![]() ![]() ![]() And yet, the critical disappointment from that time has slowly receded as Hollywood has built on Lucas’s achievements. That maybe a lack of creative urgency explained all the time that had passed since the original “Star Wars” trilogy ended. It was also the first indication that maybe “Phantom” was not the event it was cracked up to be. Policy divisions that put you to sleep can also kill you. Lucas has always been a politically minded filmmaker - he was involved in the early stages of “Apocalypse Now,” which he intended to direct - and perhaps he wanted to suggest that mass tragedy is often rooted in the banal. To be fair to George Lucas, the creator of “Star Wars” and the writer-director of “Phantom,” which has its 20th anniversary on Sunday, nations have gone to war over less than taxation. Yes! Turmoil! The pretext to all interstellar conflict! “Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic.” ![]() And finally, that familiar burst of brass and percussion that opens the theme music by John Williams, welcoming the titles and the opening crawl, and a prequel trilogy that will bring a new generation of fans into the “Star Wars” family. Then a silent fade to black and “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” a phrase that so perfectly evokes storytelling tradition while suggesting the infinite. It took only 55 seconds for the disappointment to set in.įirst there was the full 20th Century Fox fanfare, leading into the glittering emerald of the Lucasfilm logo. But even if you were a casual fan in 1999, you surely felt goose bumps when the lights went down and “The Phantom Menace,” the first “Star Wars” adventure after 16 years of rumors and anticipation, was finally unveiled. ![]() Maybe you sat through the somnambulant three-hour Brad Pitt movie “Meet Joe Black” six months earlier, just to see the first trailer. Maybe you waited in line all night for tickets. ![]()
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