For all his silliness, Jar Jar shows a lot of heart in the movie. The character itself doesn't deserve the hate it gets, and people should definitely not have blamed Best... he did a great job making a character that's supposed to be different... different. That's what good actors do.
I agree that Best did his job admirably, but Jar Jar.....ugh. I'm glad Ahmed Best has taken other Star Wars roles, though, I hope that he sees now that he should never have gotten backlash for the intense effort he put into a character that just wasn't well thought through by the creators.
I admit I never really got why people hated him so much, but then, I have that about a lot of things, and while I can see Jar-Jar is a rather slap-stick character, I think he gained his rightful place when he was the one who made the call to grant Palapatine power in AotC. Jar-Jar is the innocent, perennially naive person who got manipulated by the Big Bad.
@@TheMimiSardok, prefacing this with Best doesn't deserve any grief for his performance, Jar Jar adds nothing good to any scene he is in, imagine LOTR if gimli had been overly dramatic in every scene, asking every NPC if they know about the glittering caves, and walking around with glitter tattoos and neon green beard ties, THAT'S jar jar. Or imagine if R2D2 had had a thick scottish accent for the prequel trilogy, yep Jar Jar, nothing about his scenes is funny or makes sense. EDIT him out of the movie, and even though some things wouldn't make sense the movie overall would be better for it. Rewrite the scenes to exclude him entirely and the movie is better for it. Say that about ANY other character in the first 6 films?
The one fact I found very interesting at the time was that in the credits you don’t see the actor playing Darth Sidious. I had a good friend who didn’t know Sedious was Palpatine until the reveal in Episode III
@@karlrovey I had my girlfriend who had never seen Star Wars before watch Star Wars in order of the movies, not release date. She absolutely loved it and Palpatine being Sidious and Anakin turning into Vader where two big plot twists for her and she was very emotional about it. As someone who grew up on Star Wars that never occurred to me that those were plot twists or anything. Just for a different perspective
@@gibsonchomar8362 neither. Thats why i love the prequels. I was suprised with maul in episode 1, with Yoda acrobatics in 2, and in 3,pratically everything impressed me, ezcept for the ezcessive 3d backgrounds, compared to vivid ones ,and less, from episode 1.
The most frustrating thing about the prequels was that Lucas asked for help and everyone turned him down. I know their reputation is getting a (well deserved) re-think thanks in part to the negative reaction to the sequel trilogy, but imagine how much better the they would be if he got even half of the help he wanted. Scripts from Lawrence Kasdan with actually believable dialogue and assitance in direction from Zemeckis or Spielberg would have just added the extra bit of polish each film needed.
I know right. Considering he was aware of his own limitations as a director and that he couldn't live up to their potential, he still busted his ass and got his movies made. Lucas is definitely worthy of respect, he stepped up and got the job done.
I strongly suspect that none of the people that would direct to Lucas's standards were willing to put up with would be an amped up version if his already infamous micromanaging.
Ahmed Best wasn’t the only one, toxic fans also bullied Jake Lloyd, a CHILD, and he grew up with all kinds of problems. He didn’t write the script, neither did Ahmed, it’s not the actors fault!
This has been a problem since the dawn of acting, particularly when movies and radio became popular. Actors who played villains and even just dodgy parts (I still don't know why Larry Hagman [J. R. Ewing] didn't seem to have this problem). People: gotta love 'em, right?
You got to remember, all the hate for this movie came years after it released. Back in 99, this movie was everything. Everyone and their dog's grandma where hyped. I was in the 1st grade, and I had newspaper articles about Ep1 and posters taped all over my wall, I had an obi wan toy, and an anakin Skywalker backpack. The hype was out of this world and when we saw it, It was the greatest movie ever made. Then I pre-ordered the vhs tape from blockbuster. 1999 was freaking awesome.
Lot of hate, but first of all big, very BIG disappointment... And this disappointment (and hate) came in just a few weeks after the movie's release. I was huge STAR WARS fan since late 1996, loved The Original Trilogy; had many books, comics, games, collectibles & stuff and felt that disappointment too. Nevertheless watched that movie in cinemas 9 times (-:
Mmmm yes there was a lot hype, but upon everyone seeing it for the first time, there was MASSIVE disappointment. Maybe you loved it cause you were a little kid but a lot of older kids or adults who grew up watching the OT back in the day HATED Phantom Menace.
