May the 4th be with you! Just in time for Star Wars Day this year, The Phantom Menace, the 1999 prequel film written and directed by George Lucas, returned to theaters in honor of its 25th anniversary. In those 25 years, the film has been on a tumultuous journey. After its initial release, it withstood harsh reviews from critics and backlash from fans. The more toxic among them harassed actors like Jake Lloyd and Ahmed Best. Fast forward to today and the film seems to be beloved by many. In fact, to the surprise of The Hollywood Reporter, The Phantom Menace came in second at the box office this past weekend, beating out Zendaya’s new film, Challengers.

In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, and I take a trip down memory lane to our initial reactions to and relationship with The Phantom Menace, as well as reflect on our experience seeing the film again in theaters this past weekend. We try to make sense of the public perception of this film over the years, contemplate its broader influence on the history of cinema, share all of our favorites, and end by, of course, discussing what Oscars the epic space opera could have or should have won. Every podcast has a beginning, and it does seem as though this film was a genesis moment for all three of us.

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Image Credit: StarWars.com

Looking Back at 1999 We each share memories about the first time we saw The Phantom Menace. 3:52

The Legacy of The Phantom Menace How did this film forever change filmmaking? 17:48

Our Re-Release Experience in 2024 We each share our experience seeing The Phantom Menace in theaters this past weekend. What did we notice this time around? 33:45

The Rhetorical Situation Jen pathetically attempts to explain the concept of homosocial male desire from literary theory and how it guided her interpretation of the film. 1:06:53

Our Own (Unsolicited) Notes What would we go back and change about this film if we could? 1:31:55

Our Favs We try (and mostly fail) to name our favorites in a lightning round fshion. Includes favorite character, glup schitto, cringy line of dialogue, Queen Amidala fit, pod racer, Jedi council member, scene, and shot. 1:55:37

Oscars Watch Did this film get nominated for any Oscars? In which categories would we have given it a golden statue? 2:20:15

Show Notes:

This is the TED podcast with Ahmed Best that Greg referred to during the episode.

Jen referred to “Dave Filoni’s transcendent” monologue about how The Duel of the Fates connects to Return of the Jedi. Here’s an IGN article about it. You can also watch the whole thing during the episode of the Disney Gallery about The Mandalorian (on Disney+).

All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.

Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com

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