Directed by george lucas with ewan mcgregor liam neeson natalie portman jake lloyd two jedi escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the force but the long dormant sith resurface to claim their original glory. Star wars episode i the phantom menace is a 1999 american epic space opera film written and directed by george lucas produced by lucasfilm distributed by 20th century fox and stars liam neeson ewan mcgregor natalie portman jake lloyd ian mcdiarmid anthony daniels kenny baker pernilla august and frank ozit is the first installment in the star wars prequel trilogy and begins the . Star wars episode i the phantom menace opening crawl starwarscom this was the first crawl to be created entirely digitally in preparation ilm studied the optical roll ups of the original trilogy to ensure visual continuity. In 1999 lucas returned to the star wars saga with a new approach instead of picking up where return of the jedi left off star wars episode i the phantom menace would be the first of a