James Dempsey: 3D adds little to the re-release of this made-to-order Star Wars flop
IT was a period of frenzied expectation. George Lucas, emerging from Skywalker Ranch, had just finished his first film in 22 years, the first of a trio of prequels that would bring balance, and backstory, to the force. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was franchise cinema’s ultimate release, with enough power to redefine an entire cinematic universe for generations to come.
Having already conquered the silver screen with the original trilogy in the late 70s and early 80s, Lucas had bided his time, waiting for technology to catch up with his grandiose plans for this most epic of space operas. By the mid-90s, Lucas had polished off a script 20-years in the making, and invested heavily into making his Industrial Light & Magic studio the masters of CGI technology.
It was all primed for greatness. The long-awaited history and lore was about to be revealed. Just where did Darth Vader come from, what was the myth behind the Sith, and what had caused him to slide over to the dark side and a life of laboured breathing and dithering robots?
Like a Jedi mind trick gone wrong, it was not the prequel we were looking for.
In the end, the film was flabbier than Jabba the Hut. A bloated and boring origins-tale of spiritless exposition, with dull scenes of intergalactic trade embargoes and taxation disputes in the cosmic senate. Lord Vader is revealed to be a precocious pipsqueak by the name of Anakin, played with grating irritation by scapegoated child-actor Jake Lloyd – though there’s no denying that even Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor barely chew their way through Lucas’ heavy-handed histrionics.
And that’s before we even get to Jar Jar Binks, the CGI comic foil to the po-faced Jedi duo, whose antics and accent uncomfortably mirror the infamy of black-face minstrelsy and caused huge controversy among African-American commentators. Lucas’ biggest misstep since he allowed the teddy bear Ewoks to topple the Imperial forces on the forest moon of Endor, Binks is a character who jars endlessly with the audience’s patience, and, considering this was the fourth film of the saga, represents a lot more than a Wookie mistake.
So can today’s rerelease of Episode I, in a crisp 3D version, add any more depth to Lucas’ flat story?
Beyond the novelty of the saga’s much-parodied opening crawl flying through the space in front of your very nose, the film’s only standout sequence remains the pod race, and even that goes on too long. The lightsabers may well buzz with a bit more fizzle, but only the purist of Star Wars’ fans will feel the force anew.
Instead, there is the disturbing sense that this is all just an effort to squeeze more cash out of the saga, known as much for its merchandising tie-ins and aggressive marketing as for its importance in the science-fiction canon. Since the series debuted back in 1977, it has been rereleased theatrically five times, not to mention the millions of VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-ray sales, along with the collectable Special Editions released just to prove that Solo shot first and that that Stormtrooper did indeed bang his head off the doorframe.
The prequels, charged with the near-impossible task of giving further history to an already-defined epic, could never have lived up to the weight of expectations.
Star Wars fans are just that, fanatical, and their love for Lucas’ creations runs deep.
So deep that the Star Wars Uncut project, a fan-made shot-for-shot remake of 1977’s A New Hope made up of over 400 15-second animated, stop-motion, puppetry and live action scenes, hit a million views on YouTube after only three days.
This version, with its wonky special effects and tinfoil costuming, shows a lot more heart for Lucas’ imagination than today’s slick and soulless rerelease.
