What did you think of Attack Of The Clones? [Archive]

BobaPhlegm

05-15-2002, 01:01 AM

I've used this thread to post my first forum post at SSG. I was very lucky and scored tickets to see AOTC on Saturday the 11th; one day before the official Midwest charity premiere!:) I want to give hope to the Star Wars fans out there who have read some poo-poo reviews of the new flick. As a fan since I saw the first movie at seven years of age, hopefully you can identify with my opinion better than some of the snob critics out there.
I have to say, this is the most fun I've had at a movie in my recent memory (OK, South Park, Bigger, Longer, and Un-Cut comes close). I dare to say, it is the best of the five movies so far. Empire may have it beat from a dialogue and plot point of view, but for everything we see a Star Wars movie for, this is the best!
The plusses:
1.) Visuals are fantastic from the opening shots on. Its a nice long scene of Padme's ship landing through the clouds of Coruscant, and it's beautiful. The Coruscant chase is breathtaking, and the battle of Geonosis will make you want a cigarette when its over.
2.) Palpatine's manipulations are sooooo evil.
3.) Jar Jar is not the comic relief any longer. He does serve the plot in a very important way, however.
4.) C-3PO and R2-D2 are now the comic relief again, as they should be. I never was a huge fan of threepio, but he had me cracking up in this one. He delivers two of the worst puns in movie history and I loved them! They were so out of place it was great!
5.) Padme is quite hot.
6.) Dexter Jettster is a great new character. Iwhish there was more of him.
7.) The clone factory is quite cool, as are the Kaminoians who run it.
8.) Daniel Logan does a great job as Boba Fett. Way better than any of the child actors in TPM. He has a wonderful blend of mischief and sullennes. I wanted more of him too.
9.) The moment when Anakin steps over that line into the dark side is great! You finally see the Darth in him. And the musicthat accompanies all this is wonderfully foreshadowing.
10.) Speaking of music, the score is way better than TPM (with the exception of "Duel Of The Fates", which rocks!)
11.) The arena battle and the subsequent battle of Geonosis is about the coolest thing ever put on film.
12.) Christopher Lee is great as Count Dooku. Wonderfully decieving and evil.
13.) Yoda Yoda Yoda Yoda Yoda Yoda Yoda. He is the star of this film. You may actually pass out from delight when you see him confront Dooku
14.) Even though I was naughty and read many spoilers, including a full plot synopsis. There were many surprises that we Star Wars fans will go nuts over.
The minusses:
1.) Some of the dialogue is hokey. Who cares?! Let's stop pretending the first trilogy was Shakespeare.
2.) There is one bad CG effect of Anakin falling off the back of a (I think) nuna on Naboo. And it does look bad.
3.) The love affair seems a little forced at times. I'm still not sure when it was that Padme crossed over into falling for Anakin. I guess I'll have to see it again:rolleyes:
4.) Anakin is a total brat, but isn't he supposed to be? Some may be bugged by his whining. Again, who cares?!

Overall, I'd give the first half of the film an 8 out of 10 and the second half a 10 out of ten. See this movie! Don't listen to the snobs who are judging this on the same criteria they would judge a Shakespeare In Love or Out Of Africa. This is one fun movie!

jedihunter25

05-15-2002, 04:10 AM

I voted loved it. I havn't seen the movie yet but I read the book and saw about ten minutes of it a Celebration II. Even though it's a day too early to make this decision, from what I read and seen from trailers and at Celebration II it is a great movie. In about a week or two people will be saying Spider Who?

Obehave Kenobi

05-15-2002, 07:34 AM

Oh you'd probably be surprised by how many people have already seen it. I have to admit I was a somewhat guilty party to the bootleg ( did not belong to me, but watched most of it nonetheless). But, seeing it the way it was intended has since been corrected. The best way I (and everyone else who saw it with me) can describe it is INTENSE. The first 30 minutes of EP2 put ALL of EP1 to shame. It is my second favorite film next to ESB. I do think the situation with C-3PO on Geonosis is a little over the top, however. That's my only complaint though. Go see this movie as soon as you can. You won't regret it.

Darth Ovori

05-15-2002, 11:07 AM

For the record, I wangled myself into a press viewing for reviewers...
I'm sure this is how some people have seen it early...

Battle Droid

05-15-2002, 03:12 PM

I haven't seen it, but still voted " Loved it!" cause I will love it.

I get to see it for free tomorrow! WOOHOO!

Darth Shinji

05-15-2002, 06:05 PM

I loved it!
I managed to see it 4 times before the premiere (I work for a theater that's getting 6 prints)
and with each time it got better!
Can't saw enough good things about it.
It does raise some interesting plot points for E3.

zeroplate

05-16-2002, 03:14 AM

CRAZY! unfortunately, i don't know how to express how excited I am at the results without resorting to a string of incoherent expletives. i will just say that if you thought Sam Jackson was tough as shaft, you ain't seen a thing!

brilliant return to form after phatom menace. couldn't be happier with it.

Jarrell

05-16-2002, 03:27 AM

Just got back from the midnight showing, it is 3:30 am est , and AOTC rocks! So much more plot than episode 1, its cool and eerie to see some of the darkness in Anakin. Thank God Lucas has made a comeback!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kernel

05-16-2002, 03:30 AM

Ok, I just saw it at the midnight show.

AMAZING.

I have NEVER been glued to every word or action of a movie as I have with E2... there were maybe 4 or 5 scenes I think could have used some work as far as CG and acting (see my earlier post) but as far as story and content go, it's one of the if not THE best SW movie in my opinion.

Cotasnoova

05-16-2002, 03:37 AM

How could anyone think this is not the greatest thing since sliced bread?

Tenric

05-16-2002, 04:12 AM

God I LOVED this movie. There were some problems with dialoge, and some things that didn't work quite well (i'm not going to ruin anything for anyone right now), but that last half of the movie I was breathless. I think this is one might become my new favorite....

2-1B

05-16-2002, 04:30 AM

I voted "loved it" because I thought 90% of it was so fun. And at times painful. It's my opinion that the only "whining" relating to Anakin is that of the people who are put off by Hayden's performance. :D I really felt bad for the character at times, and I don't want him to turn to the darkside. :(
Obi-Wan was so teriffic, I could have watched him for 2 hours alone.
Padme was good.
I've only seen it once, and so far all that bugged me was the Threepio humor. Well, not bugged but :rolleyes:

Sith Worm

05-16-2002, 04:40 AM

Loved it this is what Star Wars is all about I can't wait for episode III Haden is awsome and Yoda is my all time hero forever! You should have see the reaction of the crowd when his shadow and the clank of that cane came around the corner, this was to awsome I will see this movie again and again this is everything episode I should have been...

derek

05-16-2002, 05:00 AM

i saw episode 1 23 times in the theatre. i just saw episode 2, and i really don't care if i see it again. i was very disapointed.

before this film came out, i was worried about a few things, like the romance between anakin and padme, an 80 year old man fighting 2 young jedi, and a CG yoda flying around like neo from the matrix.

well, the romance between anakin and padme was a joke. padme is supposed to be an intelligent person, but anakin is throwing psycho vibes at her almost the moment he meets her.

the saber duels just plain sucked. they sucked because what is an 80 year old man supposed to do? not much, so lucas just has him quickly dispose of anakin and obi-wan. the episode 1 obi wan would of easily whipped dooku's ***.

and anakin is supposed to be the most gifted jedi ever? let's see, he got his *** kicked in episode 2, and will get sliced and diced big time in the next film, and then get beat by a jedi school dropout 20 years later. some chosen one!

and yoda, a green goblin who has trouble WALKING is supposed to be believable against dooku? yoda was moving so fast that he should of cut dooku's legs off. and dooku had the perfect chance to kill yoda when he dropped the pillar on anakin and obi-wan.

and last but not least, the character of jango fett was a waste. the obi-wan/jango fight was way too short, and mace easily disposed of jango, lending further truth to what a loser boba fett will grow up to be.

BobaVette

05-16-2002, 05:38 AM

I just got back from the midnight showing of Ep. 2 and have to say it was the best or so close it is hard to tell. I have to see it a few more times before one can be sure. But one thing is fr sure YODA IS THE MASTER. And to those whom bashed the movie all that I have to say to you is that you should not post here because Lucas got close to the same feeling and emotion. And all of this about an 80 year old man fighting and not looking convincing is bull. I am sorry did you forget all of the other movies to date. I seem to remember "Old Ben" "The Emporor" "Darth Vader" all seem to be old guys and there fights were good enough. But for this movie I thought the Yoda vs. Dooku was not only convicing but the best jedi fight to date. I just hope the Lucas continues to keep the emotion and action in the next and unfortunatly the last Episode as good as this. And "NO STINKING EWOKS".

2-1B

05-16-2002, 06:14 AM

Whoa whoa whoa, a longtime fella like derek shouldn't post here? :confused: :mad:

derek, I agree with you about "loser Boba :D" but look forward to disagreeing with you in detail about many other things. :)

Tycho

05-16-2002, 06:36 AM

Everyone play nicely with each other... :rolleyes:

Meanwhile, I loved this movie!!! God, AOTC rocked!

However, I was very objective about some things and I'll put some reality checks in here.

I told someone who hadn't seen it to TOLERATE it for the 1st half hour. Oh the storyline is good, the sets and effects look great, but the dialogue is terrible and the actors should have 1) better lines written for them (the major fault being the 1st part on Coruscant's script), 2) the actors should have had a hands on director - do you realize what Paul Verhoven could have gotten out of his actors? 3) Typho should have been directed or Re-cast, Ewan could have made a better effort in the original Coruscant scenes like the elevator conversation (he is awesome later), and Natalie could have acted like she cared in the early scenes (save for when Corde died - she was good there but Typho sort of ruined her scenes - more his lines than his acting there.

The effects and the speeder chase and all the action was awesome. The assasin bugs were totally gross and great effects, but the dialogue there fell flat. Then it gets better.

Anakin's scenes with Natalie from the freighter through Naboo, Tatooine, and Geonosis were awesome. Save for the first kiss. There was no reason for Padme to make that transition. She was resisting him all this time, then he leans close to her. What did she think he was going to do? The cutting out of her visit with her family and her mother and sisters hinting that Anakin might be right for her, plus his time with her father all led into that. It shouldn't have been cut! Lucas a master editor? What? When?

The big surprise was Hayden. He did a great job! Probably the best in the whole film (save for Yoda). Ewan's scene with Jango Fett in his apartment was also very intense! There you got it - the feel that this was Star Wars. Now I can't say enough good things about this film after I got the bad off my chest. I'll save some of that for a later post so people can comment on what everyone else has said here.

But I'll be back!

