Star Wars Episode 1: the Phantom Menace

What’s it about?

Anakin Skywalker is a young slave boy living with his Mother on a desert planet called Tatooine. Anakin loves to fly his podracer and is already showing signs of having ‘the force’.  On a visit to Tatooine, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn can see the force in Anakin and so recruits him to become a Jedi knight.

Meanwhile a great droid army that belongs to the greedy Trade Federation is being prepared to invade the peaceful planet of Naboo as part of a secret plot to take over the Galaxy. The Jedi knights, led by Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobe are called in to defend Queen Amidala of Naboo and her people. The fight between good and evil begins.

What to look out for

There is quite a lot of fighting throughout this movie including space-ship fights and laser sword fights.  There is also gun fighting and other violence such as:

• The Jedi knights attack the droids on a Federation space ship. The droids are filling the space with poison gas but the knights kill the droids with their laser swords.
• Anakin is attacked by the Sand People who shoot at him with a rifle.
• Two Jedi knights fight Darth Maul using lasers.  One of the Jedi knights is stabbed through the stomach, and Darth Maul is cut in half and dies. 

There is quite a lot that could frighten younger children in this movie such as:

• Anakin is taken from his Mother and separated forever.
• Jabba the Hutt, a scary looking creature, flicks two small animals off a wall to their death.
• The Trade Federation are a scary, evil looking group of people in dark clothing. Darth Maul, in particular, is a very scary character.

Moral of the Story

The main messages of this movie are that good wins over evil and you should listen to your inner-self and trust in yourself to be the best you can be.