It actually IS podracing.

[@KnightoftheFerry]

"...where Anakin does all of the sorts of in-flight maintenance that's normally handled by the astromech..." Almost foreshadowing how he will eventually become BOTH machine and man.

[@Nichodo]

As Darth Vader

[@HBon111]

"It's like pottery"

[@Ivan_Berni]

💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@lyrimetacurl0]

666th like

[@Frizzleman]

WHOA

[@ElleRoni]

Anakin is also chasing an X-shaped rival in a tight trench during the race, and surprises them by flying down from high behind them. It all rhymes.

[@QuasiDude]

Holy shit

[@jercron]

Whoa

[@mattp1337]

Dayum, you're right. There never was any compelling reason for Sebulba's weird engine pod design. That nails it.

[@benbovard9579]

Oh my God there's too many layers for my brain to comprehend

[@darthjekyll3648]

Xwings

[@davidlordofthesquirrels9839]

Some folks say the Podracer scene brings the film to a dead stop, but I still feel it did a great job of carefully establishing Anakin's strengths. It shows he's not only a good pilot in high-speed vehicles, but he's also able to keep his cool and problem solve in dangerous circumstances. Without this sequence, Anakin jumping into a starfighter and immediately knowing how to fly later would have seemed absurd.

[@jhs2110]

They didn’t have to do three laps though

[@CameronM1138]

@@jhs2110 it's the best part of the movie and they should've left in the deleted podracing scenes.

[@leandersearle5094]

@@jhs2110 Would you prefer senate debates?

[@vanguard6498]

No ones every said the podracer scenes were bad, in fact everyone I knew said it was there favourite parts of the movie.

[@General12th]

One could argue Anakin is a Mary Sue for being so unreasonably proficient with the podracer.

[@grandmoff7429]

George Lucas is so big brain that it took people 23 years to find out the connection of the N1 and anakin's pod.

[@derrickstorm6976]

simp

[@Angelos_K]

Possibly

[@mewtwo.150]

Speak for yourself, because I got it the first time I saw the movie Though what you said about George Lucas is true

[@Jansenbaker]

@@mewtwo.150 Well that's fine, but he said people, not everyone. But I would say very many people didn't notice how detailed the connection was.

[@Voltaic_Fire]

It took someone that long to put it on KZbin, as far as I know.

[@shinyagumon7015]

One interesting real world connection is that many early fighter pilots started out as race car drivers. Which given the similar level of fast reaction time needed for both makes a lot of sense.

[@brentc2411]

they also later often became bikers.

[@Pointblankmos]

Plus George Lucas was a street racer who wanted to become a fighter pilot before being turned down by the air force 🤔

[@emeraldperson]

This is probably the most someone has ever over-analysed star wars, and I love it

[@magonus195]

Check out Rob Ager overanalyzing C3P0 if you want truly chewy analyzing.

[@ForlornCreature]

look up the bigger Luke theory

[@insertdeadname]

welcome to the channel!

[@IIIDemon]

check out the 'star wars technical commentaries' if you want true over-analysis of star wars. its the only place you can find the correct true sizes for both death stars and the super star destroyer.

[@Nikarus2370]

@@ForlornCreature This shit is almost as good as the Grandpa Joe hate memes for Willy Wonka

[@ignaciorodriguez5636]

"While he piloted a podracer to win his own freedom, he would pilot the Naboo starfighter to free an entire planet" Chills

[@Monoaux]

Not to be a downer but he was essentially sold to/stolen by the Jedi.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

Erik's words are also sadly true. Even moreso when Naboo became forcefully yoked into the Galactic Empire years later.

[@JoeKawano]

Yes!

[@JoeKawano]

Double yoked.

[@JoeKawano]

Oh, and I wonder if Anakin half- sitting in for the droid the first time we see him fly is anything to do with symbolizing how he will become half a droid later on… just saying.

