Back in 1999, Star Wars fans were hyped. Having originally thought they'd seen the last of the saga, they were now set to see a brand new prequel trilogy. The first installment, The Phantom Menace, hit theatres and originally released to positive reviews across the world. However, many had a different view - and accused George Lucas of creating a muddled, nonsensical movie.
Even those who love it are definitely accepting of its shortcomings. So here are ten things that make no sense about the blockbuster.
10 The Opening Crawl
The Opening Crawls of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are all easy to understand. After all, the movie's target audience was children and therefore had to appeal to that audience by using words they knew. Understandable, of course.
Fans expected something similar for The Phantom Menace but were left totally shocked when the famous yellow writing started to glide across the screen. With the words 'taxation', 'trade routes,' and 'congress', as well as a 'Galactic Republic' and 'Trade Federation' even many adults were left dumbfounded. Right from the off, the movie surprised.
9 Mind Tricking Boss Nass
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi's hopes of a smooth time with the Gungans are quickly dashed when they arrive and discover that Jar Jar Binks, who they've just met, is in some trouble. By bringing them down to the Gungans' underwater base, he incurs the wrath of Boss Nass.
Boss Nass looks poised to dish out a rather harsh punishment when, out of nowhere, he changes his mind. Audiences know this is because of Qui-Gonn using a Jedi Mind Trick but not a single person questions it. They all just nod along as if they were expecting this to happen. Their leader must always be changing his mind, it's the only explanation.
8 Anakin Being Nine
Even today, in a day and age where villains like Lord Voldemort, Thanos, and The Joker have all graced the big screen, there's a common consensus that Darth Vader tops the bad guy power rankings. With his huge height, monstrous mask, and terrifying breathing he definitely made a big impression during the original trilogy. And when a brand new story was announced, many were intrigued.
But those feelings soon turned to confusion when it was revealed Anakin's journey would begin at the age of nine. The big bad Darth Vader in child form? Really? It seemed to somewhat lessen the villain's fear factor among some members of the community. And as if that wasn't weird enough...
7 ...And Padme Was 14
There was always going to be some romance involved in the prequels. Anakin Skywalker obviously must have met somebody before becoming Emperor Palpatine's lapdog in order to have Luke and Leia. But what really didn't need to happen was for the seeds of such a romantic relationship planted while Anakin was nine.
Especially with somebody five years older. It was definitely a slightly odd decision to make Padme Amidala 14 and Anakin nine rather than the same age. Sure, we get that she's a Queen and couldn't run Naboo while still in 3rd Grade but even so...this just didn't make any sense.
6 'At Last We Will Have Revenge'
Poor Darth Maul. A character with such immense potential, he doesn't have much to say during The Phantom Menace. But one thing he does says makes zero sense to audiences. 'At last we will have revenge'.
Revenge for what? At the time there wasn't the huge amount of Star Wars media there is today. And, as a result, nobody had any clue about the history of the Sith and the Jedi. Nobody knows what exactly Maul and Palpatine wanted revenge for. Even now, all these years on, we still don't entirely know. But we hope to find out one day.
5 Palpatine's Disguise
While we're on the subject of Palpatine, let's talk about his disguise. And how bad it is.
This is a Senator of Naboo, attempting to infiltrate a powerful cult known as the Jedi - who are capable of reading minds, sensing feelings, and generally being pretty on the ball. It's not an easy task and you don't want anybody knowing about either identity in case your grand plan of galactic rule is scuppered. So in order to disguise yourself, you wear a... hood. A hood that doesn't even cover your whole face? Nute Gunray spends so much time looking and dealing with Palpatine you'd think he would put two and two together. Clearly, he isn't the smartest person in the galaxy.
4 Obi-Wan Knew C3-PO And R2-D2
In the original trilogy, Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn't seem to know R2-D2 and C3-PO. C3-PO wouldn't recognize him anyway after having his memory wiped following the downfall of the Jedi. But R2 definitely would, with the little astromech droid having no such thing happen to him.
We know that the prequels released way after A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi of course. However, regardless, the decision to have Kenobi and R2 meet each other and spend so much time together creates a giant plot hole. Kenobi could have spent so many years on Tatooine he's lost his mind but that seems a flimsy explanation. Anyway, R2 has no excuse.
3 The Chosen One Thing
Hindsight can be a brilliant thing. In The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn senses that Anakin is the Chosen One, the one destined to bring balance to the force and defeat the Sith for good. George Lucas has always insisted the whole point of the saga is Anakin himself. He's the protagonist and antagonist in equal measure.
Anakin does indeed bring balance to the force in Return of the Jedi when he throws Emperor Palpatine to his apparent death. That is, until the First Order appears 30 years later. And Rey then defeats Palpatine... this time for good. The sequels are good movies, don't get us wrong, but it makes the whole Chosen One thing now make no sense whatsoever.
2 Darth Maul's Death
One of the biggest reasons behind fans' excitement for the first movie of the prequel trilogy was because of the villain. He looked the part with his red and black face, horned head, and red lightsaber. And he was formidable in combat, truly captivating to watch.
Therefore, his death came as a surprise - and a blow. Most wanted him to stay around, especially after barely speaking, but Lucas had other ideas which meant the character didn't fulfill his true potential at the time. Lucas ended up backtracking, too, bringing the character back to life in The Clone Wars. He made his return to the big screen in 2018 with the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story.
1 Anakin's Conception
We totally understand that Lucas wanted to really hammer home that Anakin was different to the rest of the Jedi. But the decision to make his conception so unorthodox definitely backfired.
'There was no father,' Shmi Skywalker tells Qui-Gon. Why, though? Fans don't find out in that movie and, to this day, still don't know the truth. There have been many theories over the years and our personal favorite is that Palpatine manipulated his conception from the get-go, creating his dream apprentice. This has previously been dismissed, though, and it's something else we want to know more about in the future.
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