I appreciate playing Part 2 the same day as Part 1, works great to release them back to back. Great reaction from Coby, looking forward to AOTC and ROTS.

When Amidala reveals herself to be the Queen, you can see Qui Gon smiling like he knew all along. 😉

Kiera Knightley played Natalie Portman's decoy

Natalie Portman was 16 during filming of The Phantom Menace, and her character, Padme Amidala, was 14. Jake Lloyd was 9 years old during filming, and his character, Anakin Skywalker, was 9 as well.

Coby, #1. You're 100% correct, they wanted Leorado Di Caprio to play Ankain when he was older but he was still young, coming off Titanic and didn't want to get involved with a huge franchise. The same reason he turned down Spiderman in the early 2000s. #2. Regarding the fight between the Jedi and Sith -- Darth Maul is a Sith, and powerful, so that's why Obi-Wan and Qigon where having trouble fighting him. An actual Sith, as opposed to a warlord or assassin is extremely well trained and you can think of them essentially dark Jedi. Plus, the Jedi haven't fought the Sith in 1,000 years so they are't used to fighting them.

"that's it, you don't come back from that, that's a light saber" Coby gets it! If only Disney employed Coby!

I agree with Coby, you absolutely do not come back from being stabbed in the abdomen by a lightsaber...

Thanks, Coby! 🌟 You mentioned 'Artoo' and 'Threepio' being on the Death Star at the beginning of EPISODE IV. They're actually on the Tantive IV at the start. It's a corvette which served Senator 'Bail Organa', adopted father of 'Leia'. They don't get to the Death Star 'til later in the film. 🤓

Clever of Coby to recognise the Gungans ingenuity of weaponising blue balls.

Coby is a beautiful person inside and out. Glad she shared her reaction with us!

Coby Samuel L Jackson is a hardcore Star Wars' fan. He asked George Lucas if he has a role for Jackson. His role here in this movie is Master Jedi, Mace Windu.

Heartbroken they killed off Qui-Gon.....my favorite Star Wars character.

We were all so excited at the time that Lucas had obviously employed proper swordsmen and fight choreographers. I'm sure Neeson and MacGregor appreciated it too. Ray Park is awesome.

Yeah the prequels were panned when they came out but now they seem to have a new appreciation almost like cult-classics. Qui-Gon as a movie character is a very archetype hero at the time when most movies were more into gritty brooding anti-heroes seeing someone like Qui-Gon Jinn was rare. He was diplomatic thoughtful nurturing and when bad guys attack didn’t hesitate to whip out his lightsaber to fight violence was a last resort to him and always in the defense of others. He was so good that he saves one as annoying as Jar-Jar when others would have left the pathetic life form to his death. And he always humbled telling his apprentice that Obi-Wan was more wise than him. Qui-Gon despite his death was the movie’s true hero. As for Obi-Wan remember he just became a Jedi no Jedi takes an apprentice so early after becoming one themselves but he promised his master he’d do so.

Fun fact when you said that no one realized Padme was actually Queen Amidala? As he came out that Qui-Gon Jinn knew the entire time and he was purposely messing with her to try to get her to say I am the queen

Best Episode 1 reaction ever... most reactors miss the nuance of Obi and Anakin meeting each other for the first time.

Anikan risks death in a pod race to help strangers, gets taken away from his mom, goes halfway across the galaxy to another planet and gets grilled by a bunch of powerful aliens. Yoda says, "There is much fear in you." No sh@t, Sherlock! He's 11 years old!

"...mitochondria, or whatever..." 🤣

It's funny that you said Jake Lloyd looked like a little Leonardo DiCaprio when he was up to play Anakin in Ep 2 before Hayden Christenson got the role.

The thing about Jar Jar was that George Lucas always thought of the Star Wars movies as movies made made for kids (like the Flash Gordon serials when he was a kid for example). But when The Phantom Menace came out, all of us who were kids when the Originals came out were now in our thirties. So many were as annoyed by the character as you seemed to be which sort of instigated the unwarranted backlash at the time. To George's credit, I do remember the kids under 12 in the theaters cracking up over Jar Jar throughout the whole movie. Also, it lightened the mood for them during some of the more intense scenes. So, when Jar Jar appears, you just have to think - well that part is for kids. At least that is how I always dealt with it!

