- Sets were built only as high as the tops of the actors' heads and computer graphics filled in the rest. But Liam Neeson was so tall that he cost the set crew an extra $150,000 in construction.
- Qui-Gon Jinn's communicator is a redecorated Sensor Excel Razor for Women.
- Queen Amidala's throne-room dress took eight weeks to design.
- The special effects teams creating the podrace studied NASCAR crash footage extensively to assure accuracy in the crashes.
- The first film to be recorded in Dolby Digital Surround EX.
- Director George Lucas has said that there are a couple of shots in the movie that were "filmed" on digital video instead of 35 mm film. He also said that he dares anyone to try and figure out which shots these were.
- In 1997, a fierce sandstorm destroyed several of the Tatooine sets in the desert outside Tozeur, Tunisia. Filming resumed two days later. George Lucas considered this a good omen, as the very same thing had happened during filming of the original Star Wars (1977).
- During filming Ewan McGregor made lightsaber noises as he dueled. It was noted and corrected during post production.
- In a scene in the Skywalker home, George Lucas digitally altered Jake Lloyd's eyes to look in a different direction momentarily.
- Natalie Portman's voice was digitally enhanced to distinguish between Padme and Queen Amidala.
- The sound of the underwater monsters growling near the beginning of the film was made by the main sound technician's three-year-old daughter. The sound of her crying was recorded, and the frequency lowered to obtain the sound heard in the film.
- The sound of the hovering battle tanks used by the battle droids was created by running an electric razor around a metal salad bowl and then digitally lowering the pitch.
- In scenes where Padme and Queen Amidala appear together, Natalie Portman is Padme, while Keira Knightley is Sabe, one of the handmaidens disguised as the Queen.
- The "water" cascading over the falls in the Naboo capital city was actually salt.
- During filming, Natalie Portman's voice kept changing. In post production, she re-dubbed her lines. The senate scene took eight weeks to do.
- The Naboo Palace setting was also the ballroom set for the Frankenstein family mansion in Geneva used in Frankenstein (1994). Celia Imrie appears in both movies.
- The sound of the "force field" in the lightsaber duel with Darth Maul began as a recording of the audio supervisor's neighbor's ceiling fan.
- In the original trilogy, lightsaber activations and deactivations happened off-screen most of the time to prevent the "jumps" that would occur when the film was stopped to allow the "activated" lightsaber props to be substituted for the deactivated handles. This no longer poses a problem and every activation/deactivation occurs on-screen in Episode I.
- Anakin's theme is a musical variation on the Imperial March (a.k.a. Darth Vader's Theme) from Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
- The parade music at the end of the film is melodically related to the Emperor's Theme from Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).
- Qui-Gon Jinn identifies the Queen's starship as a Nubian model J-327. "327" was the number of the landing bay where the Millennium Falcon landed on the first Death Star in Star Wars (1977) as well as the number of the landing platform in Cloud City in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
- A pod from the Discovery in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) can be seen behind Qui-Gon in Watto's junkyard.
- A group of aliens resembling E.T. (from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)), and a group of creatures resembling the aliens from Alien (1979), can be seen in the Galactic Senate chamber shortly after Queen Amidala calls for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum.
- When the crew lands on Tatooine, as they step out, a silhouette of Elliot and ET flying (from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)) can be seen in the sky.
- Jar Jar's antics during the climactic battle echo scenes from classic silent comedies. Ball rolling down hill after Jar Jar: Seven Chances (1925). Gun tied to foot firing: Navigator, The (1924). Hanging from gun turret: Girl Shy (1924).
- Many details of the pod race resemble the Norwegian animation classic Flåklypa Grand Prix (1975), including the sabotage, the late start, the engine trouble, the dirty tricks and even elements of the camerawork. And they both resemble the opening race from Grand Prix (1966).
- The video and sound effect of Queen Amidala's message when she contacts the federation ship at the beginning of the movie via video transmission is a reference to the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s (Flash Gordon (1936/I), Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)), where video transmissions always start with the same video and sound effect.
