SUPER 8 FILM REVIEW

STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE trailer 1x100ft Colour Scope Available from Classic Home Cinema

This is the theatrical trailer and not to be confused with the pre-release teaser trailer also available on the baby gauge.

This short arrived in the post with a request from Uncle Keith to review and record. No problem with the review but the sound!!! Where do you get a stereo track when you don’t have the video (actually I don’t even know if the trailer is on the video), the laser disc (which was available from Japan but extremely expensive) and the film has not been made available on DVD? Answer: the internet. Fortunately I’d downloaded the trailer about three years ago and copied it to CD to avoid accidentally deleting it and to save 25mb of disc space. Unfortunately, the disc is at work and my PC at home is not powerful enough to cope with the high definition video and sound. So the solution was to record the sound to minidisc and then record it to film unseen. Surprisingly I had it in sync’ at the third attempt. Not the best recording of all time but it still sounded impressive enough in the Victoria Hall at the recent convention.

The trailer runs for two and a half minutes and is probably the best Star Wars trailer from any of the films. So much action is included I doubt there is anyone who will not enjoy it. Darth Maul is much in evidence which is a bonus as he only had a very small part in the completed film, plus many of the best of the special effects are featured even if only in very quick cuts.

This print was obviously sourced from a German master as the sub-title is not “The Phantom Menace”, it is something daft like “Die Dunkle Behudrot”. However, this only appears during the end title so should not be a consideration at all. Print quality is very good but not quite up to the exceptional standard of “Grease”. Sound was not recorded on this review print so cannot be judged.

A very worthwhile purchase. Join it to the teaser trailer available from Derann and enjoy a full five minutes of one of the most spectacular movies in history.

Print A John Clancy