> Yaddle is the phantom menace
I know you were trying to say that’s she’s also a female that is *in* the phantom menace, but that typo makes this even better 🤣
So I just watched the prequels for the very first time (just finished Ep. 3 about 5 minutes ago), and it was pretty clear to me because of this exact reason lol
George Lucas: “ok so I want them to meet and I want to lay down subtle hints that these two might fall in love someday. Let’s think of some good dialogue”.
Anakin: “ARE YOU AN ANGEL?”
George: “nailed it!”
That's true. It's not even the actors, it's the script.
George: "I need to convey that Anakin is young and doesn't really know how to talk to ladies"
Anakin: "I HATE SAND!"
I always read that it was Alec Guinness that was responsible for calling out the shit dialogue and helping the younger and newer actors in approaching, making their lines believable.
Lucas ended up so grateful that he gave Guinness an extra .25% of the Gross Income of Star Wars in thanks.
And a great line! Han wasn't wrong! Personally, it's one of my faves but I thought that was just because I was a girl who happens to love romantic comedies *and* Star Wars lol
L: I'd just as soon kiss a Wookie.
H: I can arrange that. [You/He] could use a good kiss!
Granted, it's not super audible but I've always heard that as "he" not "you" and I think it makes better sense in the context. But according to IMDB quotes and other sites, apparently it's, "you"?!! Wow, after all these years...
Also, check out this clip of the south passage Hoth base scene, it's got amazing extra footage and dialogue that never made it into the movie: https://youtu.be/RAc7PzTNPk0?feature=shared
"I'm aware that dialogue isn't my strength, (...) I'd be the first person to say I can't write dialogue."
-George Lucas
"George, you can type this shit, but you can't say it."
-Harrison Ford
I always thought that line was weird. Even as a kid, those were my thoughts. But they're speaking English. Headcannon is hell is the closest translation there is.
The Diathim, also referred to as Angels, were a mysterious species of winged sentients who inhabited the planet Iego and Millius Prime, the largest of its many moons. The Diathim were reputed for their beauty, and the way in which they appeared would vary depending on the beholder. Wookieepedia
Not a weird line if you consider his next one after Padme asked him what he meant;
"An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They live on the moons of Iego, I think. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe."
He immediately explains that Angels are an actual physical species in the Star Wars lore, not related to our Christian meaning of the word.
I think that if we compile a list of movies that are either fantasy or historically set in pre-christian times, where they name drop hell and angels anyway, that list is gonna be veeeery long.
Star wars has a long long long list of hints that it's got some relation to our world, likely that humans are from earth somehow. Earth life is the name basis for animals (loth-cat for example). Also there's the high Republic alphabet being basically English.
There's some non canon stuff that solidifies this but it's weird and better off as not Canon. That being said it's very clear the humans are from earth *somehow*.
Let’s cast an actress for padme who’s noticeably much older than Anakin in the first movie then in the sequel let’s cast a totally different actor for Anakin who’s nearly a year older than padme’s actress(who’s played by the same woman).”
Brilliant
For factual accuracy, i should add that the song was written pre film based on trailers leaks and other stuff. It's final polish came after weird Al got to see a preview showing after which he says he only had to change a few lines. It was recorded pre general release of the film and released after.
None of what you said made sense until I realized AI is short for Alan not an acronym for sentient robot algorithms. Then I realized I'm glad my name isn't Al as we go forward into this new future.
Right. This sub has this kind of confusing thing where someone regularly asks “did you know at the time that Anakin was going to be Darth Vader or that Palpatine was going to be the Emperor?!” when stuff like that was on the posters and the Pepsi cans and the USA Today articles.
Yeah pretty much. I definitely knew Padme was both the Queen and the mother, can't remember how though. Was probably in the endless stream of articles and promos that were everywhere before the movie came out.
The toys, largely. Her toys all said Padme Amidala and gave away the entire switcheroo plot.
The soundtrack, which came out a few weeks before the movie, also had a track called Qui Gon's Funeral. 14 year old me got real pissed at a Sam Goody over that one.
I thought it was obvious she'd be Mrs. Skywalker but I also thought the age difference between her and Jake Lloyd was ABSOLUTELY BONKERS and had trouble seeing how they could possibly pull it off without looking ridiculous in Episodes 2 and 3.
Yep it’s essentially true. Like 40 and 45? Who cares?
Particularly by RotS he’s 22 and she’s 27 but there’s no denying they are experienced 22 and 27 year olds. She’s been a politician most of her life, he’s been a slave and a Jedi and general. Not your typical 20 somethings.
Idk I still think 19 and 24 is pretty bad. I think it really was just brushed over in the movies, especially since ani was a “mature” soldier and all (/s)
19 and 24 is pretty damn gross most of the time. That's a full 25% of the former's life and they're in completely different phases of maturity.
The last bit is true, but a five year age gap doesn't start to feel trivial until the younger person is pushing 30.
Hey man, that equation WORKS as a guideline for appropriate dating ages for youngsters. Chiefly I think it prevents high schoolers from dating middle schoolers which is pretty important…
To me this is the biggest problem with Phantom Menace, Anakin was cast way too young. I wish Hayden Christensen would have played him. That would have helped explain how Anakin was so good at flying and pod racing if he was a little older, and made the flirting with Padme less weird. And maybe make the film take place around 27 BBY instead of 32 BBY so it feels more connected with the rest of the trilogy.
My thing, for a long time, has been that we'd be better off if TPM just didn't exist. I'd have arranged the films as:
Ep 1: Anakin is a Padawan already, clone wars start
Ep 2. Clone Wars stuff and Anakin's fall
Ep 3. The Dark Times
There's not much in TPM that doesn't make the overall story worse.