- Ewan McGregor, who plays Obi-Wan Kenobi, is the nephew of Denis Lawson, who played Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles in Star Wars (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).
- Queen Amidala protects herself by posing as one of her own underlings. The same ploy was used by the President of the United States in Superman II (1980) to conceal his identity from General Zod, played by Terence Stamp - who plays Chancellor Valorum in this film.
- George Lucas reportedly wrote The Phantom Menace in the same binder of yellow ruled paper in which he wrote the original Star Wars (1977) as well as American Graffiti (1973).
- In the credits, Jabba The Hutt is credited as playing "himself."
- Obi-Wan has "a bad feeling about this" quite often. See also Star Wars (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).
- Neimoidian senator Lott Dod was named after two real-life US senators, Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) and Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut).
- After the film's end credits finish rolling, the sound effect of Darth Vader's breathing can be heard.
- Greg Proops' and Scott Capurro's credits are reversed. Proops plays Beed Annodue, the red, English-speaking pod-race announcer, and Capurro plays Fode Annodue, the green, Huttese-speaking announcer.
- During the first week of the first trailer's release, many theatres reported up to 75% of their audiences paying full price for a movie, then walking out after the Star Wars: Episode I trailer was shown.
- Among the props in the background aboard the ship as the group leaves Tatooine are three Hewlett-Packard Inkjet cartridges.
- When Palpatine lands at Naboo at the end of the film, he's accompanied by guards dressed in blue. The guard's costumes are essentially the red Emperor's guards seen in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) without full face masks.
- Natalie Portman (Queen Amidala) missed the premiere party in New York because she had to go home to study for her high school final exams.
- The pseudonym used by the Queen, "Padme," is the Sanskrit word for "lotus." It is a common word in Buddhism. "Yoda" is also derived from the Sanskrit word for "warrior."
- The film contains no acting credit for the character of Darth Sidious.
- Like a Shakespearean play, this film's final dialogue is a rhyming couplet: "Always two there are, no more, no less: a master and an apprentice." "But which was destroyed? The master or the apprentice?"
- Theatres receiving the first trailer and posters were warned in writing to return them to the distributor (Twentieth Century Fox) on time or risk not receiving further media, and possibly the film itself. This was done to attempt to prevent the "black-market" sale of the incredibly popular trailer.
- The events of this film take place 32 years before Star Wars (1977). Ten years pass between this film and Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002); 2 years between Episode II and Star Wars: Episode III (2005); and 20 years between Episode III and Star Wars (1977).
- In the German language version of the film, the collaborating Trade Federation leaders have a French accent, while in the Italian language version they have heavy Russian accents. They also have Russian accents in the Czech version, except for the Viceroy, who speaks fluent Czech for reasons unknown.
- Anakin has two model ships on his bed in Tatooine. These are models of early designs considered for the Naboo Starfighters. In the documentaries on the DVD, we see these models being rejected George Lucas.
- Darth Maul blinks only once.
- Lucas made a similar deal as he did in the original Star Wars (1977) in 1977. Both Lucas and Fox Studios agreed that he would forego his salary as a director provided he owns the entire negative of the final cut of the film as well as ancillary rights of all toys and commercial tie-ins.
- It appears that the other head of the podrace announcer is simply saying the same thing as the first head, but in Huttesse instead of English. This isn't so. Originally what the second head said was supposed to be subtitled, and the screenplay of the movie contains a translation of all of his dialogue.
- Two Wookiees can be seen in the Galactic Senate meeting. For the first time in 22 years, Star Wars Wookiees were played by someone other than Peter Mayhew.
- After the first lap of the podrace, Watto and Sebulba speak Finnish saying, "Thank You" and "You're Welcome".
- Fox released the first trailer with strict instructions that it not be shown before a certain date. When a Canadian movie theatre accidentally showed it a day early, they lost the rights to show the movie.
- The core-plot of the movie came from George Lucas' first draft of Star Wars (1977), which he wrote in 1975.
