Episode I – The Phantom Menace

The Trade Federation blockades Naboo. Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi rescue Queen Amidala, who flees with Jar Jar Binks. Ship damage forces a stop on Tatooine, where they meet Anakin Skywalker, a slave boy unusually strong in the Force. He wins a podrace, earns his freedom and leaves, but his mother, Shmi, stays behind. On Coruscant, Senator Palpatine uses the crisis to become Supreme Chancellor. Back on Naboo, Gungans and humans win the battle, and young Anakin blows up the droid control ship. The Sith Darth Maul kills Qui-Gon and is cut in half by Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan agrees to train Anakin. Maul's master, Darth Sidious, is still out there, hidden.

• After the credits Not a scene: after the credits you just hear Darth Vader breathing.

1. ReferenceThe E.T. senators

   During the Senate session where Padmé calls for a vote of no confidence in the Chancellor, look at one of the boxes: three aliens of E.T.'s species are sitting there. Official material calls their leader Senator Grebleips, which is Spielberg backwards. It was Lucas's answer to the kid dressed as Yoda in E.T.

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2. CameoSofia Coppola among the handmaidens

   One of the queen's handmaidens, Saché, is Sofia Coppola. She just wanted to watch the shoot while preparing her first film as a director, and Lucas put her in the royal entourage so she could watch up close without getting in the way.

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3. Behind the scenesThe queen who wasn't the queen

   Sabé, the decoy who poses as Queen Amidala, is an early-career Keira Knightley. She was cast because she looked so much like Natalie Portman: reportedly not even their mothers could tell them apart on set.

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4. Behind the scenesDarth Maul's voice is dubbed

   Maul's body belongs to Ray Park, a martial arts champion and gymnast. The voice doesn't: his was deemed too thin, and the Sith's few lines were rerecorded by Peter Serafinowicz in post-production.

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5. ReferenceThe podrace is Ben-Hur

   The podrace on Tatooine draws straight from the chariot race in Ben-Hur (1959). Even Anakin's rivalry with Sebulba, who cheats the whole time, mirrors Judah Ben-Hur's duel with Messala.

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