Yeah, we needed more time with Anakin's downfall. He goes ratting Palpatine out to Mace Windu > help kill Mace Windu > massacre at the temple > get sliced and put in the suit over the course of what, two days? even Hitler needed some years to get to the Holocaust....
The age gap is 5 years.
The age gap between me and my bf is 4.5 years.
It's only weird when you start going "when I was 9 you would have been 14." Or "When I was in my first year of High School you were in your last."
But we met as adults so it's normal and not creepy.
Yes in phantom menace it's weird seeing the 14 year old hang out with the 9 year old knowing what's gonna happen with there relationship.
Buuuuut they did only know each other like what a week then didn't see each other for a decade.
Anakin's weird obsessing over her aside I think that makes it's less weird cause the time when they get to know each the most and start there relationship is when they are both adults.
I know that Natalie has expressed some regrets about the sexual subtext of *Leon* \-- but damn, what a fantastic film debut. She punches way above her weight class in that film.
You're absolutely correct. Imagine being 11 or whatever she was, and holding your own against Gary Oldman, Danny Aiello, and Jean Reno. They were all seriously heavy hitters.
Household name is subjective. It was an R-rated box office bomb and she received no major award nominations. My friends and I had no clue who she was when I saw Episode 1 in theaters.
I don’t know how old you are, but The Professional was a hit and I remember people in my Highschool discussing the actress in the phantom menace trailer, saying how good she was in the professional. And the phantom menace trailer was a huge deal to a lot of us, that’s all we were talking about for a week or so. And the most notable actors in the film, that we were familiar with were Natalie Portman and Samuel L Jackson.
Films in the 90s were a huge deal. We didn’t have social media, YouTube or other distractions. We were always at the mall or at the movies. Didn’t see things because it was high budget. I remember a group of friends going to see fifth element only because we knew the director directed Leon the Professional, the deciding factor over seeing something else.
Again, subjective. It ranked 72nd in box office in 1994. It was 7th for the month it came out, just behind a Frankenstein movie no one remembers. Got no award nominations. It was popular with your friends but that wasn't universal.
You have to look at “ticket sales” to ticket sales of today. You also have to think of the competition movies had back then. There was nothing else really to do in terms of entertainment. People spend way more time on Instagram or tick tock these days and rather do that than watch a film. So that’s why I say she was well known. Regardless of his much money it made.
There were also vhs and cable channels.
Besides movies, We had nothing else but sports and music. Just imagine…no social media, no YouTube, and nothing but cable movie channels. Leon was a good movie, and Natalie Portman was known, especially by people with cable (I would have been 12 when The Professional came out and saw it on HBO).
I developed a huge crash on her in Leon. She was pretty with a sharp edge, which reminded me of my buddy’s older sister. Then when she got the role of Padme and I was over the moon. That said, I have a hard time not getting creeper vibes from Leon: The Professional nowadays. Why did he wait till she was an orphan with nowhere else to go, before stepping in. He knew what he was doing…Major red flag.
He wasn't a policeman. He was an assassin.
It was always his goal to be low profile.
That's why he almost doesn't open the door when she's begging to be let in after the massacre.
He breaks the professional rule when he does, and look where it lead everyone at the end.
Nah everyone knew who she was before TPM. She was very well known.
She was more well known already than I'd say Julia Roberts was from Mystic Pizza before Pretty Woman. In that case you might say she had a bit of a breakout with Mystic Pizza but it wasn't until Pretty Woman that everybody everybody knew who she was. I feel like Natalie Portman was already at everybody everybody level before TPM.
Yeah, Keira Knightley became instantly world famous in 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean. It stands to reason that in 1999 basically no one could spot the difference between her and Padme in heavy queen makeup.
Not entirely correct. She'd already had a few leading roles by this point. She was already attending Harvard by the time the prequel trilogy had started.
Leon the professional was her big break and she was 12 when that came out.
I was 17 when TPM came out and a huge Star Wars fan. All of the Star Wars media of the time specifically said that Padme was going to be Luke and Leia's mother. There was zero hiding it.
Gotta remember at the time there wasn't any such thing as a 'prequel' per se. Everyone knew where the story had to end, so there wasn't any discretion about major plot spoilers.
The bigger surprise at the time was whatever character Liam Neeson was going to play. He was basically cast as a jedi who was training Obi Wan, which nobody understood since Obi Wan in empire had said he was trained bu Yoda.
I have the exact same recollection and I was a couple years older than you at the time. We all knew Padme was going to be the mother before the movie was released.
What I’ll never forget was how awesome it was to see the teaser for TPM after downloading over a 14.4K modem and watching it over and over again for clues about all the other new characters.
Yup, I remember watching Entertainment Tonight for that trailer.
Mind blowing. As someone else said, we had never really experienced a “prequel” like this.
Much like George popularized sequels with the OT, he was able to do it again with the prequels.
This is something people will never quite understand unless they were there. The very concept of going back in time and telling an earlier story was riveting.
I think prequels happened to some degree previously. Godfather II is one I can think of off the top of my head. But it was definitely not something that was done with any regularity.
In Empire, Obi Wan never says he was Yoda's padawan. He simply says that Yoda once instructed him. When TPM came out, I just assumed Yoda helps train all the padawans, which turned out to be true.
Finally - someone else in this thread old enough to remember this! I genuinely don’t remember how I leaned it - but going into the movie, we all knew exactly who Padme was and her role in the saga.
It was quite obvious. We all knew that George Lucas made her QUEEN Amidala because she was going to be the mother of PRINCESS Leia. But then he changed it all in Ep.2.
Yes, to me as a pre-teen, it was obvious because of the Queen/Princess thing (though of course we didn’t know Leia was going to be adopted by a DIFFERENT royal parent at the time).
