Attack of the Clones
 

I saw the first screening, the 12:01am, last night.

Seeing the film with geeks was quite nice. The atmosphere was dense and anticipatory beyong what I would have expected.

The lights dimmed, and we were treated to a film that was, quite frankly, so many times better than The Phantom Menace. Full of memorable scenes (Anakin and his mother and the scene that ensues, the Gladiator-esque colluseum, the droid factory, and of course, Yoda weilding a mean lightsabre) and at least one strangely ironic lines (in the bar, you'll know it when you hear it...)

The performances are all good. Ewan McGregor is a strong point (especially considering he reacts to a blue screen more than anyone else in the film). Hayden Christensen is also fairly good. There are so many points where he just stares ahead and you think, "This boy is no good." Which of course, makes sense. Natalie Portman, for me, was the only weak spot. There were so many times were she just seemed so lifeless and weak. Christopher Lee gave a creepy air of sophistication to the dark side and Yoda was very well animated (I was pleased to find that the animators didn't try at all to match his mouth movements with words he said, just general movement) and Mace Windu was Samuel L. Jackson for crying out loud.

I need not mention the special effects. But let me tell you, it's a great film. Dark and really enjoyable. Well worth staying up until three in the morning on a school night to catch early.

The reason I find it ironic that I saw it before Americans is because of Chris. For weeks Chris has been telling me, in hushed silence and fearfully excited anticipation, "Yoda's going to fight!"

And fight he does. Fought he did. The most awed and dead silent pin-drop moment of the film. But I'll stand by my guns. Yoda is simply agile, swift, well-spoken, full of the force, and wise.

But Mace Windu is the coolest mutherf*cker in the galaxy...

Correction:
For some of us, he already has...

:rotfl:

Well I thought about going and seeing it tonight, but changed my mind, there is NO WAY I would be able to stay awake at work tomorrow..

Of course, we all know what the atmosphere (in the theatre, that is) will be like. Stuffy and with a hint of body odor lingering. :laugh:

That's why I took tomorow off! Episode 2, Here I Come!!

-GTB

The atmosphere was the best part of the deal. Never had I been surrounded by so many geeks. But I loved it; loved their passion for it. And the film didn't let them down, it really didn't.

I'm very glad I went, despite being a dead man walking now...

After PM and the critic's reviews, I was a little worried about this movie, but what a surprise. The movie lived up to the hype for me. Great actions, dark and twisting plot...I love it.

Absolutely. We sat next to a group of guys who were in costume and had lightsabers (!) and it was excellent. I've never been so entertained while sitting in the theater the half-hour before the film starts (had to get good seats, you know). There was a mock lightsaber battle at the front of the theater between a Luke and an Anakin that was broken up by the theater people, who weren't even trying to keep straight faces. And when we booed them for taking away our show, the theater dude swept his hand out, Qui-Gon-style, saying, "These aren't the Jedi you're looking for."

:laugh: And that was before the movie even started.

The audience was incredible. They laughed at the right places and the wrong places and kept the chatter to a minimum. And when that one scene, where the little green guy starts whoopin' some a*s, came on--you couldn't hear anything but deafening shrieks and applause for the rest of the scene. It was just awesome. I couldn't imagine seeing it any other way.

The film itself was everything I expected it to be, in both good and bad ways. You guys know what to expect already--you know Lucas' particular strengths and deficiencies as a writer and director. And sure, the dialogue was... awkward (I'm being restrained here; my biggest beef with Lucas is that he thinks he can write dialogue), and the acting was... not so great (I agree with Silver about Portman, but I would include Christiansen in there--both of them were about as animated as Al Gore), and maybe the characters are two-dimensional, if they're lucky... but you know what?

It don't freakin' matter! It's a Star Wars movie! It's beautiful, and it's violent (PG-style), and it's all about the story--this huge epic story. I had a great time watching it, and I'll have a great time watching the next one.

My final thoughts: There were things that kicked a*s and there were things that sucked, but the things that kicked a*s kicked so much a*s that you just didn't care so much about the things that sucked. It was a great four hours of my life--and that counts the fifteen minutes we stood outside the theater and watched the thrilling conclusion to the battle, begun three hours before in the front of the crowded theater, between Luke and Anakin. Rock on, geeks!

And may the Force be with you.

Mary Lo-Kenobi

I could have seen it at 12:01, but I would have to miss school. Frankly, I wouldn't miss school just to see it. I might even have to wait until.....Saturday :eek: to see it.

I just have a few words to add: "I don't like the sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating--not like you. You're soft and smooth." :rolleyes:

How could you expect anyone to act if they have to work with lines like that?

YODA FOUGHT!

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Okay, as soon as I stop screaming at the top of my lungs, I'll sit down and write a "real" review. :yup:

Told you so.
Now maybe we can have decent conversations again...



:laugh:

Hello... OK I first have comments, and second I'm SADLY a bit confused....


please hook a brother up, I've watched SW since I was 3 , and this was confusing, thanks!!!!

Chill dude, its quite straight forward.



Mind you it did take two viewings to soak all that up!

