I grew up on the original trilogy of Star Wars. Like many other people my age, it was a HUGE part of my childhood. Like many others from my generation, my interest in Star Wars dipped in the mid eighties and then spiked again with the re-release of the movies on video in the mid 1990's, which coincided with new novels, comics, toys and the eventual release of the Special Editions. Like many other Star Wars fans, I was psyched about the release of The Phantom Menace in 1999 but unlike many other fans, I actually enjoyed it. My point is, despite my affinity for the original movies, I am not an Original Trilogy partisan. I like to take Star Wars as a series of six movies that are all pretty flawed but each of which has their own strengths and weaknesses.
The movies are all out on Bluray in either a set of two trilogies or a mammoth boxed set which includes all six movies and three discs of bonus materials. I've managed to make my way through all the prequels thus far and will be looking at the other three movies at a later date. If you are interested in my thoughts on the bonus materials check out this entry.
It's hard to believe its been over a decade since the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This was perhaps the most hyped movie of all time and was released to strong negative reaction by fanboys and people who grew up on the original trilogy, so objective reactions to the movie are relatively hard to come by. It will always be judged in comparison to people's impressions of the movies that came before it. However, Roger Ebert gave the movie a clear-eyed review and three and a half stars. In his review he called it, "an astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking." Prior to the movie's release, Steven Spielberg saw the film and said that Star Wars fans were in for a "treat." The movie was a massive hit and audiences flocked to it. For a whole generation of children, The Phantom Menace is their Star Wars.
So how does the movie hold up twelve years later? Episode I is a solid piece of pop entertainment, with lots of excitement and spectacle. The movie's 3D release is right around the corner, and watching it again at home it seems almost like The Phantom Menace was made with 3D in mind. The podrace sequence, in particular, is going to be a lot of fun and the novelty of seeing it in 3D will actually justify its length.
Star Wars to me has always been about a great story and, for me, this is where Episode I and the other prequels really outshine the Original Trilogy. While Lucas often fumbles the specifics of cinematic storytelling (dialogue and directing actors) his visual storytelling and the overarching plot and themes make the prequels really resonate. Lucas is telling the story of the fall of a democracy which parallels the story of the fall of his hero. The prequels are political allegory and much more ambitious than the simplistic rebels vs. evil empire story of the original movies.
Attack of the Clones was released three years later and, in some ways gave audiences a little more of what they were expecting to see in the previous movie. We have Anakin in his prime, lots of Jedi action, the Clone Wars, Mandalorians, stormtroopers, less Jar Jar, etc. But it also devoted an inordinate about of time to an absolutely painful-to-watch love story. Clones features some of the absolute best and worst moments in Star Wars. The last forty minutes of the movie are amazing fun.
Three years later, Revenge of the Sith was released. In many ways, this was the movie that fans had been waiting for. It featured the rise of the empire, the Jedi purge, the creation of Darth Vader and birth of Luke and Leia. Sith is a dark piece of pop tragedy and actually a pretty solid movie. For my money, it is tied with The Empire Strikes Back as the best of the six movies. Whereas with the previous two prequels, I would cut whole scenes and sequences, in Revenge of the Sith I would only cut some dialogue here and there which diminish otherwise strong scenes.
Even the performances are better, as the actors have more to do (although Natalie Portman is still basically furniture. Being a heroine in Star Wars is a thankless task) and Hayden Christiansen's descent into evil mostly works, although the movie could have used another scene connecting how he went from assisting in the murder of Mace Windu to killing children. Ian McDiarmid, who had hovered in the sidelines for two movies as the slimy politician Palpatine here gets to complete his journey to power in grand fashion. He has some great moments in Sith, especially the chilling story he tells Anakin in the opera scene about the fallen Sith Lord, Darth Plagueis.
As far as their transition to Bluray, the movies are a mixed bag. The Phantom Menace is the only one of the three not to be shot digitally and the transfer is not up to part with the others I've seen snippets of the movie broadcast in HD on cable and the Bluray version is not a whole lot better. Revenge of the Sith is the most recent movie (2005) and it is absolutely beautiful on Bluray. It feels like there is almost nothing between you and what you are looking at on screen and the level of detail on costumes and sets is amazing. If nothing else, the set is worth it just for Sith. The presentation on Attack of the Clones is better than Phantom but not quite as good as Sith.
The prequels are flawed movies but, realistically, so are the originals. You can't fault the new movies for their lackluster performances, wooden dialogue, and inappropriate comic relief without holding the original movies to the same standard. Again, I look at Star Wars as a six movie series with an epic, multi-generational story about fall and redemption. It is a story that is much better and more resonant than the medium in which it is told.
Patrick Garone
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Author of City of the Gods: The Return of Quetzalcoatl
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