Those of us who saw the original trilogy in the theaters, HATED the prequels when we first saw them. I still think they're the weakest of the trilogies because the direction of the actors is absolutely pisspoor. I left after TPM stunned at how bad it was.
@@DJMarcO138 same. It was only many years later that I grew to appreciate it for what it was, but even today it’s my least favorite of the Saga (I dont include the sequels because never saw them never will)
@@lawrencetalbot8346 IMO the Sequels get far more hate than they deserve. They are not great, and the final movie is a hot mess - but the 1st two are more solid than people give them credit for. I certainly enjoyed them more than the Prequels overall, fwiw.
Don't forget, Liam Neeson filmed Rob Roy before this, and he had received training for real swords, which didn't match up to the lightsaber choreography. So between him actually knowing how to handle a sword and Ewan making lightsaber noises with his mouth, it's a wonder this got made at all.
@legalam you think Ewan is amazing? Watch a video of Ray Park practicing with the double lightsaber. There’s a video where a fan tosses him a prop staff and he just goes to town
Still my favorite Star Wars movie till this day, and Qui-Gon is still my favorite Jedi. People hyped themselves up too much, expecting the same thing they had almost 2 decades prior, without actually appreciating what the Prequels are and the Star Wars world building they brought us.
I've been saying that right along. People expected more of Han and Luke blowing up Death Stars instead of considering what the prequels would really be about.
Fun fact, Queen Padme Amidala was played by both Natalie Portman AND Keira Knightly in specific scenes. Despite there being a 4 year age age between the actresses, 16 and 12, even the actresses themselves can't distinguish which actress is playing the character is on screen in the scenes Knightly substituted for.
This is the biggest urban legend. They were easily distinguishable on-screen. Only the truly gullible would believe their own mothers couldn't tell them apart on-set.
I worked at a movie theater from November 98 through July 99... People came to see just the trailer to this movie, it was with "Meet Joe Black" at our theater, they'd come in, see the trailer, then leave. Later, when tickets went on sale, about a month before the movie came out, people were camped out all the way around the theater, hundreds and hundreds of people. It was awesome. Then on the day the movie was released, the theater was insanity, people in costumes and all that, every theater was jammed, it was something really cool to see.
This is my favourite Star Wars movie and always will be. Also, wow! I've learned so much about George Lucas now. He didn't want to write and direct the movies, but those he trusted turned him down. I can't begin to imagine how different the prequels would've been if other people wrote and directed them.
When the movie came out, most of everyone who came out of the movie saying it was their favorite, including me. It was loved until it got popular to trash it online.
The Phantom Menace was the first movie I saw in theaters. I was 4 years old when it introduced me to the Star Wars franchise (I did see the original trilogy as soon as I could before AOTC and ROTS come out). I am 26 years old and Star Wars is still my favorite franchise. Out of all the Canon and Legends that have come out, Qui-Gon Jinn is still my absolute favorite Jedi. I know that Liam Neeson is well acclaimed before AND after Star Wars, but he will always be Qui-Gon Jinn to me. May the Force be with you.
@@legalam no it's not, it's his...and tbh, episode1 certainly hovering around the best...I'm placing it right under rouge1...is my opinion terrible, maybe to you...but I'm willing to bet it aligns w/ a few..
@@Ranzoe813 " no it's not, it's his" Which does not mean that the respondent's opinion is wrong, it's his opinion of an opinion. You have almost entered a circular loop where you think that your opinion on an opinion is right because it appears to allow everyone to have an opinion and be supported, except those who's opinions are that other opinions are wrong, but should you not also support his opinion on the first opinion just as much?
I saw Ep1 was on tv a while back, i thought id re-watch a few scenes for nostalgia... ended up watching the entire thing start to finish, i couldn't turn it off lol.
So... George Lucas, quite aware of his own shortcomings, tried to get a number of very talented people to help him out with the prequels. But they all refused because they didn't want to interfere with his 'creative vision.' I feel robbed!
There was such unbelievable hype for this movie back in 1999 - it bolstered every ones expectations like no other movie before it. And when it failed to meet our expectations we saw the main culprit being Jar Jar Binks. I don't remember Ahmed being directly bullied at the time, but I'm sure being attached to the most hated character in all of Star Wars wasn't exactly the nicest thing. Today I think this movie is okay, it feels like a prologue. Better than II & III.
this was the first star wars movie i ever saw i was born in 1998 and probably saw it when i was 4-5 and all i remembered was the pod race and a little bit of the battle of naboo and it wasn’t for a little while later that i found it on VHS at my grandmas and watched it again i was probably 8ish and to this day it’s one of my favorites! it’s just so nostalgic for me at this point!
