They just never felt like they were in the same universe as the original trilogy.

First viewing for me of Phantom Menace, when Qui-Gon Jinn dies, a few people in the theater started laughing, and others started yelling at them to shut up. I witnessed the future of love it or hate it with Star Wars.

Finally someone that’s not meatriding Lucas

two of the most PROBLEMATIC plot points from the prequels are…. 1. an intergalactic war that are mostly being fought by disposable clones and robots. 2. an all encompassing ideological war being fought by thousands of jedi against (when it really comes down to it) ONE sith. all the extra stuff by Filoni and Co are there to “correct” all the inconsistencies in the prequels.

I was in college when Episode 1 came out. There were a few things leading up to its release that were red flags: 1. The news showed a clip of the pod race announcers saying “Start your engines.” 2. A radio show played a clip of Jar-Jar saying “Meesa been banished…” I knew it would be bad, but didn’t want to believe it. When I saw the movie, I was bored in the first 5 minutes. Then it got worse and worse. I went back to see it again the next day. Maybe I just needed a second viewing, but it was exactly the same.

The only thing The Phantom Menace (and the prequel trilogy altogether) has is that the ideas on paper are interesting. The idea of how the senate is too incompetent and high off their own farts to help a system that actually needs their help and how the Jedi order was always shitty and absolutely corrupt are actually intriguing. You could make something profound and thought provoking with these ideas in Star Wars. What’s the problem? George Lucas needed someone to help him iron out these ideas on film, and he didn’t. In the BTS footage, everyone is brown nosing George Lucas when he’s in the room. When he leaves the room, they all start the criticisms on his ideas. Nobody had the courage to give George Lucas the notes he needed to improve the prequels. The Prequel Trilogy as a whole could have been amazing when you read out the ideas of each film on paper. George Lucas has a knack for intriguing stories. He just needed help from others to push these ideas and stories to their fullest potential.

Watchibg the phantom menace again at theaters Is a joy of experience. Worth it. Love it.

You guys have to review all the Star Wars movies 😂

It’s so funny because I was the perfect age for these films being 3-9 years old. I loved them then and I love them even more now. But what I love now is seeing guys like you making videos like this 25 years later. You guys are recreating my childhood by bashing these films while I staunchly watch in disagreement. But I’m still laughing and enjoying every minute of it. But I totally see myself now being you guys 25 years ago with these new sequels/tv shows😂😂😂

The pod race was fun at least lol

Cool retro review

Still better than the Last Jedi.

The prequel trilogy was so bad and everyone was exhausted and checked out by the third film that the theater I was in actually had the audience laughing when Anakin turned on the lightsaber to kill the younglings.

What i remember most about this one is the cinematography.. or lack there of.. its like youre watching the home video of baby anakins mom filming the school play from the same angle for every scene.. ..i mentioned this once, ill repeat it a million times, geoege is on the spectrum.. take it easy on him.. if he says something in the past, or writes a single line of dialogue, it all must be remembered and maintained.. "too old to begin the training.." written like just another yoda joke dismissal, now we must show toddlers with lightsabers and eyes covered all standing within toddler arms length within one another.. bleech. ..darth maul, only lines of dialogue with his master in such a cool voice, never says a word to the heroes, just flourishes his special lightsaber around for minutes at a time.. so much wasted potential around building tension and elaborating on themes with the big good and big bad conversing.. ..pfft. i dunno.. i thought george hating directing.. he should be producing and writing novelizations like the big ideas worlding building man he is.. leave the directing of actors, esp dialogue, to someone else man, c'mon! ..but hey, heres an idea, HardCut.. how you guys feel about the prequels, would it be fair to feel about the original trilogy? (Empire included baby..)

