What's up with the phantom menace anyway?

The Phantom Menace really doesn't strike as if it fits in the whole Star Wars trilogy. It doesn't really add much to the whole story except for mister phantom menace getting a spot in politics and Anakin getting found. Was that all that important to include in the saga of Star Wars? In Attack of the Clones it began to start up a bit although I really missed a widespread galactic clone war wich I was lead to believe happened by original information about it. But the Phantom Menace is more of some filler although it's the freaking beginning.

The whole movie is actually about random heroes killing an evil guy! Darth Maul! Oh my god! But what an episode.. It's more like a seperate story with just the SW theme. It adds little to nothing to the whole SW saga.
Actually when I think about it, Lucas just made the whole basic idea to Star Wars in a nutshell! But this time kid friendly!

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Which is why people hated it. With a passion. Imagine waiting for 20 years, then seeing.... Jar Jar Binks and some planet that sounds like some sort of cow.

Well I waited 20 years and I didnt hate it at all.

i kinda had mix feelings about it.i liked seeing how all of it began and yet it just felt so pointless and unstarwars like to me.

Eh, I recall hating it by association (All those Maul fans were getting on my nerves) and I resolved not to see it. Later on my brother rented it and we watched it. I think it's alright. Not great, but the jedi were enjoyable and they were elaborated upon. Jar-Jar was horrid, and pod racing was failed-comedic at best, but it was an okay movie.

Yeah, i hated the pod racing scenes, couldn't the kid just have found some money, or fixed the ship or something? Still, it was necessary to a point. If you don't find anakin, then it doesn't happen. it set the stage, but it was like a huge introduction, and a prequel trilogy 3 movies long didn't need one third of it to be introduction. More plot, less Mesa jar Jar binks.

I think really, the biggest points that actually let TPM have a purpose is: Anakin's found, Liam Neeson gets owned, Jar Jar provided hate-mail to GL and Halloween costumes for years to come, and Palpatine getting elected.

The whole movie was really about a 'star war', a dramatic scene to show why Mr. sith is bad and the climax him dying. It even had a death star trench run like scene adjusted for the young public. But for the whole Star Wars saga it didn't really have anything of value, Anakin being found and Mr. Sidious getting elected, not even the war was really important to it. The whole movie basically was about two new guys getting killed.
It was as if Lucas quickly made the movie up in a weekend or something using his successfull plot formula again.

I heard of the exotic planets basic idea to Star Wars, but I really missed the aspect of war quite a few times, the whole trilogy should certainly have been in a more darker setting.
Sure it always stays an interesting and entertaining movie, after all it is a Star Wars movie, but it just strikes me out of place..

Ah.. What am I talking about? The whole PT should have been hardcore gore and violence. (and some more time in writing)

Originally posted by overlord
The whole movie was really about a 'star war', a dramatic scene to show why Mr. sith is bad and the climax him dying. It even had a death star trench run like scene adjusted for the young public. But for the whole Star Wars saga it didn't really have anything of value, Anakin being found and Mr. Sidious getting elected, not even the war was really important to it. The whole movie basically was about two new guys getting killed.
It was as if Lucas quickly made the movie up in a weekend or something using his successfull plot formula again.

I heard of the exotic planets basic idea to Star Wars, but I really missed the aspect of war quite a few times, the whole trilogy should certainly have been in a more darker setting.
Sure it always stays an interesting and entertaining movie, after all it is a Star Wars movie, but it just strikes me out of place..

Ah.. What am I talking about? The whole PT should have been hardcore gore and violence. (and some more time in writing)

And longer! yeah, i hear you on this one. It was a good movie, one i really enjoyed, but it didn't tie entire the whole plot that well. didn't matter to me, as i would watch any number of movies about star wars, whether they had to do with vader or not.

Damn right, perhaps starting during the clone wars, and the Jedi finding Anakin? More violence was needed, not just for the sake of it, but to show the inherent brutality of the SW universe.

