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Star Wars - Episode II, Attack of the Clones (Full Screen Edition)

Star Wars - Episode II, Attack of the Clones (Full Screen Edition)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is definently worth waiting in line to see.
Review: But you have to see it twice to be able to really appreciate it. I saw it the first time, and my eyes would go out of focus because it went too fast. But when I saw it the second time I loved it! (the first time I wasn't so sure) And if you read the book after you read the movie, well that makes it even better. You'll love this one. Believe me. My dad still calls Anakin a jerk, but hey, we all have our opinions. But here's mine. George did a good job, Hayden is great for the role, and Natalie puts a good look in it. I'm almost sure you'll enjoy it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent movie, for the middle of a trilogy
Review: Having spent nearly all day reading approximately a third of the 600 odd reviews of this movie, and seeing only one decent plot summary among them, I would, very quickly, like to remind any future reviewers who read this that we are here to review the movie itself and not each other's reviews. That said, a quick run down of the plot:

As the movie opens Senator (no longer queen) Padme Amidala returns to Coruscant for an important vote in the Senate over whether or not to create an Army of the Republic to assist the increasingly overburdened Jedi Knights in their defense of the galaxy. Amidala is opposed to the move, since she feels that a standing army would invite war rather than prevent it. For her trouble, Padme receives an assasination attempt from an unknown source. Palpatine, in his usual snake-oil style, claims patriotism, and demands, against Padme's wishes, that she be protected, and that the assasin be found. The Jedi council confers, and dispatches Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker as her protectors. Anakin realizes he is in love with Padme, and tells Obi-Wan so, which is why it is so mystifying that he makes the decision to leave the two of them alone together on Naboo while he fulfills his further assignment of discovering the source of a Clone army, ready and waiting for the republic, supposedly ordered ten years previously by a Jedi Council member thought long dead. (But honestly, who didn't see *something* like this coming from the moment they kissed in Episode I?)

Enough of that, I don't want to spoil everything.

Favorite spots:

Padme--Now it makes sense why Luke can defeat Vader in Return of the Jedi (trust me, the arena scene explains a lot--Sister's doin' it for herself! Yeah!)

Yoda--again, don't look at the spoilers of other reviewers down the page...just...trust me.

Lucas has done it again, with perhaps the greatest episode yet! I know for my part I enjoyed this one better than the original trilogy. Buy it!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: One more video game.
Review: With so many effects, it is hard to belive you are watching a movie (perhaps an animation). Although, it still provides great entertainment.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AMAZING!
Review: Star Wars - Attack of the Clones! was SPECTACULAR! It has everything! - monsters more terrifying than the Rancor, nicely designed vehicles, magnificent action scenes, awesome characters (way to go Jango Fett!), and countless other things!

My favorite scenes are: Obi-Wan jumping out of the window & he and Anakin pursuing Zam Wessel! I also love the sound Wessel's speeder makes when it's flying. The actress who plays her is also very hot!

Many people hate Jar Jar Binks but hey, every sci-fi movie needs humour or else it would be... boring. Bink's role in Star Wars is a necessity since he's a very cheerful and funny Gungan!

I think the movie deserved 4 Stars, not 3! For those who haven't seen the movie --- GO WATCH IT! Why? 'Cause it's an experience of a lifetime! And for those who disliked the love scenes, well I can understand why. Don't worry, you guys and gals will know true deep love someday...

Overall, George Lucas did an admirable and fantastic job in this 2nd episode of the 1st trilogy! Go see it and during the action scenes --- TRY NOT TO BLINK!... Especially when the all the Jedis arrive!...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Back on Track
Review: I was honestly disappointed with the first because there was so much potential wasted and in the second there were good and bad points, but for a die hard fan. I enjoyed it.

The fighting and action scenes at the end of the movie we just fantastic... Watching the Jedi fighting like that was just what we all dreamed of... Anakin's slide to the dark side is great. Padme looking great as usual and you have to love the white outfit!
Ewan seems to be getting better at portraying Obi-Wan. He was a little too wooden in the first move, but seems to be pulling it back together now.

The lightsabre duels with Dooku really show the difference between a Master and a standard Jedi. That is why these guys ruled. And as for Yoda, you just have to enjoy watching him fight.

I am still waiting for Mace to pull out his BMF wallet!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A few subtleties are in order here, my young apprentice.
Review: There are the reviews, and then there is the movie per se.

1. REVIEWS

The best critique was that of pundit Roger Ebert: the dialogue is "cloned" and unmemorable, the acting mildly wooden; otherwise, the film is excellent. As I watched this film, I could not help but feel that part of the "woodenness" of the dialogue was due to the fact that here we deal with characters in various positions of entrenched authority, all of whom have a social mantle to carry. Even - and perhaps especially - in the Anakin-Amidala relationship, there is a lot of barrier breaking that has to occur for these two.

