Short summary of this experiment was that no, it was not better. If anything it was a lot worse because CGI has come so far since this film was released. Some of the scenes that I actually enjoyed when it was first released such as the fight scenes with Darth Maul now look fake when back when the film was released they were the highlight of the film.
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Take note of the bottom of that image. They intend to re-release this into cinemas for the 25th anniversary of the release of the film and I will NOT be going to see it.
I watched it last night on a 60 inch TV with pretty great sound hoping that my original disdain for this film would somehow get reversed in particular because I hated the Disney releases so much. For a lot of people, the Disney films made many long-term Star Wars fans feel as though their reaction to episodes 1,2, and 3 might have been exaugurated because the original trilogy was so incredible that it wasn't going to be possible to one up it. The Disney films (other than Rogue One IMO) were all terrible and the fact that they shit all over the old characters and had a social-justice agenda made them just horrible. We felt as though a re-watch of EP's 1,2, and 3 was necessary.
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I regret to say that even though I was genuinely trying to enjoy Phantom after years of bad-mouthing it that seeing it again simply reinforced my negative opinions of it, it didn't make me feel as though the film was much better than I remember. A lot of this has to do with the droids being exceptionally stupid and of course Jar Jar and his entire clan were meant to be funny but they are just annoying. Jar Jar was introduced to be a a "fool of a Took!" that causes calamity and accidentally redeems himself but instead he is just the worst character ever introduced to the Star Wars universe.
I have previously written that the amount of hate the Jar Jar received by audiences and critics alike encouraged Lucas and Co. to phase him out of further episodes. This quote sums Jar Jar up perfectly
Jar Jar's primary role in Episode I was to provide comic relief for the audience. He was met with overwhelming dislike from both audiences and critics, and has been recognized as one of the most hated characters in Star Wars and the history of film in general.
I definitely don't disagree with this sentiment at all. If someone were to ask me who I think is the worst character in Star Wars that would be easy and I think if they were to say that he is the worst character of any movie I wouldn't argue with that.
My ire doesn't end there though. I stand by my previous standpoint that the entire idea behind this film was to show Darth Vader's progression into adulthood and the way in which they decided to show young Anakin was just terrible.
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Most child actors annoy me but Jake Lloyd was beyond terrible in the role. I don't think it was necessarily the actor's fault because the script was just so annoying and dumb to begin with. We have a kid who knows more than the adults around him about basically everything and he builds droids for fun in his spare time. He also excels at pod-racing and is the sole reason why the ship gets destroyed that is controlling all the droids on the planet during the final battle sequence. All the experienced pilots involved in this mission prove quite useless but a kid who has never flown a fighter before? No problem! He returns without a scratch on his body.
I think there could have been a lot of other ways that they could have developed Anakin in a much better way, but this film is taking the life of the most famous light-saber holder of all time and just destroys it.
I think I fell asleep at least twice while I was watching this but yet I am still going to suffer through the following 2 episodes because I recall that they do get better, although still bad, as they go along.
Whatculture.com dedicates an entire 10 page blog to the worst moments of CGI in Star Wars history and a great many of them are from Phantom Menace.
Other than a few key moments with Yoda that establish some sort of upcoming story about how he can see into Anakin's future to some degree, there is very little in the way of redeeming qualities for this film from start to finish.
I thought I would be going down a path of seeing something epic that I originally discarded because I was expecting so much of it when it was released but no, my original assessment of this film was correct. It sucks and I think that most people are going to feel the same way.
If you feel differently I'd love to hear what it is that I am doing wrong but aside from very small moments of character development I find the Phantom Menace to just be a disgrace to the original trilogy.