Happy May the Fourth! Here’s a 100 word summary of the first Star Wars movie of the prequel trilogy, The Phantom Menace (1999).

This is the third such summary I’ve written. Writing a 100 word summary is a really quick thing to do, so where the time is actually spent is when I’ve finished the initial version that’s exactly 100 words, and then I notice I’ve missed or misrepresented some plot twist and fixing that would require an additional five to ten words. Then I just need to go through what I’ve written and try to think of synonyms or other ways to say the same things with fewer words.

This reminds me of a pattern I’ve encountered at work: when I need to send an email (largely replaced by Slack nowadays) to someone I often read and reread my message a couple of times so that I can remove unnecessary words and make the actual subject more clear. Contrary, you can often tell if an email was written in a hurry if it’s a long and rambling one, when two or three sentences would’ve been enough. Key takeaway: prefer fewer words. The French mathematician Blaise Pascal even has a famous quote about this.

But, I digress. The point was (or was it?) to just summarize a movie:

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan attempt negotiations at the Trade Federation blockade over Naboo but are attacked. They meet Jar Jar and save Queen Amidala. Running the blockade R2-D2 saves them. They land on Tatooine where slave boy Anakin with Jedi reflexes wins freedom in a pod-race. Moving to Coruscant, Amidala pleads Naboo’s case. Jedi Council denies Anakin’s training, but Qui-Gon disobeys. Senator Palpatine becomes Chancellor. Returning to Naboo, the Jedi face Darth Maul. Qui-Gon dies but Maul is cut in half by Obi-Wan. Meanwhile Ani accidentally launches in a fighter. He destroys the command ship, shutting down the attacking droid army.