened at the ShoWest Convention in Las Vegas,[99] and was aired on Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood.[95]
The teaser poster, featuring Anakin with his shadow forming Darth Vader’s silhouette, was released on November 10, 1998. After Lucas opted for a drawn theatrical poster, Drew Struzan, the artist responsible for the Special Edition posters, was commissioned to illustrate, and the poster was unveiled on March 11, 1999. Lucasfilm dictated that, contractually, Struzan’s illustration was the only art the foreign distributors could use, and other than the text, it could not be modified in any way.[100] The film also reused the Godzilla slogan on teaser posters.[101]
Adaptations[edit]
A novelization was written by Terry Brooks, who met with Lucas before writing the book and received his approval and guidance. It includes some scenes that are not in the film and foreshadows pending developments in the following two installments of the series.[102] Additionally, a Scholastic junior novelization was written by Patricia C. Wrede.[103] A four-issue comic book adaptation was written by Henry Gilroy and published by Dark Horse Comics.[104] The film was again adapted as part of the all-ages Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy – A Graphic Novel, released by Disney-Lucasfilm Press in 2017.[105]
A LucasArts video game adaptation was released for the PlayStation and PC.[106] The podracing tie-in Star Wars Episode I: Racer was released for Nintendo 64, PC, and other platforms. A pinball machine was created by WMS Industries.[107]
Release[edit]
Theatrical[edit]
The release of the first new Star Wars film in 16 years was accompanied by a considerable amount of attention.[108] According to The Wall Street Journal, so many workers announced plans to view the premiere that many companies closed on the opening day.[109] Queue areas formed outside cinema theaters over a month before ticket sales began.[110] More theater lines appeared when it was announced that cinemas were not allowed to sell tickets in advance until two weeks into the release. This was because of a fear that family theater-goers would be either unable to receive tickets or would be forced to pay higher prices for them. Instead, tickets were to be sold on a first-come-first-served basis.[111] However, after meetings with the National Association of Theatre Owners, Lucasfilm agreed to allow advance ticket sales on May 12, 1999, provided there was a limit of 12 tickets per customer.[112] As a result, some advance tickets were sold by scalpers at prices as high as US$100 apiece, which a distribution chief called «horrible» and said was exactly what they wanted to avoid.[113] Daily Variety reported that theater owners received strict instructions from Lucasfilm that the film could only play in the cinema’s largest auditorium for the first 8–12 weeks, no honor passes were allowed for the first eight weeks, and they were obliged to send their payments to distributor 20th Century Fox within seven days.[114]
Despite worries about the film being finished on time, two weeks before its theatrical release Lucasfilm moved the release date from May 21 to 19, 1999. At the ShoWest Convention, Lucas said the change was intended to give the fans a «head start» by allowing them to view it during the week and allowing families to view it during weekends. Eleven charity premieres were staged across the United States on May 16, 1999; receipts from the Los Angeles event, where corporate packages were available for between US$5,000 and US$25,000; proceeds were donated to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.[115] Other charity premieres included the Dallas premiere for the Children’s Medical Center, the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at the Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, the Big Brother/Sister Association of the Philadelphia premiere, and the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. A statement said that tickets were sold at US$500 apiece and that certain sections of the theaters were set aside for disadvantaged children.[116]
The film had its UK premiere at the Royal Film Performance, an event held in aid of the Film & TV Charity, on the 14th July, 1999 at the ODEON Leicester Square. This event was attended by the Prince of Wales and helped to raise £225,000 for the charity.[117]
The film opened at 12:01 am on Wednesday, May 19, 1999 in 2,010 theaters in the United States and Canada. An additional 960 theaters screened the film later in the day. About 120 theaters showed the film continuously on opening day, including the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City and the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.[118] Foreshadowing his future conversion to digital cinematography, Lucas said the film would be released on four digital projectors (two in New York and two in Los Angeles) on June 18, 1999.[119] Few film studios released films during the same week: DreamWorks and Universal Studios released The Love Letter on May 21 and Notting Hill on May 28, respectively.[120] The Love Letter was a commercial failure but Notting Hill fared better and followed The Phantom Menace closely in second place.[121] Employment consultant firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimated that 2.2 million full-time employees missed work to attend the film, resulting in a US$293 million loss of productivity.
Home media[edit]
Comparison between the puppet of Yoda, present in the theatrical and DVD releases, and the computer-generated model, present in the Blu-ray Disc and 3D releases
The film was released on VHS on April 4, 2000. There were two versions of the film, which were a standard pan and scan version and a widescreen Collector’s Edition version. In its first two days of availability, the regular version sold 4.5 million copies and the limited edition sold 500,000.[122] A year later on June 19, 2001, it was announced that The Phantom Menace would become the first Star Wars film to be officially released on DVD, in a slightly extended cut from the theatrical releases.[123] This THX certified two-disc DVD release debuted on October 16 of the same year.[124] The first disc contains the film and the second disc contains special features. On the first disc, there are three randomized selected menus themed to the planets Naboo, Tatooine and Coruscant. There is an Easter egg located in the options menu. When the THX Optimizer is highlighted, the viewer can press 1-1-3-8. By doing this, some bloopers and DVD credits will be shown.[125] The special features include seven deleted scenes completed specifically for the DVD, a commentary track featuring Lucas and producer Rick McCallum, and several documentaries—including a full-length documentary entitled The Beginning: Making Episode I.[126] There are also DVD-ROM features, including trailers for Attack of the Clones.[127] The Phantom Menace became the fastest-selling DVD ever in the United States; 2.2 million copies were sold in its first week after release.[128] This surpassed the previous record, The Mummy Returns with 2 million copies.[129] Less than a month later, the record for the fastest-selling DVD was taken by Shrek when it sold 2.5 million copies in its first three days.[130]
The DVD version was re-released in a prequel trilogy box set on November 4, 2008.[131] A LaserDisc version of The Phantom Menace was released in Japan on April 7, 2000, one year and six months before it was available on DVD in the U.S.[132] The Star Wars films were released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on Blu-ray Disc on September 16, 2011;[133] The Phantom Menace was restored to improve the picture quality and remove the magnification present on the previous DVD release, restoring approximately 8 percent of the picture to the frame.[134] In the Blu-ray release of The Phantom Menace, the Yoda puppet was replaced with a CGI model, making it consistent with the other films of the prequel trilogy.[135]
On April 7, 2015, Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the six released Star Wars films. The Phantom Menace was released through the iTunes Store, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, and Disney Movies Anywhere on April 10, 2015.[136]
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment reissued The Phantom Menace on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on September 22, 2019.[137] Additionally, all six films were available for 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos streaming on Disney+ upon the service’s launch on November 12, 2019.[138] This version of the film was released by Disney on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray box set on March 31, 2020.[139]
3D re-release[edit]
On September 28, 2010, it was announced that all six films in the series would be stereo-converted to 3D. These would be re-released in episode order, beginning with The Phantom Menace, which was released to cinemas on February 10, 2012.[140] Prime Focus Limited did the conversion under the supervision of ILM.[141] However, the 3D re-releases of Episodes II–VI were postponed or canceled after Lucasfilm was bought by The Walt Disney Company, who decided to focus on the development of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[142]
Lucas stated the 3D re-release was «just a conversion» of the film’s 2011 Blu-ray release and no additional changes were made.[143] Only a change to Anakin’s magnetic wand during the podrace scene—its tip was sharpened to more accurately fit the original 2D photography to the new 3D image—was confirmed.[144]
General Mills and Brisk were promotional partners in North America for the 3D re-release but promotion was limited.[145][146] The film was extensively promoted in Japan; promotional products were sold by 7-Eleven, Domino’s Pizza, Pepsi and Gari-Gari Kun.[147] Kellogg’s promoted the film internationally,[148][149] and French restaurant Quick launched three Star Wars-themed burgers. Lucasfilm also partnered with Variety, the Children’s Charity to raise funds for children through the sale of a special edition badge.[150]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Following an advance screening on Saturday, May 8, 1999, several newspapers broke an agreement with Fox and published reviews of the film on Sunday, May 9. In a front page review, the Los Angeles Daily News gave it 3½ stars calling it «pretty good» overall and «outstanding in many parts». The New York Daily News was less positive giving it 2½ stars. Variety also made its review by Todd McCarthy available on the Sunday[151] with McCarthy calling it «the most widely anticipated and heavily hyped film of modern times» but said that the film «can scarcely help being a letdown on some levels, but it’s too bad that it disappoints on so many» and that «it is neither captivating nor transporting, for it lacks any emotional pull, as well as the sense of wonder and awe that marks the best works of sci-fi/fantasy».[152]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 51% based on 237 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, «Burdened by exposition and populated with stock characters, The Phantom Menace gets the Star Wars prequels off to a bumpy – albeit visually dazzling – start.»[153] As of July 2022, the film is the lowest-rated live-action film of the Star Wars series dropping below The Rise of Skywalker.[154] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating «mixed or average reviews».[155] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of «A−» on an A+ to F scale.[156]
Many aspects of the script and characters were criticized, especially that of Jar Jar Binks, who was regarded by many members of the older fan community as toyetic—a merchandising opportunity rather than a serious character.[157][158] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described Binks as «a major miscue, a comic-relief character who’s frankly not funny».[159] Drew Grant of Salon wrote, «Perhaps the absolute creative freedom director George Lucas enjoyed while dreaming up the flick’s ‘comic’ relief—with no studio execs and not many an independently minded actor involved—is a path to the dark side.»[160]
Conversely, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three-and-a-half stars out of four and called it «an astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking» and said, «Lucas tells a good story.» Ebert also wrote that, «If some of the characters are less than compelling, perhaps that’s inevitable» because it is the opening film in the new trilogy. He concluded his review by saying that rather than Star Trek films, filmmakers could «[g]ive me transparent underwater cities and vast hollow senatorial spheres any day».[161] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a «B» grade and complimented Liam Neeson’s performance and the action scenes.[162] In an Entertainment Weekly review for the DVD release, Marc Bernardin gave the film a «C−», calling it «haplessly plotted, horribly written, and juvenile».[163] ReelViews’ James Berardinelli wrote, «Looking at the big picture, in spite of all its flaws, The Phantom Menace is still among the best ‘bang for a buck’ fun that can be had in a movie theater,» and said the film was a «distinct improvement» over Return of the Jedi.[164]
Andrew Johnston of Time Out New York wrote, «Let’s face it: no film could ever match the expectations some have for Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Which isn’t to say it’s a disappointment: on the contrary, it’s awesomely entertaining, provided you accept it on its own terms … Like the original film, it’s a Boy’s Own adventure yarn with a corny but irresistible spiritual subtext. The effects and production design are stunning, but they always serve the story, not the other way around.»[165] Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today said that the film did «plenty right» and praised the characters Darth Maul and Watto.[166] David Cornelius of efilmcritic.com said that the film’s better moments «don’t merely balance out the weaker ones—they topple them».[167] Colin Kennedy of Empire magazine said that despite problems with pacing and writing, «there is still much pleasure to be had watching our full-blown Jedi guides in action». He praised the visuals and Liam Neeson’s performance, and said that the duel between Darth Maul and the Jedi was «the saga’s very best lightsaber battle».[168]
Empire magazine ranked The Phantom Menace on its list of «500 Greatest Movies of All Time»,[169] while Entertainment Weekly and Comcast included the film on their lists of the worst movie sequels.[170][171] James Berardinelli wrote, «The Phantom Menace was probably the most overhyped motion picture of the last decade (if not longer), and its reputation suffered as a result of its inability to satisfy unreasonable expectations.»[172] William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer agreed that the film’s massive hype caused many of the negative reactions, saying, «it built expectations that can’t possibly be matched and scuttled [the] element of storytelling surprise». He also said that the film was «well made and entertaining» and was much better than similar box office fare released around that year, such as The Mummy and The Matrix.[173] Ewan McGregor said in 2002 that he was «slightly disappointed» that the film was «kind of flat» and believed the next film in the franchise would have «much more humor and…color.»[174]
The introduction of midi-chlorians—microscopic organisms that mediate use of the Force—has been regarded as controversial.[175] Some viewed it as a concept that negates the Force’s spiritual quality. Film historian Daniel Dinello says, «Anathema to Star Wars fanatics who thought they reduced the Force to a kind of viral infection, midi-chlorians provide a biological interface, the link between physical bodies and spiritual energy.»[176] Religion expert John D. Caputo writes, «In the ‘Gospel according to Lucas’, a world is conjured up in which the intractable oppositions that have tormented religious thinkers for centuries are reconciled … The gifts that the Jedi masters enjoy have a perfectly plausible scientific basis, even if its ways are mysterious: their bodily cells have a heavier than usual concentration of ‘midi-chlorians’.»[177]
There has been some controversy over whether several alien characters reflect racial stereotypes. For example, the oafish, slow-witted Jar Jar Binks has long droopy ears reminiscent of dreadlocks and spoke with what many perceived as a Caribbean patois reminiscent of Jamaican Creole.[178] Drew Grant describes the character as «[s]ervile and cowardly … a black minstrel-ish stereotype on par with Stepin Fetchit.»[160] Georgetown University professor of African-American studies Michael Eric Dyson says that the entire Gungan species seems suggestive of a primitive African tribe, with Boss Nass portrayed as «a fat, bumbling … caricature of a stereotypical African tribal chieftain.»[157] The greedy and corrupt Neimoidians of the Trade Federation have been noted as resembling East Asian stereotypes,[179] and the unprincipled trader Watto has been interpreted as a Jewish stereotype reminiscent of Charles Dickens’ character Fagin.[180] Lucas has denied all of these implications,[157] instead criticizing the American media for using opinions from the Internet as a reliable source for news stories. Lucas added that it reflects more the racism of the commenters than it does the movie;[181] however, animator Rob Coleman said ahead of the film’s release that Watto’s mannerisms were inspired by footage of Alec Guinness as Fagin in Oliver Twist.[182]
Box office[edit]
Even though it received mixed reviews, The Phantom Menace was a financial success, breaking many box office records in its debut, and beating out The Mummy by taking number 1. The film broke The Lost World: Jurassic Park‘s records for the largest single-day gross for taking more than $28 million in the opening day and fastest to gross $100 million in five days. Additionally, it grossed $64.8 million in its opening weekend, the second-ever highest at the time, behind The Lost World: Jurassic Park.[183] It also became the quickest film to reach the $200 million and $300 million marks, surpassing Independence Day (1996) and Titanic (1997) respectively.[184][185] The Phantom Menace held both records before Spider-Man took them in 2002.[186][187] It would go on to earn $105.7 million, making it the highest five-day Wednesday opening weekend of all time.[183] The film had the biggest opening weekend for any 20th Century Fox film for two years until 2001 when it was taken by Planet of the Apes.[188] Its opening day record was handed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone that same year.[189] Two years later in 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King surpassed The Phantom Menace for having the largest five-day Wednesday opening weekend.[190] During its second weekend, The Phantom Menace made $51.3 million, making it the highest-grossing second weekend at the time, surpassing Jurassic Park. The film would hold this record until it was surpassed a year later by How the Grinch Stole Christmas.[191] In total, the film stayed at the top of the box office for three weeks until it was overtaken by Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me during its fourth weekend.[192] The Phantom Menace was 1999’s most successful film, staying in the Top 10 until August 5 (11 weeks total), earning $431.1 million in the United States and Canada.[193] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 84.8 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run.[194]
The film set an opening record in Japan, grossing $12.2 million in its first two days from 403 screens.[195] In the UK, the film also set an opening record with £9.5 million in its opening weekend (including previews), surpassing Men in Black.[196][197] It would go on to hold this record until it was taken by Toy Story 2 a few months later.[198] The Phantom Menace also grossed a record $11 million in its opening weekend in Germany.[199] Outside the United States and Canada, the film grossed over $10 million in Australia ($25.9 million), Brazil ($10.4 million), France and Algeria ($43 million), Germany ($53.9 million), Italy ($12.9 million), Japan ($109.9 million), Mexico ($12 million), Spain ($25 million), and the United Kingdom and Ireland ($81.9 million).[200] Its overseas total was $493.2 million, taking its worldwide total to $924.3 million.[193] At that time, the film was the third highest-grossing film in North America behind Titanic and Star Wars (1977), and the second highest-grossing film worldwide behind Titanic without adjusting for inflation of ticket prices. When adjusted for ticket price inflation, it ranked as the 19th-highest-grossing film domestically, making it the fourth Star Wars film to be in the Inflation-Adjusted Top 20.
After its 3D re-release in 2012, the worldwide box office gross exceeded $1 billion.[201] Although in the intervening years, the film had lost some of its rankings in the lists of highest-grossing films, the 3D re-release returned it to the worldwide all-time Top 10 for several months.[202] In North America, its revenues overtook those of the original Star Wars as the saga’s highest-grossing film when not adjusting for inflation of ticket prices, and is the tenth highest-grossing film in North America as of August 2017.[203] In North America, its ranking on the Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation list climbed to 16th place—one place behind Return of the Jedi.[204] The 3D re-release, which premiered in February 2012, earned $43 million—$22.5 million of which was in North America—worldwide.[205] The 3D re-release earned US$102,727,119 worldwide—including $43.5 million in North America—and has increased the film’s overall box office takings to $474.5 million domestically, and $552.5 million in other territories.[206] The film’s earnings exceeded $1 billion worldwide on February 22, 2012, making it the first Star Wars film and the 11th film in history—excluding inflation—to do so.[201][206]
Accolades[edit]
The Phantom Menace was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound (Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Shawn Murphy and John Midgley); all of which went to The Matrix.[207][208] The film won Saturn Awards for Best Costumes and Best Special Effects,[209] the MTV Movie Award for Best Action Scene,[210] and a Young Artist Award for Jake Lloyd’s performance.[211] It was also nominated for—among others—the BAFTAs for Visual Effects and Sound,[212] and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.[213] The film did however receive seven Golden Raspberry Award (Razzie) nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor (Jake Lloyd as Anakin), Worst Supporting Actress (Sofia Coppola as Saché), Worst Screen Couple (Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman), and Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best won the Worst Supporting Actor category.[214]
The film was nominated Choice Drama Movie, Choice Movie Villain and Choice Summer Movie at 1999 Teen Choice Awards, but both lost to Cruel Intentions and Big Daddy, respectively.
Legacy[edit]
A sequel, Attack of the Clones, was released in 2002.[215] The story continues a decade later with Anakin grown to adulthood, played by Hayden Christensen.[216][217] A second sequel, Revenge of the Sith, was released in 2005.[218]
A month after the film’s release, «Weird Al» Yankovic released the parody song and music video «The Saga Begins», in which he interprets the film’s plot from Obi-Wan’s point of view to the tune of «American Pie»; this was included as a bonus feature on a 2011 Star Wars Blu-ray. In a 2018 Saturday Night Live comedy rap video, Natalie Portman reprised her appearance as Queen Amidala from The Phantom Menace and defended the prequel trilogy.[219]
Darth Maul’s lightsaber-fighting style served as the inspiration for the 2003 viral video Star Wars Kid. Maul, who appears to die in The Phantom Menace, was resurrected for the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and he also appears in Star Wars Rebels and Solo: A Star Wars Story. In 2012, IGN named Maul the 16th-greatest Star Wars character.[220] A similar weapon to his dual-bladed lightsaber appears in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.[221]
Notes[edit]
- ^ The DVD released in 2001 extends the film by about three minutes, giving it a run time of 136 minutes.