[@jommyheyman1180]

Huh, that's pretty neat! Kinda reminds me of how the T-65 X-Wing apparently has very similar controls to the T-16 Skyhopper: a civilian airspeeder Luke owned on Tatooine before a New Hope.

[@ARCCommanderOrar]

Apparently that was pretty common for Incom Products.

[@hbtdawgz1688]

They are also similar to the T-47.

[@QuasiDude]

That's a really good point! Especially since episodes 1 and 4 are parallel stories. This rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper

[@Janoha17]

The T-16 was basically a training model for Incom's starfighters.

[@rattlestormrepublic4874]

Its like poetry, it rhymes.

[@Jansenbaker]

This is honestly the first time I noticed how intentionally similar _everything_ is between the two scenes. And I never noticed the shots being the same. Incredible attention to detail, and I would say you deserve an award for not only noticing, but for compiling it all as well. I don't think anyone has talked about this.

[@Alex-fn2hl]

This is a classic "Star Wars is a silent movie" moment. It doesn't need dialog to communicate any of this.

[@JakobNorthblood]

I often find that bad TV or movies are from a lack of creativity that shows up as an abundance of exposition. I love a good scene or sequence that includes little to no dialogue. You don't need to tell the audience anything if you can show them.

[@grandsome1]

@@JakobNorthblood Well, over exposition is what killed the prequel, George really should've filmed it like a silent movie à la Tartakovsky and SW inspiration samurai movies.

[@catfish552]

I think there's definitely something to the colour theming of Anakin's vehicles, the yellow also carries on to his Eta-2 in Episode III, and the Delta-7Bs in The Clone Wars.

[@moemuxhagi]

Yellow is just Anakin's colour

[@InventorZahran]

It's been confirmed in several official reference books that Anakin's personal starfighters were specifically painted to match the colors of his podracer.

[@Terminator484]

Likely because of his experiences with his podracer, and this experience in the N1 fighter. Ever since, he's been fond of those colors... at least, until Vader "killed" Anakin and switched to emo goth tones of black and gray.

[@maunz5791]

I always thought Anakin chose yellow for his fighters because it is the color of the naboo royal guard and he sees protecting padme as his highest goal...

[@podracer35]

@@moemuxhagi yellow like sand... Fitting 😂

[@ThomasFishwick]

“It’s poetry, it all rhymes” I thought that it was a fluke of design. The same artists working on both would naturally pull on the same inspiration. That said this perspective makes a lot of sense and ties into the idea that Luke knew how to fly the X-wing because of his experience bulls-eyeing whomp rats.

[@Gaelic-Spirit]

In his small snub fighter made by the same company with articulated wings, of course, which is also a T-Model ship

[@iivin4233]

@@Gaelic-Spirit You make some great points but they aren't drawn from the film so we can't use them as evidence for why Luke's piloting ability is better set up than Anakin's. However, three simple facts are sufficient to make Luke's transition to space fighting plausible. 1. Luke himself makes a comparison between his Tatooine piloting and space piloting. His veteran space pilot friend does not contradict Luke on this. 2. A weaker piece of evidence, the Rebellion let's Luke fly. He doesn't enter into battle because someone told him to hide in a space F-16. Presumably the Rebelion wouldn't have taken a chance on Luke if they'd thought he'd endanger their mission. 3. The Rebel base in Ep.4 will be destroyed if they don'd destroy the Death Star first. Even if they had reservations about Luke they are incentivized by the situation to clear him to fly. All this and--I'm assuming here--if they had discovered Luke's flying was more harmful than helpful they could have R2 fly their X-Wing home. This means that establishing Luke's piloting ability is less important than establishing Anakin's. The Rebels had a failsafe if Luke fucked up. Plus the attack of the Death Star might have failed without Luke but in principle any pilot could have made the shot he did. The plot does not require Luke to succeed. Honorable Mention: Luke is an adult. On the other hand, Ep.1's plot requires us to believe Anakin, a child and a racer of land based craft, can space pilot and can do so well enough to enter the hangar bay of a hostile ship. Anakin pulls this off without a briefing on his controls, without a plan or support from other fighters. He lands in a bay that we see in the first scene of the movie has cannons in it. There isn't even a scene transition where we can pretend Anakin took a test flight or rocked a simulation. Luke uses the force directly to assist his victory. Vader is distracted by the force. Obi-wan's presence is involved too. Luke knew about and trained a little bit in the force before he flew. Luke's success does not rely entirely on his piloting abilities. Anakin might have been using latent force powers his entire life. None of the Star Wars scripts say this is possible, though. Latent force powers are either a book creation or a fan theory. Conclusion: Anakin's character is as poorly written as we all thought it was.

