Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) (1 Viewer)

[TravisR]

Next up is Attack of the Clones. Something tells me it isn't going to hold up nearly as well.

Well, the last chunk of that movie is really cool.

 

[Sam Favate]

When the kids and I did our "12 Days of Star Wars" this past summer, the thing that really struck me about The Phantom Menace was how good it looked. Really just beautiful imagery, and the best looking film in the series. I still think it's the weakest of all (it really fails in striking the right tone) but it still has a lot of good things about it too (like the art direction, as you noted).

 

[Tommy R]

We have been doing a one SW movie per week since mid October, only have TFA and TLJ left before TROS. Watching TPM was great! I positively love it! Back in 1999 I disliked it. I never hated it, just matter of factly didn’t like it. I admired the pod racing and the light saber duel, but was confused about the rest of the story and how political it was. But watching it more over the years (and getting older) I find it easier to follow and found the story to be down right exciting in the final act. It is by FAR my favorite PT movie. Like my initial impression of TPM, I didn’t like the other two upon release. And what’s more, with AOTC and ROTS, they have gotten worse over the years instead of better.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’ll still watch any Lucas-directed installment at just about any time. Phantom Menace isn’t perfect, but it has far more that I like than don’t and I always have fun with it.

 

[Wayne_j]

This movie has been increasing in my appreciation of it over time. I now have trouble deciding if this or Revenge of the Sith is my favorite prequel film. AotC is definitely my least favorite Star Wars film. I have to cringe during all of the Anakin and Padme scenes.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Going dark with this thread? This movie has been out for 20 years!

This movie too.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I watched Phantom Menace on D+ last night. I wanted to see how it compared to the Blu-ray.

On my projection screen, which is HD rather than 4K, I found the Blu-ray to be the surprisingly superior experience. The HD stream seemed weaker visually by comparison, as if you could squint and start seeing the faintest hints for where resolution, detail and color fidelity ended and where compression loss took over. It wasn’t nearly as noticeable on my 55” TV, and for all I know, the 4K streaming version may eliminate those minor issues. But if you’re watching on a giant screen in HD resolution and are deciding between putting in the disc or putting on the D+ stream, I’d vote for disc. But if you don’t own the movie on disc and just want to see it again, the D+ version is still very watchable.

I may be super crazy on this last observation but the live action and CGI composites seemed more seamless on the BD than the HD stream. The HD stream seemed to make the fakeness ever so slightly more obvious on my setup.

I had to listen at very low volume so it was hard to get a real comparison between the audio on each version but nothing improper stood out to me.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I thought the 4K stream on Disney+ looked phenomenal. I've never been impressed with any of the other home video presentations of this movie.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I thought the 4K stream on Disney+ looked phenomenal. I've never been impressed with any of the other home video presentations of this movie.

Same here, it looked great on my LG OLED.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I have no doubt that the actual 4K stream, especially when viewed on a 4K TV vs a projection screen, would look phenomenal.

What I’m seeing is that their HD version of the stream does not appear to blow up to larger sizes as well as the Blu-ray version does. So if the 4K part isn’t a factor in your viewing, the disc may (for now) be the better experience.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I have no doubt that the actual 4K stream, especially when viewed on a 4K TV vs a projection screen, would look phenomenal.

What I’m seeing is that their HD version of the stream does not appear to blow up to larger sizes as well as the Blu-ray version does. So if the 4K part isn’t a factor in your viewing, the disc may (for now) be the better experience.

I'm not questioning what you're seeing in HD on your projection. I just noted that the 4K/Dolby Vision stream looks fantastic on my LG OLED.

 

[Edwin-S]

Whatever else one thinks of this film, there is no denying that the Pod Race is still a piece of visual and sonic candy, even after all of these years. I was wondering why the lows and expansive soundfields suddenly improved on all of these SW over Disney+. Somewhere, along the line the LG TV app was updated and the audio is now coming across as ATMOS, rather than just Dolby Digital. The improvement in audio extension is noticeable.

Man, I really hope that new sub of mine shows up soon. My old Mirage BPSS210 just cannot hack the extended low frequencies that these ATMOS tracks put out. It is still a good sub, but it has to be turned down quite a bit to keep it from 'popping".

 

[Alex...]

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is returning to cinemas for a limited time on May 3rd, to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Cinema Release Confirmed For May The 4th Weekend – Exclusive

Episode I is heading back to cinemas in May 2024 with brand new poster art to mark 25 years. Read more at Empire.

www.empireonline.com

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is returning to cinemas for a limited time on May 3rd, to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Cinema Release Confirmed For May The 4th Weekend – Exclusive

Episode I is heading back to cinemas in May 2024 with brand new poster art to mark 25 years. Read more at Empire.

www.empireonline.com

Terrifying to release it's now been 3 years longer from "Phantom Menace" to today than it was from "Star Wars" to "Phantom Menace"!

 

[Chuck Mayer]

1) That’s a really nice Matt Ferguson poster.
2) May 3rd is closer to the 25th anniversary of The Mummy than TPM.
3) I still have a soft spot for TPM.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

2) May 3rd is closer to the 25th anniversary of The Mummy than TPM.

5/3 puts the re-release up against "Fall Guy", whereas a closer-to-actual-25th 5/24 would put it against "Furiosa" and "Garfield Movie".

I guess they thought it'd do better with less competition.

I doubt it'll make much money anyway.

 

[Sam Favate]

When the TPM 3D version came out, I was going to take my kids, who've never seen a pre-Episode VII Star Wars film on the big screen, but TPM 3D didn't stick around long enough. They've expressed interest in seeing TPM 25, so maybe we'll get to do it.

I kinda wish this was a special edition. You know, one that at a minimum removed the fart jokes.

 

[TravisR]

5/3 puts the re-release up against "Fall Guy", whereas a closer-to-actual-25th 5/24 would put it against "Furiosa" and "Garfield Movie".

I guess they thought it'd do better with less competition.

I doubt it'll make much money anyway.

I'd imagine that the release date for this was designed to coincide with May The 4th. Between that and an "ad campaign" that will be entirely based on fan word of mouth, they'll make a few million bucks with almost no effort. Same as last year's Return Of The Jedi.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I'd imagine that the release date for this was designed to coincide with May The 4th. Between that and an "ad campaign" that will be entirely based on fan word of mouth, they'll make a few million bucks with almost no effort. Same as last year's Return Of The Jedi.

Ah, good point about "May the 4th Be With You" - didn't think of that!

 

[BobO'Link]

I'd imagine that the release date for this was designed to coincide with May The 4th. Between that and an "ad campaign" that will be entirely based on fan word of mouth, they'll make a few million bucks with almost no effort. Same as last year's Return Of The Jedi.

Yep - When I mentioned to my 20yo grandson that it was coming back to theaters on May 3rd his first comment was "Why not the 4th? That makes more sense." I just said "Well... it's that weekend so..."