Originally posted by Gryn Jabar
Damn right, perhaps starting during the clone wars, and the Jedi finding Anakin? More violence was needed, not just for the sake of it, but to show the inherent brutality of the SW universe.

yeah Ill agree with u there, but the whole point most was You introduce Padme whos Luke and Leias mom but she needs anakin who then comes in who later becomes Darth Vader. You need Padme and Jar Jar on for Senate because Padme elects Palpatine Chanchlor and then Jar Jar wants to give all Clone Command things the Chanclor then that happens wich leads up to Order 66 and no more jedi. But it also itroduces Obi-Wan who was also in the OT and he had train anakin or otherwise this wouldnt have made sense about Darth Vader and Obi knowing each other and Obi just didnt pop up. It also brings in Yoda and people more much more about him which some fans find important

The Phantom Menace, oh how I hate thee.

Like everyone else has said, it's out of place in the overall story.

Did Anakin REALLY have to be a slave on Tattooine? No.

Did we need Qui-Gon Jinn? No.

Should the story have started off after Anakin was already older? Yes!

Thank the thread starter for making me remember the fan fiction I am writing, The Phantom Menace (The way it should have been). I am changing basically everything except the title of the movie.

Anakin was found like any other Jedi youngling, he grew up in the Temple and Master Obi-Wan was appointed to take care of Skywalker. The story starts at around the time of AOTC, so we get into the Clone Wars at the end of this "movie". Lots of action and more story. My reason for this is to have Anakin go to the Dark Side in the second film of the prequel, leaving Episode III to be about the Jedi Purge.

You know what I would have loved too? More attention on the jedi masters, and even Anakin being jealous of them or something with Anakin eventually cutting up Plo Koon in some insane battle.
And a lot more attention on the demise of the jedi masters. Lucas really made most come across as idiots not masters. Dooku was great though and should have had more character building scenes for example with him destroying jedi on the battlefield.
I basically missed an intergalactic war actually but now I'm getting off topic..

I'm afraid I can't even watch TPM anymore. It just annoys me so much about all the mistakes that were made with it and it can never be changed! It's just a boring movie, lacking the excitement and adventure of the PT.

And I'm glad someone finally shares my view that the PT should have started with Episode 2; leaving Episode 3 open for a decent story/

I also noticed PM seemed somewhat "cleaner" than the OT.

Naboo, the upper parts of Coruscant, even Tatooine looked rather neat.

They just seemed to tidy compared with the obvious grit of the OT.

Originally posted by truejedi
you think that too many more lightsaber duels would have just ruined it?

Originally posted by Tangible God
I also noticed PM seemed somewhat "cleaner" than the OT.

Naboo, the upper parts of Coruscant, even Tatooine looked rather neat.

They just seemed to tidy compared with the obvious grit of the OT.

Originally posted by Gryn Jabar
In a word, yes. They lasted too damn long, and made no sense from a martial point of view. Why not have HUUUUUUUGE space battles (like the intro from ROTS), make the fights bloodier, have emotional IMPACT to them. For example, Qui Gon dying was just kinda.. flat. Same with the jedi at Genosis. I never got the feeling that order suffered a crushing defeat.

Honestly, i loved the darth maul dual, they way Qui Gonn lost was about the best that i've seen. He actually lost WHILE fighting, he didn't pause like they do in so many other duals and let the other guy chop off his hand. he was fighting, trying to win, fighting for his life one second, and the next one, bam, he gets hit in the face, and qui gonn takes him down. It seemed like a real action death, unlike the dramatic ends to a lot of the other duals. I'm a Mace fan, huge mace fan actually, but it seems like when he fights sidious that both of them have several opportunities to kill the other, and just don't do it. Phantom Menace saber fight wasn't like that.

Yes, of course the Maul fight and anything SW is cool.
But it is so out of place in the SW saga and the whole PT is actually not what I was lead to believe before coming out. I really thought it would really focus on war (clone war), just like the title 'Star Wars' but instead it focused more on personal relations and originality or something.