Since November is 'turkey month' we have decided to celebrate some of cinema's most infamous turkey's and since 'Star Wars' has been in the news a lot lately why not start with George Lucas' biggest misstep since have Greedo shoot first 'Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace.' 'Episode 3' was okay, 'Episode 2' was decent, but 'Episode 1' is almost unwatchable. From horrible acting, mostly from Jake Lloyd, terrible dialogue, a plot that drags on and on, and the ridiculously unfunny Jar Jar Binks this film is a mess from the get go.
In fact if it wasn't for the climatic duel between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul there would be almost no reason to ever watch this one at all.
Here's your trivia:
The words chanted during the "Duel of the Fates" are from Robert Graves' poem "The White Goddess". "The White Goddess" is a translation of the original version, "Cad Goddeu" or "The Battle of Achren", an early Celtic work of great antiquity also known as "The Battle of the Trees," which was originally composed by Gwion and is found in the "Book of Taliesin", a Thirteenth Century Welsh manuscript . John Williams had the lines "Under the tongue root a fight most dread, and another raging, behind, in the head" translated into Sanskrit. The translation sung in the movie is as follows: "Korah Matah Korah Rahtahmah Korah Rahtamah Yoodhah Korah Korah Syahdho Rahtahmah Daanyah Korah Keelah Daanyah Nyohah Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Syadho Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Korah Daanyah Korah Rahtahmah Korah Daanyah Korah Rahtahmah Nyohah Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Syadho Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Korah Korah Matah Korah Rahtahmah Korah Daanyah Korah Rahtahmah Nyohah Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Syadho Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Korah" - IMDB
This One Is 100% Certified Cinematic Turkey!
Jar-Jar Binks: Ooh mooey mooey I love you!
Qui-Gon Jinn: You almost got us killed! Are you brainless?
Jar-Jar Binks: I spake!
Qui-Gon Jinn: The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. Now get out of here.
Another great example of how the vocal minority can spin things. Over a billion at the box office putting it in the top ten of all time - proves that more people loved this film than thought it was a 'turkey'.
ReplyDeleteWhen TPM came out me and plenty of my fanboy friends saw this again and again. Only later did it become cool to bash Ep1. Is it or any of the prequels as good as the OT? No, but that doesn't make them as bad as the vocal minority say they are.
I'm glad to see someone step forward and defend 'Phantom Menance'.It just goes to show just how subjective the art of critiquing films can be. As the old saying goes 'one man's trash is another man's treasure.'
ReplyDeleteNow that being said I believe that I have earned the right to call this film out for exactly what it is ... bad.
How did I earn this right? Well I have been a 'Star Wars' fan since 77 and the piles of SW related merchandise I have purchased over the decades probably funded ILM single handedly.