The Phantom Menace: Skywalker Begins

Hey, have you seen Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace? It’s from 1999 and has some awesome actors like Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, and Ian McDiarmid. Fun fact, it was written and directed by George Lucas and produced by Rick McCallum. It’s also the first movie of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the fourth Star Wars release overall. If you’re looking to watch the series in chronological order, this is the first movie to start with.

Darkness Rises: Sidious Federation

Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace is set 32 years before A New Hope, and there’s this crazy trade conflict going on between the Trade Federation and the Galactic Republic. Naboo is under blockade, and two Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, are sent to negotiate. Little do they know, the Trade Federation is working with Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith. He’s sneaky and has ordered the invasion of Naboo and the elimination of the two Jedi. It’s intense!

Daring escape from Naboo

You won’t believe what happened on Naboo! So Qui-Gon and Kenobi saved Jar Jar Binks from a super-dangerous situation with those Trade Federation dudes. Then they went to some cool underwater place called Otoh Gunga to hide out. But when they tried to get the leader of the Gungans, Boss Nass, involved, he was like, “Nah, not going to happen.”

So they had to leave in a super-cool bongo submarine. After that, they rescued the Queen of Naboo, went to the Senate, and had this mega-tough journey to Coruscant. But then, you won’t believe it, a large number of Federation battleships attacked them as they tried to escape the planet. Luckily, R2-D2, the little hero, saved the day, and they were able to fix their ship and make it out alive. Go R2!

The Chosen One

The Jedi roll up to Tatooine, and they meet Anakin Skywalker, this kid who’s a slave but crazy good with machines and flying. Qui-Gon makes a bet, saying he’ll get Anakin’s freedom and fix his ship if he wins this insanely dangerous race. And get this, Anakin’s got some kind of crazy Force powers–Qui-Gon takes a sample of his blood and asks Obi-Wan to check his midi-chlorian count. And guess what? It’s off the charts—way higher than anything they’ve seen before!

Sith assassin ambush

Anakin literally rocks the podrace; he decides to travel with the group to Coruscant. And guess what? Qui-Gon wants Anakin to become a Jedi! But Darth Sidious interrupts the excitement and sends in his apprentice, Darth Maul, to capture the Queen and kill the Jedi. Things get wild when Maul attacks Qui-Gon as they’re about to leave. The two engage in combat, and Qui-Gon has to flee on the Naboo Royal Starship quickly to avoid Maul’s attacks.

Request for training

The Jedi Council was pretty surprised when Qui-Gon spilled the beans about his brawl with the dark assassin on Tatooine, who he said was a Sith. Apparently, these Sith dudes were supposed to have disappeared over a millennium ago and were well-known for using the dark side of the Force. Qui-Gon also mentioned a kid named Anakin, whom he was trying to help become a Jedi. But, after running some tests and getting some advice, they decided that Anakin was too old to train by their rules. Plus, they were pretty nervous about what might happen to him in the future since he seemed a bit on edge.

A Vote of No Confidence

Queen Amidala met up with Senator Palpatine, and they talked about some messed-up stuff going on in the Senate. Palpatine suggested they try to get Supreme Chancellor Valorum out of power, and the Queen suggested a vote of no confidence in Valorum. So, Queen Amidala decides to take matters into her own hands and leave for her home planet. Palpatine is running for Chancellor, but Amidala isn’t sure he can fix things even if he wins. To make sure things don’t get worse, the Jedi Council sends a couple of Jedi to go with her and check things out. It looks like they want to make sure the dark side isn’t involved!

Aid from the Gungans

Amidala went back to Naboo and was searching for the Gungans, but when she got to Otoh Gunga, it was totally empty. Bummer! But Jar-Jar knew where to go and took them to the Gungan Holy Place, where Amidala could talk to them about joining forces against the Trade Federation. At first, the Gungans were skeptical, but then Amidala showed them who she really was, and they were cool with helping out. Meanwhile, Captain Panaka and his security squad had to bust people out of the Trade Federation’s prison, which was pretty tricky, but they managed to free a few.

