Okay, here's my second draft of the update; I'm still wide open to suggestions to changes for certain cast roles (particularly Darth Maul and Young Owen), but other than that I think I'll be ready to move on sometime after this:
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Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Writing
George Lucas began writing the new Star Wars trilogy on November 1, 1994. The screenplay for Star Wars was adapted from Lucas' 15-page outline that was written in 1976. The early outline was originally designed to help Lucas track the character backstories and what events had taken place before the original trilogy. At first Anakin's age was twelve, but Lucas reduced it to nine because he felt the lower age fit better the plot point of Anakin being affected by his mother being separated from him. While the film's working title was The Beginning, Lucas later revealed the true title to be The Phantom Menace; a reference to Palpatine hiding his true identity as an evil Sith Lord behind the facade of a well-intentioned public servant. Shortly after finishing a rough first draft in 1996, Lucas reconnected with former collaborator Lawrence Kasdan, and had him read his work thus far; it is still not known for sure whether Kasdan's input at this point could be characterized as co-writer (as some rumors had it), script doctor (as Kasdan put it), or “just a friend taking a look at [his fellow's] work... offering some suggestions” (to quote Lucas). By most accounts, at least some of the more naturalistic dialogue was simply written by Kasdan -- for example, the answer Kenobi gives Anakin outside the Jedi Council Chambers, when asked why he wanted to help him become a Jedi; “
My master often says to me, 'Anakin, in so many ways you're like an excited boy, you're still looking for adventure.' I fear he's right. I know that you will achieve great things Anakin. So I guess you could say you... are my adventure. That's why I'm helping you.” Whatever the writitng process, the script was mostly ready by the time filming began on June 26, 1997...
Story
In the text crawl we learn that the Trade Federation has blockaded Naboo, accusing the planet's leadership of aiding and abetting piracy and smuggling within Federation controlled territory. We learn that two Jedi have been secretly sent by Chancellor Valorum to negotiate a settlement between the two parties.
After text rolls, camera pans down to the blockade of Naboo, as a small ship approaches, carrying two Jedi ambassadors, Obi-wan and Qui-gon, (played by
Ewan McGregor and
Liam Neeson respectively) requesting permission to board. While the wait for said go ahead, Obi-wan confides in Qui-gon that he thought being a Jedi would be more exciting, only to have his master remind him of how bad things used to be, like during the Sith Wars. Meanwhile, aboard the Trade Federation ship, Nute Gunray (voiced by
Silas Carson) speaks to Sidius via hologram, who instructs him to fire upon the Jedi ship. A brief exchange of fire proceeds, and the Jedi ship crashes down into the forrests of Naboo (but not far from the city of Theen). When Gunray cannot confirm the Jedi are dead, Sidius orders him to “
begin the invasion”.
Jar Jar Binks (
Lewis MacLeod) is introduced as something of a blaster-pistol wielding violent malcontent; when he is rescued by Obi-wan, he explains that he must now accompany Kenobi wherever he goes until he has a chance to save his life, and repay his debt. To this end, he tells the Jedi of a secret passage into Theen -- but one that can only be accessed inside the Gungan city Otoh. It is there that the Jedi find that Jar Jar had been exiled for some sinister crime.
Padme (
Natalie Portman) is introduced sternly telling a nervous girl, dressed as “Queen Amidala” (
Keira Knightly) to “
not let fear overtake you”, just before the TF droid army breaks into the throne room to take them hostage. We cut back to the Trade Federation ship from the beginning. In a brief scene, we see Gunray speaking with a hologram of Sidious, informing him that the invasion is going as planned. Gunray claims that "the Pirate Queen" has been captured. Sidious announces that "
my apprentice will deal with her personally." This is followed by the first appearance, via hologram, of Darth Maul (
Ray Park) in the film; we have he is seen standing beside Sidious, maintaining a menacing pose. Cut to the Jedi and Jar Jar coming out through a secret entrence right into the palace, where they quickly make their way to the throne room; Jar Jar blasts away the droid guards, and leads the Jedi into the throne room. As they make their way to the escape ship -- meeting up the Royal Naboo Security Forces, headed by Panaka (
Hugh Quarshie), along the way -- we learn the “queen” seems to look to her “handmaiden” (Padme), for advice, and of the racism held toward Gungans (especially by Padme).
