Empire was fortunate enough to be the only UK publication invited to The Phantom Menace screening at the UA Cinema off New York’s Union Square last night. George Lucas, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman and the rest of the cast were there, so were Harrison Ford, Tim Robbins and Brendan Fraser. Ian Freer, Empire’s Reviews Editor, was our man at the screening and he was blown away by the CGI and the shear spectacle of the thing, "There’s so much imagination in every frame". Highlights of the film include: - The light sabres, so much better than before, and that goes for the fighting as well.
- Darth Maul, stunning, he’s not on screen for as long as you want and he leaves you yearning for more.
- Rumours about the kid (Anakin Skywalker played by Jake Lloyd) being rubbish just aren’t true.
- The underwater city, complete with submarines, is stunning
- Yoda Walks! His pins make their screen debut.
- The Pod Race is a fantastic scene of space-age chariot racing.
- Ewan McGregor makes a great Alec Guinness.
- Jar Jar Binks is so perfectly realised by CGI he’s totally believable.
Mixed reports are flooding web sites today slating the film or praising it to high heaven what needs to be remembered is that no other film has ever had to live up to twenty years of expectation. The full Empire review will be in the July issue of Empire which will hit the news stands on the first of next month.