RiffTrax - Podracing Scene

STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE
www.rifftrax.com/rifftrax/star...
Of all the many Binks in the world, who is the most skull-crushingly annoying? Is it the Binks Company, the Canadian insurance brokers? Is it the U.S. manufacturers of spray guns, paint booths, and electrostatic spray equipment? Or is Jar Jar, the mouthy horse-lizard from the 4th Star Wars movie, appropriately titled Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace? If you said anything but number three, you are imprisonably insane!
That's right, Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy take on the franchise-ruining Star Wars that everybody loves to hate but nobody loves to watch! Only we make you want to watch it again, and laugh instead of kill! Finally, Jar Jar gets what he deserves!

[@ScreamingScallop]

"Be safe," she said as she tucked her little boy away into his homemade levitating magno-laser-based hypersonic racer.

[@johnpooky84]

Ehh...not hypersonic. Supersonic, though. In Star Wars Episode One Racer, I've gotten Anikan to just over 1,000mph in the zero-g sections of the Oovoo VI tracks. So...a little under Mach 2.

[@jamesfrank3213]

Be safe as you fly two giant turbines held together with electrical cable to a sleigh with no seatbelt, crash structures, ejection seats, parachutes, clearly defined track layouts, rules for driver conduct, track security. Basically, you let your kid compete in a bloodsport as if he was going to a t-ball game.

[@bazookahorse]

@@jamesfrank3213 Apparently there's no such thing as kids just wanting to be a space Minecraft youtuber in their society.

[@Alexanderzzzzon]

@ScreamingScallop and also that small detail which she knows.. that there’s deadly tackles going on and also sand people with fucking rifles…

[@amead78]

Hey, he’s wearing a helmet. Lol

[@tystratton-quirk9859]

Let me get this straight: Tusken Raiders are able to hit Podracers going at top speed from at least a hundred meters using projectile weapons, while stormtroopers can't bring down a single target, on foot, in a narrow hallway, with energy weapons which will always fire in a straight line, and Obi-Wan said something along the lines of, "These blast points are too accurate for Sand People. Only Imperial stormtroopers show such skill. Kind of makes me wonder just HOW LONG he'd been out in the suns...

[@tystratton-quirk9859]

Also, Liam Neeson? Only actor worth watching in this film.

[@Jakethesnake1281]

I think its that everyone is just racist against the Tuskens.

[@GuitarrAssassin]

Actually, if you pay a little more attention, the 501st (the storm troopers we see the most of in the OT) are rather formidable. The times the heroes get away they miss on purpose. Take ANH for example. The heroes are trapped on the Death Star and after the Storm Troopers "Suck at their job". Where do they go? The rebel base on Yavin...the very place the Empire had been searching for the entire movie. The only time I'd agree that the Storm Troopers sucked would be on Endore against the Ewoks, but that's just shitty writing on Lucas's part.

[@pytko3]

***** EU materiel is not canon. Only the movies count, nothing else.

[@roewedge]

pytko3 He was talking about the movies lol.

[@victorhernandez8723]

"There's dirty Dick Dastardly doing something despicable to the Crimson Haybaler."

[@monkeymouse]

"And finally the ones we ripped off: Judah Ben-Hur and Masala!" Funny because it's so true!

[@guyincognito5663]

Saw this in a theater. Still kicks ass! I don’t care what anyone says, this movie is amazing.

[@JeanLucCaptain]

we need PODRACER A STAR WARS STORY

[@hanbill]

same, this is awesome part of world building

[@sw2953]

No it's not.

[@crixxxxxxxxx]

What makes it amazing? The thrilling political debates about space taxes or the unfunny alien sidekick who steps in poop? The wooden acting perhaps?

[@hanbill]

@@crixxxxxxxxx

[@thereefshark]

"Steve Buschemi, ladies and gentlemen!". God, that killed me XD

[@victorhernandez8723]

"Steve Buscemi, ladies and gentlemen! Steve Buscemi!"

[@creekandseminole]

"Now here's Rosanne Barr to sing the national anthem!" "I come to you in the name of trans fats!"

