2. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menance (1999)
Star Wars is, ultimately, a fantasy series. Contrary to popular opinion, perhaps, it has more in common with
The Lord of the Rings than any sci-fi movie you can name. I mean, the first movie is about a boy who teams up with a couple of robots, flies to a moon-sized space station, rescues a princess, blows up that moon-sized space station, and gets a medal. It's hardly property to be taken with deadly seriousness, is it? Unfortunately,
Star Wars: Episode I -The Phantom Menance told fans that their man George Lucas didn't really understand that. Because George Lucas' idea of
Star Wars is something more serious, politically-minded and melodramatic, which sounds ridiculous given that Jar Jar Binks came out of his brain, but it's true. Although he was originally inspired to create
Star Wars through his love of campy serials like
Flash Gordon, its huge legacy somehow convinced him into thinking he had to write something about trade federation routes, senate meetings and intergalactic policies. No thanks, George... all we wanted were sarlacc pits, space pirates and lightsabers.