7 Good Things About The Phantom Menace

1. Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan

Indisputably one of the best things about the entire prequel trilogy is Ewan McGregor's portrayal of young Obi-Wan. He is charming, unflappable, witty, and dead-pan, and the voice of reason shouting at Anakin to calm the eff down. Plus the number of young Obi-Wan as Jesus memes, though dated, are fantastic.

2. Liam Neeson's Qui-Gon Gin

Liam Neeson used to be fantastic, before he settled into Old Man: The Revengencer. While a tad on the prosaic side, Qui-Gon is still a fantastic character who has his own reserved charm and when it is time to throw down, he is pretty good with the light saber, until, you know.

3. Ray Park's Darth Maul

One of the coolest looking villains in Star Wars canon, he is just awesome. The black and red color choice, the Zabrakian crown of thorns, and dual light saber, Maul just oozed anti-christ evil cool. Almost every criticism of Maul can be addressed by the fact that he got four lines in the movie and then split. At least he makes a come back in the animated series and Solo.

4. The Light Saber Choreography

The light saber choreography is probably the best in the entire Star Wars saga, and the final duel between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Darth Maul is in my humble opinion, the best light saber fighting.

5. Duel of the Fates

After the Imperial March, Duel of the Fates is the best piece of music to come out of the entire franchise. Fight me.

6. Pod Racing

The Pod racing scenes are some of the best action in the film, bar the light saber duels. While Jake Lloyd's acting and some of the situations are campy, thats part of the fun, and the visuals and pacing is excellent. The pulse jet noises the pod racers make is also pretty cool, enough so that other non-racing ships start the pulse jet noises.

7. Ship Design

There are more than a few cool ass ships in the Phantom Menace, the Lucrehulk trade federation battleships look cool and though the design doesnt resonate through the saga, they are unique. The Naboo starfighter is sleek, and we rejected it for not looking like the Rebel equipment we were used to. Its a shame, because it is a pretty little fighter. The pod racers were tight.