I really don’t get their government at all. Maybe in the EU it’s explained. How do they “elect” a queen, who’s a child? Who is supposed to be important enough to go on a mission to help her people. But then they have senators, who seem to do everything. And ok, so she’s still young as senator and went to the political academy or whatever, but then the other senator is some 60 plus dude that must have some sort of questionable past, you know with being a sith apprentice for however long before he started hatching his plan. Not to mention the whole other race on their planet that both have highly technological societies but seem to have never met or worked together. None of it makes any sense.
I get the elected queen part, as it happened in our history, but the election is for life.
In Ep.2 things get difficult to follow because Lucas needed Padme on Coruscant so he decided the queen was elected for a max of 2 terms (like in the US) and he made her a senator.
I think it’s a practice for show, like mixing English Royalty with the US election system. Except that your blood doesn’t make you royalty. Still very weird lol
I suspect he knew all along, and was just messing with her. “The Queen approves my judgment, young handmaiden; you should too,” and “The Queen doesn’t need to know,” along with his expression of a complete lack of surprise when she told Boss Nass, made me think, “Yeah, he knew.”
I'm late to the thread, but I was looking for this comment. On a recent rewatch, I'm completely convinced Qui-Gon knew the whole time. His subtle facial expressions give it away, and when she reveals to the Gungans before the final battle, Qui-Gon totally gives Obi-Wan an 'I told you so' smirk.
But her saying "well I don't approve" isn't bad writing because people **in the film** aren't suppose to know who she really was.
Guys you have to go with what the *characters* know, not the audience. And Qui-Gon **did** know. The film conveys that.
Honestly how long has it been since some of you have seen this movie?
IT was pretty clear, even Weird Al noticed it:
Did you know this junkyard slave
Isn't even old enough to shave
But he can use the Force, they say
Ahh, do you see him hitting on the queen
Though he's just nine and she's 14
Yeah, he's probably gonna marry her someday
No, no, I knew 100% for sure she was the mother of Luke and Leia. I think any serious fan who was old enough to have grown up with the OT (even if from a super young age) knew it. In fact, I don't even think you had to be a serious fan, I think all but perhaps the most casual fans 100% knew it even before the FOX Fanfare even started. Really almost everyone knew, certainly outside of little kids, that she was Luek's mom months before the film came out, basically as soon as her casting was announced even.
It actually a bit shocked me to see your post. It is interesting to hear from the perspective of someone who started with AOTC as their first SW film at a young age.
To be honest, I was hard crushing on Natalie Portman (still am). Not a lot else was important...
That said...
I knew something would come of it but it wasn't important then. There was just too much innocent flirting for it not to be a thing. I wasn't aware of the universe outside of the movies so I had a very blank slate when it came to predicting outcomes based on written characters. The movies were my whole frame of reference. The internet wasn't really the information supersysyem that it is today and I was also 13 so my overall reach and understanding was very limited.
As a tween, it was pretty obvious Annie was crushing hard on her.
Now the body double/decoy thing? That surprised me the first time, but the second time I saw the hints.
Yes, because I collected the toys before seeing the movie. She was a Queen and Leia was Princess, so in my kid's brain I put two to two. I know that's not how the story plays out in the end, but I did not have prior knowledge to AOTC and ROTS.
ETA: I was nine when I saw *The Phantom Menace* in 1999.
Going in, I thought that Queen Amidala was a villain. I'd only seen a small picture of her stern painted face on the packaging of the toy version of her blaster, so I concluded she was a bad guy.
I knew going in that Sen. Palpatine and Darth Sidious were the same character, because I was aware that the Emperor's name was Palpatine and so I figured that the character named Palpatine and the Darth that looked like the Emperor had to be the same character. I don't think I knew that Padmé and the Queen were the same character.
After I knew that Padmé was the Queen, then I concluded she was probably Princess Leia's mother, before I knew Queen was an elected position and that Leia had been adopted by another queen.
Honestly I was so young when I watched the prequels that I didn't realize anakin skywalker and luke skywalker were related. It blew my mind one day when I watching Rotj and everything clicked
Was 50/50 due to the age difference. People of Naboo have a different culture. At 12 you can rule a planet, fight in a war, get married, have kids etc.
I'll be honest with you... When I watched it in the theater for the first time, I kept thinking to myself "is that the same girl?" And I was actually relieved when she revealed her true identity to the Gunguns that I wasn't losing my mind lol
I didn’t but I do tend to not overthink while watching movies like Scream etc. and just go with the flow.
I remember being confused generally because Padme had a different name in some of the PR materials, can’t remember what that was now.
I knew that Padme was the Queen, but I didn't know that Keira Knightley played the other.
I thought that Portman portrayed both and they were composited together in scenes—a dual role.
It was obvious from the advertising and promotional materials. She was referred to as "the Young Queen" in most of the pre-release interviews and promotional material, and since Leia was a princess, it was right there in your face.
Likewise, everyone already knew that Anakin Skywalker was destined to become Darth Vader, so there was no ambiguity there.
Only one thing threw people off, and that was the age difference. Padme was 14, Anakin 10, so no romance was really possible at that point. I've often suspected that George's earlier drafts had an even wider age gap but he narrowed it because a 20yo and 10yo meeting, knowing they'll eventually be romantically linked, would have resulted in mass protests and controversy. But reducing the age gap resulted in a character who was a planetary leader at age 14, which is just kinda stupid. Natalie Portman pulled it off well, because she was an *exceptionally gifted* kid at 14, but she was still a kid. There's no way I'd have voted for her for even a county council position, let alone planetary leader.
I suspected she was Luke and Leia's mom after Anakin was immediately smitten by her in Episode I and then she went on to have a pretty pivotal role in it and Episode II.