[@toastyrules8221]

@@iivin4233 Anakin is using the force intuitively whilst driving that "land based craft", which provides (albeit limited) 3 dimensional movement at very fast speeds. Whilst him figuring out the consoles was very quick and convenient, but that point got brought up in the video.

[@Terminator484]

@@toastyrules8221 Not so far-fetched, even without the Force. He isn't randomly playing with the controls: he's trying them out. He systematically goes around the cockpit from one side to the other, flipping switches & pushing buttons to see what happens. If something happens, you remember it: thus you quickly learn what that button does. Both craft are designed for humanoids, so lot of the basic controls & displays are probably fairly universal, much like how real-world aircraft controls tend to have many similarities. The craft powered up from that big push button, so that's one function learned. A few more pokes & flips, then the cockpit shuts at the flip of a lever, so it's now clear what that lever does. The autopilot got its directions from the Theed palace, just like all the other fighters sent out... so Anakin had little to do during the trip up to orbit but poke the other controls & see what happened. Once R2 gets him off the autopilot & the controls unlock, the stick is pretty obvious to anyone who's flown or even observed a pilot flying, so he intuitively gets that. He gets more maneuverability than he expected when spinning, but he doesn't spin out of control (and R2 is certainly taking an active role as copilot to help). He doesn't try out the weapons until sitting deep in the hanger, but they are also intuitive enough for any child to figure out. By this point, he's got the essentials: power, cockpit, flight, throttle, and weapons. There isn't much more a new pilot would need to learn, apart from how to land... and he's got the other pilots to talk him through that when the time comes.

[@moscanaveia]

@@iivin4233 Except latent Force powers are a thing. Qui-gon literally says "you need Jedi reflexes if you race pods" and Anakin was he only human who could do it. Throughout the series we get hints and notions of a sixth sense Jedi do possess. Shmi says Anakin can see things before they happen. These clues, all put together, inform us that every Force sensitive has uncanny reflexes and a sixth sense akin to that of the Jedi. The gifts of the Force aren't only put forward from training. Training should be more linked with training other capabilities that both allowed a Jedi to tap into the Force more profoundly, to gain physical endurance, and to guard one's self against the dark side rather than beginner courses on how to lift rocks or read minds.

[@airplanemaster1]

As a side note, I think Anakin's favorite color is yellow: His Pod has yellow highlights, the N1's primary color is yellow, the airspeeder he chose in Episode 2 was yellow, and his interceptor in the beginning of 3 was yellow.

[@pwnmeisterage]

He didn't have a yellow lightsaber, though.

[@airplanemaster1]

That's more a case of the Force than anything else. Outside his control.

[@dinoboiis8147]

His eyes are yellow- wait no that’s vader’s

[@kanrakucheese]

3PO is arguable as another example.

[@meerkat1954]

@@kanrakucheese Also Open Circle Fleet emblem has yellow in it. But for some reason his 501st Legion is blue. Go figure.

[@ironcladnomad5639]

There's a lot of emphasis in both of Lucas' trilogies placed on intuition and how the Force can amplify that. By the final battle, Anakin has clearly been established as being very mechanically intuitive - troubleshooting the issue with his pod racer _during_ the race and later figuring out how the N-1's dual input controls function and where both the weapons systems and power settings are.

