It was supposed to be a big comeback for Star Wars after nearly a 20 year gap.
Kicking off the prequel trilogy, The Phantom Menace ended up being one of the most Star Wars movies, often derided to this day.
Now The Hollywood Reporter has revealed Lucas’ comments in a making of featurette in the film’s DVD set.
The director is heard saying: “It’s a little disjointed. It’s bold in terms of jerking people around. I may have gone too far in a few places.”
The film’s editor, Ben Burtt says: “In a space of about 90 seconds, you go from lamenting the death of a hero to escape to slightly comedic with Jar Jar to Anakin returning … It’s a lot in a very short time.”
Lucas continued: “It boggles the mind, I have thought about this quite a bit, and the tricky part is you almost can’t take any of those pieces out of it now, because each one takes you to the next place. And you can’t jump because you don’t know where you are.”
Following a test screening, Lucas is seen having a “slightly heated exchange” with the The Phantom Menace’s producer and editor.
Lucas adds: “I do a particular kind of movie of which this is consistent, but it is a very hard movie to follow.”
Lucas said: “But, at the same time, I have done it a little more extremely than I have done it in the past.
“It’s stylistically designed to be that way, and you can’t undo that, but we can diminish the affects of it.
“We can slow it down a little bit, so if it’s intense for us, a regular person is going to go nuts.”