I saw Attack of the Clones today, the first showing was absolutely packed, the second one was less so, but still very busy. The first showing had the trailer for Scooby Doo (which got lots of laughs) and the second showing had Scooby Doo and Minority Report.

---

by Lock
Lucas has delivered the goods

---

He has indeed delivered the goods, in a big way. The film was not perfect, none of the Star Wars films are, but it was a fast paced science-fiction adventure film with some simply amazing action scenes and a surprisingly convincing love story intertwined.

I'll start by addressing the love story part of the film. From the 'Forbidden Love' trailer, it looked very much like the relationship between Padme and Anakin would turn out hammy and ruin the film. This is not the case. The pair's relationship is chronichled in small segments throughout the film, each one long enough to have meaning, but not long enough to ruin the pace of the film. The film hurtles along at a break-neck pace all the way through.

The action scenes, as i mentioned before, are simply amazing. From the speeder chase at the beginning, to the massive battle between the Republic's Clone Army and the Separatist's Droid Army, to Yoda kicking Count Dooku's ass are all amazing.

The Phantom Menace suffered in many ways because of how new the CGI techniques used were. Many of the CGI characters came off as looking a bit fake and they really stood out. This film has the same level, if not a greater level of CGI usage, however it is much more subtle. The special effects do not detract from the film, they add to it.

The performances are, generally, very good. Ewan McGregor really comes into his own in this film. He has the accent down much better, and the script gives him plenty of chances to excel, with witty, sarcastic quips being frequent. Natalie Portman (MMMmmmm, gorgeous), is also very good. The chemistry between her and Hayden Christensen is electric. Speaking of Hayden Christensen, i think he has really nailed the Anakin character. The casting director (her name escapes me) has said in interviews that Christensen has an immense power and mystery within him, and that definitely comes through on the screen. This is a really good thing, as you can see Anakin's darkness lying underneath the surface, ready to boil over. My only quibble with the cast is Samuel L. Jackson. He's a great actor, but i don't like him as Mace Windu, he just doesn't seem convincing. Maybe it's because he's already an established actor, i'm not sure.

The soundtrack to the film is excellent, bringing back alterations of some of the scores from the previous scores where they are appropriate and creating some excellent new ones.

So, put simply: Go see this film! I'd rank it as the second best Star Wars film, after Empire Strikes Back. It really is that good.

Okay just back..what did i think/see.

Trailers: MIB 2, Stuart Little 2, The Time Machine, Scooby Doo, Die Another Day(The next Bond flick), Spiderman and Minority Report(Which I thought looked amazing)

The film itself..>WOW!!

Far better than the Phantom Menace. From the very begining the action starts and never really stops. There were some interesting things done with the characters,

Anakin - You can see that he's slipping, the hints are there that he'll go to the darkside but it's done in a really intersting way. Hayden Christensen plays the part superbly.

Padme - The love interest and thankfully the story doesn't slow down arpund it. Also i liked the way Padme can handle herself..she seems a crack shot with that blaster.

Jar Jar - I hated him in the Phantom Menace..mainly because I found it difficult to understand what he was saying sometimes. However I thought it was intriguing the way that Jar Jar was subtly manipulated into being the Senator to suggest that Palpatine was given supreme power. When the senators find out what palpatine is really like then wouldn't want to be Jar Jar

Obi Wan - Ewan McGregor is really good in this film, the beard etc really make him more Obi-Wanish if you get my meaning. How many lightsabers has he lost now though

I also liked the droid's interactions and Yoda fighting..WOW..I had goosebumps waiting for him to draw his lightsaber and kick Dooku's ass...Mace Windu was really cool as well and the final battle's are brilliant.

I liked all the subtle signs that were in the fim about what is to come..Anakin's fall, Stormtroopers etc.

Brilliant film and only ESB is better than this one..only 2 years till Ep 3

(Edited by Milky 17/05/2002 17:23)

Yep - what a great film

I'm not a huge Star Wars fan (unlike Len) and am only just getting to grips with the story of it all......

But I can see it all being pieced together and I can't wait to see the next instalment.......

I saw it last night and after cooling down from the broken air conditioning and the two Simpsonsesque Comic-Book-Guy-Types behind us commenting on every word that was said I have to say the is a damn fine film.

I thought Anakin was a very good bit of character development and check out Yoda, kewl!

Light Sabre fights were excellent, especially Obi Vs. Dooku in the dark - fantastic.

And the ending left me gagging for Episode III : Rise of the Empire (made up name!)

Mind you, if they are gonna have the twin in this film, maybe call is Rise of Anak...

I'll get me lightsabre..

I LOVED the movie, SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much. I even liked Episode I, but this was beyond words.