Saw TPM in theaters with my best friends when it came out. I was 13 at the time and known for being the biggest Star Wars fan in my class. When the credits rolled, my friends thought I’d be ecstatic. Instead I bitched and left. Mom warned me years before with the news of a prequel trilogy. That to be carful what you wish for as some things can never be repeated.

the dissonance im feeling because i grew up with the prequels is insane. I completely understand the critiques u guys have but i just give them a pass because of the nostalgia and feels i have for the prequels xD i appreciate the critiques honestly keeps me grounded lmaoooo

This was the first movie I ever saw in a theater as a kid so the rose tinted glasses is strong lol I still remember how crazy the hype was the theater was packed and how cool the pod racing scene was

Older movies definitely need a visit. I watched big trouble in little China recently after not seeing it for years and I forgot how great it was.

I liked it alot as an 11 yrar old, tastes change but i still love and admire the marketing and the barrage of toys, opened up a new era of SW games. And of course Plinkett Is it good, no. Is it memorable, absolutely.

"Me-sa say you gonna do a movie review?" - Jar Jar Binks

I liked the phantom menace 😄

I like the phantom menace even with its flaws. There are some really good moments in the film that I can get behind, but a few good moments don’t make a great film. Phantom menace with the prequels in general have a good premise but the execution was horrible. When the OT was being made, it wasn’t just George deciding everything, even the actors thought a lot of the dialogue was stupid and helped to fix it. When watching empire, and comparing it to phantom menace, it seems like they don’t even share the same universe and I think that’s due to the tone. The villains are a fundamental part of an overarching story, and the empire in all 3 films felt like a threat, like they weren’t a Saturday morning group of villains that you can destroy but felt like a lingering threat throughout the galaxy. You can’t even compare it to the jokes that are the droid empire, they are weak, stupid and hold no threat whatsoever.

Totally agree! Episode 2 plz!!

You guys are hilarious! Looking back I can't believe how bad the green screens are. The scenes with entire CGI backgrounds look like the FMV cutscenes from Dark Forces. Also, I implore everyone to watch the Star Wars episode of The Toys That Made Us. After he felt like he got a raw deal for the 70's Kenner toys (2.5 cents per dollar sold), he made damn sure he got a better one during the prequels. I think it's quite telling that, of all the people they invited to speak on the documentary, George was the only one they wanted who declined.

I definitely dislike aspects of this film and yet because it is part of the series, I have somehow managed to watch it at least several times as part of watching the whole series in sequence and all.

Yeah, don’t buy into the revisionist version of history that it was good.

For me even though the prequals are bad, yes take away some stuff to make it a pinch betterit still holds some kind of special place in my heart not Attack of the Clones though, even when running marathons I stomach on how hard it is to watch that one of all 6.

I agree with how much of a mess it is. I can't lie. It's nostalgia, I was 5. Brings back memories and I get a good laugh at the nonsensical parts.

AMC theater showed this yesterday, I was the only one in the theater

A lot of people say the only good thing about The Phantom Menace is Darth Maul. My question is why? He has no personality. The makeup is cool, but imagine it was the actor without the makeup, would you still like the character?

Im proly your only gen Zer who watches your channel and i cant agree more watching this as a kid was a bitch to get through and i could never understand why and you guys nailed it. Thank you for that

It was always good

I get shit for being a horror nerd and watching every single Michael Myers movie and every heartless Conjuring spinoff, but can the mainstream nerds finally admit that there’s probably only 2 and a half good Star Wars movies and probably only a handful of good MCU movies?

You guys should watch the Rifftrax versions of the prequel trilogy, they definitely make the movies better

I hear what you're saying but I will say this in the last couple of years I decided to watch you know the only six Star Wars films that have ever been made the prequels in the original trilogy nothing else has been done since then so you know there's nothing else to consume Star Wars but what my point is is as a young adult I hated the prequel trilogy but fast forward to now I watched it again and I'll be honest except for the attack of the Clones I actually really really enjoyed the prequels I think it's because I at this point was able to set aside expectations that I may have had at the time. And one note about Jar Jar Binks that I would say if you can pretend in your own head that the Darth jar jar theory is actually real jar jar becomes 1,000% more tolerable at that point if it seemed to the lens of everything is on purpose I'm just saying I'm just the messenger.

