When George Lucas returned to the Star Wars universe with The Phantom Menace, a lot of fans and critics were disappointed. One of the most common criticisms was that some of the movie’s comedic moments didn’t land. The film’s official comic relief character – Jar Jar Binks – polarized moviegoers on a global scale.
But that doesn’t mean Episode I is entirely bereft of laughs. There are still plenty of funny moments in the movie, courtesy of characters like Qui-Gon and C-3PO. A bunch of quotes from the movie have even been turned into popular meme templates.
“There’s Always A Bigger Fish.” – Qui-Gon Jinn
When Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan negotiate Jar Jar’s freedom, the trio takes a bongo submarine through the seas of Naboo to help Padmé deal with the invasion of her palace. Along the way, they’re attacked by a giant fish that is then devoured by an even larger fish.
There’s a pearl of deep wisdom hidden in this line – no matter how big and intimidating something is, there’s something even bigger and scarier out there – but Qui-Gon phrases it in a hilariously Pythonesque way.
“I Beg Your Pardon, But What Do You Mean, ‘Naked’?” – C-3PO
C-3PO and R2-D2 were the focus of the original Star Wars trilogy as the story of the Rebels’ struggle against the Empire was told from the droids’ perspective. The Phantom Menace showed Star Wars fans how the two icons first met. Threepio was designed by Anakin to help his mom with the housework.
When he’s first introduced, Threepio is missing his signature gold plating and all his circuits are exposed. As usual, Threepio’s reactions are used to tell the audience what Artoo’s beeps and whirs mean. Upon meeting Threepio for the first time, Artoo apparently points out that he’s “naked.”
“You’ve Never Won A Race? Not Even Finished?” – Padmé Amidala
Padmé is astounded that Qui-Gon has gambled their fate on the chances that a nine-year-old podracer who’s never even finished a race will win the notoriously dangerous Boonta Eve Classic.
There’s a fun irony in Padmé’s scenes with Qui-Gon in The Phantom Menace. Since she’s disguised as a handmaiden, she can’t exercise her power as queen. Every time Qui-Gon does something she disapproves of, he simply says the queen doesn’t need to find out – without realizing that he’s speaking to the queen.
“You Were Right About One Thing, Master. The Negotiations Were Short.” – Obi-Wan Kenobi
When Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan arrive on the Trade Federation’s ship in the opening scene of The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon tells his apprentice that he doesn’t expect their negotiations to last very long.
Since the Trade Federation sends droidekas to kill the Jedi before the negotiations even take place, Obi-Wan points out that he was technically right about the negotiations being short. It’s a bad joke, but the bubbly confidence with which Obi-Wan delivers this bad joke makes it ironically funny.
“This Is Getting Out Of Hand. Now, There Are Two Of Them!” – Nute Gunray
While Palpatine was keeping up appearances as a senator, his Darth Sidious alter ego was doing business with the Trade Federation. In an early scene, he introduces his Trade Federation partner Nute Gunray to his ominous apprentice, Darth Maul.
When he finds out he’s working with two Sith Lords as opposed to just one, an exasperated Gunray has a hysterically deadpan response.
“Now, This Is Podracing!” – Anakin Skywalker
Anakin’s arc in The Phantom Menace mirrors that of his son in the original movie, particularly in the final act when the plucky young Skywalker takes a starfighter into the enemy fleet and singlehandedly blows up their mothership.
After destroying the Trade Federation command ship and saving the day, Anakin exclaims, “Now this is podracing!” Apparently, the life-threatening terror of the Boonta Eve Classic wasn’t enough of a thrill.
“What, You Think You’re Some Kind Of Jedi, Waving Your Hand Around Like That?” – Watto
There’s a hilariously anticlimactic nod to the Jedi mind trick scene from the original 1977 movie in The Phantom Menace. In the original, Obi-Wan’s effortless ability to supernaturally influence the Stormtroopers made for an iconic moment.
But when Qui-Gon tries to use the same trick to force Watto to accept Republic credits as currency, it doesn’t work. Watto explains, “I’m a Toydarian, mind tricks don’t work on me!”
“I Don’t Care What Universe You’re From, That’s Gotta Hurt!” – Fode
Among other things, The Phantom Menace introduced spectator sports into Star Wars lore. The podracing sequence is one of the movie’s most thrilling set pieces, and it’s punctuated by gags involving incompetent pit crews and mismatched commentators.
The unique thing about the podracing announcers, Fode and Beed, is that they’re two heads attached to the same body. Fode is the red head and Beed is the green head. Their color commentary throughout the race contains plenty of gems like this.
“A Surprise, To Be Sure, But A Welcome One.” – Senator Palpatine
Throughout the whole prequel trilogy, Ian McDiarmid had a lot of fun playing the friendly facade that Palpatine puts on in the guise of a politician.
In The Phantom Menace, when Padmé nominates him for the title of Supreme Chancellor, he acts pleasantly surprised – but the audience knows it was part of his plan all along. This quote has been used in dozens of memes, as it can apply as a reaction to just about anything.
“The Ability To Speak Does Not Make You Intelligent.” – Qui-Gon Jinn
Qui-Gon Jinn is one of the only characters in The Phantom Menace who actually takes a liking to Jar Jar Binks and enjoys his antics. But he doesn’t believe he’s particularly smart. When Jar Jar says he can speak, Qui-Gon quips that the ability to speak alone isn’t enough to make him a genius.
This is another Phantom Menace quote that’s spawned a million memes. It can be used to sarcastically react to any inane tweet or online comment.
