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The Stone Heart: The Nameless City Series
Jordie Bellaire and Faith Erin Hicks
Book
The Stone Heart is the second book in the Nameless City trilogy from Faith Erin Hicks. Kaidu and...
Comics
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To Guard Against the Dark: Reunification Series
Book
The final book in the hard science fiction Reunification trilogy, the thrilling conclusion to the...
Science fiction
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New Mutants/X-Force: Demon Bear
Book
The visionary talents of legendary illustrator Bill Sienkiewicz bring the Demon Bear that has...
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My Dear, Melancholy by The Weeknd
Album Watch
My Dear Melancholy, is the first extended play (EP) by Canadian singer and songwriter The Weeknd. It...
Call Out My Name Heartbreak The Weeknd
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The Persian Boy (Alexander the Great, #2)
Book
In the second novel of her stunning trilogy, Mary Renault vividly imagines the life of Alexander the...
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End Of Days
Book
End of Days is the explosive conclusion to Susan Ee’s bestselling Penryn & the End of Days...
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Regeneration
Book
Regeneration is Pat Barker's classic, Man Booker Prize-nominated novel of World War I and trauma. ...
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Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Villains
Book
Writer Greg Pak (WEAPON H and WEAPON X) teams up with artists Chris Sprouse (BLACK PANTHER) and more...
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Mothergamer (1549 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Horzion forbidden west in Video Games
Mar 23, 2022
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) in Movies
Nov 8, 2019
I was 11 years old when it came out in cinemas, and I of course absolutely loved it, and I did for a good few years.
As I grew older, it became apparent that the original Star Wars trilogy was a set of films that truly stood the test of time, a statement that doesn't hold true to the prequel films, but when I look back on Episode I in particular, it's a huge part of the Star Wars that I grew up with, so I really can't hate on it too aggressively!
Episode 1 is undeniably geared towards a younger audience. It has a pretty basic script, colourful characters, low brow humour, and is dripping with CGI. This direction is a huge part of it's downfall, with infamous characters like Jar Jar Binks being a big source of fan contempt. Likewise, young Anakin Skywalker was also not received well by a lot of fans, a character geared towards the young audience TPM is aimed at, and so unbelievably far away from the iconic villain he will eventually become.
A big part of Episode I that I personally dislike is the need to give a backstory to everything. An example of this is the scientific explanation behind The Force, taking away the mystical side of it. (I'm also not a huge fan of C3-PO being built by a pre-adolescent Darth Vader, but here we are)
The above mentioned CGI is completely overloaded. It's aged pretty badly when it comes to characters like the Gungans, and is a far cry from the practical effects and sets of the original trilogy.
Saying all this though, there is still a load of stuff I love about TPM, and I don't care what you think...
Ewan McGregor is great casting as a young Obi-Wan Kenobi, and is the beating heart of this whole trilogy.
I also like Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon.
It gets a lot of flack, but I love the pod race scene (sue me) and then of course, Darth Maul. No backstory is given here, just a badass Sith Lord with a dual ended lightsaber, and that's all we need to know.
The Phantom Menace, isn't the most gracious start to the chronological Star Wars story, but it still has an odd sort of charm and it's certainly not the worst Star Wars film out there.
To be honest, I lost count a long time ago in regards to how many times I've seen it, and dammit, I'll watch it again 🖕