- ^ a b Later titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
- ^ The 2008 animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars establishes that Maul survived.
References[edit]
- ^ «Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace». British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on June 12, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
- ^ a b «Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace«. Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Archived from the original on April 2, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f «Star Wars Episode I Production Notes: The Actors and Characters – Part I». StarWars.com. May 1, 1999. Archived from the original on October 23, 2004. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 44-45.
- ^ Bowen 2005, p. 3
- ^ «Return of the galaxy’s new beauty». CNN. 2002. Archived from the original on April 23, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f «Star Wars Episode I Production Notes: The Actors and Characters – Part II». StarWars.com. May 1, 1999. Archived from the original on October 23, 2004. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ «Homing Beacon #134: Palpatine Speaks». StarWars.com. April 14, 2005. Archived from the original on April 18, 2005. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Daly, Steven (May 19, 1999). «Behind the scenes of The Phantom Menace«. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 19, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ «The Man (Literally) Behind C-3PO». StarWars.com. November 2, 1999. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 96.
- ^ Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace audio commentary. The Phantom Menace DVD: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 2001.
- ^ Ross, Dalton (February 3, 2012). «George Lucas talks about adding a digital Yoda to ‘The Phantom Menace’ – exclusive video». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
- ^ Chernoff, Scott (December 1997 – January 1998). «Terence Stamp: Stamp of Approval». Star Wars Insider (41).
- ^ «Multiple Personality». Star Wars Insider (83). July 2005.
- ^ Simpson, Christian (June 4, 2014). «From Fandom to Phantom: When Star Wars Dreams Become Reality». Star Wars.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
- ^ George Lucas intro to Splinter of the Mind’s Eye 1994 reissue
- ^ Rinzler 2007, p. 107
- ^ Kaminski 2007, p. 134
- ^ Kaminski 2007, pp. 164–165
- ^ Bouzereau 1997, p. 123
- ^ Clarke, Gerald; Worrell, Denise (May 23, 1983). «I’ve Got to Get My life Back Again». Time. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
- ^ Kaminski 2007, p. 227
- ^ Kaminski 2007, pp. 294–295
- ^ Kaminski 2008, p. 318
- ^ Kaminski 2007, pp. 299–300
- ^ a b «Special Featurette», All I Need Is An Idea (2001), DVD
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 7.
- ^ Bowen 2005, p. 93
- ^ a b Shay, Don (July 1999). «Return of the Jedi». Cinefex (78): 15–32.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 8–9.
- ^ «Star Wars Episode 1 Was Offered to Ron Howard». Collider. November 25, 2015. Archived from the original on November 29, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 10–12.
- ^ Christopher, James (April 12, 2000). «Greetings, Earthlings; Arts». The Times. p. 16.
- ^ Vaz, Mark Cotta (2002). The Art of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (1st ed.). New York: Ballantine Publ. Group. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-345-43125-7.
- ^ Thousands of Things DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 12–17.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 54–55.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 16–22.
- ^ a b Prime of the Jedi DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ a b Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 102–3
- ^ Costumes DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 23.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 60–64.
- ^ «Silas Carson: Hero with a Thousand Faces». StarWars.com. May 30, 2002. Archived from the original on February 2, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ «Watto’s Character Development – From Concept to CG». StarWars.com. June 17, 1999. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Corliss, Richard; Booth, Cathy (April 26, 1999). «Ready, Set, Glow». Time. Archived from the original on June 25, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
- ^ «Sebulba at the Star Wars Databank». StarWars.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
- ^ Michaels, Sean (January 8, 2014). «Could Tupac Shakur have been a Jedi Master?». The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
- ^ a b Perlman, Cindy (July 2, 2004). «‘King Arthur’ Star No Damsel In Distress». Reading Eagle. The New York Times Syndicate. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ^ Waters, Lowenna (January 23, 2014). «Keira Knightley: ‘my most exciting role was on The Bill’«. The Telegraph. Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ^ «Finding Anakin – auditions for Star Wars Episode I». YouTube. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ «Sherlock star was nearly Star Wars’ Queen Amidala». Digital Spy. June 14, 2018. Archived from the original on July 16, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
- ^ «Time (magazine)». Archived from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ «Michael Jackson Wanted to Play Jar Jar Binks in ‘Star Wars’«. Rolling Stone. July 24, 2015. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ Velocci, Carli (May 24, 2017). «Joseph Fiennes Nearly Played Obi-Wan Kenobi – and Tells Us How He Lost the Role (Exclusive)». The Wrap. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
- ^ Swank, Jason (November 6, 2009). «Microcast: In The Cantina With Hugh Quarshie». TheForce.Net. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
- ^ Bowen 2005, p. 5
- ^ a b «Brian Blessed Talks On British Radio About STAR WARS EPISODE ONE. SPOILERS». Ain’t It Cool News. December 3, 1998. Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 51.
- ^ De Smelyen, Phil (July 4, 2013). «Sofia Coppola: Film By Film». Empire. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 53.
- ^ «The Park on TV». Cassiobury Park website. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
- ^ «Star Wars trek: Whippendell Woods – November 2001». Star Wars Locations. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 137–138.
- ^ a b c «The Beginning» Making Episode I Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace DVD documentary, [2001]
- ^ It’s Like War Now DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 57.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 77–79, 84–85.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 79–80, 120.
- ^ Metz, Cade (May 23, 2006). «Hollywood Reboots». PC Magazine: 70–71. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
- ^ «Fode and Beed at the Star Wars Databank». StarWars.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 135–137, 149.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 105.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 106.
- ^ Visual Effects DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 115–124.
- ^ Bad Droid Karma DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 65–66.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 119–120.
- ^ a b c Moyers, Bill (April 26, 1999). «Of Myth And Men». Time. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
- ^ Young, Bryan (May 11, 2015). «The Cinema Behind Star Wars: Ben Hur». StarWars.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- ^ Hodge, Joel (April 21, 2015). «How ‘Star Wars’ answers our biggest religious questions». The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
- ^ King, Geoff; Krzywinska, Tanya (2000). Science Fiction Cinema: From Outerspace to Cyberspace. London: Wallflower Press. p. 109. ISBN 1-903364-03-5.
- ^ Pearson, Ben (May 11, 2020). «Why the Lightsaber Duel in ‘The Phantom Menace’ is the Most Important Moment in the Prequel Trilogy, According to Dave Filoni». /Film. Archived from the original on May 11, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- ^ a b «Chat with John Williams». TalkCity. May 6, 1999. Archived from the original on October 13, 1999. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ Movie Music DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Stevenson, Joseph. «Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] [The Ultimate Edition]». AllMusic. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ «The Ultimate Edition – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace». Sony Classical. Archived from the original on April 13, 2001. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ Elliott, Stuart (May 14, 1999). «The Media Business: Advertising—The Hype Is With Us; The Lucas Empire Is Invading; Resistance Is Futile». The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 2, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ «Star Wars Celebration 1999». StarWars.com. April 30, 1999. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ Weinraub, Bernard (November 23, 1998). «Now Playing: Two New Minutes of ‘Star Wars’«. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Greene, Andy (October 16, 2015). «Flashback: ‘Star Wars: Phantom Menace’ Trailer Causes Hysteria in 1998». Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
- ^ «New ‘Star Wars’ trailer makes debut in theaters». Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. March 13, 1999. Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
- ^ a b ««Star Wars» trailer: The bootleggers strike back». Salon. March 10, 1999. Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «Net Force Clogged». Empire. November 19, 1998. Archived from the original on August 7, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «‘The Phantom Menace’ Trailer Was a Game-changer, And Not Just For Star Wars». Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ «Every Record Lord Of The Rings Broke (& Which Ones The Movies Still Hold)». Screen Rant. March 6, 2020. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ Jensen, Jeff (March 26, 1999). «A Sho of Force». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
- ^ «Star Wars: Episode I – The Making of the Poster». StarWars.com. March 10, 1999. Archived from the original on June 3, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ «When Star Wars: The Phantom Menace took a pot shot at Godzilla». May 7, 2020. Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
- ^ Brooks, Terry (February 3, 2004). Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life. Del Rey Books. ISBN 0-345-46551-2.
- ^ Patricia C. Wrede (May 3, 1999). Star Wars, Episode I – The Phantom (Junior Novelization). Scholastic Paperbacks. ISBN 0-590-01089-1.
- ^ «The Phantom Menace Online Comic». May 1, 1999. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ «New STAR WARS All-Ages Books to Add to Your Reading List». Nerdist. December 10, 2016. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace». IGN. May 18, 1999. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ «Star wars Pinball 2000». Williams Electronics Games. Archived from the original on August 22, 2007. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ Bowen 2005, p. 76
- ^ «May 19th: A «Cultural Holiday?»«. Los Angeles Daily News. April 20, 1999. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
- ^ «An Online Chat with Rick McCallum». StarWars.com. March 4, 1999. Archived from the original on September 24, 2004. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Snow, Shauna (March 30, 1999). «Arts And Entertainment Reports From The Times, News Services And The Nation’s Press». Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
- ^ «Advance Sale Planned; ‘Phantom Menace’ Tickets to be Available Week Before May 19 Opening». Los Angeles Daily News. April 24, 1999. Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «Fans rave over Star Wars». BBC. May 19, 1999. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Hindes, Andrew; Petrikin, Chris (April 6, 1999). «New ‘Star’ born with firm terms». Variety. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Craughwell, Kathleen (March 25, 1999). «Stars Align for ‘Phantom’ Galaxy». Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «Stars in Force for ‘Phantom Menace’«. People. March 4, 1999. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «BBC News | ENTERTAINMENT | Fans flock to Star Wars». news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on January 5, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Hindes, Andrew (May 19, 1999). «New ‘Star Wars’ movie opens». Variety.
- ^ Petrikin, Chris (March 11, 1999). «Star of trailer wars». Variety. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «Challenging the Force With a ‘Love Letter’«. Los Angeles Times. May 17, 1999. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Hindes, Andrew (June 1, 1999). «Jedi masters $200 mil mark». Variety. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Wilson, Wendy (April 7, 2000). «Star Wars fans snap up two VHS versions despite no DVD». Video Business. Archived from the original on October 19, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «Star Wars set for DVD release». BBC. June 19, 2001. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ DuPont, Alexandra (2001). «Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace». The DVD Journal. Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
- ^ «DVD Review – Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace». Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars on DVD – News and Past Events – Prillaman.net». Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ Davidson, Paul (October 19, 2001). «Three Star Wars Trailers on the Way?». IGN. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars breaks DVD records». BBC News. October 24, 2001. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «‘Menace’ sales set DVD record». October 29, 2001. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ Hettrick, Scott (November 5, 2001). «‘Shrek’ shreds vid bow record». Variety. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars Saga Repacked in Trilogy Sets on DVD». StarWars.com. August 28, 2008. Archived from the original on October 26, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
- ^ «Laserdisc Review – Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (Japanese Import)». The Digital Bits. April 13, 2000. Archived from the original on December 2, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ McWeeny, Drew (January 6, 2011). «Fox makes it official at CES: ‘Star Wars’ on Blu-ray in September». HitFix. Archived from the original on January 8, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ «The Best on Blu-ray: Restoring the Star Wars Saga for the HD Generation». StarWars.com. August 23, 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
- ^ Dalton, Ross (February 2, 2012). «George Lucas talks about adding a digital Yoda to ‘The Phantom Menace’«. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ^ Vlessing, Etan (April 6, 2015). «‘Star Wars’ Movie Franchise Headed to Digital HD». The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ^ Bonomolo, Cameron (August 8, 2019). «Newest Star Wars Saga Blu-rays Get Matching Artwork». Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- ^ Hayes, Dade (April 11, 2019). «Entire ‘Star Wars’ Franchise Will Be On Disney+ Within Its First Year». Deadline. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
- ^ Lussier, Germain (March 27, 2020). «Let’s Dive Into Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga’s 27-Disc Box Set». io9. Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (March 3, 2011). «‘Star Wars: Episode I’ 3D Gets Theatrical Release Date From Lucasfilm, Fox». The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 5, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
- ^ «Prime Focus to Handle 2D-to-3D Conversion of ‘Star Wars: Episode I’«. The Hollywood Reporter. March 29, 2011. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
- ^ Battersby, Matilda (January 28, 2013). «Star Wars Episodes II and III 3D shelved to focus on JJ Abrams’ VII». The Independent. Archived from the original on August 28, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
- ^ Block, Alex (February 9, 2012). «5 Questions With George Lucas: Controversial ‘Star Wars’ Changes, SOPA and ‘Indiana Jones 5’«. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
- ^ Harvey, Shannon (February 12, 2012). «May 3-D be with you». The West Australian. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ^ Lukovitz, Karlene (January 23, 2012). «General Mills Ties Into 3D ‘Star Wars’ Release». Marketing Daily. Archived from the original on September 18, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ «Yoda and Maul Get ‘Briskified’«. StarWars.com. January 9, 2012. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ Vilmur, Pete (April 5, 2012). «7-Eleven R2, Darth Maul Utensils, and Lightsaber Popsicle Sticks». Star Wars Blog. Archived from the original on April 8, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ Alasse, Letícia (January 12, 2012). «Kellogg’s lança embalagens do filme Star Wars». Exame (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ Carminho, Thibaut (April 23, 2012). «Promotional Product Spain – Star Wars Spoon by Kellogg’s». ODM Group. Archived from the original on June 20, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ Kemp, Stuart (February 7, 2012). «Global Children’s Charity Variety Partners With LucasFilm To Create Gold Heart Badge». The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 30, 2014. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ^ Hillis, Scott (May 9, 1999). «Variety pans «Phantom Menace» as papers jump gun». Reuters – via Yahoo! News.
- ^ McCarthy, Todd (May 10, 1999). «Film Review: ‘Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace’«. Variety. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace«. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker«. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace«. Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
- ^ Gina Carbone (December 21, 2019). «Yep, Rise Of Skywalker’s CinemaScore Matches My Theater’s Reaction To Star Wars Movie». CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
- ^ a b c Okwu, Michael (June 9, 1999). «Jar Jar jars viewers, spawns criticism». CNN. Archived from the original on November 11, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
- ^ Steve Wilson (June 8, 1999). «I was a Jar Jar jackass». Salon. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2006.
- ^ Turan, Kenneth (May 18, 1999). «The Prequel Has Landed». Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ^ a b Grant, Drew. «I was a Jar Jar jackass – Star Wars». Salon. Archived from the original on June 27, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (May 17, 1999). «Star Wars – Episode I: The Phantom Menace». Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2006.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (May 21, 1999). «Movie Review: Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace (1999)». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 10, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ Bernardin, Marc (October 16, 2001). «Movie Review: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (DVD)». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 28, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ Berardinelli, James. «Star Wars (Episode 1): The Phantom Menace (United States, 1999)». ReelViews. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ Time Out New York, May 12–19, 1999, p. 13
- ^ Wloszczyna, Susan (May 17, 2005). «Hyped up ‘Menace’ runs on overdrive». USA Today. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
- ^ «Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace». Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ^ Kennedy, Colin. «Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace». Empire. Archived from the original on April 23, 2013. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ «Empire’s 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time». Empire. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ^ «The worst movie sequels ever – Countdown!». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
- ^ «Worst Sequels of All Time». Comcast. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
- ^ James Berardinelli. «Review: Star Wars (Episode II): Attack of the Clones». ReelViews. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Arnold, William (April 29, 1999). «Phantom: A Menace To Other Summer Films?». Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ^ Susman, Gary (April 9, 2002). «Ewan McGregor disses «Star Wars: Episode I»«. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
- ^ Riesman, Abraham (December 12, 2017). «The Case for Star Wars’ Midi-Chlorians». Vulture. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Daniel Dinello (2005). Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 211. ISBN 0-292-70986-2.
- ^ Caputo, John D. (2001). On Religion. London: Routledge. p. 87. ISBN 0-415-23332-1.
- ^ Cadorette, Guylaine (May 17, 2002). «Jar Jar Less Conspicuous in ‘Clones’«. Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2006.
- ^ Pianka, John Paul (May 2013). «The Power of the Force: Race, Gender, and Colonialism in the Star Wars Universe» (PDF). Office of Graduate Studies, Wesleyan University (Thesis): 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ Brooker, Will (April 2001). «Readings of Racism: Interpretation, stereotyping and The Phantom Menace». Continuum. 15 (1): 15–32. doi:10.1080/713657758. ISSN 1030-4312. S2CID 143763901. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ «Star Wars: Lucas Strikes Back». BBC News. July 14, 1999. Archived from the original on September 29, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2007.
- ^ Silberman, Steve (May 1999). «G Force: George Lucas fires up the next generation of Star Warriors». Wired. Vol. 7, no. 5. Archived from the original on April 10, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ a b Josh Wolk (May 24, 1999). «Flip the Record : ‘The Phantom Menace’ topples two of three box office records». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ «‘Phantom Menace’ tops $200 million mark in record time». The Post-Crescent. June 1, 1999. p. 20. Archived from the original on August 22, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ «‘Phantom Menace’ pulls another fast one». Quad-City Times. June 20, 1999. p. 33. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ «‘Spider-Man’ Already Showing Amazing Legs». Los Angeles Times. May 13, 2002. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ «Hollywood Analysis: Box-office boom». United Press International. May 28, 2002. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ Linder, Brian (July 31, 2001). «Weekend Box Office: Audiences Go Ape!». IGN. Archived from the original on February 11, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
- ^ «POTTER OF GOLD: A $31M OPENING». November 18, 2001. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ «‘Return of the King’ tops box office». United Press International. December 22, 2003. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ «20 Years Ago, Hollywood’s Top Comic Broke Box Office Records As Christmas’s Biggest Movie Star». Forbes. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
- ^ «Austin Powers Scores at Box Office». Associated Press. Archived from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
- ^ a b «Star Wars: The Phantom Menace». The Numbers. December 1, 2001. Archived from the original on December 31, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2006.
- ^ «Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^ Groves, Don (July 13, 1999). «Japan, ‘Menace’d». Variety. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ^ «UK weekend box office reports: 2001» (xls). British Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ^ Groves, Don (July 26, 1999). «B.O. bakes, shakes». Variety. p. 8. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ^ «Toy Story 2 propels UK to all-time high». Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
- ^ «‘Pie’ flies high in Germany». Variety. October 15, 2001. p. 9.
- ^ «International Box Office Results». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on April 7, 2010. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
- ^ a b McClintock, Pamela (February 23, 2012). «‘Star Wars: Phantom Menace’ Crosses $1 Billion Mark at Box Office». The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ «All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
- ^ «All Time Domestic Box Office Grosses». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
- ^ «All Time Domestic Grosses – Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
- ^ Subers, Ray (February 12, 2012). «Weekend Report (cont.): ‘Phantom Menace’ Moves Up to Fifth All-Time». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ a b «Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (In 3D)». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
- ^ «The 72nd Academy Awards (2000) Nominees and Winners». Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
- ^ «Oscar winners in full». BBC. March 27, 2000. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ «Past Saturn Awards». Saturn Awards. Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ «MTV Movie Awards Past Winners: 2000». MTV. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ «21st Annual Young Artist Awards: 1998–1999». Young Artist Foundation. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ «Film Nominations 1999». British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original on May 5, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
- ^ «John Williams» (PDF). The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc. February 5, 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
- ^ «1999 RAZZIE Nominees & «Winners»«. Golden Raspberry Foundation. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ Booker, Keith M. (March 17, 2011). Historical Dictionary of American Cinema. Scarecrow Press. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-8108-7459-6. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ Bainbridge, William Sims (April 4, 2013). «Souls». EGods: Faith Versus Fantasy in Computer Gaming. Oxford University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-19-993581-9. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ Blundell, Graeme (February 1, 2011). The Naked Truth: A life in parts. Hachette UK. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-7336-2690-6. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ Tomasso, Vincent Edward (2010). Martin, Richard; Parker, Grant Richard; Stephens, Susan A. (eds.). «Cast in Later Grecian Mould», Quintus of Smyrna’s Reception of Homer in the Posthomerica. Stanford University. p. 5. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ Jasper, Marykate (February 4, 2018). «Natalie Portman Raps Defense of «Star Wars» Prequels». The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ «Darth Maul- #16». IGN. Archived from the original on May 29, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
- ^ Yehl, Joshua (August 28, 2019). «Dark Rey’s New Lightsaber Explained from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker». IGN. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
Sources[edit]
- Bouzereau, Laurent (1997). The Annotated Screenplays. Del Rey. ISBN 0-345-40981-7.
