Comments on: inkdick: may 19 2009 the phantom menace

By: maxevry

maxevry — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:47:36 +0000

OH yeah, Laya, I totally agree with all the older movies you listed (well, not Element), but around that time in the late 90s, the post-T2 era, things were pretty bad. There were a few cerebral gems (Contact, Dark City), but all the films that aimed to be epic adventure came up way way short. Phantom was the first movie that really lived up to the promise of the digital age, to create the same feeling of escapism and detail that Fantasy art and comics had. I’ll always prefer the more cerebral stuff, but for what it is Star Wars is the benchmark.

By: Laya

Laya — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:39:19 +0000

It’s ok - we all have a movie that other people pan and we love. I have a not so secret love of Dirty Dancing - which is really a terrible movie - because I saw it so much during my wide eyed preteen years, when it just seemed terribly romantic.

On Jar Jar - I think he would have garnered less hate without the accent/speech pattern. Then he would have been like any other alien in the Star Wars Universe. Instead he was a caricature - funny looking and funny talking, an “other”. And I think Lucas hit a sore point with a lot of everyday humans who have felt like that - like “other”s.

And @maxevry: Really? Alien & Aliens, Terminator and Terminator 2, Total Recall, even the 5th Element - all not bad movies. I remember being so disappointed with Episode I for the opposite reason - even with all this technology and ooh-wow wizardry of the modern Sci Fi movie, it all rang a little hollow for me.

By: PBJay

PBJay — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:50:13 +0000

I admire your bravery Mr. Pranas…

Wow, I sure feel old now ;) Although a lot of people from my generation can’t stand the ewoks and I don’t mind them so I know what you mean.

By: maxevry

maxevry — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:47:25 +0000

Like Talcotts & Geekbot I was also graduating when that movie came out, and I remember it being a very important movie in the sense that it showed me, if nothing else, that we were entering a new age when movies could pretty much do anything you could imagine (depending on your resources). Before Phantom Menace Sci-Fi Fantasy fans were saddled with crap like “Stargate” & “Fifth Element” & “Lost in Space”, films without scope that didn’t really transport us to different worlds the way Lucas did.

Although compared to things like Lord of the Rings it hasn’t aged that well, it’s still an enjoyably INNOCENT little adventure film.

By: Joeyjoejoe

Joeyjoejoe — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 06:46:44 +0000

So it’s true, all Star Wars movies are the same quality, we were just younger when we saw the “good” ones and now nostalgia clouds our judgment?

Nah I still think Phantom kinda sucked ;)

But to each his own I guess.

I mean I like some movies others consider horrible. Waterworld anyone? :D

By: pranas t. naujokaitis

pranas t. naujokaitis — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:57:40 +0000

Liv, I must say that at the time I HATED Jar Jar. But as the years passed, I have to admit he grew on me in a very weird way. I now feel bad for all the hate that he gets. I know I’m going to feel dirty after saying this but…I LOVE Jar Jar in the new Clone Wars cartoon! There! I said it!

By: pranas t. naujokaitis

pranas t. naujokaitis — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:54:32 +0000

You guys are so OLD!!!

And geekbot, you are very right about my being 13 at the time having something to do with me liking Episode I. I think if I was any older I wouldn’t have enjoyed it.

By: Miss_Liv

Miss_Liv — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:44:43 +0000

Man I remember when that came out and I thought Jar-Jar was awesome, I didn’t care what anyone thought.

By: geekbot

geekbot — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:14:46 +0000

Ha! I was also graduating from high school when the movie came out, so it also makes me feel old to hear you talk about it coming out when you were 13.

Also, I think the fact that you were 13 at the time had a lot to do with you liking that movie. No offense. ^^;

By: talcotts

talcotts — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:05:25 +0000

If you think that makes you feel old, imagine my reaction when I realized that you were 13 when I graduated from high school ;-) Five years doesn’t seem like a big age-gap now, but it’s weird to apply it to school.

Even though I don’t have such fond memories of the movie, I know what you mean about it being a constant. Episode One was in the cultural background as I moved off to college, and part of me will always associate it with that.

I still have the Yoda cup from that series sitting on top of my comics shelf. I think that the RD-D2 is in my old bedroom at my parents’ house.