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 in 1999 from Lucasfilm and Twentieth Century Fox, the first new Star Wars film in sixteen years and the opening chapter of the prequel trilogy. Its release was a cultural event on a scale rarely matched, drawing audiences who had grown up with the original saga alongside a new generation encountering the galaxy for the first time. The film reintroduced the Jedi Order at the height of its power and set in motion the fall that would define the saga's tragedy.
This 35mm cell preserves a moment from the confrontation between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul, two figures whose duel became one of the defining lightsaber sequences in the franchise. Kenobi represents the steady continuation of Jedi tradition, while Maul stands as the franchise's reintroduction of a truly menacing Sith adversary. Collectors seek pieces from this encounter for the significance of the characters and the pivotal narrative weight the duel carries. A frame like this captures a fragment of that lasting screen rivalry.
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 edges look clean throughout the strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data block pattern visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, and a DTS timecode stripe is also discernible as a thin line beside the optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base appears neutral to very slightly warm; dye saturation looks full with no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the content is consistent with a lightsaber duel scene from the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a dual variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and DTS timecode stripe is consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1990s, matching the 1999 release date of the film on record.
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 000064077
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
