The saga begins again in 3D

Film Review: Star Wars: Episode 1, The Phantom Menace

MANILA, Philippines - The Star Wars saga is starting another cycle. Episode 1, The Phantom Menace is showing once more. Within a few months, you can expect to get another sighting on the big screen of Attack of The Clones and so on until the six-part series ends again with Return of the Jedi. Film reissues are nothing new. We get those of popular movies from time to time. This one though is a special case. First because it is Star Wars. You know Star Wars. If it is there, you watch. Next is because this film is now on 3D.

I remember reading about how Star Wars creator George Lucas got A New Hope, Episode IV, the first Star Wars movie made in 1977. Nobody was hot about his project so he only had a shoestring budget. That was why R2-D2 was born from an old vacuum cleaner and Darth Vader had a World War I helmet covering his head. But the makeshift props, the unknown actors, the simple tale all came together to create one of the most loved space adventures of all time.

Fast forward to 22 years later. The success of Episodes IV, V and VI of Star Wars has made Lucas unimaginably rich. He could now afford to finish his story in the way he had always imagined. Not finish. I should say, but begin. And so he made Episodes I, II and III. The end came in 2005 with Revenge of the Sith. Now, seven years later, Lucas is once more playing with his old toys. He is turning all of them into 3D and how nice of him to share them with us.

The Phantom Menace is set 30 years before Episode IV. Introduction is the key word here. The audience is being introduced to the characters. Some familiar, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), R2-D2 and Yoda. Some new, the Jedi knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), Darth Maul and Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) the ruler of Naboo.

In turn, they are meeting one another in preparation for the drama that lies ahead. At the onset this movie is about trade blockades and power grabbing in the galactic universe but those are merely grunts in the story that has began.

While on the run from the treacherous Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid), Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan get to save Amidala from assassination and to meet a slave boy, Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd). Sensing that the kid has the Force in him, Qui-Gon moves to have him trained to be a Jedi.

The other knights caution Qui-Gon about his decision but he is adamant. The warnings will prove to be propitious as Anakin will become Darth Vader. But that will come later. For now, the battle is with Darths Maul and Sidious, and in keeping Amidala and the galaxy safe.

Made in 1999, The Phantom Menace is a lavish production. If Lucas had to content himself with an unknown Harrison Ford in 1977, he now had Samuel L. Jackson wanting to join the cast. Jackson became the Jedi Mace Windu. If shoots then were confined to soundstages, Lucas now had any set he wanted at his fingertips. In fact, do not think there is any scene in Episode 1 that did not make use of computer generated images (CGI).

Some of these are absolutely mind-blowing. Lucas created an entire world. He had an underwater city, a breathtaking stadium, space ships on highways in the sky, a senate chamber of floating box seats, a spectacular parade of heroes, fantastic costumes and creatures nobody had even imagined could exist.

It is not only visually that Phantom excels. Lucas also pushed the envelope in the action scenes. Think excitement as Anakin competes in a pod race with aliens, of hundreds or maybe thousands of droids in battle, of a fight to the finish with double bladed light sabers and many others.

It has often been said that these over the top sequences caused Lucas to sacrifice story and characterization. On the other hand though, it is his triumph with special effects that makes The Phantom Menace a natural for 3D. As the sets acquire greater depth, as ships fly out of the screen, as the creatures become almost real, watching Episode I becomes a total experience.

So is it right for Lucas to ask moviegoers to spend money again to watch Star Wars on the big screen? Why not if it is on 3D. Truth to tell, I am already thinking of what he will do next once all six films are on 3D. Maybe he would have by then developed a virtual reality surround process that will put the viewer right in the middle of the action. Or something even better.

And the Star Wars saga will begin again.