
When Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, it was almost universally rejected by longtime Star Wars fans. The two films that immediately followed it, 2002's Attack of the Clones and 2005's Revenge of the Sith, weren't received much better. For many years, in fact, the prequels were viewed by most Star Wars fans as three unfortunate mistakes in the franchise's history.