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

4. Darth Maul Is An Effective Villain

From his dual-lightsaber to his now iconic face-paint-and-horn combo, Darth Maul is a haunting, enigmatic presence throughout The Phantom Menace, and though many felt he was an inferior villain to the likes of Darth Vader (who wasn't going to be, really?), it remains that the character (played by stuntman Ray park) is neatly effective as a near-mute Sith warrior who imbues the film with an eerie sense of disquiet. Not one for words, Maul's lack of dialogue adds to his sinister appeal, and you get the sense that he'd genuinely rather slice a Jedi to bits than try and convert them to the Dark Side. His flicker of a smile during the end lightsaber battle (see later) is a nice, absurd touch and nicer still is Lucas' decision to have Maul only use one half of his two-beam weapon in his first fight (the brief battle with Qui-Gon on Tatooine), saving the reveal of the other half for the great moment in which Darth stops the Jedi in their path in the aircraft hangar on Naboo. These days that would've been leaked and analysed to bits, the subject of articles and spoilers about What Darth Maul's Double-Edged Lightsaber Tells Us About So and So. But back in '99 - and I do promise to keep my own personal Star Wars experiences out of these lists for the most part. Everybody will have their own, and most people are not going to care about what The Phantom Menace meant to an eight-year-old - it was a genuine surprise, and I distinctly remember an audible excitement fill the cinema's air when that familiar swoosh of the lightsaber's deployment was heard twice in quick succession.