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

Rating:
Summary: How to tear down mythological history in one film
Review: There's a top gun in filmmaking now, and DEFINITELY is NOT George Lucas anymore. It took only 2 movies (I prefer to not mention Episode I) to tear down a great modern mythology as Star Wars. Episode II is the secuel of what happens when you let your creativity let loose and let the special effects rule rather than what made the original Star Wars great: the STORY.

I have been a fan since the first release of the trilogy in 1977, and honestly I am not interested in watching such displays of Lucas' self indulgence by repeating himself in such pittyful ways with those "cameos" and "homages" to the classic trilogy.

For me, Star Wars was about BREAKING GROUND in every way: new planets, new situations, new shots, new music, new perils... but with the prequel trilogies, it comes about to hear stupid plotlines taken by the original ones ("You must join me, Obi-Wan...and together we will destroy the Sith"...where have I heard that before and with a better impact?), a never duplicated asteroid chase sequence in The Empire Strikes Back by having this trilogy have its own asteroid chase but with poor results.

Unfortunately, the ultimate winner wanted to replace one of the most classic love scenes in movie history with POOR results... that false "I truly...deeply love you" will never compare to that bittersweet "I love you... I know" by a single shot.

And the DVD follows the same line, poor documentaries, bloopers without fun and the deleted scenes section depict where everything goes: making money instead of delivering the goods by telling a good story instead of attracting fans by watching what was lost... sometimes the deleted scenes were better than those in the film.

Unfortunately, there's still a lot of story to tell and only 2 hours to do it... let's hope that Lucas uses that chance to its fullest, but in the meantime I am still thankful that he had the vision of filming the classic trilogy first because that vision is not there anymore.

Rating:
Summary: Much better than I anticipated
Review: As lame as Phantom Menace was, I gave it the benefit of the doubt nonetheless and called it a plot beginning set up to the pivotal events that would later take place in this trilogy of Star Wars prequels. Episode II: Attack of the Clones suceeds far beyond The Phantom Menace in terms of pacing, action, story, and acting (well, somewhat anyway). Ewan McGregor seems to gain more and more of an Alec Guiness-esque persona in his role as the younger Obi-Wan, while Samuel L. Jackson's role of Mace Windu is given more depth than he had in his short screen time in Phantom Menace. The biggest letdown of the film however, is the chemistry of Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen, but that is no fault of the actors themselves, it is the fault of the grey bearded stocky man sitting in the director's chair. Now I mean no disrespect to George Lucas; the man has quite an imaginitive story to tell, but his directing skills are atrocious. Had Attack of the Clones been handled by a more competent director, this film would be an excellent sci-fi/adventure and a worthy film to carry the Star Wars banner. Don't believe me? Watch Empire Strikes Back or even Return of the Jedi, both of which were directed by Irvin Kirshner and Richard Marquand respectively were great films and were much better than the first installment that was directed by Lucas. I beg Mr. Lucas to find another director for Episode III, judging by what we all know will most likely happen in that film, it should be directed by someone other than good 'ol George. All in all, those older Star Wars fans who called Phantom Menace blasphemy should give Attack of the Clones a look (if they haven't allready), and they will find a much better film here.

Rating:
Summary: A big improvement on Ep I, a terrific setup for Ep III.
Review: OK, the dialogue is a bit wooden, but the casting is actually very good and there are a lot of great little touches that you only notice on the second viewing. The love story works very well, the arcane politics begins to make sense, and the new villains are fine. The new worlds are beautifully imagined and convincingly rendered (Coruscant at night rocks!).

The main problems that I have are the aforementioned dialogue, a little bit of choppiness in moving the story forward, and too much CGI in the final battle sequence.

What I haven't seen mentioned is what a glorious setup this movie is for Episode III. Anakin's fall is going to be much more tragic, and the plight of the Jedi much more tragic, than I'd earlier expected. Because of the way the politics have been set up, Anakin will turn to the dark side out of LOYALTY -- the Jedi, sworn to 1) defend the Republic and 2) fight the Dark Side, will all face an impossible choice when the Republic itself goes bad. Anakin won't have to make a dramatic choice to betray anybody -- he will continue to support Chancellor Palpatine in policies that, while they may seem risky and inadvisable, have been lawfully enacted by the Senate. The OTHER Jedi will face the wrenching choice of recognizing that their two duties have become incompatible, and Anakin will have justification for regarding their ultimate decision as a betrayal. All the ingredients for this are in place, and it was foreshadowed in the "waterfall picnic" scene. If Lucas picks a good scriptwriter this time, the actors who play Anakin, Obi-Wan, Mace, and Amidala are up to the task and Episode III has the potential to be the best of the whole series.

