MAY 20, 1999

New 'Star Wars' Smashes Box-Office Record

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The new ``Star Wars'' movie took in a
record $28.5 million at the U.S. box office in its first 24 hours, raking in
the biggest ever single-day take in movie history, distributors 20th Century
Fox said Thursday.

``Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace'' opened at one minute past
midnight Wednesday in almost
3,000 movie theaters across the United States. The previous single-day
box-office record was held by
``Lost World; Jurassic Park'' in 1997 at $26.1 million.

A spokeswoman for Fox, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Ltd., said
according to official figures
the film took in $28.54 million at the box office from 2,970 theaters. Many
people lined up for hours for
midnight shows.

The $115 million prequel to the original 1977 ``Star Wars'' blockbuster got
mixed reviews from critics but
won rave applause from die-hard fans, many of whom dressed up in costumes
and played ``Wookie
Hooky'' from work and school to get into the movie.

The galactic hype accompanying the movie and the record first-day figures
should set the sci-fi adventure
on the road to reaping about $1 billion at the box office worldwide,
according to industry experts.

But it is not expected to top ``Titanic'', which despite a slow start
brought in some $1.7 billion worldwide
-- much of it thanks to heart-throb actor Leonardo DiCaprio's appeal to
teen-age girls.

JOHN L.: It finally arrived. Episode one of the Star Wars series in which
we see a young Benjamin O. Kenobi learn to be a Jedi Knight from Yoda and
then instruct a young upstart named Anakin Skywalker in the ways of the
force. However, this young lass is seduced by an evil man known as Emperor
Palpatine into betraying Kenobi and the Jedi to the point of wiping them all
out except for a few stragglers. Star Wars Along for the ride were C3PO the
protocol droid and his "longtime companion" R2D2 who somehow get involved in
this battle for the control of the universe. Their adventures alone could
warrant their own series of films. Yoda would also appear in Ep1 and wield
a mighty light saber when fully extended is longer than the green faced
gremlin on his tip toes. Along the way, Anakin would have relations with
some young lass and produce the twins of Luke and Leia. The fight to
control the galaxy would lead to the Clone Wars. Episode 1: The Clone
Wars has been the most anticipated movie of all time. Oh, what could have
been. Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace is not Clone Wars... at
least not yet.

The movie that was released wide on Wednesday, May 19, 1999 was an
experiment in taking movies to the next level by using as few live action
shots as possible. Lucas forgot to have the characters and story propel the
movie and not rely solely on special effects. Let us look at what went
right and wrong with the Phantom Menace. A sort of
Point-Counterpoint-Solution. First will be the criticism, then the positive
aspect, and then what would have made the masses happy.

1. SWE1:TPM's story:
The Wrong: The patented opening crawl was definitely the weakest of the Star
Wars movies. Trade negotiations do not make one's flesh crawl like "It's a
dark time for the rebellion." The conflicts that ensued because of the trade
problems did not seem urgent enough.
The Right: The story was good enough to propel the story with some action
sequences such as fighting the droids and the undersea chase, pod races, and
light saber duels. The story was just an excuse to get the the conflict,
but it also shows how seemingly small things like trade problems and
political leadership changes can change everything around you in drastic
ways. Real life wars are started for much less.
The Solution: More work on establishing the meaningfulness of the battles
and problems with the federation along with more scenes of the Phantom
Menace plotting could have brought more urgency to the story.

2. SWE1:TPM's pacing
The Wrong: You are immediately thrust into this trade war with 2 characters
that on the surface look like they should out fixing moisture vapirators and
not holding their breath in a gas attack. Trying to explain points in the
story became boring and tedious especially since many of the digital
characters could not be understood.
The Right: When the action did occur, it was pretty good. The pod race was
the stand out moment of the film as well as the final light saber battle.
The Solution: Terminator 1 philosophy. When in need to explain things, do
it during an action sequence and not under a moonlit sky. In Terminator 1,
Reese explained the terminator mentality in a car chase and not on a park
bench. Also, jedis should have patience, so a little exposition is good
for you.

3. STE1TPM's Digitized Characters:
The Wrong: Jar Jar Binks. Is he really as bad as everyone (except Harry
Knowles, Ahmed Best, and George Lucas) thinks? Yes and maybe. The
character is annoying in his clumsiness and pratfalls and he continues to
remain a coward throughout the movie without once coming out of character.
His voice is hard to understand which continues the frustration. Mr. Binks
basically became eye candy for the little kids who are bored by political
intrigue but respond to visual slapstick. Boss Nas did not look like he was
a Gungan, and he slobbered a lot. Digital stuntmen looked fake. Earthlike
ethnic accents were distracting.
The Right: Most of the supporting digitized characters worked. Watto was
very good as a villain. His no sell of the jedi mind trick put him over with
the fans. The Pod Race champion was also a good character and fun to watch.
The Gungan army was well animated. The robots lowered onto the Naboo field
were cool to look at even though they were jobbers.
The Solution: Jar Jar could have worked with the hardcore older fans if he
had been more heroic. Instead of surrendering at the end, he should have
taken out the droid army. All he really did was lead Qui Gon and Obi to the
underwater city. He should have overcome his clumsiness and triumph at the
end. Instead he was just lucky to survive. Jar's accent should have been
less pronounced or just subtitled. Instead of so many digitized characters,
stick with people in costumes. It helps actors get their line of sight right