2-1B

05-16-2002, 06:44 AM

Paul Verhoven? :D
I could have gone for the Amidala family too. Instead we are lead to believe in Anakin's charisma.
Kouhouns were awesome! Well, not really in the sense that they are pretty pokey in doing their work.

mightywhelk

05-16-2002, 07:42 AM

It's great to see the saga back on track with an excellent film again. I loved every minute of it. It was good to see some interesting camerawork during the final battle, zooming in to the occupants of the gunships. Good acting all round, just a shame about the dialogue in places but that has never been a stong point in any of the films. I'm off to see it again tonight to see what I missed first time round!

princesselisa

05-16-2002, 11:51 AM

I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing like waiting in line for like four hours to see an awesome Star Wars movie! I was kinda bummed though cuz only one guy showed up dressed like anakin skywalker. BUT before hte movie started he fought with his lightsaber against a kid with a sith lightsaber ;)

Anyway once the movie started, I was rivited, it was really really really good but I was ticked off it took padme so long to say "I love you anakin" yeah two hours into the movie and she finally gets that newsflash...but hey at least we got to see Yoda and his lightsabor fight, VERY Sweet ;)

How did everybody else's midnight premire go? Mine was a total blast...........even if I did have to open the computer lab at six thirty the next morning :)

stillakid

05-16-2002, 12:16 PM

Just woke up. Midnite show and all...

Anyway, I need some more time to let it all sink in plus another viewing or so, but my initial impressions are...

On the whole, it was pretty awesome. Ironically, some of it's greatest strengths also turned out to bite it in the behind.

The visuals were stunning. Fantastic new production design at every turn. My favorite new element was the Kamino aliens. Very very cool. But the flip side to all of this was that there was almost too much going on. I left the theater feeling assaulted. It is possible to have too much of a good thing, and AOTC went over the line just a hair. Don't get me wrong, seeing the intricate details of Coruscant and being overwhelmed by the final battle images are entirely necessary for the film, but two hours of that kind of detail is exhausting...

Which leads to the second, very related point concerning the plot. Scattered is the first word that pops into mind. This film took us everywhere! This wasn't a nice neat package as we've come to expect from George. This is good and bad. We needed to go to all of these places I suppose, but the structure of the plot darted here and there, back and forth at an almost dizzying pace...bad word choice. There was no true pacing. Very disjointed, sometimes abrupt transitions...

Which leads to the Anakin-story. The first 2/3 of the film are essentially Anakin whining about life not being fair or something. In one of the many :rolleyes: whining scenes he has with Padme, he just blurts out "It's not fair, Obi Wan's holding me back." Not a bad line, but it had absolutely nothing to do with whatever they had just been talking about. It's like George had to get that line in there somewhere and had to drop it in before the "real story" caught up with Anakin...

Which is what happened. Over here, in this corner, we see Anakin whining incessently, then we jump over here to see the actual plot unfold. Back and forth like that over and over for, what, an hour or so? Til finally, Padme and Anakin decide (to use Padme's words) to join the real world and join the plot.

In the end the Anakin-whining-scenes weren't so bad on their own (pacing was lagging, slow at times, redundant eventually), and the actual plot of the story was interesting enough to keep you guessing, but the two combined was a little disjointed. There was no true flow created.

However, Great Taste, less Filling!

No mention of Midichlorians. whew.

I never minded Jar Jar that much, but his character was
noticably dialed down and diminished.

The assasination attempt off the top was cool.

I loved the chase through Coruscant. Blade Runner meets The
Fifth Element.

As I mentioned, the Kamino world and aliens were very cool.

The Fett thing? I still think it's lame to "connect" the OT with the
Prequels using the previously mysterious bounty hunter to do
it, but once you get past that, it was handled fairly well. That
element of the story didn't have to be with a guy in a Fett
costume, plus it doesn't jive with what we were previously
told about the armor itself (being from a Mandalorian army),
but EP III is still on it's way. The only reason they used
the "Fett thing" is to try to please some non-existent fan
desire to see more of Fett in the movies. Whatever.

The final battle was awesome. Go Yoda! It looked a little silly
for a couple moments, but it worked somehow.

Obi Wan: This is the guy that Ep I didn't properly develop
or exploit. Ewan seemed to be acting with his hands tied
around his back through TPM, but in AOTC, he was much
looser, more casual. His character really set a nice relaxed
tone. I was very pleased with that character this time. If only
Qui Gon wouldn't have been invented and Obi Wan would
have done his own history in the first place, TPM might've
been a very very different and likable film.

C-3PO: One too many "ha ha" jokes from him. As a whole,
there were just too many "nudge nudge wink wink" jokes
throughout. A couple of them is fine, but just like TPM, the
obvious foreshadowing went overboard by a bit. Humor is
one thing, obviously trying to go for the easy laugh is another.

Those are the main things that stick in my head from last night. I didn't understand the opening scrawl, though. There's nothing anywhere that explains why there is a separatist movement. Anyone? The entire plot is based on this notion that the Federation is splitting apart yet no mention whatsoever about why.

Again, very enjoyable, but with some problems here and there, but not enough to make it a bad movie by any means. Hope you enjoy it! Can't wait for Episode III!

DarthBrandon

05-16-2002, 01:24 PM

Just seen the midnight show last night.
It was AWWWSOME, now eveyone is going to be a critic on the film like myself.
What i liked and disliked: Story was great but the lines in some scenes were a little cheesey. Jango good character short lived, by
Mace's excellent Jedi skills, did you see him just stand there waiting for Jango to make his move and then take him out with
two swift moves (excellent smithers). Anakin agreed he was a little whiny,but what do we expect from a short fused apprentice.
I thought Dooku was pretty cool and I expected him to take out
Anakin and Obi real swift like because he was far more advanced
in the force (Dark side) than they were. Also Anakin is supposed to be the one who brings balance to the force, but he is clearly not the chosen one, I believe that to be Luke.
Now on to Yoda, only one thing to say he kicked some serious ****** ***. Truly a master of the force.
I really did enjoy all the scenes but one, and it is at the end when
the clones (thousands of them) and the earlier models of Star Destoyers were leaving. Only one word Way to CGI. I cannot pick apart any other parts in the film because I am a true fan and I enjoy Sci-Fi (Star Wars) way too much to say I wish it was this I wish it was that, but it is not our vision it is George's. It will never be another Star Wars , Empire, Rotj it's the story of Vader the rise of the Empire and the fall of the Jedi Order. Anyone expecting this to be like the old trilogy is gravely mistaken (line from ROTJ).
Out of ten (9) 2nd favorite movie in series Empire is first.
Going to see it again tonight with the wife instead of the fella's.

CaptainSolo1138

05-16-2002, 01:25 PM

HOLY CRAP!!!!! AOTC beat all expectations I had. Hayden Christensen was so awesome as Ani. I had doubts about his whining in the trailers, but when you see it in the context of the whole movie, it's actually powerful. Natalie Portman was just as good. Did anyone else see the three YT-1300 freighters on Naboo?! As much as I didn't want too, I read some pretty major spoilers for this movie, but never heard anything about "The Ultimate Weapon"!!!! How sweet was that when Dooku turned that hologram on?! There was a collective *GASP* in the theatre. And the theatre went nuts with laughter when Obi-Wan told Ani, "You'll be the death of me". The speeder chase was cool (though I can already see the Episode II: Speeder video game coming out :rolleyes: ). I was surprised how good (most) of the CG looked. The only part that looked a bit off was Ani riding that thing on Naboo. And I'm not the first one and certainly not the last to say that 3PO's wit was a bit much. I was OK with everything he said til he got on the arena floor. "What a drag"?! "I'm beside myself"?? Mr. Lucas should've left that stuff in the Droids cartoon. But it's minor flaws aren't gonna be enough to keep me from seeing it over and over and over again. If I saw TPM 16 times in the theatre, I can only imagine how many more times I'll see this!!!!! And I'm torn over my favorite line in the movie. It's either Mace saying "This party's over." or Obi-Wan's "Well, that's what I came for!" I thought Ewan delivered that line great!! Well, I'm off to see it again!!!!

SirSteve

05-16-2002, 02:29 PM

Wow! Speechless!! I was a lucky one and got to see it in DLP (digital format) and even though the movie was great, seeing it crystal clear and sounding awesome REALLY took my movie experience to the next level! Yoda was just bad @ss!

Salacious

05-16-2002, 02:30 PM

Outstanding movie. Saw it twice; second time was on the digital projector and man does it look great.
It had everything a true Star Wars fan would love and more. Yoda was incredible. C-3PO was perfect comic relief as he was in the originals. And thanks to Lucas and Gurland for casting Christopher Lee in this movie. He was the perfect villain.
Visually outstanding. I can't wait to see it again. This one was for the fans.

sunblind

05-16-2002, 02:37 PM

Now this is Star Wars.

Lord Malakite

05-16-2002, 02:52 PM

I bet everyone who has been reading my posts about the movie in the spoilers section since last week when I saw it know how I voted. :D

Darth Grifter

05-16-2002, 03:02 PM

Yeah, I was one of the lucky at a midnight showing across America last night. I drove an hour and a half :stupid:to see AOTC and it was worth every minute of it!!!
To see the story and to hear all of the foreknown foreshadowing for later events was probably the highlight of the whole film. At the same time there was sooooo much that it was kind of overwhelming (good tactic on Lucas' part because now I'll have to see it 10 times instead of 9:D )...
The visuals and the almost entirely CG everything were amazing! From the speeder chase to the fly throughs to the battle sequences...AMAZING!!!:eek:
YODA (enough said)!!!
There was so much kickin' stuff in the movie that it doesn't begin to be effected by the forced dialogue or the occassional bad actor. Lucas has outdone himself in this attempt to PLEASE US -- THE FANS -- in this movie. Cult favorite characters are given larger roles, cameos, and Lucas is toying with what he thinks that we want. AND HE DID AWESOME!!! I think what the critics need to realize is that this movie is created from one man's mind, a genius of storywriting and character development. He pioneered the new movement in Hollywood to attempt prequel stories, he has defined Sci-Fi / Fantasy as a completely legitamate artform in the midst of a Hollywood that seems to be grasping for the next Brittney Mandy N'Spears movie blockbuster. I give 100 Thumbs up to George for sticking to the guns of a great storyline that we all LOVE and that we all continue to go back for!!!

To all who wanted for more storyline...READ THE SALVATORE BOOK...the background information that you can glean from that text will help to fill in the gaps...

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! MUST SEE @ Least 10 TIMES!!! SUPPORT LUCAS AND THE CAUSE!!!

lobster-man

05-16-2002, 03:04 PM

I would have given this movie 10 out of ten if it weren't for the fact that the dialogue seems strained at times... :crazed: It seems that everyone caught whatever Amidala had when she was queen of Naboo. The acting was sometimes not up to calibur... with the exceptions of Christopher Lee and Samual L. Jackson, Both of whom performed honorably and flawlessly! The young Boba was well portraid as well. C-3PO had way too many "puns" in one scene of the film that became a little un-nerving. The CGI imaging seemed too obvious...particularly Anakin's "bull" riding...The Droid Factory sequnce and Yoda's attack on the films Villains saved this movie in My eyes .... the rest of the film just seemed like the Blah, Blah, Blah from TPM all over again! I feel that this did not even come close to touching the original trilogy in any catagory! :(

pthfnder89

05-16-2002, 03:20 PM

Well, after Derek I guess I'm the second voice of desent here. I had big problems with it.

Mostly though, I had the same feelings as someone else who posted in the forums the other day; The first hour totally, utterly, and completely FAILED to make me care one way or another about any of the characters.

After a decent first 5 minutes I tried and tried to develop any sort of emotional attachment to somebody, but for me everything felt.... flat. That's the best word I can use to describe it. The direction I think is mostly to blame. But also (and this is a problem that plagued TPM also) there's just too much stuff on screen at any given time.

