Feeling Nostalgic About Star Wars The Phantom Menace (25 Years Later)

[@luistijerina]

The Phantom Menace was one of those movies that had every single movie tie-in with every fast food restaurant, soft drink and snack, as well as an entire live of toys well before we even knew what the movie was about. I would also bet that the video games were already in development while the movie itself was being shot and edited.

[@TheItachiIshtar]

What I am probably most nostalgic about, regarding Phantom Menace, is the fast food tie-in with Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut.

[@ScottyDunn]

There’s something so cozy about that tie in marketing back in the day. I also remember downloading the trailer and it taking like 2-3 hours because our modem was slow 😆

[@TheRealBGregz]

Damn… that third kid was SO good. The movie (as well as Jake Lloyd’s life) would have been ridiculously different if they hired him.

[@Makoto03]

Great video. Phantom Menace was my first theatrical Star Wars experience and i loved it as a kid. Very nostalgic.

[@ScottyDunn]

Thank you! The excitement was intense and I still remember driving a couple hours away with my family to see it.

[@FarleyProductions]

I loved the Phantom Menace. It’s still a good movie. I prefer Revenge of the Sith over it. But I enjoyed the film either way.

[@ScottyDunn]

Absolutely! It was fun to revisit after more than a decade. Also, I watched Revenge of the Sith recently and it was better than I remember. Also more action packed than I recall. Good movie.

[@thomasbechmann7548]

I love the fact that you watch movies with a blanket, like me. Even if is very hot outside I still prefer to have it over me😅

[@ScottyDunn]

It’s just so much better with a blanket 😆 yeah even if it’s hot, just gotta crank up the A/C!

[@thomasbechmann7548]

@@ScottyDunn So true! I don’t need an A/C here in Norway, I just open a window if it gets warm in the summer.

[@douglasdoyle8944]

When I was a kid I thought these movies were so boring and as an adult the PTSD from that boredom is stronger than any nostalgia could be.

[@jasonleetaiwan]

0:56 Was this a Buster Keaton movie? If it is, that would point us in the direction that Jar Jar Binks was based on Buster Keaton and was never supposed to be a secret Sith Lord used by Palpatine like some YT videos have suggested. When Jar Jar runs down the hill with those big balls behind him, that is straight out of a Keaton film where there were massive rock craters rolling down the hill.

[@ScottyDunn]

Ok so I thought it was Buster Keaton too but it's actually a silent film called "The Show" (1922) which doesn't star Keaton. It's got Oliver Hardy in it which is cool. Interesting stuff.

[@DecadesApartProductions]

Lucas definitely needed some "no men" around. So many people on the original movie told him he's an idiot and did their own thing (Anthony Daniels refusing to play C3PO as a used car salesman for example). I'm a firm believer that movies are community efforts and if one person is running the whole show, it usually doesn't go well.

[@ScottyDunn]

💯% movies are without a doubt a community effort. The difference in mindset between the first Star Wars and The Phantom Menace is huge. By the time Phantom Menace came out, Star Wars was like a religion. It’s hard to keep a level head while playing in a sandbox that big.

[@DecadesApartProductions]

@@ScottyDunn In Australia, it IS a religion.

[@Checker222]

The phrase "No Men" is so perfect, and it's a phrase I've never heard before- you really perfectly nailed that one!

[@mattgowrie8580]

Idk if this is a joke

[@Checker222]

@@mattgowrie8580 NO (see, I'm a NO man)

[@mattgowrie8580]

@Checker222 It's a 2 word phrase, and most of the time people say "no one"

[@barttheraven]

4:50 did you see the documentary on KZbin about the kid you were referring to? It's part of a series called, "Almost Famous."

[@ScottyDunn]

I did! It was eye opening. I really feel like he was the right kid for the role.