Hope that clears up a few things

Attack of the Clones ROCKED. This is absolutely the coolest movie in years. I mean, Yoda busts out with the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon with a little bit of Dragonball Z for good measure..."The best, my Kung Fu is." Is Lucas a fan of Anime? Does anybody know? My brother swears he saw a little girl with a Sailor Moon hairdo in the ending of Phantom Menace...

Oooooooooooh man! We saw it on opening night at the Village in Westwood and it was sooooo fun! People HAVE to see it on opening night, even thought it's a bit too late, lol. It was beautiful. I screamed at everything. People had beachballs, lightsabers, costumes, EVERYTHING! It was beautiful.

SPOILERS











WHEN YODA OPENED HIS CLOAK TO FIGHT...OOOOOH MAN! I WAS THE FIRST TO SCREAM! I SCREAMED SOOOOOO LOUDLY, IT'S AMAZING!
We all booed Ben Affleck in the previews, cuz he sucks.
I was NOT expecteing the original trailer, but it was soo cool! I took pictures :B
It just rocked!

Okay, as everyone else It was great. I got mad at Anakin though, he was ticking me off about his complaining on how Obi-Wan is holding him back. But I guess it had to be done for him to be come Darth Vader.

Also, I was amazed by Yoda fighting? Why does he need the cane if he fights like that!? It was just absolutely amazing. At the theater I was at everyone started screaming and yelling when he opened his clock up like that. HA SUPER DEE DOOPER!

A few things I didn't understand though. Why did Mace Windu have a purple saber? According to George Lucas, Light sabers can only be in Red, Green and Blue. Only Siths fight with Red Sabers. My theory is this: If Red is for Sith(dark side), and Blue (or Green) is for Jedi Knights(light side) and Windu's saber is Purple, does this mean in episode II he is in the middle of turning on the Jedi Council and Yoda, and joining the Sith? Since Red and Blue makes purple (duh!)

In Episode 1 When Qui-Gon Jinn recounted his tale of his assault on Tatooine, the council rejected the idea that it could have been a Sith Lord. Windu's response was immediately said the sith could not exist and that Qui-Gon should not pursue the matter. Windu then said he would personally take care of the situation. Why is this significant, it means Windu is hiding something. But what? Did Windu know that Maul was attacking Qui-Gon, and wanted the council to turn its back on the situation by saying HE would be looking into it?

Since I wasn't able to find out how Windu's master was, I'm going to come to the conclusion of this information, that his master is now a Sith, but which one. Well it can't be Darth Maul. Maul's master was Darth Sidious, at least that’s my understanding when Sidious says in Episode 1: "I have trained you well young Jedi apprentice" or something like that. As we all know Palpatine is the Darth Sidious. SO! Does this mean Palpatine is Windu's master? And is what Windu doesn’t want the council to find out? (That Palpatine is the Sidious, and Maul is Palpatine (sith masters) apprentice) Sounds odd, but could be right. Is this also why Windu wanted to give all power to the Chancellor?

The other thing is Padme's new body guard, Captain Typho - Senator Padme's Bodyguard, he had the eye patch. Now a friend noticed this and it brought concern to me too... Didn't that guy look exactly like one of the guys in the bunch of clones when they were eating. The clone was looking at his plate and looked up and looked at Obi-Wan when he was walking through the corridors. I swear it looked like Captin Typho! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN HERE? Okay: Captain Typho is the nephew Captain Panaka, Amadala's old guard. So where did Typho come from, why did he step up to replace Panaka? Any opinions?

Actually, Samuel L. Jackson just wanted to be the only dude with a purple light saber. He bugged Lucas...who eventually gave in. There's no hidden meaning behind it. :)

I don't recall them rejecting it outright, but even if they did, at the end of the flick, Yoda and Windu discuss the Sith...fully acknowleding (albeit a little late) that the Sith is indeed in existence.

Nope. Yoda wanted to give him power, too...they've all been fooled. Yes, Maul was Sidious' Sith Apprentice. Windu is defintely not an apprentice, though; after Yoda he's the most powerful and influential Jedi in the Council. Besides...

God, that just ruined everything now. If thats the only reason Jackson did that, he can sit on it! :rolleyes:

I remember they did say there is no sith. And Windu wanted to leave it at that by saying he would personally look into it. Why did he say he would look into it? At the end they do discuss the Sith because Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan both fight Darth Maul, of course they would discuss it. But why didn't they believe Qui-Gon at when he came to him saying he was attacked.

The thing about never having more then one apprentice... what was Yoda doing with those kids in the room where they were doing the exercise with the sabers... hm?

Who was Windu's master then, he had to have been trained by someone?:indifferent:

Yeah, that got me, too. All this talk about, "Our little Ani, all grown up," and every other sentence out of his mouth sounds like a whiny ten-year-old. Urg. I know it's all set up for the Big Turn to the Dark Side, but it could've been more subtle.

But I do have to give Lucas credit for having some balls with Anakin's character--some truly dark stuff in there.

Yeah, Natalie Portman was a weak spot in the cast, I thought.
The problem wasn't hers though, and nor were any other crummy acting jobs, or -- for example -- badly delivered ten-year-old like lines.

