Star Wars and Star Wars The Phantom Menace?

Question

Help settle this Star Wars dispute.
If you took a person who has never seen the original Star Wars (1977) or Star Wars, Phantom Menace (1999) Would they be able to tell what movie was filmed first? (this includes not knowing any of the actors)
If the sound was turned down on both movies so that person could not follow the story line, what movie would that person pick for having a more advanced Star Wars society?

Answer 1

Episode 4 still looks like it was made in the 70s while Episode 1 looks like a new movie.

Answer 2

Definitely. It is VERY obvious that the original Star Wars was made much earlier than Phantom Menace. Phantom Menace is pretty much all computer effects, and it is obvious that is so. Even if you watch the updated version of the original, much of the effects are still very dated, though still awesome. In any case, anyone who knows movies at all could easily pick out the older one. Perhaps if you found someone who had never seen ANY movie before, they might have a harder time. Even then I think they'd get it right more times than not.

Regarding "advanced Star Wars society," I am not sure what in heck you mean, so I have no answer for that.

Answer 3

That's not much of a question.

The people at Lucas Films intentionally made the sets in Phantom Menace more elaborate to make it look as though war had taken its toll on society and actually made society less advanced.

Also, it gets even worse if you get to watch the original "A New Hope" with all its modelling and low budget special effects. The version that is currently out is far more clean and elaborate than it was in 1977.

So, your person who has been in a cave for the last thirty years would be more impressed with the "Phantom Menace"

Answer 4

I'm pretty sure that they would be able to tell which was filmed first based solely on the quality of the special effects.

As for the second part...probably Phantom Menace, as you see far more of the technology of Star Wars than you do in A New Hope, simply due to the advances of CGI.

Answer 5

They would have live in a cave for most of their life to not be able to identify which movie was made first. It's pretty obvious. Most of the scenes in Phantom Menace are computer generated. The light sabers are more clearly seen and the color schemes are more vibrant than movies made in the 1970's.

Answer 6

Sure. Just look at the writing. The level of sophistication & complexity in the writing of 1-3 is far higher than in 4-6.

Furthermore look at the type of aliens - annoying he was. But JarJar would have been inconceivable, when they made 4. IN 4, they have Jabba - a few guys in a big rubber cocoon.

Look at the original 4 & the remake. In scene's with effects, the clarity of the scene is far greater, in the newer version. The plain graininess has gone. The lighting in the different layers is much closer matched.

Compare Luke & Obi wan in the speeder in 4 & Anikin & Obi Wan in the 2-man craft chasing the assassin in 1.

Answer 7

The canonical answer to the question is yes; Darth Maul did die by Obi Wan's hand in Episode 1. However, as depicted in "Resurrection" in the 2001 publication of Star Wars Tales #9, a dark side splinter group called the Prophets of the Dark Side managed to resurrect Darth Maul, who goes on to battle Darth Vader and is killed by him. This however, is seen as non-canonical and is seen as a "what If?" storyline.

Answer 8

If you were to show them the original 1977 release of course they should be able to tell the difference however ... If you show the DVD version of the OT to them, they have been redone and all the special effects tweaked, then they might not pick it out so easy.

Answer 9

The effects are more elaborate in "Phantom." Any reasonable person would conclude that it is the newer film, as the technology is so visibly improved.