I know that George Lucas can create a living breathing universe without constantly having an insect, droid, ship, animal, or stunning vista in the background. I know because he's done it before, as have other directors. I love everything about the sets and art design but I honestly think that the movie would have seemed much more real if it had been simplified, only using the huge sprawling vistas for establishing shots, and big scenes like the final battle.

The funny thing is, I can pin point EXACTLY where I started to care about the characters. (avoiding spoilers here) When Anakin returns after exacting his revenge, all of a sudden everyones performance came alive! It's was like the lights came on I could see again. And literally from that second on, I was on the edge of my seat all the way through the final credits.

So basically, I thought the entire first hour was an excercise in how NOT to make a movie, but if you can stomach it (and hopefully I can because I really want to see the end several more times) then the last hour will be one of the most thrilling rides you get this summer, out of any movie. So I voted "It's Ok", because I just don't see why the first half should be that bad, when the second is soooo darn good...

Daye Azur-Jamin

05-16-2002, 04:01 PM

yeah the scene on tatooine after anakin returns is creepy...you can almost see darth vader by the way his costume is in the shadows...i loved it all the way...no problems

bigbarada

05-16-2002, 04:16 PM

Loved it! I now have a new favorite Star Wars film.

AOTC is what I've always imagined a Star Wars film should be like. Visually stunning, humorous and action packed.

The strengths:
Anakin - excellent job all around by Hayden.
Yoda - awesome CG, awesome fightscene, THE Jedi Master!
Threepio - had some of the funniest scenes in the movie
The Geonosis battle - the most amazing thing ever to grace a movie screen!!

The weaknesses:
let's see......hmmmm....... okay, NOTHING!

Quite simply the most amazing Star Wars film I have ever seen!:cool:

mark2d2

05-16-2002, 04:19 PM

Okay, I can understand Derek having some problems with the film --- but how then can he hold TPM is such high esteem? That film totally sucked. I can't even bring myself to watch it on the DVD all the way through.

Why are some people so anti old people? I don't get it. Catch you in thirty or so years, Derek . . . :)

But back to the subject at hand ---- I thought ATOC was pretty spectular. In fact, I was pretty much blown away. Sure, there were some problems, but there was so much to like.

Kamino. Kamino. Kamino! The film is all about Kamino! Loved everything about that planet. Especially Obiwan's dazed and confused but still pretending to know what's going on attitude.

C3-P0 is back with a vengeance!

JarJar is shall we say . . . contained.

Things I didn't like . . . some (but surprisingly not much!) dialogue. Dexter and his Diner. (Hey, I love the 1950s, but not in Star Wars Please!) R2's "increased mobility" looks pretty cool --- but where is this capability in thirty or so years? (The EU expired warranty is not doing it for me, Folks!"

But still, a steller return to form. Bravo, Lucas! Bravo!.

In fact, ATOC is easily my third favorite SW film. And I don't mean this in a snidely backhanded compliment way, either. I genuinely love this film. It's just that Empire and A New Hope can't be beat in my book. The same cannot be said for Return of the Jedi. Yep, ATOC easily bumps it down a notch into the fourth slot. Something I NEVER-IN-A-MILLION-YEARS! expected it to do.

Hmmmmm, you know what? I think I may just head on out back to the theatre now. Really! Sorry! Gotta Go!

Taichi

05-16-2002, 04:55 PM

It never slowed down, and kept me breathless from the opening shot of Padme's ship landing, clear through to the final credits.....

the second half is definitely great, staggering.....

George, the magic is BACK!!!!

don't slow down, and keep the surprises happening.....keep the formula for episode III and we'll be there ready, willing, and able!!!!

sullen

05-16-2002, 04:55 PM

I saw a Midnight showing last night and was throughly impressed. Of all of the things I was disappointed in I would say the recycling of sounds from TPM was the most obvious. One particular space scene was full of reused sounds. I even heard sounds that were in the original trilogy being used such as a certain persons blaster sounding like a Tie-Fighter gun! I felt Hayden's performance was excellent and it really leaves a lot open for the next movie which will have to be really crammed to get everything set straight to make a proper segway to transition Anakin to the Dark Side.

Battle Droid

05-16-2002, 04:57 PM

It was AWESOME truely awesome, though there's just so much to take in on the first viewing, that it can't be done with one viewing.

Jangu Fett

05-16-2002, 05:17 PM

That was truly a awesome movie. All of it was great, well all the parts without Jar Jar. I still found him anoying, but other then that a great movie. Even my wife who is not much of a SW fan loved it.

Starfig873

05-16-2002, 05:17 PM

Loved it. It was an amazing movie. :) What else do I have to say?

BUT I did feel that the first part (everything before the instant Anakin slices up them critters in Padme's room) was kinda bad. But all in all, I think this is a great, super movie.

Tycho

05-16-2002, 05:24 PM

STILLAKID:

1) the details in all the visuals won't be so overwhelming after we've seen it a few times. Then there will always be something new to look for, to watch out for, etc. That part is cool considering the repeat viewing fans will be doing. In the Senate scene for example, I saw Aqualish, but I knew to look for other interesting add-ins. Didn't see them, but that doesn't mean they weren't there. It'll take a lot of viewings.

As to the bar characters, I did see women in thongs. I can't wait for the Thong Threesome Cinema Scene action figure pack! That's better than aliens. :D

2) I agree with you that some of the cuts were strange: Obi-Wan seeing the threat that all the clones marching on Kamino represented, and the music builds up to that, and then we cut to Anakin and Amidala's picnic in the field. Couldn't that cut have come after a gentler or more subtle scene like Obi-Wan's transmission from Kamino to Coruscant. Looking at the instruments of armageddon and then stopping to smell the flowers in the next shot was an interesting, if not BAD choice of cutting. That or maybe the technical term is the pacing was wierd.

3) Between Anakin whining "it's not fair" and what you call 'the real story,' of course we disagree. Let's use an analogy though. Do you pay taxes? Do you like that? Do you think the government spends your money wisely? OK - so you've whined. Now, have you run for United States Congress? California State legislature? Tried to overthrow the Federal Government lately? OK. So there is life. You are married, fell in love prior to that I'd guess, etc. Someday you still could be a United States Congressman and fight taxations etc. But your life goes on. For argument's sake, let's say you become President and declare a dictatorship with an army of IRS agents. You still previously fell in love, married, had a child, whined about taxes, did your "padawan years" as a Congressman, etc. So in other words, we have our day-to-day lives and things "that all seem such a long way from here." So in real life, and with some time, we all can "take our first step into a larger world." But in the meantime, Anakin's life goes on. He has a girlfriend, a mother and a step-family. All this like a lot of us. Things happen to him, his mother's 'murdered,' - a victim of a society he cannot control. He starts to change and want to take control of that larger world to try and make a difference in his smaller one. This involves him in a family, and then an Empire! This is excellent character development and I think Anakin was my favorite character in this movie!

4) I agree. Anakin's whining was not over-the-top and it was appropriate (like son, like father) and Hayden did so good in this role it was amazing! He outshown Ewan McGreggor in my opinion!

5) Midichlorians? Are they or aren't they ever going to be important again?

6) Qui-Gon having stolen Obi-Wan's history? Not at all. We see the connection going full circle with Dooku having been Qui-Gon's master. It made him more of a threat. The scene when Obi-Wan was captured was awesome (I mean the part of his dialogue with Dooku!)

7) The Fett thing? I liked it! Boba Fett became an interesting secondary character. And I (as a Han Solo fan since the 70's) never liked Fett and never subscribed to the fanatic fandom around him. Jango was great however, and Boba's character just made a major leap into the interesting category. He outshown Watto a bit in this one. Nice job Daniel Logan and Temura Morrison!

The rain fight was shorter than I thought it would be, but it rocked. The asteroids and the ship chase was even better! That was intense! Wow!

7) I liked C-3PO. This was one of his better films. Better than TPM and ROTJ for his character.

8) Agreed on the Opening scroll. They didn't explain the Separatist movement that well, and YES I did get that from the book and background stuff I read. But Stillakid's right, that should have been explained a little better in the movie. The Trial scene that was cut from the movie (Padme's and Anakin's trial for espionage on Geonosis) should have been left in. It would have accomplished that - be it late in the film (after the opening titles) or whatever, but oh well.

9) Can't wait for Episode III? I don't want it to be all over. I can't wait to watch Attack of the Clones again. I have tickets in 4 hours from now, so I better get my butt back in line!

timtheall

05-16-2002, 05:42 PM

Now that I've seen it twice I think I know how I feel about Attack of the Clones. I was skeptical after my fist viewing at midnight. I don't know if I was sunburnt and tired from line but I felt a little ripped off. (and confused. But it wasn't hard to rationalize certain emotive bursts well as other suprises)
Over all I was utterly blown away. The love story really got to me.
It's epic. To see the Galactic Empire in it's infancy is incredible. The design is beautiful and the story is rich. It's a huge movie and an incredibly human one.
I'm going to play with my toys now.

Beast

05-16-2002, 05:51 PM

I'm still shaking with excitement, and I walked out of the theater 3 hours ago. Quite Possibly could top the list of my favorite chapter in the Saga. I dunno, have to see in more times before I can decide. But no matter what, it was wonderful. Seeing the lines of dalogue that seemed bad in the trailers, in the finished context of the movie, they worked fine. I hope the DVD replaces at least the Jedi Archives scene, and the Trial On Geonosis scene. It's a good year for Star Wars fans....to quote young Ani...."Yipee!"

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

Battle Droid

05-16-2002, 05:57 PM

It's my favorite of the 5 films so far!

Darth-AWT

05-16-2002, 06:19 PM

Outstanding. I'm still in shock. I read the book, and read spoilers all the time, but nothing could have prepared me for Ep2.
GL has outdone himself again.

DarthBrandon

05-16-2002, 06:27 PM

Just back from second showing with the wife, have to say one thing AWWWSOME again.The wife isn't a big fan like me but she really seemed to enjoy this particular Episode.

Good job George, can't wait till Episode 3.

Mo Bawa

05-16-2002, 06:38 PM

I LOVED IT!!!! I was excited, shocked and a little disturbed by how far Anakin goes.

It is the darkest (so far) of all the films. Empire is my favorite and this one ranks in at number 2. This was indeed a Star Wars movie and begins to put everything into a new perspective. A+

Battle Droid

05-16-2002, 06:42 PM

I can't wait to see how they out due AOTC with Ep III! If they can that is. :D ;)

bigpimpjones

05-16-2002, 07:41 PM

This is my first post here, and I'm pleased that it's to say the movie brought insane amounts of funk, it was excellent.
Like other posters, I thought the first half was slow, and my one complaint was the whole rolling in the fields stuff between Amidala and Anakin, but the last half of the film was so amazing, I can let that go for sure. It just kept getting better and better! Sam L. Jackson got it done, and the Yoda / Dooku battle will get me back to the theatre MANY more times.

master jedi

05-16-2002, 10:13 PM

Well, I saw AotC 3 times today(That includes the midnight showing.) so I must have loved it.

stillakid

05-16-2002, 10:36 PM

Originally posted by Tycho
STILLAKID:
1) the details in all the visuals won't be so overwhelming after we've seen it a few times. Then there will always be something new to look for, to watch out for, etc. That part is cool considering the repeat viewing fans will be doing. In the Senate scene for example, I saw Aqualish, but I knew to look for other interesting add-ins. Didn't see them, but that doesn't mean they weren't there. It'll take a lot of viewings.