4. SWE1:TPM's human actors/characters
The Wrong: Anakin's mom. My heart tells me she sucks. She pimps off her kid
and then won't admit to who his father is. Her lines about Anakin's
"immaculate conception" produce universal groans. Qui Gon is an idiot. The
jedi council keeps telling him that Anakin sucks, but he won't listen. And
now he forces the brat onto Ben who is not ready for the responsibilty.
Neeson also looked a little lost in the movie and not quite understanding
what he was talking about. Fortunately his Rob Roy experience helped him
prepare for the light saber battles. Amidala is a schizo and a child
molestor. Anakin was too gee whiz cool. Lloyd played him like a kid and not
a potential dark lord of the sith. Padawan Obi Wan had minimum impact until
the end. Darth Maul had no mic time. The #1 rule of the Siths is to talk
shit. Watch Vader and the Emperor in the other movies, and they trash talked
all the time driving their enemies crazy. If Maul had started a "you suck"
chant, he might have gotten over.
The Right: Palpatine/Sidious/Emperor/McDiamid= best actor in the film.
Hopefully he will continue to enteratin us for years to come. The character
does survive through the next 2 movies. That dude that says "invasion" is
cool. Darth Maul can wield a light saber pretty damn well. McGregor did
the Alec Guiness accent right. Portman looked hot.
The Solution: Lucas needs to make his dialogue make some sense. These
actors have trouble showing the emotions of the scene when they don't know
what they are saying. More subtle hints of the future would help. Show
Anakin enjoying crushing a bug or something to reveal his future darkside.
Only Palpatine's pat on the head of Anakin saying that he will keep an eye
out on him showed future forboding. Also, find actors that enjoy working
in scifi movies and don't have that elitist "I was nominated for an Oscar
about killing Jews for god sakes. Where was the force for those poor
people?"

5. SWE1TPM The final review
The wrong: Not enough of initial conflict to sustain the action. Some digitized 
characters did not work like Jar Jar Binks. Special effects seemed to be more 
important than the actors. Needed a few more references to the future movies. 
Anakin did not look like a kid who will be seduced by the darkside. Amidala and 
Anakin don't look right together. Age difference will be confusing in future 
films. Much like Boba Fett, a good looking character like Darth Maul is 
underused and discarded just as he was establishing a fan base.
The right: The computer generated backgrounds and general special effects looke 
excellent. ILM shows why they are #1 in the FX business. The Pod Race and the 
final light saber battle are enough to see the movie. Very exciting stuff. When 
I first heard the Duel of the Fates track, I said eh, but when it played over 
Darth Maul kicking Kenobi in the face, it got me pumped up and humming 
afterwards. The actors looked a little lost, but seemed to have fun in what 
they were doing since most had not done anything like it before. R2D2 is still 
one of the best characters in sci-fi. That little droid is unstoppable. 
The Solution: If you liked the movie, then you were satisfied and went home 
happy. If you did not like the movie you are most likely a so called hard core 
fan who thinks they could have written a better script. I feel sorry for those 
that hate the film. It does not deserve its harsh criticism. It is not a boring 
film, and it is acted well enough. The puppet factor of the movie is high, but 
did not fail completely. For those that were disappointed, they should see the 
movie again. Now they know that Jar Jar is an imperfect character so they can 
get over it, mitoclorian  parasites suck, so do your bathroom break at that 
point. Phantom is basically a trailer for the next 2 films, a prologue within 
a prequel. The audience is being used for suckers to make George Lucas rich. As 
long as he entertains me and keeps these characters going in some way, I will 
support him all the time. I will be in line for Eps 2 and 3. I am a mark 
believe it.

Final review tally: 2 and a half stars, 7 out of 10, B, thumbs up, recommended 
highly for 12 and under, casual fan, ones who never saw a Star Wars movie, and 
hardcore fans who don't dress up in movie lines. For those who are critical of 
stories and special effects, I do not recommend the film. You won't enjoy it. Go 
see The Matrix instead. For those with an open mind, and can accept the movie on 
its own with its obvious faults, go see the movie. It should make a nice 
addition to your DVD collection. 

Bye for now. There will be more to say when the final box office comes out 
Sunday to see if it can beat Jurassic Park and its satanic brother The Lost 
World in opening week box office. May the force be with us all.