What is your favourite moment from The Phantom Menace?

Any moment with Qui Got but this conversation in particular was always great.

 

Liam Neeson is a masterful actor - especially in this particuliar movie. The film wouldn't be the same with another actor.

 

When Anakin won the pod race. If I must be honest, the pod race is my favorite sequence in the entire saga.

 

If I thought about it I could probably come to a different scene, based on theme or something, but I'm going to go with the scene that had the biggest impact on me in the theater. I still remember it vividly. Because I was a kid when the OT was around, I really never expected anything more. So when TPM came around I was like, "Oh ____ they actually did it?" I was interested for sure. So I go to the theater with some friends, and I'm sitting there and, you know, opening fanfare into crawl and I was really getting excited, right? It got me up to this level of surreal anticipation/excitement. And that stayed level until...

Qui-Gon ignited his lightsaber, which heightened my state of excitement in a positively Pavlovian manner and then, he plunged it into the blast door. Into the blast door! A lightsaber into the blast door! And the TF dude is like "This is impossible!" (a thought that I had shared due to "RPG lore" until I saw it) and then Qui-Gon started to turn the saber and the theme music was swelling and the door falling apart and I swear to you I was sitting in that seat thinking "I'm having a heart attack... oh man I think I'm having a heart attack..." I was shifting in my seat and was sure I was done.

But of course I wasn't. I recovered, my heart went back to normal and everything was fine. But yeah, that is itself a great scene to me, plus it has such a strong memory attached to it, so that's my scene right there. Plus it was Qui-Gon so, you know? Elevated awesome by Liam Neeson.

 

TPM started out pretty good, I have to agree on that. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had a good relationship and were savage. Then we were introduced to the battle droids and the destroyers. It was an exciting opening, but then the movie continued... xD

 

I really love the first 15 minutes of the film. Crawl, Consular Class Cruiser (love the design and colour), neimoudians, Battle Droids, Qui-Gon melting the door, Obi-Wan, "Sir! They've gone up the ventilation shaft!", Federation landing in Naboo, soundtrack, etc...pretty cool start.

 

I love the scene towards the end where the doors in the hanger bay open up, the song "Duel of the Fates" starts blaring and standing there, all alone, is Darth Maul. Awesome scene!!! I remember getting goose bumps seeing it the first time and now, 20 years later (19.6 years later) it still resonates with me.

I also love the scene where Padme is standing in the window staring out on Naboo. She looks alone and as if she is bearing the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders. That was another great scene.

 

There are three moments that stick out for me when I first saw it years ago:

(1) Swimming to the Gungan underwater city. The music, lighting, and city design are just beautiful and they fascinated 7 year old me when I first saw it in theaters.

(2) Pod race. I really like the tension, comedy, action, and just plain fun of this sequence.

(3) Obi-wan's coming of age as he becomes separated from his master and then has to watch him die, helpless to do anything about it.

There are a lot of corny things about this film but there are some beautiful small moments, too, like when Shmi and Qui gon sit on the porch and talk about Anakin's future, the moment outside of Anakin's home when he's leaving to be a Jedi, and when Padme stands alone weighing the implications of leaving her home planet to the mercy of the trade federation to try to get help.

 

The trailer.

It was epic and promised so much. For the movie itself that is easily the 3 way light saber duel.

 

The teaser trailer was the most exciting thing that I saw in my life. I was 15 back them. And I went to a store to buy a VHS tape to record the teaser from the channel E! Entertainment Television ( in those days I had no computer). I watched that teaser trailer more than one hundred time...hahah

 

The opening scene and the Dual of the Fates. Classic Star Wars.

 

The more I think about it, another part for me that stood out in the PT was the music. So far for me it's WAY better than the music of the ST. So for me:
1. That moment when the doors open and Maul is standing there. Then Dual of the Fates blasts out and I still get chills. Great scene!
2. I love the part where Qui-Got is using his lightsaber to melt through the blast doors.
3. The scene where the Queen is staring out the window... You can see the weight of the world on her shoulders.
4. Any scene that has Darth Sidious in it.
5. The ending when Palpatine tells Anakin that he will watch Ani's career with great interest.

 

I don't care for the Gungans but I accept them. Anakin probably could have been a little older and NO ONE should have called him Ani. These things might seem small but, the small details are what make a movie relatable. Obviously some people might like all that and that's fine. The last 20 minutes of TPM is ART even with the Gungans.

 

The opening sequence is classic Star Wars. I love everything from the Consular-class cruiser (my favorite ship) to TC-14 to the introduction of Darth Sidious to attempting to cut into the bridge. Lucas sets the tone perfectly. Its hard for me to imagine editing Episode I and not being cognizant of the drastic change in tone as soon as Jar Jar arrives on screen... but it is what it is. The overarching story of the the PT/Rise of the Sith era, more than, makes up for these early missteps.

Also, the final battle between Obi Wan, Qui-Gon and Maul is a highlight of the franchise.

 

If Anakin was 10 years older, approximately the same age as Luke was when he went off with Obi-Wan, then I think the film improves immensely. You don't have to depend on a child actor carrying a ton of responsibility. You don't have a weird preteen love thing. The other change I'd make is change Jar Jar's voice to an alien tongue that is translated, and I'd do the same for the Neimoidians. But otherwise I'd leave the film as is.

 

I can't agree more! It was incredible to a lightsaber used like that for the first time on screen and the trade federation reaction was priceless. I remember my friends and I were amazed at how cool that was. It signaled we were going to get to see a lot of fun, new stuff in the PT.

 

Duel of the Fates is outstanding.

I also love all of Qui-Gon's defiance.

 

When Maul is revealed on Naboo and the parade scene at the very end. The parade music, in particular, because it's the Emperor's theme from RotJ, only sped up and sang in a higher key by children; it's actually pretty haunting when you think about what it really means...

 

Although the podrace is my favorite sequence in "The Phantom Menace", my favorite moment is when Qui-Gon introduced Anakin to Obi-Wan.