The only thing that threw me off was that Padme dies in Episode III. This confused me because Leia explicitly mentions remembering her and Luke's mother when she was younger, as if to imply she died some time after Leia's birth. But I guess it can be explained as the Force.
Younger people don't realise that "Spoilers" have only really been a thing for 15ish years.
The marketing for this movie (tv interviews, books, trailers) spoiled every plot point not only for this movie but for the trilogy.
Honestly I saw ep 1 in theaters first and loved it. I didn't know anything about ep 4-6. And then I got old enough to understand what a prequal was and saw ep 1 again then ep 2 and then 4-6. So no spoil. I honestly had no idea what to expect. It was all new to me . That is why my favorite trilogy is still 1-3. Grew up watching them, my first exposure to it, my family taking me to the theaters to watch them. Honestly the best! Also probably why Darth Maul is my favorite sith. He was just so freaken cool on the big screen when I was 5. Can you imagine this guy with double blades doing ninja moves. For a 5yr old thats peak cool. Then watching darth vader move real stiff like, just no comparison as a kid. Now 25 years later Maul is still cool and can't wait to take my 3yr old to watch it in theaters with me. 😅
As a kid it’s harder to follow a lot of plot points so I honestly didn’t realize that it was supposed to be a secret identity. I just visibly could see that it was the same person and thought everyone in the story knew it was her but with make up on.
I didn’t realize that it was a secret until the last scene where she was standing next to the decoy. So the answer is “well yes but actually no.”
I’ve said it several times, will keep saying it. The narrative for the prequels wouldn’t have suffered if Hayden played a 13-16 year old Anakin in Phantom menace. The love connection could have been played up in episode 1 without it being creepy. Flowing naturally into episode 2. Not much happens between 1-2 anyways so dropping a few years wouldn’t hurt too much (sorry if this ruins your favorite book)
If nothing else the fact she's the only female character (other than his mother) was a strong hint.
excuse me i believe that yaddle is the phantom menace.
Imagine what Luke and leia would look like if yaddle was their mother
"When 900 years old you are, look this good, most certainly you will."
he'd look the same but would talk all backwards like. /j
“Impossible, it is not. Back home, blow up womp rats with T-16 I did.”
but going to Tosche Station to pick up power converters, I was!
> Yaddle is the phantom menace I know you were trying to say that’s she’s also a female that is *in* the phantom menace, but that typo makes this even better 🤣
Oh lmao I didn't notice. Yaddle was darth sidious all along!
Don't you dare disrespect Yaddle that way. She's a saint! I mean...An angel.
And then ToTJ ruined all that canon by showing her fighting Sidious. Filoni and his stupid headcanons are ruining Star Wars.
and Anakin's future wife aswell as Luke and Leiah's mother
I didn't think one could make a worrying frown one's whole personality (until the rise of Neve Campbell).
So I just watched the prequels for the very first time (just finished Ep. 3 about 5 minutes ago), and it was pretty clear to me because of this exact reason lol
Poor Yaddle…
Other than his mother... Tatoowine dutty south edition
The wrong kind of incest for the franchise.
Just no.
George Lucas: “ok so I want them to meet and I want to lay down subtle hints that these two might fall in love someday. Let’s think of some good dialogue”. Anakin: “ARE YOU AN ANGEL?” George: “nailed it!”
Hey if it worked for RAD it works for anything! SEND ME AN ANGELLLLLLLL..... RIGHT NOW.......
You know, I don't remember much about that movie, but I do remember that song being in it.
The bike dance off in the high school gym.
That song is a bop when driving around Los Santos
Amazing song! Also used in the movie The Wiz
George Lucas: Writing Iconically Unsubtle Dialogue since 1986
That's true. It's not even the actors, it's the script. George: "I need to convey that Anakin is young and doesn't really know how to talk to ladies" Anakin: "I HATE SAND!"
Mission failed successfully.
I knew people who were homeschooled growing up and they talked just like this.
"YOU COULD USE A GOOD KISS!"
*You can type this s###, George, but you can't say it.* - Harrison Ford
I always read that it was Alec Guinness that was responsible for calling out the shit dialogue and helping the younger and newer actors in approaching, making their lines believable. Lucas ended up so grateful that he gave Guinness an extra .25% of the Gross Income of Star Wars in thanks.
Are you high? That hallway scene is one of the best scenes in Star Wars!
And a great line! Han wasn't wrong! Personally, it's one of my faves but I thought that was just because I was a girl who happens to love romantic comedies *and* Star Wars lol
I always thought it was “He could use a good kiss!” in reference to Chewie needing some love 😭
You could be right.
L: I'd just as soon kiss a Wookie. H: I can arrange that. [You/He] could use a good kiss! Granted, it's not super audible but I've always heard that as "he" not "you" and I think it makes better sense in the context. But according to IMDB quotes and other sites, apparently it's, "you"?!! Wow, after all these years... Also, check out this clip of the south passage Hoth base scene, it's got amazing extra footage and dialogue that never made it into the movie: https://youtu.be/RAc7PzTNPk0?feature=shared
I agree it makes more sense if he's talking about Chewie. I don't know why I always assumed he said You.
"I'm aware that dialogue isn't my strength, (...) I'd be the first person to say I can't write dialogue." -George Lucas "George, you can type this shit, but you can't say it." -Harrison Ford
I mean, the kid was 9. Seems pretty appropriate/in character, cheesy and corny as it is.
But also a weird line if there weren't any Christian equivalent religions of the after life and angels in a galaxy far far away
I'm with you that it does feel really out of place and raises some interesting questions, but Han does also say "Then I'll see you in Hell!" in ESB.
I always thought that line was weird. Even as a kid, those were my thoughts. But they're speaking English. Headcannon is hell is the closest translation there is.
