Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 space opera film. It is the first film of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The film follows with two Jedi Knights, who flee the planet Naboo with the planet's queen Padme Amidala in the hope of finding a peaceful end to a trade dispute. Along the way, the ship must stop for repairs on the planet Tatooine, where the Jedi encounter Anakin Skywalker, a young slave boy who is unusually strong with the Force. When the group returns to Naboo, they realize that the situation is much worse than they thought — the evil Sith Lords have returned.

Written and directed by George Lucas.
Every Generation Has A Legend. Every Journey Has A First Step. Every Saga Has A Beginning. (taglines)

Opening crawl

  • Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.
    Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo.
    While the congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict....

Dialogue

Obi-Wan Kenobi: I have a bad feeling about this.
Qui-Gon Jinn: I don't sense anything.
Obi-Wan: It's not about the mission, Master. It's something... elsewhere. Elusive.
Qui-Gon: Don't center on your anxieties, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs.
Obi-Wan: But Master Yoda said I should be mindful of the future.
Qui-Gon: But not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the living Force, young Padawan.
Obi-Wan: Yes, Master. How do you think this Trade Viceroy will deal with the Chancellor's demands?
Qui-Gon: These Federation types are cowards. The negotiations will be short.
Darth Sidious: What is it?
Daultay Dofine: [interrupts] This scheme of yours has failed, Lord Sidious. The blockade is finished. We dare not go against the Jedi.
Sidious: Viceroy, I don't want this stunted slime in my sight again. [Daultay leaves] This turn of events is unfortunate. We must accelerate our plans. Begin landing your troops.
Nute Gunray: My lord! Is that... legal?
Sidious: I will make it legal.
Gunray: And the Jedi?
Sidious: The Chancellor should never have brought them into this! Kill them immediately!
Gunray: Yes...yes, my lord. As you wish.
Qui-Gon: Do you hear that?
[a rumbling is heard in the distance]
Jar Jar Binks: Yeah.
Qui-Gon: That is the sound of a thousand terrible things headed this way.
Obi-Wan: If and when they find us, they will crush us, grind us into tiny pieces and blast us into oblivion!
Binks: Hmmm... yousa point is well seen. This way. Hurry!
Sidious: And Queen Amidala...has she signed the treaty?
Gunray: She has disappeared, my lord. One Naboo cruiser got past the blockade.
Sidious: [annoyed] I want that treaty signed!
Gunray: My lord...it's impossible to locate the ship! It's out of our range!
Sidious: Not for a Sith. [hologram of Darth Maul appears in front of Viceroy Gunray] This is my apprentice, Darth Maul. He will find your lost ship. [holograms of Sidious and Maul fade]
Gunray: This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them!!
Rune Haako: We should not have made this bargain.
Watto: Here it is...a T-14 hyperdrive generator!! Thee in luck, I'm the only one hereabouts who has one...but thee might as well buy a new ship. It would be cheaper, I think...Saying of which, how's thee going to pay for all this?
Qui-Gon: I have 20,000 republic dataries...
Watto: Republic credits? Republic credits are no use out here. I need something different, something more real...
Qui-Gon: I don't have anything else, but credits will do fine. [waves his hand, attempting to use the Jedi mind trick]
Watto: No, they won'ta.
Qui-Gon: Credits will do fine. [tries the mind trick again]
Watto: No, they won'ta! What, you think you're some kind of Jedi, waving your hand around like that? I'm a Toydarian. Mind tricks don't work on me; only money. No money! No parts! No deal! And no one else has a T-14 hyperdrive, I promise you that.
Darth Maul: Tatooine is sparsely populated. If the trace was correct, I will find them quickly, Master.
Darth Sidious: Move against the Jedi first. You will then have no difficulty taking the Queen back to Naboo to sign the treaty.
Maul: At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge.
Sidious: You have been well trained, my young apprentice. They will be no match for you.
Finis Valorum: The chair recognizes the Senator from the sovereign system of Naboo.
Palpatine: Supreme Chancellor, delegates of the Senate, a tragedy has occurred... which started right here with the taxation of trade routes... and has now engulfed our entire planet... in the oppression of the Trade Federation.
Lott Dod: This is outrageous! I object to the senator's statements!
Valorum: The chair does not recognize the senator from the Trade Federation at this time.
Palpatine: To state our allegations, I present Queen Amidala, recently elected ruler of the Naboo, who speaks on our behalf.
Padmé Amidala: Honorable representatives of the Republic, I come to you under the gravest of circumstances. The Naboo system has been invaded by the droid armies of the Trade...
Dod: I object! There is no proof! This is incredible. We recommend a commission be sent to Naboo to ascertain the truth.
Senator Teem: The Congress of Malastare concurs with the honorable delegate from the Trade Federation. A commission must be appointed.
Valorum: The point...
Mas Amedda: Excuse me, Chancellor. [whispers to Chancellor Valorum]
Palpatine: [Whispering to Queen Amidala] Enter the bureaucrats, the true rulers of the Republic. And on the payroll of the Trade Federation, I might add. This is where Chancellor Valorum's strength will disappear.
Valorum: The point is conceded. Will you defer your motion to allow a commission to explore the validity of your accusations?
Padmé: I will not defer. I've come before you to resolve this attack on our sovereignty now! I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee! If this body is not capable of action, I suggest new leadership is needed. I move for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum's leadership.
[The Senators begin arguing over Queen Amidala's decision, as Valorum sits down, stunned]
Mas Amedda: ORDER!!
Palpatine: Now they will elect a new Chancellor, a strong Chancellor. One who will not let this tragedy continue.
Qui-Gon: [dying] It's too late, it's...
Obi-Wan: No!
Qui-Gon: Obi-Wan, promise... Promise me you will train the boy.
Obi-Wan: Yes, master.
Qui-Gon: He... is the Chosen One. He... will bring balance... Train him.
Yoda: Confer on you the level of Jedi Knight, the Council does. But agree with your taking this boy as your Padawan learner, I do not!
Obi-Wan: Qui-Gon believed in him.
Yoda: The Chosen One, the boy may be. Nevertheless, grave danger, I fear in his training.
Obi-Wan: Master Yoda, I gave Qui-Gon my word. I will train Anakin... without the approval of the Council, if I must.
Yoda: Qui-Gon's defiance, I sense in you. Need that, you do not. Agree with you, the Council does. Your apprentice, Skywalker will be.
[After Darth Maul's defeat]
Mace Windu: There's no doubt the mysterious warrior was a Sith.
Yoda: Always two, there are. No more, no less. A master and an apprentice.
Windu: But which one was destroyed, the master or the apprentice?

About Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

  • Harrison Ford wears the same outfit for three flicks, and I was complaining that I wear, like, six outfits. And my mother – Natalie Portman – she wears three million. She walks through a doorway and there's another outfit. It's like the Liberace of sci-fi changing of clothes.
    • Carrie Fisher, commentary to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Special Edition (DVD, 20th Century Fox, 2005).
  • Caserta was one of the most beautiful palaces on the planet and once we saw this there was no question that we wanted to shoot here.
    • George Lucas Anticipation: The Real Life Story of Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace by Jonathan Bowen p.8
  • Someone of that stature would automatically be changing their costumes to fit the occasion.
    • George Lucas, Costume Featurette, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Special Features, (DVD, 20th Century Fox, 1999), disc 2.
  • You can't just go and do a location shoot of Couscant; there's nothing like it that people have ever seen.
    • Rick McCallum Anticipation: The Real Life Story of Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace by Jonathan Bowen p.7
  • I watched it once, at the premiere, so I'm not in a good position to judge. They had a tall order, the three films I did. The fans waited so long and wanted to feel like they did when they watched the first film, but they were grown-ups by that time. I don't mind the criticism. I've heard it to my face.
  • One of the things about Episode One I was slightly disappointed by was, I thought it was very kind of flat. I think there's much more humour and there's much more colour in Episode II: Attack of the Clones. I think it's more reminiscent of the original three Star Wars films than Episode I was.
  • Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit on platform hoofs, crossed annoyingly with Butterfly McQueen.
    • Joe Morgenstern (May 19, 1999), "Our Inner Child Meets Young Darth", The Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), pp. A20.
  • It was wonderful playing a young queen with so much power. I think it will be good for young women to see a strong woman of action who is also smart and a leader.
    • Natalie Portman, quoted in "Production Notes".
  • I was very disappointed when the film actually came out, because I didn't think it was very good! But it was certainly an extremely exciting thing to be a part of.
  • It was a real shame, because I think the first Star Wars film is my favourite film ever. That would be my desert island film. For me it's got everything. There's not a beat wrong in that film.
It's a testament to the resilience of the Star Wars universe itself, that even with all the tweaks and whatever that George Lucas has done to the original film, and all the inferior prequels, that the universe still manages to be so exciting and cool and endures.
  • I didn't feel like he was a director of actors; he was more interested in stuff and effects. He didn't interest me and I wouldn't think I interested him.
  • I did meet her and she was absolutely enchanting. But on the day I'm supposed to do my scene with her, for which I'd traveled halfway around the world, I said, 'Where's Natalie?' And George says, 'That's Natalie,' and points to a bit of paper on the wall. It was just boring.

Taglines

  • Every generation has a legend. Every journey has a first step. Every saga has a beginning.
  • One Truth, One Hate

Cast

Voices

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