10 Most Underrated Scenes In Star Wars

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 a replacement.

A snarling, tattooed, horned devil of a Sith warrior, cloaked in Samurai-like duds and wielding a double-edged blade, Darth Maul was quite possibly the single greatest creation of the prequel trilogy. So, it makes every 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 Maul 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 make it seem like there's a legitimate threat for the Jedi.