While the Star Wars prequels have received a critical reevaluation in recent years, it’s hard to argue that the movies don’t have some glaring flaws. Liam Neeson is not one of the problems in the movie. His portrayal of Qui-Gon Jinn is still hailed by many within the fandom. As for the actor himself, his biggest issue with the film may actually relate to his character's demise. While Neeson doesn’t seem to mind that his character died in general, he's now explaining why he doesn't like the way in which Qui-Gon is killed off.
Neeson looked back at his career during a recent video segment for GQ. As part of that, the star of the hilarious new Naked Gun movie talked about his experience on Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. He says he loved making the movie, but he questions just how great a Jedi his character actually was due to being taken down by Darth Maul in such a way. Neeson joked…
I thought my death was a bit namby-pamby. I'm supposed to be a Master Jedi. My character fell for the, 'Oh, I'm going for your face! No, I'm not, I'm going for your stomach.' 'Oh, you got me! Like, oh, please. Hardly a Master Jedi.
The lightsaber battle that includes Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul is frequently voted the best of the lightsaber fights in all of Star Wars. However, it's hard to agree with any discontentment over how it ends for Liam Neeson’s character. Maul may have a cool double-bladed lightsaber but, when it comes to a one-on-one fight between the two, Qui-Gon gets beaten pretty cleanly and fairly. It’s not like Maul did something underhanded or even particularly impressive.
Although, even if Liam Neeson doesn’t love the way his character went out, he says he still had a lot of fun being in the movie. With The Phantom Menace being the first Star Wars movie to have released in years by 1999, it was a big deal for the people who grew up as fans to become part of the franchise. Neeson says he and co-star Ewan McGregor both got excited when they first unleashed their lightsabers, saying…
The first time Ewan McGregor and I had to draw our lightsabers, I remember we both made the sound at the exact same time. I remember George [Lucas] said, 'Boys, you don't have to do that. We can add that stuff.
There’s a long and storied history of actors making lightsaber sounds, and blaster sounds when using the iconic weapons in Star Wars movies. The same thing happened with Laura Dern during the sequel trilogy. Kudos to them for living out their childhood dreams.
As for Liam Neeson’s Qui Gon Jinn, he briefly returned during the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, which is streamable with a Disney+ subscription. However, it seems unlikely we’ll ever see more from the character beyond the potential future cameo. Regardless of how they feel about Jinn's death scene, though, fans can also go back and appreciate the strong performance Neeson gives in The Phantom Menace.
