'They've gone up the ventilation shaft!'
On 'Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace'
First, some housekeeping.
After more than a year of doing a weekly streaming column, I was feeling a bit closed in by the concept. I enjoyed picking a theme, but time and time again I was thwarted by many films’ inconsistent availability on streaming platforms.
So, I’ve decided to try something new.1 Rather than try to convince you to stream a few movies a week, I’m going to go a little deeper on one. I don’t know that this will be a permanent fixture on The Normal Newsletter, but it sounds fun.
And I love having fun.
To start things off, let’s talk about…
Star Wars: Episode I— The Phantom Menace
You might be thinking, “Why Phantom Menace?”
I can trace my cinephilia2 to a few early moments: Renting Disney’s Sleeping Beauty from the local library on a weekly basis (gay), rewinding and fast-forwarding our family VHS copy of Batman Returns to the Catwoman scenes (gay), and The Prequels (not that gay actually).
The Phantom Menace is the first time I remember participating in a bonafide cultural movie moment. I saw it in the theater upwards of 7 times.
I was 8 years old, I had no concept of trade disputes or “The Galactic Senate.” It wasn’t until I was a bit older that I realized many people didn’t like The Prequels, particularly this one and Attack of the Clones.
As I settle into my mid-30s, I look back on George Lucas’ prequel trilogy mostly with admiration. There is a unified narrative, aesthetic, and political vision to these films that, while uneven, can be haunting and breathtaking.
We should be so lucky to have someone like him given seemingly unlimited resources in the mainstream American moviemaking apparatus to continue pushing technology forward. Yes, there is the James Cameron of it all, but let me remind you of the 10+ year gap between Avatar and Avatar 2: Kate Winslet.3
The Prequels are positioned at the moment that digital technology began overtaking traditional filmmaking. Most of The Phantom Menace was shot on 35mm film, but it was also the first major Hollywood release to utilize digital cameras for some sequences.
The next two films were shot entirely digitally. As with the original Star Wars, Lucas found himself spearheading a special effects coup.
Yes there were growing pains, and sometimes the dialogue and acting felt exasperatingly wooden. I didn’t give a shit about any of this when I was 8, though. I loved podracing,4 battle droids, underwater cities, Jar Jar Binks, Wattoo, and the anxious green alien yelling, “Sir! They’ve gone up the ventilation shaft!” (It’s true, I also wasn’t that aware of racist tropes disguised as aliens at this age, either).
Most of all, I loved Darth Maul. In fact, most of my early movie memories, Sleeping Beauty and Batman Returns included, are centered on the villains. (Again, gay).
Darth Maul is a quiet,5 sinister, demon-looking Sith Apprentice who is tasked with hunting down two Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), and the exiled queen (Natalie Portman) they are protecting.
In his grand reveal to the heroes,6 Maul swoops in on a speeder on the desert planet Tatooine and attacks them. He’s wearing a large black cloak in what must be 100+ degree temperatures, so you know he’s not to be trifled with.
But most importantly of all, later in the film he and the Jedi are the centerpieces for what was at this point the greatest lightsaber7 duel in the franchise.
I enjoy the original Star Wars trilogy, but the lightsaber duels are nothing to write home about. They are slow, with an emphasis on interlocking blades pressing against each other until one combatant breaks. They give the Jedi and Sith plenty of time to yap about their differing philosophies about The Force, their true parentage, or whatever.
By contrast, the lightsaber sequences in the prequels are dazzling and largely dialogue-free. That’s because they feel like dances of death, different colored blades swirling around as John Williams’ score leaps, twirls, and rages with them.
The ‘Duel of the Fates’ sequence between Maul, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan is part of the best sustained stretch of filmmaking in any Star Wars film. Here, four different battle sequences- the lightsaber duel, a large-scale ground war, the storming of a royal palace, and a space battle- crescendo together.
I revisit The Prequels more than the original trilogy, not just out of a nostalgic attachment but because here Lucas captures the tragic operatic sweep of his vision. Technology finally caught up to it.
The Phantom Menace is streaming on Disney+
This week’s inaugural column is free, but as with my streaming column you’ll have to upgrade to access them
Stage 4, terminal 😞
There is allegedly a third Avatar coming out in 2025, this one “about” “fire”
Star Wars Episode I: Racer remains one of my all-time favorite games. THAT was podracing.
Darth Maul has 3-5 lines in The Phantom Menace, and I learned them all thanks to the brilliant tie-in merchandise known as the ComTech Reader.
Diva moment
If you don’t know what a lightsaber is, it’s a laser sword. But also… why are you reading this?
when matt makes a good joke it’s like wow revenge of the pith actually