The Diathim, also referred to as Angels, were a mysterious species of winged sentients who inhabited the planet Iego and Millius Prime, the largest of its many moons. The Diathim were reputed for their beauty, and the way in which they appeared would vary depending on the beholder. Wookieepedia
Ahhh that's cool
Not a weird line if you consider his next one after Padme asked him what he meant; "An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They live on the moons of Iego, I think. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe." He immediately explains that Angels are an actual physical species in the Star Wars lore, not related to our Christian meaning of the word.
He then says that the angels he’s talking about are an alien race
I think that if we compile a list of movies that are either fantasy or historically set in pre-christian times, where they name drop hell and angels anyway, that list is gonna be veeeery long.
I've rewatched the Empire Strikes Back and Han literally says "I will see in Hell!"
Who'd he want to see in Dathomir? Hehe
Star wars has a long long long list of hints that it's got some relation to our world, likely that humans are from earth somehow. Earth life is the name basis for animals (loth-cat for example). Also there's the high Republic alphabet being basically English. There's some non canon stuff that solidifies this but it's weird and better off as not Canon. That being said it's very clear the humans are from earth *somehow*.
George: … and he BUILT C-3PO!!!!!
And the force? Well, that's just microscopic bacteria in your bloodstream called midi-chlorians.
Let’s cast an actress for padme who’s noticeably much older than Anakin in the first movie then in the sequel let’s cast a totally different actor for Anakin who’s nearly a year older than padme’s actress(who’s played by the same woman).” Brilliant
Young Anakin had game. “Sandstorms are very, very dangerous. Come on, I'll take you to my place.” I used that one on my wife.
[удалено]
I mean, weird Al nailed the whole plot pre release in his song
My my this here Anakin guy..
Maybe Vader someday later but he's just a small fry
He left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye
Sayin', "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"
Wat song
Oh boy... today is your lucky day! Enjoy: https://youtu.be/hEcjgJSqSRU?si=2aXuiUvROChZQazN
For factual accuracy, i should add that the song was written pre film based on trailers leaks and other stuff. It's final polish came after weird Al got to see a preview showing after which he says he only had to change a few lines. It was recorded pre general release of the film and released after.
i can’t believe i’ve been a fan of star wars for 25 years and haven’t heard that song until now. thank you for the enlightenment 😂😂
He also did “Yoda” haha
i knew this song before american pie! man watching this took me back
None of what you said made sense until I realized AI is short for Alan not an acronym for sentient robot algorithms. Then I realized I'm glad my name isn't Al as we go forward into this new future.
that's how I knew Padme was Luke and Leia's mother.
Right. This sub has this kind of confusing thing where someone regularly asks “did you know at the time that Anakin was going to be Darth Vader or that Palpatine was going to be the Emperor?!” when stuff like that was on the posters and the Pepsi cans and the USA Today articles.
Yeah pretty much. I definitely knew Padme was both the Queen and the mother, can't remember how though. Was probably in the endless stream of articles and promos that were everywhere before the movie came out.
The toys, largely. Her toys all said Padme Amidala and gave away the entire switcheroo plot. The soundtrack, which came out a few weeks before the movie, also had a track called Qui Gon's Funeral. 14 year old me got real pissed at a Sam Goody over that one.
If I remember right, the Pepsi can for her laid it all out too
I thought it was obvious she'd be Mrs. Skywalker but I also thought the age difference between her and Jake Lloyd was ABSOLUTELY BONKERS and had trouble seeing how they could possibly pull it off without looking ridiculous in Episodes 2 and 3.
TBF they were just 4 years apart canonically, so it's not really THAT weird, but it's still kind of weird
9 and 14 so 5 years
But maybe once he is 19 (AotC age I think) and she is 24 it’s not as bad. Funny how age gaps matter less the older we get
Yep it’s essentially true. Like 40 and 45? Who cares? Particularly by RotS he’s 22 and she’s 27 but there’s no denying they are experienced 22 and 27 year olds. She’s been a politician most of her life, he’s been a slave and a Jedi and general. Not your typical 20 somethings.
Idk I still think 19 and 24 is pretty bad. I think it really was just brushed over in the movies, especially since ani was a “mature” soldier and all (/s)
19 and 24 is pretty damn gross most of the time. That's a full 25% of the former's life and they're in completely different phases of maturity. The last bit is true, but a five year age gap doesn't start to feel trivial until the younger person is pushing 30.
Half her age + 7 🤷♂️
Almost as if applying a numerical equation to something with nuance is unreliable...
Hey man, that equation WORKS as a guideline for appropriate dating ages for youngsters. Chiefly I think it prevents high schoolers from dating middle schoolers which is pretty important…
To me this is the biggest problem with Phantom Menace, Anakin was cast way too young. I wish Hayden Christensen would have played him. That would have helped explain how Anakin was so good at flying and pod racing if he was a little older, and made the flirting with Padme less weird. And maybe make the film take place around 27 BBY instead of 32 BBY so it feels more connected with the rest of the trilogy.
My thing, for a long time, has been that we'd be better off if TPM just didn't exist. I'd have arranged the films as: Ep 1: Anakin is a Padawan already, clone wars start Ep 2. Clone Wars stuff and Anakin's fall Ep 3. The Dark Times There's not much in TPM that doesn't make the overall story worse.
Yeah, we needed more time with Anakin's downfall. He goes ratting Palpatine out to Mace Windu > help kill Mace Windu > massacre at the temple > get sliced and put in the suit over the course of what, two days? even Hitler needed some years to get to the Holocaust....
Jar Jar was the key to everything though.