They were Lucas' fault. He can't direct relationships.

Regarding the New Zealander who played Jango Fett and the Australian who played Padme's bodygaurd -- they're different guys.

It's funny. I can point out every Australian in that cast.
Owen Lars, for example. And his Dad. Both Australian. As was Owen's girlfriend. And Padme's hand-maiden. And Jango's apprentice that Obi-wan and Anakin pursue through the city...

So many. Bizarre to watch knowing that many others won't know that. Owen's father, the hover-chair guy, he's a very big star.

I'm done.

No, SB, I agree with Phaux. The guy who played Typho also appeared on Kaminoa as a clone. At least they looked almost identical. Not saying that this has anything to do with the story just someone playing two roles. If you look in the Ep II visual dictionary they do look like the same guy. Also during the scene where Obi-Wan, Ko Sai and Taun We are observing the clones I swear when they panned up there was a structure that looked amazingly like a certain USS Voyager. Watch it, you'll see what I mean!

Did anyone else spot Ahmed Best (Jar Jar) in the night club scene? They panned to him three or four times. What was Damien from Home And Away doing dealing drugs on Coruscant? (One for the Australians and British i feel!)

Also those kids were just being taught in the academy. Yoda was their teacher, not their master. He is the most powerful Jedi there is so it would make sense that he would want to pass on his knowledge.

Did anyone else pick up on the Jedi's decreasing ability to use the force? This must be really significant in the next one.

I also thought it was really clever when the Imperial March was used on a couple of occasions to show the gradual move towards the Empire.

I don't know why considering he is wrong.
Temuera Morrison, a New Zealander, played Jango Fett.
Jay Laga'aia, an Australian, played Typho. He did not play a clone.

Jay, by the way, also plays Ugluk, the cheif of the Urak-Hai in The Two Towers.


I agree regarding the use of the Impreial March.
There were a few times where it was integrated nicely into the score, just the chords, and it was a provider for a nice undertone. Then of course they whipped it out later in all it's glory and it was just like "Okay, here we go..."

Clearly Jango Fett was a different guy. He doesnt really come into my argument anyway.

Many of the clones did not really look like Temuera Morrison anyway. All i'm saying is there were many extras they used as clones, probably all of New Zealand/Maori (whatever) descent to give the same look. Many other actors in the film played two roles, Silas Carson and Antony Daniels come to mind. Im pretty sure they got Jay Laga'aia in with this crowd. Typho and this clone look too similar for it to be a coincidence. Why pay an extra when youve got people on set to do the same job? This doesnt appear on Imdb i know but check out the Visual Dictionary you'll see what I mean.

Again I stress, nothing to do with the story, just an actor appearing twice.

Maybe you're right, I don't know or care to argue, but it would seem very stupid on the part of Lucas to choose someone, like a semi-main character, to play such a significant clone role...

Well, keep in mind they've been fooled this whole time, and are just finally realizing it. Obviously in Episode I they didn't know what was going on either.

Those weren't his apprentices. He was just giving a little instruction, dude. :)

As Mr. Lars said, they just came and took her away very violently...

Silver, I can see where a lot of the problem could come from Lucas, and there is no doubt that all of the Anakin/Padme scenes stank. But lines like,



There are ways to say lines like this without sounding prepubescent, but (either because of Lucas' direction or because of Christiansen's acting) in Episode II, they sound like a whiny little kid, and it detracts from the power of learning how frustrated Anakin is. His character suffers. He's not a flawed man--he's not even an adult yet, mentally.

Of course (devil's advocate stepping in), that could be part of Lucas' plan for Anakin's character... :dizzy:

I disagree. I thought Christensen was quite good whenever he had to be intense...I found him, for example, to be very believable when he was furious...and fairly believable when he was despondent. Sure, a few lines sucked...but I think the writing contributed to that. Overall I was pleasantly surprised by his performance.

I think it's far too easy to forget that people in real life talk different from people in most movies...sometimes, when a movie has characters that sound whiny, or immature, it's hailed as poor acting or writing...but that's not the case unless Lucas was going for something different. Maybe a whiny kid is what he wanted. Anakin is not what I would call immature...but he's not sufficiently mature for the massive power he carries. That's the impression I've got...and a few babyish/whiny sounding lines fit well with that message.

Yeah, good point--that's what I was getting at with the devil's advocate thing...

And I agree that Christiansen has the look. He used facial expressions pretty well throughout, especially in the angry and/or smoldering department. And he's not a bad actor--I've seen him in Life as a House, and he was pretty good in that movie, so I know he can act.

I don't know. Maybe it was his voice, maybe the delivery. It's definitely the lines. Maybe I need to see the movie again. Maybe it's the character. Maybe I'm retarded. :eek:

I need to see it again. That's all there is to it. I need to gather more sufficient evidence. In the interest of science, I will go to the theater again... And such a hardship that will be... :D

I don't no, a 19 year old whining about how its unfair. Sure, girls mature faster then boys, but at 19 I wouldn't be saying "Its Not Fair!"

Christ, the kid grew up as a slave, so for him to say its unfair what he's doing to him is B.S.

