Behind-the-scenes pics from all 9 mainline Star Wars movies

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)

Lucas returned in 1999 with Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, a movie that got a lot of flak back in the day but has been undergoing something of a rehabilitation as the fans who saw it as kids grew up.

The movie follows a young Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), his master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and a young Darth Vader, then known as Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd). Here are the three of them, tastefully posed:

"Squad from StarWars"

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are pretty serious people, but they have their lighter moments:

Ahmed Best played Jar Jar Binks, who also took a lot of guff when the movie came out, but how can you be mad when you have behind-the-scenes photos like this?

Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley as Princess Padmé Amidala and her body double Sabé:

"Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman on the set of Phantom Menace, 1999. from StarWars"

By this point, Star Wars was famous enough to attract other huge filmmakers to the set, like Steven Spielberg:

Most of the cast for the prequels is new, but Anthony Daniels came back as C-3PO:

The prequels were famous for using a lot of special effects, but there was lots of practical stuff too:

The most fearsome character from The Phantom Menace was Darth Maul…although he looks a little less terrifying here:

The prequels continue with…