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EW's Complete Coverage

Star Wars
Here's why I love video: Because, with judicious use of the fast-forward button, you can create what writer William Goldman would call the ''Good Parts'' version of any movie. This comes in especially handy when dealing with a film like Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace, an ''entertainment'' that's got almost as many eye-popping special-effects shots as it does slack-jawed dialogue scenes. (It'd be even easier to excise those clunkers on DVD -- perhaps THAT'S why there's no digital release in sight.)

To do its job as a prequel, ''The Phantom Menace'' has to provide only three pieces of information: (1) introduce Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) and Amidala (Natalie Portman); (2) establish Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) as Anakin's teacher; and (3) let us meet Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) before he becomes the evil emperor. We don't need to know anything about Gungans, senatorial chancellor elections, podraces, droid armies, or midi-chlorian levels.

So, what's in my ''Good Parts'' version? The mentor-student dynamic between Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan, the somber Jedi Council scenes, and the intricate climactic lightsaber duel, which shows just how badass Jedi Knights can be. Everything else gets in the way. ''Good Parts'' version: B The official cut: C-


Posted Apr 04, 2000
 

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