I'll have to get back to you on that. Time will tell. ;)

Originally posted by Tycho

As to the bar characters, I did see women in thongs. I can't wait for the Thong Threesome Cinema Scene action figure pack! That's better than aliens. :D

I second that motion.

Originally posted by Tycho

2) I agree with you that some of the cuts were strange: Obi-Wan seeing the threat that all the clones marching on Kamino represented, and the music builds up to that, and then we cut to Anakin and Amidala's picnic in the field. Couldn't that cut have come after a gentler or more subtle scene like Obi-Wan's transmission from Kamino to Coruscant. Looking at the instruments of armageddon and then stopping to smell the flowers in the next shot was an interesting, if not BAD choice of cutting. That or maybe the technical term is the pacing was wierd.

This issue and the next below are one in the same for me...

Originally posted by Tycho

3) Between Anakin whining "it's not fair" and what you call 'the real story,' of course we disagree. Let's use an analogy though. Do you pay taxes? Do you like that? Do you think the government spends your money wisely? OK - so you've whined. Now, have you run for United States Congress? California State legislature? Tried to overthrow the Federal Government lately? OK. So there is life. You are married, fell in love prior to that I'd guess, etc. Someday you still could be a United States Congressman and fight taxations etc. But your life goes on. For argument's sake, let's say you become President and declare a dictatorship with an army of IRS agents. You still previously fell in love, married, had a child, whined about taxes, did your "padawan years" as a Congressman, etc. So in other words, we have our day-to-day lives and things "that all seem such a long way from here." So in real life, and with some time, we all can "take our first step into a larger world." But in the meantime, Anakin's life goes on. He has a girlfriend, a mother and a step-family. All this like a lot of us. Things happen to him, his mother's 'murdered,' - a victim of a society he cannot control. He starts to change and want to take control of that larger world to try and make a difference in his smaller one. This involves him in a family, and then an Empire! This is excellent character development and I think Anakin was my favorite character in this movie!

I understand that he's going through some internal torment and all, and that the two of them had to be put in a situation where they would be alone in order for their love to blossom, and I don't have any trouble with that. It was the jarring juxtaposition of those sequences coupled awkwardly with the quickly evolving mystery involving Obi Wan that didn't work so smoothly. Perhaps there could have been a way to put our two love birds together in the midst of the "real" plot line, the way Han and Leia were thrown together in Empire. The Empire sequences were an intergral part of the overall plot...not something separated from the rest of the film. That's what I'm getting at.

Originally posted by Tycho

4) I agree. Anakin's whining was not over-the-top and it was appropriate (like son, like father) and Hayden did so good in this role it was amazing! He outshown Ewan McGreggor in my opinion!

I think that some of the dialogue went too far over the soap-opera line. A lot more of his than her's, but a few times, I began to wonder if perhaps he was just bi-polar and not really "distraught" with love or whatever. I'll blame that on the script.

Originally posted by Tycho

5) Midichlorians? Are they or aren't they ever going to be important again?

Not if he listened to me. ;)

Originally posted by Tycho

6) Qui-Gon having stolen Obi-Wan's history? Not at all. We see the connection going full circle with Dooku having been Qui-Gon's master. It made him more of a threat. The scene when Obi-Wan was captured was awesome (I mean the part of his dialogue with Dooku!)

I have to watch it again and catch all of that dialogue. Qui Gon still took Obi Wan's history, and there was no reason for him to be in the saga, but the AOTC bandaid on the flub may have bridged it adequately. I'll have to review it again.

Originally posted by Tycho

7) The Fett thing? I liked it! Boba Fett became an interesting secondary character. And I (as a Han Solo fan since the 70's) never liked Fett and never subscribed to the fanatic fandom around him. Jango was great however, and Boba's character just made a major leap into the interesting category. He outshown Watto a bit in this one. Nice job Daniel Logan and Temura Morrison!

Like I said, it wasn't as bad as I envisioned it, but still that element of the story could have been filled by any random alien entity. Making it be part of the Fett legacy kind of cheapened the mysterious Boba Fett that we saw appear in ESB who appeared out of the woodwork. Now, he's like the wacky-neighbor who gets his own sitcom spinoff.

Originally posted by Tycho

The rain fight was shorter than I thought it would be, but it rocked. The asteroids and the ship chase was even better! That was intense! Wow!

I did want to see more of that fight and more of that planet.

The constant laser barrage from Slave I was very cool. I wish my toy could do that.

Originally posted by Tycho

7) I liked C-3PO. This was one of his better films. Better than TPM and ROTJ for his character.

Somebody else mentioned his newfound mobility. I didn't fully buy into it as that aspect of his abilities has already been established in the OT. Oh well.

Originally posted by Tycho

8) Agreed on the Opening scroll. They didn't explain the Separatist movement that well, and YES I did get that from the book and background stuff I read. But Stillakid's right, that should have been explained a little better in the movie. The Trial scene that was cut from the movie (Padme's and Anakin's trial for espionage on Geonosis) should have been left in. It would have accomplished that - be it late in the film (after the opening titles) or whatever, but oh well.

I gotta get to the bookstore now and dig into the extras. I also want to know about this trial scene. That jump from being captured to an arena execution struck me as extremely weird. Very James Bond Death Sequence. Why not just pop em in the head? No, gotta be big and dramatic about it so as to give them the opportunity to escape. Made no sense. But I suppose it had to be done to open the door for the Jedi to come in and have a big fight.

Originally posted by Tycho

9) Can't wait for Episode III? I don't want it to be all over. I can't wait to watch Attack of the Clones again. I have tickets in 4 hours from now, so I better get my butt back in line!

I'm going back again Sunday...then I'll head over to a digital screening later in the week...then again sometime...then again...:)

Originally posted by mark2d2
Okay, I can understand Derek having some problems with the film --- but how then can he hold TPM is such high esteem? That film totally sucked. I can't even bring myself to watch it on the DVD all the way through.

Why are some people so anti old people? I don't get it. Catch you in thirty or so years, Derek . . . :)

But back to the subject at hand ---- I thought ATOC was pretty spectular. In fact, I was pretty much blown away. Sure, there were some problems, but there was so much to like.

Kamino. Kamino. Kamino! The film is all about Kamino! Loved everything about that planet. Especially Obiwan's dazed and confused but still pretending to know what's going on attitude.

C3-P0 is back with a vengeance!

JarJar is shall we say . . . contained.

Things I didn't like . . . some (but surprisingly not much!) dialogue. Dexter and his Diner. (Hey, I love the 1950s, but not in Star Wars Please!) R2's "increased mobility" looks pretty cool --- but where is this capability in thirty or so years? (The EU expired warranty is not doing it for me, Folks!"

But still, a steller return to form. Bravo, Lucas! Bravo!.

In fact, ATOC is easily my third favorite SW film. And I don't mean this in a snidely backhanded compliment way, either. I genuinely love this film. It's just that Empire and A New Hope can't be beat in my book. The same cannot be said for Return of the Jedi. Yep, ATOC easily bumps it down a notch into the fourth slot. Something I NEVER-IN-A-MILLION-YEARS! expected it to do.

Hmmmmm, you know what? I think I may just head on out back to the theatre now. Really! Sorry! Gotta Go!

I think I'll agree with everything you say, except for 3PO who I think was at his best in ANH. But yeah, not a bad effort overall.

sith pedagog

05-16-2002, 10:44 PM

JUST SAW AOTC!! I loved it! Awesome, better than I expected! Here were MY top 5 highlights without too many spoilers.

1. Less Jar Jar

2. More of the classic comedy (especially from the droids) that we came to love in episodes 4-6.

3. Better script especially catch phrases from Yoda, Mace, Obi, Ani.

4. LIGHTSABERS, LIGHTSABERS, AND MORE LIGHTSABERS!! yes!!!

5. YODA KICKS A>>>>>>

I am not sure what the "critics" were thinking. What did they want from this film. One critic pointed out that the scenes were too short making them appear chopppy and rushed. If they would have been any longer two things could have happened. 1 not all of the story would have been explained as well, or 2. the movie would have been 3 hours long and then they would have complained that it was too long. I also truly believe (admittedly with no evidence) that some of the critics give the bad ratings for personal reasons. I think that atleast some of them thought if they picked out the bad things and then gave it a poor review that they might see their names on the national scene. Honestly, if they thought there would be a lot of good reviews a bad one could make their name pop up all over. I can understand criticism but I can't in all honesty see anything that deserved the horrible reviews that it received. On top fo that, I believe that critics in all their wisdom (hope you picked up on the sarcasm there) forget the one fact that makes a movie good or bad and that is entertainment value. I don't care about 90% of what critics have to say because they have lost focus of the fundamental purpose of movies ALL MOVIES!!

I don't remember people applauding and openly cheering at the last oh say 50+ movies I have seen. Until E2. What about you?

JediTricks

05-16-2002, 11:01 PM

I put my vote into "Need to see it again to decide" because my first instinct is that it was hollow and boring while trying to cram too much into the background. It's like every sequence was more about the situations and the actors were just tools to get these situations across. The dialogue was pretty bland except for a few spots and I thought Dingo Fett... er, I mean "Jango Fett" didn't really show what made Boba Fett the original bad-arse he was in ESB. For me, a lot of the film was just exposition dialogue that drowned out the action. And the "romance" didn't seem to have any setup at all, especially when their Dawson's Creek-dialogue was less interesting than their political discussions... that's not a good sign. Most of all though, I felt that "hollow" best describes the final action sequences, ALL of them.

Maybe I'll feel differently in another viewing, but I didn't fall into it this time around.

SkieWalka

05-16-2002, 11:01 PM

Got to say it was straight out Dope.... Star Wars is finally Back
And that I think derek might just be the actor that playyed Darth Maul in EI and is just upset he wasnt brought back for EII

browndroid

05-16-2002, 11:28 PM

i voted for LOVED IT, the movie rocked! i have to say after ep1 i lost a little faith in lucas, but ep2 was great!

stillakid

05-16-2002, 11:38 PM

Originally posted by JediTricks
I put my vote into "Need to see it again to decide" because my first instinct is that it was hollow and boring while trying to cram too much into the background. It's like every sequence was more about the situations and the actors were just tools to get these situations across. The dialogue was pretty bland except for a few spots and I thought Dingo Fett... er, I mean "Jango Fett" didn't really show what made Boba Fett the original bad-arse he was in ESB. For me, a lot of the film was just exposition dialogue that drowned out the action. And the "romance" didn't seem to have any setup at all, especially when their Dawson's Creek-dialogue was less interesting than their political discussions... that's not a good sign. Most of all though, I felt that "hollow" best describes the final action sequences, ALL of them.

Maybe I'll feel differently in another viewing, but I didn't fall into it this time around.

Aside from the action sequences, you've articulated my feelings about the dialogue and "romance" better than my attempt. Same with the background/situations and of course, Fett. In regards to Fett, like I've said, with the way it was written, any random alien could have filled the space. No attempt was made to, as you say, show us the "bad-arse" potential that is supposed to be there in the OT.

