ORIGINAL DARTH VADER HATES `PHANTOM MENACE'

ORIGINAL DARTH VADER HATES `PHANTOM MENACE'

CHICAGO (Wireless Flash) -- George Lucas won't want to hear this, but the actor who played Darth Vader in the first three "Star Wars" films thinks the "Phantom Menace" stinks. David Prowse, who played Darth Vader with the help of James Earl Jones' voice, claims the film is nothing but "a two-hour toy commercial." He says Lucas filled the new film with all sorts of obscure characters in the hopes of selling toys and forgot the things that made the first movie so good. However, Prowse still loves the original "Star Wars" and he hopes Lucas will hire him to play Vader in one of the next two prequels -- even though he just turned 64. It could happen -- Prowse claims Lucas recently hired 68- year-old James Earl Jones to record seven minutes of dialogue for the yet-to-be-filmed "Episode III." Prowse will be appearing this weekend at "Wizard World '99," a comic book convention in Chicago.

CONTACT: David Prowse, *****; Arrange with Stephanie Schnurr; Chicago, IL; (312) 678-4488, ext. 225