I was 14 when it came out. I saw it 3 times. I thought it was the best movie ever made. I lied to myself, for years. It’s downright atrocious.

5:22 - This reminds me of the Ren and Stimpy close-ups for some reason. No offense.

Episode 1 - a No Hope

Yesh the Phantom Menace never was great, the only only thing i liked about the film was Darth Maul

Still my favorite of the prequels. I was 25 when it came out.

I think Chapters 4 and 5 are as good as the series ever got; by Jedi, the marketing and effects had firmly overtaken the filmmaking, so it really didn't matter what other resources (actors, set design, etc.) were deployed - it still couldn't save you from stupidity like Boba Fett's jetpack accident, Ewoks defeating elite troops, pod racing and midi-chlorians. The scripts and dialogue just got clunkier as the series leaned more and more on spectacle and "making it for the kids" became the excuse for making the movies more childish instead of childlike.

I remember going into the cinema all those years ago, this was going to be awesome! Then the devastation coming out. I did watch it again, it couldn’t have been that bad, could it? Damn straight it was… 😂 Great review guys, now I’d like to see you go medieval on Attack of the Clones! Sorry that you have to watch it again… 😅

They did bring Darth Maul back in The Clone Wars series and the Solo movie

Yes. Phantom menace is a piece of art compared to disneys garbage.

Say what you will about the prequels, at least they're funny. The sequels are a black hole of enjoyment. Watching something fumble itself into stupidity is way more entertaining to me than some jerkoff writing revisionist fanfiction because he read a snopes article about Dune and thought "now it's my turn"

Just got back from watching it in the theater. I loved it

Never understood the hate from day 1 in 1999. Everyone is entitled to their opinions but I’ve enjoyed it from May 1999 to today.

Thanks to Disney’s awful trilogy, The Phantom Menace has aged like a fine wine.

You're completely right! I've been waiting for someone to say this. Theres far too much nostalgia tricking people into loving the prequels. For some reason since the sequels came out, everybody is acting like the prequels are sacred films 😂 Great review once again. Hope to see you do more star wars, would love to see your ranking of the films!

The first 5min of your video was exactly how I felt…..except I had to see it two more times after the third viewing with various groups of friends.

I know its not a good movie but there is something about it i kinda like i dunno.. I was 25 when it came out . Knew it could never live up to the hype . The biggest disappointment was attack of the clones . If attack of the clones had been good at least it would have given the phantom menace some kind of excuse - to say it was building the story up. Maybe if episodes 2 and 3 had been really good peoples opinions on episode 1 would have been more forgiving to a certain extent??

Good catch, Bobby 😂 7:52

attack of the clones is a pretty bad movie, but yoda vs dooku was kinda cool

Ill never forget going to see this movie then right after that going to see the Matrix. The Matrix just killed Star Wars. That was when Star Wars lost its hold on the Sci-fi genre.

It was the sixth best film among the first six films. 😂 Episode 2 was much better in my opinion.

I disagree I didn't like the first one even though there's some good things like the end battle. But I really enjoy the second one and I enjoy the third one. I always have but even more now.

More classic reviews with rose colored glasses? The Master of Disguise

So... do these guys like star wars? I'm confused lol

I want to see the pain... bring on attack of the clones!

It's not good, yet it's infinitely more watchable than Disney Star Wars

"rose colored reverence" - "it was never good" --- i dont think there's any group that suggests otherwise. Zoomers have a soft spot for thr prequels, but among thiee types TPM is standout in a bad way.

George Lucas changed cinema twice, he made the Original Trilogy with a group of talented writters who inspired the likes of Ridley Scott and James Cameron to make Alien, Terminator plus many other examples. He then made the Prequels by himself wich inspired the likes of Michael Bay and Zack Snyder Plus modern Disney to make cgi riddled specticals with awful characters and story.

I went to see the Phantom Menace in Hollywood when it first came out and it so bad that I walked out of the theater halfway through the movie. To be fair, Star Wars started its fall from grace with the Return of the Jedi.