[@redtsar]

Yeah, I’m sick of hearing people trashing on Anakin learning how to fly a N1 So thank you for this

[@fartoofleet]

I never had a problem with that aspect of the film because I'm a Gundam fan. Force sensitivity works on a lot of the same rules as being a Newtype in the Gundam canon. Hyper-intuitive learning of space-flight systems, an impossible sense of 3D spatial awareness with no frame of reference (in the vacuum of space), minor pre-cognition in flight that operates like Spider-Sense. It's all there. The series both go to pains to show that force-sensitive/Newtype people are effectively just cheating when piloting, yet people still want to bitch and call-out both series for having extremely young protagonists learning to operate space war-machines on the fly. Luke had only ever flown a small craft in-atmosphere, so him getting into an X-Wing was the same as telling someone who hobby-flies a single-engine Cessna on weekends to dock the Space-X Dragon rocket with the ISS. Not possible, unless you are explicitly flagged in the plot as having a special gift which invalidates the rules, which both Luke and Anakin did.

[@seventh-hydra]

@@fartoofleet Zeon did nothing wrong

[@fartoofleet]

@@seventh-hydra Sieg Zeon

[@SoUncivilized414]

Nicely done, man. Some real sharp finds on the visual similarities, and *great* job keeping this piece in scope of the point that's being made.

[@illyth63]

There's also a parallel to THIS parallel in the story of A New Hope: Luke's T-16 Skyhopper (which he too flew through Beggar's Canyon) has been said to have shared the same control scheme as the T-65 X-Wing, which was also built by Incom. Luke similarly vocalizes the parallel twice, mentioning his days bulls-eyeing womp rats, and then comparing the trench run to Beggar's Canyon itself during the battle. It's a double rhyme! Definitely intentional in both cases, I think.

[@pwnmeisterage]

"This ain't like dusting crops, boy" is a poor substitute for the nuanced impact of showing the podracer/starfighter narrative take place in two different contexts. In my opinion.

[@waltonsimons9082]

@@pwnmeisterage wat

[@mariosbrother6845]

every analysis I see of Phantom Menace and its deep multi-layered storytelling makes me love the film more and more.

[@lilithmatriarch7509]

The Phantom Menace is a masterpiece and people constantly bashing it grinds my gears.

[@Corbomite_Meatballs]

@@lilithmatriarch7509 And I give you Jar-Jar Binks. I rest my case.

[@luckyblockyoshi]

@@Corbomite_Meatballs yeah, minus that part

[@InventorZahran]

@@Corbomite_Meatballs I used to enjoy him as a character, but I can't anymore since I became aware of how much of a racist caricature he is.

[@christopherstein2024]

@@InventorZahran Is it also racist that the slimy Neimodians have a french accent? I don't really see why a clumsy light skinned frog human is supposed to be a racist caricature just because of the way he speaks.

[@finaldarkfire]

On a similar note of visual parallels in The Phantom Menace, I think there's an argument to be made that the first act of TPM (from the opening to the escape from Naboo) is basically a complete thematic, functional and visual INVERSION of the same section of A New Hope. I mean, just compare the two opening shots: We go from a small, white-and-red ship flying away from a gigantic, sleek and angular ship over the backdrop of a barren, desert planet, to a shot of a small, red-and-white ship flying TOWARDS a gigantic, round, curved and bulbous ship over the backdrop of a lush, tropical planet. And that's just the OPENING SHOTS. Going further, Obi-wan and Qui-gon are the total opposites of R2D2 and C3PO, we go from the Empire just investigating Tatooine to the Trade Federation outright invading Naboo, the list just goes on and on.

[@nemesis7774]

There is a parallel I would like to add : the engine of the podracer are extremely similar in shape, if not very inspired by the PW-J58 engines of the SR-71. And Nabooan starfighter are like a gold and silver SR-71 from a certain point of view. So, they are linked by the Blackbird.

[@ToaArcan]

The Royal Starship was specifically designed after the Blackbird, and the N-1 is designed to look similar to the J-Type, so... yeah.