Originally posted by sith pedagog

JUST SAW AOTC!! I loved it! Awesome, better than I expected! Here were MY top 5 highlights without too many spoilers.

1. Less Jar Jar

2. More of the classic comedy (especially from the droids) that we came to love in episodes 4-6.

3. Better script especially catch phrases from Yoda, Mace, Obi, Ani.

4. LIGHTSABERS, LIGHTSABERS, AND MORE LIGHTSABERS!! yes!!!

5. YODA KICKS A>>>>>>

I am not sure what the "critics" were thinking. What did they want from this film. One critic pointed out that the scenes were too short making them appear chopppy and rushed. If they would have been any longer two things could have happened. 1 not all of the story would have been explained as well, or 2. the movie would have been 3 hours long and then they would have complained that it was too long. I also truly believe (admittedly with no evidence) that some of the critics give the bad ratings for personal reasons. I think that atleast some of them thought if they picked out the bad things and then gave it a poor review that they might see their names on the national scene. Honestly, if they thought there would be a lot of good reviews a bad one could make their name pop up all over. I can understand criticism but I can't in all honesty see anything that deserved the horrible reviews that it received. On top fo that, I believe that critics in all their wisdom (hope you picked up on the sarcasm there) forget the one fact that makes a movie good or bad and that is entertainment value. I don't care about 90% of what critics have to say because they have lost focus of the fundamental purpose of movies ALL MOVIES!!

I don't remember people applauding and openly cheering at the last oh say 50+ movies I have seen. Until E2. What about you?

The critics were right on with the choppy and rushed part. You've conjectured that they were just looking for attention without providing support for it. The movie was choppy and much of the dialogue was a little cheesy. They don't get paid more to write bad reviews. It's not their job to write one sentence (ie. Entertaining, two thumbs up!). They write critiques, which include good and bad points. Overall entertainment value is separate from breaking a film down into it's various elements and forming an opinion about them. Your blanket statement about critics having "lost focus" is without foundation. Just because you don't choose to agree with them isn't just cause to insult them in that way.

DarthBrandon

05-17-2002, 01:04 AM

I don't know what all the fuss is about ATOC rocked big time, I really don't know what people out there expect from the new series. I mean it's not the original series nothing is going to be the same about the films, like I said before this is a totally different set of, movies sure some of the characters are back, but the story is not the same. Jango Fett in this movie sets the stage for why Boba is Such a bad A** in Episode III. Boba is extemely P.O. that his father was (spoiler) taken out by the Jedi (Mace), this will probably lead to him working for Vader and Palpy in the next movie because in the Empire Vader talks to him like he's known him for a long long time. I find that these movies have way too high expectations for some people who can't seem to let go of the original series. TPM was not that bad and it could have been better with less Jar Jar, but ATOC is the second installment of the series that will set the stage for the final movie in this new saga.I liked this movie very much because you can see how far George is willing to go ( Scenes, background, effects etc.) to make his vision complete. I personally don't think George wants to redo any of these movies twenty years from now.
Yoda was just Awsome, Obi-Wan excellent acting as a teacher, Mace couldn't have been done any better than Sammy did him, Padme was O.K., She looked hot if anything, hum Anakin just a little whinny but excellent job done after his mothers death (the look on his face pure hatred.)
I guess I'm just rambling here but to cut the movie to pieces come on in the original trilogy, if you look close enough there are big time flaws that are seen still even in the special edition. ie Obi-Wan lightsaber battle with Vader spot the flaw if you can, it's still there. I think George came full circle with ATOC in bringing the magic of this new trilogy alive. Sure it's no Gone With The Wind LOL but it kicked the a** out TPM and Spidey.

A-1 going to see it a third time tomorrow with the little tike.

Darth Knight

05-17-2002, 01:52 AM

I loved it.

Tycho

05-17-2002, 02:15 AM

I saw it my second time tonight and loved it more than the first time!

Even the beginning gets better with more time spent viewing.

Wow!

This one I can keep going back to see and won't get bored from. I look forward to the romantic scenes as much as the action.

Nicely done.

On a side note, the intensity in the Jango Fett apartment scene and the full idea that they ARE threatening each other, or tempting each other to make an ill-intended move was awesome.

"I can't wait to see them in action."

"They'll do their job. You can count on it."

Translated:

"Get your guns on and let's see what YOU can do, if you're supposed to be THAT good."

"I am. And you're life's going to change when you find out about it!"

SithDroid

05-17-2002, 02:15 AM

I have to diagree that it is the best in the series. ESB will always be the best. AOTC was really good for a couple reasons, cool jedi battles, yoda fight scene, new worlds, no mention of midiclorians, and lastly, hardly any Jar Jar (Yea!). But the film did drag a little in the middle and the "love story" between Padme and Anakin seemed very rushed and forced in the film, there was no development at all for it. Plus a lot of the dialogue between the two was extremely boring and corny. Also a point that I do not understand, Anakin tells Padme that he killed all the sand people, yet she still falls in love with him. He admits that he is a cold blooded killer and she seems to see nothing wrong with that. What's the deal? Any normal girl would be turned off by that. Tha's just my opinion though. A really great movie and a ton better then TPM. I hope EP III is even better.

Darth Knight

05-17-2002, 02:26 AM

Derek, I would like to know how does Boba Fett grow up to be this loser? About Anakin being the chosen one he is. I think that Anakin still has much to learn about the force. That's why he was not able to take Count Dooku down. He was to quick to act. His anger was controling him. He was not using his head think with the force that is. So for you to say that Anakin is pretty much like a joke I think your wrong. The best is yet to come. That's why Anakin will turn to the dark side and become Darth Vader who then will hunt down and destroy all the Jedi Knights but two Yoda and Obi Wan who go into hidding. You know the rest. Well that's my two cents.

plasticfetish

05-17-2002, 02:28 AM

Heya ... took the family to see the movie this afternoon and I have to say it was super. I know I'm (as we all are) "preaching to the pulpit", but I think that overall this was a very entertaining movie.

(Question: Do we call it ... "movie" or "film"? Since the only film involved was the print that my theater showed. I would have LOVED to have seen the all digital version of this movie and in retrospect am even more disappointed by our collective lack of choices for that.)

The visual elements in this movie were outstanding. I thought that they were good and impressive and for the most part effective in episode 1 ... but this time, they were to my eye superb.
The wide shots and landscapes were beautiful and wonderfully surreal ... this is a visual element that I have always looked forward to with the Star Wars movies. The scene overlooking the Tusken Raider's camp was amazing and there were many more just like it.
The sets ... wow, I'm so impressed ... from the dressing and furnishings in the various Coruscant locations to the overall design of places like the creepy and gothic Geonosis interiors. It was so cool seeing Christopher Lee strolling through that set ... or doing anything for that matter.
(I wanna be nice ... but, who was disappointed about the "80 year old man" and this and that? What's Yoda ... 800? C'mon, it's science fiction ... I think it was more intense because of the fact that we were seeing two ancient masters going at it. Very much in the tradition of classic Samurai or Kung-Fu films.)
The CG in this movie was great ... I'll be honest, I have my doubts some times, but for the most part I was amazed here. It's obvious that Lucas has the best tools and the best people making this happen. I'm still not 100% sold on the rendering and articulation of characters like Yoda or Jar Jar ... I sometimes miss the latex puppet Yoda and some of the pleasant limitations that came with it. I think a CG character like Yoda can end up being a little too "fluid" perhaps. Too squishy and not as muscle and bones mechanical like it should be.

The story? I was pleasantly surprised. I think they did a great job with the screenplay. The dialog? Yes ... I can agree with some of the critics both abroad and in this forum ... it had its flat moments
(Natalie Portman, as adorable as she is, was more mechanical than C-3PO) and sometimes I grimaced at the corn ball exchanges ... but, I don't think the dialog was written to impress guys like Roger Ebert or me for that matter ... frankly, from what I've read from George Lucas, the movie is made for "kids" and if the rest of us can get onboard, then great.
With that said, I saw this film with my 4 year old son ... he was into it all the way. He's 4 and he sat there for over 2 hours ... I think that says a lot. Even my wife, who didn't care if she saw the film went away impressed by it.

How will I rank it with the other four? I can't say for sure at this point. Empire was my favorite, and I think this comes close for many reasons. For certain, (I think Tycho made this point earlier) they could have gotten better from the actors ... but, Hayden Christensen did a great job and I will forgive the "this parties over" line from Sam Jackson because he's so great (hope we get much much more Mace in ep. 3)
On the other hand ... I'm not sure how I feel about the C-3PO antics. The whole Daffy Duck-esque scene in the factory was pushing it (OK, it was fun) and the "This is a drag" line seemed not to fit into the big intense battle scene. I did like the head-switch though and want that toy now.

OK ... enough rambling. It was great, I want to see it again ... but, what do we have to do to get some more digital houses out there? The digital sound was sooo great. I can (and have to) imagine how cool it must be in its fully intended digital format.

Darth Spectre

05-17-2002, 02:50 AM

I thought AOTC was very enjoyable. Saw it twice tonight. The dialogue at times was hard to listen to, especially Anakin when talking to Amidala (especially in the fireplace scene). The Threepio stuff was borderline over the top. Lightsaber duel was way too short at the end though, but I guess it is all to setup an "Empire" like duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin.

mark2d2

05-17-2002, 03:57 AM

Stillakid --- Two things . . .

1) I agree with you about C3-P0 he is better in both ANH and ESB. That said he is much better here than he ever was in TPM. Thats what I meant by "Back with a Vengeance."

2) I think you quoted me wrong. It was I who spoke about "increased mobility" but I was talking about R2-D2! Not C3-PO . . .

Everybody Else --- Having just seen the film again, I must say it held up the second time. I really like this film. It's fun to watch. And I liked the final lightaber Duel. What we have here is two young Jedi not yet ready to take on a Master --- and then the Master fleeing from Yoda. I thought this was great. I was also stoked that Dooku lives . . .

JediMikeBuckley

05-17-2002, 04:20 AM

I absolutely loved Episode II! I saw it May 16 at 12:30pm. The first showing at a nice theater in my area on opening day. I liked Episode I, I'm amoung a few who did I guess. So what. Yeah, Jar-Jar Binks did get annoying after a while in Episode I, but he is hardly seen and tolerable in Episode II. As George Lucas has said in recent interviews he's "telling the story", not trying to impress critics, and not trying to beat "Spider-Man" at being the top-grossing film this summer. I like that. He finances these movies anyway through his own company, Lucasfilm, and he said tonight on "Extra" that he'd just like to make back what he put out to make Episode II. Wow, where to start? Well, first I liked the performances. Especially Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christianson, and all the other principal actors. The special effects were stunning, and even better than what we saw in Episode I. I didn't think Anakin "whined" at all. He is a tormented soul, and I think that anger, aggression, and hatred helps to propel him to the Dark Side. I really enjoyed any scene with Jango Fett in it. Being a fan of Boba Fett from the classic original trilogy, it was great to see at least some of his back story. In fact I think Boba's origin parallels Anakin's in some ways. Yoda kicks ***! When I saw the movie the crowd, myself included, cheered and applauded when Yoda appeared to confront Count Dooku at the end of the movie! The fight scene between them was incredible! Yoda finally has proven himself the Jedi Master he has been said to be! Mace Windu got to strut his stuff too! I will definitely see Episode II again! No question about that! Star Wars fans seem to be the most critical of the movies, but that's because we love them so much.

