Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

A closer look at the story

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace charts the earliest stage of Anakin Skywalker's journey. Having rescued Queen Amidala from the invasion of her planet Naboo, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi are forced to set down on the desert world of Tatooine. There they meet Anakin, a young slave with an unusually strong connection to the Force. After winning a thrilling podrace, the boy earns his freedom and leaves home to be trained as a Jedi. The heroes then make their way back to Naboo, where the Queen confronts a vast army of occupation and the two Jedi come up against a lethal foe named Darth Maul. In time it becomes clear that the invasion is only the opening move in a scheme by the reawakened Sith to take revenge on the Jedi. This 136-minute science-fiction adventure from 1999 was written as well as directed by George Lucas. Liam Neeson plays Qui-Gon Jinn, Ewan McGregor is Obi-Wan Kenobi, Natalie Portman is Padmé Amidala and Jake Lloyd is Anakin, with Ian McDiarmid as Senator Palpatine.