Laura Dern took a page out of Ewan McGregor’s book. When she fires stun blasts at the mutineers she actually said “pew pew pew,” you can see her do it.
Now whenever I mention Ahmed Best, (who I think did no wrong when he played that character in Phantom Menace and deserves (I think) no blame/shame,) in relation to Star Wars, it's as Jedi Master Kelleran Beq. ("Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge") As always thank you so very much for the video.
Ever since I picked up the score in Our Price and looked at the track listing on the back, I've always avoided going anywhere near a score until I've seen the movie.
I still bought all the scores the day they were released but avoided reading the track titles until after seeing the movies. I’ll never get over the Episode I soundtrack spoiling the movie.
Hahaha- when I first read your comment, I was thinking of GUILLERMO Del Toro, and thinking, “yeah, no SHIT he wasn’t in shape for that!” I got it now, I got it, haha. You’re totally correct with what you said, as well. 😆
I remember being spoiled by the track list. After that, even when I purchased the subsequent films soundtracks, I never read the track lists until after seeing the films.
A pretty good fact that you left out, and my personal favorite Star Wars fact overall,is that in most actions/fight scenes they'll typically speed up the footage a little in post production to make it seem more exciting and intense. However, with the fight between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul after Qui- Gon's death, they had the opposite problem. Ewan McGregor and Ray Park rehearsed it so well that they did it too fast and they ended up having to slow down the footage a little because they thought audiences wouldn't believe it.
So Steven Spielberg could have directed a Phantom Menace written by Lawrence Kasden. Somewhere there is a parallel universe where The Phantom Menace is the most beloved Star Wars movie of all time.
Ah. how The Prequels have grown on me over time. Sure, the dialog was corny, and Jar Jar was way overused for comedic relief throughout The Phantom Menace, but the visuals were amazing, and those visuals and Jar Jar's graphics really pushed CGI beyond what had ever been done before. Also, the story, although kind of poorly executed was good, and we saw lots of cool new ships, droids, planets and got really deep insight into the politics of the Star Wars universe, expanding its richness very much. It is a shame that George Lucas didn't make the final three chapters himself, I am sure that it would have been much more interesting and better quality than what we got from Disney.
@@brianstrutter1501 no character is worst or movie? I couldn’t disagree more 😂 Rey is much worst as she has no character development and The Last Jedi was AWFUL. way worst followed by The Rise of Skywalker
I remember being so excited to get opening day tickets! There were people who had been waiting in line for days, since that was before most online and phone ticket sales. I swear Jerry Garcia was waiting in line, hanging out in a Darth Maul inflatable chair 😂❤
George special editionalized the Phantom Menace for tv and dvd releases, but the vhs version i bought when it came out in 2000, is the theatrical cut and i recorded it onto dvd using my dvd recorder. he extended the podrace scene so it loses it's editing , which throws off the time of the movie, and you can't do the dark side of oz thing anymore because with the theatrical version you do the dark side of oz thing with No Doubt's Return of Saturn album, just put the album on repeat and play it with no track fade overlay. No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom works for the Wizard of Oz just like the Dark Side of Oz experiment, where you start the album at the third roar of the Mgm lion at the beginning of the movie
I like how what culture went from shitting on the prequels to letting their views decide for themselves, baby steps, but still progress in the right direction
After seeing the first teaser trailer in 1998, words can't express the excitement and anticipation in the time waiting to see this movie. I was in my 20's and I felt like I was 8 again. My friends and I weren't disappointed either. I still love it. Yes, Jar-Jar was/is annoying, but we were still amazed at the cgi work they accomplished on him back then and he didn't ruin the entire movie.
As a kid, this was all I knew of in terms of star wars. I was not aware of the original trilogy so I couldn't really "judge" anakin by making comparisons. I still love this movie to this day as a 27 year old. I personally liked the prequels more than the original trilogy. Just more appealing to the eye.
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are good friends and work on each other’s projects. Sometimes with out credit. They also worked on Indiana Jones together. George Lucas asked Steven Spielberg to direct his story of Indiana Jones, even though he was the set almost every day and even directed some of the scenes. Even in a new Hope (1977) George Lucas uses THX 1138, which was his first film. Leia is in the cell number 1138, that number is used in almost every George Lucas or Lucasfilm project ever made….
