# Phantom Menace Is The Worst Film Ever Made **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2015, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988 "2015-03-02T05:38:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/81 "2015-03-06T00:19:10Z")
> [@grude](#): > > If anyone hasn’t check out The Clone Wars TV show if you can, I found it far superior to the prequels. I’ve heard good things about that, haven’t seen it personally. But I can recommend the earlier and similarly named [2003 Clone Wars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Clone_Wars_%282003_TV_series%29) series by Genndy Tartakovsky. The fight scenes are amazing, Grievous is an actual threat, and they handle Anakin’s turn much better than the movies. Only a couple hours all together. It’s even on Youtube and hasn’t been taken down yet, somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/82 "2015-03-06T01:29:31Z")
Not as long as one single print of [THIS FILM](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079894/) still exists. This was the first film I ever truly hated, when I saw it in the theater. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/83 "2015-03-06T04:03:42Z")
I think someone left “Star Wars” out of the title between the words “Worst” and “Film” because that’s the only way the title could make sense (and even then some would disagree, usually in favor of Attack of the Clones, but not me). I don’t even agree it’s a bad film, just not good for a Star Wars. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/84 "2015-03-06T04:49:54Z")
Am I the only one with _Pearl Harbor_ on my short list? Or maybe I just still bear the resentment of allowing myself to be talked into seeing it in the theater, when I _just knew_ it was going to be terrible. Of course, it didn’t have that element of high expectations, but still higher than the previously mentioned _Transformers_, which were also (_not_ coincidentally) directed by Michael Bay. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/85 "2015-03-06T04:57:46Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Am I the only one with _Pearl Harbor_ on my short list?.. It’s no _Wicker Man_, and it’s certainly an outstandingly bad movie, but at least if had some good looking women in it, and some cool vintage planes. And yes, some thoroughly modern destroyers! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/86 "2015-03-06T05:01:14Z")
Cut the “story” out of Pearl Harbor and it’s quite a good reenactment of the attack. If they ever do a 9/11 movie in the Michael Bay style hopefully they have the good sense to not spend half the movie on an office love triangle. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/87 "2015-03-06T05:03:23Z")
I only cared about the prequels because we got to see more Palpatine. If the trade dispute nonsense were written properly, and put on paper in a way that made any kind of sense, and we could more clearly see the strings controlling the circumstances leading directly back to Palpatine, and Palpy’s plans didn’t rely on an absurd set of circumstances which were not in his control lining up properly… And if they had someone who understands actual comedy write jar-jar’s character… so he might have actually been funny, and not just the idiot that moved the plot forward at times… And if they had someone who could write romance… Because honestly, people blame the crappy romance on the actors, but the script was godawful. HOW do you convincingly sell any of those lines? Seriously. I blame the poor writing of scenes and characters. The overall story? Good. I took no issue with the overarching story structure. The dialogue and nitty gritty of each scene was written by someone who didn’t know how to write convincing anything. Comedy, romance, plot minutiae. Palpatine emerged as the only character who was of interest, they even made Yoda suck, to be honest. And I think it took some stellar acting on Ian’s part to sell the lines written for his character at times, as well. Somehow he made that part of the prequel movies work. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/88 "2015-03-06T05:04:20Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Cut the “story” out of Pearl Harbor and it’s quite a good reenactment of the attack. … Except for all the modern warship in the scenes … ---
**Author:** ![The\_Winkler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@The\_Winkler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Winkler)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/89 "2015-03-06T07:08:31Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > He was electrocuted by the Emperor? Wait a second… what??? It was Luke who was electrocuted by the Emperor, and for quite a long time. He came out of it without a scratch. Vader may have absorbed the “force lightening” for a few seconds, but not nearly as long as Luke did. How could Vader have been killed by 1/10th of what Luke got? Vader simply died much like Padme - without explanation. One of the things that really bothers me is that Lucas refuses to accept any responsibility for those three bowel movements. To this day at least publically he refuses to concede that he blew it. And he still blames the public for not recognizing his brilliance. One more thing about Lucas that I have to mention (and I mentioned in another thread), I live down the street from Skywalker Ranch and am a Marin County native, so Lucas is a local. In the late '80s/early '90s Lucas was a client of my escort friend. She described him as “small and fast.” (I love that.) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/90 "2015-03-06T07:18:56Z")
> [@omenran](#): > > I think a huge weakness of prequels is that they try to go back and explain how things got to be. And doing, or trying to do that ruins the mystery and imagination of the audience of the original movies. Plus the plot has a predetermined ending, everyone knows how things end up and it’s hard to make a story people already know interesting when you tell it again at length. > > Buy no movie is totally unredeemable if it can be MST3K’d (or RIfftrax/Cinematic Titanic). In the first versions of Heinlein’s future history timeline he listed some stories that explained how America got taken over by religious fanatics. He wisely never wrote them. The prequels are kind of like those stories would have been. Guaranteed downers. ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/91 "2015-03-06T07:40:00Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Cut the “story” out of Pearl Harbor and it’s quite a good reenactment of the attack. No it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/92 "2015-03-06T07:47:44Z")
