From developing completely new film techniques and technology that seem commonplace now, to a massive storm wiping out most of the Mos Espa set in Tunisia, there’s more to the story of making of Episode I than you probably know.
Scene selection, animated menus, multiple language subtitles, and English for the hearing impaired.Twenty years ago, Star Wars : The Phantom Menace graced movie theaters with an excitement level that’s still talked about fondly today. Sound: Dolby Digital 5:1 EX and 2.0 Dolby Surround Meesa think this good DVD package, although sad that there is no option to remove Jar Jar Binks from the film. Well done, may the tiredness be with you. Features lot of well fed, badly dressed people doing meetings.
Angle two is the best, with the amusing sight of watching actors trying to lip-synch in a plywood submarine.Ī wealth of never-before-seen production stills, all with captions.ĭisappointing gallery full of stills of the same poster design, but with slightly altered contrast levels and the film title in different languages for relevant territories. Short featurette on combining the movements of animated objects and/or characters with camera pans.Ī multi-angle breakdown of the scene: angle one-'original storyboard', angle two-'animatics and live action shots', angle three-'completed shots from the film', angle four-'splitscreen of the three previous angles'.Ī scene with multi-angle breakdown as above. All include relevant interviews and behind-the-scenes footage and they all tie together with Lucas explaining the look that he was after. A lot of basic development is covered here, from George physically sitting down to start the script (after doing the school run), to the 3000 auditionees for the part of Anakin.įive mini-documentaries that cover: Visual Effects, Costumes, Design, Fights, and Story. Here are the 12 documentaries that George Lucas put on his official site so that fans could keep up with the development of the film. Seven deleted scenes including two extended versions of the podrace. Eh, don't expect any earth-shattering revelations here. Lots of meetings litter this feature, as everything from the podrace to the length of Ewan McGregor's hair is debated.Ī curious little seven-minute featurette where directors including Lucas, Coppola, and Phillip Kaufman discuss why some scenes in a movie end up deleted. ' The Beginning - Making "Episode I" ' -Īn hour long documentary that follows the five-year development timeline, from the initial concept drawings, right though to the completed movie.They sure aren't as exciting to see now as they were before the film came out.
One teaser, the theatrical trailer, and seven TV spots. Lucas explains that his aim is to create 'silent movies' with the script only fleshing out a story that works primarily on a visual level. Perhaps George Lucas might consider a throat lozenge for his next commentary? Croaky tones aside, he's joined by the lead members of the design team (from visual to sound) who all have their own favourite anecdotes to chip in.
Over 600 hours of footage shot over five years have gone into making the special features. The craft swoop between the speakers with incredible ferocity that's backed up by the busiest two hours your subwoofer will possibly ever encounter. It's hard to recall any 5.1 mix quite so busy and so epic in terms of design. "The Phantom Menace" DVD will undoubtedly become the disc that all hi-fi and electrical shops will use to demonstrate home cinema kit. The quality of the Industrial Light & Magic effects are so good that, despite the sharpness of the image on this disc, the realism of the CGI is maintained while offering incredible amounts of detail. Even if you're not a fan, it's impossible not to get sucked into the movie's five-year production process that this DVD spans.ĭVD does some films no favours by sharpening up the CGI effects thereby reducing them to glaring faults in the movie. The DVD release of " The Phantom Menace" is set to join the elite against which all other DVDs are judged.