It's impossible for Leonardo DiCaprio to play Anakin as an adult because Padme will certainly have passed the age of 25 during their romance.

14:17 I have to say, Coby, your talent for observation has impressed me _very_ much. When I saw this movie, it was in the theater and I didn't pick up on the switches that were taking place between Natalie Portman and Keira Knightly until _this_ moment.

Isn't it kind of weird that apparently nobody objected to Qui-Gon taking a 9-year-old child to an active warzone for no good reason?

Geez Coby. You must’ve wrote the script!! 😂 You’ve called it all. Well done.

I mean, he was the chosen one. He did bring balance. Before Darth Vader, there were countless Jedi and two Sith. After Darth Vader, there were both two Sith and two Jedi.

Samuel L. Jackson begged Lucas for a part in one of the Star Wars movies. Even if it was just a corpse on the battlefield. Lucas made him second-in-command to Yoda. Mace Windu. His lightsaber, by request, is purple.

This is why these movies are best watched in order of release. It has so much more emotion when you know the fully story and so much in heart want the story to change but it will not. Obi and Anakin are amazing characters when story and journey they go on together. While I do love Luke as goat, Obi does have have a special place in heart as second favorite character.

You are correct, Lucas did have conversations and even meet with Leonardo Dicaprio recarding the role of Anakin Skywalker.

I remember being at the midnight screening of The Phantom Menace in 1999. The audience was electric- someone even brought a beach ball into the theatre.

Jake Lloyd played 9 yr old Anakin. His last acting role was filmed in 2000. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending how u look at it, in 2008 he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He has not been seen publicly since 2015. In 2016, he was admitted to a psychiatric facility.

He does bring balance to the force in his last moments.

Not only Jar jar Binks was hated but also the actor who played him. After 2 decades he was redeemed playing a Jedi in The Mandalorian tv show and his character did something that made him loved.

Anakin shows his first signs of impatience and anger when he tells Yoda "I miss her" and "What's that have to do with anything?"

I love love love your reactions, Coby. You’re very laidback. You’re very intelligent. You’ve got a sense of humor. But it kinda killed me a little inside that you were kinda half paying attention during one of the best-choreographed lightsaber scenes. Obi vs Maul is crazy fast paced and so well executed as well. The special DVD featurette that showed Ewan and Ray practicing the choreography was always so impressive to me. They did that shit for real. And it was the benchmark for how I would measure all future lightsaber fights. And it’s still one of the best single sequences. Worth going back to revisit on KZfaq.

I don't know if someone covered this but the kid who played Anakin is Jake Lloyd. He also played the kid in Jingle All The Way with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Loved watching you see this! Brought the magic back to my first viewing!

Blue balls…I couldn’t stop laughing. 🔵🔵

28:14 That's the actor Ralph Brown who played "Danny" in one of the most quotable British films from 1987 "Withnail & I"

Qui Gon can’t kill Watto because that’s illegal and he’s not a murderer. And he’d be doing so outside Republic jurisdiction, which could cause a conflict with the Hutts, which the Republic would not be happy about. Dark siders could wield sabers that aren’t red, but they typically go with red. Did you notice the other of yoda’s species on the jedi council? A female named Yaddle. This is one of the few times we see her. The shields only absorb or deflect things going at high speed. Slow moving things can get through. It’s taken from Dune. “A double saber doesn’t seem fair” You do remember Maul’s a bad guy, right? Remember the jedi thought the sith were extinct for a millenia. They’ve rarely if ever faced someone with their skillset that’s also trying to kill them They were fighting in a power plant. The laser gates that separated them go on and off to hold back potentially dangerous quantities of power outputs. “He’s definitely a liability” She says as his actions take down tanks. Although yes, he is sometimes. Ahmed wasn’t just directed the way Jar Jar was written, he put in a lot of effort and even had some input. He was very proud of his work as Jar Jar “I don’t trust [Palpatine]” Well yeah, he’s a politician. They’re not to be trusted. He was definitely acting sus whispering in Padme’s ear For a long time the prequels were largely disliked, but they’ve gotten so much more appreciation over the years, especially from fans that grew up with them. Btw, Padmé’s decoy was played by Kiera Knightley

Queen Amidala's ship looks like it was modeled on the SR-71 spyplane.