Phantom menace remains my favorite filmmin the series. Always felt like an outsider because of that

😂 these 2 guys are amazing. Very knowledgeable and don't sugarcoat their opinions. I love them ❤

I was 9. Saw it opening weekend in a packed theater with my uncle. I thought it was amazing and on Monday morning went to meet my friends on the playground and was expecting them all to agree and everyone of them was basically like "meh." And then I don't remember anyone I knew being at all excited for Episodes 2&3. Also, the promotional push for Episode 1 was insane. The biggest advance publicity I've ever seen for a movie. Every aisle at the store had some promotional items connected to it. Episodes 2&3 were dialed WAY back. I remember going to a store at a store at an outlet mall at the end of the summer '99 and it was only selling Episode 1 merch.

I had stayed over night in the parking lot of the movie theatre to see the premiere with a friend. My friend fell asleep in the first ten minutes and I genuinely thought the movie was a spoof gag-- as though it was a joke to fool fans and would then stop and have the real movie start. I was stunned by how horrible it was and couldn't believe it was the real movie.

The only thing that is good about the film is the fight with darth maul at the end including the music. That is the only thing thats good

Padme was hot though.

I think the reason why the younger generations like these movies is because they probably watched them at a very young age in numerical order, where they were introduced to this goofy version of the universe and it didn't mature until the later movies so they were used to it, but we grew up with the mature ones, and then fifteen years later they dump this prequel on us and it's campy and childish and we can clearly see the difference. It'd be like if you showed some kid the later Harry Potter movies that are all dark and serious, and you treated it like those are the only movies in the series. Then you wait fifteen years and show them the first two movies with all the bad child acting and whimsical bullshit. And they'd have the same reaction we did to these prequels of "What the f'k is this shit?"

It’s actually really refreshing to see a channel on “mAy THe FoUrTH” stick with the ORIGINAL take on this movie. Sure, I grew up with the prequels, but I do not glamorize these films as high regarded media. Why do they still hold up when most things from my childhood don’t? Hard to say. But all the revisionist history around the prequels because of the Disney trilogy does annoy me because it’s all phony.

Great stuff as per. My first cinema experience was Star Wars. I was 4 and I thought it was the greatest thing I had ever seen. Doesn't hold up. It was Battle for Endor as New Zealand were lucky enough to get the Ewok movies as cinema releases.

During my high school days, i read a Cliff Notes book of science fiction, which covered several sf classics. My favorite part of it talked about the novel DUNE. I read the book and instantly loved it and i was very excited for David Lynch's movie version. I start watching it and I think to myself, am i in the wrong theater? This is awful! Years later, i had the very same feeling watching TPM.

I watched it tonight and the gungans talk like toddlers. I swear I need a translator. Also those trade disputes and senate disputes are fuck*ng boring.

In all truth it's the FANS and George Lucus that destroyed Star Wars. You needed to make your feelings known about everything you didn't like. Or wished for

Leigh Brackett wrote Empire but I suspect she also ghost wrote the original Star Wars '77. After she died everything goes downhill, starting, with the Ewoks and Leia as Luke's sister. Give Lucas his due, he revolutionised special effects, but he is neither a writer nor a director.

I LOVED the Phantom Edit sooo much better than the original movie! Yes please do a review of Attack of the Clones.

It hurts me to hear you bashing CLONES...I hated Menace soo much, because it didn't feel like Star Wars...but Clones did, it was more exciting, more action, more member berries (which I know are bad, but not always) and had Jango and Dooku and a conspiracy...what the heck was wrong with that? too much CGI? maybe.

I NEED the Attack of the Clones Retrospect Review. If the Zoomers think people were unkind to TPM..... just wait until they hear everything that's been said about AOTC.

Having the "high ground" in a sword fight is a disadvantage because your feet are exposed and hard to defend. It's literally like fighting while leaning backward against an opponent leaning forward. The high ground is only an advantage in ranged combat... with arrows, guns, cannons, etc.