[@KaladinVegapunk]

That never fails to make me laugh hahaha

[@efxman]

"Reminds me of the Muppet Show, only when I watched that, I don't remember feeling the urge to kill myself."

[@belisauriusfish9406]

In defense of this scene, rocket powered chariot races are a really cool concept.

[@KrillLiberator]

It's far and away the best scene in the entire movie.

[@CrumpledSandwich]

Shut up it doesn’t need defending.

[@TheRealBDouble]

I mean in our terms, it's basically strapping two jet engines to a go-kart

[@von_Farr]

@@TheRealBDouble and is that not awesome?

[@TheRealBDouble]

@@von_Farr Hell yes it is

[@TubeRudeYou]

Well, I for one am impressed by the great sound design and visceral cinematography.

[@agentofentertainment1361]

“Feel,don’t think,use your instincts.” How George Lucas wrote the prequels.

[@victorhernandez8723]

"Damn, I love that second amendment!"

[@mistylover7398]

You gotta love seeing innocent creatures die a horrible death. And jar jar curly

[@victorhernandez8723]

"Watch out! It's Haley Joel Osment in a Saturn! Get out of the way!"

[@Midwest_Redneck]

Oh! Greg Proops is an announcer! I'd recognize his "Sports Commentators" voice anywhere.

[@tystratton-quirk9859]

Sure, Jabba has his faults, but that was just cruel!

[@SuitedPim]

Greg Poops

[@olleronn616]

Uh oh, NASCAR fans!

[@justint8851]

Just exercising my constitutional rights

[@TailsFan369no2]

@@justint8851 Dang I love that second amendment

[@Ladderthief1]

"Get in the pod Ani." Should've added "Quickly, there's no time!"

[@guyvizard549]

Oh, hell yeah!

[@barleysixseventwo6665]

"Endless Racing Sequence" I'll say! 15 minutes? That's not a scene, that's a fifth of a movie!

[@chitoryu12]

And isn't it just fucking awesome?

[@animatedink2529]

@@chitoryu12 No

[@mollymcdade4031]

You know what would round this off perfectly? A game of quidditch...

[@StoickTheTired]

This scene was a full 15 minutes? WHAT?!

[@sixx28199028]

Most of the second lap was cut out for the theatrical release thank god.

[@KenoshiAkai]

There's an extended cut on the DVD if you want to see more podracing action. And by action, I mean pre-race antics with the little CG critters who will eventually die in flames.

[@orinanime]

@@KenoshiAkai The CGI antics and flame death aren't pre-race. They're at 7:28 in the video.

[@bromodragone8405]

@@KenoshiAkai Clegg Holdfast didnt die. It's confirmed he survived and claimed to come in 7th. He was actually a freelance reporter.

[@KenoshiAkai]

@@orinanime That's why I said "...eventually die in flames."

[@MiriOhki]

Love the swat about Barb Wire (for the unaware, MST3K the Movie was put up against Barb Wire in the theaters, despite both being by the same distributor, and they put all the advertising on Barb Wire)

[@harrietamidala1691]

"Feel, don't think." I keep thinking of Frozen: Conceal don't feel.

[@mistylover7398]

I never feel and ever did/do 🤖

[@skiing6872]

I freaking love this concept. The two large thrust propelled engines that are built in with repulsive units, and a small little cockpit dangling from cables… And they go like almost 600 MPH which is ridiculously fast and awesome!

[@arshdeep125]

1:15 haha . "We will we will, flatoobalate you" XD hahaha

[@mistylover7398]

Don't you love seeing innocent creatures die a horrible death?

[@MelindaColden]

god i could listen to sebulbas pod racer engines for hours the sound design of the prequels was absolutely magnificent

[@maxbrandt6]

"Lowly Worm is out for blood!" LOL

[@IsItModern]

At 1:07 the cgi character in the pod was apparently incomplete. Look close and you'll notice his actions get played, reversed, played and reversed.

[@GeneralSecura]

I believe that one was a puppet.

