The Extras and Bit-Players of The Phantom Menace.

Adam Bertocci has his "...Things I Love About..." threads for the films...and JBro has the Viewer's Guides. I wanted to do something, but the best ideas were already taken.

After a little thought, I realised that there were some people in SW that really needed to be brought to everyone's attention. Not for their many lines, of course - they'd be lucky to have one or two. Not for their screen time, which was limited. But just for bringing something special to Star Wars in a very small amount of time. Human, droid, CG, whatever...so long as they did something noteworthy, I put them on the list.

Ladies and gentlemen - the Extras and Bit-Players of The Phantom Menace.

*****

1. The second Gungan rider, that zaps Jar Jar for no good reason at all. "Hmm, they're not resisting, but I can't stand this guy anyway..." He's a Gungan With Attitude. A Gungan On The Edge. You know the type.

2. The Gungan guard that sneers nastily at Jar Jar, during the Boss Nass scene. The kind of sneer that's so good, it would make Jon Voigt weep with joy.

3. During the "Process them!" scene...listen to that poor droid captain. He badly needs a robo-lozenge.

4. The famous "You're under arrest!" droid. My sister loves this guy so much...the fake pondering. The sudden statement. The sparks as he's lopped in half. Whaddaguy.

5. The grasshopper-style droid, happily pulling levers back and forth and back and forth during Watto's conversation in the junk yard with Qui-Gon. What on earth is it pulling those levers for? Is he training up for droid-scorching duties in Jabba's Palace or something?

6. Keep an eye out for the guy sitting to the left of Sebulba, when Jar Jar ruins his meal. So much eye-black, he looks like Captain Jack Sparrow's ugly brother.

7. Anakin has the worst friends in the galaxy #1 - within seconds of turning up, they all mock him roundly and run off (except faithful Kister).

8. A Tusken raider takes out Teemto's podracer with an excellent shot. More proof that Ben Kenobi is heavily drunk in ANH, with his little "too accurate for Sandpeople" speech.

9. The Nikto that stands up and gives a big thumbs-down when Anakin takes the lead. "Plucky underdog my ass, I've got money on Sebulba!"

10. Anakin has the worst friends in the galaxy #2 - Kister and Wald utterly flub a high-five...Warwick, ever the pro, ad-libs with a funky dance.

11. The bald woman right behind Watto celebrates when Anakin wins...a minute later, on the balcony, we see her collect winnings from him. Gotta be a "Tales From The..." style story there.

...this isn't about an extra, but I never see it mentioned elsewhere...Panaka totally misses his cue when Jar Jar tells them Otoh Gunga is abandoned, and walks past him. I mean, it's not even close...he stares into empty space for a couple more seconds before turning his head and following. The Jedi react fine, so what happened here?

12. When we see some Gungans activating personal energy shields, just before the TF droids attack, notice the one in the middle. He has to look over at the others before deciding to switch his shield on as well...this guy really needs a course in self-confidence or he'll be with the rest of the mindless sheep forever.

13. Try to spot the Gungan on the top-left of the screen during Jar Jar's entire droid-torso-caught-on-my-foot routine in their big battle. He's just beating the living daylights out of this TF droid, thumping him over and over.

14. John Knoll meets fiery death in the seat of a Naboo starfighter. One of the quicker SW cameos.

15. The Royal Window Maker. We never get to see him on film, but he must be important to have such a huge grudge feud with Panaka. That's the only reason I can think for Panaka's complete obliteration of the window, given half an excuse to do so. "Make fun of my hat, would you?!"

16. The third-best Star Wars extra ever - the guy on the left during the ascension guns scene. Clearly the Eater of the

 

Hey hey. My kind of thread. Liked the "Eater of the Royal Pies".

However, I should point out that if a character has a line he's not an extra. This means Anakin's friends and the droid who talks (among others) don't qualify.

Juuuuust so ya know



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

Even worse, a couple of these choices actually have names, too. Usually that's a no-no as well.

If you can come up with an alternative name, I'll be happy to use it

 

I've re-edited the title. I hope this'll do...I need to go offline to sleep now, so I won't have time to edit it again

 

18. Keep watching over Palpatine's shoulder as he approaches the Queen. Slightly delayed in reaching Naboo, Master Windu has obviously roped his brother (let's call him Dave) into shaving his head and putting on some robes to cover for him until he arrives



Maybe (maybe!) I'll watch TPM again, just to see this part

 

The guy looks more like Ahmed Best, really.

 

Add to your list Adi Gallia. During the first shot that showed the entire Jedi Council, her head is looking down, appearing that she is sleeping. Now that's a extra for you! Look at Plo Koon, too. He's got a back itch or something, because he's rubbing his back up and down on his seat!

 

I'll look out for those, thanks

 

Great list.
It's good to see all the little details being noticed, good or bad.
I think the effort Lucas and co go put into adding all this extra stuff is great. Sometimes I wish this ammount of commitment was given to more essential parts of the film-making process though!

 

16. The third-best Star Wars extra ever - the guy on the left during the ascension guns scene. Clearly the Eater of the Royal Pies is at a serious disadvantage compared to his slimmer companions here.


I love that guy too! He needs to upgrade his ascension gun to carry bigger weights.

 

Great thread! Any plans for AOTC or OT versions.

17. A TF droid gets knocked in half by Anakin's ship as he leaves the Droid Control Ship. I say, jolly bad luck, old fellow.

I love that bit, plus the droid that flies into the screen as the control ship is lighting on fire (just prior to explosion).