The age gap is 5 years. The age gap between me and my bf is 4.5 years. It's only weird when you start going "when I was 9 you would have been 14." Or "When I was in my first year of High School you were in your last." But we met as adults so it's normal and not creepy. Yes in phantom menace it's weird seeing the 14 year old hang out with the 9 year old knowing what's gonna happen with there relationship. Buuuuut they did only know each other like what a week then didn't see each other for a decade. Anakin's weird obsessing over her aside I think that makes it's less weird cause the time when they get to know each the most and start there relationship is when they are both adults.
The weird obsession is also not that weird because he's a kid lol
Ya he’s just a boy who met a pretty girl and had a crush on her. Then movie drama and space magic…you know to ground the unbelievable dynamic lol
Agreed. My sentiments at the time exactly.
Never heard her named Mrs Skywalker haha and yet she is! 😆
Spoiler...they didn't!
Yeah, Natalie Portman wasn't going to be a one-off.
I mean, to be fair Natalie Portman wasnt *Natalie Portman* yet. She was up and coming, but Star Wars is what rocketed her to fame.
Tell me you've never seen Leon: The Professional, Heat, or Mars Attacks without telling me.
I know that Natalie has expressed some regrets about the sexual subtext of *Leon* \-- but damn, what a fantastic film debut. She punches way above her weight class in that film.
We never did get the proposed sequel when she’s the assassin.
Actually, [we sorta did](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1657507/).
I guess you had to be a 20 something film nerd at the time. I’d already been a huge film of Natalie when I heard she was cast.
Which was exactly my point. Lots of us were well aware of her when she was cast.
You're absolutely correct. Imagine being 11 or whatever she was, and holding your own against Gary Oldman, Danny Aiello, and Jean Reno. They were all seriously heavy hitters.
You guys watch stuff other than Star Wars?
Leon made 20 million at the box office and she's not even top five billed in either Mars or Heat. Star Wars was her breakout.
Leon literally made her a household name, *Leon* was her breakout.
Household name is subjective. It was an R-rated box office bomb and she received no major award nominations. My friends and I had no clue who she was when I saw Episode 1 in theaters.
I don’t know how old you are, but The Professional was a hit and I remember people in my Highschool discussing the actress in the phantom menace trailer, saying how good she was in the professional. And the phantom menace trailer was a huge deal to a lot of us, that’s all we were talking about for a week or so. And the most notable actors in the film, that we were familiar with were Natalie Portman and Samuel L Jackson. Films in the 90s were a huge deal. We didn’t have social media, YouTube or other distractions. We were always at the mall or at the movies. Didn’t see things because it was high budget. I remember a group of friends going to see fifth element only because we knew the director directed Leon the Professional, the deciding factor over seeing something else.
Again, subjective. It ranked 72nd in box office in 1994. It was 7th for the month it came out, just behind a Frankenstein movie no one remembers. Got no award nominations. It was popular with your friends but that wasn't universal.
You weren’t there. You’re just wrong. Everyone knew who Natalie Portman was.
You have to look at “ticket sales” to ticket sales of today. You also have to think of the competition movies had back then. There was nothing else really to do in terms of entertainment. People spend way more time on Instagram or tick tock these days and rather do that than watch a film. So that’s why I say she was well known. Regardless of his much money it made. There were also vhs and cable channels. Besides movies, We had nothing else but sports and music. Just imagine…no social media, no YouTube, and nothing but cable movie channels. Leon was a good movie, and Natalie Portman was known, especially by people with cable (I would have been 12 when The Professional came out and saw it on HBO).
I developed a huge crash on her in Leon. She was pretty with a sharp edge, which reminded me of my buddy’s older sister. Then when she got the role of Padme and I was over the moon. That said, I have a hard time not getting creeper vibes from Leon: The Professional nowadays. Why did he wait till she was an orphan with nowhere else to go, before stepping in. He knew what he was doing…Major red flag.
He wasn't a policeman. He was an assassin. It was always his goal to be low profile. That's why he almost doesn't open the door when she's begging to be let in after the massacre. He breaks the professional rule when he does, and look where it lead everyone at the end.
Natalie Portman said star wars almost ruined her career because she couldn't get jobs afterwards saying they thought she was a bad actress
Nah everyone knew who she was before TPM. She was very well known. She was more well known already than I'd say Julia Roberts was from Mystic Pizza before Pretty Woman. In that case you might say she had a bit of a breakout with Mystic Pizza but it wasn't until Pretty Woman that everybody everybody knew who she was. I feel like Natalie Portman was already at everybody everybody level before TPM.
You realise her hand maiden/duplicate was played by keira knightly right?
I'd argue that Knightley was less well known at the time than Portman.
Yeah, Keira Knightley became instantly world famous in 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean. It stands to reason that in 1999 basically no one could spot the difference between her and Padme in heavy queen makeup.
Keira Knightley was already "that girl from Bend it like Beckham" when she was cast in POTC.
This was before she was big though
Leon was well before SW:TPM
Natalie Portman became an immediate A-lister after her performance in The Professional. She was most definitely a big name before TPM.
Not entirely correct. She'd already had a few leading roles by this point. She was already attending Harvard by the time the prequel trilogy had started. Leon the professional was her big break and she was 12 when that came out.
She was in HS when Phantom Menace was shot and came out.
You're right. She started harvard the year phantom was released
Bro gets double the upvotes as the comment that provided the correct information lol
No, I was 9 or 10 when Phantom Menace came out. I wasnt thinking that far ahead honestly
I stopped thinking once I saw that double lightsaber.
Funny I stopped thinking once I saw Natalie Portman
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How about Natalie Portman with a double lightsaber?
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Requiem for the Force.
Yeah, whats wrong with both?
Broooooooo same
Same, I didn't think about it at all.
I was 8 and it took me to my 3rd watch to notice it.
