In honor of the 19th Birthday of The Phantom Menace, I give to you my remembrances of that year  reposted from a personal blog where I wrote 3 things.  Enjoy.

In my head that was Bryan Adams’ song Summer of ’69. But with different numbers.

Already I digress.

There is a certain temperature. A certain smell in the air during spring where I am sent back to the summer of ’99. More importantly the anticipation of Star Wars Episode 1. Let me take you back there.

I was living at my parents saving up for a big move to Chicago. I was going there to do legit theater stuff and it was my plan in college. I had no worries. My student loan the only bill hanging over my head and I was working the Bee’s as a prep cook 3 days a week and a server for 2. The best schedule. Spent my server moneys on fun kept the cook moneys for savings.

It was also this summer I was learning how to play a lead. I had recently played Seymour in Little Shop and now I was stepping up the game with Judas in Superstar.

The radio stations were blowing up with these 2 Mickey Mouse Club girls by the name of Britney and Christina. Even back then chose Christina because her voice was better. (Little did I know how hot she’d become and just how much more her voice would blow me away.) Cher was telling us to Believe and The New Radicals were singing You Get What You Give. Chorus lyrics to this song were “you’ve got the Music in you”. Whereas because of my upcoming role I amused myself changing the song to “Got the Judas in You.”

Anticipation for Ep 1 was high. We didn’t know WHAT we were in for. The Clone Wars? Obi Wan. Vader? Would he be here yet? I can hear the songs above. Or fell the certain breeze and I am back in ’99 collecting Ep.1 Trading Cards and buying too much merch.

When the trailer rolled out. I must have seen the opening shots of that trailer 100 times as I kept trying to Download it of my parents 23.3 modem. In the uncharted backwaters where my parents were living there was no Broadband. There wasn’t even 56.6. It was a internetless wastleland. in my eventual watchings of that trailer two things stood out to me.

Amidala: I cannot condone a force of action that can lead us to war.

Clone wars? Is it happening? Besides that fact that she was Natalie Portman (yay!) who was she? A princess? A queen? What is going on? Look at all those effects! Fighting each other. This thing is going to rule!

Stand out thing 2:

Emporor: Wipe them out. All of them

Cut to:

Obi wan: (Screaming) NOOOOOOOOOO!

Holy shit! That’s it! The Jedi are being wiped out! It’s over! We’re going to see the Jedi disappear already. Their once bright light flickered out of the galaxy. Obi Wan, Anakin, and Qui- Gon (whoever he is) are all that are going to be left. And Yoda. Cause there he was. I think. Sounded like him. My thought was that this movie ends with only a few Jedi left and fighting the Dark Side. THIS MOVIE WILL BE EPIC!

Well, I was wrong. But I, unlike many, didn’t hate it. I already understood that what I wanted to happen and what did happen were obviously very far off. I didn’t hate Jar-Jar and seing that Epic lightsaber battle at the end of it made it all worth it. And I saw it 3 more times that summer. Never disappointed but wondering why they wasted 20 minutes on a podrace.

Then there’s Darth Maul the baddest of all villains. Double bladed lightsabre! What? Those of us in the know knew Palapatine was would become the Emperor and leader of the Sith so watching his machinations was incredible. (As I side note I recommend the book Darth Plageuis which tells the story of Palps and his master. And his apprentice for that matter.)

IN FACT. Most of my disappointment over the film came later. It was hard to ignore the complaints online and from friends over their problems with the films. And in 2003 when the DVD came out and I was watching that amazing Documentary “The Beginning” (side note: I wish they would have done for all the films.) That moment in the doumentary when the film opens and the audience goes crazy almost make me cry every time. I know what it’s like to love something. I think Kyle Newman did a great job of capturing this as well in his film “Fanboys” that takes place the winter before. But, as Lucas says in the doc, “You can screw these things up you know” I feel some of the mistakes pop out at you.

Why he chose Jake Lloyd over that other kid I’ll never understand. No only does he look like Mark Hamill but I thought he was the better actor. George cast Jake knowing he’d be able to edit together they best moments of his performance. I always felt he was kind of flat. I never latched on to Anakin in that movie.

And that’s when I had my first AHA! Moment. This movie wasn’t made for me. It’s Anakin’s story and if it’s told for kids give them someone they can relate too! And have a wacky character along to make them laugh. “Poo-Doo!”

It was shortly after that that I had my second AHA! Moment. People were pissed because the movie wasn’t what THEY expected. I had early on come to terms with this. I lost my sight of the thing that kept me from liking the movie. Expectations. They wanted dark and moody. Dead Jedi. Anakin should be a dark moody guy who was Obi Wan’s age. They wanted a Vader by the end of the first movie. And what they got was a young kid who said “Yipee” and an alien who said “Exsqueeze me!”

And they couldn’t let it go. All their hopes and desires of what the prequels would be were not what they got. Not even close. And they never forgave George for that. And that sucks. The internet’s complaints of raped childhoods were unfounded. They were ridiculous. George told the story he wanted if you don’t like then make your own. Write it up. Throw it on the web for fan fiction. Or film it.

Take or leave the prequels. But stop bitching about them. I agree they are not perfect movies but the hatred for them if over the top.

But that’s just my opinion, as Dennis Miller once said, I could be wrong.