Three-Act Structure

Star Wars is filled with strange creatures inhabiting alien landscapes sporting names that sound like something Tolkien would come up with if he fell asleep face-first on his typewriter.

To help the audience navigate all this weirdness, the film employs a classic three-act structure. Even if you're unaware of what a three-act structure entails, your brain has seen it used so many times in so many films that the ol' three-act and your subconscious are BFFs by now.

The first act, the exposition act, tells us everything we need to know to understand and enjoy the story to come. We're introduced to our heroes: Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Queen Amidala. We learn about the conflict between Naboo and the Trade Federation, and we intuit that there's a greater mystery abound with talks of political corruption and the fact that Nute Gunray is taking orders from a man dressed in the Villain's Winter Catalogue Collection.

The second act, called the rising action, shows the heroes, mostly Qui-Gon and Padmé, trying to resolve the conflict with the Trade Federation. Qui-Gon has to figure out a way to get Padmé to Coruscant and devises a plan with more moving parts than a Rube Goldberg machine—involving a slave boy, a podrace, and a parts dealer with impulse control disorder. Padmé attempts to convince the Galactic Senate to intervene on her people's behalf but ultimately fails.

The third act features the climax and resolution. The climax brings the conflict to its most intense point, a.k.a. the four-front Battle for Naboo. And the resolution is the end of the film, the point where all the conflicts are wrapped up all tidy and nice. Padmé saves her people and brokers peace with the Gungans. The Sith Lord Darth Maul is dead, and although Qui-Gon also perished taking him out, Obi-Wan convinces the Jedi Council to let him train Anakin.

The only nagging issues remaining are Darth Sidious and the grave danger Yoda foresees in Anakin's training, which brings us to—

The Big Picture

Of course, you can also view the entire prequel trilogy as being a single story told in three acts. Taking this broad view, The Phantom Menace represents the first act, providing the setup for the next two movies in the trilogy—with Attack of the Clones representing the rising action and Revenge of the Sith the climax and resolution.

In the Phantom Menace, we're introduced to the major players like Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé. We also recognize Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious as the main antagonist, and we get information about the political and social climate of the galaxy, which is drastically different than the original trilogy.

Finally, the conflict of grave danger in Anakin's training is established, and Qui-Gon's death even serves as a turning point that changes the direction of the characters' lives.