Phantom Menace a failure? It's the best in the franchise

The film is back in cinemas for its 25th anniversary. And Louis Chilton has a bold take on the much-derided prequel

- Louis Chilton

I have gazed into the cool, still waters of Naboo and seen my own face looking back at me. I have plunged my hands into the sand of Tatooine and let the grains fall through my fingers. I have sat cross-legged on the floor of the Jedi Temple, stared at Yoda’s vegetal head and memorised every crevice. All of which is to say: I have, over the course of my life, watched the 1999 space opera Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of times. And my only regret is that I didn’t watch it more.

There are few blockbusters as mocked and reviled as George Lucas’s first, mystifying prequel – the long-awaited follow-up to the cultural colossus that was the original Star Wars trilogy (1977-83). The complaints, back in 1999, were loud and myriad. It was too confusing. Woodenly acted. Over-CGI’d. The core premise revolved around “the taxation of trade routes”. And, of course, Jar Jar Binks. (Say no more.) Those, like myself, who are unabashed fans of The Phantom Menace are often accused of ironic revisionism – or, more dismissively, of being blinded by the goggles of childhood nostalgia.