Poster © 20th Century Fox. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
|
GenreAction, Adventure & Fantasy
RatedPG
Runtime2 hr 16 mins
ReleasedMay 19, 1999
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorGeorge Lucas
StarringLiam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman
|
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace's Details | |
| Genre | Action, Adventure & Fantasy |
| Rated | PG |
| Released | 05/16/1999 (Los Angeles); 05/19/1999 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 2 hr 16 mins |
| Budget | $113.8M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace's Interests | |
| General | Podracing, trade disputes, underwater cities, midi-chlorians, and a lot of Senate procedure. |
| Music | John Williams. "Duel of the Fates" put a full choir in Star Wars. |
| Movies | Ben-Hur (1959). The chariot race the podrace is clearly tipping its helmet to. |
| Television | Tales of the Jedi. Short stories from this exact corner of the galaxy and era. |
| Heroes | Qui-Gon Jinn. Calm, wise, and always ready to bet on a long shot. |
| Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace's Crew | |
| Director | George Lucas |
| Writers | George Lucas |
| Producers | Rick McCallum |
| Cinematography | David Tattersall |
| Music | John Williams |
| Edited By | Paul Martin Smith, Ben Burtt |
| Production | Lucasfilm Ltd. |
| Distributed By | 20th Century Fox |
A trade dispute. That’s how George Lucas chose to bring Star Wars back. Then the movie explains the Force with a blood test. Then it hands a huge chunk of screen time to Jar Jar Binks, a walking pratfall who steps in everything, including the plot. Lucas clearly had big ideas about politics and destiny, and almost none of them survive the stiff green-screen talking scenes in between. And yet. The podrace is a legit thrill, loud and fast and gorgeous. Liam Neeson brings real gravity as Qui-Gon. Darth Maul says almost nothing and became a legend anyway, and the three-way lightsaber fight set to that booming choir music is one of the best in the whole saga. It still made $1.05 billion worldwide, because a podrace and a double-bladed lightsaber can carry a lot of weight. A 4.9 because the best parts are buried inside a 136-minute senate hearing. $44.77 says you skip straight to the podrace on your next rewatch and feel zero guilt.
What works: The podrace, Darth Maul and that three-way lightsaber duel are some of the most exciting stretches in all of Star Wars.
What doesn’t: Trade politics, midi-chlorian blood tests and way too much Jar Jar bury the good stuff under long, flat talking scenes.
Who it’s for: Kids who want a podrace, and adults who grew up on it and can still hum the duel music by heart.
Spoilers
Darth Maul kills Qui-Gon in the duel before Obi-Wan defeats him. Anakin accidentally blows up the droid control ship, and Senator Palpatine, the Sith Lord secretly pulling every string, gets elected Chancellor.
The Trade Federation has parked a blockade around the peaceful planet Naboo, and the Republic sends two Jedi to sort it out: Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). The talks go sideways fast. The Jedi pick up a clumsy local named Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best), rescue the young Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman), and limp away in a damaged ship that sets down on the desert planet Tatooine for parts. There they meet Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), a nine-year-old slave with a gift for podracing. George Lucas directs. One hundred thirty-four minutes, one legendary podrace.
Anyone with a T-14 hyperdrive generator. Watto does not take Republic credits.
| Liam Neeson | Qui-Gon Jinn |
| Ewan McGregor | Obi-Wan Kenobi |
| Natalie Portman | Padmé Amidala |
| Jake Lloyd | Anakin "Ani" Skywalker |
| Ahmed Best | Jar Jar Binks |
| Pernilla August | Shmi Skywalker |
| Ian McDiarmid | Palpatine / Darth Sidious |
| Anthony Daniels | C-3PO |
| Kenny Baker | R2-D2 |
| Frank Oz | Yoda |
| Oliver Ford Davies | Sio Bibble |
| Hugh Quarshie | Captain Quarsh Panaka |
| Samuel L. Jackson | Mace Windu |
| Ray Park / Peter Serafinowicz (voice) | Darth Maul |
| Terence Stamp | Finis Valorum |
| Keira Knightley | Sabé |
| Silas Carson | Nute Gunray |
| Jerome St. John Blake | Rune Haako |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $1.05B; Domestic box office $487.6M; Opening weekend $64.8M; Profit / loss (est.) +$352.6M; Rotten Tomatoes 54%; CinemaScore A−; box office chart updated; RT 54% (290 reviews); Metacritic 51 / 100; CinemaScore A−; IMDb users 6.5 / 10 (941,231 votes); movie.guru score 5.2.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.