As the hijacked Federation ship makes its escape through space, it is pursued by Droid Fighter Ships, led by Darth Maul's special fighter; during the fight scenes, Maul manages to hit the ship with a tracking device (his taunts, meanwhile offer a glimpse at his cocky, sadistic personality). In the immediate aftermath of the escape sequence, following the battle that occurs more or less as per the movie we have, Panaka -- who assumes command, after the “queen” -- alerts the Jedi to the injuries that ship has sustained, and claims that the ship cannot make it to Coruscant. The ship will have to land on a nearby planet.
To make matters worse, after landing on Tatooine, the Jedi quickly find the tracking device on the ship, Panaka and the Jedi agree that at most, they have a few days to repair the ship before they are found, and that so long as they remain in the Galactic hinterland, the Federation can kill them with near impunity. Padme “convinces” the “queen” that Qui-gon, as the more experienced Jedi, should be the one to stay behind and guard her, while she should accompany Obi-wan (and Jar Jar and R2) into the city. Meanwhile, the occupation of Naboo is shown as brutal for Naboo and Gungan alike, with Sidius pushing Gunray to crush all opposition.
On Tatooine, while this party is still out, Qui-gon tries to talk Panaka out of sending a distress signal -- arguing that a distress signal would only aid the Federation's attempt to locate them, that a distress signal would mean that the Federation would be able to find them all the quicker, preventing them from being able to repair the ship, and that the signal would take away what little time they have on Tatooine. When he is overruled by the “queen”, who claims "the Republic will come to save us before we are found", Qui-gon reveals his suspicion that the Republic itself is behind the attack on Naboo.
In Mos Eisley, the search party meet a slave child named Anakin Skywalker (
Devin Michaels), a gifted pilot and engineer, who brings them to his house to take refuge from an incoming sandstorm; it is here they meet Anakin's mother, Shimi (
Pernilla August), and adopted brother, Owen (
Paul Iacono). Obi-wan senses a strong presence of the Force within the boy, and feels there is much potential in him. Meanwhile, Padme shows romantic interest in Obi-wan (making him uncomfortable), and has romantic foreshadowing with Anakin watching the sunset. Throughout the scenes that take place on Tatooine, the film intermittently cuts back to the Federation ships that are trying to find them.
Because of Anakin's extreme force sensitivity, Kenobi wants to free Anakin from slavery and guide him to become a Jedi. When Anakin tells him about his pod-racing experience, he says that if he had won, his master, Watto (voiced by
Andy Secombe), could have afforded a whole new store. We also learn that the ship that has been hijacked is worth twice the entry fee. Thus, if Anakin wins, his master's loss is more than made up for by the winnings, if he loses, he makes a profit off of the ship he gains. Either way, Anakin's master wins. [
The podrace itself, aside from being introduced by Jabba in Huttese, is otherwise pretty much the same as OTL.] After an emotional good-bye to his family -- his mother telling him to not be afraid, his brother angrily lashing out for leaving them -- Anakin leaves with Obi-wan and company.
As Obi-wan and crew approach the ship, they are set upon by Darth Maul who is joined by a few droids, who are quickly dealt with in the course of the fight by the Jedi. Obi-wan holds Maul off while the rest escape to the ship, where Anakin and R2 frantically fix it. Meanwhile, Obi-wan is losing, and is about to be killed when Qui-gon leaps through the air and into the fray. What commences is an epic lightsaber battle, involving taunts by Maul, and “vibrating invisibility”, ending with each Jedi getting picked up by the (fixed) ship and flying off.
It is on Corsucant, greeted by Palpatine, Senator for Naboo (
Ian McDiarmid) that Padme finally reveals her identity -- that she is, in fact, the queen, and the one in her garb was her handmaiden and body double, Sabe. She makes a frustated plea to the Galactic Senate, but finds unexpected procedural roadblocks; storming off, she states that the Trade Federation must have a very power friend, as “
they were well prepared for our arrival”. During an exchange between Padme and Jar Jar on the orgins of the tensions between their peoples, Palpatine approaches, saying that he has a plan; cut to the Senate chambers, where Padme introduces a motion of no confidence against Chancellor Valorum.