Also, lovers are notoriously tongue-tied; it is the nature of the beast. I was most impressed with the manner in which Christensen successfully pulled off Anakin's protestation of love to Portman's Amidala by the fireside: it was straight Renaissance love poetry - sounding very much like Petrarch or Sir Philip Sidney - and he read it both beautifully and realistically. Compare Anakin's declaration of love to Amidala (if you've already seen the film) with these:

A rain of bitter tears falls from my face
And a tormenting wind blows with my sighs
Whenever toward you I turn my eyes,
Whose absence cuts me from the human race.
(Petrarch, Sonnet XVII)

But I in me am chang'd, I am alive and dead :
My feete are turn'd to rootes, my hart becometh lead,
No witchcraft is so evil, as which mans mind destroyeth.
(Sidney, Astrophil and Stella, Fifth Song, 76-78)

II. THE MOVIE

Two key points here are that Lucas is using "standard mythological images" and also making a movie "for children." He always reiterates this.

Jar Jar, then - taken mythologically - represents the seemingly benighted yet strangely handy buddy-understudy who saves the hero's neck. He fulfilled this role in PM by just happening to mention the "Grand Army" of the Gungans to Amidala while she dejectedly broods after her statements before the Senate, then again in AOTC in his requesting the Clone Army be used by the Republic; had Jar Jar not tabled that motion in the Imperial Senate, what would have prevented the destruction of the Jedi by Dooku?

Back in the Halls of the Jedi, I had a very good feeling about the way Yoda is shown interacting with a group of small children (junior Jedi); to me, that simple scene really sends an unmistakable signal to typically-marginalized young people that their views and thoughts are valuable, that they themselves - in the presence of adults sufficiently sensitive and perceptive - do indeed have a lot of meaningful good to offer this world. To me, that one scene speaks volumes about Lucas really meaning what he says about making these films "for children."

Typically, what we adults dislike - based on our reviews of the SW cycle - are the very scenes which connect to children: the unrealistic attack of the "teddy-bears" in the finale of ROJ, the rampant "Jar Jar-ization" of PM's climactic battle, the absolute zaniness of C-3PO in AOTC's final battle... Lucas appears to be employing these comic relief / emotional safety valve motifs to avoid cinematically traumatizing little people, and I feel this is a good thing indeed - something the "Next Generation Star Trek" movie producers would have done well to heed and learn from.

III. ART MIRRORS LIFE

In the 29th April, 2002 "Times" interview, Lucas spoke of how "all democracies eventually become dictatorships" because, roughly quoting, "the people allow it to happen." Given the spirit of the times and recent events - the popular demolition of the Bill of Rights by the Department of Justice's USAPATRIOT ACT - I find Lucas' observation both ironic and harrowingly prescient. Palpatine's "I love democracy" speech, his assurances of laying down his emergency powers once the current crisis is averted --- no; this all hits too close to home.

Also in that interview, George spoke of how the young Jedi Anakin's "attachment" to others - his mother and his beloved Amidala - leads to his downfall. This sort of thing is straight Christianity, Buddhism, what have you. This is life.

And that heart-wrenching motif, too, is characteristic of a tragic work of art. In much good tragedy, the sadness arises seemingly through no fault of any one, (e.g., "Oedipus Rex"). The tragedy just happened to arise in the very nature of things. While it could have been avoided (theoretically), somehow it was not...

IV. MY OWN REACTIONS TO "CLONES"

I really liked this film. It left me with a very upbeat feeling on leaving the theatre and - yes - one interviewer is absolutely right about the Yoda vs. Dooku scene; it is not only straight Aikido but also straight Kabuki: there have been several "great ones" who totter about routinely heaving heavy sighs but, when battle is joined or stagelights come up, these seemingly diminutive figures become transformed into greater-than-life titans...only to unassumingly return, once the moment has passed, to their kindly "benign old professor" ways.

What I personally did not enjoy was - again, as one reviewer remarks - the way the Jedi seemed to be "losing it." I saw PM on opening night, and will not easily forget the thrill that went through the audience when Obi-Wan flattened three attack droids with one gesture of his hand. I had hoped for more and greater. Still... I LIKED this film!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Star Wars: Contract of the Colon
Review: This movie is better than The Phantom Menace. But that is like saying that having a bowling ball drops onto your stomach is more enjoyable than having an anvil dropped on your stomach.

The original Trilogy is great. The Prequels are terrible.

The special effects are absolutely terrible. CGI of this type is never convincing. The stop motion effects of the original Trilogy are almost infinitely superior.

How can Watto fly like that? It looks totally absurd!

All the chases look fake. I hate movies like Mission Impossible or Driven where something blows up and a CGI wheel or other part comes flying from far away to do a close-up then falling away. It simply looks stupid. This movie is filled with that kind of unrealistic-looking nonsense.

R2D2 and C3PO still don't belong in the Prequels as much as I like them. Obiwan did not KNOW these droids. It was an important point in the Star Wars. The justification that he states he never owned droids is incredibly weak. I know that there are a lot of droids similar to R2D2 and C3PO but wouldn't R2D2 have come back with a bleep blip and a whirl to remind Obiwan that "Hey, we are THOSE 2 droids you extensively traveled with during all those adventures with Anakin." Instead he is totally clueless in the original Star Wars! No, the original Star Wars was supposed to be the first time that Obiwan met the droids. They were simply too popular to leave out and Lucas created a very stupid way to include them.

