The Dark Knight vs. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

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If ever there were a pair of movies to exemplify how overblown fan sentiment can get, it would be these. "The Phantom Menace" was not a devious weapon designed to destroy our childhood, nor is "The Dark Knight" the be-all, end-all of cinema. Not that you'd know any of this from most of the remarks made about these two...

ear
ear

The Dark Knight deserves the attention here.

I don't quite believe that The Phantom Menace was created to rape my childhood (I've seen that phrase used), nor do I believe that The Dark Knight is anywhere near what my idea of The Greatest Movie Ever Made is. The Phantom Menace is simply the result of a guy who completely lost sight of what made his earlier movies entertaining, and replaced good characters with a bunch of CGI. The fact that Lucas was oblivious enough to add CGI to the original Star Wars movies is glaring evidence of his misguided mindset. In the case of The Dark Knight, I was highly entertained. I don't believe that the movie is unimpeachably awesome, but it tells a much more engaging and exciting story than the souless Phantom Menace does. Yes, that's right. The Phantom Menace has no soul.

I actually kinda liked The Phantom Menace. It was definitely better than War Of The Clones. I have to go with it. Can't really explain why... I found it more entertaining.

JRM
JRM

I liked Phantom Menace. I have a feeling only die-hard Star Wars fans of the original trilogy hated it. It was good fun. Wasn't the best, but it was fun. But Dark Knight wins. No second guessing here.

I'm a bit of a fanboy, I'll admit it. But my recent disenchantment with Star Wars, though, has less, I think, to do with the prequel trilogy and more with George's dicking around with the originals. (By the way, kingofpain, I agree very much with what you say about TPM.) I loved the Star Wars movies as a kid, but that's actually one of the things about them: They are aimed at a younger audience. I mean, Jar Jar Binks, Baby Vader, Ewoks? (Which is a glaring contrast to all the death and dismemberment in Revenge of the Sith.) I've kind of outgrown Star Wars. (I do still hold The Empire Strikes Back pretty dear to my heart, though.) Meanwhile, my love of Batman stems not from the comics, but from the '90s animated series I watched pretty faithfully when I was a teenager. I've always liked the character. Still, I don't just think The Dark Knight is a good Batman movie. I think it's a great movie, period.

...It's a good heist movie, a good action movie, and a great character study rolled into one, and it's got a cast to die for. Of course, Heath Ledger will be remembered for the Joker forever, but I personally think Aaron Eckhart was just as brilliant as Harvey Dent. Plus, there's Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman... Anyway, my comment already ran too big for the box Flickchart provides here. I've set a new record for myself. Bottom line: The Dark Knight is a great film. The Phantom Menace? Not so much. I don't hate it as much as 90% of the fanboys, but there it is.

I thought that Episode 1 was one of the weakest newest Star Wars movies. It was good but not up to the original star wars movies. Dark Knight was a good movie but it is not my favorite Batman movie. but TDK wins.

Dark Knight. I mean I know its Star Wars and TDK wouldnt stand a chance against the originals, but its not the original were talking about.

Were this one of the original Star Wars trilogy movies this might have been a tough choice.

No contest, although Episode 1 is a lot better than Episode 2.

The Dark Knight. Phantom Menace is still great fun.

Dark Knight. Duh.

The Dark Knight gets one of the easiest wins it could possibly get.

I loved Episode 1 more than most, but even I know when to stop...

C'mon, we all knew midichlorians made Batman able to fly.

This is like comparing a delicious chocolate cake, to a mini-bag of your least favorite flavor of doritos you found on the street. Dark Knight in a heartbeat.

Batman takes it, it’s not even close. And I LOVE Star Wars.

Dark Knight by miles, it destroys every useless Star Wars movie, certainly Star Wars has more flaws ever did and not aged well..

While the fight at the end of Episode 1 is amazing, the Dark Knight offers more.

Obviously The Dark Knight.