While The Phantom Menace has some missteps, no wrongs were more egregious than the death of Darth Maul, gone too early from a prequel trilogy that never managed to come up with a better villain as replacement. A snarling, tattooed, horned devil of a Sith warrior, cloaked in Samurai-like duds and wielding a double-edged blade, he was quite possibly the single greatest creation of the prequel trilogy. It makes every Darth Maul moment worth cherishing, but while his outstanding final duel with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon gets much (deserved) attention, less spoken of is his introduction to the main characters in the deserts of Tatooine. First you see him arrogantly swagger to his Bloodfin speeder, then pursue and leap off said speeder brandishing a lightsaber in pursuit of Qui-Gon and team. The scene, though brief, works so well because the spooky character design and fearsome physical performance by Ray Park makes it seem like there's a legitimate threat for the Jedi.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
