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Critics hated 'The Phantom Menace.' It might be time to reconsider : Consider This from NPR
A Jedi and a Jar Jar walk into a movie…
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A Jedi and a Jar Jar walk into a movie…
Maximum Film/Alamy
The year is 1999. Fans are lined up around theaters. News stations are treating it like a breaking news event.
On May 19, Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace hit theaters, the first movie of the franchise to be released in well over a decade. It promised to tell the origin story of how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader.
Fans were so excited some camped out for days, sometimes even weeks, to see the film on opening day.
“The original trilogy was so phenomenal,” said one eager moviegoer. “People have been waiting for this for, like, 16 years.” Another went so far as to say, “There are now eight wonders of the world, one of them being this movie.”
When one reporter asked a crowd if there was any concern the movie might be bad, they responded with a resounding “No.” Oh how wrong they were.
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The consensus? It was a huge flop
NPR sent two critics to review the film. Neither had much good to say.
Here’s how Tom Shales described the movie: “The new Star Wars movie Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace is a menace. It’s not about storytelling and it’s not about people … it’s about effects and technology. It’s a computer movie through and through, by computers and maybe for computers.”
NPR’s Bob Mondello took issue with the infamous Jar Jar Binks: “‘What could he have been thinking,’ you say to yourself as [George Lucas] introduces a race of idol-worshiping primitives who speak with Caribbean accents and behave like refugees from Amos n Andy.”
The trailer for Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace
YouTube
The backlash didn’t stop there. People hated nine-year-old Darth Vader. They didn’t like all the talk of taxes and trade embargoes.
Hating on The Phantom Menace has become somewhat of a punchline in Star Wars circles, says Erich Schwartzel, who covers the film industry for The Wall Street Journal and is writing a book about George Lucas and Star Wars.
He told NPR the hype only amplified the sting of disappointment: “It’s really, looking back I think, the first example that I have, and maybe the film industry has, of the movie almost being beside the point.”
25 years later, nostalgia has given the film new life
While the overwhelming consensus was The Phantom Menace was terrible, only a Sith deals in absolutes (sorry).
To understand how popular opinion on the film has changed, Schwartzel points to Jar Jar Binks. Schwartzel said most of the fans who grew up on the original Star Wars trilogy would have been in their late 20s or early 30s when they lined up to watch The Phantom Menace.
“[Jar Jar] represents the inherently childish nature of Star Wars, and how childish it can be,” Schwartzel said. “I think Jar Jar is a bit of an affront to those fans, sort of being a reminder that this is also for kids.”
Fans line up at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York on May 6, 1999 to be the first to see the movie, Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace.
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Fans line up at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York on May 6, 1999 to be the first to see the movie, Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace.
Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images
Now that those kids, whose introduction to the Star Wars world was The Phantom Menace, are adults, it’s unsurprising the film is remembered more fondly. The “prequel kids,” as Schwartzel puts it, hold The Phantom Menace as dear to them as older fans revere A New Hope.
After a recent anniversary screening of the film in D.C., All Things Considered host Scott Detrow met 29-year-old Eleni Salyers, who said she’s been a fan of the prequels since she was a kid: “For me it’s nostalgic. Growing up I always preferred the prequels, which is a hot take for many Star Wars fans.”
To fans like Salyers, some of the best moments include the lightsaber fights, which compared to those in the original trilogy, are faster and flashier. The Phantom Menace also introduced fans to podracing, with its now iconic visual and sound effects.
The prequel trilogy has played a foundational role in building the Star Wars franchise into a “multigenerational juggernaut,” Schwartzel said. He notes that if you look at the fire hose of Star Wars content Disney has released over the last decade, you’ll see much of the themes and characters come from the world the prequels created.
This episode was produced by Marc Rivers. It was edited by Jeanette Woods. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
Ariana Grande arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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The brightest stars in TV and film kicked off the 83rd annual Golden Globes tonight in Beverly Hills, Calif. with Ariana Grande, Noah Wyle, Teyana Taylor and George Clooney are just some the names who walked the red carpet. This year’s ceremony was hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser.
Here’s a glimpse of what some of the attendees are wearing tonight.
