For many die-hards, the true birth of the modern Star Wars Saga, and the next chapter of pop culture excitement, came not with The Force Awakens in 2015, but via the much-awaited debut of the George Lucas created Prequel Trilogy, from 1999 onwards. At last, the full story of how Jedi-to-be Anakin Skywalker became evil incarnate Darth Vader was to be finally revealed, but not in the way that anyone truly expected- Lucas pulling out many unforeseen, dramatic and intriguing surprises whilst delivering a first film in The Phantom Menace that not only had many familiar faces from the past within it (albeit in younger versions) but ultimately proved itself in the grand tapestry of being closer in visual awareness to the ideas he'd prior conceived for the original version of The Star Wars, back in 1973, whose epic battles and many vistas he was finally able to achieve with true Flash Gordon-inspired verve, amidst an even greater visual/imagination palette unrestricted as it had been in affecting his Classic Trilogy- a frustrating situation no longer impeding him (despite the many incredible practical miracles accomplished between 1976-1983) now that the breakthroughs of new CGI technology had arrived a few years earlier.
Watch out for continued Twentieth Anniversary coverage of EPISODE I on this site across 2019, as seen with this first entry, featuring the lovely cover character art of the film's principals for the film's Japanese novelisation, brought to life by Tsuyoshi Nagano.
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