Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
Sixteen years after Return of the Jedi, Star Wars came back on May 19, 1999 — behind maybe the biggest hype wave in movie history. Fans famously camped outside theaters in ticket lines, and people bought tickets to Meet Joe Black just to watch the teaser and walk out. What delivered: Darth Maul, "Duel of the Fates," and the podrace. What didn't: Jar Jar and midi-chlorians.
The teaser premiered on November 17, 1998 in just 75 North American theaters, attached to Meet Joe Black, The Waterboy, and The Siege — and people bought tickets purely to see it. Variety reported hundreds streaming out of one packed Los Angeles screening of The Siege the moment the trailer ended. Online, the teaser became a record-setting download of the dial-up era, crawling to hard drives over 56k modems, and the merchandising blitz swallowed store shelves months before the film arrived. By May 1999, the ticket-line camps outside first-run theaters had become their own news story.
The film itself — the first Star Wars in almost sixteen years — delivered the moments audiences had held their breath for: Ray Park's silent, double-bladed Darth Maul, John Williams's operatic "Duel of the Fates," and the Tatooine podrace. Liam Neeson's Qui-Gon Jinn, Ewan McGregor's young Obi-Wan, Natalie Portman's Queen Amidala, and little Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker headed the cast of what felt like a genuine cultural event, whatever anyone thought of the movie.
And plenty of people had thoughts. Reviews were mixed, with the backlash centering on Jar Jar Binks and the midi-chlorian explanation of the Force — the first great disturbance in the fandom. It didn't matter at the box office: The Phantom Menace was the #1 film of 1999, earning $431 million domestically in its original run — then the third-highest total ever, behind only Titanic and the original Star Wars — and $924 million worldwide, then second only to Titanic. The hype, the lines, the arguments: for one spring, Episode I was the entire culture.
Similar items
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
The middle prequel arrived May 16, 2002 with Hayden Christensen's brooding Anakin, the clone army, and the moment every 2002 audience cheered: Yoda finally drawing a lightsaber against Christopher Lee. It was also a landmark under the hood — one of the first major films shot entirely on digital cameras.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
The prequel trilogy's dark landing, May 19, 2005: Order 66, the Mustafar duel, and the Vader suit sealed shut — the first Star Wars film ever rated PG-13. It was the year's #1 movie in North America, and it has aged into the one the prequel generation defends.
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
The podracing dream from The Phantom Menace, but actually fun. LucasArts captured the absurd speed and alien canyons of Tatooine that made you forget Jar Jar ever existed — at least until you beat it in an afternoon.
Donnie Darko
The film that nearly died at the box office six weeks after 9/11, then rose from the dead through midnight screenings and DVD to become the 2000s' defining cult artifact. A nightmarish fever dream about time loops and a rabbit suit that you'd lend to friends with just 'watch it' and argue about until 3 a.m.