Rating:
Summary: More Drek Than Trek
Review: I saw the first Star Wars film in the summer of 1977 - before George Lucas knew he had a hit on his hands and started retroactively numbering the sequels - so I started in on the ground floor with Episode 4: A New Hope. I recommended the film to a relative and we saw it together. Then I saw it with a friend, then with another, and so on, until I had seen the (still-unsubtitled) film ten times. I eagerly awaited the next (fifth) episode (The Empire Strikes Back, 1980), and impatiently anticipated the "third" (sixth) episode (The Return of the Jedi, 1983). Afterward known as the Star Wars Trilogy, I was thrilled with the action and adventure, although the quasi-religious "Force" they talked about seemed irrelevant to all that, if not downright ridiculous.

Then something happened. Maybe it was a sequel too far. Maybe I got older, maybe the characters weren't as interesting, or maybe the films just got more and more ridiculous. By 1999, when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace came along, I had had enough of that George Lucas world a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. In this latest installment of his tired series, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, I was disappointed to find no image, no line of dialog, that didn't disappear from my memory as soon as it dissolved from the screen.

Oh, yes, Episode II is a technical marvel: here, the sets are totally computer-generated; the aliens are truly inventive and all computer-generated; the visual effects are seamless and brilliantly computer-generated. I even liked seeing tiny Yoda dancing with his light saber in battle with the evil Count Drac-, er, Count Dooku (played with CGI face by Christopher Lee!). But I felt double-crossed by the dialog and cheated by the characters. Ewan McGregor as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi - played memorably in Episodes 4-6 by the late Sir Alec Guinness - was at least entertaining to watch. But the love dance between the maturing Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and the Princess Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman, who actually has talent) was entirely bland and unconvincing. Get a clue, kids: love means passion.

The Star Wars franchise George Lucas created inhabits a godless-yet-spiritual universe, with an uneasy alliance between technology and a pop-theology. Among people made uncomfortable by human progress and the dizzying advance of technology, perhaps this is more comfortable - also more masculine, that is, more appealing to male teenagers and less intellectually demanding - than the more explicitly god-free universe of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, however cool it is to see Jedi priests swing their light sabers. Personally, I prefer Trek to Wars, principally because I see more potential for improving the human condition with technology than with theology - even the generic, anti-intellectual, anti-technology, anti-progress variety called The Force.

That is my objection to Star Wars in general. As to Attack of the Clones in particular, I see Lucas's deep investment in Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) that might as well be cartoons for all they help the film. I am not opposed to CGI per se. But I do think it should work to elucidate, not invalidate, the story and the characters. The subtitle contains less poetry than truth.

Rating:
Summary: Yoda Scene rules...
Review: This movie is far better in every way than Episode I. Episode I was more of a foundation setter, than an fan getter. Episode II has more action, better scenes, amazing saber fights, and countless special effects.
The extra "scenes" and Extra Features it has truly expands the value of this package beyond any other. There are hours of "extras" to watch between watching the feature film.

If you think this is just a Guy flick, with battle scenes, blood guts, alien villains etc... you're wrong. There is a ton here for the Women to be glued to the set. Some may venture to say this is the most love oriented Star Wars Ever.

Best Film of 2002 BY FAR!

