The Star Wars franchise has a long history, going back to the 1977 release of the original film first titled Star Wars and later retitled A New Hope. While Disney now operates this franchise, it was originally still under the control of creator George Lucas for quite some time, and he was able to create a trilogy of prequels including The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. Now one of these Star Wars films has received a new rating in the UK several decades after its initial release.
As shared via The Telegraph, the British Board of Film Classification issued the rating when revisiting this aforementioned Star Wars film alongside various other cinematic classics. Interestingly, this Star Wars movie was previously rated U – which stands for “Universal” – and brought up to a PG. For those unfamiliar, a U is much like a G rating in the United States.
With changing times, however, the British Board of Film Classification deemed it necessary to change the UK rating of this Star Wars film released in 1999 – The Phantom Menace. It seems that this decision was made as a result of the film’s final lightsaber fight. It’s often considered one of the strongest sequences not only in the film, or the prequel trilogy, but the saga as a whole.
The sequence has young Obi-Wan and his mentor, Qui-Gon Jinn, battling Darth Maul. It’s an impressive fight scene and one that really upped the ante following the original trilogy. The sequence ultimately ends with Obi-Wan slicing Darth Maul in half after his master is killed in battle, and while it isn’t particularly gory, it’s violent enough that the rating of the entire film has gone up.
As mentioned, The Phantom Menace is far from the only title to receive a new classification by the British Board of Film Classification. It is interesting, however, to see one of the least serious Star Wars films receive a slightly heavier rating almost three decades since its initial release.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the Star Wars franchise as we have them. While the “Skywalker Saga” that The Phantom Menace opens has come to an end, it’s clear that the brand is far from over with many new films and shows currently in the works.