> [@The\_Winkler](#): > > Vader may have absorbed the “force lightening” for a few seconds, but not nearly as long as Luke did. How could Vader have been killed by 1/10th of what Luke got? Palpy was just torturing the poor boy, the last one was going to be the kill shot. Also, it fried Vader’s life support. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/93 "2015-03-06T08:37:00Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Palpy was just torturing the poor boy, the last one was going to be the kill shot. Also, it fried Vader’s life support. Guess he shoulda splashed out on the surge protector. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/94 "2015-03-06T09:26:40Z")
> [@The\_Winkler](#): > > Wait a second… what??? It was Luke who was electrocuted by the Emperor, and for quite a long time. He came out of it without a scratch. Vader may have absorbed the “force lightening” for a few seconds, but not nearly as long as Luke did. How could Vader have been killed by 1/10th of what Luke got? Luke was an organic being except for his robo-hand, Vader was “more machine than man”, so yea I’d imagine electricity would fuck up his day quite badly. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/95 "2015-03-06T12:26:57Z")
I read the OP as “Dennis the Menace” and came in to agree. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/96 "2015-03-06T16:46:54Z")
> [@The\_Winkler](#): > > Wait a second… what??? It was Luke who was electrocuted by the Emperor, and for quite a long time. He came out of it without a scratch. Vader may have absorbed the “force lightening” for a few seconds, but not nearly as long as Luke did. How could Vader have been killed by 1/10th of what Luke got? Like the others said. Palpatine was trying to torture Luke to death. When Vader turned on him, he was doing his best to kill him before he got chucked down the shaft. Note that when he’s zapping Luke, he’s just writing around with lightning crawling all over him. When he’s zapping Vader, you can see his skeleton through his armor. That’s probably not terribly realistic, but it’s a clear visual indicator that Palpatine has turned the force lightning up to eleven at that point. Also, as pointed out, the lightning was shorting out the life support systems in his armor. That’s why his breathing is so much more labored than usual when he’s dying. > [@](#): > > One of the things that really bothers me is that Lucas refuses to accept any responsibility for those three bowel movements. To this day at least publically he refuses to concede that he blew it. And he still blames the public for not recognizing his brilliance. Jesus, man. I like trashing the prequel trilogy as much as the next neckbeard, but they’re just movies. You’re acting like they’re some sort of moral failing on Lucas’s part. > [@](#): > > One more thing about Lucas that I have to mention (and I mentioned in another thread), I live down the street from Skywalker Ranch and am a Marin County native, so Lucas is a local. In the late '80s/early '90s Lucas was a client of my escort friend. She described him as “small and fast.” (I love that.) Hey, neighbor! ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/97 "2015-03-06T17:08:58Z")
Also adding…the Emperor does indeed say, “now, young Skywalker…you will die.” Then unleashes the kill shots. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/98 "2015-03-06T22:26:14Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Guess he shoulda splashed out on the surge protector. I am picturing a shot of Lukey flipping the surge protector switch. Luke: “I can save you.” :Luke flips big red switch: Vader: “You already have…you already have.” Happily ever after. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/99 "2015-03-06T22:55:33Z")
> [@simster](#): > > I read the OP as “Dennis the Menace” and came in to agree. Walter Matthau was perfect as Mr. Wilson, though. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988/100 "2015-03-06T23:02:14Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > As far as unwatchable super-bombs, you have films like: > … > R.I.P.D. > TPM doesn’t even crack the top 10. I liked that film- well mainly due to Jeff. Look, TPM wasnt a bad film at all. But it\* was\* a huge let down. We were all hoping for the magic, the excitement we had when we watched the original three. And that wasnt going to happen as we were all 20 years older. It had some solid moments, but it was uneven, had too much JarJar and it wasnt what we expected or were looked forward to. Naturally we thought that the film series would continue maturing as we did and as the first three showed such promise of doing. We were hoping for a 11 on the 1-10 scale and we were handed a 6. ☹ \*Of course \*there’s a backlash of fanboys saying “Worst. Film. Ever.” But as\*\* msmith537\*\* has pointed out, it’s not even close. However- it was just about\* the biggest let down ever. \* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phantom-menace-is-the-worst-film-ever-made/713988.md?page=6)