- Bouzereau, Laurent; Duncan, Jody (1999). The Making of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-43111-1.
- Bowen, Jonathan L. (2005). Anticipation: The Real Life Story of Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace. iUniverse. ISBN 0-595-34732-0. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- Kaminski, Michael (2007). «The Secret History of Star Wars». Archived from the original on July 6, 2007.
- —— (2008) [2007]. The Secret History of Star Wars. Legacy Books Press. ISBN 978-0-9784652-3-0.
- Rinzler, J.W. (2007). The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film (Star Wars). Del Rey. ISBN 978-0-345-49476-4.
Further reading[edit]
- Michael J. Hanson, Michael J. & Kay, Max S. (2000). Star Wars: The New Myth. Xlibris, ISBN 978-1401039899
- McDonald, Paul F. (2013). The Star Wars Heresies: Interpreting The Themes, Symbols and Philosophies of Episodes I-III. McFarland, ISBN 978-0786471812
- Bortolin, Matthew (2005). The Dharma of Star Wars. Wisdom Publications, ISBN 978-1614292869
External links[edit]
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 16 March 2007, and does not reflect subsequent edits.
- Official website at StarWars.com
- Official website at Lucasfilm.com
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace at IMDb
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace at AllMovie
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace at Corona’s Coming Attractions
«Star Wars 1» redirects here. For the first Star Wars film, see Star Wars (film).
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace |
|
---|---|
Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan |
|
Directed by | George Lucas |
Written by | George Lucas |
Produced by | Rick McCallum |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | David Tattersall |
Edited by |
|
Music by | John Williams |
Production |
Lucasfilm Ltd. |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates |
|
Running time |
133 minutes[1][a] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $115 million[2] |
Box office | $1.027 billion[2] |
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Pernilla August, and Frank Oz. It is the fourth film in the Star Wars film series, the first film of the prequel trilogy and the first chronological chapter of the «Skywalker Saga». Set 32 years before the original trilogy, during the era of the Galactic Republic, the plot follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi as they try to protect Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo in hopes of securing a peaceful end to an interplanetary trade dispute. Joined by Anakin Skywalker—a young slave with unusually strong natural powers of the Force—they simultaneously contend with the mysterious return of the Sith. The film was produced by Lucasfilm, with 20th Century Fox distributing.
Following the release of Return of the Jedi, talks of a follow-up were proposed, but Lucas was unmotivated to return to the franchise. During the hiatus, the backstories he created for the characters, particularly Anakin’s own backstory, sparked interest in him to develop a prequel trilogy during the 1990s. After he determined that computer-generated imagery (CGI) had advanced to the level he wanted for the prequel trilogy’s visual effects, Lucas began writing The Phantom Menace in 1993, and production began in 1994. Filming started on June 26, 1997—at locations including Leavesden Film Studios and the Tunisian desert—and ended on September 30. The film marked Lucas’ first directorial effort after a 22-year hiatus following the original Star Wars[b] in 1977.
The Phantom Menace was released in theaters on May 19, 1999, almost 16 years after the premiere of Return of the Jedi. The film’s premiere was extensively covered by media and was widely anticipated because of the large cultural following the Star Wars saga had cultivated. Upon its release, The Phantom Menace received mixed reviews. While the visual effects, action sequences, musical score, and the performances of Neeson and McGregor were praised, criticism was largely focused on the screenplay, pacing, Lloyd’s performance, and characters, with Jar Jar Binks in particular receiving extremely negative reception. Furthermore, the film’s blend of complicated, politics-heavy storytelling and juvenile humor was perceived as incongruent. Despite the mixed reception, The Phantom Menace was a box-office success and broke numerous box-office records during its debut. It grossed more than $924.3 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1999, the second-highest-grossing film worldwide and in North America (behind Titanic), and the highest-grossing Star Wars film at the time (inflation notwithstanding). A 3D reissue, which earned an additional $102.7 million and brought the film’s overall worldwide takings to over $1 billion, was released in February 2012. Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) followed The Phantom Menace, rounding out the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
Plot[edit]
The Trade Federation creates turmoil in the Galactic Republic by blockading the planet Naboo in protest of recent legislation taxing major galactic trade routes. The Republic’s leader, Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, dispatches Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray. Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord and the Trade Federation’s secret benefactor, orders the Viceroy to kill the Jedi and begin a planetary invasion with an army of battle droids, but the Jedi escape and flee to Naboo. During the invasion, Qui-Gon rescues a Gungan outcast, Jar Jar Binks. Indebted to Qui-Gon, Jar Jar leads the Jedi to Otoh Gunga, the Gungans’ underwater city. The Jedi fail to persuade the Gungan leader, Boss Nass, to help the planet’s surface dwellers, but manage to obtain Jar Jar’s guidance and underwater transport to Theed, the capital city of Naboo. After rescuing Queen Amidala, the group make their escape from Naboo aboard her Royal Starship, intending to reach the Republic capital planet of Coruscant.
Passing through the Federation blockade, the ship is damaged in the crossfire, and its hyperdrive malfunctions. The ship lands for repairs on the outlying desert planet of Tatooine, situated beyond the Republic’s jurisdiction. Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, astromech droid R2-D2, and Queen Padmé Amidala (in disguise as one of her own handmaidens) visit the settlement of Mos Espa to purchase a new part for their hyperdrive. They encounter a junk dealer, Watto, and his nine-year-old slave, Anakin Skywalker, a gifted pilot and engineer who has built a protocol droid, C-3PO.
Qui-Gon senses a strong presence of the Force within Anakin, and is convinced that he is the prophesied «Chosen One,» destined to restore balance to the Force. With Watto refusing to accept payment in Republic currency, Qui-Gon wagers both the required hyperdrive part and Anakin’s freedom in a podrace. Anakin wins the race and joins the group to be trained as a Jedi, reluctantly leaving behind his mother, Shmi. En route to their starship, Qui-Gon encounters Darth Maul, Sidious’ apprentice, who was sent to capture Amidala. After a brief lightsaber duel Qui-Gon narrowly escapes aboard the starship with the others.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan escort Amidala to Coruscant so that she can plead her people’s case to Chancellor Valorum and the Galactic Senate. Qui-Gon informs the Jedi Council that his attacker was a Sith and subsequently asks for permission to train Anakin as a Jedi, but the Council refuses his request, concerned that Anakin’s age makes him vulnerable to the dark side of the Force. Undaunted, Qui-Gon vows to take up Anakin as his new apprentice. Meanwhile, Naboo’s Senator Palpatine persuades Amidala to call for a vote of no confidence in Valorum to elect a more capable leader in order to resolve the crisis. Though she is successful in pushing for the vote, Amidala grows frustrated with the now-apparent corruption in the Senate, and decides to return to Naboo. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are ordered by the Jedi Council to accompany the queen and investigate the return of the Sith, whom they had thought to be extinct for over a millennium.
On Naboo, Padmé reveals herself as the actual queen before the Gungans to gain their trust, and persuades them to help against the Trade Federation. Jar Jar is promoted to general and joins his tribe in a battle against the droid army, while Padmé leads the search for Gunray in Theed. Qui-Gon tells Anakin to hide inside a starfighter in the palace hangar, but he accidentally triggers its autopilot, and flies into space, joining the Naboo pilots in their battle against the Federation droid control ship. With R2’s help, Anakin pilots the fighter into the ship and causes its destruction from within, deactivating the droid army. Meanwhile, Maul, who has been dispatched by Sidious to assist Gunray, engages in a lightsaber duel with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Maul mortally wounds Qui-Gon, but is then sliced in half by Obi-Wan and falls down a shaft.[c] Qui-Gon asks Obi-Wan to train Anakin before dying in his arms.
Following the battle, Gunray is arrested by the Republic, and Palpatine is elected Chancellor. Master Yoda promotes Obi-Wan to the rank of Jedi Knight, and reluctantly accepts Anakin as Obi-Wan’s apprentice. A funeral is held for Qui-Gon, attended by the other Jedi, who contemplate that there is still one Sith remaining since there are always two of them. During a celebratory parade on Naboo, Padmé presents a gift of thanks to the Gungans to establish peace.
Cast[edit]
- Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi Master who discovers Anakin Skywalker and under the belief that he is destined to bring balance to the force as the prophesied «Chosen One», insists that the boy be trained as a Jedi, despite the Jedi Council’s refusal to do so. Lucas originally wanted to cast an American actor in the role, but cast Neeson (who is Northern Irish) because he considered that Neeson had great skills and presence. Lucas said Neeson was a «master actor, who the other actors will look up to, who has got the qualities of strength that the character demands.»[3]
- Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon’s twenty-five-year-old Jedi Padawan, who holds his master in high regard but questions his motives at times, especially when it seems he is breaking the rules of the Jedi. McGregor was cast from a shortlist of fifty actors, all of whom had to be compared to pictures of young Alec Guinness, who portrayed the elderly Obi-Wan, to make a believable younger version.[4] McGregor had a vocal coach to help his voice sound closer to Guinness’s. He also studied several of Guinness’s performances, from his early work and the original Star Wars films.[3]
- Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala, the fourteen-year-old Queen of Naboo, who hopes to protect her planet from the Trade Federation’s blockade invasion. Throughout most of the film, she uses her birth name Padmé Naberrie and poses as one of the queen’s handmaidens for protection. Over 200 actresses auditioned for the role.[5] The production notes stated that «The role required a young woman who could be believable as the ruler of that planet, but at the same time be vulnerable and open». Portman was chosen especially for her performances in Léon: The Professional (1994) and Beautiful Girls (1996), which impressed Lucas.[3] He stated, «I was looking for someone who was young, strong, along the lines of Leia [and] Natalie embodied all those traits and more».[3] Portman was unfamiliar with Star Wars before being cast,[3] but was enthusiastic about being cast as a character she expected to become a role model. Portman said, «It was wonderful playing a young queen with so much power. I think it will be good for young women to see a strong woman of action who is also smart and a leader.»[6]
- Jake Lloyd as Anakin «Ani» Skywalker, a nine-year-old slave boy and a skilled pilot who dreams of becoming a Jedi. Hundreds of actors were tested across the UK, Ireland, Canada, and the United States[3] before the producers settled on Lloyd, who Lucas considered met his requirements of «a good actor, enthusiastic and very energetic». Producer Rick McCallum said that Lloyd was «smart, mischievous, and loves anything mechanical—just like Anakin.»[7]
- Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine, a middle aged senator of Naboo and a secret Sith Lord who orchestrates the invasion of his home planet to get elected Supreme Chancellor. He is the Trade Federation’s mysterious benefactor, and the titular «Phantom Menace». McDiarmid was surprised when Lucas approached him sixteen years after Return of the Jedi to reprise the role of Palpatine, having assumed that a younger actor would play the role in the prequel films.[8]
- Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks, a clumsy Gungan exiled from his home and taken in by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Best was hired after casting director Robin Gurland saw him on a Stomp performance in San Francisco.[7] Best was originally intended to provide motion capture data, but his offer to voice the character was accepted. On the set, to provide references for the actors, Best was clothed in a suit made of foam and latex and a headpiece. Best’s filmed performance was later replaced with the computer-generated character.[9] Best frequently improvised movements to make Jar Jar look as clumsy and comedic as possible.[7]
- Anthony Daniels as the voice of C-3PO, a protocol droid built by Anakin. He lacks a metal covering in this film; R2-D2 humorously refers to it as being «naked». Industrial Light & Magic’s Michael Lynch, dressed in a color closely matching the background—in a manner similar to the Japanese puppet theater Bunraku— manipulated a skeletal C-3PO figure attached to his front while Daniels read his lines off-camera. The puppeteer was erased from the film during post-production.[7][10]
- Kenny Baker as R2-D2, an astromech droid from Naboo that saves Queen Amidala’s ship when other astro droids fail. Before the film’s production started, fans campaigned on the Internet to retain Baker as R2-D2; Lucas replied that the actor would reprise the role. Baker is used for scenes where R2-D2 bends forwards and backwards and wobbles from side-to-side. Robots and a digital model were used in other shots.[citation needed]
- Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker, Anakin’s mother, who is concerned for her son’s future and allows him to leave with the Jedi. August, a veteran of Swedish cinema, was chosen after auditioning with Liam Neeson. She was afraid of being rejected because of her accent.[9]
- Frank Oz as the voice of Yoda, the centuries-old Jedi Grandmaster and head of the Jedi Council who is apprehensive about allowing Anakin to be trained. Yoda was mostly portrayed as a puppet designed by Nick Dudman based on Stuart Freeborn’s original design. Oz controlled the puppet’s mouth, and other parts were controlled by puppeteers using remote controls.[9] Lucas fitted Yoda’s filming around Oz’s schedule as he finished and promoted In & Out.[11] A computer-generated Yoda is featured in two distant shots. Warwick Davis (who played the part of the Ewok Wicket W. Warrick in Return of the Jedi in 1983) portrays him in the scene where Obi-Wan becomes a Jedi Knight.[12] Lucas said he originally wanted to use a full-time digital Yoda, but the attempts did not work well enough at the time. Beginning with the 2011 Blu-ray release of The Phantom Menace, which was also used for the 3D reissue, a CG Yoda replaced the puppet entirely.[13]
- Oliver Ford Davies as Sio Bibble, the governor of Naboo.
- Hugh Quarshie as Captain Quarsh Panaka, Queen Amidala’s chief of security at the Theed Palace.
- Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu, a Jedi Master and high-ranking member of the Jedi Council who opposes training Anakin.
- Ray Park as Darth Maul, Darth Sidious’ Zabrak Sith apprentice, who wields a double-bladed lightsaber.
- Peter Serafinowicz as the voice of Darth Maul
- Terence Stamp as Finis Valorum, the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic who commissions Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to negotiate with the Trade Federation viceroy. Lucas described the character as a «good man but he’s beleaguered—a bit like [Bill] Clinton».[14]
- Keira Knightley as Sabé, one of Queen Amidala’s handmaidens who serves as her decoy throughout the majority of the film.
- Silas Carson as:
- Nute Gunray, the viceroy of the Trade Federation who leads Naboo’s invasion and tries to force Queen Amidala to sign a treaty to legitimize their occupation of the planet.
- Ki-Adi-Mundi, a wise and powerful Jedi Master who sits on the Council.
- Lott Dod, a Trade Federation Senator.
- An ill-fated pilot. This was the role for which Carson originally auditioned.[15]
- Jerome St. John Blake as:
- Rune Haako, Gunray’s chief lieutenant and Settlement Officer in the Trade Federation.
- James Taylor as the voice of Rune Haako.
- Oppo Rancisis, a Jedi Master and member of the Council.
- Orn Free Ta, a Twi-lek senator.
- Mas Amedda, a Chagrian politician and Vice Chair of the galactic senate.
- Rune Haako, Gunray’s chief lieutenant and Settlement Officer in the Trade Federation.