On the other hand, Lucas was kind to give less time to the unpopular JarJar. Now he's a Senator. Apparently he was made famous for all his war victories in Ep 1 that he had accidentally despite his complete bumbling mess-ups.

Yoda apparently was animated by Sega as he now jumps around like Sonic the Hedgehog even though he normally needs a cane to wobble around.

The love story drags on and on though I can't see any reason why Amidala would fall for Anakin. Like Sands through an hour glass so is the dialog between Amidala and Anakin.

Samuel Jackson displays none of his talent again. I think he is a great actor so I don't know what the deal is with his Mace Windu "performances".

I also didn't like the Boba Fett - Jango Fett backstory though I am getting too disgusted by this worthless prequel to care enough to make more comments now.

This movie is a piece of ...!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: accept it for what it is and realize possible explanations
Review: I really liked the movie in general but some of dialogue was unnatural or too formal. So as my title says, I try to accept it, even though I believe it needs improvement. A possible reason for Anakin and Padme having too much formal dialogue (as I would put it) is that they both grew up very fast.

We see Anakin in Ep.1 beyond his years as a boy and taken away from his mom to start his Jedi training because he's the *Chosen One*. Big load on anyone's shoulders. Padme was queen and now senator. Can you say, no personal life? I say this because I like giving people the benefit of the doubt and I understand that movies should be watched with an open mind instead of often exagerated expectations.

Someone else critized Natalie Portman's acting when she didn't react strongly to Anakin's slaughter of the sandpeople because it was horrible and over-exaggerated justice, which took him one big step towards the dark side. It would be believeable to say that Padme would think, in light of his mom's death and Anakin's anguish, they all deserved to die because they're a menace and a threat to peaceful people. On top of that, it wouldn't be appropriate to start scolding Anakin at that moment for killing all of them. She is a skilled negotiator and knows when to hold her tongue and when to speak.

I get frustrated when people become harsh critics of decent movies because most of the time they fail to understand characters' motives, the movement of the plot, etc.. In this case, Ep.2, we have dialogue that was stiff at times and given to young actors who did the best they could with it. I'm sure Sir Alec Guiness would've done a better job with the same lines but he's got decades of life and job experience over Hayden. Cut the kid some slack and try to enjoy the movies people. Just assume that Anakin spends too much time with fixing machines to know how be smooth with the ladies. HAHA!

Lastly, yeah Jar Jar was annoying but that doesn't mean he shouldn't exist! The Star Wars movies aren't a perfect universe where no annoying people ever exist. People should realize that you need to watch a movie not as a person in a theatre but as if you were a bystander in the story. Immersing yourself in the movie and not being critical allows you to enjoy the movie a lot more. Accept Jar Jar for what he is, an annoying character, but don't go wishing how the movie *should've* been. If everyone would do that you'd have a million different Star Wars movies. Accept them for what George wanted to portray and stop whining. :)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: this movie ruled
Review: ...This movie was great.first of i have to talk about the totall hottie natalie portman...shes a fine actress.yoda is my favorite character.HE KICKED IN EPS. 2!this is a great movie.go see it!PEACE

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Well, it is definitely the worst Star Wars
Review: After reading so much of the reviews on this and thinking back to the experiences I had when I watched the original trilogy in the theaters and Episode I, I have to really say this is the worst Star Wars to date. I think Hayden Christensen was wrongly cast, his acting did not make me believe enough and feel enough for him, there are so many fine actors out there that could have been chosen that could have done so much better a job, I just don't know what's up with Lucas anymore, perhaps he should let others handle some of the work or move it to younger people.

Comparing this movie, I guess you can't compare it to the original ones where it was such a rollercoaster ride, because you have characters from all different backgrounds thrown together in a mix of course they won't always agree with each other and that's what made it fun and develop over time into more seriousness, but when Luke became a Jedi, he was always serious, which is the tone of these new movies. I think these new movies are right in the tone, because the Jedi order is a very serious group of people and they hardly joke the way the first movies did, but there could have been way better acting to make it more real.

Finally, one really big point I'd like to make is that the music did not flow with the movie, this is one big part that I have to say was bad, a bad movie can be catapulted to a better position if the movie had good music that moves it, but it seems like the composer was not interested in this movie, wasn't emotionally charged like the first 3 movies. There were some really dead spots in the movie that just didn't have any music or sound at all, I think it made it dull. If you remember the first 3 movies, the music flowed so well and felt so good. It wasn't even evident in these new movies.

Well, with all this bad stuff to say about this movie, you're wondering why I even gave it 4 stars right? Since I am a Star Wars fan, growing up with it, I still have to give it justice and instead of the three stars I would have given it, I give it one more as a fan. I know you'll hate me for that one, but what can I say.


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