[@IsItModern]

GeneralSecura Let's Plays I honestly didn't speculate over what it was, so you're probably right. But I do know that it has been reversed and vice versa like I said.

[@justiceleague3000]

You're right. The same exact character animation appears at 4:25 as well. Apparently they only made that one tiny animation sequence and repeated it.

[@LooseCannon700]

GeneralSecura Let's Plays No it's not.

[@sock2828]

Wow, that is a terrible loop.

[@MigPlz91LivestreamOnly]

"Uh huh, and what is the story?' -Mike

[@WayWardWonderer]

Never realized how long this race really was... Damn...

[@mistylover7398]

That's what she said

[@sw2953]

It's even longer now than it used to be. I'm used to the VHS copy of the movie and now there's so much added in shit that makes an already tedious scene longer and more drawn out. And would you believe that there was even MORE that Lucas decided somehow was too much and left it out? Look up the deleted scenes some time. This damn scene could have been damn near 30 minutes and all just to sell a freaking video game. God.

[@maxsanchez764]

Not complaining lmao, it’s literally one of my fav scenes in a movie

[@SonicRyan1992]

it takes Rifftrax to make you realize that what Shmi is holding what will eventually become the iPad. but giving an insane rooster man credit for predicting the future is not a comforting idea, so let's chalk that up to coincidence.

[@cygil1]

There are proto-ipads in "Star Trek" (1966) and "2001: A Space Odyssey." Alan Kay's "Dynabook" proposal from 1972 is an ipad without a virtual keyboard, (the possibility of replacing the fixed keyboard with a virtual keyboard was mentioned in his proposal.) The first commercially viable tablet computer was the GridPad released in 1989, and by the mid-nineties there was the Apple Newton, the Palm Pilot, and the windows CE based tablets. So not a brave prediction for Lucas.

[@Razorgeist]

@@cygil1 Yeah I was about to say they had pads in Star Trek long before this.

[@brianoneil9662]

"So George Lucas is a four year old..." Nailed it.

[@victorhernandez8723]

"Modeled after a motion picture executive, that guy."

[@mrfamous333]

GREG PROOPS!

[@victorhernandez8723]

I've been looking all over KZbin for a RiffTrax video with the entire pod racing scene from Star Wars Episode 1 and now I finally found one. Thank you so much for posting this video.

[@Trainlover1995]

When this movie was on Cartoon Network last year, I played this video over the podrace on my phone. Made the entire thing much better than I thought it would.

[@PhilBagels]

If Jabba can sleep through this, why can't we?

[@MigPlz91LivestreamOnly]

Good point

[@victorhernandez8723]

"Vermont's favorite dairy cow."

[@cutiepuppy4427]

Rock climbing, Mike... Rock. Climbing.

[@mrguy22494]

Liam Neeson was probably the best thing about Star Wars Episode 1 besides Darth Maul.

[@typacsk]

The vehicle designs are a high entry on that short list, too ;)

[@pastabird2078]

The one good thing about the prequels is that it did introduce a ton of new worlds and lore.

[@discountchocolate4577]

The prequels are top-tier worldbuilding buried under a uniquely awful combination of schlock and political intrigue presented in the dullest fashion imaginable. Lucas tried to have it both ways by both dangling action scenes in front of children like keys while also presenting the sort of political commentary on the natural trajectory of a decaying liberal democracy towards dictatorship that mostly fell on deaf ears in post-9/11 America or felt hamfisted when it didn't (Anakin's "you're with me or you're my enemy"; Padme's "democracy dies with thunderous applause") because his mostly American audience at the time knew next to nothing about even their _own_ history.

[@Shades14]

I'm going to get so much hate for this but I actually like the podrace scene.

[@jeremymullins1294]

The Shady Reviewer same here dude...and I'm 32 years old. The sound design is amazing...I remember seeing it at the opening midnight screening and thinking this is the most badass sound I've heard.

