Day: June 12, 2009

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The Phantom Menace – Ten Years Later

star_wars_episode_one_the_phantom_menace_ver1On May 19, 1999, Episode I – The Phantom Menace was released to theaters. This was a grand day for Star Wars fans everywhere in the world.

Then, the fallout began. Thoughts of how George Lucas stole their childhood memories of Star Wars and replaced it with this stinking pile of poodoo came across the minds of a lot of people.

I, was not one of those people.

I remember going to the theater with the Bayshore boys and catching this flick and just being amazed at the opening crawl of a new Star Wars film. How was this even possible? How could a film excite me in such a way? Wait…this is a NEW film! All of this excitement lasted the entire movie for me.

I never had a problem with Jar Jar Binks, I never had a problem with how it was a film geared for kids. I mean, what do we expect? I started out watching Star Wars film on MCTV on a Saturday afternoon wondering what the heck this movie was with a guy riding some giant camel in the snow of Kapuskasing? Oh, wait, did he just cut open that thing with a lazer sword? What the heck is this?

Then I remember going to Dad’s friend Ernie’s place and while they partied it up, I sat in the living room and spied a collection of movies and realized that the same lazer sword I spied on television matched the same on the box of this movie. I popped it in and fell in love.

To watch The Phantom Menace over and over and over again, did not bother me one bit. It continued the magic for me. Now, will I admit that there are better Star Wars films than The Phantom Menace? Sure, of course. I definitely enjoyed Eps II and III a lot more. I think George Lucas tweaked the films because of the backlash which made the further prequels better. Without The Phantom Menace, we wouldn’t have the awesomeness which is Episode III.

It’s ten years later…wow, what a ride. Star Wars is bigger than ever, with a new trilogy to watch, an animated series, and a live action TV series coming out. I will admit that the Star Wars bug has left my body after many years and I can go months without thinking about it. I’m not saying that I don’t love everything to do with Star Wars, but at the same time, I have other priorities in my life.

So faithful viewers…thoughts on The Phantom Menace?

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Review: Fanboys

fanboys_image__1_I have heard rumblings of the film Fanboys for a few years now…development hell, re-shoots, cheers from geeks around the world…heck, they even had a release date on DVD which was two weeks AFTER the US got it unbeknownst to this guy who went to Future Shop looking for it.  Fast Fact: The US release coincided with the ten year anniversary of The Phantom Menace.

Fanboys is a hilarious film about a group of Star Wars fans who want to go break into Skywalker Ranch to see a rough cut of Episode I: The Phantom Menace because one of their friends is succumbing to cancer and will not make it to the premiere.  Hilarity ensues in its highest geek form and I had some great laughs throughout the entire film…the van with the Chewie horn, the battle against the Star Trek fans, great cameos from the Star Wars alma matter…it was incredible.

My favourite part definitely is when they are battling with the Star Trek fans and then the Star Wars van that they are cruising around in comes in and rescues them.  Brilliant!

I watched this with Vero the other night and seeing as she does not care for Star Wars all that much, as well as only seeing Episode IV, I was surprised that the film hit the target of both entertaining a uber-fan like myself as well as a non-fan like Vero.  Well done.

I truly, truly, truly thought this film had some great laughs and I recommend it to everyone and anyone.  In fact, I will screen it at my place in July.

I can’t end this entry without mentioning that this idea must have perculated in the minds of geeks everywhere for the past decade.  I remember waiting for Episode III to come out and I literally told Benoit and Claude that if I were to be dying, I would start a campaign to somehow see a rough cut of the film because I wouldn’t be able to die without seeing how it all ended.