190. The Phantom Menace (1999)

There was no father. I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him. I can't explain what happened.

The most anticipated movie of all time. I was in 6th grade when I first heard they were planning on doing prequels (thanks, Mrs. Wilson!). Six years later, Star Wars would return to the big screen. I watched and rewatched the original trilogy, played Star Wars Trivial Pursuit by myself, and discussed the movies at length with my friends all in preparation for the big night. One problem presented itself: people were going to line up overnight to get tickets for the midnight release. For the most part, this was unheard of at the time. I was able to talk my parents into letting me see the movie at midnight, but there was no way I would get to camp out the previous night AND stay out until three on the night of the movie. With this in mind, my new girlfriend, Angie, stepped up to bat. She was a junior at ECU at the time and lived on her own. Her condo was right around the corner from the theater and she promised to get tickets for me (and my friends). As soon as I got out of school, I drove to Greenville to meet up with Angie to find out the status of the tickets (this was also before cell phones became uniquitous). She had just gotten off from working a few hours at Ryan's steakhouse, and she approached me with a defeated look on her face. My heart sunk... Then in classic Angie fashion, she whipped the tickets out and got a good laugh at my expense. I was overwhelmed (and it was probably at that moment that I decided that I would marry this woman!). We went to Pizza Hut to eat that night because they were giving away Star Wars toys, and showed up at the movie theater around 8:30 to ensure the best possible seats for the midnight movie. Keep in mind that none of us had cell phones to play with, so we spent the time actually talking to one another and seeing who could guess what would come up next on the "Screenvision" powerpoint.

As for the movie, it is Star Wars. That being said, I absolutely loved it. There is a pretty large movement that contends the prequels are at best foolish and at worst heretical insults to the original trilogy. I have this to say to these people: Star Wars didn't change, you did. Most fans saw the original trilogy as children. If you view the movies as an adult, you will simply not have as much fun. That is not to say that it is impossible to enjoy the movies as a person over 14, but you have to put yourself in a different mindset. These movies are not going to win Oscars, they are going to make you say "WOW". If you did not like "The Phantom Menace", I only have three things to say: Podrace, Double-Bladed lightsaber, and the Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon/Darth Maul final duel. If you can't appreciate those things, you just don't like Star Wars.