[@murrfeeling]

The Shady Reviewer SW-TPM did still bring in a few stunning setpieces and wow factor hunks of space-fantasy. It just failed in fundamental movie ways such as having little in the way of likable characters, tight dialogue and an overall satisfying story arcs. It often broken down when the effects were not quite right, but that was in its minor flaws.

[@DeadPandaddy]

Jeremy Mullins Anakins racer uses i think a combo of 90's F1 and Rally engine sounds. whatever it is it sounds fucking gorgeous

[@janwillem8170]

Hate? It was by far the best scene of all episodes

[@haroldflower9095]

Shades I love it but I do think it goes on too long

[@LuigiGodzillaGirl]

When I was a kid, I thought Jarjar was the shit. Now, I just cringe.

[@Avesfox]

well, we can confirm that he was A shit. so you were half right, there.

[@l.a.gothro3999]

Sounds like the writers re-read every single story written by Dr. Seuss before they created the script. Nice job!

[@nehemiah347]

I love this scene but the second lap is basically overkill I admit to enjoying the fact that it was not in theaters

[@Depth217]

"Here's Roseanne Barr to sing the national anthem!" "I come to you in the name of trans fats!" Freaking hilarious, best riffs in the whole video!

[@TwilitKing111906]

Haley Joel Osment and his Saturn 😂😂😂😂

[@TheNightWatcher1385]

I actually love this scene

[@codysilverstein2533]

It’s my favourite scene out of all the Star Wars movies

[@jonathanpeden9930]

I keep coming back to this...even though I should know better...

[@victorhernandez8723]

Jonathan Peden Mike, Bill, and Kevin riffing this movie makes it a lot more fun to watch!

[@captainbeckyrayshoichetuss6418]

One of the most fun things to do before becoming one of the most feared villains: pod racing.

[@mistylover7398]

Who's the guys talking and narrating da thing by making things up?

[@ryannightingale6520]

14:29 the most awkward inter-species high-five attempt ever caught on film

[@guyvizard549]

Warwick Davis: "Kid... kid, for the last time, I can't see bloody hell out of this. Ah, screw it."

[@kellyweingart3692]

lol

[@rayschoettker281]

Mystery Science Theater 4000!

[@victorhernandez8723]

"And now here's Rosanne Barr to sing the national anthem."

[@victorhernandez8723]

I'm so glad I checked out the Pinchcliffe Grand Prix due to your RiffTrax video. Thanks a lot.

[@bud9133]

Only with Mike and Pals can they mention Pinchcliffe Grand Prix, a superior movie, whilst watching Pod Racing. I loved this, and now I love it more with Rifftrax

[@Eliezar18]

I'm surprised that they didn't make a comment at the end about how jabba was basically representing the audience's attitude towards this scene.

[@Tareltonlives]

Marginally more interesting than Qudditch

[@koala201211]

No, not even close.

[@Hakkai87]

I actually like this scene, but I was 9 when the movie came out so I didn't know any better.

[@Hooperick36]

I was 9 as well.

[@LooseCannon700]

Same.

[@TuWear]

Same thing as the kids raised in the original trilogy. They didn't know any better and enjoyed the boring original trilogy.

[@84MadHatter]

TuWear if you think Empire strikes back is boring I pray for you soul and brain

[@JustAFilmGuy]

TuWear I didn't see the unaltered original trilogy until I was well into my late teens; that didn't stop me from falling in love with it. By contrast, I can hardly finish watching AotC or RotS all the way through.

[@TheAnchorArmsChad]

"I come in the name of Transfat!"

[@colosal30]

"Dam, I love that second amendment!" min 6.55 while some people lift their guns... Funny!!!

[@REDV120652]

Note To Self.. Before racing get some podracing insurance.. Trust me you'll need it.. RV

[@victorhernandez8723]

"Eat fender, Heineken!"

[@christopherwall2121]

"Modeled after a motion picture executive, that guy." And I bet I know which one...

[@Flowerbarrel]

I enjoyed that race. It reminded me of Formula One.

[@victorhernandez8723]

I like the Wacky Races references in this video.