[@zehpr007]

I never thought of that, but yeah the N1 is kind of just a backwards SR-71, at least it is in my head lol.

[@nemesis7774]

@@zehpr007 Technically, it would be a backward YF-12, the interceptor variant of the A-12 Oxcart which was the CIA predecessor of the SR-71.

[@AdamEmond]

From a certain point of view

[@Merlincat007]

Alucard : [dramatically] The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. An advanced, long-range strategic reconnaissance aircraft, capable of Mach 3 and an altitude of eighty-five thousand feet! Sir Integra Hellsing : You sure do seem to know a lot about it. Alucard : [enraged] DO YOU EVEN READ MY CHRISTMAS LIST? - from Hellsing Ultimate Abridged (maybe my all-time favorite hilarious KZbin video series!)

[@slothfulcobra]

Man, I didn't remember there being that many direct shots of Anakin fiddling around with controls. That's probably more than the bulk of the series.

[@QseftJohn]

I remember Lucas saying something like, "It's like poetry. It rhymes". They knew what they were doing.

[@cstick2664]

The prequels, and George Lucas’ 6 Star Wars films as a whole, are a lot deeper or more complicated than people give them credit for. Style Is Substance’s video on the Phantom Menace is a great place to start on this idea. This scene, the space battle in the control station, is the one scene he sorta bypassed but I think you hit the nail squarely on the head here. This is really smart and I feel dumb for not seeing it sooner. Good work

[@F14thunderhawk]

OT: Good, but Flawed by constraints of time and budget PT: Flawed in execution, but fundamentally even better conceptualized and designed then the OT. ST; well, at least TFA left some good things to work with for Ryan to burn down to the ground

[@DerFinder]

that's so cool! I love the idea of showing character developement this way. George was always a genious, we just couldn't see it

[@Spacewizard54321]

Now that is podracing

[@mateteag]

It is like this. There had to be a justification in the story for young Anakin to have the ability to skillfully pilot a starfighter.

[@LtCWest]

You know what would be even funnier? If it turns out that the engines used in Anakins Podracer were of the same model as those of an N1, just stripped down and heavily modified ^^

[@alexandercaires5921]

I can see that as an in universe explanation; with a little force mixed in

[@brentc2411]

eh, they're clearly much larger in every way, plus we see a stripped down version of one of the podracers engines in Mamdalorian, and it's still much larger than the N1 engine.

[@synergysmo]

"Ah yes, ah yes. Nubian. We have lots of that."

[@shadowstal3er082]

@@brentc2411 after years of modifications and haphazard repairs, they could conceivably get larger and have other changes made. And the overall shape of the cockpits follow the same lines and size. The idea that anakins pod racer is super stripped down n1 actually makes a lot of sense

[@brentc2411]

@@shadowstal3er082 not really, like the actual internal turbines and everything are a larger circumference. Side by side, you could literally fit the N1s engine inside one of engine of Anakins podracer. I could believe that they are Nubian engines, from some other type of ship, just not that specific one. I Also say this because I feel like it's a stretch to say that one of the Starfighters currently being used by the Naboo royal guard, has already ended up not only as scrap, but repurposed into a podracer. That's like saying I built a drag racer out of this F-22 I found laying around.

[@TRLAuthor]

Man, I've seen Phantom Menace dozens of times, and I don't think I ever realized how Anakin's flight in the end so exactly mirrors his pod race. That's a brilliant catch.

[@jw6337]

It's like poetry, it rhymes

[@Kraftmatic81]

I think this was actually confirmed by the designer in the most recent behind the scenes documentary about Book of Boba Fett. It’s at the 39:19 mark of the video he talks about how it’s literally supposed to be an F1 version of Anakin’s speeder.

[@ECHenry]

Ahhh, interesting! He does say “F1 version of an x-wing,” but he also says “it’s supposed to be Anakin’s speeder,” which definitely looks like some official confirmation of this concept. Wish I had known about this a few hours ago, or I would have included it, haha xD

[@Kraftmatic81]

Lol I was listening like “ooooh he hasn’t seen the thing!” Love your content btw! Seriously fantastic work.