Rating:
Summary: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Review: Sadly, I have to admit that I am a child of the late 70s. I was a huge fan of the original series and remember well the wonder and amazement that the first three movies held over me. I even tolerated the Ewoks despite knowing that they were written in for their cuteness and marketability.
Attack of the Clones reinforces what a pile of steaming dung this series has become. I am certain that "Attack" makes many reviewers list of the worst movies ever.
In some movies (ET, Close Encounters, etc) you are willing to suspend your sense of reality for entertainment sake, but this movie can't even approach that goal. Most of the acting is terrible because of poor dialog. The plot and story line are painfully unbelievable and full of holes, the visual effects mostly ineffective and the sound effects recycled. Supposedly "Attack" occurs 10 years after Episode I, but McGregor, Portman and the majority of the crew haven't aged a day. You have to wonder what (if anything) the screen writers were thinking: The romantic subplot has no credibility, in one scene Yoda can hardly walk, but seconds later he is doing back flips, and what's with Jimmy Smits? He gets about 30 seconds of screen time. Did all of his time end up on the digital cutting floor?
Published reviews indicated that this was one of the best DVD sets yet released. I found nothing redeeming in it. Other DVDs with deleted scenes usually indicate that they were deleted for time or continuity. The "Attack" deleted scenes were deleted because they were even worse than the rest. In one scene it looks like McGregor is about to start laughing due to the pitiful dialog.
If I didn't know that there was going to be one more movie to complete this series I would say, "Let this series die!" Too bad Amazon.com does not allow 0 stars. Somewhere, I think, Portman and John Williams are crying. Either that, or laughing all the way to the bank. These discs are more worthless than the AOL discs college kids use for coasters.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite what I was hoping for... But an improvement.
Review: I don't know what I was hoping for when I saw this film -- I mean, I'd seen The Phantom Menace, and it's one of the most boring movies I've ever seen. And, while Attack of the Clones IS more entertaining than the other, it's not by a lot.

The movie is based around a love that, in my opinion, isn't even believable. The only character that I felt had any depth to him was Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Ewan McGregor. I bow down to Ewan and his superb acting skills. The other members of the cast, however, lack his talents.

While Hayden Christensen is a cute face and quite adorable to watch, he simply cannot act, in this movie, at least. Natalie Portman falls short as well.

But, hey -- if lightsaber fights and bad acting make a good movie for you, by all means, watch. If watching Ewan McGregor wield a lightsaber and get soaked in the rain makes a good movie for you (And believe me, it does!), then watch, as well. Personally, I only purchased the movie because of Ewan.

And, while Star Wars Episode Two - Attack of the Clones sits on my shelf collecting dust, Moulin Rouge! will be in my dvd player.

Rating:
Summary: It's confirmed. The man in plaid lost his touch...
Review: Okay, I was thrilled about the whole thing at first, but that sentiment has faded considerably now. These new films were a BAD idea.

I must admit Episode II actually IS an improvement over the last film. But only marginally. And although the director seems to have taken note of a lot of the critism the last installment recieved, he also seems to be overcompensating at times.
For instance, where the last film tended to be overall pretty dull with only a bare margin of action scenes, this film is litteraly packed with them. Overly packed, in fact.

Aditionally, the acting is outright appaling. Of course, Star Wars never was about great acting, but Episode II takes it just a bit to far. Right up to the point where the wooden preformance by otherwise good actors such as MacGregor, Jackson and Portman became just plain annoying.
This is probably not the actor's fault though. The dreadfull dialogue suggests that Mr Lucas didn't really give any of these people much to work with.

Finally, the special effects were nice, but not great. They would have been perfect for an animated series or film (which episode II very nearly is, actually), but not for anything else.
In fact, they are more like "look at those cool effects"-kind of effects, rather then "oh no! the battledroid army is approaching"-kind of effects. They look nice, but just don't work for the story.

Nevertheless, allthough the action scenes are overly abundant, they are in themselves pretty good. They made the film fun to watch at least once, especially because the "romance" between two of the main characters didn't work at all.
Whcih brings us to the overall story, which was in fact potentially pretty good, but executed poorly.

So, this isn't really a good film. Which wouldn't have been so bad if it also were fun to watch.
Unfortunatly, it is fun only once or twice. Don't spend you money buying it, because the film it simply isn't worth the money. Just go watch it in the theater once or twice and move on.

Rating:
Summary: Star Wars Addicts gotta have it ...
Review: Just enjoy the fact that this one is better than Episode 1. Natalie Portman needs to learn how to act, but if you can get beyond that.... enjoy.

Nice to see the story continuing along.... waiting till 2005...

Rating:
Summary: Utter Garbage!
Review: This has got to be one of the worst movies ever made. Ridiculous dialogue, wooden acting, a sappy love story, and computerized effects that are so overblown and overdone that the film plays like a 2 hour video game/toy commercial (probably George Lucas' intent). Great for the 4 year old age bracket, but for everyone else, don't waste your time.