Additionally, Brian Blessed voiced Boss Nass, the leader of the Gungan tribe who allies with the Naboo surface dwellers; Andy Secombe voiced Watto, a junk dealer on Tatooine who owns Anakin and his mother as slaves; and Lewis MacLeod voiced Sebulba, an aggressive, scheming podracer who is Anakin’s main rival at the Boonta Eve podrace. Greg Proops and Scott Capurro voiced Fode and Beed, respectively, the two-headed announcer of the Boonta Eve Race. Alan Ruscoe appears as Jedi Master Plo Koon and Neimoidian Daultay Dofine, commander of the Trade Federation’s droid control ships. Ralph Brown plays Ric Olie, commander of the Naboo Royal Space Fighter Corps and chief pilot aboard Queen Amidala’s starship, while Matthew Wood appears as the Twi’lek Bib Fortuna alongside a CGI Jabba the Hutt, who is voiced by an uncredited actor. Dominic West plays the role of an unnamed Naboo guard, and Sofia Coppola appears as Saché, one of Amidala’s handmaidens. Christian Simpson appears as Lieutenant Gavyn Sykes.[16] Lindsay Duncan voices TC-14, a protocol droid on the Federation ship. Sally Hawkins made her screen debut as an uncredited villager.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
While writing the original Star Wars film,[b] Lucas decided the story was too vast to be covered in one film. He introduced a wider story arc that could be told in sequels if it became successful.[17][18] He negotiated a contract that allowed him to make two sequels, and over time created an elaborate backstory to aid his writing process.[19] While writing the second film, The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas considered directions in which to take the story. In the original trilogy, Darth Vader was revealed to have been Anakin Skywalker, a once-powerful Jedi Knight, and a traitor to the Jedi Order.[20] With this backstory in place, Lucas decided that the movies would work best as a trilogy.[21] In the trilogy’s final episode, Return of the Jedi, Vader is redeemed through an act of sacrifice for Luke.[22]
Throughout the 1980s, Lucas said he had no desire to return to Star Wars and had canceled his sequel trilogy by the time of Return of the Jedi. However, because Lucas had developed most of the backstory, the idea of prequels continued to fascinate him.[23] In the early 1990s, Star Wars saw a resurgence in popularity in the wake of Dark Horse’s comic line and Timothy Zahn’s trilogy of novels. Lucas saw that there was still a large audience for his idea of a prequel trilogy, and with the development of special effects generated with computer-generated imagery (CGI), Lucas considered returning to his saga and directing the film.[24] In 1993, it was announced in Variety and other sources that he would be making the prequels. Lucas began outlining the story; Anakin Skywalker rather than Obi-Wan Kenobi would be the protagonist, and the series would be a tragedy examining Darth Vader’s origins. A relic of the original outline was that Anakin would, like his son, grow up on Tatooine.[25] Lucas also began to change the prequels’ timeline relative to the original series; instead of filling in the tangential history, they would form the beginning of a long story that started with Anakin’s childhood and ended with his death. This was the final step toward turning the franchise into a saga.[26]
Lucas began writing the Star Wars prequel trilogy on November 1, 1994. The screenplay of Star Wars was adapted from Lucas’ 15-page outline that was written in 1976, which he designed to help him keep track of the characters’ backstories and events that occurred before the original trilogy.[27] Anakin was first written as a twelve-year-old, but Lucas reduced his age to nine because he felt that the lower age would better fit the plot point of Anakin being affected by his mother’s separation from him. Eventually, Anakin’s younger age led Lucas to rewrite his participation in the movie’s major scenes.[28] The film’s working title was The Beginning, with the title not being changed to The Phantom Menace until shortly before the film’s completion.[27] Lucas later revealed that the Phantom Menace title was a reference to Palpatine hiding his true identity as an evil Sith Lord behind the facade of a well-intentioned public servant.[29]
The larger budget and possibilities opened up by the use of digital effects made Lucas «think about a much grander, more epic scale—»which is what I wanted Star Wars to be».[30] The story ended with five simultaneous, ongoing plots, one leading to another. The central plot is Palpatine’s intent to become Chancellor, which leads to the Trade Federation’s attack on Naboo, the Jedi being sent there, Anakin being met along the way, and the rise of the Sith Lords. As with the original trilogy, Lucas intended The Phantom Menace to illustrate several themes throughout the narrative. Duality is a frequent theme; Amidala is a queen who passes as a handmaiden, Palpatine plays on both sides of the war, among others. «Balance» is frequently suggested; Anakin is supposedly «the one» chosen to bring balance to the Force—Lucas said, «Anakin needed to have a mother, Obi-Wan needed a Master, Darth Sidious needed an apprentice» as without interaction and dialogue, «you wouldn’t have drama».[31]
In November 2015, Ron Howard confirmed that he, Robert Zemeckis, and Steven Spielberg were approached by Lucas to direct The Phantom Menace. All three approached directors told Lucas that he should direct the film, as they each found the project «too daunting.»[32]
Pre-production and design[edit]
Before Lucas had started writing, his producing partner Rick McCallum was preparing for the film. McCallum stated that his experience with The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles led to many of his decisions on The Phantom Menace, such as long-term deals with actors and soundstages, the employment of recent graduates with no film experience, and the creation of sets and landscapes with digital technology. In April 1994, McCallum started searching for artists in art, architecture and design schools, and in mid-year he began location scouting with production designer Gavin Bocquet. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) art director Doug Chiang impressed McCallum the most and was hired as the design director.[33][34] Art development on the film began in January 1995.[35]
Within three to four months of Lucas beginning the writing process, Chiang and his design team started a two-year process of reviewing thousands of designs for the film.[36] Chiang stated that Lucas intended Episode I to be stylistically different from the other Star Wars films; it would be «richer and more like a period piece, since it was the history leading up to A New Hope.» The story takes place on three planets, some with varied environments such as the human and Gungan cities of Naboo and three buildings in Coruscant. With the exception of the Gungan city, which had an art nouveau-inspired visual, these locations would be given distinctive looks with some basis in the real world. The concept drawings of Ralph McQuarrie for the original trilogy served as the basis for Mos Espa—which was also inspired by old Tunisian hotels and buildings and had touches such as a marketplace to differentiate it from A New Hope‘s Mos Eisley—and Coruscant, in particular a metropolis design that became the basis for the Senate.[37] Bocquet would later develop the work of Chiang’s team and design the interiors, translating the concepts into construction blueprints with environments and architectural styles that had some basis in reality «to give the audience something to key into.»[38] Some elements were directly inspired by the original trilogy; Lucas described the battle droids as predecessors to the stormtroopers. Chiang uses that orientation to base the droids on the Imperial soldiers, only in the same style of stylized and elongated features seen in tribal African art.[30]
Terryl Whitlatch, who had a background on zoology and anatomy, was in charge of creature design. Many of the aliens are hybrids, combining features of real animals. At times, entire food chains were developed, even though only a small percentage of them would appear in the film. Whitlatch also designed detailed skeletons for the major characters and facial muscles on Jar Jar Binks as a reference for ILM’s animators. Each creature would reflect its environment; those on Naboo were more beautiful because the planet is «lush and more animal-friendly», Tatooine has rough-looking creatures «with weather-beaten leathery skin to protect them from the harsh desert elements», and Coruscant has bipedal, human-looking aliens.[39]
The film made extensive use of the new technique of digital pre-visualization, using computers to essentially create 3-D animated storyboards. This was done for dozens of scenes in the film but was first and primarily used in the pod race sequence. Animatic supervisor David Dozoretz, also an ILM alum, worked on this sequence for nearly three years, and at one point had a 25 minute version of the race, although the film only included a 9-minute version.
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi dueling Darth Maul. Lucas wanted the lightsaber battles to be fast and more intense than those of the original trilogy, depicting the Jedi in their prime. This scene was highly praised by critics and audiences.
Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard was recruited to create a new Jedi fighting style for the prequel trilogy. Gillard likened the lightsaber battles to a chess game «with every move being a check». Because of their short-range weapons, Gillard thought that the Jedi would have had to develop a fighting style that merged every swordfighting style, such as kendo and other kenjutsu styles, with other swinging techniques, such as tennis swings and tree-chopping. While training Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, Gillard wrote a sequence that lasted around 60 seconds and intended to be around five or six sequences per fight.[40] Lucas later referred to the Jedi as «negotiators» rather than high-casualty soldiers. The preference of hand-to-hand combat was intended to give a spiritual and intellectual role to the Jedi.[40] Because Gillard thought that the stunt jumps with the actors and stuntmen dangling from wires did not look realistic, air rams were used to propel them into the air instead.[41]
Lucas decided to make elaborate costumes, because the film’s society was more sophisticated than the one depicted in the original trilogy. Designer Trisha Biggar and her team created over 1,000 costumes that were inspired by various cultures.[42] Biggar worked closely with concept designer Iain McCaig to create a color palette for the inhabitants of each world: Tatooine followed A New Hope with sun-bleached sand colors, Coruscant had grays, browns, and blacks, and Naboo had green and gold for humans while Gungans wore «a leathery look, like their skin». The Jedi costumes followed the tradition from the original film;[43] Obi-Wan’s costume was inspired by the costume that was worn by Guinness. Lucas said he and Biggar would look at the conceptual art to «translat[e] all of these designs into cloth and fabric and materials that would actually work and not look silly». Biggar also consulted Gillard to ensure that the costumes would accommodate action scenes, and consulted the creature department to find which fabrics «wouldn’t wear too heavily» on the alien skins. A huge wardrobe department was set up at Leavesden Film Studios to create over 250 costumes for the main actors and 5,000 for the background ones.[44]
Nute Gunray’s Thai accent was chosen after Lucas and McCallum listened to various languages to decide how the Neimoidians would speak.[45] The character design of Watto was an amalgam of rejected ideas; his expressions were based on video footage of Secombe’s voice acting, photographs of animation supervisor Rob Coleman imitating the character, and modeler Steve Alpin saying Watto’s lines to a mirror.[46] Lucas described Sebulba’s design as «a spider crossed with an orangutan crossed with a sloth»,[47] with a camel-like face, and clothing inspired by medieval armor.[48]
Casting[edit]
After Samuel L. Jackson expressed interest in appearing in a Star Wars film, he was approached by casting director Robin Gurland to play Windu.[7] Rapper Tupac Shakur was also considered for the role of Mace Windu.[49] Ray Park, a martial arts champion with experience in gymnastics and sword fighting, was originally a member of the stunt crew.[7] Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard filmed Park to demonstrate his conception of the lightsaber battles. Lucas and McCallum were so impressed with the test tape that they gave Park the role of Maul. His voice was considered «too squeaky» and was dubbed over in post-production by Peter Serafinowicz.[9] Keira Knightley’s parents tried to convince her not to audition, but the teenage actress still sought a role since she was a Star Wars fan.[50] The casting was influenced by Knightley’s remarkable similarity to Natalie Portman, with the actress admitting their mothers could not tell each other apart.[51] Knightley was reported to have «cried every single day» due to finding the wardrobe uncomfortable.[50]
Over 3,000 actors auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker including Haley Joel Osment, Cameron Finley, Justin Berfield and Michael Angarano before Jake Lloyd was finalised.[52] Vinette Robinson auditioned for the role of Padmé Amidala.[53] Benicio del Toro was originally cast as Darth Maul but later left the project when the character’s lines were cut.[54] Michael Jackson expressed interest in playing Jar Jar Binks but he wanted to do it in prosthetic make ups while George Lucas wanted to do it in CGI.[55] Joseph Fiennes auditioned for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi and nearly landed the part until George Lucas’s young daughter rejected him upon meeting him during the second level of auditioning.[56]
Silas Carson was cast as Nute Gunray because another actor was uncomfortable with the costumes used by the Trade Federation characters, which were hot, exerted a lot of pressure on the bearer, and took about 15 minutes to apply. Hugh Quarshie considered the part of Panaka as «a good career move» and a production that would be fun to make.[57] Brian Blessed originally auditioned for the role of Sio Bibble, the Governor of Naboo,[58] for which he was considered «too loud».[59] Casting director Robin Gurland approached him to play Nass because it was a «bigger than life» character with «a kind of bravado».[60] Blessed described Nass as a «reluctant hero».[59] Sofia Coppola, daughter of Lucas’ long-time friend and creative partner Francis Ford Coppola, considers Lucas as «like an uncle to me». As she prepared the script for her directorial debut The Virgin Suicides, Coppola heard Lucas would make a new Star Wars film and asked him if she could accompany him during filming. Lucas offered Coppola a role in the royal entourage, which she accepted because it «seemed like a good vantage point to watch without getting in the way».[61]
Filming[edit]
Remains of Mos Espa in the Tunisian desert, near Nafta
Filming began on June 26, 1997, and ended on September 30 of that year, primarily taking place at Leavesden Film Studios in England. Leavesden was leased for a two and a half year period so the production company could leave the sets intact and return after principal photography had been completed.[62] The forest scenes on Naboo were filmed at Cassiobury Park in Watford, Hertfordshire.[63][64] Pick-ups were shot between August 1998 and February 1999 after Lucas screened a rough cut of the film for friends and colleagues in May 1998.[65] Most of the action and stunts were filmed by Roger Christian’s second unit, which worked alongside the main unit instead of afterwards because of the high number of shots to be completed daily.[41]
The Tunisian desert was again used for the Tatooine scenes;[66] Mos Espa was built outside the city of Tozeur. On the night following the third day of shooting in Tozeur, an unexpected sandstorm destroyed many of the sets and props. The production was quickly rescheduled to allow for repairs and was able to leave Tunisia on the date originally planned.[67] The Italian Caserta Palace was used as the interior of the Theed City Naboo Palace;[66] it was used as a location for four days after it had been closed to visitors. Scenes with explosions were filmed on replica sets in Leavesden.[68]
A binder with the film’s storyboards served as a reference for live-action filming, shots that would be filmed in front of a chroma key blue screen, and shots that would be composed using CGI. The sets were often built with the parts that would be required on screen; often they were built only up to the heights of the actors. Chroma key was extensively used for digital set extensions, backgrounds, or scenes that required cinematographer David Tattersall to seek powerful lamps to light the sets and visual effects supervisor John Knoll to develop software that would remove the blue reflection from shiny floors. Knoll, who remained on set through most of the production, worked closely with Tattersall to ensure that the shots were suitable to add effects later. The cameras were fitted with data capture models to provide technical data for the CGI artists.[69]
The Phantom Menace was the final Star Wars film to be shot on 35mm film until Episode VII (Star Wars: The Force Awakens). Some scenes, mostly of elements filmed by the special effects team, were shot on high definition, digital video tapes to test the performance of digital recordings, which Lucas and McCallum considered the next logical step because of the amount of digitizing—an expensive process compared to recording directly on digital media—for the compositing of computer-generated effects. All future films would be shot using Sony CineAlta high-definition video cameras.[70][71] Greg Proops and Scott Capurro were filmed wearing makeup and blue bodysuits so their heads could be joined in a computer-generated body. The visual effects crew did not like the original results and crafted Fode and Beed as an entirely computer generated alien.[72]
Editing took two years; Paul Martin Smith started the process in England and focused on dialogue-heavy scenes. Ben Burtt—who was also the film’s sound editor—was responsible for action sequences under Lucas’ supervision. Non-linear editing systems played a large part in translating Lucas’ vision; he constantly tweaked, revised, and reworked shots and scenes. The final sound mix was added in March 1999, and the following month, the film was completed after the delivery of the remaining visual effects shots.[73]
Effects[edit]
«Writing the script was much more enjoyable this time around because I wasn’t constrained by anything. You can’t write one of these movies without knowing how you’re going to accomplish it. With CG at my disposal, I knew I could do whatever I wanted».
—George Lucas[74]
The film saw a breakthrough in computer generated effects. About 1,950 of the shots in The Phantom Menace have visual effects. The scene in which toxic gas is released on the Jedi is the only sequence with no digital alteration.[47] The work was so extensive that three visual effects supervisors divided the workload among themselves—John Knoll supervised the on-set production and the podrace and space battle sequences, Dennis Muren supervised the underwater sequence and the ground battle, and Scott Squires, alongside teams assigned for miniature effects and character animation, worked on the lightsaber effects.[75]
Until the film’s production, many special effects in the film industry were achieved using miniature models, matte paintings, and on-set visual effects—although other films had made extensive use of CGI. Knoll previewed 3,500 storyboards for the film; Lucas accompanied him to explain factors of the shots that would be practical and those that would be created through visual effects. Knoll later said that on hearing the explanations of the storyboards, he did not know how to accomplish what he had seen. The result was a mixture of original techniques and the newest digital techniques to make it difficult for the viewer to guess which technique was being used. Knoll and his visual effects team wrote new computer software, including cloth simulators to allow a realistic depiction of the digital characters’ clothing, to create certain shots. Another goal was to create computer-generated characters that could act seamlessly with live-action actors. While filming scenes with CGI characters, Lucas would block the characters using their corresponding voice actors on-set. The voice actors were then removed and the live-action actors would perform the same scene alone. A CGI character would later be added into the shot to complete the conversation.[76] Lucas also used CGI to correct the physical presence of actors in certain scenes.[47] Practical models were used when their visuals helped with miniature sceneries for backgrounds, set extensions, and model vehicles that would be scanned to create the digital models or filmed to represent spaceships and podraces.[77]
Lucas, who had previously confronted problems with the props used to depict R2-D2, allowed ILM and the production’s British special effects department to create their own versions of the robot. Nine R2-D2 models were created; one was for actor Kenny Baker to be dropped into, seven were built by ILM and featured two wheelchair motors capable of moving 440 pounds (200 kg), enabling it to run and be mostly used in stage sets, and the British studio produced a pneumatic R2-D2 that could shift from two to three legs and was mostly used in Tunisia because its motor drive system allowed it to drive over sand.[78]
Lucas originally planned to create many of the aliens with computer graphics, but those that would be more cost-effectively realized with masks and animatronics were created by Nick Dudman’s creature effects team. These included the Neimoidians, background characters in Mos Espa, the Jedi Council, and the Galactic Senate. Dudman’s team was told where the creatures would be required six months before principal photography begun, and they rushed the production. The Neimodian suits, which were originally intended as digital characters, were delivered one day before they would be required on set. Dudman traveled to Skywalker Ranch to see the original creatures that could be reused, and read the script for a breakdown of scenes with practical creatures, leaving only the more outlandish designs to be created using CGI.[79]
To research for the podrace vehicles, the visual effects crew visited a jet aircraft junkyard outside Phoenix, Arizona and scavenged four Boeing 747 engines.[47] Life-sized replicas of the engines were built and sent to Tunisia to provide reference in the film. Except for Jake Lloyd inside a hydraulically controlled cockpit and a few practical podracer models, the entire podracing scene—which the effects crew designed to be as «out of this world» as possible—is computer-generated.[66][80]
Themes[edit]
Like previous Star Wars films, The Phantom Menace makes several references to historical events and films that George Lucas watched in his youth. The Star Wars films typically mix several concepts from different mythologies together, drawing heavily from the hero’s journey, an archetypical template developed by comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell.[81] This film also notably borrows from Ben Hur, including the podrace sequence, which mirrors the chariot race scene; additionally, the end celebration scene closely resembles a Roman parade in Ben Hur.[82]
The face of Darth Maul drew upon depictions of the devil.
