The Phantom Menace: Difference between revisions

* [[Aliens Speaking English|Aliens Speaking Basic]]: Even on backwater planets like Naboo and Tatooine.

* [[Always a Bigger Fish]]

* [[Artificial Gill]]: The rebreathers used by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to swim down to the Gungan city.

* [[As You Know]]: "Our blockade is perfectly legal, and we would be happy to receive ambassadors..."

** Actually played with, as the one that they ''think'' is a decoy is actually the real queen.

* [[Decoy Protagonist]]/{{spoiler|[[The Hero Dies]]}}: One of the rare instances where both is true. {{spoiler|Qui-Gon Jinn is the main character of the film and dies near the end, with prequels and the original trilogy to go}}.

** Since the midichlorians are explicitly described as not generating but ''translating'' the force (more akin to something like, say, [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|a Babel Fish]]), one could make the argument that the wizard is in fact alive and well, and the act of estimating one's strength in the force by the amount of force-feeding bacteria drawn to you is a desperate attempt of a "civilized" republic to explain the unexplainable.

* [[Don't Look Back]]: Anakin's mother gives him the strength to leave Tatooine by telling him not to look back at her.

* [[Dull Surprise]]: A common complaint about most of the cast.

* [[Everything's Better with Spinning]]: Anakin tries this during the Droid Control Ship battle. "I'll try spinning, that's a good trick!"

* [[Fighter Launching Sequence]]: The Nabooean fighter pilots [[Chekhov's Gunman|who the heroes rescued during their escape from the planet earlier in the film]] make off in their fighters during the film's climax. One of them is shot down on takeoff and crashes in a valley below.

* [[Filk Song]]: [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]'s [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEcjgJSqSRU "The Saga Begins"] (which he wrote before the movie with internet spoilers, and Al even attended a charity screening to make sure it was accurate!).

** The Neimodians when they seal off the bridge and realize the Jedi are ''still getting through''.

** The pilot and co-pilot of the Republic cruiser in the docking bay of the Trade Federation Battleship. [[Killed Mid-Sentence|They don't even get a chance to finish saying]] [[Oh Crap]].

** Also, Obi-Wan's scene with Qui-Gon at the Jedi Temple. ("Do not defy the Council, Master, not again.")

* [[Ominous Latin Chanting|Ominous Sanskrit Chanting]]: ''Duel of the Fates''.

* [[Pretty in Mink]]: Amidala's red dress is trimmed with brown fur.

* [[Radio Silence]]: It's vital that the Queen's shuttle not respond to the distress signals from Naboo to prevent giving away their location. But Darth Maul is somehow able to track them down anyway.

** The Blu-Ray also makes changes -- most notably trading a much-contested puppet Yoda for a digital one similar to the one seen in later prequels.

* [[Rule of Symbolism]]: The virgin birth of Anakin Skywalker, who according to an ancient prophecy is said to bring balance to the Force. He also likes to build things and lived in the desert. The image of Darth Maul resembles the Christian Devil as well.

** Some of Jar-Jar's antics are taken almost directly from the films of [[Buster Keaton]].

** Also as a likely [[Take That]], the leader of the Trade Federation is Nute Gunray after former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich as well as a reversal of Ronald Reagan, to get back at "Project Star Wars"; and the Neimoidian senator is named Lott Dodd after U.S. Senators Trent Lott and Chris Dodd.

* [[Space Is Cold]]: Mentioned word-for-word by Padmé.

* [[Space Jews]]: Watto for his miserliness and business-before-all-else attitude.

* [[Wacky Racing]]: Podracing.

* [[Walking Disaster Area]]: Jar-Jar's klutziness leaves wreckage in his wake.

* [[You Are a Credit to Your Race]]: Watto says this of Anakin.

 

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[[Category:Films of the 1990s]]

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