Legions on the Plain
In The Phantom Menace, the Gungan army faces off against the Trade Federation’s Battle Droid legions on the grassy plains of Naboo. This sequence strongly evokes the climactic battle in Stanley Kubrick’s classic epic Spartacus, in which an army of freed slaves faces the legions of the Roman Empire.
In both films, a comparatively ragtag group of heroes prepares to fight against an oppressive military force that is intimidating for both its superior numbers and its orderliness. In both films, this contrast is highlighted by a lengthy buildup which shows the enemy’s troops assembling. Spartacus spends about three minutes showing the Roman legions marching across the grassy plain in rigidly regimented formations; The Phantom Menace memorably depicts the Battle Droids emerging from their troop carriers and activating in unison before marching across the plain.
In both films, the contrast between the two armies is further underlined by the heroes’ unorthodox tactics. In Spartacus, the slaves roll burning logs down the hill to fend off the Romans. In The Phantom Menace, the Gungans fight the Battle Droids with blue energy balls called “boomers,” and at one point, Jar-Jar Binks unwittingly sends a cartload of these boomers rolling down the hill towards the opposing droid army.
This homage to Spartacus, together with the podrace scene that pays even more explicit tribute to Ben-Hur’s iconic chariot race, positions The Phantom Menace as a modern sci-fi twist on Old Hollywood’s Greco-Roman epics. Moreover, it is a clue pointing to the similarities between the two films’ central figures. The eponymous hero of Spartacus is a slave who becomes a free man, fights to liberate his fellow slaves from an Empire, and becomes a kind of Christ figure. At the end of Spartacus, Spartacus dies on a cross, but his legacy lives on through his son. Anakin Skywalker is also a Christ figure of sorts, a messianic Chosen One born of a virgin, and he also begins his journey as a slave. Tragically, instead of fighting to liberate his fellow slaves, Anakin becomes an instrument of the Empire that oppresses the galaxy – but he finds redemption in death, and his legacy lives on through his son.
EXPLORE FURTHER…
Characters: Anakin Skywalker / Jar-Jar Binks
GO DEEPER INTO THE ARCHIVES…
Concepts: fathers / freedom / order and disorder / slavery / war and peace
Influences: Greco-Roman / Spartacus
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Once again, nice analogy. When I first glanced at your post, at the top picture on the right, I thought immediately that it looked just like the imminent final battle scene in Spartacus. And then I read your first paragraph, and realized that's exactly what it was.
I so appreciate your posts that illuminate the 'prequels.' I'm an Original Trilogy-era fan and never quite 'got' the appeal of the prequel films. Your essays really help!