[@Indo-Fury6521]

@@ECHenry What would the First Order version of the Tie advanced V1 would look like.

[@Smaxx]

This is interesting. I always made the connection shape wise, but I've never noticed the sequence being almost identical… 🤯

[@scottydo5282]

Great video. I'm surprised I never noticed it but it kinda makes sense. Also, you should do a design video on a real life N1 (as in made with real world parts that could theoretically fly). I feel like you could make a really sick model of one.

[@coltnichols4502]

Now THIS is where the fun begins

[@McGowanForge]

The naboo fighter is my favorite fighter in star wars, don't really know why I just love the design

[@Enterprisingengine93]

Wow this is...brilliant. thinking about this is going to make me smile while I watch the movie

[@AnthonyBerkshire]

George put so much subtext into this movie.

[@thenoob2329]

*"It's like poetry, it rhymes"*

[@hob976]

This blew my mind.

[@bradhedgehog12]

Holy crap! Your....your right. I mean Djarin the Mando was showing that. Cool!

[@dreamsquare123]

This video blew my mind.

[@diamondcreepah]

"you might be fair in thinking Im making a little bit of a stretch here" dude you had me at the shape comparison. never realized how similar the two were

[@vaos3712]

Wow they really do lineup almost perfectly.

[@britishskeleton777]

If u flip the pod race cockpit and drag it closer to the engines u can kinda see it look like the undercarriage of the nabo fighter

[@nikolavonfulton5195]

Ah I wanted to see a Naboo pod racer …. Love it when you make new star-wars vehicles

[@t.b.cont.]

Podracers are literally jet-chariots I cannot unsee it

[@chompythebeast]

People don't give Episode 1 enough credit. Granted, the kid and Jar Jar and even the Midichlorians bits are poorly written/delivered, but there's so much around those bits that is sort of genuinely iconic. It has the most compelling fantasy sequences (going through the Planet Core was literally just Star Tours and I loved it lol) and the most compelling score of the Prequels. I find it hard not to laugh at the terrible parts and revel in the delightfully slow storytelling that Episode 1 brings to the Star Wars mythos

[@awesomedonut8228]

i feel like the fan base had gradually come to accept and welcome these choices with open arms, granted some of it might need a shift in perspective, personally, as a kid, i love watching anakin on-screen, and even now i don’t see a problem with jake lloyd’s performance, jar jar bunks is fixed by heavy head canon, canonically he’s not a sigh lord as far as we know, doesn’t mean he can’t be force sensitive and is generating his own field of luck, and midi-chlorians isn’t what made the force, it’s a life form, and the force flows through all life, they’re just exceptionally receptive and thrive in force-rich environments, e. i. a force-abundance universe with life forms who are in-tuned with it.

[@dakota6054]

Apparently the midichlorians bit was a proof of concept since the first release, but Lucas never found a way to write it into the original Trilogy. At this point it just seems like a misstep in communication by someone who's known about it for 40 years and is having to work it in for the first time. It would probably be as clunky a task as explaining bacterial infection to a believer of the old concept of "the miasma"

[@nr1229]

Despite all it's flaws, it's in my opinion the best prequel movie and the one that is the most "starwarsy" in look, feel, cinematography and execution. I wish the other two were closer to phantom menace.

[@keith6706]

@@nr1229 Well, in terms of the overall story they can't be because they're setting up the fact the Republic falls and Palpatine wins, so they have to be darker.

[@alexanderackerman3807]

I like the explanation that midichlorians are sort of like fireflies reacting to light and they essentially determine a person's force sensitivity by how many midichlorians react to them

[@erictrobin]

Yellow is also the color of Anakin's chosen speeder in Ep. 2 and his starfighter in Ep. 3. Of course these choices are not coincidence!