There are many references to Christianity in the film, such as the appearance of Darth Maul, whose design draws heavily from traditional depictions of the devil, complete with red skin and horns.[81] The Star Wars film cycle features a similar Christian narrative involving Anakin Skywalker; he is the «Chosen One»—the individual prophesied to bring balance to the Force—who was conceived of a virgin birth. However, unlike Jesus, Anakin will eventually fall from grace and seemingly fail to fulfill his destiny (until the prophecy comes true in Return of the Jedi).[83]
Japanese films such as Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress influenced the original Star Wars film; scholars say that The Phantom Menace was likewise influenced by Korean and Japanese culture. Film historians Geoff King and Tanya Krzywinska write, «The costume and make-up designs … favour a mixture of the gothic and the oriental over anything very futuristic. The gothic is most strongly apparent in Darth Maul’s demonic horns and the red and black make-up mask that borrows from the facial designs found in depictions of Japanese demons». King and Krzywinska say that «Qui-Gon’s pony tail and Obi-Wan’s position of apprentice further encourage a reading in terms of the Samurai tradition». They also say «Amidala, in keeping with her status and character, has a number of highly formal outfits … to go with hair sculpted into a curve that frames make-up of a Japanese cast».[84]
The Jedi practice Zen-like meditation and martial arts, as did the ancient Japanese Samurai warriors. The name «Qui-Gon» adapts the term qigong, which refers to a Chinese discipline involving meditation and cultivation of the flow of the vital energy called «Chi» or «Qi» for healing, health, and combat. The words Ch’i (Chinese), gi (Korean), ki (Japanese), and the Indian term «Prana» all refer to the energy that is thought to flow through all living things, from the source of all chi (or power), which is «The Way» or «The Tao» in Chinese philosophy. In Taoist philosophy, from The Way, yin and yang—the opposing but complementary aspects of reality or nature—are born. Unlike Chinese philosophy, in which yin and yang are not moral qualities, the ancient Persian philosophy of Zurvanism taught that the dualism of dark and light forces are locked in an eternal battle while being two sides (or evolutes) of the same «Force», the force of time itself (Zurvan)—the prime mover. These elements derive primarily from Eastern and Iranian religions and myths.[81]
As with other Star Wars films, the themes about family and hope are featured prominently. In the episode «Legacy» of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, Dave Filoni explains that the use of «Duel of the Fates» during the lightsaber duel between Darth Maul against Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi represents the fight for the fate of Anakin Skywalker. According to Filoni, Qui-Gon Jinn acts like a father figure towards Anakin because he feels he needs one after taking him from his mother, having realized that the Jedi shouldn’t be opposed to love and care. In the end, Qui-Gon dies, and thus Anakin loses his father figure; Obi-Wan Kenobi ultimately becomes his master to honor Jinn’s dying wish despite his initial contempt for him, and while he comes to eventually see him like a brother as shown in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, he doesn’t act like a father, which coupled with the Jedi’s indifference, seals Anakin’s fate.[85]
Music[edit]
As with previous Star Wars films, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace‘s score was composed and conducted by John Williams. He started composing the score in October 1998 and began recording the music with the London Voices and London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios on February 10, 1999. Williams decided to use electronic instruments such as synthesizers to enhance the sound and choral pieces to «capture the magical, mystical force that a regular orchestra might not have been able to provide», and create an atmosphere that was «more mysterious and mystical and less military» than those of the original trilogy.[86] One of the most notable tracks is «Duel of the Fates», which uses the chorus to give a religious, temple-like feel to the epic lightsaber duel. The track was made into a music video.[87] While composing Anakin’s theme, Williams tried to reflect the innocence of his childhood and to foreshadow his transformation into Darth Vader by using slight suggestions of «The Imperial March» in the melody.[86]
The film’s soundtrack was released by Sony Classical Records on May 4, 1999. This album featured the score, which Williams restructured as a listening experience; it is not presented in film order and omits many notable cues from the film because of the space restriction of the compact disc.[88] A two-disc «Ultimate Edition» was released on November 14, 2000. The set features the entire score as it is heard in the film, including all of the edits and loops that were made for the sound mix.[89]
Marketing[edit]
Promotion[edit]
Lucasfilm spent US$20 million on the film’s advertising campaign and made promotional licensing deals with Hasbro, Lego, Tricon Global Restaurants, and PepsiCo.[90] Lucasfilm also helped the Star Wars fan club to organize an event called Star Wars Celebration, which was held in Denver, Colorado, between April 30 and May 2, 1999.[91]
The first teaser trailer was released on selected screens accompanying Meet Joe Black on November 13, 1998, and media reported that people were paying full admission at theaters to see the trailer. Other films that played this trailer included The Waterboy, The Siege and A Bug’s Life.[92] To keep fans from leaving before the movie was over, some theaters played the teaser an additional time after the film finished.[93] The second trailer debuted on March 12, 1999, with the film Wing Commander. Again, many fans paid full theater admission to watch the new trailer.[94] A bootlegged version of the preview was leaked to the Internet the same day.[95] The next morning, the trailer was released on the film’s official website and shortly afterwards the servers became overloaded.[96] This trailer had over 1 million downloads within its first 24 hours of release.[97] It would achieve the record for being the most downloaded trailer until the following April when it was surpassed by The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.[98] The theatrical trailer caused even more media attention because it was premiered in theaters and screened at the ShoWest Convention in Las Vegas,[99] and was aired on Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood.[95]
The teaser poster, featuring Anakin with his shadow forming Darth Vader’s silhouette, was released on November 10, 1998. After Lucas opted for a drawn theatrical poster, Drew Struzan, the artist responsible for the Special Edition posters, was commissioned to illustrate, and the poster was unveiled on March 11, 1999. Lucasfilm dictated that, contractually, Struzan’s illustration was the only art the foreign distributors could use, and other than the text, it could not be modified in any way.[100] The film also reused the Godzilla slogan on teaser posters.[101]
Adaptations[edit]
A novelization was written by Terry Brooks, who met with Lucas before writing the book and received his approval and guidance. It includes some scenes that are not in the film and foreshadows pending developments in the following two installments of the series.[102] Additionally, a Scholastic junior novelization was written by Patricia C. Wrede.[103] A four-issue comic book adaptation was written by Henry Gilroy and published by Dark Horse Comics.[104] The film was again adapted as part of the all-ages Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy – A Graphic Novel, released by Disney-Lucasfilm Press in 2017.[105]
A LucasArts video game adaptation was released for the PlayStation and PC.[106] The podracing tie-in Star Wars Episode I: Racer was released for Nintendo 64, PC, and other platforms. A pinball machine was created by WMS Industries.[107]
Release[edit]
Theatrical[edit]
The release of the first new Star Wars film in 16 years was accompanied by a considerable amount of attention.[108] According to The Wall Street Journal, so many workers announced plans to view the premiere that many companies closed on the opening day.[109] Queue areas formed outside cinema theaters over a month before ticket sales began.[110] More theater lines appeared when it was announced that cinemas were not allowed to sell tickets in advance until two weeks into the release. This was because of a fear that family theater-goers would be either unable to receive tickets or would be forced to pay higher prices for them. Instead, tickets were to be sold on a first-come-first-served basis.[111] However, after meetings with the National Association of Theatre Owners, Lucasfilm agreed to allow advance ticket sales on May 12, 1999, provided there was a limit of 12 tickets per customer.[112] As a result, some advance tickets were sold by scalpers at prices as high as US$100 apiece, which a distribution chief called «horrible» and said was exactly what they wanted to avoid.[113] Daily Variety reported that theater owners received strict instructions from Lucasfilm that the film could only play in the cinema’s largest auditorium for the first 8–12 weeks, no honor passes were allowed for the first eight weeks, and they were obliged to send their payments to distributor 20th Century Fox within seven days.[114]
Despite worries about the film being finished on time, two weeks before its theatrical release Lucasfilm moved the release date from May 21 to 19, 1999. At the ShoWest Convention, Lucas said the change was intended to give the fans a «head start» by allowing them to view it during the week and allowing families to view it during weekends. Eleven charity premieres were staged across the United States on May 16, 1999; receipts from the Los Angeles event, where corporate packages were available for between US$5,000 and US$25,000; proceeds were donated to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.[115] Other charity premieres included the Dallas premiere for the Children’s Medical Center, the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at the Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, the Big Brother/Sister Association of the Philadelphia premiere, and the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. A statement said that tickets were sold at US$500 apiece and that certain sections of the theaters were set aside for disadvantaged children.[116]
The film had its UK premiere at the Royal Film Performance, an event held in aid of the Film & TV Charity, on the 14th July, 1999 at the ODEON Leicester Square. This event was attended by the Prince of Wales and helped to raise £225,000 for the charity.[117]
The film opened at 12:01 am on Wednesday, May 19, 1999 in 2,010 theaters in the United States and Canada. An additional 960 theaters screened the film later in the day. About 120 theaters showed the film continuously on opening day, including the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City and the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.[118] Foreshadowing his future conversion to digital cinematography, Lucas said the film would be released on four digital projectors (two in New York and two in Los Angeles) on June 18, 1999.[119] Few film studios released films during the same week: DreamWorks and Universal Studios released The Love Letter on May 21 and Notting Hill on May 28, respectively.[120] The Love Letter was a commercial failure but Notting Hill fared better and followed The Phantom Menace closely in second place.[121] Employment consultant firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimated that 2.2 million full-time employees missed work to attend the film, resulting in a US$293 million loss of productivity.
Home media[edit]
Comparison between the puppet of Yoda, present in the theatrical and DVD releases, and the computer-generated model, present in the Blu-ray Disc and 3D releases
The film was released on VHS on April 4, 2000. There were two versions of the film, which were a standard pan and scan version and a widescreen Collector’s Edition version. In its first two days of availability, the regular version sold 4.5 million copies and the limited edition sold 500,000.[122] A year later on June 19, 2001, it was announced that The Phantom Menace would become the first Star Wars film to be officially released on DVD, in a slightly extended cut from the theatrical releases.[123] This THX certified two-disc DVD release debuted on October 16 of the same year.[124] The first disc contains the film and the second disc contains special features. On the first disc, there are three randomized selected menus themed to the planets Naboo, Tatooine and Coruscant. There is an Easter egg located in the options menu. When the THX Optimizer is highlighted, the viewer can press 1-1-3-8. By doing this, some bloopers and DVD credits will be shown.[125] The special features include seven deleted scenes completed specifically for the DVD, a commentary track featuring Lucas and producer Rick McCallum, and several documentaries—including a full-length documentary entitled The Beginning: Making Episode I.[126] There are also DVD-ROM features, including trailers for Attack of the Clones.[127] The Phantom Menace became the fastest-selling DVD ever in the United States; 2.2 million copies were sold in its first week after release.[128] This surpassed the previous record, The Mummy Returns with 2 million copies.[129] Less than a month later, the record for the fastest-selling DVD was taken by Shrek when it sold 2.5 million copies in its first three days.[130]
The DVD version was re-released in a prequel trilogy box set on November 4, 2008.[131] A LaserDisc version of The Phantom Menace was released in Japan on April 7, 2000, one year and six months before it was available on DVD in the U.S.[132] The Star Wars films were released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on Blu-ray Disc on September 16, 2011;[133] The Phantom Menace was restored to improve the picture quality and remove the magnification present on the previous DVD release, restoring approximately 8 percent of the picture to the frame.[134] In the Blu-ray release of The Phantom Menace, the Yoda puppet was replaced with a CGI model, making it consistent with the other films of the prequel trilogy.[135]
On April 7, 2015, Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the six released Star Wars films. The Phantom Menace was released through the iTunes Store, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, and Disney Movies Anywhere on April 10, 2015.[136]
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment reissued The Phantom Menace on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on September 22, 2019.[137] Additionally, all six films were available for 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos streaming on Disney+ upon the service’s launch on November 12, 2019.[138] This version of the film was released by Disney on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray box set on March 31, 2020.[139]
3D re-release[edit]
On September 28, 2010, it was announced that all six films in the series would be stereo-converted to 3D. These would be re-released in episode order, beginning with The Phantom Menace, which was released to cinemas on February 10, 2012.[140] Prime Focus Limited did the conversion under the supervision of ILM.[141] However, the 3D re-releases of Episodes II–VI were postponed or canceled after Lucasfilm was bought by The Walt Disney Company, who decided to focus on the development of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[142]
Lucas stated the 3D re-release was «just a conversion» of the film’s 2011 Blu-ray release and no additional changes were made.[143] Only a change to Anakin’s magnetic wand during the podrace scene—its tip was sharpened to more accurately fit the original 2D photography to the new 3D image—was confirmed.[144]
General Mills and Brisk were promotional partners in North America for the 3D re-release but promotion was limited.[145][146] The film was extensively promoted in Japan; promotional products were sold by 7-Eleven, Domino’s Pizza, Pepsi and Gari-Gari Kun.[147] Kellogg’s promoted the film internationally,[148][149] and French restaurant Quick launched three Star Wars-themed burgers. Lucasfilm also partnered with Variety, the Children’s Charity to raise funds for children through the sale of a special edition badge.[150]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Following an advance screening on Saturday, May 8, 1999, several newspapers broke an agreement with Fox and published reviews of the film on Sunday, May 9. In a front page review, the Los Angeles Daily News gave it 3½ stars calling it «pretty good» overall and «outstanding in many parts». The New York Daily News was less positive giving it 2½ stars. Variety also made its review by Todd McCarthy available on the Sunday[151] with McCarthy calling it «the most widely anticipated and heavily hyped film of modern times» but said that the film «can scarcely help being a letdown on some levels, but it’s too bad that it disappoints on so many» and that «it is neither captivating nor transporting, for it lacks any emotional pull, as well as the sense of wonder and awe that marks the best works of sci-fi/fantasy».[152]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 51% based on 237 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, «Burdened by exposition and populated with stock characters, The Phantom Menace gets the Star Wars prequels off to a bumpy – albeit visually dazzling – start.»[153] As of July 2022, the film is the lowest-rated live-action film of the Star Wars series dropping below The Rise of Skywalker.[154] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating «mixed or average reviews».[155] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of «A−» on an A+ to F scale.[156]
Many aspects of the script and characters were criticized, especially that of Jar Jar Binks, who was regarded by many members of the older fan community as toyetic—a merchandising opportunity rather than a serious character.[157][158] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described Binks as «a major miscue, a comic-relief character who’s frankly not funny».[159] Drew Grant of Salon wrote, «Perhaps the absolute creative freedom director George Lucas enjoyed while dreaming up the flick’s ‘comic’ relief—with no studio execs and not many an independently minded actor involved—is a path to the dark side.»[160]
Conversely, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three-and-a-half stars out of four and called it «an astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking» and said, «Lucas tells a good story.» Ebert also wrote that, «If some of the characters are less than compelling, perhaps that’s inevitable» because it is the opening film in the new trilogy. He concluded his review by saying that rather than Star Trek films, filmmakers could «[g]ive me transparent underwater cities and vast hollow senatorial spheres any day».[161] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a «B» grade and complimented Liam Neeson’s performance and the action scenes.[162] In an Entertainment Weekly review for the DVD release, Marc Bernardin gave the film a «C−», calling it «haplessly plotted, horribly written, and juvenile».[163] ReelViews’ James Berardinelli wrote, «Looking at the big picture, in spite of all its flaws, The Phantom Menace is still among the best ‘bang for a buck’ fun that can be had in a movie theater,» and said the film was a «distinct improvement» over Return of the Jedi.[164]
Andrew Johnston of Time Out New York wrote, «Let’s face it: no film could ever match the expectations some have for Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Which isn’t to say it’s a disappointment: on the contrary, it’s awesomely entertaining, provided you accept it on its own terms … Like the original film, it’s a Boy’s Own adventure yarn with a corny but irresistible spiritual subtext. The effects and production design are stunning, but they always serve the story, not the other way around.»[165] Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today said that the film did «plenty right» and praised the characters Darth Maul and Watto.[166] David Cornelius of efilmcritic.com said that the film’s better moments «don’t merely balance out the weaker ones—they topple them».[167] Colin Kennedy of Empire magazine said that despite problems with pacing and writing, «there is still much pleasure to be had watching our full-blown Jedi guides in action». He praised the visuals and Liam Neeson’s performance, and said that the duel between Darth Maul and the Jedi was «the saga’s very best lightsaber battle».[168]
Empire magazine ranked The Phantom Menace on its list of «500 Greatest Movies of All Time»,[169] while Entertainment Weekly and Comcast included the film on their lists of the worst movie sequels.[170][171] James Berardinelli wrote, «The Phantom Menace was probably the most overhyped motion picture of the last decade (if not longer), and its reputation suffered as a result of its inability to satisfy unreasonable expectations.»[172] William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer agreed that the film’s massive hype caused many of the negative reactions, saying, «it built expectations that can’t possibly be matched and scuttled [the] element of storytelling surprise». He also said that the film was «well made and entertaining» and was much better than similar box office fare released around that year, such as The Mummy and The Matrix.[173] Ewan McGregor said in 2002 that he was «slightly disappointed» that the film was «kind of flat» and believed the next film in the franchise would have «much more humor and…color.»[174]
The introduction of midi-chlorians—microscopic organisms that mediate use of the Force—has been regarded as controversial.[175] Some viewed it as a concept that negates the Force’s spiritual quality. Film historian Daniel Dinello says, «Anathema to Star Wars fanatics who thought they reduced the Force to a kind of viral infection, midi-chlorians provide a biological interface, the link between physical bodies and spiritual energy.»[176] Religion expert John D. Caputo writes, «In the ‘Gospel according to Lucas’, a world is conjured up in which the intractable oppositions that have tormented religious thinkers for centuries are reconciled … The gifts that the Jedi masters enjoy have a perfectly plausible scientific basis, even if its ways are mysterious: their bodily cells have a heavier than usual concentration of ‘midi-chlorians’.»[177]
There has been some controversy over whether several alien characters reflect racial stereotypes. For example, the oafish, slow-witted Jar Jar Binks has long droopy ears reminiscent of dreadlocks and spoke with what many perceived as a Caribbean patois reminiscent of Jamaican Creole.[178] Drew Grant describes the character as «[s]ervile and cowardly … a black minstrel-ish stereotype on par with Stepin Fetchit.»[160] Georgetown University professor of African-American studies Michael Eric Dyson says that the entire Gungan species seems suggestive of a primitive African tribe, with Boss Nass portrayed as «a fat, bumbling … caricature of a stereotypical African tribal chieftain.»[157] The greedy and corrupt Neimoidians of the Trade Federation have been noted as resembling East Asian stereotypes,[179] and the unprincipled trader Watto has been interpreted as a Jewish stereotype reminiscent of Charles Dickens’ character Fagin.[180] Lucas has denied all of these implications,[157] instead criticizing the American media for using opinions from the Internet as a reliable source for news stories. Lucas added that it reflects more the racism of the commenters than it does the movie;[181] however, animator Rob Coleman said ahead of the film’s release that Watto’s mannerisms were inspired by footage of Alec Guinness as Fagin in Oliver Twist.[182]
Box office[edit]
Even though it received mixed reviews, The Phantom Menace was a financial success, breaking many box office records in its debut, and beating out The Mummy by taking number 1. The film broke The Lost World: Jurassic Park‘s records for the largest single-day gross for taking more than $28 million in the opening day and fastest to gross $100 million in five days. Additionally, it grossed $64.8 million in its opening weekend, the second-ever highest at the time, behind The Lost World: Jurassic Park.[183] It also became the quickest film to reach the $200 million and $300 million marks, surpassing Independence Day (1996) and Titanic (1997) respectively.[184][185] The Phantom Menace held both records before Spider-Man took them in 2002.[186][187] It would go on to earn $105.7 million, making it the highest five-day Wednesday opening weekend of all time.[183] The film had the biggest opening weekend for any 20th Century Fox film for two years until 2001 when it was taken by Planet of the Apes.[188] Its opening day record was handed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone that same year.[189] Two years later in 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King surpassed The Phantom Menace for having the largest five-day Wednesday opening weekend.[190] During its second weekend, The Phantom Menace made $51.3 million, making it the highest-grossing second weekend at the time, surpassing Jurassic Park. The film would hold this record until it was surpassed a year later by How the Grinch Stole Christmas.[191] In total, the film stayed at the top of the box office for three weeks until it was overtaken by Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me during its fourth weekend.[192] The Phantom Menace was 1999’s most successful film, staying in the Top 10 until August 5 (11 weeks total), earning $431.1 million in the United States and Canada.[193] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 84.8 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run.[194]
The film set an opening record in Japan, grossing $12.2 million in its first two days from 403 screens.[195] In the UK, the film also set an opening record with £9.5 million in its opening weekend (including previews), surpassing Men in Black.[196][197] It would go on to hold this record until it was taken by Toy Story 2 a few months later.[198] The Phantom Menace also grossed a record $11 million in its opening weekend in Germany.[199] Outside the United States and Canada, the film grossed over $10 million in Australia ($25.9 million), Brazil ($10.4 million), France and Algeria ($43 million), Germany ($53.9 million), Italy ($12.9 million), Japan ($109.9 million), Mexico ($12 million), Spain ($25 million), and the United Kingdom and Ireland ($81.9 million).[200] Its overseas total was $493.2 million, taking its worldwide total to $924.3 million.[193] At that time, the film was the third highest-grossing film in North America behind Titanic and Star Wars (1977), and the second highest-grossing film worldwide behind Titanic without adjusting for inflation of ticket prices. When adjusted for ticket price inflation, it ranked as the 19th-highest-grossing film domestically, making it the fourth Star Wars film to be in the Inflation-Adjusted Top 20.
After its 3D re-release in 2012, the worldwide box office gross exceeded $1 billion.[201] Although in the intervening years, the film had lost some of its rankings in the lists of highest-grossing films, the 3D re-release returned it to the worldwide all-time Top 10 for several months.[202] In North America, its revenues overtook those of the original Star Wars as the saga’s highest-grossing film when not adjusting for inflation of ticket prices, and is the tenth highest-grossing film in North America as of August 2017.[203] In North America, its ranking on the Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation list climbed to 16th place—one place behind Return of the Jedi.[204] The 3D re-release, which premiered in February 2012, earned $43 million—$22.5 million of which was in North America—worldwide.[205] The 3D re-release earned US$102,727,119 worldwide—including $43.5 million in North America—and has increased the film’s overall box office takings to $474.5 million domestically, and $552.5 million in other territories.[206] The film’s earnings exceeded $1 billion worldwide on February 22, 2012, making it the first Star Wars film and the 11th film in history—excluding inflation—to do so.[201][206]
Accolades[edit]
The Phantom Menace was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound (Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Shawn Murphy and John Midgley); all of which went to The Matrix.[207][208] The film won Saturn Awards for Best Costumes and Best Special Effects,[209] the MTV Movie Award for Best Action Scene,[210] and a Young Artist Award for Jake Lloyd’s performance.[211] It was also nominated for—among others—the BAFTAs for Visual Effects and Sound,[212] and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.[213] The film did however receive seven Golden Raspberry Award (Razzie) nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor (Jake Lloyd as Anakin), Worst Supporting Actress (Sofia Coppola as Saché), Worst Screen Couple (Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman), and Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best won the Worst Supporting Actor category.[214]
The film was nominated Choice Drama Movie, Choice Movie Villain and Choice Summer Movie at 1999 Teen Choice Awards, but both lost to Cruel Intentions and Big Daddy, respectively.