Anakin might have also been doing it to have Padme feel sorry for him? Don't no.

I can remember from my psychology class a year back where full grown adults can be sent back to there childish behavior. I forgot what the disorder is, but I know there is a name. I'll go through my old notes and let you know. ;) I think this is what Anakin was going through. To much stress, to much repression and perhaps it got to him where he had to whine.

He is only a still just a teenager.

Attack of the Clones has the most unsuccessful romance I've ever had the displeasure of seeing on the screen. It's the closest thing I've seen to a 'snuff' movie watching Haydn Christensen and Natalie Portman die up there while millions watch. Chemistry? Those two have never been in love and it shows; they don't know how to act it. It's closer to soap opera than space opera. I almost walked out after the roll in the hay. But I'm thankful I didn't because the final act is electric. C3PO returns and all is well in the universe. C3PO (and R2 to a lesser degree) is the heart of Star Wars. He provides the fun that makes it childish and innocent again. The moment when he loses his head is up there with the best Star Wars moments along with Yoda's fight which is a significant crowd-pleaser. The film would be a dud without C3PO and Yoda. And maybe McGregor who gives the film its traces of humanity. Unfortunately the other two droids don't offer even a glimpse.

Are you kiddin' me? I wasn't nuts about the chemistry, but I didn't feel it to be particularly lacking. I would take issue further, but I'd rather argue about C3PO, who I thought was awful. Far worse than Jar-Jar ever was. Quite frankly, the two both annoy the heck outta me. The only thing I liked about C3PO in the original flicks was the fact that he gave Han Solo something to constantly hate.

I mean, did you hear those God-awful jokes he made while being dragged along by R2? I was cringing.

Naturally, however, we'll find agreement on the subject of Yoda. He was TOO cool.

Praise Jesus! Someone agrees with me!

I found the writing to be poor, corny, and full of bad laughs. I liked watching Yoda kick ass, and I liked the battle scene with all the Jedis, and I liked the chase through the capital, and I liked those crazy worm things. That's about it.

Mace Windu is very cool...

:D

The romance was dead before it even started, dialogue between Christensen and Portman was terrible.

Only person(s) that knew how to take a bad script and actually make use out of it was McGregor and Jackson, IMO.

Not lacking? They seemed like two cold fish that were all of a sudden flopping around together. Not to mention that Anakin seems a little bi-polar. That would scare off most any girl.

I'm disapointed that Jar-Jar had ANY screen time in this movie, let alone any lines. But I thought that C3PO was great, much like himself from the originals. It was R2 that I was disapointed in. What was up with those booster rockets? If he's got booster rockets, why the hell didn't he use them in Return of the Jedi on the sand barge?!? You can't just throw something like booster rockets in!

Total agreement here! :yup:

-GTB

Well, like I said: I think we've been spoiled. It's easy to forget that most movies do NOT show us people as they really are...they always speak too precisely, for one. In real life, people don't always fall for each other that way. This isn't supposed to be a torrid romance...we all know it won't last.

Anyway, it didn't bother me.

C'mon, you couldn't have possibly liked those jokes. "I'm beside myself."? :rolleyes:

As for the rockets: I dug them. And yes, you can throw them in...especially if you depict their destruction in Episode III. :D

:laugh: Totally!

On the next intergalactic Maury: Twenty-Something Girls Who Love Tormented Teenage Jedis Who Are Being Held Back By Their Mentors/Father Figures.

I just came back from seeing it, and I've got to say I'm quite dissapointed. Sure, the last part with all the fighting was really good, but the rest of the movie simply sucked. I did not find the love scenes bearable, they were horrible. I also found C3PO to be annoying, but I always have, so that don't matter. My biggest dissapointment was that Jar Jar didn't die.

I may be overreacting a bit thoug...the couple next to me in the theatre cuckled at EVERYTHING! Not just all the one liners and such, which would have been bad enough, they cuckled at everything:furious: It totally ruined the movie. Everytime someone said something someone seriously starved for entertainment might call funny, I stardet thinking "don't laugh, don't laugh, please don't laugh". They always did.

Anyway, I'm hammering the keys on my keyboard now, I should probably take some minutes to cool off

That is CLASSIC 3PO! I laughed my self silly. :laugh:

You seem to be forgetting that R2 is a Repair droid. And between the time of Episode III and A New Hope, R2 lives (at least for some time) on a starship where repair parts are rather plentiful. Lucas should have skipped the rockets. :yup: Why couldn't have R2 just patched into the data port and extended the catwalk, problem solved?

Oh and one more thing, when Anakin goes to rescue his mother from the sand people, she seemed way too healthy to just die like that. I expected her to be less coherent, voice barely audible, you know, more convincing.

-GTB

umm...is it just me, or isn't it a little weird that Anakin grew up so fast, but Natalie Portman's character looks exactly the same :/

Well, firstly, repair droid or not, mobility is helpful...it doesn't mean he's suddenly a BATTLE droid just because he can fly around a little. Secondly, extending the catwalk wouldn't have done jack...he went all through the factory to save Amidala.

I dunno, she seemed pretty inaudible/mumbly to me.

