Day 63: The Phantom Menace is the Best Star Wars Movie Besides the Original Three and Here’s Why

It had so many Firsts for the Star Wars Universe.

First, it was episode one.

It was the first appearance of a double-sided lightsaber

It was the first time seeing Anakin Skywalker, not as an old man.

It was the first time seeing Luke and Leigh’s mother, and thinking that Natalie Portman was a little old for the kid.

It was the first time seeing the Jedi Council

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The pod race was badass.

I would say that the lightsaber battle at the end is the best lightsaber battle of the entire series of films.

Darth Maul.

The song during the lightsaber battle! Duel of the Fates by John Williams.

“Kor-ah, Mah-tah, Kor-ah, Rah-tah-mah.

Kor-ah, Rah-tah-mah. Yood-hah, Kor-ah.

Kor-ah, Syahd-ho. Rah-tah-mah, Daan-yah.”

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At the time the special effects and CGI were top notch.

But the puppet version of Yoda looked a little weird.

I noticed they updated Yoda to the digital version on Disney +. Save those VHS’s!

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Now, I know what you are thinking: But, Jar Jar Binks.

I know. I know.

It was for the kids and we were all grown up at that point.

I don’t even think the kids liked him.

That’s why they gave him a do-nothing job in the Senate, only to be a pawn later.

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Aside from Jar Jar, I have always enjoyed that movie. It has the right amount of pacing that leads up to the largest army battle (to-the-date) between boomerang-headed droids and oversized reptile versions of the platypus. All the while, Darth Maul is handing it to two Jedi Knights in a multi-bridged death chamber with laser walls on timers for some reason other than to chop men in half. And a man got chopped in half! But it was a light-saber that did it. And all of our hopes and dreams fell down into a bottomless well of darkness.

Thinking, “Holy shit, this is awesome.

Man, I can’t believe that Darth Maul is going to be the main bad guy: the “Darth Vader” of the new series.

If this fight is this awesome then the one in the third movie is going to blow my mind.

Oh, my God!

He killed Qui gon!

Oh no, Obi-Wan almost fell down the well but is hanging on, but I know he survives somehow.

Oh, the lightsaber!

Zoom!

Cut!

What? That looked like he turned into a hand puppet.

No, no. It can’t be. The hero is dead. Darth Maul is dead!

He could still come back. It was a clean cut. How many fake hands have we seen? He could get fake legs!

Remember that spider-legged robot that was displaying a hologram of Darth Sidious? Those could be his legs."

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Now the question is, do I watch Episode 2 knowing that 80 percent of the movie is fairly boring?

Or I could skip to the end to watch the Jedi Fights, which is arguably the best action ending to any of the Star Wars. I mean, that is a lot of Jedis! And Yoda!

To Be Continued...