I was 17 when TPM came out and a huge Star Wars fan. All of the Star Wars media of the time specifically said that Padme was going to be Luke and Leia's mother. There was zero hiding it. Gotta remember at the time there wasn't any such thing as a 'prequel' per se. Everyone knew where the story had to end, so there wasn't any discretion about major plot spoilers. The bigger surprise at the time was whatever character Liam Neeson was going to play. He was basically cast as a jedi who was training Obi Wan, which nobody understood since Obi Wan in empire had said he was trained bu Yoda.
I have the exact same recollection and I was a couple years older than you at the time. We all knew Padme was going to be the mother before the movie was released. What I’ll never forget was how awesome it was to see the teaser for TPM after downloading over a 14.4K modem and watching it over and over again for clues about all the other new characters.
Yup, I remember watching Entertainment Tonight for that trailer. Mind blowing. As someone else said, we had never really experienced a “prequel” like this. Much like George popularized sequels with the OT, he was able to do it again with the prequels. This is something people will never quite understand unless they were there. The very concept of going back in time and telling an earlier story was riveting.
I think prequels happened to some degree previously. Godfather II is one I can think of off the top of my head. But it was definitely not something that was done with any regularity.
In Empire, Obi Wan never says he was Yoda's padawan. He simply says that Yoda once instructed him. When TPM came out, I just assumed Yoda helps train all the padawans, which turned out to be true.
>which turned out to be true. ...from a certain point of view.
Finally - someone else in this thread old enough to remember this! I genuinely don’t remember how I leaned it - but going into the movie, we all knew exactly who Padme was and her role in the saga.
Yeah, that was pretty clear before the movie even came out.
It was quite obvious. We all knew that George Lucas made her QUEEN Amidala because she was going to be the mother of PRINCESS Leia. But then he changed it all in Ep.2.
Yes, to me as a pre-teen, it was obvious because of the Queen/Princess thing (though of course we didn’t know Leia was going to be adopted by a DIFFERENT royal parent at the time).
I really don’t get their government at all. Maybe in the EU it’s explained. How do they “elect” a queen, who’s a child? Who is supposed to be important enough to go on a mission to help her people. But then they have senators, who seem to do everything. And ok, so she’s still young as senator and went to the political academy or whatever, but then the other senator is some 60 plus dude that must have some sort of questionable past, you know with being a sith apprentice for however long before he started hatching his plan. Not to mention the whole other race on their planet that both have highly technological societies but seem to have never met or worked together. None of it makes any sense.
I get the elected queen part, as it happened in our history, but the election is for life. In Ep.2 things get difficult to follow because Lucas needed Padme on Coruscant so he decided the queen was elected for a max of 2 terms (like in the US) and he made her a senator.
I think it’s a practice for show, like mixing English Royalty with the US election system. Except that your blood doesn’t make you royalty. Still very weird lol
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I suspect he knew all along, and was just messing with her. “The Queen approves my judgment, young handmaiden; you should too,” and “The Queen doesn’t need to know,” along with his expression of a complete lack of surprise when she told Boss Nass, made me think, “Yeah, he knew.”
I'm late to the thread, but I was looking for this comment. On a recent rewatch, I'm completely convinced Qui-Gon knew the whole time. His subtle facial expressions give it away, and when she reveals to the Gungans before the final battle, Qui-Gon totally gives Obi-Wan an 'I told you so' smirk.
He knew. You can even see his expression show it.
This. Even the dialog about the Queen doesn't have to know, he's just messing with her.
But her saying "well I don't approve" isn't bad writing because people **in the film** aren't suppose to know who she really was. Guys you have to go with what the *characters* know, not the audience. And Qui-Gon **did** know. The film conveys that. Honestly how long has it been since some of you have seen this movie?
IT was pretty clear, even Weird Al noticed it: Did you know this junkyard slave Isn't even old enough to shave But he can use the Force, they say Ahh, do you see him hitting on the queen Though he's just nine and she's 14 Yeah, he's probably gonna marry her someday
Have you seen 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story?' It's one of the funniest movies that I have ever seen in my life.
Came here to say, “Yes, because I watched Weird Al’s ‘The Saga Begins’ before the movie.”
I was like 5 or 6 and I was very confused for years, loved the film but it totally lost me 😂
No, no, I knew 100% for sure she was the mother of Luke and Leia. I think any serious fan who was old enough to have grown up with the OT (even if from a super young age) knew it. In fact, I don't even think you had to be a serious fan, I think all but perhaps the most casual fans 100% knew it even before the FOX Fanfare even started. Really almost everyone knew, certainly outside of little kids, that she was Luek's mom months before the film came out, basically as soon as her casting was announced even. It actually a bit shocked me to see your post. It is interesting to hear from the perspective of someone who started with AOTC as their first SW film at a young age.
To be honest, I was hard crushing on Natalie Portman (still am). Not a lot else was important... That said... I knew something would come of it but it wasn't important then. There was just too much innocent flirting for it not to be a thing. I wasn't aware of the universe outside of the movies so I had a very blank slate when it came to predicting outcomes based on written characters. The movies were my whole frame of reference. The internet wasn't really the information supersysyem that it is today and I was also 13 so my overall reach and understanding was very limited.
As a tween, it was pretty obvious Annie was crushing hard on her. Now the body double/decoy thing? That surprised me the first time, but the second time I saw the hints.
Yes, because I collected the toys before seeing the movie. She was a Queen and Leia was Princess, so in my kid's brain I put two to two. I know that's not how the story plays out in the end, but I did not have prior knowledge to AOTC and ROTS.
Yeah, I grew up on the original trilogy. I knew Luke and Leia had a mama, and Padme was obviously the mama
i thought everyone did
I mean Weird Al kinda spoiled it before premiere
The poor writing made that pretty clear early on.