[@Noone-of-your-Business]

Interesting how this has eluded me all this time. And once you see it, you cannot, of course, un-see it. Thanks for pointing it out.

[@Capsuleer7]

I always liked the pod racing in the Phantom Menace. Even when young it emphasized to me how Anakin was a quick learner and naturally talented.

[@philismenko]

I love how you are talking about the way that props add to the story, which doesn't seem like it happens much

[@jgphoenix4404]

I was waiting for someone to make a video about this. And then you went even deeper. Perfection~

[@Moneynis]

This is remarkable. I never put the two together and this shows how much George loved his stories.

[@technologic21]

"It rhymes." - GL

[@JavierBonilla78]

Foreshadowing is one of the key elements of storytelling, either by dialogue, parallel concepts or visual elements.

[@johnbeddome2249]

In the novelization R2 D2 painted the cockpit probably in his favorite color silver and blue

[@sithlordjeffbledsoe651]

George said when making a movie or writing its like poetry it’s gotta rhyme and have rhythm so I can see George doing this .

[@P3DR0877]

This is a great observation and i concur but ya just a theory until confirmed

[@Pohuhopl1]

You know what? Similarities in cockpits is give my idea... What if he actually use parts of actuall precursor of N-1? Maybe not actual produced on Naboo, but the one that it was based on.

[@Xagii1]

Hey, Henry! have you noticed in Episode 1 of Obi Wan Kenobi, when leia is in a tree watching some ships sail, you can see the Porche's design of a starfighter??? or am i crazy?

[@dougchee]

You ain't crazy, they call it by the official "tri-wing" name too.

[@korey15]

George is a genius when it comes to these parallels.

[@rustyduktape]

Honestly, the whole representation of podracing and the Boonta Eve Classic is such a great sci-fi interpretation of racing and motorsport in general. I too would love to hear from some people involved in these decisions as I would bet there is a crossover with some of those people and real world motorsport. The whole race sequence is so well done. As a kid I always wanted to know more about podracing! And I have to say, Anakin's Podracer and the Naboo Starfighter are two my favorite sci-fi "ships" ever.

[@superhomsar2112]

Anakin's pod is his T-16. In-canon, X-wings controlled very similar to vehicles used by common farmers who joined the rebellion, so they could learn to fly one proficiently in short time. You pointing out the similarities between the pod and the N1 just made me realize that parallel.

[@Tarquin21723]

The Naboo fighter was always my favorite. I loved using it in Rogue Squadron for N64.

[@MattSipka]

I always thought “now this is podracing” was a callback to “just like beggar’s canyon back home,” from a new Hope.

[@glenn_r_frank_author]

Fascinating observation! Totally see it now and not sure why I never really put that together except maybe in my subconscious.

[@dinoboiis8147]

The name and design of the starfighter even gives homage to the F1 Powerboat, a RACING vehicle.

[@mr_satay]

the similarities with the camera shots is awesome, nice work

[@Alwaysasherlok]

Old Star Wars game called SW Galactic Battlegrounds had the Naboo as a faction. Fighters hat 3 levels which would be upgraded as you get the resources. The N1 in the movie is the "fast fighter" or tier 2 fighter, and the "advanced fighter" or tier 3 fighter had the Pod on top, and looses the long tail of the N1. I played that game from the age of 8. It was the first RTS game I ever played.

[@bohba13]

this is what was missing from the sequels. the subtle connections that we as an audience barely notice, but ground the work in its own universe and narrative.

[@_JellyWalker]

23 years later and we're still finding poetry that rhymes.

[@daniellclary]

That is an interesting concept. Some brilliant work. I never thought of it that way, but it adds up.

[@DarinRWagner]

The N-1 Starfighter is also an F-104 Interceptor ("Starfighter") backwards with its wings clipped.

[@user-mx8nr3sp6n]

The force is strong with this one. Good eye, sir.

[@irawolf]

After seeing your video, I have more respect for Episode I. That is quite an accomplishment! Well done!

