10 Incredible Casts That Were Wasted On Really Awful Movies

8. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Cast: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz, Samuel L. Jackson, Terence Stamp, Brian Blessed, Peter Serafinowicz, Ray Park, Pernilla August, Ahmed Best, Silas Carson, Greg Proops, Scott Capuro and Andy Secombe. And so George Lucas' defilement of the same legendary franchise that he himself created began with Episode I: The Phantom Menace; better known as Episode I: The Worst Movie in the Entire Saga. The film had every fanboy excited for another classic science-fiction/fantasy trilogy, and the expectations were only raised by its all-star cast, including well-established actors such as Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson, exciting rising stars such as Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman, and actors from the original, superior trilogy, Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels. What could go wrong? Simply put - the script. No amount of amazing actors could have saved The Phantom Menace from disappointing all of its fans the world over due to the amazingly dull and politics-heavy story that proved, given the lack of enthusiasm in reviving a cinematic franchise, even cool Jedi's with telekinetic-like powers wielding laser swords can be boring. And annoying thanks to Jar Jar, and even slightly racist when the planet of Tatooine is reminiscent of a stereotypical western view of the Middle east. Perhaps the prequel trilogy would have fared better if mostly unknown actors were cast, as it was with the original, who all became pop culture icons and the stars of many teenage posters of both sexes. But even an unknown cast wouldn't have been able to inject some fun into The Phantom Menace (or Attack of the Clones, for that matter), instead it would have simply been career suicide. Here's hoping that J. J. Abrams gets the correct balance between script and cast next year.