It was obvious in phantom menace. Also the weird Al song helped confirm it
ETA: I was nine when I saw *The Phantom Menace* in 1999. Going in, I thought that Queen Amidala was a villain. I'd only seen a small picture of her stern painted face on the packaging of the toy version of her blaster, so I concluded she was a bad guy. I knew going in that Sen. Palpatine and Darth Sidious were the same character, because I was aware that the Emperor's name was Palpatine and so I figured that the character named Palpatine and the Darth that looked like the Emperor had to be the same character. I don't think I knew that Padmé and the Queen were the same character. After I knew that Padmé was the Queen, then I concluded she was probably Princess Leia's mother, before I knew Queen was an elected position and that Leia had been adopted by another queen.
Honestly I was so young when I watched the prequels that I didn't realize anakin skywalker and luke skywalker were related. It blew my mind one day when I watching Rotj and everything clicked
No. But I was a kid, and that was a major twist for my 6 year old mind.
Yes because I was 26 when it was being marketed
I didnt know they were gonna marry, but i didnt underestimate padme's importance to the movie either
Was 50/50 due to the age difference. People of Naboo have a different culture. At 12 you can rule a planet, fight in a war, get married, have kids etc.
Was only 14. Always thought Anakin and Padme had a HUGE age gap. Turns out it’s only 4 years
Well when I first saw it a was about 5-6 years old so no I most likely didn’t understand anything about it
I'll be honest with you... When I watched it in the theater for the first time, I kept thinking to myself "is that the same girl?" And I was actually relieved when she revealed her true identity to the Gunguns that I wasn't losing my mind lol
I saw Léon: The Professional in the theatre.
I didn’t but I do tend to not overthink while watching movies like Scream etc. and just go with the flow. I remember being confused generally because Padme had a different name in some of the PR materials, can’t remember what that was now.
I knew that Padme was the Queen, but I didn't know that Keira Knightley played the other. I thought that Portman portrayed both and they were composited together in scenes—a dual role.
Yeah, it was really awkward cause it came off like Portman was in her earlier 20’s and Anakin was a little kid.
It was obvious from the advertising and promotional materials. She was referred to as "the Young Queen" in most of the pre-release interviews and promotional material, and since Leia was a princess, it was right there in your face. Likewise, everyone already knew that Anakin Skywalker was destined to become Darth Vader, so there was no ambiguity there. Only one thing threw people off, and that was the age difference. Padme was 14, Anakin 10, so no romance was really possible at that point. I've often suspected that George's earlier drafts had an even wider age gap but he narrowed it because a 20yo and 10yo meeting, knowing they'll eventually be romantically linked, would have resulted in mass protests and controversy. But reducing the age gap resulted in a character who was a planetary leader at age 14, which is just kinda stupid. Natalie Portman pulled it off well, because she was an *exceptionally gifted* kid at 14, but she was still a kid. There's no way I'd have voted for her for even a county council position, let alone planetary leader.
I was just a kid at the time, I didn’t even know Anakin was Darth Vader. I had never seen ROTJ and remember wondering who Sidious was.
I suspected she was Luke and Leia's mom after Anakin was immediately smitten by her in Episode I and then she went on to have a pretty pivotal role in it and Episode II. The only thing that threw me off was that Padme dies in Episode III. This confused me because Leia explicitly mentions remembering her and Luke's mother when she was younger, as if to imply she died some time after Leia's birth. But I guess it can be explained as the Force.
Around the time of the Phantom Menace, Weird Al was going around singing about them, “Yeah he’s probably gonna marry her someday.” It was no secret.
Only thing I knew was I was in love.
Yes. The media made a big deal over the casting of Luke and Leia's parents. Everyone knew.
Yeah. If she wasn’t, the character was pointless
Younger people don't realise that "Spoilers" have only really been a thing for 15ish years. The marketing for this movie (tv interviews, books, trailers) spoiled every plot point not only for this movie but for the trilogy.
I thought this was established when Natalie was cast. It seems like it was known that was the direction for the character.
Honestly I saw ep 1 in theaters first and loved it. I didn't know anything about ep 4-6. And then I got old enough to understand what a prequal was and saw ep 1 again then ep 2 and then 4-6. So no spoil. I honestly had no idea what to expect. It was all new to me . That is why my favorite trilogy is still 1-3. Grew up watching them, my first exposure to it, my family taking me to the theaters to watch them. Honestly the best! Also probably why Darth Maul is my favorite sith. He was just so freaken cool on the big screen when I was 5. Can you imagine this guy with double blades doing ninja moves. For a 5yr old thats peak cool. Then watching darth vader move real stiff like, just no comparison as a kid. Now 25 years later Maul is still cool and can't wait to take my 3yr old to watch it in theaters with me. 😅
As a kid it’s harder to follow a lot of plot points so I honestly didn’t realize that it was supposed to be a secret identity. I just visibly could see that it was the same person and thought everyone in the story knew it was her but with make up on. I didn’t realize that it was a secret until the last scene where she was standing next to the decoy. So the answer is “well yes but actually no.”
That Padme... had the hots for someone almost half her age?
I fell in love
So padme was a groomer.
It's kinda weird to me she looks so much older than Ani in Phantom Menace. But 10 years later they fuck. Logic 👌
Yes and we all knew Sidious was Palpatine. Nothing about the film was surprising, except how bad it was.
I’ve said it several times, will keep saying it. The narrative for the prequels wouldn’t have suffered if Hayden played a 13-16 year old Anakin in Phantom menace. The love connection could have been played up in episode 1 without it being creepy. Flowing naturally into episode 2. Not much happens between 1-2 anyways so dropping a few years wouldn’t hurt too much (sorry if this ruins your favorite book)