Revisiting Roger Ebert's Phantom Menace Review
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- Despite the first Star Wars prequel having mostly-negative reviews, America's most popular movie critic wrote a full-throated defense for the Chicago Sun-Times. In this video, we ask: what did Ebert like about The Phantom Menace, and how does his review hold up over two decades later?
Read the full review: www.rogerebert...
I remember making an elaborate homemade Darth Vader costume to wear for the Attack of the Clones opening day and not being let inside the theater with it because everyone was losing their minds at the time with 9/11 paranoia.
TPM is my favorite PT film by a considerable margin. I used to be a pure PT hater. Loved them as a kid, grew out of them, hated them, and have come around to appreciating them more than outright liking them. But I can say I genuinely LIKE TPM a great deal. As I find it the most complete film of the three.
If there is one thing across the whole PT I have come to really feel in underappreciated and overlooked - it's Lucas's knack for simple yet effective and evocative shot design and composition. He's really quite good at evoking mood, tone, and atmosphere through his staging and blocking choices. Very old school, very elegant approach.
People harp on "bad CGI" or whatever and no, its not bad. Never was. Sure, it LOOKS its age now, but these films are a true feat of VFX artists and designers using every drop of vision and imagination they had to bring this world to life. CGI isn't just about sheer photo realism. It's about how it fits the world being shown. It's about shot design, lighting, weight, etc.
You can tell the difference between well done CGI and rushed CGI not just because of how "real" it looks, but how the effects and scenes play out in full. That's why so many Marvel films, for example, look like bland digital soup. So many of those films fail at having lengthy enough pre-production prep where all of the shots for heavy VFX can be planned in advance. Then the studio works the VFX artists to the bone to meet a deadline all the while large swathes of the films are scrapped, reshot, changed at a whim, etc.
Back in the early and mid 2000s CGI had more time to be planned and executed. That's what, say, the Raimi Spider-Man films still pack a thrill even if the CGI is showing its age - because there was meticulous planning with all of the various elements of how to accomplish those shots. Same with the PT.
Well said, very well said
Really enjoying these, thank you for not putting music on them. I can’t stand when loud music just starts playing but I’m trying to listen to nice calming conversation
While I do not agree with your love of the prequels, I do think that they have their good qualities. I would personally rate Phantom Menace around a 50%. It feels like two conflicting movies stuffed into one to me. I also think that Phantom Menace just plain isn’t shot very well, with high-intensity action scenes shown mostly in static or slow-panning mediums. It doesn’t help that most of the actors’ performances are generally monotone and lack energy, regardless of the action around them. In terms of positives, I think the world (and especially costume design) are fantastic, and a couple of scenes really stand out, like the one where Anakin and Qui-Gon talk about killing a Jedi. It’s a mixed bag of a film all around.
As an avid RLM fan and someone who watches pretty much all of their stuff, I don’t particularly like their Phantom Menace review. I think it is one of Plinkett’s weakest reviews. Because it is also intended to be funny, some of the points in the Plinkett review are exaggerated for comedic effect. At times it is hard to find the line between real criticism and an absurdist joke. I think the more recent Plinkett reviews are much better as both reviews and comedy videos.
I don’t think that anyone is wrong for liking or disliking any movie. Art is subjective. I do wonder, though, if this rise of Prequel love has more to do with the people who saw them as kids becoming adults and less on their actual quality. Not saying that you can’t enjoy The Phantom Menace, just that I think the love poured onto them by some people now is a bit exaggerated.
Just my thoughts.
Regarding the 50%, I’ve generally found media that does some things very well but also has serious rough edges tends to be the most interesting to talk about.
It has everything to do with how awful the sequel trilogy was. Now we think they're good because they have a coherent story from the vision of one man, something that was just considered standard in previous years. So basically, you have Rian Johnson to thank for all of the videos like this. Nobody thought any of the prequel trilogy movies were good until the sequels came out, and anyone saying otherwise is lying.
@@GwendolynStaheli I agree, the lack of a coherent artistic vision was the main thing that held back the sequel trilogy, which is why the whole thing should've been written and directed by Rian Johnson.
@@EnvyOmicron Oh god. I definitely didn't say that.
Great episode! I really agree re: RLM and their attempt to try and create an "objective" framework for assessing film. I also feel like the attempts at building these frameworks sort of priviledge screenwriting over other formal elements. Not sure why that is, but it seems odd and misguided.
I'm sorta mixed on my opinions on the prequels. On the one hand, I definitely like them as movies. There's a lot of new images in them, and I dig the operatic heights of some of the scenes. At the same time, the argument about the trilogy being "about" corruption and decay in the Republic has never quite worked for me. Not because it's not there, I just don't think it's emphasized in way that feels emotionally compelling. It actually has the problem I find with a lot of space opera, which is that it's so tied to a kind of adventure movie format where things are always moving, that I never really feel an emotional connection to that world beyond an occasional sense of awe at the images I'm seeing. If you compare that to something like Ben-Hur, which was obviously an influence, that is also a sweeping adventure story but I find its emotional and moral universe legible in a way I often don't with the prequels. Watching Phantom Menace, I never really feel like I'm being made to experience the issues with that universe in an interior way, I feel more like we're moving from one set piece to another. That's fine, the films still work, but it also means that a lot of the more ambitious revisionist takes on the prequels work for me on an intellectual level, but not really an emotional or aesthetic one.
Great discussion!
Nicely put.
