Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace arrived from Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox in 1999, the first new entry in the saga in sixteen years. Its release was a cultural event unlike almost any other in film history, marked by overnight ticket lines and blanket media coverage. As the opening chapter of the prequel trilogy, it introduced audiences to a younger Republic, new worlds, and the machinery of the Trade Federation's war effort, setting the stage for Anakin Skywalker's rise and eventual fall.
This cell preserves a strip built around the Droideka, also known as the Destroyer Droid, one of the more distinctive war machines introduced in the prequel era. Collectors seek these droids for their mechanical design, rolling into combat form as part of the Federation's droid army. As a 35mm frame from the actual theatrical print, it stands as a physical artifact of the film's release, tying directly back to the projection reels that ran in cinemas during 1999.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge; spacing appears even and the punched corners look clean and rounded.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible below the picture area on the lower edge strip, alongside what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block region between the perforations on the lower edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base appears neutral to very slightly warm; dye image shows full colour saturation with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light horizontal scratching is visible in the soundtrack area consistent with a projected print; no splices or cue marks seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the content is consistent with a science-fiction feature matching the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, full-colour positive print on what appears to be a safety base is consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1990s.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000064070
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