That doesn't bother me too much. The difference from, say, 8 to 18, and 16 to 26 (I think those are the ages, roughly), are quite different. So, I found it fairly plausible. Jake Lloyd looked a LITTLE younger than he was supposed to, I think...he's a pretty short kid, methinks.

What I find funny is the fact that we're talking about Star Wars, this amazingly fantastical saga of unreal proportions and people get down to the knitty-gritty and complain that some one didn't age, or someone spoke too clearly.

It film for crying out loud!!
And even then, it's Star Wars!!

Who cares?!
It was fun!!

I totally agree with you Silver. All I kept thinking about while reading these posts was how much people are complaining :( At least it was way better than Episode I, which I cannot even watch, even though Ewan McGregor is in it. I have to admit some of the parts got kind of boring (all the parts Ewan wasn't
onscreen) With the way critics were talking and people were talking I expected the love scenes to be a lot worse than they really were. Let's face it, its a science-fiction movie written by a guy (and mostly for guys) and you can't expect the love scenes to be Oscar material or something. Besides, Star Wars is about everything, not just the love story, so just enjoy it. Anyways, I am just happy, I got my wish. Ewan McGregor got a chance to show his stuff and he proved just how cool Obi-wan is. My dad even stopped criticizing Obi-wan and took back all the things he said about Ewan McGregor (he still can't pronounce his name right, though) :)

I loved it, everything about it.

there was no way of doing it better, besides not casting hayden christenson. But i was ok with the love-part, because i dont really like romance and it was realistic, there were all kinds of awkward pauses, really bad jokes with fake laughter afterwards, it was funny.

Mace is a pimp, you knew that lightsaber was gonna be purple velvet.

i saw it twice this weekend, and will hopefully see it again.

my NEW star wars order goes like this:
1. Empire
2. Return of the Jedi
3. Clones
4. A New Hope
5. Episode 1

are you sure we all saw the same movie?

i mean come on, the entire thing was Lucas showing off his flashy new computer technology. the acting was terrible - particularly Anikan - I mean honestly, I wasn't expecting much, but could he convey one emotion except 'vacant'?

this movie honestly made Episode I look good - people are talking about how much darker this movie is, but they only possibly dark scenes i noted were the removal of Anakin's arm, and his mother's death. and even then, Ugh! the whole thing just reeked of artificiality - the computer graphics were just too "clean", if that's a way to describe. the models looked so much better.

and don't forget the terrible writing, and laughable love scenes.

let's just hope Lucas has something good nestling up his sleeve for Episode III.

of course, this is entirely my opinion. i'm not trying to come off as sophisticated or pretentious - if a movie entertains me, ill admit it, so just remember that before you begin to feverently disprove what i said

yes except some of us saw the last 45 minutes

There was more to it than just the last forty-five minutes though as well.

The battle with Jango Fett.
The chase with the seedy bar and Zem Wessel.
Anything with Obi-wan Kenobi.
The chase through the asteroid field.
The colluseum.
Mace Windu.
Tatooine and the Sand People.

It was just fun!
Good or bad isn't the point!

:D

Well if you saw my review on the main site that's how I feel about it.

The romance was weak (borderline bad soap opera), Christensen's acting was terrible, his emotions weren't really sending out the "feel sorry for me" message, and he was just all around bad (and I'm not talking about his dark side issues).

Portman was better when she had 50 pounds on her head and didn't say much.

McGregor was awesome as was Jackson in his small but very productive scenes.

Lucas had better stop treating us with eye candy and had better start playing on this galaxies emotions rather than those that are meant for a galaxy far, far away.

Oh yeah, YODA FOUGHT!!!

The movie kicked ass, it was a general pleasure to watch from begging to end, I would have stayed in my seat even if the cinema set of fire, The bit where Anakin goes made with the sand people kicks ass!

I saw this movie this Friday and I thought it was very entertaining. It was definitely a vast improvement over Episode I and I would recommend it. Sure, story, acting, plot development, and characterizations aren't first-rate. But folks Star Wars has never been about that. Go back and look at the other films in the series and you will recognize, I believe, that Star Wars films were never wonderful because of their first rate acting or striking plot developments. I wasn't disappointed, and after the last film I think that speaks volumes.

I saw it at 12:01 Thursday morning. The crowd was fantastic. Half the people I was with were dressed up, we played a rousing game of Star Wars trivial pursuit (I got my ass whipped big time), and had a lightsaber duel while waiting in line. The crowd laughed, cheered, booed, and did everything that they were supposed to. So, naturally, for the most part, the atmosphere made almost all of it great.

I really enjoyed Hayden Christienson when he wasn't trying to be incredibly intense. The lines like, "Master Obi-Wan would be very grumpy if he knew I was doing this" (or something like that) and "I'd be much too frightened to tease a senator" made me really like his character.

Although I almost hate to open myself up to getting things thrown at me like this, Yoda's fight scene kept making me laugh. When I was a little kid my sister and I had stuffed animals. We would pretend that our stuffed animals were gynmasts, and make up these intricate flying through the air routines for them. Yoda reminded me of a stuffed dog doing cartwheels. I've also heard him compared to a bumblebee.