Legacy[edit]
A sequel, Attack of the Clones, was released in 2002.[215] The story continues a decade later with Anakin grown to adulthood, played by Hayden Christensen.[216][217] A second sequel, Revenge of the Sith, was released in 2005.[218]
A month after the film’s release, «Weird Al» Yankovic released the parody song and music video «The Saga Begins», in which he interprets the film’s plot from Obi-Wan’s point of view to the tune of «American Pie»; this was included as a bonus feature on a 2011 Star Wars Blu-ray. In a 2018 Saturday Night Live comedy rap video, Natalie Portman reprised her appearance as Queen Amidala from The Phantom Menace and defended the prequel trilogy.[219]
Darth Maul’s lightsaber-fighting style served as the inspiration for the 2003 viral video Star Wars Kid. Maul, who appears to die in The Phantom Menace, was resurrected for the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and he also appears in Star Wars Rebels and Solo: A Star Wars Story. In 2012, IGN named Maul the 16th-greatest Star Wars character.[220] A similar weapon to his dual-bladed lightsaber appears in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.[221]
Notes[edit]
- ^ The DVD released in 2001 extends the film by about three minutes, giving it a run time of 136 minutes.
- ^ a b Later titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
- ^ The 2008 animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars establishes that Maul survived.
References[edit]
- ^ «Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace». British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on June 12, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
- ^ a b «Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace«. Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Archived from the original on April 2, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f «Star Wars Episode I Production Notes: The Actors and Characters – Part I». StarWars.com. May 1, 1999. Archived from the original on October 23, 2004. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 44-45.
- ^ Bowen 2005, p. 3
- ^ «Return of the galaxy’s new beauty». CNN. 2002. Archived from the original on April 23, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f «Star Wars Episode I Production Notes: The Actors and Characters – Part II». StarWars.com. May 1, 1999. Archived from the original on October 23, 2004. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ «Homing Beacon #134: Palpatine Speaks». StarWars.com. April 14, 2005. Archived from the original on April 18, 2005. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Daly, Steven (May 19, 1999). «Behind the scenes of The Phantom Menace«. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 19, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ «The Man (Literally) Behind C-3PO». StarWars.com. November 2, 1999. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 96.
- ^ Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace audio commentary. The Phantom Menace DVD: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 2001.
- ^ Ross, Dalton (February 3, 2012). «George Lucas talks about adding a digital Yoda to ‘The Phantom Menace’ – exclusive video». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
- ^ Chernoff, Scott (December 1997 – January 1998). «Terence Stamp: Stamp of Approval». Star Wars Insider (41).
- ^ «Multiple Personality». Star Wars Insider (83). July 2005.
- ^ Simpson, Christian (June 4, 2014). «From Fandom to Phantom: When Star Wars Dreams Become Reality». Star Wars.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
- ^ George Lucas intro to Splinter of the Mind’s Eye 1994 reissue
- ^ Rinzler 2007, p. 107
- ^ Kaminski 2007, p. 134
- ^ Kaminski 2007, pp. 164–165
- ^ Bouzereau 1997, p. 123
- ^ Clarke, Gerald; Worrell, Denise (May 23, 1983). «I’ve Got to Get My life Back Again». Time. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
- ^ Kaminski 2007, p. 227
- ^ Kaminski 2007, pp. 294–295
- ^ Kaminski 2008, p. 318
- ^ Kaminski 2007, pp. 299–300
- ^ a b «Special Featurette», All I Need Is An Idea (2001), DVD
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 7.
- ^ Bowen 2005, p. 93
- ^ a b Shay, Don (July 1999). «Return of the Jedi». Cinefex (78): 15–32.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 8–9.
- ^ «Star Wars Episode 1 Was Offered to Ron Howard». Collider. November 25, 2015. Archived from the original on November 29, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 10–12.
- ^ Christopher, James (April 12, 2000). «Greetings, Earthlings; Arts». The Times. p. 16.
- ^ Vaz, Mark Cotta (2002). The Art of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (1st ed.). New York: Ballantine Publ. Group. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-345-43125-7.
- ^ Thousands of Things DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 12–17.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 54–55.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 16–22.
- ^ a b Prime of the Jedi DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ a b Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 102–3
- ^ Costumes DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 23.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 60–64.
- ^ «Silas Carson: Hero with a Thousand Faces». StarWars.com. May 30, 2002. Archived from the original on February 2, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ «Watto’s Character Development – From Concept to CG». StarWars.com. June 17, 1999. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Corliss, Richard; Booth, Cathy (April 26, 1999). «Ready, Set, Glow». Time. Archived from the original on June 25, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
- ^ «Sebulba at the Star Wars Databank». StarWars.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
- ^ Michaels, Sean (January 8, 2014). «Could Tupac Shakur have been a Jedi Master?». The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
- ^ a b Perlman, Cindy (July 2, 2004). «‘King Arthur’ Star No Damsel In Distress». Reading Eagle. The New York Times Syndicate. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ^ Waters, Lowenna (January 23, 2014). «Keira Knightley: ‘my most exciting role was on The Bill’«. The Telegraph. Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ^ «Finding Anakin – auditions for Star Wars Episode I». YouTube. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ «Sherlock star was nearly Star Wars’ Queen Amidala». Digital Spy. June 14, 2018. Archived from the original on July 16, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
- ^ «Time (magazine)». Archived from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ «Michael Jackson Wanted to Play Jar Jar Binks in ‘Star Wars’«. Rolling Stone. July 24, 2015. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ Velocci, Carli (May 24, 2017). «Joseph Fiennes Nearly Played Obi-Wan Kenobi – and Tells Us How He Lost the Role (Exclusive)». The Wrap. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
- ^ Swank, Jason (November 6, 2009). «Microcast: In The Cantina With Hugh Quarshie». TheForce.Net. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
- ^ Bowen 2005, p. 5
- ^ a b «Brian Blessed Talks On British Radio About STAR WARS EPISODE ONE. SPOILERS». Ain’t It Cool News. December 3, 1998. Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 51.
- ^ De Smelyen, Phil (July 4, 2013). «Sofia Coppola: Film By Film». Empire. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 53.
- ^ «The Park on TV». Cassiobury Park website. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
- ^ «Star Wars trek: Whippendell Woods – November 2001». Star Wars Locations. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 137–138.
- ^ a b c «The Beginning» Making Episode I Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace DVD documentary, [2001]
- ^ It’s Like War Now DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 57.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 77–79, 84–85.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 79–80, 120.
- ^ Metz, Cade (May 23, 2006). «Hollywood Reboots». PC Magazine: 70–71. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
- ^ «Fode and Beed at the Star Wars Databank». StarWars.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 135–137, 149.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, p. 105.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 106.
- ^ Visual Effects DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 115–124.
- ^ Bad Droid Karma DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 65–66.
- ^ Bouzereau & Duncan 1999, pp. 119–120.
- ^ a b c Moyers, Bill (April 26, 1999). «Of Myth And Men». Time. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
- ^ Young, Bryan (May 11, 2015). «The Cinema Behind Star Wars: Ben Hur». StarWars.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- ^ Hodge, Joel (April 21, 2015). «How ‘Star Wars’ answers our biggest religious questions». The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
- ^ King, Geoff; Krzywinska, Tanya (2000). Science Fiction Cinema: From Outerspace to Cyberspace. London: Wallflower Press. p. 109. ISBN 1-903364-03-5.
- ^ Pearson, Ben (May 11, 2020). «Why the Lightsaber Duel in ‘The Phantom Menace’ is the Most Important Moment in the Prequel Trilogy, According to Dave Filoni». /Film. Archived from the original on May 11, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- ^ a b «Chat with John Williams». TalkCity. May 6, 1999. Archived from the original on October 13, 1999. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ Movie Music DVD Special Featurette, [2001]
- ^ Stevenson, Joseph. «Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] [The Ultimate Edition]». AllMusic. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ «The Ultimate Edition – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace». Sony Classical. Archived from the original on April 13, 2001. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ Elliott, Stuart (May 14, 1999). «The Media Business: Advertising—The Hype Is With Us; The Lucas Empire Is Invading; Resistance Is Futile». The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 2, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ «Star Wars Celebration 1999». StarWars.com. April 30, 1999. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ Weinraub, Bernard (November 23, 1998). «Now Playing: Two New Minutes of ‘Star Wars’«. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Greene, Andy (October 16, 2015). «Flashback: ‘Star Wars: Phantom Menace’ Trailer Causes Hysteria in 1998». Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
- ^ «New ‘Star Wars’ trailer makes debut in theaters». Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. March 13, 1999. Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
- ^ a b ««Star Wars» trailer: The bootleggers strike back». Salon. March 10, 1999. Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «Net Force Clogged». Empire. November 19, 1998. Archived from the original on August 7, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «‘The Phantom Menace’ Trailer Was a Game-changer, And Not Just For Star Wars». Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ «Every Record Lord Of The Rings Broke (& Which Ones The Movies Still Hold)». Screen Rant. March 6, 2020. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ Jensen, Jeff (March 26, 1999). «A Sho of Force». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
- ^ «Star Wars: Episode I – The Making of the Poster». StarWars.com. March 10, 1999. Archived from the original on June 3, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ «When Star Wars: The Phantom Menace took a pot shot at Godzilla». May 7, 2020. Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
- ^ Brooks, Terry (February 3, 2004). Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life. Del Rey Books. ISBN 0-345-46551-2.
- ^ Patricia C. Wrede (May 3, 1999). Star Wars, Episode I – The Phantom (Junior Novelization). Scholastic Paperbacks. ISBN 0-590-01089-1.
- ^ «The Phantom Menace Online Comic». May 1, 1999. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ «New STAR WARS All-Ages Books to Add to Your Reading List». Nerdist. December 10, 2016. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace». IGN. May 18, 1999. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ «Star wars Pinball 2000». Williams Electronics Games. Archived from the original on August 22, 2007. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ Bowen 2005, p. 76
- ^ «May 19th: A «Cultural Holiday?»«. Los Angeles Daily News. April 20, 1999. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
- ^ «An Online Chat with Rick McCallum». StarWars.com. March 4, 1999. Archived from the original on September 24, 2004. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Snow, Shauna (March 30, 1999). «Arts And Entertainment Reports From The Times, News Services And The Nation’s Press». Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
- ^ «Advance Sale Planned; ‘Phantom Menace’ Tickets to be Available Week Before May 19 Opening». Los Angeles Daily News. April 24, 1999. Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «Fans rave over Star Wars». BBC. May 19, 1999. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Hindes, Andrew; Petrikin, Chris (April 6, 1999). «New ‘Star’ born with firm terms». Variety. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Craughwell, Kathleen (March 25, 1999). «Stars Align for ‘Phantom’ Galaxy». Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «Stars in Force for ‘Phantom Menace’«. People. March 4, 1999. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «BBC News | ENTERTAINMENT | Fans flock to Star Wars». news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on January 5, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Hindes, Andrew (May 19, 1999). «New ‘Star Wars’ movie opens». Variety.
- ^ Petrikin, Chris (March 11, 1999). «Star of trailer wars». Variety. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «Challenging the Force With a ‘Love Letter’«. Los Angeles Times. May 17, 1999. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Hindes, Andrew (June 1, 1999). «Jedi masters $200 mil mark». Variety. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Wilson, Wendy (April 7, 2000). «Star Wars fans snap up two VHS versions despite no DVD». Video Business. Archived from the original on October 19, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «Star Wars set for DVD release». BBC. June 19, 2001. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ DuPont, Alexandra (2001). «Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace». The DVD Journal. Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
- ^ «DVD Review – Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace». Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars on DVD – News and Past Events – Prillaman.net». Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ Davidson, Paul (October 19, 2001). «Three Star Wars Trailers on the Way?». IGN. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars breaks DVD records». BBC News. October 24, 2001. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ «‘Menace’ sales set DVD record». October 29, 2001. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ Hettrick, Scott (November 5, 2001). «‘Shrek’ shreds vid bow record». Variety. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars Saga Repacked in Trilogy Sets on DVD». StarWars.com. August 28, 2008. Archived from the original on October 26, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
- ^ «Laserdisc Review – Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (Japanese Import)». The Digital Bits. April 13, 2000. Archived from the original on December 2, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ McWeeny, Drew (January 6, 2011). «Fox makes it official at CES: ‘Star Wars’ on Blu-ray in September». HitFix. Archived from the original on January 8, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ «The Best on Blu-ray: Restoring the Star Wars Saga for the HD Generation». StarWars.com. August 23, 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
- ^ Dalton, Ross (February 2, 2012). «George Lucas talks about adding a digital Yoda to ‘The Phantom Menace’«. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ^ Vlessing, Etan (April 6, 2015). «‘Star Wars’ Movie Franchise Headed to Digital HD». The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ^ Bonomolo, Cameron (August 8, 2019). «Newest Star Wars Saga Blu-rays Get Matching Artwork». Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- ^ Hayes, Dade (April 11, 2019). «Entire ‘Star Wars’ Franchise Will Be On Disney+ Within Its First Year». Deadline. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
- ^ Lussier, Germain (March 27, 2020). «Let’s Dive Into Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga’s 27-Disc Box Set». io9. Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (March 3, 2011). «‘Star Wars: Episode I’ 3D Gets Theatrical Release Date From Lucasfilm, Fox». The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 5, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
- ^ «Prime Focus to Handle 2D-to-3D Conversion of ‘Star Wars: Episode I’«. The Hollywood Reporter. March 29, 2011. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
- ^ Battersby, Matilda (January 28, 2013). «Star Wars Episodes II and III 3D shelved to focus on JJ Abrams’ VII». The Independent. Archived from the original on August 28, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
- ^ Block, Alex (February 9, 2012). «5 Questions With George Lucas: Controversial ‘Star Wars’ Changes, SOPA and ‘Indiana Jones 5’«. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
- ^ Harvey, Shannon (February 12, 2012). «May 3-D be with you». The West Australian. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ^ Lukovitz, Karlene (January 23, 2012). «General Mills Ties Into 3D ‘Star Wars’ Release». Marketing Daily. Archived from the original on September 18, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ «Yoda and Maul Get ‘Briskified’«. StarWars.com. January 9, 2012. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ Vilmur, Pete (April 5, 2012). «7-Eleven R2, Darth Maul Utensils, and Lightsaber Popsicle Sticks». Star Wars Blog. Archived from the original on April 8, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ Alasse, Letícia (January 12, 2012). «Kellogg’s lança embalagens do filme Star Wars». Exame (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ Carminho, Thibaut (April 23, 2012). «Promotional Product Spain – Star Wars Spoon by Kellogg’s». ODM Group. Archived from the original on June 20, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ Kemp, Stuart (February 7, 2012). «Global Children’s Charity Variety Partners With LucasFilm To Create Gold Heart Badge». The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 30, 2014. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ^ Hillis, Scott (May 9, 1999). «Variety pans «Phantom Menace» as papers jump gun». Reuters – via Yahoo! News.
- ^ McCarthy, Todd (May 10, 1999). «Film Review: ‘Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace’«. Variety. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace«. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker«. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- ^ «Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace«. Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
- ^ Gina Carbone (December 21, 2019). «Yep, Rise Of Skywalker’s CinemaScore Matches My Theater’s Reaction To Star Wars Movie». CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
- ^ a b c Okwu, Michael (June 9, 1999). «Jar Jar jars viewers, spawns criticism». CNN. Archived from the original on November 11, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
- ^ Steve Wilson (June 8, 1999). «I was a Jar Jar jackass». Salon. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2006.
- ^ Turan, Kenneth (May 18, 1999). «The Prequel Has Landed». Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ^ a b Grant, Drew. «I was a Jar Jar jackass – Star Wars». Salon. Archived from the original on June 27, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (May 17, 1999). «Star Wars – Episode I: The Phantom Menace». Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2006.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (May 21, 1999). «Movie Review: Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace (1999)». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 10, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ Bernardin, Marc (October 16, 2001). «Movie Review: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (DVD)». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 28, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ Berardinelli, James. «Star Wars (Episode 1): The Phantom Menace (United States, 1999)». ReelViews. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ Time Out New York, May 12–19, 1999, p. 13
- ^ Wloszczyna, Susan (May 17, 2005). «Hyped up ‘Menace’ runs on overdrive». USA Today. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
- ^ «Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace». Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ^ Kennedy, Colin. «Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace». Empire. Archived from the original on April 23, 2013. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ «Empire’s 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time». Empire. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ^ «The worst movie sequels ever – Countdown!». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
- ^ «Worst Sequels of All Time». Comcast. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
- ^ James Berardinelli. «Review: Star Wars (Episode II): Attack of the Clones». ReelViews. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ Arnold, William (April 29, 1999). «Phantom: A Menace To Other Summer Films?». Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ^ Susman, Gary (April 9, 2002). «Ewan McGregor disses «Star Wars: Episode I»«. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
- ^ Riesman, Abraham (December 12, 2017). «The Case for Star Wars’ Midi-Chlorians». Vulture. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Daniel Dinello (2005). Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 211. ISBN 0-292-70986-2.
- ^ Caputo, John D. (2001). On Religion. London: Routledge. p. 87. ISBN 0-415-23332-1.
- ^ Cadorette, Guylaine (May 17, 2002). «Jar Jar Less Conspicuous in ‘Clones’«. Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2006.
- ^ Pianka, John Paul (May 2013). «The Power of the Force: Race, Gender, and Colonialism in the Star Wars Universe» (PDF). Office of Graduate Studies, Wesleyan University (Thesis): 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ Brooker, Will (April 2001). «Readings of Racism: Interpretation, stereotyping and The Phantom Menace». Continuum. 15 (1): 15–32. doi:10.1080/713657758. ISSN 1030-4312. S2CID 143763901. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ «Star Wars: Lucas Strikes Back». BBC News. July 14, 1999. Archived from the original on September 29, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2007.
- ^ Silberman, Steve (May 1999). «G Force: George Lucas fires up the next generation of Star Warriors». Wired. Vol. 7, no. 5. Archived from the original on April 10, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ a b Josh Wolk (May 24, 1999). «Flip the Record : ‘The Phantom Menace’ topples two of three box office records». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ «‘Phantom Menace’ tops $200 million mark in record time». The Post-Crescent. June 1, 1999. p. 20. Archived from the original on August 22, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ «‘Phantom Menace’ pulls another fast one». Quad-City Times. June 20, 1999. p. 33. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ «‘Spider-Man’ Already Showing Amazing Legs». Los Angeles Times. May 13, 2002. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ «Hollywood Analysis: Box-office boom». United Press International. May 28, 2002. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ Linder, Brian (July 31, 2001). «Weekend Box Office: Audiences Go Ape!». IGN. Archived from the original on February 11, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
- ^ «POTTER OF GOLD: A $31M OPENING». November 18, 2001. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ «‘Return of the King’ tops box office». United Press International. December 22, 2003. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ «20 Years Ago, Hollywood’s Top Comic Broke Box Office Records As Christmas’s Biggest Movie Star». Forbes. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
- ^ «Austin Powers Scores at Box Office». Associated Press. Archived from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
- ^ a b «Star Wars: The Phantom Menace». The Numbers. December 1, 2001. Archived from the original on December 31, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2006.