Yoda's battle with Dooku, OH MY LORD, I want a film all about Yoda.... saying that, the one line which made me laugh because it was so silly was by Yoda
"Round the survivors the perimeter will be made" or something like that.

Hats off to the new Anakin, extremely good actor

Loved Amidala

Jar Jar showed maturity and the rage of Anakin's murders with Yoda sensing it, SO good

***** Five Stars

---

by KieranFrost
saying that, the one line which made me laugh because it was so silly was by Yoda
"Round the survivors the perimeter will be made" or something like that.

---

It was in actual fact - "Around the survivors a perimeter make"

Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear.

Firstly, can I just say that I REALLY wanted to like this movie, honestly, I did, but as Yoda would say 'be mindfull of your feelings' and my feelings were of sheer dissapointment.

Of course, the visual effects were stunning, but the writing & directing were very poor indeed.

The love story dialogue was laughable, in fact half the cinema was laughing out loud at the Anakin/Amidala scenes.

The death of Anakins mother was straight out of a soap opera.

Like every boy, I like a good light sabre fight, but the Yoda/Dooka stuff would've been more suitable in Mel Brooks Space Balls 'We'll have to decide this duel on the size of ones lightsabre'.

Obviously I'm suffering due to having great enthusiasm and passion for the first three films, but I'm afraid I'm just not feeling anything for any of the characters in Ep1 & Ep2.
A lot of this is due to the overuse of CGI characters, which I'm afraid just don't do it for me (yet).
I much prefer the Empire & Jedi Yoda this the Ep1/2 Yoda. Hell, I even cried when the wee fella died in ROTJ.

I think CGI characters/monsters can work - take Jurrasic parks excellent dinosaurs for example, the scene in the kitchen where the velosorapters are hunting the 2 kids is very tense.

The Ep2 Arena scene should have had the same level of tension - Our 3 heros are about to be hunted by some pretty nasty beasties, but instead we get a collection of CGI 'clown beasts' which were visually interesting, but fail to deliver any real sense of danger for our 3 heros.

I have to say, I think I enjoyed the Phantom Menace more that Ep2. The Darth Maul/Obi-Wan duel was a lot more dramatic that the duel in Ep2.

Sorry for sounding a bit negative, I know it's a kids movie, I know I shouldn't take it so seriously, but if you're gonna make 3 poor prequals to some great films I grew up with, then I'm gonna take it a wee bit personally.

Maybe it'll be better after a second viewing.

(on a positive note, the digital projection system in the Odeon Leceister Square was stunning! No dirt, no scratches, no jumps, it was was crystal clear).

I'm not au fait with the whole Star Wars story, but i saw "Phantom Menace" when it was released and really enjoyed it, so hubby and I went to see "Attack of The Clones" this afternoon. Just had to say... loved it. Loved the whole darned thing... Roll on Episode 3!!!!

Oh and the trailers were: Austin Powers Goldmember, next Bond Movie, Spiderman, The Time Machine, Minority Report, Thunderpants(?!?), MIB2... (i think that's them all)

(Edited by Keenangel 19/05/2002 00:24)

---

by Maffrew
It was in actual fact - "Around the survivors a perimeter make"

---

Thank-you and you must admit, a silly line, or atleast laughable

---

by CJL
A lot of this is due to the overuse of CGI characters, which I'm afraid just don't do it for me (yet).

---

This point (ignoring your bad mouthing Yoda) I have to defend. In the movie, I felt the CGI worked much better, they built a lot more of the sets in EP 2, than the EP 1 style of all blue screan. The battle in the rain, super amazing, but also nearly the entire set was built, Tatoonie was built, everything. Many due to Ewan McGregor's outbursts in EP 1, over no sets, but regardless it worked and they din't just rely on CGI, only when in is needed, i.e. planets and ships battles.

---

by CJL
I know it's a kids movie

---

Oh, add insult to injury. PG, the first Star Wars film to be PG, clearly it is now for adult

P.S Bad mouth Yoda again and I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish, a very, very small fish

---

by CJL
I think CGI characters/monsters can work - take Jurrasic parks excellent dinosaurs for example, the scene in the kitchen where the velosorapters are hunting the 2 kids is very tense.

---

Actually, those scenes were done with puppets.

I agree to a large extent about the CGI stuff. On the one hand, they wanted to have very large-scale battles on land, and that was the only way it could realistically be done. But there are a lot of scenes where it seems they're using CGI just because they can - having stuff going on in the background, such as all the ships going past the window on Coruscant, which may be more 'realistic', but we don't really need. One of the noteable things about the effects of the original trilogy was that the ships looked dirty and battle-worn, because it's easier to do that with models, and I think that's been lost.

