The following two pieces of behind the scenes footage are a good illustration of both the differences in the prequels and the original series, and the differences in George's own character between the creation of 'A New Hope' and 'Phantom Menace'. The first was shot during a scene on Tatooine. A younger Lucas is giving direction to C-3PO is the desert. Anthony Daniels stumbles on the rough terrain and George quickly grabs his arms to steady him. The second is on the set of one of the prequels. Anthony is walking across the green floor, with a green backdrop, and stumbles on a green slope. George says something to the effect of "uh-oh" but he is far off behind the camera sitting in his chair with a coffee, and no one gets to C-3PO in time to stop him crashing through the green plywood screen as he falls.
The big return of 'Star Wars' turned out to be a bit of a bummer, sadly. Visually excellent, it is let down by it's political droning in the senate, its annoying lil' orphan Annie, and it's... Jar Jar...
I hate him, but I did quite like the movie. I mean, it's STAR WARS. Come on. That adds at least 30 points for me. Unfortunately I'm not part of the original 'Star Wars' generation. I don't think I even ever saw this one in the cinema. But I do have vague memories of seeing the second one, and by the time that 'Revenge of the Sith' came out, I was returning several times in the first week after release.
'Star Wars' is such an integral part of so many people's lives. It's what really got me interested in space - I still find myself vaguely playing with TV remotes, imagining battling star destroyers and cruisers (the buttons are exterior turrets, the battery flap is a closed docking bay, the batteries are fuel cells - explosive weak spots to be exploited - and the laser emitter is usually some kind of super weapon, usually something akin to the weaponry used by the Covenant in 'Halo' during plasma bombardment).
That was an unexpected confession, but I'll get back on track. Some of 'The Phantom Menace' was fine. The light sabre fight at the end was fantastic visually if choreographed out of any emotion and lengthy beyond reason (a common problem with prequel sabre battles) and the pod race was fairly exciting and had nice sound design. I also actually kinda liked the cowardly Trade Federation execs (I've always had a soft spot for the Separatists, being Scottish) and the design of their droids (though their main purpose in these films is to an extremely mild hindrance).
On the other hand, a lot of it was poor. I don't like the scientific explanation of the Force, or the origin of C3PO (so Darth Vader built you, huh?).
It felt like a George was trying to wedge a lot in, and a lot of it was too obvious. I wouldn't have been surprised if we saw some kind of introduction to the Millennium Falcon, or a baby Han Solo in one of these prequels. The plot itself was somehow both confusingly intricate, nonsensical, and stupid. So much of the character motivation makes so little sense, and the characters themselves lack any subtlety or depth.
It felt like a George was trying to wedge a lot in, and a lot of it was too obvious. I wouldn't have been surprised if we saw some kind of introduction to the Millennium Falcon, or a baby Han Solo in one of these prequels. The plot itself was somehow both confusingly intricate, nonsensical, and stupid. So much of the character motivation makes so little sense, and the characters themselves lack any subtlety or depth.
While it didn't live up to the original trilogy by a long shot (and didn't even really make sense) it was a... a fun film?
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace: 34.6