When Padme reveals herself as the Queen before the Gungans, you can tell on Qui-gon's (Liam Neeson's) face that he knew the whole time and was just playing it cool.

It's actually fun to see someone's reaction to my favorite movies. You doa great job of not inserting yourself too much into the movie but also your fedback and commentary is funny, witty ans sometimes silly but great stuff. I feel like I watched some of these movies for the first time all over again!

Ben Kenobi is a Padawan in training to become a Jedi. When he becomes a full Jedi, Qui-Gon will cut his braid off.

I love how Yoda is like "I sense much fear in you" and its like Anakin is a 9 year old boy who may never see his mother again and is surrounded by total strangers who are staring at him and judging him. Like no shit he has fear lol

Supreme Chancellor Valorum is portrayed by Terence Stamp (General Zod in Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980)) Yoda is 864 years old in this film. Boss Nass, the leader of the Gungans is portrayed by Brian Blessed (Prince Vultan in “Flash Gordon” (1980) and the voice of Clayton in Disney’s “Tarzan” (1999) Funnily enough, Leonardo DiCaprio was offered the role of Anakin for the next 2 prequels, but he turned it down because he “…didn’t feel ready.” Other actors who auditioned for the role of older Anakin included Christian Bale, Ryan Phillippe, James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, Eric Christian Olsen, Erik von Detten, and Chris Klein, though the role eventually went to Hayden Christiansen.

When Coby said she just turned 40 and brought out the cup I was shocked. I figured her for around 28.

Chancellor Valorum played by Terence Stamp (the adventures of priscilla, queen of the desert, general zod in superman 1-2, the collector).

Back in 2000 there was a rumor that Leonardo would play Anakin in episode 2. Leonardo is a huge Star Wars fan. He rented a full theater for himself to bring a girl to see a Star Wars movie with him. He also did visit the Skywalker ranch to see The Phantom Menace on the Lucasfilm screen. But from what I remember reading recently he was not in the run for the role of Anakin (at least not confirmed). Some actors (like Gary Oldman) were not allowed to play in Star Wars because of the actor guild rules that Lucas was not member of or something.

People continue not to realize when Qui-Gon says "Train him , he is the one that will bring balance" to Obi-Wan, in the end,he does bring balance by killing the Emperor to save his son...So the Prophecy was true. (To Quote Obi-Wan: From a certain point of view)

I’m teaching my 15 y/o to drive, it’s stressful - but compared to the SW universe, to teach someone so young to FLY - 😮 Unfathomable!

Also, if you notice, Luke’s lightsaber is green just like Qui-Gon’s. That played a part in Vader’s change in Return of the Jedi.

Maul's face is actually tattooed

Coby has the reactions that I'm sure George Lucas dreamed about for his audience. Especially at 4:55 when she realizes "He kills him! He kills Obi-Wan!" We will watch the rest of this series with great interest.

Props to you for sussing out the Amidala decoy thing, and pretty quickly. The decoy is Keira Knightley. It's worth noting that their mom's were on set when both were in makeup, and they couldn't tell the difference...

3:27 the composition of this scene is super good. She stands in the shadows and he has to turn his back on her and move towards the light that is juxtaposed by shadows in the frame.

Qui-Gon gets stabbed..... Coby: "That it. You don't come back from that." Disney-SW: "Hold our beer."

The prequels were intended to be Anakin's back story, so that's why they introduced some of the familiar characters. The Clone Wars animated series, covers events between 2 and 3, and really focuses on additional reasons Anakin turned away from the Jedi Order. I really appreciate your reaction to this, it was easy to see you were invested in the story.

Anakin : So I am not a slave anymore? Yupeeee! Qui-gon : No Anakin, you're free. Now call me master!!!!

One thing that ALWAYS amazes me about Coby is how much she picks up in movies and how many times her predictions end up being correct. Things I missed as a fan, she gets. Impressive....most Impressive.