Michael B. Jordan
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Ryan Coogler and Zinzi Evans
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Jean Smart
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Teyana Taylor
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Jenna Ortega
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Owen Cooper
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Sara Wells and Noah Wyle
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Claire Danes
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Stellan Skarsgård and Megan Everett-Skarsgard
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Amanda Anka and Jason Bateman
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Laufey
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Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons
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Lisa Ann Walter
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Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song
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Jacob Elordi
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Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco
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Ryan Destiny
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Jennifer Garner
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Rose Byrne
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Kate Hudson
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Snoop Dogg
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Timothée Chalamet
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Miley Cyrus
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George Clooney and Amal Clooney
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Leonardo DiCaprio
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Michel Martin
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Steve Inskeep
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Leila Fadel
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A Martinez
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Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy
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Amanda Seyfried
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William Stanford Davis
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Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson
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Emma Stone
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Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall
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Mark Ruffalo and Sunrise Coigney
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Sheryl Lee Ralph
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Keegan-Michael Key and Elle Key
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Justin Sylvester
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Glen Powell
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Natasha Rothwell
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Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis
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Minnie Driver
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Orlando Bloom
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Hudson Williams
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Wanda Sykes
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Nikki Glaser
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Julia Roberts
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Dakota Fanning
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Queen Latifah
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2026 Golden Globes
Nikki Glaser Shouts Out Rob Reiner …
Dons ‘Spinal Tap’ Hat at Close of Show
Published
Rob Reiner wasn’t forgotten at this year’s Golden Globe awards … because host Nikki Glaser paid tribute to him just weeks after his murder.
Here’s the deal … during the sign-off for the awards show, Nikki came onstage wearing a black and white “Spinal Tap” hat — the band which serves as the subject of Reiner’s iconic 1984 mockumentary of the same name.
Worth noting … the Golden Globes do not typically air an in memoriam — so this was the only time Reiner was mentioned at the show.
As you know … Rob and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home last month. Their son Nick Reiner has been arrested for murder in connection to the case.
TMZ.com
Nick’s arraignment was scheduled for last week … but, his lawyer Alan Jackson dropped out of the case — leaving Nick with a public defender and new arraignment date set for late February.
Jackson told a gaggle of reporters outside the courthouse that Nick’s not guilty … but, he simply can’t defend him. He did not provide a reason for his withdrawal.
Our new documentary “TMZ Investigates The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened” dives into Rob and Michele’s grisly deaths … as well as Nick’s history of mental health issues and even how his weight gain set him on a dangerous path.
“TMZ Investigates The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened” is now streaming on Hulu.
On-air challenge
Today’s puzzle is called “Pet Theory.” Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word start starts PE- and the second word starts T-. (Ex. What walkways at intersections carry –> PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC)
1. Chart that lists all the chemical elements
2. Place for a partridge in “The 12 Days of Christmas”
3. Male voyeur
4. What a coach gives a team during halftime in the locker room
5. Set of questions designed to reveal your traits
6. Something combatants sign to end a war
7. Someone who works with you one-on-one with physical exercises
8. Member of the Who
9. Incisors, canines, and premolars that grow in after you’re a baby
10. Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to score this at the Olympics
11. What holds the fuel in a British car
Last week’s challenge
Last week’s challenge was a numerical one from Ed Pegg Jr., who runs the website mathpuzzle.com. Take the nine digits — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. You can group some of them and add arithmetic operations to get 2011 like this: 1 + 23 ÷ 4 x 5 x 67 – 8 + 9. If you do these operations in order from left to right, you get 2011. Well, 2011 was 15 years ago. Can you group some of the digits and add arithmetic symbols in a different way to make 2026? The digits from 1 to 9 need to stay in that order. I know of two different solutions, but you need to find only one of them.
Challenge answer
12 × 34 × 5 – 6 – 7 + 8 – 9 [or] 1 + 2 + 345 × 6 – 7 × 8 + 9
Winner
Daniel Abramson of Albuquerque, N.M.
This week’s challenge
This week’s challenge comes from listener Ward Hartenstein. Think of a well-known couple whose names are often said in the order of _____ & _____. Seven letters in the names in total. Combine those two names, change an E to an S, and rearrange the result to name another famous duo who are widely known as _____ & _____.
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, January 15 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.
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