Phantom Menace 3D is the 1st episode in Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Brett Weiner, Andy Signore and Alex Sargeant. It featured Ptolemy Slocum in his only turn as the sole narrator. It parodies the first film in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, The Phantom Menace. It was published on February 13, 2012, and is 1 minute 31 seconds, the shortest Honest Trailer ever. It was made in response to the 2012 3D re-release of the film. In the 6 years since its initial publication, the trailer has been viewed over 9.6 million times. The trailer garnered moderate popularity after its release, resulting in the creation of further Honest Trailers.
Watch Honest Trailers - Phantom Menace 3D on YouTube
"Get ready for an hour and a half of people standing in semicircles, council meetings, different council meetings, and sitting... just to get to five minutes of cool stuff." ~ Honest Trailers - Phantom Menace 3D
Script[]
The greatest saga of all time.... was ruined by this film.
From the billion-dollar jowls of George Lucas comes the chance to relive the biggest letdown in movie history, in 3D! All the parts you forgot about, like the bureaucratic conversations...
Valorium: The chair does not recognize the senator from the Trade Federation at this time.
...the racism...
Boss Nass: Meesa no tink so.
....Natalie Portman's weird robot voice...
Padme Amidala: I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.
...more racism...
Nute Gunray: I was not aware of such failure.
...and this kind of anti-Semitic thing....
Watto: Only money!
...in 3D!
So strap yourself in and get ready for an hour and a half of people standing in semicircles, council meetings, different council meetings, and sitting, just to get to five minutes of cool stuff.
Starring Oskar Schindler as Jesus (Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn), Fake Yoda (Frank Oz as Yoda), and Yoosa Remember Himsa (Ahmet Best as Jar Jar Binks).
This February, George Lucas defiles your childhood for a second time in the third dimension. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D, 'cause George Lucas has to sh*t somewhere.
Trivia[]
- This video was released with a statement from Screen Junkies that explained the intent behind making an Honest Trailer: "in the interest of warning the public at large to avoid this sh*t show at all costs, we’ve created an honest movie trailer for Phantom Menace 3D. Will it help? Probably not. But at least we’ll go to our graves knowing we did our part." (Excerpt from HuffPost article).
- This video was not immediately a break-out success - it did "okay." In 2018, Andy Sgnore claimed a key factor in this video's success was that it was shared by the website 9GAG which increased its exposure. The next Honest Trailer, Twilight, was the first true success of the series.
- An Honest Trailer for every film in the Star Wars franchise has been since been created, including the 1978 Holiday Special and Ewok adventures. These trailers were created to coincide with the theatrical release of a new film. For more information, see the individual articles on Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars Spinoffs.
- Ptolemy Slocum returned during the "voiceover party" in the Honest Trailer for The Force Awakens, along with every other narrator of Honest Trailers series.
- Some fans thought Andy Signore was the original voice for Honest Trailers, due to his voice's similarity gravelly timbre.
- An Honest Trailer Commentary for this episode was recorded and was available on the Screen Junkies Plus until the website/app was discontinued. Screen Junkies don't currently have any way of releasing the video.
- Apart from Signore, none of the people who later became key contributors to the Honest Trailers series worked at Screen Junkies at this time. The core Honest Trailers team would later include Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell and Joe Starr.
Reception[]
Honest Trailers - Phantom Menace 3D has a 94.4% approval rating from YouTube viewers. The Geek Tyrant website described the video as "the best trailer I've seen for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D."
Production Credits[]
Created & Directed by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner
Executive Producer Mitch Rotter
Written by Brett Weiner, Andy Signore and Alex Sargeant
Edited by Brett Weiner
Voiceover Narration by Ptolemy Slocum
External links[]
- Honest Trailer For ‘Phantom Menace 3D’ (VIDEO) - HuffPost article
- Hilariously Honest Trailer for STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE - Geek Tyrant article
- Honest Trailer Of Star Wars I: Phantom Menace 3D - Video - Viral Viral Videos article
- AN HONEST TRAILER FOR "PHANTOM MENACE 3D" [VIDEO] - The Geek Twins article