Mace Windu. While Samuel L. kicked some keister, who does he think he is? Shaft? Lines like "Party's over" also made me laugh a lot and take him less seriously.

I really did like how Yoda's theme was minus some cellos and some brass was tossed in instead to emphasize how cool he really is.

Gigolo Joe brings up a good point about the movie's excessively "clean" CGI. It was too much. Yoda was the best CGI creation I've yet to see but that's only because they are restricted in their design of him because of Frank Oz's work in the fifth episode.

Remember Episode IV to VI. The Milennium Falcon was a heap of junk (but it's got it where it counts kid). C3PO and R2D2 were rusty and old. Even the costumes looked worn-out.

Episode 1 & 2 showcase the superiority of Peter Jackson's Special Effects Company - Weta. The effects in Fellowship were dirty. Jar Jar Binks clothes are always well-ironed. The ships seem to be just washed. Etc.

But that's progress for you.

And the series is dead without Han Solo. We need a cynic on screen for the cynics like me and other's who are disinterested in the series. Han Solo ruled the world.

Leia: I Love You.

Solo: I Know

I wish George had allowed the two lovers to be as cool in Episode II.

I don't think "cool" would have suited the story he was telling via their relationship; but that doesn't mean I don't disagree with your point about there needing to be a cynic on screen.

* * * * *

Oh, please.
Take him seriously?
For the last time people, IT'S STAR WARS!

'This party's over.' What's not to love?

And now, a non nerd review...

The romance was weak (borderline bad soap opera), Christensen's acting was terrible, his emotions weren't really sending out the "feel sorry for me" message, and he was just all around bad (and I'm not talking about his dark side issues).

Portman was better when she had 50 pounds on her head and didn't say much.

McGregor was awesome as was Jackson in his small but very productive scenes.

The first half of the movie had me wishing the love story didn't exist while waiting to see the scenes with Obi. The second half, after Obi and Ani were reunited was good. The colleseum part reminded me of Gladiator but that was ok cuz the monsters were so cool. The Yoda fight was just another swordfight to me. It didn't make me want to rejoice and kiss my neighbor or anything. Dooku was a way better villian that that stupid Darth Maul who only lasted 5 minutes. Dooku may have been the best guy in the movie.

This movie is hard to grade. The love subplot gets a D for the Ani/Padme scenes. I'd give it an F but it was visually pleasing, and the rest of the movie gets a B. Overall grade must be C cuz the loveline drags it down.

Is it worth quitting your day job to wait in line to see? No.
Is it worth seeing over and over again? No
Should you wait for the video? Probably not, some things look better on the big screen. Go see it at the movies, once.

That looks surprisingly similar to mine...WOW...

You have to remember at the end of the day the star wars films were U's and originally aimed at the younger generation, the "nerd" fade that's arose from it doesn't change what a great movie it was. Ani's acting was good, you do better!

Basically I think George Lucas is doing a top job at his prequals and more power to him!!!!!

Some scenes Hayden's not "Ani's" acting wasn't too bad. Those scenes were few and far between, though.

What do you expect a Science Fiction movie to attract? Jocks? Star Wars was a big nerdfest to begin with. :D

Huh? What's a U?

I copied you cuz I thought you said it best Spuddy.

Huh? What scenes? You mean when he said "Oh, you know me Master, I couldn't find a speeder I liked" with the same tone of voice as when he said "Why did she have to die!?" and "Not just the men, I killed women and children too" Blaaaah! What a rotten job.

At first the love story was kind of interesting cuz he says he's been in love with her for 10 years. So like what, when he was 6, 8? At first I thought that was kind of stupid but then I thought about it. Hmm.. maybe he's psychologically damaged somehow. Plus he's obsessed with Padme. This might be good. Then I couldn't figure out why she fell in love with him, maybe he was so obsessed he did the Jedi mind control thing. So then Luke and Leia were born from a lie. That would have been good! But that didn't happen and the rotten acting made me realize the whole love storyline sucked.

When I say non-nerd I mean I'm not the kind of guy who watches every episode 20 times to count the number of hairs on Yoda's head to tell my friends of the discrepancys.

Alrighty Sun, I will let you slide this time. :D

Christensen didn't have any range, just like sun said. If he improves for Episode III I'll back off.

Bah. Bah bah bah. He didn't say it with anywhere near the same tone of voice. I thought his little rant on the Raiders was PERFECT. Especially the part where he said "I HATE THEM!" That was flawlessly delivered...he was crying, but completely irate...and his lip was, I think, trembling. It was very convincing, IMO. I don't care what ya'll say: he handled intensity fairly well, IMO.

I don't think so...I just think he was completely smitten. It doesn't seem completely ridiculous to me.

No way. The Jedi mind trick only works on the weak-minded, remember? And we all know her character is far from weak-minded.

I think she fell in love with him 'cause he's Mr. Hottie-Intense-Black Cape-Almost Jedi-Guy. He floated a piece of fruit across the table... what woman could resist? :laugh:

Using the Force to impress a girl... the first sign of the turn to the Dark Side...