I can never decide wether Palpatine being the Emperor should be kept as a twist in these films. We all knew at the time because of the merchandise for the original trilogy naming him Emperor Palpatine but his name is never actually mentioned. I personally liked knowing when I was a kid because you get all his subtle little jibes…

One of my favourite things about this film is of course the light saber fight with Maul. But within that, the great musical score, The Duel of Fates. Not only does it sound great, but the "Fate" is Anakin Skywalker. Qui Gon wasn't wrong about Anakin's potential when the others could only see fear in boy. The reason he could see a great future for Anakin and the other Jedi's couldn't is because Qui Gon would've had a huge role to play in his future...he knew he could help him where the other Jedi's couldn't. Qui Gon would've been the father figure he needed. But because he lost, Anakin's fate was sealed...hence "Duel of The Fates".

Anikan (Jake Lloyd) was in Jingle All The Way with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Soo, I apologize if someone has already commented or alluded to this: Fun Fact about the song playing during Qui-gon and Obi-wan's duel with Maul; "Duel of the Fates". Its meant to allude to the fact that the three of them are dueling for the fate of Anakin's future. Should Maul kill Qui-gon and Obi-wan, Anakin would not be trained (or suffer a similarly worse fate). Had Qui-gon lived; he would have guided Anakin through his training of the force properly; providing him not only the teacher he needed, but a solid father figure as well. Though Maul is defeated, Qui-gon falls as well, thus forcing Obi-wan, who didnt believe in Anakin as Qui-gon did (and who lacked Qui-gon's more flexible view of the force) to train him. He still intended do his best, because he trusted Qui-gon, but it made Anakin's future more unstable and open to other influences.

Pretty intuitive reaction Coby. Good job! Fun fact, Keira Knightly and Natalie Portman's mothers couldn't tell them apart on set when they were in full makeup.

Great reaction, I hope y'all put these out pretty close together. It was fun watching you enjoy this.

You are one of the very few who actually noticed the voice thing from the Queen. It's what I'd call the "Regalian voice".

There's a deleted scene from just after the podrace with little Anakin fighting little Greedo. Greedo's on the ground with Anakin basically sitting on him and hitting him. I love the idea of that, showing Anakin to be not just a cute, sweet, always happy and positive little kid. But I also kind of get why they cut it.

Hopefully she reacts to "The Old Republic Cinematic Trailers" eventually. Those are fantastic bits of Star Wars media.

It was fun to see that you managed to catch the switches between Nathalie Portman and Keira Knightley. It is said that their own mothers had a problem seeing the difference when they had the queen makeup on. George Lucas had some plans for Jar-Jar that he abandoned, and there is a theory that Jar-Jar was supposed to be a force user, but who hides it behind pretended clumsiness and why for example I could take down multiple droids with one stuck to his foot.

DiCaprio was considered to play Anakin in episodes 2 and 3 but I'm not sure if that idea pre-dated the casting of Jake Lloyd or came later.

It's absolutely crazy that Coby has never watched or knows much about the Star Wars prequels. Her assumptions for the movie were very much correct throughout. Her insight serves her well. I think that (a rumour I once heard) George Lucas did want and was in talks with Leonardo DiCaprio to portray an older Anakin Skywalker. So that assumption of hers is freaky and honestly too coincidental. If this were Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, I'd 100% accuse her.

One advantage people new to Star Wars has today is, you don't have to wait 3 years between movies or 10-16 years between trilogies like my generation did starting in 1977.

I think this film is a lot better than it was received. Unfortunately for Jake Lloyd (Ani) he got a lot of criticism and hate for his work but I actually think he did great for what he had to work with. He also appeared in an episode of ER but not sure after that. He later had various drink and drug problems and was arrested a bunch of times. Really sad.

So enjoyable to watch someone look at these movies with such energy and enjoyment. Oh, yeah, "Small Maul"...I cannot now ever unhear that. Thank you.

Many people believe that the prophecy of the Chosen One does not refer to Anakin, but to Luke, and Qui-Gon was wrong. Anakin was really the chosen one, but the Jedi misinterpreted the prophecy. Anakin wiped out the weakened and decadent Jedi Order, and finally finished off the Sith as well. THAT is how he brought balance to the Force.

I nominate 'Will I ever see you again?' as the saddest Staar Wars quote. Even tugged at my heartstrings in the trailer when it came out.