[@daveyhouston]

Damn I love that second amendment !! Lol

[@limbdarkening]

HUGE pet peeve. When aliens talk to the humans in their own language and humans answer them back in English and everyone understands each other...

[@nastrael]

Are you saying Aliens aren't allowed to speak English? Racist.

[@verenov77]

Incog Neato Actually, it's not "English" in the Star Wars Universe. I believe it's referred to as "Galactic Basic", which is why everyone understands it.

[@limbdarkening]

GravelsteinGaming I did not know that! How about Star Trek, what is everyone speaking in that? In Dungeons and Dragons it's called 'Common'.

[@verenov77]

Incog Neato Star Trek everyone has implanted a universal translator, or they're on every ship (or, just about every ship). In Enterprise (the show), the universal translator is in it's infant stage with Yoshi (communications) being the lucky linguist in charge of working with the translator to figure out syntax and such with first encounters. At times it's funny, but most times it's frustrating to say the least. :)

[@verenov77]

Incog Neato Oh, and yeah, Galactic Basic is essentially the same thing as Common in D&D albeit on a universal scale.

[@AtomicRobloxProductions]

Honestly, hella late to this whole video lmao, but this scene is unrionically one of my favorite scenes ever in Star Wars. From the action to the goofy racers to the pod designs, it's probably the most I've enjoyed something racing related. Plus the design of them was just neat! I mean, a little cart attached to what's essentially two oversized jet engines by a couple hoses? That's badass! The movie and prequels do have their problems yes, and I know alotta people hated them and this scene, but I can't bring myself not to love this one.

[@da1nonly345]

Anyone else still get goosebumps at the start of the 3rd (& final) lap?

[@ericstoverink6579]

No.

[@da1nonly345]

@@ericstoverink6579 rough upbringing huh?

[@enjoyer6201]

@@da1nonly345 He seems well-adjusted to me.

[@guyincognito5663]

YES

[@svenjansen2134]

Sorry but no.

[@SaurianStudios1207]

Forget about the how awful the rest of the film is, this along with the Darth maul scene are the best things of this movie and one of the best scenes in any star wars movie. I really like this scene.

[@vonzigle]

Sorry fans, this is the most tedious sequence I've seen in any Star Wars film.

[@jamesplunkett8912]

I noticed some Jedi abilities about Young Skywalker, knowledge, brains, and power!

[@TheTwick]

How to win any race - just accelerate!

[@AdamWenborn12]

Patiently waiting for the next Star Wars TV series focusing entirely on the Podracing scene with all these awesome characters.

[@christimacc]

You know, the special effects on this thing have not aged well.

[@RBEO22]

It's no F-Zero...

[@iagoantonelli1151]

"Oh, look out, Nascar fans" I died

[@KarmikCykle]

Ironically, out of this terrible, overlong scene, we got a surprisingly fun video game.

[@KarmikCykle]

And I posted this literally seconds before they mentioned the game...

[@LeePresson]

One could assume that this sequence was conceived for the purpose of selling a videogame!

[@KarmikCykle]

Lee Presson Something in the prequels as a soulless cash grab? That's just crazy talk.

[@filipinowhiteboy]

...That I can't play on windows 7

[@TOBORtheMighty]

What is ironic about them making a video game out of a segment designed specifically to be turned in to a video game? Marketing is what Lucas is best at.

[@KaladinVegapunk]

Rosanne Barr here to sing the national anthem as jabba comes out will always crack me up hahaha that's too funny

[@DemiDogg]

Haha reminds me of Mystery Science Theater xD

[@colosal30]

Well, they are the crew of that show. Don't recognize Mike's and Crow's voices?

[@DemiDogg]

I thought it was just convenience! Wow lol thanks for pointing that out XD

[@colosal30]

Welcome. We all love those guys.

