8 Things Learned From Re-Watching Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

6. The Pod Race Is An Overlong Centrepiece

One of the most polarising aspects of The Phantom Menace was the ten-minute Pod Race sequence which served as the film's centrepiece. While some praised it as an impressive, detailed set-piece, for the most part it was derided: an overlong, somewhat unnecessary insertion, one which takes us away from the intergalactic spacehopping to deliver us a pretty bog-standard F1 style race (anyone remember the Pod Race game on N64, by the way?). Lucas was clearly invested in the sequence, so it's a shame then that it's so - to use a term I hate and often find reductive when discussing film but can't help but employ here - boring. There is nothing at stake, and if there is (the vague notion of Anakin's freedom, perhaps) then it isn't mirrored in the race's execution, which Lucas intercuts with off-hand sight gags that rarely land - the two-headed American-style commentator only adds to the the idea of a sequence unsure of which tone it wants to adopt. The race never feels close, there is no will-they-won't-they aspect, it's not a photo-finish and Anakin's main rival (the completely computer-generated Sebulba) is destroyed a good stretch before the finish line. Why not have them both cross at the same time? Why not make Sebulba look like an actual champion racer rather than a sneaky one? Why not cut the whole thing in half and save us all some precious time?