- ^ «Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^ Groves, Don (July 13, 1999). «Japan, ‘Menace’d». Variety. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ^ «UK weekend box office reports: 2001» (xls). British Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ^ Groves, Don (July 26, 1999). «B.O. bakes, shakes». Variety. p. 8. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ^ «Toy Story 2 propels UK to all-time high». Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
- ^ «‘Pie’ flies high in Germany». Variety. October 15, 2001. p. 9.
- ^ «International Box Office Results». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on April 7, 2010. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
- ^ a b McClintock, Pamela (February 23, 2012). «‘Star Wars: Phantom Menace’ Crosses $1 Billion Mark at Box Office». The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ «All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
- ^ «All Time Domestic Box Office Grosses». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
- ^ «All Time Domestic Grosses – Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
- ^ Subers, Ray (February 12, 2012). «Weekend Report (cont.): ‘Phantom Menace’ Moves Up to Fifth All-Time». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- ^ a b «Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (In 3D)». Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
- ^ «The 72nd Academy Awards (2000) Nominees and Winners». Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
- ^ «Oscar winners in full». BBC. March 27, 2000. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ «Past Saturn Awards». Saturn Awards. Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ «MTV Movie Awards Past Winners: 2000». MTV. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ «21st Annual Young Artist Awards: 1998–1999». Young Artist Foundation. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ «Film Nominations 1999». British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original on May 5, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
- ^ «John Williams» (PDF). The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc. February 5, 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
- ^ «1999 RAZZIE Nominees & «Winners»«. Golden Raspberry Foundation. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ Booker, Keith M. (March 17, 2011). Historical Dictionary of American Cinema. Scarecrow Press. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-8108-7459-6. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ Bainbridge, William Sims (April 4, 2013). «Souls». EGods: Faith Versus Fantasy in Computer Gaming. Oxford University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-19-993581-9. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ Blundell, Graeme (February 1, 2011). The Naked Truth: A life in parts. Hachette UK. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-7336-2690-6. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ Tomasso, Vincent Edward (2010). Martin, Richard; Parker, Grant Richard; Stephens, Susan A. (eds.). «Cast in Later Grecian Mould», Quintus of Smyrna’s Reception of Homer in the Posthomerica. Stanford University. p. 5. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ Jasper, Marykate (February 4, 2018). «Natalie Portman Raps Defense of «Star Wars» Prequels». The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ «Darth Maul- #16». IGN. Archived from the original on May 29, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
- ^ Yehl, Joshua (August 28, 2019). «Dark Rey’s New Lightsaber Explained from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker». IGN. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
Sources[edit]
- Bouzereau, Laurent (1997). The Annotated Screenplays. Del Rey. ISBN 0-345-40981-7.
- Bouzereau, Laurent; Duncan, Jody (1999). The Making of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-43111-1.
- Bowen, Jonathan L. (2005). Anticipation: The Real Life Story of Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace. iUniverse. ISBN 0-595-34732-0. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- Kaminski, Michael (2007). «The Secret History of Star Wars». Archived from the original on July 6, 2007.
- —— (2008) [2007]. The Secret History of Star Wars. Legacy Books Press. ISBN 978-0-9784652-3-0.
- Rinzler, J.W. (2007). The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film (Star Wars). Del Rey. ISBN 978-0-345-49476-4.
Further reading[edit]
- Michael J. Hanson, Michael J. & Kay, Max S. (2000). Star Wars: The New Myth. Xlibris, ISBN 978-1401039899
- McDonald, Paul F. (2013). The Star Wars Heresies: Interpreting The Themes, Symbols and Philosophies of Episodes I-III. McFarland, ISBN 978-0786471812
- Bortolin, Matthew (2005). The Dharma of Star Wars. Wisdom Publications, ISBN 978-1614292869
External links[edit]
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 16 March 2007, and does not reflect subsequent edits.
- Official website at StarWars.com
- Official website at Lucasfilm.com
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace at IMDb
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace at AllMovie
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace at Corona’s Coming Attractions
Terry Brooks “Star wars Episode I. The phantom menace”
ГЛАВА 1
Броневые панели космического челнока Республики рдели ясно-алым цветом. Рядом с громадой боевой станции он казался беспечным насекомым, прилетевшим на яркий свет.
– Если им вздумается открыть огонь, от нас и мокрого места не останется, – пробормотал второй пилот.
Капитан только пожала плечами. Корабли Торговой Федерации, облепившие планету, были похожи на какие угодно, только не на торговые. Они щетинились дулами лазерных пушек, готовые открыть огонь по любому нарушителю. Сейчас в роли нарушителя собирался выступить посольский челнок. Неудивительно, что его экипаж был более чем взволнован. Хотя по взглядам, которые пилоты время от времени бросали через плечо, отрываясь от панели управления, можно было подумать, что их больше тревожит рослая фигура закутанного в плащ человека, что стоял позади них в тени.
С экрана связи пилотов разглядывал наместник Федерации Нуте Гунрай. Капитан видела его лишь однажды, но правильно говорят, хоть раз увидишь неймодианца, никогда не забудешь его кислую физиономию. Кислую серо-зеленую глянцевую физиономию, про себя добавила капитан. Как будто съел что-то не то… – Капитан…
Она вновь покосилась на стоящего за ее креслом человека в плаще. Его голос был спокоен и глубок. Как океан, подумала капитан. Как безбрежный океан в безветренный день. И ей совсем не хотелось увидеть, как выглядит шторм в этом океане. Если Великий Космос будет к ней благосклонен, то и не придется…
– Скажите, что мы хотим подняться на борт. – Опущенный на лицо капюшон плаща едва заметно качнулся в сторону станции. – Слушаюсь…
Второй пилот выразительно глянул на нее, капитан снова пожала плечами: а что я могу сделать, если я их боюсь? Только душевнобольной захочет препятствовать Ордену. Хотя ее подчиненный, кажется, имел в виду нечто совсем другое. Но если уж и придется общаться с федера цией, так пусть на нашей стороне будет хотя бы их сила.
– Послы верховного канцлера просят разрешения немедленно подняться к вам на борт,– проговорила она в микрофон.
Нуте Гунрай пару раз мигнул, прежде чем ответить.
– Пожалюйста,– проскрипел он, тщательно выговаривая звуки. – Как вам изв’естно, установление блокады было абсол’ютно законным. И мы с радостью прим’ем высоких послов. С радостью, да.
Экран потемнел. Капитан в который раз за рейс оглянулась на посла. Тот кивнул – при желании это движение можно было принять за поклон – и вышел из рубки. Ему пришлось пригнуться, чтобы не задеть головой комингс люка.
Оставалось дождаться, когда закончится суматоха, связанная со сближением кораблей, посадкой на станцию – или, если быть точным, влетом в станцию и уже последующей посадкой на внутреннем деке. Посол Республики и его спутник ждали в отведенной им каюте, глядя через иллюминатор на приближающуюся станцию. Шар станции, окруженный полукольцом рабочих помещений и ангаров, казался плоским и черным на фоне зеленовато-голубой планеты, заполнившей почти все пространство.
Непонятно, размышлял посол. Да, Республика обложила налогами торговые пути, да, налоги высоки, и Федерация получила великолепный повод для жалоб. Но обычно она именно этим и ограничивалась. Да, их боевые дроиды и космические корабли могли бы оказаться серьезным аргументом, если бы дело дошло до войны. Но неймодианцы – торговцы, не воины. Как только они чувствуют запах жареного, у них слабеют колени или что у них там есть. Но теперь они нашли некий способ их укрепить. Так что дело все-таки дошло до войны… Или вот-вот дойдет.
Скрытая угроза | |
Phantom Menace | |
Жанр |
приключения |
---|---|
Режиссёр |
Джордж Лукас |
Продюсер |
Джордж Лукас |
Автор сценария |
Джордж Лукас |
В главных ролях |
Эван Макгрегор |
Композитор |
Джон Уильямс |
Кинокомпания |
Lucasfilm |
Длительность |
133 мин. |
Бюджет |
115 млн. $ |
Страна |
США |
Год |
1999 |
IMDb |
ID 0120915 |
«Звёздные войны. Эпизод I. Скрытая угроза» (англ. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) — научно-фантастический фильм, снятый Джорджем Лукасом, четвёртый по году выпуска, но хронологически первый фильм киносаги «Звёздные войны».
Двое рыцарей-джедаев назначены послами для урегулирования разросшегося конфликта между Торговой Федерацией и планетой Набу. Однако переговорам не суждено состояться — Владыка Ситхов приказывает лидерам Федерации уничтожить послов и приступить к оккупации Набу. Избежав смерти, рыцари вместе с королевой Набу Падме Амидалой убегают с планеты, в надежде добраться до столицы мира планеты-города Корусанта и добиться там правды выступив перед сенатом республики. По пути они вынуждены остановиться на пустынной планете Татуин. Здесь джедаи обнаруживают необычного мальчика-раба по имени Энакин Скайуокер в котором необычайно мощна Сила. Джедаи забирают мальчика с собой, чтобы обучить искусству джедая. Вскоре ситуация обостряется, когда джедаи узнают, что считавшиеся побежденными раз и навсегда Ситхи возвращаются. Не получив поддержки от сената королева Падме с кучкой людей возвращается на Набу, где в ходе дерзкой атаки ей удаётся пленить лидеров Федерации.
Премьера фильма состоялась 19 мая 1999 года, почти через 16 лет после выхода предыдущего фильма в серии — «Звёздные войны. Эпизод VI: Возвращение джедая». Выпуск фильма сопровождался обширной рекламной кампанией и огромным вниманием всего мира. Несмотря на самые разные отзывы критиков, фильм собрал около 924,3 миллионов долларов по всему миру.
Содержание
- 1 Создание
- 2 Сюжет
- 3 Реакция
- 4 Персонажи и их исполнители
- 5 Исторические и культурные намёки
- 6 Ссылки на оригинальную трилогию
- 7 Новеллизация
- 8 Интересные факты
- 9 См. также
- 10 Источники
- 11 Ссылки
Создание
После выхода всех фильмов из оригинальной трилогии Джордж Лукас сообщал, что вернётся к работе над очередной картиной к 20-летию премьеры фильма «Звёздные войны: Новая надежда». Работу над сценарием к новой трилогии «Звёздных войн» Лукас начал 1 ноября 1994 года.[1] Сценарий для «Скрытой угрозы» был написан на основе 15-страничного режиссёрского наброска, сделанного Лукасом в 1976 году. Этот набросок использовался Лукасом для прослеживания предысторий персонажей и событий, произошедших до оригинальной трилогии. Рабочим названием фильма было «Начало» (англ. Genesis/Beginning).[1] Позже Лукас обнародовал окончательное название — «Скрытая угроза»; в отличие от остальных названий фильмов в трилогии, название первого эпизода более неоднозначное, что должно подчёркивать неясность судьбы Энакина.
В течение трёх-четырёх месяцев, в то время как Лукас погрузился в процесс написания сценария, Дуг Чан и его команда дизайнеров начала двухгодичный процесс просмотра тысяч эскизов для фильма.[2] Для постановки трюков был нанят Ник Гиллард, который должен был создать новый стиль боя джедаев для новой трилогии. В одном из интервью Гиллард заявил, что бой на световых мечах — что-то вроде игры в шахматы, «где каждый ход должен быть продуман». Поскольку оружие джедаев имеет небольшой радиус поражения, Гиллард предположил, что джедаи должны были бы разработать стиль боя, совмещающий все известные стили боя на мечах, вроде кендо и самурайского, с другими техниками, использующими качающие движения, вроде тенниса. Лукас позже отметит, что джедаи в большей степени «посредники», нежели солдаты, поэтому рукопашный бой позволяет показать больше духовности и интеллектуальной роли джедаев.[3]
Съёмки начались 26 июня 1997 и закончились 30 сентября 1997. В основном они проходили на студии «Leavesden Film» в Англии; сцены на Татуине снимались в тунисской пустыне, а королевский дворец Набу — в итальянском дворце Палаццо Реале в городе Казерта.[4] Город Мос Эспа был построен в пустыне за городом Тозер. Ночью третьих суток съёмок неожиданная песчаная буря уничтожила большую часть декораций. В результате, чтобы не отходить от спланированного графика работ, съёмки продолжались на фоне уцелевших декораций, в то время как разрушенные продолжали ремонтировать.
В оригинальной трилогии для [5]
До создания «Скрытой угрозы» множество спецэффектов в фильмах достигались использованием миниатюрных моделей, рирпроекции и визуальных эффектов на декорациях. Лишь немногие фильмы использовали компьютерную графику для создания эффектов. Координатор визуальных эффектов Джон Нолл просмотрел 3500 зарисовок для фильма с объяснениями Лукаса того, какие сцены будут сниматься натурально, а какие — с использованием спецэффектов. В результате, спецэффекты создавали при помощи совмещения традиционной технологии с новыми цифровыми технологиями. Для создания некоторых сцен фильма Нолл и его команда написали несколько специальных компьютерных программ. Главной целью было создание компьютерных персонажей, неотличимых от реальных актёров. Наибольшего успеха создатели фильма достигли в создании образа Джар-Джар Бинкса, первого полноценного персонажа, генерированного компьютером. Во время съёмок сцен с компьютерными персонажами, актёры разговаривали сами с собой. После окончания создания компьютерных героев их добавляли в кадр, завершая общую картину сцены.
Бюджет «Скрытой угрозы» составил 115 миллионов долларов. Таким образом, фильм является самым дорогим в новой трилогии.
Сюжет
Ядовитый газ наполняет комнату с Квай-Гоном и Оби-Ваном.
События в фильме происходят в 32 году до я. б. за десять лет до начала войн клонов и являются своеобразной прелюдией к возвышению зла в Галактике. В начале фильма двое рыцарей-джедаев — учитель Квай-Гон Джинн и его ученик Оби-Ван Кеноби, назначаются послами для разрешения торгового спора между могущественной Торговой Федерацией и периферийной планетой Набу. Переговорам не суждено состояться, поскольку возглавляемые наместником Нуте Ганроем представители Торговой Федерации, выполняя указание своего нового владыки — Тёмного повелителя ситхов Дарт Сидиуса, — пытаются убить послов и уничтожают доставивший их корабль. Однако джедаям удаётся отбиться от боевых дроидов и бежать на Набу на борту посадочного транспорта Федерации C-9979.
На поверхности планеты джедаи встречают местного жителя — забавного лопоухого гунгана Джар-Джар Бинкса, изгнанного своими соплеменниками за неуклюжесть. Джар-Джар отводит своих новых друзей в подводный город гунганов Ото-Гунга, где они встречаются с гунганским правителем Босс Нассом. Босс Насс отказывается выступить против высадившихся на Набу боевых дроидов, но соглашается передать джедаям подводную лодку, на которой они, сопровождаемые Джар-Джаром, добираются до столицы планеты. Одновременно Торговая Федерация нападает на столицу Набу Тид и захватывает в плен четырнадцатилетнюю королеву Падме Амидалу. Джедаи спасают Амидалу и вместе с ней улетают с Набу, в надежде добраться до столицы Галактической республики — Корусанта, всё ещё надеясь на мирное решение проблемы. Корабли Федерации наносят серьёзные повреждения кораблю Амидалы, но проведённый астродроидом
По пути корабль вынужден остановиться на починку на отдалённой пустынной планете Татуин. Здесь Джедаи встречают Энакина Скайуокера, девятилетнего мальчика, находящегося вместе со своей матерью Шми Скайуокер в рабстве у тойдарианца Уотто, но обладающего необыкновенно мощной Силой и отлично разбирающегося в технике. Чувствуя Силу, Квай-Гон Джин решает, что мальчик является известным по древним пророчествам Избранным, призванным восстановить равновесие Силы и уничтожить ситхов.
Благодаря победе Энакина в опасных гонках на подах джедаи получают от Уотто необходимые детали для ремонта корабля и освобождают мальчика из рабства. Энакин покидает Татуин вместе с Падме, которая производит на мальчика неизгладимое впечатление, и джедаями — Квай-Гон собирается представить его джедайскому совету и обучить владению Силой. Между тем, Тёмный повелитель ситхов отправляет своего ученика-ситха Дарт Мол на поиски королевы и джедаев. Дарт Мол и Квай-Гон впервые встречаются в коротком бою как раз перед посадкой на корабль.
Прибыв на Корусант, Квай-Гон докладывает джедайскому совету о таинственных событиях и представляет магистрам-джедаям Энакина. Джедаи приходят к выводу о возрождении ордена ситхов, но отказываются обучать мальчика, считая его слишком взрослым. Корусант, погрязший в бюрократии, не может решить проблему с Набу из-за нерешительности канцлера Финиса Велорума. Поэтому, по призыву королевы Амидалы, поддавшейся на уговоры представителя Набу в Сенате сенатора Палпатина, бывшего канцлера снимают с должности, избрав на его место таинственного Палпатина. Королева Амидала не может больше ждать и решает лично справиться с Торговой Федерацией. Джедаи сопровождают королеву, когда та вновь отправляется на Набу.
На Набу Падме Амидала обращается за помощью к гунганам, соглашающимся выставить свою армию, чтобы помочь выбить дроидов Торговой Федерации из столицы. Пока гунганская армия сражается с дроидами и танками Федерации за чертой города, джедаи вместе с Амидалой отбивают дворец. В это время юный Скайуокер, случайно оказавшись в звездолёте-истребителе, попадает в самую гущу космического сражения, где он взрывает главный командный центр Торговой Федерации, обездвижив её армию.
Квай-Гон и Оби-Ван сражаются с Дартом Молом.
Когда кажется, что победа уже близка, появляется ученик повелителя ситхов — Дарт Мол, и джедаи вынуждены сражаться с ним. В нелегкой схватке Квай-Гон погибает, но Оби-Ван, почти побеждённый, все же сражает ситха, разрубив его пополам. Перед смертью учитель Оби-Вана успевает попросить его сделать Энакина джедаем, и в конце фильма Кеноби становится учителем мальчика.
Призрачная тень нависает над Галактикой — тёмные ситхи возвращаются.
Реакция
«Скрытая угроза» получила неоднозначную оценку и смешанные обзоры (средний рейтинг среди критиков — 6/10).[6] Роберт Эберт из «Chicago Sun-Times» поставил фильму три с половиной звезды, отметив спецэффекты и назвав их «живыми».[7] Некоторые аспекты сценария также были раскритикованы. Больше всего недовольства вызвал персонаж Джар-Джар Бинкс, который, по мнению фанатов, слишком разительно отличается от остальных, более серьёзных персонажей фильма.[8][9][10] Появление мидихлорианов (микроскопические организмы, которые позволяют связываться с Силой) стало ещё более спорным моментом, поскольку оно идёт вразрез с оригинальной версией духовного качества Силы.[11] С другой стороны, множество фанатов и критиков согласились, что эпичная сцена битвы между Квай-Гоном, Оби-Ваном и Дартом Молом, представившая потрясающую хореографию и эффектность, является лучшей битвой на световых мечах во всей саге.[12]
После выхода фильма началась дискуссия на счёт того, что некоторые пришельцы в фильме отражают расовые и этнические стереотипы. Например, нелепый Джар-Джар Бинкс с длинными ушами, напоминающими дреды, говорит с акцентом, напоминающим пиджин-инглиш, — почти как карибский патио (в особенности ямайский креол)[13], причём некоторые критики указывали даже на само имя героя, якобы отсылающее к распространённому у растафарианцев именованию обожествлённого эфиопского императора Хайле Селассие I — Джа. Жадные и коррумпированные неймодианцы из Торговой Федерации разговаривают с азиатским (близким к китайскому) акцентом (в немецком — с французским, в итальянском — с русским); беспринципный Уотто смахивает на типичную антисемитскую карикатуру на еврейский народ. Лукас тем не менее категорически отрицает эти схожести.[8][14]
Несмотря на высказанную критику[15], «Скрытая угроза» стала самым успешным фильмом 1999 года, заработав более 431 миллиона долларов в Северной Америке и 439 миллионов долларов в остальном мире. Это соответствует пятому месту в американском и общемировом списке рекордных кассовых сборов.[15][16]
Фильм получил несколько номинаций на премию «Оскар»:
- Бен Бертт и Том Бэллфорт были номинированы за лучшие звуковые эффекты.