[@Rynosaur94]

I always thought it was the other way around. The podracer IS a starfighter. It forshadows all the other starfighter scenes.

[@ahexadron]

Great visuals to explain the similarities! Nice job! Phantom Menace had awesome starship designs, the naboo starfighter is one of my favorites.

[@Bas-G]

This feels like something that Adam Savage should know, having worked on the movies.

[@thedofflin]

I never even thought about this, but I'm thoroughly convinced. Very cool

[@kommandantbaker]

Man, now I love the N-1 even more. Right from the first time I saw the N-1 she became my favourite starfighter of any sci-fi franchise. She may not be as maneuverable as the TIE or as heavily armed as the T-65 but, damn does she have style.

[@doc_sav]

It is also a nice little throwback to the idea of certain canyons on Tatooine being proving grounds of sorts for ships and pilots. Just like Beggar's Canyon back home.

[@howilearned2stopworrying508]

this is supported by the hotrod repulsor car (and his clone wars cartoon fighter) also have the podracer motifs

[@immianow]

You had all the chance i the world to say “It’s like poetry it rhymes”… Great Video either way

[@UnrelatedAntonym]

Blimey. Great points made.

[@vertice2759]

I always thought about this as a kid.

[@slavsquatsuperstar]

As a certain filmmaker once said, “It’s like poetry. It rhymes”

[@jamesbutler3405]

There are so many ways to tear down Episode 1. Thank you for this insightful analysis to build it up!

[@HeatMyShorts]

Great video. You REALLY connected the dots here! Love it!

[@ianappling9018]

I love your videos. They dig deep into the movies we love so dearly. Thanks!

[@ZeeZeeBun]

Now that I watch you talk about this, I feel like it was staring me in the face and I missed it.... Wow..

[@MJam1308]

If you flip the pod section of anakin’s pod-racer it kinda looks like the cockpit of the N-1

[@gonkdroid8279]

This is a great analysis!

[@shingshongshamalama]

I feel like this is yet another example of the prequels, having really good ideas that often don't come across very well. Credit to whoever was actually doing all the editing and storyboarding that put these sequences together, because yep they sure do work, but it took you _pointing it out explicitly_ for me to even have any idea it was there. I feel like that right there is some kind of failure of the medium and I have no idea what went wrong or how to fix it which is infuriating.

[@waltascher]

Yet it didn’t take someone pointing it out for *him* to see it, so maybe the issue isn’t the movie. Sometimes things just go over our heads. Personally, I see it as a strength when a movie can still have new details in it uncovered after so many viewings.

[@737Garrus]

You open so many doors I've never even realized even existed! Like Luke's Land Speeder actually being a wheeled vehicle Luke modified to hover a foot or 2 off the floor and the "Secrets Of Star Wars Design" video! You are worth Your weight in gold!

[@Kuudere-Kun]

These parallels are right inline with the kinds of things Rick Worley likes to point out.

[@3rdCharcoal]

Always makes my day better to see you made another video thanks for another video

[@90lancaster]

I think they hammer the point home a fair bit in the Movie Novelisation as best as I can recall. Nice example of show don't tell, even if he does also eventually "well tell " too.

[@Irobert1115HD]

dont forget that this si,ilarity also explains why anakin can actually fly a seemingly new ship: it uses a controll scheme he actually is familiar with so he only needs to figure out a few switches he doesnt know and get a grasp on the handling. like luke with the x-wing.

[@kermunklin7704]

Wow. I can't say how many times I've seen this movie, and I never even remotely picked up on this. Great video!

[@Neptune0404]

I think this is a good example of how both the originals but also the prequels were to their core a passion project. Its filled with details, and importantly its the type of details you notice, but you don't realize that you notice. And it is exactly those types of details that make something go from ok to great. You can say what you will about the phantom menace, but despite its sometimes dodgy cgi and a bit too much Jar Jar, it was well made, and it was made with passion.

[@TheGreatGonzales777]

There’s not a single video you’ve made that I haven’t drooled over.