Pod racing... George Lucas saying, "Look what I can do with a computer!" Also, went on WAYYY too long

Genuinely I was surprised today at the theater by this movie’s cgi. It always looked so crappy on dvd. Like the space battles, battle droids, Watto, Sebulba, and Jar Jar (for the most part) look pretty on point for 1999

You guys nailed it. I went through the same pains with the prequels. Star Wars are three movies, and only three movies.

The special editions were devastating to watch in the cinema. George lucas became a moron to me from that moment. Ruined it. What's worse is the original version has never been available since.

I liked the underwater stuff, I liked the roger roger droids, I loved Maul, and the end lightsaber battle. The rest was awful. Mid chlorians? OMG...a kid as the centre? why George? What the prequels were missing...was Marcia Lucas, and Gary Kurtz..without them, Star Wars is a hollow thing.

The most ridiculous thing is people calling it good because the disney movies were horrible. No, its not good. The writing is atrocious, the acting is terrible, nothing holds up because they used too much 90s CGI and the pacing is one of the worst ever put to screen. The prequels and the sequels are equally horrible. They're just different.

Sucked ass is exactly what this crap flick did and in a gargantuan way. Puh-leez do reviews for the other 2 prequels. The only SW I’ve liked since Empire was Rogue 1. We all should have seen the writing on the wall when the Ewoks appeared. Jarjar is an extension of that silliness. Love, love your show.

I remember thinking: "that was okay, but Jah Jah Binks ruined it" during the drive home from the cinema afterward. Being only 17 I assumed all the plot just went over my head cos I didn't understand politics yet. None of the characters resonated with me. (Attack of the Clones on DVD was like watching a video-game I didn't understand. And that was when I stopped caring. 'There Were Only *3* Star Wars Movies' became my viewpoint, to this day.)

Yes more retro reviews please

Wow Bobby hadn't seen TPM again since 2002? lol

I think also a retro review for the Original Trilogy is also necessary. I think the OT is being overvalued while the Prequel Trilogy is undervalued. Most people that liked the OT were children. I don't think the adults in 1977, not to mention old people, liked Star Wars too much. And the same I think happened with the PT: grown up people cannot have the same feelings towards a franchise even though they watched Star Wars as children during the 70s or 80s. I bet the Original Trilogy received bad reviews as well as criticism just like the Prequel Trilogy. And I don't think "The Empire Strikes Back" or "Return of the Jedi" were all well received by the audiences back then. The only difference is that the audience back then did not have social media to express their opinion in public. I think "we" often tend to be biased: "all past time was better". In my personal opinion it didn't suck. I think it is a good movie. I do not agree when some people say that the only good things about this movie are: 1) soundtrack; 2) lightsaber duels; and 3) Darth Maul. I think the movie is more interesting and entertaining than it is often acknowledged.

