To mark the movie's 25th anniversary, Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace is returning to theaters for a limited run from May 3, just in time for Star Wars Day.
As you might expect, there was a lot of excitement for The Phantom Menace in the build-up to its release, and while the movie certainly had its share of defenders at the time, most would have to agree that it didn't exactly live up to the hype.
The first Star Wars prequel was criticized for (among other things) its poorly-written dialogue, wooden acting, and uninvolving story (we probably don't even need to mention a certain CGI Gungan), but it can be easy to forget the positives: The exciting Pod-Race, the epic three-way lightsaber duel between Darth Maul, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn, and John William' sublime "Duel of the Fates."
The movie benefitted from reevaluation - along with Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith - after the release of the underwhelming The Rise of Skywalker, and many Star Wars fans have come to feel that the Prequel Trilogy is actually stronger than the Sequel Trilogy overall.
Whether you happen to agree or not, seeing The Phantom Menace on the big screen again (or for the first time) would surely be a worthwhile experience.
To mark the re-release, Empire has debuted some new poster art from Matt Ferguson, featuring Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Padmé, and Darth Maul looming in the background. Ferguson later weighed-in with his thoughts on Episode 1's return to theaters.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is a young apprentice Jedi knight under the tutelage of Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) ; Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who will later father Luke Skywalker and become known as Darth Vader, is just a 9-year-old boy. When the Trade Federation cuts off all routes to the planet Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are assigned to settle the matter."