Intercut with this, the Jedi Council meets; it is composed of three members, who Obi-wan points out to Anakin: “
That is Yoda, the Jedi who first trained me when I was a Paduan, before I was apprenticed. And that is Ki-Adi Mundi; when my master was apprenticed, he had the distinction of serving under him. The third is Mace Windu...” (
Frank Oz's voice,
Christopher Lee, and
Samuel L Jackson). When the issue of Naboo is brought up, Ki-Adi speaks out forcefully in favor of neutrality in the Naboo crisis by referencing his experiences at the Battle of Galidraan; he is overruled, and Qui-gon is ordered, along with Obi-wan, to aid the Queen in any way he can to re-establish her rule. When hearing Obi-wan asks that Anakin be trained as a Jedi, Yoda expresses concern (his dialogue on fear from OTL's version is here); Ki-Adi asks them to step outside, then ask Qui-gon what he thinks. Jinn is more ambivalent, declaring that while the boy is potentially dangerous, "
a teacher who believed in him completely, and was unafraid -- such a master could help make Anakin a truly great Jedi"; when he is asked "
Is there anyone who could so teach him?", the scene cuts to just outside the chambers, where Obi-wan tells Anakin why he's helping. Senator Palpatine slips into the conversation, making small talk with Obi-wan, asking if he still pines for adventure after today's events.
The queen finds nothing improved for her cause, but when she moves that they retake their home planet with their own forces, everyone -- Palpatine, Qui-gon, Panaka -- try to dissuade her. She is adamant; when Qui-gon points out that the Naboo are untrained, poorly equipped, and unprepared to fight the droid army. Amidala agrees that her people are not warriors, but that they "must fight if they are to survive. There is no other alternative.” Obi-wan says he has a plan for getting past the blockade, which involves Anakin piloting the ship's return -- and when Ani gets ready to go to lightspeed, Obi-wan instructs him to come out in the atmosphere of Naboo, on the other side of the blockade. Before any of the other shocked crew members can stop him, Anakin does so. The party find they must go to the Gungas for help -- and it is in the Gunga city that Padme's prostation before Boss Nass, combined with a special appeal by Jar Jar (in Gungese), secures the alliance.
Because Theed is now protected by a force field projected by a TF starship above, the plan is for the Gungan-Naboo combined army to fight its way toward the city, while a special team of pilots (accompanied by R2, the Jedi, and, after a special plea, Anakin) sneak their way into the city through the secret tunnel, where the pilots steal some fighter planes, and blow up said station. The plan proceeds until the pilot force enters a plane hanger -- only to be confronted by Darth Maul and some droids. The droids are taken out and the Jedi hold off Maul while the pilots steal the planes, and Anakin (deliberately) sneaks off in one as well, assisted by R2D2. As the lightsaber battle is waged across the city and the army approches the force field, Anakin and the pilots fight their way into the space ship, where Ani deals the fatal blow. With shield fallen, the army breaks through the remaining droid resistance and enters the city, joined by a Naboo uprising. It is a contingent lead by none other the Padme herself that confronts a droid regiments outside the palace, just as the Jedi duel makes it way toward them -- and thus Obi-wan is nearby when Padme is injured and gets distracted, allowing Darth Maul to deal a fatal blow to his master. While Kenobi is able to slice Maul up, some droids manage to intervene and rescue his mangled body. The battle ends when Padme's forces enter the Viceroy's stronghold and get him to call off the troops.
In a later negotiation, Gunray tries to threaten the Queen with a future invasion, saying “
reinforcements are on their way”; it is then revealed, via hologram, that Chancellor Palpatine had privateered an armada, which is now holding these TF ships at bay. Meanwhile, two ships meet in space; Sidius enters a room with Maul on an operating table; he explains that failing to kill Obi-wan would be all for the better, since, being now filled with a desire for vengeance, he would seek to kill him and fall to the dark side. "
I have felt something inside of him... a great power, a power than can be brought over to the dark side..." Maul is not happy about this. At Qui-gon's funeral, Ki-Adi, seeing his favorite apprentice killed for he regards as a foolhardy decision by the Order, throws down his lightsaber and renounces his title as Jedi. Yoda and Windu tell Obi-wan that Mace will train Anakin, if he takes him up as his apprentice; Obi-wan accepts.
The film ends with the celebration of the Naboo and Gungans, and Palpatine looking on, smiling...