=) I agree. The ability to levitate fruit is sexy.

I dunno if someone already mentioned this, but there's this huge thing about how when Obi-Wan died, he dissapeared into the Force, but when Qui-Gon, Darth Maul, and Darth Vader die, they don't dissapear. My little theory is that Obi-Wan was ready to die...he basically surrendered, while the others weren't prepared to die...eh?

Qui Gon wasnt good enough, you have to be like yoda good, and obi wan was. Maul was on the same level as Qui Gon and Vader actually did join the force

I don't know if it's just Jedi Masters. I think there's something else there that will be revealed in Episode III. That's just my opinion, though...I do think being "ready to die" might have something to do with it.

Alright, I will. Just have me in touch with George Lucas, and we'll see if we can work something out for Episode III :p

I got an 8, which is Luke Skywalker. :D

Back to the movie. :D

Let me clarify that in whole, Christensen's acting wasn't all bad, but the majority of it was poorly delivered.

I got 3 that's darth maul!! Which sucks.

Did anyone catch that lame anti-smoking thing

"Hey wanna buy death sticks?"

A 7--and I am Mace Windu, a Supreme bad-a*s Jedi who resonates with the Force. Whoo-hoo! Thanks for the link, Val!

And yup:

I competely agree, Spud.

I'm Han Solo but you all knew that already, right? :)

I got an eight -- I think that makes me Luke. I wasn't paying much attention, though. Some of the questions were pretty funny; like the one about shiny floors. :laugh: I'm just pissed that I didn't get to be Yoda, of course.

I am Mace Windu.

And Mace Windu fought!

:laugh:

"This party's over."

i think he should ahve used the rules of engagement shoot the mother f***ers!

Hmm... there's a good question. Would you rather have a light saber or a blaster if you were in a battle for your life? A light saber would be cool, but without the Force, it wouldn't be as effective as a blaster--a high-tech Colonel Colt's Equalizer.

And o'course, I'd rather not be involved in any activities which might result in a battle for my life...

2 "The Servent Of Evil"

Fear My Wrath!!!! Muahahahahahaha!!!!!

-Darth T. Bunny

I loved the movie as a whole...there's some stuff I would have changed...but nothing major. Nice touch having that beast thing rip the mid-section of Padme's outfit off, very subtle. :rolleyes:

Anyway, regardless, Yoda DID fight...so all is well. D

6! I'm a Princess! Leia that is, hahaha!

I got a four.

I am Grand Moff Tarkin.
I exterminated billions of souls, apparently.

Pretty accurate.

A "U" is a British film rating. It means Universal and is the lowest rating a film could actually get. Basically means that there is nothing violent or offensive in the film. I believe there is also a Uc rating now which is "Universal especially for children." Not entirely sure what the US equivalent is. A G perhaps?


Im a 4 on the Forceometer. Grand Moff Tarkin.

Bit disturbed about the text and people having seen my "Grand Moff!" Or am i reading innuendo into something that isnt there? I'll let you decide:

"You are the dark side's bureaucrat, a bloodless executive who gives the order to exterminate billions of souls. You have murdered everyone who has seen your "Grand Moff," although it is less hairy than it was in its prime."

:eek:

Oh yeah, and wasn't the guy selling them, that kid from The Matrix that created the "woman in the red dress?"

:yup: Looked it up.

I knew it. :D That's one cool kid.

Okay, took the quiz : I'm Mace Windu,"...a supreme bad-ass Jedi who resonates with the force. Yoda is your best mate."
Coolness. :)

I got an 8. Luke Skywalker. Wonky face and all.

Mace Windu lines:

10. You dont need to see my godd*mn identification, cause these aint the motherf*ckin droids youre looking for.

9. Womp rat may taste like Pumpkin pie, but I'll never know, cause even if it did I wouldnt eat the filthy motherf*cker.

8.This is your fathers lightsaber. When you absolutely,positively, have to kill every motherf*ckin stormtrooper in the room, accept no substitutes.

7. If Obi Wan aint home, I dont know what the f*ck were gonna do. I aint got no other connections on Tatooine.

6. Feel the force, Motherf*cker.

5. What aint no planet I ever heard of. Do they speak Bocce on what?

4. You sending the Fett? sh*t, Hutt, thats all you had to say!

3. Yeah Chewie Rocky Horrors got a hair problem. Whats a brother gonna do, hes a Wookie.

2. Does Yoda look like a b*tch?

1. Hand me my Lightsaber. Its the one that says 'bad motherf*cker'.

Sorry if you find it offensive, but :laugh:

Awww...those were worth the five seconds it took to read 'em. :yup:

The one I quoted, I actually said in the theater...it's the obvious choice. :laugh:

Those were funny as sh*t, Joe! :laugh:

Me, too--Sades, we are the baddest muthaf*ckas in the universe!

Here! Here! :cool:

OK I'm writing this without reading all the posts simply because there's too many so if you've already had excessive arguments about something, just crucify me.

In one word I'd sum this film up as: ugh!