Battle plans are drawn

Welcome to the wondrous world of Naboo! Our heroes, Amidala, Captain Panaka, and the Jedi, have concocted a master plan to sneak into Theed through a super sneaky, hidden doorway behind one of the magnificent waterfalls! Plus, the Grand Gungan Army is joining forces! Here’s the kicker: Nute Gunray went and spilled the beans on Darth Sidious, and all chaos is about to break loose. Watch out world, Naboo is coming in hot!

Gungan Grand Army braces for battle

Ahoy there! Looks like Captain Roos Tarpals has an interesting plan up his sleeves – he wants the Gungan Grand Army to activate their shield and it’s supposed to be impenetrable! However, it seems like OOM-9 didn’t get the memo and ordered firing of tanks anyways. Oops!—cue in Daultay Dofine who gave the command to unleash the battle droids leading to the sad situation where the Grand Army is now vulnerable and facing notable casualties. Looks like the alliance has some trouble on their hands.

Droid Control Ship destroyed

Well, well, well, looks like young Anakin Skywalker really shook things up without even trying! The Droid Control Ship of the Federation was sent packing thanks to his “unintentional commandeering” of an N-1 starfighter. And that’s not all – Amidala and her force were able to successfully take back the royal palace and even nab Nute Gunray! All in all, it was a pretty epic day for our favorite characters. #TeamAnakin #GoAmidala!

Duel in the hanger bay

Oh boy, have you seen that crazy battle scene in the Theed hangar bay? Darth Maul was taking on TWO Jedi at once with his double-bladed lightsaber! The fight was intense and moved to a series of catwalks! Can you imagine? Lucky for Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan bounced back after being thrown from a catwalk and joined the fight again! He even clung to a lower catwalk to get back into the action! What a wild ride that was!

Darth Maul defeated

In an epic battle, Maul unexpectedly gives Qui-Gon a little chin music, stunning him with his lightsaber handle. Unfortunately, he then deals a fatal blow by plunging his blade into Qui-Gon’s torso, leaving poor Obi-Wan to carry on alone. Brave and fierce, Obi-Wan fights like a true Jedi, even managing to break Maul’s blade in half. But Maul almost gets the best of him! Fortunately, using the Force, Obi-Wan snags his late master’s lightsaber and, with a leap over Maul, finally cuts him in two. Just like that, Maul falls into the shaft in two pieces, and Obi-Wan lands safely behind him. Talk about a dramatic finish!

A Jedi Master's last request

Hey, guess what? Qui-Gon chose Obi-Wan to train Anakin to become a Jedi! He believed that Anakin was the chosen one. How cool is that? Obi-Wan promised to make Qui-Gon proud and take on this responsibility. However, Qui-Gon passed away, and it left Obi-Wan feeling a bit sad. But hey, we all know that Obi-Wan will give it his all and maybe even become a legendary Jedi Master himself someday!

Always two there are

Later that evening, during the cremation ceremony of Qui-Gon Jinn at the temple in Theed, Mace Windu and Yoda were having a Jedi-style brainstorm session and reached a consensus that the Sith were responsible for the tragedy. According to the Jedi Order’s doctrine, there could only be two Sith at any given time: a master and an apprentice, so it seems like there’s a villain out there! The esteemed Masters agreed that they needed to put their detective hats on and identify and apprehend the Sith to prevent any further chaos in the galaxy. May the Force be with them on this mission!

Conclusion

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace takes us back to a time 32 years before the original film, following two Jedi ambassadors on a mission to resolve a trade dispute. But things get crazy when they stumble upon the mysterious Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, and meet a young and talented force user named Anakin Skywalker! Some people love it, some not so much. To be fair, Episode 1 is one of my favorites, but it’s hard to deny that this movie introduced some iconic characters and set the stage for the prequel trilogy. So grab your lightsaber and let’s go watch it again! May the Force be with you!

Best Star Wars Reviews

The Phantom Menace: Skywalker Begins