Star Wars DVDs

Summary:

For those just joining us...George Lucas returns, 22 years since his last film as director, to create a trilogy of prequels to the films that, for better or worse, changed the worlds of film and science-fiction from 1977 to 1983 and beyond. After much anticipation, what emerged first was The Phantom Menace. Although recognizably a Star Wars film -- in that the universe and filmmaking felt like nothing seen since Return of the Jedi -- at best the final product evoked reactions ranging from half-hearted defense ("The pod race was kinda cool") to outright anger and hatred ("Midichlorians? Are you kidding?").

Why We Like It:

No matter what you may think of The Phantom Menace as a film -- and even die-hard supporters of it are loath to try and argue it is even a good film -- this two-DVD set is staggeringly complete, entertaining, worthwhile, and necessary. It's probably unnecessary, on the other hand, to note that the picture and sound on a Lucasfilm THX-certified release of a George Lucas Star Wars film are perfect, but, for the record, the picture and sound are perfect -- reference quality, as they say -- the pod race sequence (which, in fact, is massively cool) and final cross-cut battle(s) being the standouts here. The film has also been slightly extended from the theatrical cut, to its advantage. There is an extremely informative, if rather uninvolving, commentary by seven of the filmmakers. And of course, the film is broken into 50 chapters, allowing you to easily jump over embarrassments ("Yippee!"). Disc Two contains a making-of documentary, a 40-minute feature of deleted scenes (some restored to the film, some not) with onscreen commentary not only from Lucas and his team but also from Francis Ford Coppola and supereditor Walter Murch, and every extant trailer, featurette, web documentary, music video, animatic, conceptual design, production photo, and poster that there is, we're sure. We don't know. We still haven't been able to get through it all, three years after release.

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Release Date: 10/16/01

Picture: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen

Audio: Dolby Digital EX 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0

Length: 133 Minutes

Discs: 2