History Awesome / ThePhantomMenace

* A kickass poster at time of release was of Anakin walking across Tatooine as his shadow cast is that of Darth Vader. Even better is that it was drawn by legendary poster artist Drew Struzan. At least one variant shows the ominous tagline "Never look back".

** Obi-Wan's badassery is shown even earlier as well. Despite Maul holding off him and Qui-Gon simultaneously, Obi-Wan shows no fear when his master falls behind, [[UnflinchingWalk calming striding]] towards Maul and nonchalantly [[BringIt twirling his saber.]] See it [[https://youtu.be/yHqdESArkqU?t=26s here.]]

-->'''Sidious:''' ''Not'' for the Sith. This is my apprentice, Darth Maul. He will find your lost ship.

** We also get to see, for what was then the first time, a Sith Lord in its prime fighting two Jedi Knights in their prime. They fight with speed, power and on the Jedi's end, coordination, as they use their ability to fight together to drive Maul back... [[OhCrap until Maul gets them separated]] and steals the advantage, mortally wounding the Jedi Master before facing down Obi-Wan.

* Two villainous moments for Palpatine, via these exchanges.

-->'''Palpatine:''' [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem I will]] ''[[BadassBoast make it]]'' [[ManipulativeBastard legal.]]

-->'''Palpatine:''' ''Not'' for the Sith. This is my apprentice, Darth Maul. He will find your lost ship.

** Pay close attention to Maul's facial expressions and movements during this section of the duel. He seems [[OhCrap increasingly perplexed]] as his previously-outmached foe drives him back, with his increased desperation leading to him overextending several times. A surprisingly subtle and effective bit of physical acting by Ray Park and the choreography team.

* The external shot during Anakin's OutrunTheFireball scene, with the Trade Federation battleship being engulfed in flames as it is gutted by an internal explosion, as the Naboo pilots remark that nothing they did yet could be the cause. [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic The Force theme]] swells, and the pilots break out in cheers as they see one of their fighters shoot out of the hangar just as it erupts in explosions. Little Anakin destroyed the Droid Control Ship with nobody but R2-D2 backing him up.

* Villanous one for Palpatine, via this exchange.

** Even a significant number among the many, ''many'' people who despise this movie admit to loving this particular battle, it is ''that'' good. Ray Park, Liam Neeson, and Ewan [=McGregor=] really did the fight themselves at the full speed seen.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darth_maul.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"At last, we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last, we will have our revenge!"'']]

** Even a significant number among the many, ''many'' people who despise this movie admit to loving this particular battle, it is ''that'' good. Ray Park, Liam Neeson, and Ewan McGregor really did the fight themselves at the full speed seen.

** Even a significant number among the many, ''many'' people who despise this movie admit to loving this particular battle, it is ''that'' good.

** SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The Darth Maul/Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan lightsaber battle music (Duel of the Fates) has become a marching band staple.

* The Qui Gon/Obi Wan/Maul duel is ''the'' best choreographed fight in both trilogies.

--->'''Jar Jar:''' Yousa thinkin' youda people gonna die?

** Finally, it is awesome to watch as Anakin's pod collides into Sebulba's resulting in the two racers being side by side. Anakin freeing himself while simultaneously destabilizing Sebulba's is cathartic to watch, especially as the former [[Overdrive accelerates to maximum speed in a final burst of acceleration]] to just barely coast past the finish line. All as Sebulba screams in terror as his pod breaks apart.

-->'''Gunray:''' My lord, is [the blockade] legal?

** Some credit has to be given to Anakin though. Not only did he build a podracer fast enough to catch up to the leaders after stalling and missing half a lap, but when one of the engines caught fire, he powered down the engine, then found a way to equalize the amount of power going through both engines at once before restarting them back up to full power, all while steering the damn thing. There's a reason he's TheChosenOne.

*** [[ShowDontTell A perfect microcosm for the differences between Jedi and Sith]], as well. The Jedi Master is serene and patient, the Padawan is eager to finish the combat, and the Sith just wants to kill something.