Cinema Review - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D

The Star Wars galaxy has seen its fair share of re-releases, special editions and amendments to cover a lifetime but once again George Lucas and his team have felt the need to tamper with the films that have made one of the biggest film franchises of all time. 

With old classics getting the 3D makeover treatment slowly becoming the latest craze, it was inevitable that at some point we would experience a galaxy far, far away in all its third dimensional glory, and low and behold, Lucas has done just that. Is it necessary? Well, let's just pose the question, were the 'special edition' versions of the films necessary? Exactly.

Despite being the most lambasted episode of the six entries, anyone who's a Star Wars fan is likely to view this one on grounds of intrigue as to whether the 3D conversion can actually work against the backdrop of the Star Wars universe. 

Just think, The Phantom Menace has a lot of opportunities to show 3D in all its glory. An adrenaline-fuelled pod race scene, the fight against Darth Maul, the scenes at the gungan City, the epic battle finale, surely this was a film born for the conversion. 

Unfortunately not. In fact, you can probably count the number of valid 3D moments worth noting on one hand. It's a disappointing affair that unfortunately shows the difficulties with converting to films to the extra dimension rather than filming with 3D cameras from the off. That said, the pod race scene does benefit, with some good moments where it clearly escapes from the normal realms of the screen but it is all too minimal to remove that bitter taste from your mouth from the rest of the film.

Sadly, the Star Wars 3D re-releases don't quite have the potential to dominate quite like The Lion King did when unleashed again using the technology and really the only recommendation for watching is to see your favourite characters and film series back on the big screen with its booming soundtrack once again captivating. Watching the titles scroll up the screen still give that great feeling from when you first saw it and John Williams' soundtrack is as ever a marvel but these are highlights we can enjoy without the unnecessary conversion to the 3D format. 

Film rating: 3 F's out of 5

DVD Review - Black Swan

Black Swan was one of the front runners for the majority of the gongs at the Academy Awards and deservedly Natalie Portman received the Best Actress award for what was possibly the best acting of her career. But was it simply Portman's stellar turn that should receive praise or was Darren Aronofsky's dark thriller a piece of cinematic class?


Nina Sayers (Portman) is an innocent ballet dancer striving to make it as the lead in the latest production of Swan Lake, led by Vincent Cassel's strict instructor Thomas. She has all the characteristics to represent the White Swan but lacks the dark side to unleash the Black Swan inside of her.


Waiting in the wings is the newest member of the ballet, Lily (Mila Kunis) who has charmed Thomas with her grace and ability to adapt to the role of both the Black and White Swan. She is the ideal candidate for the lead role but Nina has other plans, pushing herself to the limit in order to land that coveted role that she has dreamt about all this time.


In order to prove that she can fit the role, Nina soon begins to embrace her dark side, something that slowly takes her over and has her imagining things beyond the usual quiet life that she leads. With this, her mother begins to become concerned with the role taking over Nina's life but this will not stop her from getting exactly what she wants.


Black Swan is a masterpiece in film-making and Darren Aronofsky deserves huge praise for creating such a tense and dark thriller from a lesser acknowledged art form in this day and age. As previously mentioned, Portman's performance is near perfection and Kunis and Cassell both provide great support with roles in which we never know what side they are on. A tense build-up throughout the whole film makes terrific viewing and the finale, backed by an absolutely fantastic soundtrack brings the curtain down which great poise. 


Film rating: 4 out of 5 stars


The lowdown: A worthy Best Actress for Portman in what can only be described as one of the best films of the year so far. Tension and darkness at its best.