Great video, but I'm going to um-actually you about the Special Editions at 4:12. The Special Editions were wide-released in theaters before the vhs tapes came out; in fact those theatrical screenings were the first time I saw episodes 4 and 5 (yes I started the franchise with episode 6). Also, at 4:42 you say Naboo is in the Special Edition. It isn't in the original 1997 Special Edition, it was added for the 2004 DVD release. It doesn't negate your overall point about George Lucas's experiments with the digital filmmaking pipeline, but for a series of movies that get talked about and dissected and analyzed to the degree that the Star Wars movies do, I think the technical history of the Star Wars movies both production wise and release wise is an important element of the context. Yes, George went hard on the Special Editions when he could have phoned it in, and yes it was a test run on the Prequels, but he had millions of dollars from 20th Century Fox and the promise of theatrical re-release returns to prop him up. One wonders if the Prequel trilogy would even get made if the theatrical run of the Special Edition underperformed financially.
I really appreciate these corrections! We’re hoping to talk about Star Wars a bit more in the future, and I want to make sure we get the details right. That’s interesting about the theatrical release of the special editions, I only ever knew them as a VHS box set, but this explains a lot. It seems like Star Wars sequel plans were abandoned for most of the late 80’s and early 90’s, so you’re probably right about the prequels being green-lit based on the special edition’s box office. Things could have gone quite differently!
Wow the thumbs up was a crazy throwback to working at an indian restaurant in minneapolis. Those things taste so damn good
This reminds me that I still need to finish that 12-hour Phantom Menace analysis video.
Someone did a "no bad parts" edit, that I would recommend.
I'm still on the pod race..
Aaron McGruder of the Boondocks knew the prequels sucked faster than most people
Balance in the Force was always grossly misunderstood. Lucas had the whole Galactic and Living Force(s) thing dotted down, but never got to tell that story.
Saying balance in the force is having equal amounts of jedi and sith is like saying having balance in your life is alternating between being a good person one day and an evil person the next.
@@jamesprumos7775 Yes. That wasn't Lucas' intention for the Force's balance though.
This conversation is weird cause you treat people disagreeing with you as being in a fandom like they can't make a valid opinion... I love phantom menace personally, clone wars is boring and revenge is just embarrassing.. like the acting, the reasoning for Anakin turning or at least how they portrayed it really is embarrassing. Rewatchdd them all while witnessing my son and wife see them for the first time and there is no companions in quality other than the light saber duels you fools. It rhymes so I'm right
The phantom menace is not good. Saying the prequels is good is not a hot take
I may be biased, but can't help to think Lucas was still a genius.
Liking the prequels better than OT immediately invalidates your opinion in my mind. But I liked a lot of the prequels and the new Disney content really makes the prequels and Lucas look like a masterclass.
I find Dune has really recontexualized my feelings towards George Lucas. The man is pretty blatantly ripping off Dune. Even when the original came out, it was like a decade after the Dune book released. I think The Clone Wars really improves what the prequels were doing (and effectively replaces them) but after experiencing more of Dune, I can't help but be a little annoyed that Star Wars gets the credit
Sending this to my fave SW-boomer + his teen to argue passionately about with each other.
I've never really given it much thought. This was really interesting - I might have to give them a watch again myself now
"Despite the first Star Wars prequel having mostly-negative reviews..."
It doesn't. Even now, with years of "it's a bad film" being the accepted wisdom, it's at 52% on Rotten Tomatoes. That means more than half gave it a positive review which, by definition, means not "mostly negative".
The Naboo scene was added after the Prequels were filmed not for the 97 Special Editions.
Carthatic to see RLM called out.
You know what I hate it actually it's abad movie
I think I just found my new favorite podcast. You guys seem to really get it among this film discussion letterboxd landscape where everything is this way or that way.
I don't mind RLM's half in the bag videos, but Mike Stolska tends to review movies as if he's reviewing a lawnmower or something. I don't think that he's acting in bad faith, but even his most off-the-cuff opinions tend to be justified as if there's an arbitrary criteria in his head that movies have to follow, and any deviation from this set of criteria is regarded as a failure.
24:22 this sort of feels true, but really isnt. In VII, beyond Jakku as a pointless clone of Tatooine, theres a bunch of new planets. Takodana is the forest planet were Maz Kanata is (a character clearly planned to have a larger role later, but switch creative visions in the middle of the trilogy killed that), Hosnian is the pointless close of Coruscant that gets blown up by Starkiller base, which is also a planet (which technically existed in Clone Wars), and D'Qar is the resistance base planet. Ep VIII really shines, most notably with Krayt and one of the most iconic images of the Sequels, with those red dust plumes on the white planet surface. Lukes exile island is also quite unique. Theres also the Casino planet, though I dont care for that entire subplot. In IX there is another forest rebels base planet that isnt D'Qar for no apparent reason (where Leias flashback training takes place), Pasaana is the desert planet where Lando is which has a cool basar and large crowds. Kijimi is that japan inspired snow planet where C3PO has his eyes turn red. Theres the water planet where the death star wreck is which looks quite cool and Exegol.
If anything my complaint with the sequels is that it feels like they intentionally didnt reuse any existing Star Wars planets (or species) to avoid some kind of license fee, as if these were movies that couldn't use the original material so made almost identical copies as a stand-in. Especially after TCW spend 100 episodes establishing what the typical species-mix across the galaxy looks like its pretty jarring to see something like VII trying desperately hard to "feel" like Star Wars while missing so many elements. Interestingly Rogue One introduced as many planets as the entire sequels within its first 15 minutes and still manages to feel more like its part of the universe (even if Jeddah is yet another desert planet).
(I also dislike the 50s diner, its not about either creating something or not, that example is just too literal and on the nose, the Cantina is the concept of a seedy bar transported into this universe, the diner looks like a straight transplant, too on the nose. The biker gang in Book of Boba Fett looks out of place for the same reason.)
Thumbs up 👍🏽