[@andrewattenboroughtwothumb4697]

I remember collecting kfc cards and tazos in Australia and Pepsi cans and reading the books back in 1999 so much hype before it came out

[@TheRealBGregz]

You’re wrong about “these days, this would just be a voiceover thing”, since “The Last Jedi” used a Yoda puppet that was controlled by Frank Oz.

[@Danbo22987]

I was thinking the same thing, what a weird comment to make. If anything modern Star Wars has more puppetry than the prequels

[@TheRealBGregz]

@@Danbo22987 Absolutely! There is a ton of puppetry in modern Star Wars, while the prequels had almost none.

[@ExiledQ]

looking forward to the next!

[@ScottyDunn]

Thanks! It’s in the queue

[@ironline6830]

I loved it I still do but I haven't seen it in a while. I still have the vhs and I'm thinking about doing a review I don't have a way to capture it though

[@Checker222]

Oh, and I felt the movie was weirdly lacking when first seeing it- the score got be REALLY excited, but the movie felt flat to me- and I could not articulate what I was feeling. It's taken 25 years to come to grips with it!

[@ScottyDunn]

I feel you! I remember being really excited to see it. Went with my family who was in town for the weekend and traveled 2 hours to the biggest screen we could. I enjoyed it but also quickly moved on after watching it.

[@beep3589]

It may have been bold for Natalie Portman to agree to three movies without seeing a script, but it massively paid off for her.

[@ScottyDunn]

True true.

[@werideatdusk]

I remember fondly looking at some of the tie-in books and seeing the trailer. I enjoyed the N64 Racer game. But even as a 12 year old, the movie fell flat for me and I didn't find a lot of motivation to revisit it. The visuals are still really great, but the movie just was a total misfire especially if, like us, we remember the mystique in the 90s about a potential new film in the series that would have the dark tone of the Heir to the Empire or Shadows of the Empire stories...

[@ScottyDunn]

Yeah I had been picturing a much darker film than we got. Especially since it was about the origin of Anakin. Something more along the lines of Empire Strikes Back.

[@justlaura7177]

Was that part real when he kicked out someone and then hit them? I can’t tell!!!

[@ScottyDunn]

That’s a skit 😆. Look up “George Lucas gets mad about Mara Jade” so funny

[@martinhumble]

My best memory was when the film was over and I went home.

[@Ajv516]

Ha!

[@gecko-sb1kp]

When I left the cinema that morning, around 2am after the midnight screening, I was just thankful it was dark, raining cats and dogs and no one seen me. My only regret was not going there wearing a wig, glasses, false nose and mustache...my brother did a Mark Hamil. He just ran out of the cinema and through the rain sodden the car park so he didn't have to face anyone...

[@angeles252]

You Upload About The inside Out (2015)

[@gecko-sb1kp]

I've never blamed an actor when a poor director was at fault. And George Lucas was at fault here. All of it come back to his door. You cannot and should not do it alone. When I wrote my first play for our theater I asked a lady that had written and produced 60 plays to read it for me. She said 'What do you want me to do? Read it and tell you how good it is?' I said 'No. I want you to read it and tell me how bad it is.' When I made my first short film I deliberately worked a kid and a animal into it. Quite a few animals actually. And I was able to draw the result I wanted out of each and every one of them with a bit of time, patience and fooling them to think another way. That doesn't make me feel like I can do it every time. But like Mark Hamil once said; 'You can't bottle lightning twice.' Something like that. I think George Lucas was tired. It stopped being a labor of love and became a chore. That even stood out with Return of the Jedi. But Spielberg and Howard directing? No. I'm glad it never went that way...

[@theonebegotten]

Jar Jar Binks didn't add anything including laughs. He had no depth. He steals every scene he is in for the wrong reasons. Glad he vanished for the sequels. Nobody saw Attack of the Clones and said where is Jar Jar.

[@ScottyDunn]

It’s definitely a trip hearing Lucas say “Jar Jar is the key to all of this” in the making of doc. That changed fast.