Mark Hamill's son Nathan has a small part in this one. I think he's in the background shots of the Amidala Storms the Castle scenes. And possibly a quick shot at the end. I've been trying to find a time stamp, but Google has been unhelpful. Liam Neeson was trained in traditional sword fighting for the film Rob Roy. His lightsaber skills look more like sword fighting. Meanwhile, Ewan McGregor kept making lightsaber sounds during his fight scenes. The sets were built to end right over the actors heads. The rest were extended digitally. However, Liam Neeson is so tall, they had to extend the practical sets. It cost them an extra $150,000.

"it's over right? that's a jedi lighsaber" 😅😅😅 Yup that was the rule

The actor who played Jar Jar Ahmed Best actually thought about committing suicide over the backlash his character received. Really sad stuff but recently he was brought back to play a jedi in the Mandalorian season 3(react to the Mandalorian) and has received lots of love from the fans.

Palpatine's/The Emperor's theme actually plays at the end during the celebration. The "celebration" music is a re-done faster version of the Emperor's theme. He is the real "phantom" menace. Vader's theme/the Imperial March also played when Yoda said "grave danger I fear in his training".

Fun Fact the decoy for Natile Portman was played by Keira Knightley

Anakin to Obi-Wan: “You’re a Jedi too? Pleased to meet you!” Later Anakin: exterminates the jedi

Note: Jedi effectively had equal opponents to duel with light sabers, to be fair,since the sith had gone underground a mellinia ago. They just practice spar for 100 years

Great reaction Coby to a good star wars movie was hated when it first came out but has got more love over the years

Fun fact: They did offer the role of Anakin to Leo Dicaprio in episode 2 but he turned it down.

They did think of using Leonardo Di Caprio, until they found Hayden Christensen, A little side note, Kiera Knightley was one of Amidala's handmaidens too

Just wait until you discover Dave Filoni explaining the Dual of the Fates.

Anakin Skywalker is played by Jake Lloyd. He was also Arnold Schwarzenegger's son in Jingle All the Way,and did a few episodes of ER.

Darth Maul for context is one of the greatest lightsaber duelist in Star Wars lore. Also, because there can only be 2 Sith, the Sith Master is incredibly selective with whom he will choose to be his apprentice. Therefore, even a Sith apprentice is typically a match for a top-level Jedi Master, because only produgies are trained as Sith.

One little note, dear Coby: "Jedi" is both the singular and the plural. Adding an "s" at the end (for several Jedi) is redundant. ☝🙂 Happy birthday to you! 🎂🎉🍾

The shields work depending on the velocity of the object trying to penetrate it. Like blaster and cannon fire won’t get through but an individual walking through it can. Yes… I’m a Star Wars geek😁

If I'm not mistaken, the lore considers Obi Wan to be a premiere light saber duelist.

This movie had 3 primary criticisms: 1) Jar Jar is annoying as hell (which is true, and actor Ahmed Best was done dirty directing-wise). 2) The acting was wooden and stilted (which is also true, Lucas cared too much for the new technology of cinematography and thought it could replace proper actor direction). 3) The plot was dull, being based on taxation, and there was no protagonist. I dispute that point - the geo-political landscape set up by this movie did a great job of setting up the civil war that led to Episode IV in a very Tom Clancy-esque way. I think Qui-Gon was the protagonist of this movie, which made his death so devastating. I love this movie and believe it was the best and most entertaining of the prequels.

This was the first reaction of yours that I saw. It was so fun to watch your eyes as you fully take in the movie. You thoroughly found joy in the movie which made it so much fun to watch with you.

Great reaction Coby, loved the fact you got to see all characters again that you already knew. And..... we now get to see the characters build and grow on the next movie ❤

It's messed up that no one ever went back to get Anakin's mother.

Highly recommend Weird Al The Saga Begins...

7:32 "And Sam _Jackson!"_ Mace Windu. The only Jedi _cool_ enough for a _purple_ light saber.

“They’re supposed to be jedi knights and one is a master…. And they can’t beat one guy”…. Doesn’t bode well for when Sideous reveals himself 😂

It's given as a sort of throwaway line in this film but I love the call back to Ep VI. with the "from your point of view" line from Qui-gon to Obi-wan.

the music playing when qui gon and obi Wan were fighting against Maul it's call duel of fates because the outcome of this fight would decide the fate of Anakin. if qui gon survived this fight, he would be the one raising anakin and he would be a father figure to him and anakin wouldn't end up as Darth Vader.