WarlordATF

05-17-2002, 04:38 AM

I went to see the 10:15 Showing tonight,Its 4 am and i'm still wide awake and playing the film over and over in my mind.I was 6 when my aunt took me to see A New Hope in the theatre in 77 and i have been hooked on Star Wars ever since.Attack of the Clones was awsome.I was always a die-hard fan but i can honestly say i was not disappointed in any part of it except that some parts were cut from the final film,Lets hope for a Special Edition release with nothing cut to be released one day!I understand why the cuts were made,Its hard to keep people in there for 2 and half hours,the theatre seats become uncomfortable and they may leave the theatre with negative feelings.But i could have sat there forever tonight,Every new scene brought something new into the SW Universe,it all added up to the final battle.That was Amazing,The Droids and Jedi and YODA! Wow! It was nice to gain more insight into Boba Fett as well.Episode III seems so far away,I want more!!! Thank You Mr. Lucas...I can't wait for Episode III!

sith pedagog

05-17-2002, 05:48 AM

Originally posted by stillakid

Aside from the action sequences, you've articulated my feelings about the dialogue and "romance" better than my attempt. Same with the background/situations and of course, Fett. In regards to Fett, like I've said, with the way it was written, any random alien could have filled the space. No attempt was made to, as you say, show us the "bad-arse" potential that is supposed to be there in the OT.

The critics were right on with the choppy and rushed part. You've conjectured that they were just looking for attention without providing support for it. The movie was choppy and much of the dialogue was a little cheesy. They don't get paid more to write bad reviews. It's not their job to write one sentence (ie. Entertaining, two thumbs up!). They write critiques, which include good and bad points. Overall entertainment value is separate from breaking a film down into it's various elements and forming an opinion about them. Your blanket statement about critics having "lost focus" is without foundation. Just because you don't choose to agree with them isn't just cause to insult them in that way.

Much of the dialogue is cheesy? Of course it was cheesy! Did you happen to see those other three films around 77-83. It was full of cheesy lines! Why would you expect anythign different?

First, I said that I didn't have any evidence. What do you want? But I never said anything about making more money for a bad review. YOU imagined that yourself. I said that sometimes giving a bad review to a movie that is destined to be a box office smash increases the likelyhood that your review will be read. Star Wars fans ar more dedicated movie goers than any other fans! We will see it over and over. Few will read the "great" reviews that we expect. However, bad reviews draw people in. Critics become the people you love to hate. You can't honestly tell me that millions of people say "you know what, Roger Ebert is right every time". One of his draws is that he is obnoxious in many ways.

NO blanket statement is ever correct, and my statement is not meant to insult them but to critique their work. I hope that they and you cand handle that since thats what they do for a living. They have lost focus. Movies ARE for ENTERTAINMENT. Yes they break it down and that is appropriate. However, the critics themselves have drown themselves so much in the details of filmaking that they have lost touch with what the average movie goer desires. So cute little "summing up" statements like "two thumbs up","a must see", or "wait for video" imply overall entertainment value.

What would YOU have done with the scenes? I admit that they were a little choppy. But think about how much material was covered in around 2:15. If he would have cut the scenes it would have hurt the story value. If he increases it to over 2:30 (possibly close to 3:00. He would have been bashed for drawing it out too long and cut back on ticket sales.

I thought the love scenes were tough for SW fans to deal with, but the relationship MUST be well established in the mind of the viewer so that we can get a feel for the passion that Anakin feels. If that is not established here, it makes his turn to the darkside less convincing in E3.

Magic-Middle

05-17-2002, 07:10 AM

I left the theater with my head swimming as there was so much to take in and digest. I purposely attempted to bock out as much as I could in relation to the movie so that I could be surprised. Boy was I ever surprised!!! Once I had a some time to digest the whole move I have to say I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!!! I can easily say that I will see this movie several more times and each time will be just as rewarding as the entire movie is so visual. The movie will run you through a range of motions from laughter , shock, sadness and joy. I absolutely love the arena scene when all of the Jedi arrive and the lightsabers are dancing at every entrance in the arena.

Quite-Gone Jim

05-17-2002, 08:26 AM

I saw it Thursday afternoon. (I'm getting too old to stay up until 3 am!) And my first reaction was this was AWESOME! If I have to compare it to the rest - #3 behind ANH and ESB.

I liked the blatent and stupid humor C-3PO had.

Yoda rocks.

The dialog wasn't great (but this is Star Wars, so I wasn't expecting an Best Picture type of screenplay).

This was much better than Episode I. I left that one feeling totally let down and even bored.

The tempo in this film was much closer to ANH, starting with a big event, the slowing down and building until the climax.

Things I didn't like:

The love story: I didn't find it real believable. I thought they should have done a little more to develop that.

They should have explained the Jedi's "problem" a little more in detail. I'm still not sure I got that part.

Hayden: He brought out the moodiness and the hints of the darkside, but he just didn't seem all that extraordinary, and I didn't feel the chemistry between him and Natalie at all.

Jango and Boba: They did a great job, but the end of Jango was kind of anti-climatic.

I think Jorg is getting his touch back, so Episode III should stupendious!

Can't wait!

jonthejedi

05-17-2002, 09:05 AM

I got to see it twice yesterday(Thurs)..once by myself, and the second time with my wife & 5 year old at a 7:30 PM show. IN A WORD...awesome!!!I was there in '77. I'm 48 years old now. I became a 10 year old again, and a born again Star Wars true believer. It rocks! Best since Empire. Maybe George was rusty for Phantom Menace. Yoda at both shows simply brought the house down! People were screaming and standing up & cheering. I haven't seen anything like that at the movies in a while. I really wanted the magic back for this one, and we got it. It seems he really did pay attention to our gripes. See it with a big crowd...how can you not!

aikman

05-17-2002, 10:42 AM

After seeing this movie you actually need to give time for it to sink in.
I actually had a friend leave it and say 'i dont even know what to think'
You will be in a daze after soo many thing happenning...the more I think about it , the more I loved it, I need to see it again

Jonna

05-17-2002, 10:45 AM

I just saw it last night and I have some major problems with the film. Don't get me wrong, I am a hugh fan and I would go to see SW movies until they stop making them BUT: this film had the worst acting and dialog of any of the films. The other major problem I had is that it jumped around far to much. Now I know that the SW films tend to do that, but it is usually only with two groups of characters and not several.

Now on a good note. The SFx were the best yet. Of course they should be expected to be with each film because of the advancing technology. And it was action packed. Yodas fascial expressions were much better than the puppet and his fight scene is the best ever.

Well, I am seeing it again on Sunday. I'm sure that it will get better everytime I see it. I am always very critical the first viewing.

sirk buzok

05-17-2002, 10:51 AM

I think that ATOC, all things considered was a great Star Wars movie. I didn't see the acting as bad as the critics said it was. One thing about it though it did jump around alot between different planets, alot to digest visually. This is a good thing. Definately a movie I will enjoy seeing again and again.:)

darthvyn

05-17-2002, 01:10 PM

had to let the movie sink in a little before i posted anything. i, along with many of you saw the midnight showing... (did anyone else's ticket say 12:01am WED 5/15?) and was astounded. for the first ten minutes or so, i was just repeating to myself "please don't suck" over and over again. i think it heard me.

the political machinations are great... the empire is born! and who do we have to thank for that? jar-jar binks himself! we all know we hated him in tpm, now we know why. he gave the "chancellor" the full power of the emperor. his stupidity actually served a plot device!

we also see part of boba fett's motivations. anyone know yet what the braids are on his right shoulder in esb? i think i do... hatred of jedi much?

i was immensely surprised at how good hayden christensen was. my favorite sequence was everything that had to do with the tusken camp... the actual scene, the cut to yoda and mace, and the confiding in padme (which is an indication of their feelings... if they didn't love each other, he wouldn't have told her about it, and she wouldn't have tried to comfort him...) did everyone notice the tears in yoda's and mace's eyes during this sequence? a heartbreaking disturbance in the force. just so damn good.

then of course there's the "why do i get the feeling you'll be the death of me?" darkly humorous foreshadowing... too eerily funny.

yoda was all around great... from the childish playfulness in the scene with the younlings (esb flash-back [flash-foward?]) to his grave seriousness with the battles, and of course the final showdown. how many of you DIDN'T thrill at the sight of yoda's shadow entering the room. how many of you COULDN'T stop cheering until the battle was over...

the cinematography of the final lightsaber battle, after anakin cuts the power lines, and all the illumination is from the sabers, was incredible... just enough stylization to dazzle the senses.

all in all, i think this is second best in the series. empire, clones, new hope, jedi, menace. i might have to revise the list after episode III.

the music was almost the best of any of the series. i think it's the addition of the imperial march that puts it up there... otherwise, i think once again it's just below esb. the love theme is so grandiose and dark, every time it crescendos, i was expecting the love theme from han/leia, and every time it drops to this darkly despairing abyss.

oh, and critics can (insert line of the most imaginitive expletives you can think of using the biggest words to sound more intelligent than you really are [just like the critics] here...)

JEDIIAM

05-17-2002, 02:39 PM

I CANT EVEN BEGIN TO SAY HOW HAPPY I WAS WHEN THE WAIT WAS OVER AND THE MOVIE BEGAN! I MYSELF A LIFE LONG STAR WARS FAN HATED MOST OF E1 BUT E2 BLEW ME AWAY! IM NOT SURE BUT I MAY EVEN LIKE IT BETTER THAN EMPIRE! JAR JAR MOSTLY NON EXISTENT, TONS OF JEDI, MACE AND YODA FIGHTING, WHAT MORE COULD YOU POSSIBLY ASK FOR! NOW IF HASBRO CAN JUST WORK ON THESE SHORT PACKING OF FIGURES THAN E2 CAN BE A TOTALLY ENJOYABLE EXPIERENCE FOR ALL!
(AS LONG AS YOU DONT COUNT CELEBRATION 2 WHICH SUCKED.)

JEDIIAM

05-17-2002, 02:43 PM

Originally posted by Kernel
I can't say; I haven't had the pleasure of seeing a sneak preview and I refuse to partake in the pirate copies on the internet. A TRUE SW fan would not screw Lucas like that (the pirating part, of course).

And to make a point which some may or may not like... to those who *****ed about EPI and who will be *****ing about EP2... George came up with the idea for SW... if he never made the movies, we would never be here. The story is created by HIM and turned into a movie for US. Not created by US and made into a movie by him.

So stop *****ing about how he 'screwed this and that up'. He never did nor will he screw anything up in the movies since all of it came from him in the first place.

He may have done things that some didn't like and I'm sure he will do things in EP2 that more won't like, but remember... most of us were 5 years old when we saw EP4 - if we saw it for the first time today, I doubt it would have the impact on us as it has having been with us from such a young age - an age where imagination rules and we don't have any inclination of how soem CG looks bad or the acting is bad. THE NEEDS OF THE MANY MUST OUTWAY THE NEEDS OF LUCAS!

pthfnder89

05-17-2002, 03:27 PM

Originally posted by JEDIIAM
THE NEEDS OF THE MANY MUST OUTWAY THE NEEDS OF LUCAS!

