Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy // Running Time: 136 minutes // Release Date: June 26, 1999
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120915/
Overall Rating: 7 out of 10
Synopsis: The story follows the adventures of two Jedi Knights, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) as they set out to settle a trade dispute on the planet of Naboo and end up playing pivotal roles in something far more vast and complex then they could have ever imagined. (But seriously, you knew all this right?)
When this movie originally came out in 1999, I was working at the Cineplex Odeon in Lethbridge, Alberta. On opening night, during the soldout midnight shows, the projector in theater 6 had a melt down and I had to go in front of 200 or so people (mostly nerds) and inform them that they could go home to bed because the show would not go on. I had popcorn thrown at me, lots of hateful things shouted, and one guy with a great sense of humor who came out after my speech and suggested I get out of there quick because a bunch of guys with black glasses taped in the middle were looking to kick my ass. I made the local paper as "the management sent some kid down to deal with the crowds while they hid in their office". (I was 20). I also spent a lot of time watching the parts of this movie that I enjoyed most, mainly the pod race and the sweet lightsaber duel at the end of the film. Fortunately for me today, the film did not break down and I was the only nerd in the theater, which was also pretty awesome!
Anyways, being a big Star Wars fan, I was pretty pumped when this movie was released. Not camp outside a movie theater for a week to get tickets pumped, but pretty pumped none-the-less. Needless to say with almost 20 years of build-up and hype and super high standards and expectations, this movie let a lot of people down. I thought the movie was pretty damn awesome myself, but I can see where people would get upset. I mean it boils down to simple math really: Liam Neeson & Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi = +6, Young Yoda = +5, Pod Race = + 3, Double bladed lightsaber = +3, The first not super slow, awkward Star Wars lightsaber battle = +10, and the general Star Wars awesomeness = +5 which gives us (let me get out my calculator) 32 points. Then you have the introduction of probably the most hated character in the Star Wars universe, if not any movie ever made, Jar Jar Binks. And that alone is about -30 in my books, which left this movie pretty much at a zero. Today however, that balance was toppled over and pushed back into the plus side by the addition of 3D technology. Not all the movie really needed a 3D touch and it doesn't seem to do much when it's actors and stage sets anyways, but considering a large majority of this movie is CGI, there was a lot of opportunity to 3D it up, and Lucas and the boys did just that. The pod race alone was worth my price of admission, but there was also a space fighter battle and the underwater through the core part that were both greatly improved as well.
Basically, if you're a Star Wars fan - See it you must! Enjoy it you will!
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