STAR WARS: EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, but many of us can still remember the extreme hype leading up to its release followed by the crushing disappointment when the film wasn't the CITIZEN KANE of STAR WARS movies. It wasn't just THE PHANTOM MENACE which took the brunt of the disappointment, but also ATTACK OF THE CLONES and REVENGE OF THE SITH, and Natalie Portman recently opened up to Empire about the backlash.
Natalie Portman was just sixteen years old when filming began on THE PHANTOM MENACE, but she was already seasoned thanks to roles in LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL, HEAT, and MARS ATTACKS!. That said, STAR WARS is an entirely different beast and the expectations were huge. "It was hard," Portman recalled. "It was a bummer because it felt like people were so excited about new ones and then to have people feel disappointed. Also to be at an age that I didn’t really understand that’s kind of the nature of the beast. When something has that much anticipation it can almost only disappoint." Although there are still many vocal critics of the Prequel Trilogy, there's also a large group who grew up with the films and consider them to be their STAR WARS, which has led to an all-time appreciation of the films.
With the perspective of time, it’s been re-evaluated by a lot of people who actually really love them now. There’s a very avid group of people who think they’re the best ones now! I don’t have enough perspective to weigh in.
It's been interesting to witness just when different generations have embraced STAR WARS; for some, they've been there since the very beginning, but there was also the Special Editions, the Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, and, of course, the new Sequel Trilogy which have served as jumping on points. STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER will hit theaters on December 20, 2019.
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