“Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” has no shortage of critics, be they well-known movie reviewers or just regular moviegoers. Issues have been raised about alleged overtones of racism, a boring plot, possible overuse of computer imagery, flawed dialogue, and poor acting.
Love it or hate it, you are free to come to your own conclusions. Moving away for the subject matter of the film itself, there are some interesting tidbits of trivia you probably do not know.
--The sets were made to be no taller than the actors’ heads. Everything else on the sets was created using computer-generated imagery. All would have been well but for the height of actor Liam Neeson. Too bad for the production team, because it cost them a cool $150,000 to make the needed adjustments.
--There is just a single shot in the whole film that is not altered using CGI. It's the shot of the poison gas coming out of the air vents on the Trade Federation ship.
--Natalie Portman's voice was digitally altered to differentiate between the characters of Padme and Queen Amidala.
--The main plot of the film is taken from an early draft of “A New Hope,” which was originally written in 1975.

