Lucasfilm has remastered the original trailer for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace to celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace released in theaters on May 19, 1999, almost 16 years after the premiere of Return of the Jedi. But its trailer, which you can view in the video below and in a higher resolution on YouTube, was put together so early it doesn’t have “The Phantom Menace” in the title during the end card.
Still, we see a number of iconic moments from the film, including podracing, the final lightsaber duel, and Jar Jar Binks getting into trouble. The teaser revolves around the mystery of Anakin, who Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn believes is particularly strong in the Force. What could possibly go wrong?
LeAndre Thomas, manager of franchise video assets at Lucasfilm and writer and director for Star Wars: Visions animated film The Pit, tweeted to say Lucasfilm scanned the trailer from the original 35mm negative to remaster it in 4K resolution (it only existed in standard definition before). The Phantom Menace is the only prequel movie shot on film, Thomas added.
The Phantom Menace was the start of a prequel trilogy of films, which included 2002’s Episode II – Attack of the Clones, and 2005’s Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. The sequel trilogy kicked off in 2015 with Episode VII – The Force Awakens and ended with 2019’s Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. There are a number of new Star Wars films in the works, including a Mandalorian film from Jon Favreau.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