I think Jar Jar and the actor for young Anakin deserve respect. Jar Jar is meant to be laughed at. People built insane expectations for this movie,and even if it was the best movie in history, some will be displeased. These actors took the brunt of that from fans.
Still the only movie I have even been to when the movie started. A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away came on screen and the crowd all started clapping shouting. The move started and everyone shut the hell up.
In 1977 I went to see a "A New Hope" with my older Brother; as he queued up inside, I walked over to the window n looked down on the traffic. In 1999 I took my Mom to see "The Phantom Menace"; as she queued up inside, I walked over to the window n looked down on the traffic. Then I realised what had just happened! AND they were different Cinemas! 🤔
Jar jar has and always will be one of if not my favorite characters. You’re telling me a character that was meant to pander towards whimsy and children isn’t going to be loved by a whimsical child? No way, it was meant to happen and it stuck haha
Despite the fact that the Phantom Menace isn't a... (ahem) "Cinematic Masterpiece," fans of Star Wars cannot deny that its release brought some of the BEST moments in the fandom's history.
TPM isn't nearly as bad as people would have you believe. I LOVED the film in 99 (still do today) and I've seen it at the cinema 5 times. Here's one interesting fact about TPM that's not in this video: Weird Al Yankovic recorded his "The Saga Begins" on April 20th, 1999. The song is basically a retelling of TPM in typical Weird Al fashion. But April 20th 1999 is a full month before the film came out in cinemas. So how come Yankovic knew the plot of the film (in minute details no less)? While he did request an early screening from Lucas, that was denied. So Yankovic wrote the first draft of the song based on internet leaks and spoilers. After attending an early screening that was part of a charity fundraiser, he was astounded that his first draft was so close to the actual plot of the film, and ended up only making very minor alterations. The song was released in June '99, so most assumed that he wrote the song in a few weeks after seeing the film.
I’m so glad this came out before the internet era. I can assure you, non of my friends/cousins/brothers have a damn about the critics we loved the prequels. Especially episode one, can’t remember how many times we rewatched them. Had to be hundreds of times. It wasn’t until recently I found out that the movie fell under a lot of scrutiny when it released. Oh well, who cares. I loved it.
Wait, you're telling me that George Lucas knew he has so successful because he had help. And that he tried to get the same writer that polished the original trilogy scripts to come work on this one. And he asked several great director to direct as well. And the only reason none of these people did is because they had too much faith in Lucas? To think how great the prequels could have been? Instead he was surround by yes men, some of who were kids when the original came out and they didn't have the guts to speak up to their hero when one of his ideas wasn't the best or needed further work.
None of that is what happened. George was not surrounded by yes men at all, in fact if you watch the BTS you’d realize a lot of input came from the people around him and their ideas, cause you know ? That’s just what realistically takes place when a film like star wars is made ?.. George didn’t wanna direct the films because he knows he’s not the best director of actors (doesn’t mean he sucks at all or is a shitty director all around…) his forte is the storytelling and the building of the world . Like the originals, he was involved in every aspect of the prequels, every ship model, every creature, every character design and the backstory behind those characters. Lucas’ greatest strength as a filmmaker is arguably the fact he is a master of utilizing thematic cinematography to tell a story. The first six movies are littered with scenes that parallel and mirror each other, especially meaningful scenes like Anakin’s duel with Count Dooku in the throne room of the invisible hand at the beginning of Revenge of the sith paralleling Luke’s duel with Vader in the throne room of the Death Star II at the end of Return of the Jedi. Or Anakin’s turn to the dark side mirroring his return to the light in Return of the Jedi, just name a few . You also might’ve noticed the musical score for the sequels while still good is nowhere near the epic quality of the prequels or originals . That’s because George was also heavily involved in the music and would work closely with John Williams to the end that he wanted the score itself to tell the story. Lucas was a huge fan of silent films and wanted the musical themes to work in tandem with the cinematic storytelling to the point to where if one wanted they could watch Star Wars as silent films with just musical score and still understand what’s going on in the story without dialogue . This is something JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson did not understand and put far less time into which is why the sequels score suffers. There’s alot more method to Lucas’ madness then people give him credit for, in fact I think there’s an argument he may be THE most underrated and misunderstood filmmaker of the modern age . Guys like Spielberg, Francis Coppola, and Scorsese are some of the greatest filmmakers of all time, they know what they’re doing as does Lucas way more than you or me or anyone making videos about it on RU-vid lol. You think they had too much faith in his abilities ? To suggest such is massive slight to their knowledge of filmmaking and abilities . Anyways there’s nothing wrong with any of the dialogue from the prequels, the dialogue in Star Wars was always stylized to be old fashioned like films from the 40s, think when actors used to always speak with those Atlantic accents . They’re not gonna talk like we do modern day, and this is something that has been jarring for critics since the first film in 1977, most critics have always consistently criticized the dialogue. Even empire strikes back received significant critique from critics for its dialogue and the Han and leia romance .