- Джон Нолл, Деннис Мьюрен, Скотт Скуаерс и Роб Колман получили номинацию за лучшие визуальные эффекты. «Матрица» стал первым фильмом, отбившим у «Звёздных войн» награду за визуальные эффекты.
- Гарри Ридстром, Том Джонсон, Шон Мерфи и Джон Мидгли получили номинацию за лучший звук.
В то же время, фильм получил несколько номинаций на «Золотую малину»:
- худший фильм;
- худший режиссёр;
- худший сценарий;
- худший актёр второго плана (Джейк Ллойд);
- худшая актриса второго плана (София Коппола);
- худшая актёрская пара (Джейк Ллойд и Натали Портман).
Ахмед Бест удостоился награды «Худший актер второго плана» за роль Джар-Джар Бинкса (впрочем, сам актёр только озвучивал и в некоторых случаях схематически передавал движения своего героя, полностью созданного с помощью цифровых технологий).
Персонажи и их исполнители
Несколько основных персонажей «Скрытой угрозы». Слева направо: Джар-Джар Бинкс (Ахмед Бест), Падме Амидала (Натали Портман), Сабе (Кира Найтли), Оби-Ван Кеноби (Эван МакГрегор), Капитан Панака (Хью Куорши), Сио Биббл (Оливер Форд Дэвис) и Квай-Гон Джин (Лайам Нисон).
- Квай-Гон Джин (Лиам Нисон, дублирует Владимир Петенков). Мастер-джедай и наставник Оби-Вана Кеноби. Встретив Энакина, он решает, что тот должен стать джедаем, несмотря на протесты совета. Любимый джедай детей-зрителей: самостоятельный, ответственный и благородный.
- Оби-Ван Кеноби (Эван Макгрегор, дублирует Евгений Иванов). В будущем став мудрым рыцарем, здесь он — молодой джедай, ученик Квай-Гона Джинна. Он очень чтит Квай-Гона, но при этом иногда не понимает его мотивацию.
- Йода (Фрэнк Оз, дублирует Борис Смолкин). Глава Совета джедаев, выступает против воспитания Энакина в качестве джедая, ссылаясь на Кодекс джедаев, не позволяющий начинать обучение мальчика в таком позднем возрасте.
- Дарт Мол (Рэй Парк, дублирует Александр Пушин). Ситх Забрак, ученик Дарта Сидиуса, владеющий двойным световым мечом. Его озвучивал Питер Серафинович.
- Королева Амидала (Натали Портман, дублирует Юлия Николаева). Юная и обаятельная королева Набу. Амидала надеется защитить свою планету от блокады Торговой Федерации. В целях безопасности Падме на протяжении длительного времени маскируется под служанку, в то время как «королеву» играет её двойник Сабэ.
- Энакин Скайуокер (Джейк Ллойд, дублирует Игорь Семенов). Девятилетний мальчик-раб с Татуина. Его уровень мидихлориан гораздо выше, чем у любого джедая (даже могущественнейшего из них — магистра Йоды) и, следовательно, он избран Силой, чтобы уничтожить ситхов.
- Шми Скайуокер (Пернилла Огаст, дублирует Светлана Шейченко). Мать Энакина. Беспокоясь за будущее своего сына, она позволяет ему уйти с джедаями.
- Джар-Джар Бинкс (Ахмед Бест, дублирует Александр Завьялов). Неуклюжий Гунган, изгнанный из своего родного города Ото-Гунга. Джар-Джар присоединяется к Квай-Гону в его путешествии и сопровождает джедаев весь фильм, а также помогает им уладить отношения с гунганами. Неоднократно поддаваясь критике со стороны фанатов, он вместе с тем является одним из любимых персонажей детей-зрителей «Звёздных войн».
- Энтони Дэниелс, дублирует Валерий Кухарешин). Весёлый туповатый переводчик Си-Трипио — только что созданный протокольный дроид, самостоятельно собранный Энакином. В фильме он (единственный раз в саге) представлен без металлического покрытия, из-за чего R2-D2 назвал его «голым».
- Кенни Бейкер). Очень храбрый астродроид, спасший корабль Амидалы от уничтожения. Постоянный герой саги.
- Сенатор Палпатин (Иэн Макдайармид, дублирует Вадим Яковлев). Сенатор Набу, демонстрирующий сильную обеспокоенность по поводу блокады Набу. На самом деле, Палпатин тождественен Дарт Сидиусу — Тёмному повелителю ситхов, подстрекающему Торговую Федерацию к агрессии против Набу.
- Уотто (Энди Секомб, дублирует Рафик Кашапов). Тойдарианец, алчный торговец рухлядью на Татуине. Уотто владеет рабами — Энакином и его матерью.
- Мэйс Винду (Сэмюэль Л. Джексон, дублирует Сергей Воробьев). Один из ключевых членов Совета Джедаев, также выступивший против обучения Энакина.
- Финис Валорум (Теренс Стамп, дублирует Сергей Воробьев). Канцлер, отправивший Оби-Вана и Квай-Гона для урегулирования конфликта с Торговой Федерацией, и смещённый по предложению Падме Амидалы.
- Босс Насс (Брайен Блессед, дублирует Борис Смолкин). Тучный, но поворотливый правитель гунганов. Босс Насс соглашается забыть о былых раздорах и объединиться с Набу в единый союз, чтобы остановить агрессоров из Торговой Федерации.
- Сио Биббл (Оливер Форд Дэвис, дублирует Вадим Никитин). Губернатор Тида, столичного города Набу, оставшийся на планете, чтобы продолжать сопротивление Торговой Федерации
- Капитан Панака (Хью Куорши, дублирует Артур Ваха). Капитан дворцовой стражи Падме. С долей подозрения относится к джедаям.
- Рик Олие (Ральф Браун). Пилот, управлявший кораблём-«нубианом», на котором Падме и джедаи покидают Набу.
- Сабэ (Кира Найтли). Служанка Падме Амидалы, предстающая в её образе для защиты королевы.
- Наместник Нут Ганрей (Силас Карсон). Неймодианец из древнейшего торгового дома, руководящий Торговой Федерацией.
- Руне Хаако (Джером Блейк). Помощник наместника Ганроя, сопровождающий его во всех сценах фильма.
- Капитан Тарпальс (Стивен Спирс). Командующий силами безопасности Ото Гунга. Вместе с Джар Джаром принимает участие в сражении с армией дроидов.
- Себульба (Льюис Мак-Леод). Фаворит гонок на подах, побеждённый Энакином Скайуокером.
Более 300 молодых актёров из США, Англии, Ирландии, Шотландии и Канады пробовались на роль Энакина Скайуокера. Среди них были Майкл Ангарано, Джастин Берфилд и Хэли Джоель Осмент. Осталось только три актёра, которые опрашивались Лукасом и пробовались с Натали Портман.
Исторические и культурные намёки
Рога и татуировки Дарта Мола делают его похожим на Дьявола.
«Звёздные войны» совмещают несколько избранных понятий из различных мифологий и религий[17]. Хотя джедаи практикуют основанную на принципах, схожих с дзеном, религию и военное искусство, при их создании Лукас вдохновлялся традицией самураев[17]. Имя «Квай-Гон» — перефразировка термина цигун, который обозначает китайскую дисциплину, включающую медитацию и военные искусства. Слова qi и chi — это термины, обозначающие энергию мысли, протекающую через все живые существа из Дао; Идея Силы джедаев возникла из китайского Дао. Эти элементы происходят в основном из восточных и индейских религий, морально-этических учений и мифологических систем. Многие имена в фильме, например «Падме» и «Амидала», позаимствованы из санскрита.[17]
В фильме также много христианских и библейских ссылок, вроде внешнего вида Дарта Мола. Окраска Мола сделана по традиционным описаниям Дьявола — красная кожа и рога завершают целостность демонического вида[17]. «Звёздные войны» повторяют повествование некоторых религий: Энакин, мессия, рожденный девственницей в результате непорочного зачатия, который был искушен ситхами — своими злейшими врагами — в попытке сохранить жизнь своей тайной жене, Падме. Это мешает ему выполнить свой долг «Избранного» — личности, призванной уничтожить ситхов. Вдохновение о «непорочном зачатии» было почерпнуто из исследований американского религиеведа Джозефа Кэмпбелла, в частности, его труда «Герой с тысячью лицами» («Тысячеликий герой»), оказавшей сильное влияние на Лукаса ещё во время подготовки сценария к оригинальной трилогии. В 1999 году Лукас и журналист Билл Мойерс сняли фильм-интервью «Мифология Звёздных войн с Джорджем Лукасом и Биллом Мойерсом», в котором изложили аллюзии «Звёздных войн» и их связь с трудами Кэмпбелла по мифологии.[17]
Классический фильм «Три негодяя в скрытой крепости» Акиры Куросавы был источником вдохновения не только для «Звёздных войн. Эпизод IV. Новая надежда», но также и для сцен на Таутине в середине «Скрытой угрозы» — отсутствует насилие, зато много диалогов, игр с судьбой, серий торговых сделок — здесь также заметно влияние фильма Куросавы. Сюжетная линия, в которой королева Амидала бежит от своих врагов и оказывается среди представителей низшего класса Татуина, также ссылается на «Скрытую крепость».[18]
Ссылки на оригинальную трилогию
Фильмы в новой трилогии объясняют предысторию оригинальной трилогии и рассказывают о юности героев. Помимо того, по замыслу Лукаса, каждый фильм трилогии-приквела должен был соответствовать определённому аналогу из оригинальной трилогии. Поэтому у «Скрытой угрозы» наблюдается целый ряд параллелей с «Новой надежой» (например, в обоих фильмах представители семьи Скайуокеров, несмотря на численное превосходство противника, уничтожают крупный военный космический аппарат; под конец обоих фильмов ситх убивает учителя-джедая на глазах у его ученика). В фильме появляются несколько героев оригинальной трилогии (Палпатин, Энакин Скайуокер, Оби-Ван Кеноби, Йода, Джабба Хатт, а также вездесущая парочка R2-D2 и C-3PO, присутствующая во всех фильмах киносаги).
Известная фраза «У меня плохое предчувствие насчёт этого…» (англ. I’ve got a bad feeling about this), употреблямая в каждом фильме саги, также присутствует в «Скрытой угрозе», где её произносит Оби-Ван Кеноби. Другое изречение, прозвучавшее из уст имперского штурмовика в «Новой надежде» — «Откройте рубку», — было обыграно в форме «Закройте дверь» («Блокировать рубку»).
Новеллизация
Книга по мотивам фильма была написана популярным автором фэнтезийных и научно-фантастических произведений Терри Бруксом. Брукс встречался с Лукасом перед написанием книги, обеспечив себе поддержку режиссёра и получив информацию о предстоящих «Эпизоде II» и «Эпизоде III». Отсюда в романе появляются отсутствующие в фильме тускенские рейдеры (предвещающие гибель матери Энакина в «Атаке клонов») и драка Энакина с Гридо, показывающая душевные мучения Энакина по поводу отъезда Падме (предвещает события «Мести ситхов»).
Книга содержит три главы, написанных Бруксом исключительно для книги. Первые две главы посвящены эмоциональным переживаниям Энакина перед гонками и после гонок; третья глава описывает встречу Энакина с раненным тускенским рейдером в пустыне. Милосердие, проявленное мальчиком по отношению к представителю враждебно настроенного народа, резко контрастирует с той беспощадностью, с которой он расправляется с ними через десять лет в «Атаке клонов».
Книга Брукса представляет одно из первых описаний истории ситхов. Согласно воспоминаниям Терри Брукса, «Sometimes the Magic Works», Лукас потратил более часа на телефонный разговор с ним, выкладывая историю джедаев и ситхов.
Интересные факты
- Первой в ходе съёмок была снята сцена разговора между Дарт Сидиусом и Дарт Молом.
- Сцена битвы на световых мечах между Дарт Молом и Оби-Ваном с Квай-Гоном снималась на протяжении месяца. Это первая схватка такого рода, в которой принимали участие более двух джедаев или ситхов.
- Звук трепещущих крыльев торговца Уотто получался звукооператором Беном Берттом в результате открывания и закрывания обычного зонтика.
- До съёмок в роли королевы Амидалы Натали Портман не видела ни одного фильма из оригинальной трилогии «Звёздных войн».
- Натали Портман пропустила мировую премьеру «Скрытой угрозы» по причине подготовки к сессии в университете.
- София Коппола и Кира Найтли получили короткие роли служанок Падме в фильме. Фактически поразительное внешнее сходство Натали Портман и Киры Найтли стало залогом последующей актёрской карьеры последней.
- Вопреки распространённому мнению, в большинстве сцен королеву Амидалу под гримом играла не Натали Портман, игравшая Падме, а Кира Найтли.
- Из-за высокого роста Лиама Нисона декораторам пришлось потратить ещё 150 000 долларов на новые декорации, в которых актёр смог бы уместиться.
- На пресс-конференции, посвящённой выходу «Мести ситхов» на DVD, директор по анимации Роб Колман объявил, что готовится обновлённая версия «Скрытой угрозы», благодаря чему первый эпизод станет последним фильмом саги, в котором кукольного Йоду заменят генерированным при помощи цифровых технологий.
- В титрах Джабба Хатт, открывающий гонки на подах, обозначен «Джабба Хатт в роли самого себя». Одновременно в титрах не указывается, что Иэн Макдайармид играет Дарт Сидиуса.
- «Скрытая угроза» — единственный фильм «Звёздных войн», в котором представлена уникальная способность джедаев к ускорению.
- Передатчик (комлинк) Квай-Гон Джина представляет собой слегка модифицированную бритву «Жиллетт Сенсор Эксель».
- После прокрутки всех титров в конце фильма слышно зловещее дыхание Дарта Вейдера.
- Образы всех гунганов были созданы на движке Джар-Джар Бинкса.
- Во время битвы гунганов с войсками Федерации мелькает дроид с серийным номером «1138» на спине: это число входило в название первого полнометражного фильма Джорджа Лукаса, называвшегося «THX 1138».
- Один из кораблей, пролетающих над Корусантом за миг до разговора Дарт Сидиуса и Дарт Мола, идентичен «Дискавери» из «Космической одиссеи 2001 года». Спасательная капсула этого же корабля видна в сцене разговора между Квай-Гоном и Уотто на заднем плане среди прочих ржавых деталей в «лавке» Уотто на Татуине.
- В сцене заседания Галактического Сената можно разобрать несколько делегаций, в том числе вуки и группу инопланетян, напоминающих знаменитого E. T. из фильма Стивена Спилберга «Инопланетянин».
- В сериале «Звёздные врата SG-1» первая ассоциация, возникшая у Джаффа Тил’ка (инопланетянина и горячего поклонника «Звёздных войн») в связи с известием о непорочном зачатии Валы Мал Доран, связана не с библейской историей, а с рождением Энакина Скайуокера/Дарт Вейдера.
- В ранних версиях сценария планета королевы Амидалы называлась Утапау, но в итоге это название отошло к планете, где Оби-Ван сражается с генералом Гривусом в «Мести ситхов».
- Единственная сцена в фильме в которой не используются визуальные эффекты — это сцена заполнения газом комнаты встреч в начале фильма.
- Во время съемок сражений Эван МакГрегор часто непроизвольно изображал звук светового меча.
- Изначально Мэйс Винду должен был быть инопланетянином.
- «Падме» с санскрита означает «лотос».
- Дарт Мол за весь фильм моргает всего пару раз. Это было вызвано тем, что сыгравшему его Рэю Парку былу трудно моргать в контактных линзах, поэтому Парк предложил идею о злодее, который никогда не моргает. Тем не менее, когда разрубленный Дарт Мол падает в шахту, он успевает моргнуть
- Имя «Джар-Джар» придумал сын Лукаса.
- По утверждению создателей фильма, Татуин находится в далёкой-предалёкой галактике. Однако, замечено, что когда Дарт Мол посреди ночи выпускает своих разведдроидов на Татуине, слева от корабля можно ясно видеть созвездие Ориона.
См. также
- «Звёздные войны: Буря в стакане», пародийный перевод фильма на русский язык Дмитрия «Гоблина» Пучкова
Источники
- ↑ 1 2 All I Need Is An Idea, Дополнение на DVD, [2001]
- ↑ Thousands of Things, Дополнение на DVD, [2001]
- ↑ Prime of the Jedi, Дополнение на DVD, [2001]
- ↑ It’s Like War Now, Дополнение на DVD, [2001]
- ↑ Bad Droid Karma, Дополнение на DVD, [2001]
- ↑ Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999). Rotten Tomatoes (1999). Проверено 29 июня 2006.
- ↑ Ebert, Roger Star Wars — Episode I: The Phantom Menace. rogerebert.com (May 17 1999). Проверено 29 июня 2006.
- ↑ 1 2 Okwu, Michael Jar Jar jars viewers, spawns criticism. CNN (June 14 1999). Проверено 25 декабря 2006.
- ↑ Wilson, Steve I was a Jar Jar jackass. Salon Technology. Salon (June 8 1999). Проверено 25 декабря 2006.
- ↑ The First Star Wars Prequel. The Sith Order (July 25 2006). Проверено 25 декабря 2006.
- ↑ EPISODE III Spoiler Pics…. Coming Soon! Boards (January 2 2005). Проверено 25 июля 2006.
- ↑ RidolFi, Kevin The Phantom Menace. Renaissance Online Magazine. Проверено 25 июля 2006.
- ↑ Cadorette, Guylaine Jar Jar Less Conspicuous in «Clones». Hollywood.com. Проверено 25 июля 2006.
- ↑ Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Smartania’s Movie Reviews. Smartania. Проверено 25 июля 2006.
- ↑ 1 2 Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The Numbers (December 1 2001). Проверено 25 июля 2006.
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. Box Office Mojo. Проверено 25 июля 2006.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 The Gospel According to Lucas Part II. Vantage Point Magazine (Fall 1999). Проверено 24 июля 2006.
- ↑ [http://www.blast.net/hart/StarWars.htm STAR WARS MADE MANY OF THE SAME MISTAKES AS GALACTICA]. Проверено 24 июля 2006.
Ссылки
- Шаблон:Звёздные войны. Эпизод I: Призрачная угроза
- Звёздные войны. Эпизод I: Скрытая угроза на MovieMistakes.com
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace(англ.) на сайте Internet Movie Database
- Звёздные войны. Эпизод I: Скрытая угроза на SWGalaxy.ru
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.