---

The Ep2 Arena scene should have had the same level of tension - Our 3 heros are about to be hunted by some pretty nasty beasties, but instead we get a collection of CGI 'clown beasts' which were visually interesting, but fail to deliver any real sense of danger for our 3 heros.

---

Of course, another problem is that we always knew our 3 heroes would survive.. I see what you mean (perhaps a better comparison would be Lukes fight against the big beast at the beginning of 'Return of the Jedi'), but again, it was attempting to do things on a grand scale.

---

I have to say, I think I enjoyed the Phantom Menace more that Ep2. The Darth Maul/Obi-Wan duel was a lot more dramatic that the duel in Ep2.

---

Hum. My only problem is that both Anakin and Obi-Wan, whenever they had to fight on their own, turned out to be a bit crap...

I enjoyed this film a lot, and much more than Phantom Menace. It wasn't perfect, there were certainly flaws, but it was fun, it had a sense of things building towards what we know is gonna happen that ep 1 completely lacked, and of course, mmmmmm Natalie Portman.

Still, I vote they get Joss Whedon in as script doctor for the next one.

(Edited by In a State of Dan 19/05/2002 17:28)

---

by In a State of Dan
(quotes)
One of the noteable things about the effects of the original trilogy was that the ships looked dirty and battle-worn, because it's easier to do that with models, and I think that's been lost.

(Edited by In a State of Dan 19/05/2002 17:28)

---

The reason that ships look dirty and battle-worn in Ep's 4, 5 & 6 is because that is how they're supposed to look. In episode 1 & 2 we have the shiny Old Republic where, barring a few small problems, everything is nice and rosy. However in Eps 4,5 & 6 the Empire is in charge, there's a civil war going on throughout the galaxy and there has already been some major conflict(The Clone Wars and The Jedi Purge's). Ships in the prequels are supposed to look new and shiny because of the storyline. It's got nothing to do with CGI and Models although I do think that the scenes of the Millenium Falcon which were added into the originals do stand out slightly because they are CGI.

Anyway...rant over

---

by Milky
The reason that ships look dirty and battle-worn in Ep's 4, 5 & 6 is because that is how they're supposed to look. In episode 1 & 2 we have the shiny Old Republic where, barring a few small problems, everything is nice and rosy. However in Eps 4,5 & 6 the Empire is in charge, there's a civil war going on throughout the galaxy and there has already been some major conflict(The Clone Wars and The Jedi Purge's). Ships in the prequels are supposed to look new and shiny because of the storyline. It's got nothing to do with CGI and Models although I do think that the scenes of the Millenium Falcon which were added into the originals do stand out slightly because they are CGI.

Anyway...rant over

---

Well yeah, good point, although I suspect this will become far more noticeable in ep 3. The ships still look far too clean though, in particular the silver ship Anakin and Padme fly to Tatooine in is ridiculous. Maybe not battle-worn, but any ship flying through space and particularly entering a planets atmosphere is going to pick up a mark or two.

And it is harder to do with CGI, particularly when they have a lot of the same model, such as the crowds in the arena scene. It doesn't look like there are thousands of distinct creatures there, it looks like there are thousands of the same creature.

Well all I'm gonna add is Wow

Well I've seen it a couple of times now. The first time, I have to say, from the opening credits to the closing ones I apparently sat open-mouthed like a 7 year old child completely in awe.

The love story was fantastic. Very childlike and innocent in the simplicity of it's conception, and not mushy at all, marvellous stuff.

The settings/scenery were breathtaking.

The characters actually had characters this time. Good ones at that, Padme had grown more confident, Obi-wan more noble, and Anakin suitably dark and brooding. His player even got Vader's stride right, you really can see Sith Lord in this young Jedi, so hats off to Hayden Christensen for playing Anakin how he, imho, should have been played. Reckless is he!!! Much anger in him!!! There's also a brilliant touch when Anakin is dreadfully upset and angry in the middle of the film following the death of his mother, and John Williams has scored in just a few bars of "Darth Vader's Theme/The Imperial March" from the original trilogy into the new soundtrack, it's almost like that's the tangible moment where Anakin turns and you know nothing is going to be the same. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I got goosebumps then.

When I saw The Phantom Menace, I kept thinking that these were not the characters I was looking for, that they lacked the charisma of Han, Luke and Leia. Not so here. These characters are as "right" as those from the original trilogy, no small feat if you ask me.

I'm afraid I disliked the Yoda fight scene. It went against a lot of the assumptions I'd made about that character I'd always hoped Yoda was like the last bastion of the pen being mightier than the sword, mind over matter so to speak. There's a whole completely unnecessary 3PO comedy thing that goes on. But then there always was a little humour in Star Wars, and it's mirrored in this latest film so I'm not complaining too much.

