Phantom Menace in 3D: The Kids Are Gonna Love It

It's hard to believe that Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is nearly 13 years old...probably because so many people are still bitching about like it just came out yesterday.  But even more unbelievable is that we have reached the point where there is now an entire generation of Star Wars-loving kids who have never seen this movie (or any of the others) on the big screen. 

These little Padawans live in a world where there have always been six Star Wars movies, where Greedo has always shot first, where Hayden Christensen's ghostly image appears at the end of Return of the Jedi, and where the Death Star has always had that stupid ring around it when it blows up.  They have Star Wars Legos, and a kickass weekly animated series.  And they will also always correct me every damn time that I refer to Episode IV as "the first one".

But having been a Star Wars-loving kid myself, I do get a kick of how much they love it now.  Frankly, they're much more fun to talk Star Wars with than the 40-year-old in the Boba Fett pajamas still crying about Jar Jar.  And they will finally be getting their chance to see the movies on the big screen - in glorious 3D, no less - starting next week when Phantom Menace returns to theaters.

The official Star Wars YouTube Channel has posted this super kid-friendly trailer for the movie to get them (and maybe some of us big kids) excited for the 3D re-release.  The preview is not in 3D, obviously...but just envision the podracers coming right at you and you'll get the general idea of how this will look in 3D:

And for those of you groaning that we have to put up with the prequels in 3D:  patience, young Jedi.  We will be getting the original films re-released in 3D as well.  Granted, that won't happen until 2015, so...have a lot of patience, young Jedi.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace 3D opens in theaters on February 10th.