Love this and waiting for more. Have been waiting for you guys to review older movies. Here's my 2 cents on this- 1 Cent :- Regarding the trade dispute angle - I think what they wanted to do was to build a set up to show how Palpatine manipulated his way into building the Empire. It was horribly executed, but it builds to also show the contrast between Anakin's and Padme's characters - the former sees war and violence as a necessary last resource, while the latter - the first step to establish dominance. We understand how Luke and Leia inherit and find balance between the strongest abilities of their parents. This is however stretching a generous interpretation at my end, which the makers may or may not have envisioned. The prequels are different from the OG trilogy because it's a different world where war has not broken out yet. So political turmoil leading up to the rebellion, although boring will be the focus. It should have been executed well with some maturity and intensity though. Another Cent:- Regarding the choreographed fights in the prequel trilogy. They appear to be perfectly choreographed in contrast to the OG trilogy and the sequel trilogy (hate to even mention these) because these are fights between highly trained Jedi when the Jedi were at their peak. The Obi Wan - Anakin battle in the ROTS is so perfect because they want to show that they match each other in talent and power (since Anakin has just gone to the dark side and not yet completely there so he is not yet full mode Vader and all-powerful). Anakin attacks Obi Wan with all his moves taught by Obi Wan with the intention to show him that he is better than him. It's a competition between equals from his angle. Obi Wan is doing his duty and although his heart is not into fighting his Padawan - his sense of duty shows through him matching Anakin's every move. We don't see fights like these in the OG trilogy and the sequel trilogy because there are no highly trained Jedi at that time. The power, training and art of the Jedi fighting is shown to be at its peak in the prequel trilogy to probably intentionally show that Anakin's main struggle was the lack of control over his emotions (he is somewhere in between fighting for control - having it and losing it at times). Luke is trained but he has not had much experience in fighting and loses both his masters pretty early on in his training so we don't see that choreographed fight from him. He also has the freedom to follow his path as it seems good to him- since the Jedi were not there to control every aspect of his life. As far as Kylo Ren is concerned - his character is the other end of the emotional spectrum where he absolutely has no control over anything. Luke was the only one having that immense power and yet allowing his emotions to flow through his training where he could regulate them to bring forth his best. Anakin was never allowed to express emotions because of the then prevalent Jedi training and Jedi politics - which he begins to question and hate through the prequel trilogy. The fighting scenes are a reflection of their personalities. Obi Wan is a character that has always trained obediently and followed the Jedi rules to the letter (till their fall)- so we don't see him lose control like Luke does for a while when he fights. The Obi Wan - Vader fight at the end is clumsy because Obi - Wan is barely even trying at that time. He has accomplished his mission and is ready to pass on and become a force ghost. What I am trying to say is that the fights have different set ups and different intentions which can be seen from the fighting styles. PS- I am not a fan of the prequels just trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. And sorry for the long comment.

The Phantom Menace is like watching Teletubbies and C-SPAN at the same time while consuming an edible.

Im 25 and actually like this movie a lot but I agree with a lot of your points too. But the one at 20 minutes about Obi wan having the high ground, and it not mattering when Maul did meaning it was not thought through is wrong. In my opinion the intent was to actually call back to Obi Wan VS Maul and show that, since Obi Wan pulled basically the exact same move of jumping over Maul and slicing him after, he knew how to stop Anakin from pulling it off. I agree that Maul leaves himself too open and that shot holds just too long. It makes it look like he let it happen which is dumb, I blame edit for that. If it cut immediately to the slicing and the noise of the slice itd look more like Maul had no time to react. As much as Maul is highly trained and deadly, he cant have had much experience against jedi. Because he is the first sith the jedi have reported in a thousand years. So maybe Palpatine trained him a lot, but didnt train him for the niche scenario of a enraged padawan doing a somersult over his head. Perhaps because Maul thought jedi were always calm and predictable. Anyway, my point is that obi wan knew how to defend against that move as he did it. And he could have been baiting anakin to jump recklessly as he knew anakins emotions were peaking. Either way, its clearly intentional and therefore not lazy or first draftitis.

The Phantom Menace was an amazing movie that showed a simpler time in the Star Wars galaxy before clone wars and the empire. You guys are clowns and are not Star Wars fans.

The thing about the Speical edition the hate around that did not start till Lucas refused to give us the unalltered Star Wars. Back in 1997 it was more of a, hey it is great to see what George wanted to do. The anti Spiecal Edition hate begain when fans relized there will be no more love given to the OG edit. I did not understand what the phrase "One Last Time" Meant in the 1995 VHS release when it first came out.

I was in my mid 20s when PM came out. I do remember thinking in the theatre, this is a bit crap.

Ah yes. I remember when star wars died for me. The Phantom Menace.

I would say you’re completely right in your criticisms, but the charm and the through line of the downfall of an innocent character… it is more interesting to me than the Sequels. The Last Jedi was the most interesting one because I feel it’s the same as the prequels. Very interesting ideas executed horribly.

I agree with everything accept your opinion on Batman returns which I actually think is better than Batman89.