There's also a bit "who taught who" apprentice/master thing going on, which is interesting it's like a big "jedi family tree" and also the Darth Tyranus/Obi-wan/Anakin lightsaber fight in which Anakin loses his arm, as his son does in Empire. I like how that sort of theme continues to be resolved in Jedi, when Luke realises just how like his Father he really is.

All in all a worthy successor to the original trilogy. I'm going again later this week, and probably not just once

---

by CJL

Like every boy, I like a good light sabre fight, but the Yoda/Dooka stuff would've been more suitable in Mel Brooks Space Balls 'We'll have to decide this duel on the size of ones lightsabre'.

The Darth Maul/Obi-Wan duel was a lot more dramatic that the duel in Ep2.

---

I think you're right here. The Darth Maul combat scenes were very well done and Ray Park is an excellent martial artist and the well lit, well choreographed duel at the end of TPM was far superior to the whole Yoda/Tyranus/Kenobi/Skywalker thing.

I also think the fight scenes went too fast, they should have slowed down the action slightly to give it more visual impact and allow you to follow the fight more easily.

---

by CJL
Sorry for sounding a bit negative, I know it's a kids movie, I know I shouldn't take it so seriously, but if you're gonna make 3 poor prequals to some great films I grew up with, then I'm gonna take it a wee bit personally.

---

It's perfectly ok for you to sound negative, it's not just a kids movie - it's a huge part of our collective youth, so I think most of us here will also take it just as seriously and personally. I'm just so happy and relieved I love this film

Nicola and I saw this on Saturday

I loved it from the word go - my standard review runs "butt with his lightsabre Yoda kicks, yes" I found the love story stuff both dragged and was too fast (Lucas doesn't really have a handle on this character stuff does he?), but I really enjoyed all the chases, battles and so on. Ewan McGregor was just superb, and I've fallen in love with Natalie Portman all over again (much to Nicola's disgust!)... Anakin was totally obnoxious - either Hayden Christiansen is a really nasty guy or a very good actor

The story was clever - I liked the way that He Who Shall Remain Nameless was responsible for the downfall of the Republic with one sentence (and didn't get many more), and that the Jedi sanctioned the creation of the Stormtroopers to come. That last made me stop and think - why ever did we assume the Clone Wars were won by the Anti-Clone faction or even that the clones were the enemy? The last scene with the Jedi overseeing the loading of ships that looked like star destroyers with troops that looked like stormtroopers and walking transports not unlike the At-Ats was actually quite disturbing!

I do think Jango Fett's head should have fallen out of his helmet when Boba picked it up though (evil)

Well impressed all around really!

ok a coupla questions about this movie and the orginals...

did darth vader need the suit for a special reason? breathing..i can't remember if it's clasic balck coolness thing, or if he can't live without it...

was the purple light saber pretty? ever since i heard samuel L. Jackson story about how he got it..i've been dying to see this

i can't wait to see attack of the clones...it looks amazing

Darth Vader's suit is basically one big respiratory system. As far as most fans are concerned, Anakin challenged Obi-Wan Kenobi to a battle to prove that he was better than his master, but Kenobi beat him, inflicting terrible injuries. Obi-Wan left, thinking Anakin was dead, but he wasn't. The dark side kept him barely alive, and as Darth Vader, he cannot survive without the suit.

However, this is all speculation (much of which comes from an early draft of ANH, i think), and George Lucas could change any of it he wishes.

Lucas definitely has, and continues to use the loss of limbs and their replacement with mechanical ones to symbolise the loss of humanity, as in RotJ and AotC.

---

by MonSTeR
The Darth Maul combat scenes were very well done and Ray Park is an excellent martial artist and the well lit, well choreographed duel at the end of TPM was far superior to the whole Yoda/Tyranus/Kenobi/Skywalker thing.

---

I agree BUT, one thing which always annoys me, doesn't Obi-One kill Darth Maul with anger and hate for killing Qui-Gon Jin? If so, doesn't that mean Obi-One is slap bang in the centre of the dark side?

---

by Maffrew
Anakin challenged Obi-Wan Kenobi to a battle to prove that he was better than his master, but Kenobi beat him, inflicting terrible injuries. Obi-Wan left, thinking Anakin was dead, but he wasn't.

---

That souds SOOOOOOOOOOO cool. Can't wait, I love pain and misery in films and Tv, it's so much more interesting than happiness

---

by Astronut
That last made me stop and think - why ever did we assume the Clone Wars were won by the Anti-Clone faction or even that the clones were the enemy? The last scene with the Jedi overseeing the loading of ships that looked like star destroyers with troops that looked like stormtroopers and walking transports not unlike the At-Ats was actually quite disturbing!

---

I agree, I always assumed it was the Jedi's vs the clones and that how they all died, not with robots. Wierd yet AMAZING

I SOOOOOOO loved that movie