[@colosal30]

Enoc Uzumaki Sorry it's not Crow who is doing this with mike, it is TOM SERVO

[@MagusLay]

I thought that, by itself, the whole pod race scene was fun if not to enjoy a good sci-fi race. By itself, with just the brief name-drop before the race begins, I can enjoy this as if it were like a "Twisted Metal meets Nascar" thing. As a part of a whole movie, this scene contributed nothing except to pad out the movie long enough to say "Anikan can leave the planet so he can become Darth Vader now." It's a horrible, senseless padding that could have been done in much better ways. I can see Lucas wanting to use a gamble to add some suspense, but this was not how it should have been done. N64 Pod Racing, however, is one of the best things ever.

[@Senthain]

The arcade version is even better.

[@MrCrystalm8]

Sorry bro can't hear you over the sound of those badass pod racer noises

[@joelbibeault1169]

Honestly, this scene and Duel of the Fates saved this movie from being utterly garbage. To the point it's a decent movie

[@amiefortman7220]

Are you kidding me? Sebulba makes Steve Buscemi look like Channing Tatum (hey, there will be no dissing the 'Scemi.) :)

[@azureATC]

Criticize the podracing scene all you want, but when I was eleven years old it was so bad-ass. Plus it spawned one of my favorite games for the N64 and one of my favorite racing games in general. Although I love Rifftrax and I'm not some butthurt idiot like TuWear below me.

[@stylezz36]

Hahahahaa!! That was awesome!! Well done guys

[@TheWonderStraw]

"But what's wrong with the pod race?" people ask me. the bit starting @ 6:07 sums up my answer pretty accurately

[@Dektoonics_inc.]

TheWonderStraw elaborate?

[@victorhernandez8723]

"The pre-race show brought to you by the new Dodge truck and by Bud Lite who invites you to drink your fill and drive home in your Dodge truck."

[@victorhernandez8723]

Finally! I can watch this video again!

[@Kelfsword16]

Sweet mother of-- there was MORE of this stuff??? Ah well, more for the Rifftrax boys to snark on.

[@joemalinchalk1314]

I installed and repaired at least 50, SEGA Pod Racer games and have never seen the movie scene until now.

[@charlesdcw1990]

My God!! 15 minutes?? What was Lucas THINKING?????

[@ElvenRaptor]

It is just me or is this scene all over the place in terms of tone? It's like it wants to be family friendly but most of the visuals are like things right out of my nightmares and the black humor you get from Jabba and the bad racer really feel out of place. Plus, the deaths of the other racers are pretty brutal.

[@crimsondynamo615]

ElvenRaptor someone tried to explain tone to Lucas, but he didn’t get it so the guy stopped explaining

[@pzokz]

Yes, it's insane. And a vivid demonstration of how many people only pay attention to intended tone and ignore and/or don't think about what's really happening. "And then our wise heroes send a little kid into the RACE OF DEATH"... but he wins against all odds, while most others die... all in good fun!

[@ElvenRaptor]

@@pzokz The sheer tone-deafness of this sequence is stunning, isn't it?

[@pzokz]

@@ElvenRaptor Yes, quite. Anakin won the race! Yay! Almost everyone else is dead, but they were funny aliens so... yay!

[@ElvenRaptor]

@@pzokz And that'd be fine if "Phantom Menace" was supposed to be grittier. Alas.

[@HubertHoratio]

Looks like they added a lot to this scene when they went back and made the digitally "enhanced" versions

[@ryanbarker5217]

the classics never go out of style. this movie does, though.

[@limbdarkening]

Pinchcliffe Grande Prix is a real Norwegian film. BTW.

[@EmpressTiffanyOfBrittany]

Wow... If even Jabba the Hutt is asleep for the goddamn pod race... Come the fuck on, Lucas.

[@the_ancient_library]

MST3K: The episode we couldn’t get the rights for

[@TooLateForIeago]

I hesitate to say it, but this movie (and whole trilogy) would have been better if Hayden Christensen had been cast from the start. He wasn't too great in Attack of the Clones, but at least after the acting coaches, he was able to emote by the start of Revenge of the Sith.

[@darth_jitzu]

Lmao the tusken raiders commentary

[@christosantonopoulos2018]

Clear turbine shout out just like clear prop!!!! Hey?

[@brianbenz3613]

A new meaning to driving by the seat of your pants