Lucas has no responsibility to create a film based on our wishes and suggestions. I had some serious problems with AOTC, and I think that despite it's good points it is a seriously flawed movie. But the descision to see it or not is mine. Lucas is financing it himself and is entitled to make the film in any way he cares to. Fans have every right to hate a film, or to love it, but regardless of how we feel, movie making isn't a democracy it's an art and a buisness.

I wish that weren't true sometimes and I wish (like a lot of people do) that I could sit down with George Lucas and tell him exactly how I would change things to make them better. But that isn't the way it works, and it probably never will be.

Originally posted by JEDIIAM
NOW IF HASBRO CAN JUST WORK ON THESE SHORT PACKING OF FIGURES THAN E2 CAN BE A TOTALLY ENJOYABLE EXPIERENCE FOR ALL!
(AS LONG AS YOU DONT COUNT CELEBRATION 2 WHICH SUCKED.)

All of the Saga figures right now are pretty much seeing even distribution. There was a glut of the first few cases of course because all of the stores had to stock up for April 23rd. But the figures since then are being packed evenly in most cases; they are only hard to find because
a)scalpers snatch them up as soon as possible
&
b)stores have to wait until there is more room on the shelves before they can stock the newer figures
But this has been the same situation since the very first POTF2 line.:)

BigAl415

05-17-2002, 03:55 PM

Hey all, first off let me talk about the film. The last half was spectacular and the battle on Geonosis was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in a film, there's no denying that, but you have to admit that Hayden was a pretty bad actor in the first half. I just think there was a better choice out there than some guy that I swore was a member of N*SYNC at first glance. Anywho, for anyone who read the book, I'm sure you'll agree with me that the film seemed to be a little......well.......censored. One major example of this I can recall is the whole sidestory of Anakin's mother. In the book, there is actually a description of how Cliegg loses his leg and its quite gruesome let me tell you. Also, although it was alluded to in dialogue, in the book we actually get to SEE (well, er...read) Anakin MURDER the entire camp of Tusken Raiders. I was hoping to see this reflected on the big screen but I was sorely disappointed by Lucas' censorship. I understand it was only PG but this scene was essentially THE point where Anakin loses it and falls to the dark side. Don't get me wrong, I loved Attack of The Clones, but after you all get done seeing it for the umpteenth time, go out and read the book. Not only is it a better representation of how Anakin slips into the dark side, it fills in A LOT of the back story of the film. Well I'm off to see it again, may the force be with you.
~BigAl415

General Warpig

05-17-2002, 04:22 PM

Loved it.Hayden is a great actor,taking hold of the petulant/confused/frustrated and very alone young Skywalker.Portman was fleshtastic so much so a young Jedi would find it hard to focus on anything higher .Mace,Yoda,Dooku,Clonetroopers and Palpatine were great.As an older Sw fan i must say i enjoyed Jar Jar's breif appearance immensley.Jango and son stole the stage(the final shot of Boba is just fantastic).
Altogether all i expected from a Prequal Sequal and more.Another bridge built toward ANH,more suprises.I think in many subsequent veiwings will be on a par with Empire,we will see!
My Wife thought it was fantastic too and we talked all day about possible outcomes in the story and every time we mentioned the film we found we were boyh grinning stupidley like kids!

"Is it true firemen used to put out fires?" fahrenheit 451

Rogue II

05-17-2002, 05:37 PM

I thought the movie was ok. I do need to see it again before I call it great. It was WAY better than Episode 1. I think I missed a few things. I read a bunch of the Spoilers, but the movie still wasn't what I expected.

Hayden Christensen did a good job playing a cocky 19-yr old brat.

I would have liked to see more of Tatooine.

I thought the Courasaunt chase scene was great. While I am not a huge Episode 1 fan, I thought the duel between Darth Maul, Obi-Won, and Qui-Gon Jin was much better than the Anakin, Obi-Won, Dooku battle. Yoda was pretty good.

Oh, and C-3PO's back-to-back-to-back puns were terrible....I loved it. Maybe he should have quit while he was ahead.:D

Boy, I am glad there was no musical number.

Now, start the countdown for Episode III!!!!

Kernel

05-17-2002, 11:23 PM

Ok, just saw my second showing. Like I said in my original and 2nd post - it's George's vision, and it's amazing. Now for the parts I think had bad acting. This does not mean I think he 'screwed it up' or anything of that sort... just parts that could have been done a little better... I'll try to do them in order:

1) Scene when then centipedes are going towards Padme... seemed that the sound of Obi-Wan and Anakin's conversation could be heard through the wall, then all of the sudden, it disappeared... only to be brought back when they flip to them in a sort of 'middle of conversation' and then back into the room and you could once again hear them through the wall

2) Scene where Padme says 'oh he's not a jedi yet, he's still a padwan learner'. Why the hell and wtf reason did she have for saying that as to only allow another blow up scene for Anakin

3) When Obi-Wan goes into the archives, the alien jedi's all seem too 'computer generated human stiff' in their walks

4) Scene when Kit Fisto used his force power to knock over the Battle Droid C-3PO... like a jedi has time in all that battle to stop, do that, and give a big grin before getting back to the battle around him, all along without getting shot.

5) Scene when oriental lady Jedi bears her lightsaber and then puts her hand out... was like an afterthought.

6) Why does Anakin call Obi-Wan 'Master Obi-Wan' and not 'Master Kenobi' when he calls Mace 'Master Windu', and along those lines... is always ready to disobey Obi-Wan but follow Master Windu's orders to a T

7) The scene where Jango bites it could have been a little more action packed... I mean, it's like he just stood there and didn't even try to dodge.

8) The scene when Padme is come upon by a Clone Teooper in the sand... that was an uneeded and real lackluster filler scene that seemed like it was simply put in to fill space and had no real use.

And one last thing... it seemed that how Obi-Wan referred to Anakin was all random... he'd sometimes call him 'my young apprentice' then 'mmy padwan learner' and then sometimes just 'anakin'. There should have been some more structure to this... but maybe it was meant to be that way to indicate the 'mistakes' obi-wan makes in his training of Anakin??? Only George knows.

All in all, it was an excellent movie though. These kinds of things would really only stand out to a hardcore fan as far as I'm concerned, because lets face it - that's exactly the kind of stuff we look for.

Obi-Don

05-18-2002, 08:03 AM

I loved it. I have seen it twice now and will see it again. It blows TPM away.

stillakid

05-18-2002, 10:10 AM

After some more discussions with others about this, hearing both good and bad "reviews," I think that it is coming down to this: There is enough in this movie for someone to proclaim it fantastic if that's how they want to see it and there are enough problems in the movie to look at if you want to not like it. The action sequences are good, but the motivation for them at times is forced. The dialogue is decent sometimes, but at others it is forced and cheesy. The flow is choppy, but it doesn't drag like TPM did. I think, for me, I'm willing to give Lucas the benefit of the doubt on this one because I'm just a little too tired of not liking new Star Wars movies. It's not like I'm dismissing poor filmmaking in order to like AOTC. TPM was just badly done and it there wasn't enough good stuff in it to rationalize to myself that it was a good movie. But AOTC has such an equal mix of good qualities and poor that it's easy to pick on it yet like it.

I see it again tomorrow, so I'll see if my opinion changes since I now know what's coming.

WalrusMan

05-18-2002, 01:53 PM

I'm going to see it for the second time this afternoon. Too much information to process in one viewing (as if I really expected to only see it once?) The plot is confusing, and the uninitiated will be thoroughly perplexed trying to decide who the bad guys really are. My girlfriend, namely. No *****es at all, though. If you whine about any of the sometimes cornball dialogue, then I refer you to the previous four films.

There are some very eerie scenes. One Jedi's death is particularly horrific, although it's more suggestive than graphic. Some of the action sequences at the end take on a "Saving Private Ryan"-styled feel to them, with fast zooms and shaky camerawork. The end left me wanting more. EP3 is set up to be the real Clone Wars movie, so I guess that makes perfect sense. In the end, telling you guys, the fans, that it's a great movie is a bit redundant. You already knew that.

See it 17 times!

Tycho

05-18-2002, 03:03 PM

The one Jedi's death? I saw two particularly outright slayings:

1) when the Jedi Council Master leaps up onto Dooku's viewing balcony and Jango hammers him until a several shots get through.

2) there's another Jedi that's trying to help a fallen one in the arena, the healthy Jedi's lightsaber is still on, but he just doesn't get around fast enough before a battle droid hammers like 3 shots into him that progressively smoke their way up his chest - all direct hits to the heart (the Jedi was clearly human).

There is so much to see that I'm sure I have to look again and again somewhere else in the scene and I'll notice something else.

Obi-Wan is at one point mourning the loss of a human male Jedi that you see fallen - when Dooku halts the droids for a moment to call for Mace's surrender.

Expanded Universe fans of the Jedi Apprentice books (Young Obi-Wan series) are thinking this was Garen Muln (spelling) - one of 2 of Obi-Wan's closest human Jedi friends, and also one of the original test pilots of the Delta-7 Jedi starfighter corps. The Jedi girl who goes "Ha" in a Forceful swing of her lightsaber followed with a hand strike is rumored to be Siri Taichi, Adi Gallia's former apprentice (Siri would be a full Knight by now - she's only several years younger than Obi-Wan).

I did not see Quinlan Vos clearly in any of the Arena scenes. There was NO effort by Lucas to incorporate any EU characters into the movie EXCEPT for Aayla Secura, which was done VERY intentionally, though her former Master would have been even more appreciated by EU fans.

To change the subject slightly, I did not find the plot confusing at all. It was an assasination-attempt investigation, sweet and simple, that led Obi-Wan to discover that (likely) the Sith were amassing a Clone Army to be delivered into the hands of a corrupt Republic Senate, that the Jedi are only now realizing might be under an evil leadership (though they don't suspect Palpatine openly). I like the fact that the saberdart investigation could have taken place in any cop or FBI movie, and it takes on the Star Wars twist. Meanwhile, Anakin's role was that of the bodyguard, and while he was already in love with Padme since a childhood crush, it's the "classic story of the protector falling for his / her charge."

But it is done super-good! :D

I love this movie! (and hopefully I'll be seeing it for my 4th time today!)

JediTricks

05-18-2002, 05:43 PM

You know what it feels like to me? Like Ep 1 left us starving for Star Wars for 3 years, and AOTC is a loaf of white bread. It's bread that, as starving people, we'll lap up and enjoy how the texture seems so much better than starving, but on its own, you wouldn't want to eat so much of because there's little food value or flavor to it - and eating this whole loaf makes you feel kinda ooky.