They didn’t come back because Lucas is a Dick to work for. Saying “he’s the only man for the job” is just a polite way of saying “it was hell working with you 20 years ago. Now that I’m married, have a kids, and am successful in my own right, HELL NO I do not want to put myself through that misery again George. Take care.”
@@mackmitchell94 did we see the same BTS? because there are tons of moments where folks are obviously trying to dissuade him from things, etc. and he was too busy waxing about "poetry and rhyming" to listen to any of them.
@@DJMarcO138 we certainly did not because that’s not what happened at all. I guess it’s just a matter of perspective, people will see what they want to see even when the truth is right in front of them . If people want to see George Lucas of all people as an asshole, then that’s what they’ll see . As a wise man once said “Your focus determines your reality” .
My problem besides binks is that Lucas wanted to show his prowess so much that the infrastructure and equipment were light years ahead of events that happen 20 years later in New Hope etc. no continuity.
Well before they had a whole planet as a ship. Seriously though, it may have been intended with Lucas philosophy. The fact an authoritarian regime turns everything into sh*t. Same as today antiquity are worth a fortune cause nobody makes that much efforts to build things anymore. Lucas' Star Wars were mostly about philosophy. The continuity is about that more than anything else.
I love what Ray Parker did with Maul........but just thinking that we could live in a world where there are no "DJ" character kinda makes it hard not to wish Del Toro would have played Maul lol
Lucas was right about how in 20 years people will think differently of the prequels. Everyone at the time hated them, especially I and II, but I remember watching them as a kid and loving the pod racing, having a kid Anakin, Jar Jar, etc, basically all the shit people hated. Now 20 years later as an adult I have so much nostalgia attached to these movies, I love rewatching them every few years alongside the OG trilogy. And I see tons of people roughly my age speak highly of them as well. Makes me wonder if in 20 years people are gonna love the sequels, a trilogy I personally despized on so many levels lmao. Gonna be big jokes on me if thats the case.
Liam Neesen is legendary? Never heard of him before star wars. Never seen him in anything else. to earn legendary status you probably need to be known even by people who don't care about films or tv in general. I've heard of john wayne. know who he is. know what he did. probably never seen any of his movies. But he is a legend.
Many people do not know that Jar Jar Binks was actually the first motion-captured CGI character in a live-action film. Everyone thinks of Andy Serkis when talking about performance capture, but the title of pioneer should actually go to Ahmed Best.
"Plot does matter" absolutely aged well and is fucking hilarious: the whole reason people got mad at the film is because it had more plot than the OT, instead of being yet another heroic saga retelling. I've always preferred the prequels specifically because of the scheming, need me that long thick plot that hits the spot.
So here's a rumor that I was told, idk if anyone in the comments mentioned it or not. 2Pac was supposed to be casted as Mace Windu. Apparently Pac was a long time Star Wars fan and wanted to be in the Prequels, but we all know the unfortunate events of September 1996.
Call it nostalgia but I really enjoyed the phantom menace. It had flaws of course but Liam neeson carried hard and it has a special cheesy place in my heart
They could have done so much with Jar Jar. Wish they wouldn’t have just pushed the character out when it had so much potential especially if he were a bad guy.
Isnt the whole Spielberg / Lucas easter egg thing a very long standing joke between the two of them? Y'know, R2D2 appearing in stone tablets in Raiders, oh and club Obi Wan in Temple. R2D2 again in Close Encounters.Then ET in Phantom Menace, the Raiders idol in Solo... and so on. There is entire video listicle just on this subject ready for the making guys.
Phantom Menace was the best of the prequels by far. Only 2 things could have improved it, 1 - Less Jar Jar Binks and 2, Darth Plagueis was alive during this film, should have been included in the story. Would have made a much darker film, but still would have been epic
