Two decades after creating the Star Wars universe, George Lucas returns to the beginning with the first chapter of Anakin Skywalker's epic transformation from promising young Jedi into pan-galactic scourge, Darth Vader. As a gifted youngster, Anakin (Jake Lloyd) is schooled in the Jedi arts by wise master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). But he becomes an important pawn in the power struggle between the Jedi and their dark counterparts, the Sith, when both sides of the Force converge on the planet Naboo and its young queen Amidala (Natalie Portman). With much backstory to cover, Phantom Menace punctuates the intrigue with bags of action while unleashing one of the story's most memorable characters in the double-sabred devil Darth Maul.