Casual George

05-18-2002, 06:40 PM

JediTricks

05-18-2002, 07:09 PM

Originally posted by JediTricks
You know what it feels like to me?...
Originally posted by Casual George
Nah! I don't think so... It rocked!!!! End of story. You don't think that's how it felt to me? Do you know me better than I know myself? I thought I plainly stated my opinion and stated it as such, so I'm a bit surprised that I'm wrong and it's not my opinion after all. :confused:

Perhaps you simply meant that my opinion isn't shared by you. ;) :D

Darth Grifter

05-18-2002, 07:21 PM

Yeah, Ok...I admit that the dialogue was cheesey at points and that there was a lot to see...HOWEVER, I would like to agree with the others who continually point the doubters back to the previous 4 movies. Cheesey dialogue, IV, V, & VI were all filled with cheesey dialogue performed by actors who at that point in their respective careers were nobodies (except maybe Harrison Ford;) ).
I loved the movie and I am still reeling from the first time seeing it (midnight three days ago). I listen to the soundtrack in my car everyday on my way to work and school and back, and I read the book. I agree that after Ep I (which I somewhat liked <dodging arrows>) I was longing for something more substantive and AOTC gave it to me.
I agree with Tycho that the storyline wasn't that confusing at all. My wife (a very non-Star Wars fan) ventured to the midnight showing so that she could go "HA!" after the movie and tell me it wasn't worth it. But, the "ha" never escaped her lips and she enjoyed the film and could follow the story very well.
The biggest complaint around my neck of the woods was about the slow moving storyline and the lack of action...All I have to say about that is did you miss the last 45 minutes of the movie? :confused: People wanted action and then they complain when they get it, and the Yoda battle...hello...probably the single coolest battle scene in any movie that I have ever taken part in. WOW!!!:eek:
So...my things are said. I continue to read these reviews and I enjoy what everyone has to say very much, so don't think I'm trying to dis' on anyone at all because I'm not. :D

Goin' to see it again on Sunday!!!Yippee:sur:

chewiegurl1138

05-18-2002, 10:25 PM

Well, I've seen it twice...once with my entire family...and everyone absolutely loved it. My favorite parts- YODA, the speeder chase and the jedi arena battle. When I got into the theater, all I could think about was Episode 1 and the total dissapointment...don't get me wrong, after watching it over and over I came to like it and actually enjoy Jar Jar's annoying tantics ..even so, AOTC ruled. The original trilogy stilll holds high but AOTC has definately become the best for me. Threepio was definately his old self, providing the comic relief during the hard and climatic situations. Jar Jar was finally toned down, which helped me appreciate him more (even though I blame him for the emergence of the empire, even though it was inevitable). I was dissapointed in Jango's death but it totally helped me empathize with Boba's hatred later on in the OT. The Death Star thing TOTALLY caught me offguard...the whole theater was amazed. At the beginning, the movie was a bit slow, but I knew it was only building. Everything was great but the only thing which SHOULD have been cut out (instead of Padme's family) was the "running in the meadow" scene aka as the frolic scene. There's only one word to describe that- retarded. Besides that...GL is the MAN. HE'S DONE IT THIS TIME!!

NOW, THE CRAZE FOR EPISODE 3 BEGINS! :crazed:

stillakid

05-18-2002, 11:03 PM

Originally posted by WalrusMan
If you whine about any of the sometimes cornball dialogue, then I refer you to the previous four films.

I keep hearing this, but aside from TPM, there are no sweeping examples of cornball dialogue in any of the OT films. Start listing them if you don't agree. There may have been one or two that I don't recall at the moment, but certainly nothing in comparison to Dawson's Creek that AOTC emulated.

stillakid

05-18-2002, 11:05 PM

What I do like most regarding the politics is that the Emperor is playing everyone against everyone else. Nobody sees it coming.

What's missing is any sense that Palpatine is involved in pushing Anakin to the dark side. The kid is doing it all on his bi-polar own.

Darth Metalmute

05-18-2002, 11:09 PM

Tycho,
I could be wrong but I believe that Siri Taichi is fighting the Sabaoth in the orbit of Geonosis along side of Adi Gallia.
(Jedi Starfighter; Playstation 2)

SithDroid

05-18-2002, 11:34 PM

Originally posted by stillakid
I keep hearing this, but aside from TPM, there are no sweeping examples of cornball dialogue in any of the OT films. Start listing them if you don't agree. There may have been one or two that I don't recall at the moment, but certainly nothing in comparison to Dawson's Creek that AOTC emulated.

I agree stillakid. The OT IMO doesn't have that many cheesy lines. And even the cheesy lines in the OT are delivered so good that you don't even think about them.

Did anyone catch the homage to the OT? When Anakin is tied to the pole on Geonosis and the arena beasts come out Anakin says, "I have a bad feeling about this." A classic SW line. The theatre I was in at midnight all laughed.

I can't wait till I can get this on DVD so I can speed through the painfully boring and underdeveloped "love" scenes with Padme and Anakin.

DarthBrandon

05-19-2002, 12:17 AM

Just back from third showing, liked it just as much, sure nobody wanted to see the cheesy underdeveloped love story but it has to happen for Luke & Leia to come into play after the third installment of the series.

On another note just picked up Taun We, Luminara Unduli, & Royal Gaurd here in Canada. Was very surprised when the wife's Aunt got them in Truro Nova Scotia, it was a very good score.
They have lots of this wave if anyone in that area wants them.

P.S. They are at Walmart.

NailBunny

05-19-2002, 06:28 AM

Just saw the movie for the 4th time, and I gotta say this movie is cool as hell.

Ok.... someone back me up on this.... I found it VERY weird the after the whole scrolling text to establish the movie thing, lucas decided to pan UP instead of DOWN like all the other Star Wars movies. In A New Hope you pan DOWN to Tatooine. In Empire you pan DOWN to see a Star Desrtoyer run into your face. And in Jedi you pan DOWN to see the DSII. In Ep1, you pan DOWN to see the Republic Cruiser [see where I'm goin with this?]

Why in Ep2 did we pan UP? I don't know about anyone else but this seems very weird to me.

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the feel of the movie, like "this won't be your normal SW movie" kinda thing. I dunno.

What do you think?

DarthBrandon

05-19-2002, 06:37 AM

Probably just trying something new I guess, one never knows what goes on inside George's head.

Needles

05-19-2002, 07:30 AM

I just saw Star Wars Episode 2 on friday and it was By far the best of the five,i hope 3 years goes by quickly because Episode 3 is gonna rock,I was not fan of Star wars till I first saw TPM,matter of fact I had know idea Starwars Existed,I give it a ten because there only one flaw when mace Windu Chopped Jango Fetts Head clear off in front of his son.That just aint right.Sorry for giving out that major spoiler even though who evers reading my message all redy saw it more than one.Why does everyone Hat Jar Jar,hes basically the only character in a Star Wars movie we can actually relate 2.And one mre thing
Yoda KICKS major ***!
ANd ep1 was awesome!:D

2-1B

05-19-2002, 12:41 PM

stillakid
What's missing is any sense that Palpatine is involved in pushing Anakin to the dark side. The kid is doing it all on his bi-polar own.

I disagree. :)
There's a scene where Anakin tells Obi-Wan that he thinks Palpatine is a good man, despite Kenobi's warnings. Later when speaking with Palps, the future Emperor is undermining his training by telling him he needs no guidance and that he should follow his feelings. And when he does follow his feelings in a moment of pain, he goes too far. :(

stillakid

05-19-2002, 02:02 PM

Originally posted by Caesar

I disagree. :)
There's a scene where Anakin tells Obi-Wan that he thinks Palpatine is a good man, despite Kenobi's warnings. Later when speaking with Palps, the future Emperor is undermining his training by telling him he needs no guidance and that he should follow his feelings. And when he does follow his feelings in a moment of pain, he goes too far. :(

Exactly. It's one scene. Just one. The entire rest of the movie is Anakin going through mood shifts bigger than a woman in menopause. He's not being turned to the darkside by extraneous forces (ie, Palpatine) rather by his whiny teenage like behavior (ie, "It's not fair). I expect that in Ep III we'll see Palpatine recognize Anakin's state of mind and move to exploit it, but aside from a mention in AOTC, we don't witness any true influence that Palpatine has over Anakin and the path he chooses. Just like in TPM, it's all heresay and that's poor storytelling. In other words, "show me," don't tell me.

Tycho

05-19-2002, 03:36 PM

I think it's supposed to go this way. I also think I saw indications that Mace could be an inside-bad guy. If so the Sith have two options with regards to Anakin and "balance in the Force."

Kill him

or

turn him.

In escorting Amidala, surely if they'd stayed on Naboo, at one point or another, they'd be a target for whoever Palpatine wanted to make the next assasination attempt. He'd know exactly where Anakin was and get rid of him. I don't think it was a priority in the Sith plans at this time though: the key thing was getting Padme away from the Military Creation Act. The point was they were deadlocked 50-50, or 500,000 to 500,000. Naboo was a key LEADER in the opposition to the Military Creation Act. Padme said she worked for a year to DEFEAT it. If she's out of the way, in less than a week, JARJAR has completely reversed Naboo's position. That's what Palpatine wanted! JarJar plays the fool, but he's the only one ELECTED to represent Naboo that's still there on Coruscant. Dorme (posing as Padme) could act like her, but she was not elected like Padme, and it would be illegal for her to take the vote. I'd wondered why she wasn't in Naboo's senate box when JarJar reversed their position. If she was, and people thought she was the senior senator, then JarJar would not be allowed to speak. But again, it was illegal for Dorme to take the vote. Palpatine's a genius (and all the while pretending he doesn't want to create a military until he has it set up so the Jedi will take the blame for using the Clones!)

See the E3 spoiler section for continuation of where this situation might lead us. It's 'safe' now, as there is no E3 script, but the speculation will go down there because as soon as we can get a script, we'll love to prove it!

Meanwhile, Anakin will be protecting Padme on Naboo, where he can be assasinated with her, maybe. If that's a goal for the Sith at the moment. BUT, how can they when Anakin unpredictably takes them to Tatooine? Then he gets mixed up in the whole Geonosis thing!

So, they kill Anakin in the arena and remove the threat of a Chosen One, or he survives, and by design Mace Windu does, and Anakin still must obey Mace's orders, since he's a Jedi Master.

Watching Mace though, he seems too quick to please Palpatine, and he also would inform the senate that the Jedi weakened, making it possible for pirates, gangs, other enemies to weed off more Jedi. Remember, if there are 10,000 Jedi, probably Master and Apprentice teams on thousands of separatist worlds (linked by military / trade treaties like Italy was linked to Nazi Germany in WWII, or England had to defend France in the same war), these separated Jedi on 5,000 worlds could be more easily killed by bounty hunters, assasins, traps laid by people like Tarkin (who must be around somewhere), but to the Sith, anything's better than facing a temple of 10,000 of them all at once!

The book "Before the Storm" covers some of that as they try to get rid of Luminara and Bariss, but Obi-Wan and Anakin intervene (though it's a terribly BORING book!)

But anyway, right now Anakin might be assasinated OR he will at least be under Mace Windu's control. It is by sheer convenience that Palpatine recognizes the Dark Side in Anakin and in E3 he will exploit it.

Anakin is already resentful of the Jedi because they separated him from his mom (he couldn't have gone back - but to do what? Uproot all the Lars or get Shmi a divorce? Were Owen and Beru going to live in the Jedi temple too? Shmi had a life. In life, bad stuff happens...) and Anakin takes his frustration out on Obi-Wan because he's his master and 'parent' Anakin rebels against. This comes to a head when Padme falls out of the gunship. Brilliant scene! Anakin gets in Obi-Wan's face, and then he won't listen to his Master and charges Dooku and gets what he deserved (the lightning and maybe the arm, too. He IS a slow learner ;) )

But everything is proceeding as I have forseen. Ha-hah-heh-heh-haa!