- Palpatine's line "There is no civility, there is only politics" is a corruption of part of the Jedi Code which consists of a negative assertion followed by a positive one. For example: "There is no fear, there is only calm. There is no death, there is only the Force."
- Star Wars Insider magazine publisher Dan Madsen is seen doing his bit as an extra grabbing the reins of a "Kaadu" at the celebration scene. He's short and wearing a light green outfit.
- During the "Boonta Eve" pod race sequence, when Watto is seen cheering against Anakin, the short wild-haired man next to him is Warwick Davis, who played the Ewok "Wicket" in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).
- Ahmed Best, who supplies the voice of Jar Jar Binks, also appears as a Jedi Knight when the newly appointed Chancellor Palpatine arrives on Naboo.
- Cameo: [Rick McCallum] producer appears on the right in a floppy wide-brim hat when Queen Amidala meets Senator Palpatine.
- Cameo: [Ben Burtt] sound engineer appears to the left of Rick McCallum (with goatee).
- Cameo: [Sofia Coppola] as handmaiden Saché.
- Director Trademark: [George Lucas] [1138] The Droid killed by Jar Jar Binks at the end has serial number 1138 on his back. ("THX 1138 (1970)" was George Lucas' first film and starred 'Duvall, Robert' .)
- Cameo: [John Knoll] The visual effects supervisor at ILM plays the Naboo pilot who gets killed during the space battle with the Trade Federation. It happens after Ric Olié says, "The deflector shield is too strong."
- The Republic Cruiser seen at the beginning of the film is based on an early concept design for the Rebel Blockade Runner from Star Wars (1977).
- Ewan McGregor studied many of Alec Guinness' films, including the original Star Wars, to ensure accuracy in everything from his accent to pacing of his words
- The word lightsaber is never used in the film. When Anakin talks to Qui-Gon he calls it a "laser sword".
- Every movie in the series closes with a scene with no dialogue. This movie ends with a parade and the main characters looking at one another.
- Every film in the series begins with a ship going somewhere. This movie opens with a transport ship headed for a Trade Federation spaceport.
- The words chanted during the "Duel of the Fates" are from Robert Graves' poem "The White Goddess". "The White Goddess" is a translation of the original version, "Cad Goddeu" or "The Battle of Achren", an early Celtic work of great antiquity also known as "The Battle of the Trees," which was originally composed by Gwion and is found in the "Book of Taliesin", a Thirteenth Century Welsh manuscript . Williams, John' had the lines "Under the tongue root a fight most dread, and another raging, behind, in the head" translated into Sanskrit. The translation sung in the movie is as follows: "Korah Matah Korah Rahtahmah Korah Rahtamah Yoodhah Korah Korah Syahdho Rahtahmah Daanyah Korah Keelah Daanyah Nyohah Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Syadho Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Korah Daanyah Korah Rahtahmah Korah Daanyah Korah Rahtahmah Nyohah Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Syadho Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Korah Korah Matah Korah Rahtahmah Korah Daanyah Korah Rahtahmah Nyohah Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Syadho Keelah Korah Rahtahmah Korah"
- The planet Coruscant was originally the brainchild of Timothy Zahn, first appearing in his novel "Heir to the Empire". George Lucas could never think of a name for the Empire and Republic's capital planet, but liked the name "Coruscant" and kept it. Alderaan was originally scripted to be the capital planet of the Empire.
- The dress Amidala is wearing when she addresses the Senate is modeled after a Mongolian garment worn by nobility.
- Toward the end of the scene where Qui-Gon, Anakin, Anakin's Mother, etc. are eating dinner, Anakin turns his head to the left... these are two shots of actor Jake Lloyd morphed together.
- 'Haley Joel Osment' auditioned for the part of young Anakin.
- If you highlight the THX logo in the Language Selection page on the DVD and press 1138 with the remote you will access a hidden blooper reel.
- Of this film's 133 minute running time, only 10 to 15 minutes contain no special effects.
02-16-2004 06:01 AM
