How A Thunderstorm Almost Ruined ‘The Phantom Menace’
The first entry in George Lucas's prequel trilogy, Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace, has taken a fair beating from many fans since its release back in 1999. Many did not enjoy it. A lot of criticism were aimed at a specific character and the cheesy dialogue. While it may not be the best film in the series, it certainly gave us a lot, especially in the special effects department. As much as many will not admit it, the space battles and choreography looked much better than those from the original trilogy. The lightsaber battles, like the Duel of the Fates scene, were just spectacular. One thing which stood out for many fans, was the introduction of podracing into the franchise. Throughout the entire Star Wars franchise, whether it be television shows, books, comics, or films, the one thing every character agrees on is just how dangerous the "sport" of podracing is. Many participants met their end on the track. It turned out the actual filming of these sequences was equally as dangerous. Extreme weather conditions almost cost us the entire scene had it not been for George Lucas himself, and the Tunisian Military.
In the galaxy far, far away, the Boonta Eve Podrace took place in Mos Espa on the planet Tatooine, the homeworld of Anakin Skywalker. On Earth, however, it was filmed outside of a place named Tozeur in the country of Tunisia. Of note, many scenes from A New Hope and Return of the Jedi were also shot here. This essentially put Lucas and his crew in the middle of the desert, which was already dangerous enough due to the extreme heat. Unfortunately, a ferocious storm ransacked the sets and nearly destroyed the entire sequence.
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Back in August 1997, this particular desert storm caused a devastating amount of damage to the intricate podracers. Believe it or not, a lot of the podracers you saw in the film were actually constructed from decommissioned jet engines. The storm destroyed months and months of hard work by the crew and local teams. Ever the perfectionist, Lucas took charge of the situation. He rallied both his team and the Tunisian military to arrange flights to promptly bring in builders and set designers to work on rebuilding the massive sets and the delicate podracers. Lucas shuffled the shooting schedule around the reconstruction to allow for filming to continue. The work in Tunisia carried on virtually unaffected. The entire team handled the unexpected situation so well. Even though they had to virtually rebuild everything from scratch, Lucas was able to complete filming in Tunisia by the scheduled end date.
If Lucas had not been able to keep his cool and take control the situation like he did, we might not have seen the iconic podracing scenes in The Phantom Menace. It would have been a shame as this impressive high-adrenaline podrace was one of the fond memories many fans have of the movie. The special effects involved were innovative especially at the time the film was made. George Lucas had a vision. He knew what he wanted and how to get it. Nothing was going to stand in his way. Not even an act of nature.
The inclusion of the podracing scene was not only a flex on what they could do, but it was animportant scene for the character development of Anakin Skywalker. The discussion around the event itself allowed for Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn to notice Anakin's potential link to the Force. It also led to Anakin's freedom and drove the plot forward. It is hard to imagine how the Star Wars saga would have unfolded without the podrace scene.
Until next time!
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Source: CBR