I have a problem with this film as I have with most of the ones I've seen recently. CGI. I can't stand it. Especially if it's as shoddy as it was here. For Christ’s sake he slices the pear, and Natalie Portman doesn't even look like she's biting into it. I hate how crispy everything looks, it's just absolute ****e, it's not eye-candy, it doesn't look spectacular it looks and feels tacky, but worst of all, the transition between CGI and set pieces is too blatant, and sometimes it's so tackily filmed it almost feels like you're in the studio. The end battle reminded me of Starship Troopers no end... as a matter of fact I began to wish I was watching it :D

Why all the praise for Samuel l Jackson? Am I missing something? I think he had a total of 10-12 minutes on screen presence which went practically unnoticed.

Any scene with Natalie Portman and Hayden "I'm crap at acting" Christensen were gut-wrenchingly bad they made sunset beach look like quality programming. Don't try and kid me with this romance bollocks there was nothing going on at any point in time, no chemistry between the actors (not like lukey boy would care) no signs of any love, the puns of Anakin turning to the dark side were dire, I shan't comment on his teenage angst (Mary Lo summed it up quite adequately :)) his mother dying made the entire audience crack up, the entire thing was a pile of rancid sh*t. (ok i'm getting a little too passionate, it was bog standard crap)

So besides the crap acting, crap dialogue and close to crap action what's any good? The music captures the mood wonderfully, so even if you close your eyes at the on screen you can still feel the tension at the right times ;)

Oh, and no doubt about it, Yoda was f***ing cool. A nod should also go to the pokies during the final scenes which is as much eye candy as you're going to get from that film :D

There seems to be this thing going on where if it's star wars it's a good film before it's made, the hype is also ridiculous because it makes you expect a half decent film... I genuinely don't understand any of this "phenomenom" and wtf was with the fricken hairstyles, I'm sure the ponytail and the braid made Anakin feel like a right nonce, which obviously had a detrimental affect on his acting capabilities, whereas if he was allowed to sport a hairstyle as natural as Mr.McGregor's, then he would have pulled off a better performance :D

If it were a "good film before it's made," then I doubt people would have been so harsh wish Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Fact is I think this is hailed as a good film because, well, it's a good film. I found the overwhelming majority of the CGI work to fit in very nicely. There was a LOT of CGI here, bud. Tons. I think some of it was good enough that it wasn't criticized or praised, because you weren't aware it was CGI in the first place.

I found the look and the feel of the movie to be spectacular. I don't want realism. I want realistic, but slightly cartoonish. That's what we got, IMO.

Over here a phantom menace was critisezed but was still given good reviews and as one stale reviewer noted "you have to see it because it's star wars. Same mag this year said something along the lines of "we gave 4 stars out of 5 for phantom menace so we're obliged to give ATOC 5 stars this time round" Ugh how pathetic :rolleyes:

The CGI stood out for me, it was just so incredibly blatant it didn't mix in at all... the best examples of the most obvious being any scene with a flying gizmo in... for instance, Obiwan is strolling around the asteroid belt you see his shop from a far, looks and feels like CGI, zoom into R2 and... oh no it's obviously a pile of cardboard crap we got from costcutters.

Noteworthy point - I don't think I'm meant to fall under the "target audience." This film was not made to be enjoyed for people like me. I don't want realism either, I want to be absorbed by it, I don't want to be able to picture the camera movements and spot the lighting.

Okay, with all that you've said, Fezzie...and I agree with most of it; It's still fun.

#1. I was really upset that Yoda was CGI. When we first see Yoda, in the old movies...he's a muppet; he's tangible. That's why I fell in love with him. He was so little and cute, I wanted to squish him. Now, he's just this image. Yeah, he has better facial expressions and whatever...but except for the fight scenes, he should have still been a muppet.

#2. The threat: I don't like the CGI monsters and aliens, either. Part of what made the first movies kinda scary when you were a kid, was all the sick looking aliens and monsters...like Jaba the Hutt and that weird thing in the sand that almost ate Han Solo...it was scary because it looked real. Those things in the arena; in AOTC, didn't even worry me. They were so obviously computer animated. :rolleyes:

However,
Despite everything, it's still fun to watch. I don't really hold these movies to the same standards of all the rest of the movies. I know that sounds really unfair, but c'mon...it is the Star Wars series, Fezzie...

My mission is to spread the truth so I don't have to put up with another blasted marketing campaign and newspaper stories of morons waiting 35 days in line to get the first showing of a film which is just like every other.

The series is not as good as it should be, it's just a Lucas Money Garuntee package, along with the PC Games and all the toys, mugs, lunchboxes and all the other merchandise...

In terms of it being fun hype yourself up to hiking in scotland for long enough and you could very well enjoy yourself :eek: :eek: :eek: We had a laugh at the film, but we also laugh at films like Bad Taste. But Bad Taste didn't take itself seriously...

I don't care if Lucas is making tons off of merchandising. What's it matter, movie-wise? I'm happy for the guy. People want to buy the action figures, so he sells them. God Bless him for it. I'm more concerned with the movie, and with Lucas making money, so that he'll keep making the movies he makes. So far, I like the movies (yes, both of them), and he's making buttloads of money. I'm happy. :)