Star Wars Episode II - Attack of the Clones

[admin]

It's been a little more than a week since I saw it, and I was just wondering what everyone thought about it.

[Enchanter]

There is undoubtedly tons of cool actions in the movie (all Jedis fighting together, saberlight duels, etc.). However, a quirk I have with the movie is that the storyline does not do the action much justice. The transition between the events (eg. Obi Wan investigating on the cloners, while the young Anikin was enjoying himself) is not smooth and too contrasting.

I just had to laugh during the scene where Amidala fell off the plane and was moaning in pain on the ground. She was struggling to get up when a soldier came up to her and asked, "Are you alright?" She said, "Yeah", got up RIGHT AWAY and started running along with the soldier. Outright hilarious!!!

Overall, I found the storyline of the first episode better thought out and structured. I'm not saying that the storyline of episode II is bad though. It's just not as good as I expected. I know many will disagree with me, but I'm just the type who wants storyline more than action.

[techno]

hehhe..........is it on the web yet?

Techno

[Batman]

Star Wars has definitley lost some of its lustre. The new movie is good, but could be stronger. The dialogue is a little flat. Over all 2.5/5

[admin]

I actually though that AOTC was pretty good, although no where near as good as ESB, but definetely better than TPM.

TPM tried to entertain us with childish humor, embodied in such characters as Jar Jar, the stupid physical comedy bits and fart jokes. The story was alright, although it lacked any excitement whatsoever. The acting was just plain bad, even given the crappy script. There was also so much time wasted on stupid pod racing, and the various, but all very similar fighting scenes.

This time round, however, the stupid comedy bits are gone, but the acting/script is still quite poor. Things generally move at a faster pace than in TPM, and some of the comedy was actually funny (saw in in a full capacity theatre, and there were laughs when there was supposed to be).

But seeing it from a different perspective, if I've never watched the original trilogy in detail (eg. more than 5 times each ), then nothing in TPM nor AOTC makes much sense, especially if you don't know who Anakin turns into, or how the Emperor became the Emperor. It really isn't a standalone movie. You generally find that Star Wars fans will probably like this movie, while everyone else will hate it - that's okay, because this is exactly the same thing that happened when the original trilogy was released (or at least when EP IV : ANH was released).

Even according to IMDB, EP2 is given the same rating as Gone with the Wind, Traffic, T2, Die Hard (to name a few), and has the same rank (7.9 out of 10) as Return of the Jedi :

http://us.imdb.com/top_250_films

But the star of AOTC is purely and simply Yoda. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but this movie should really have been titled Star Wars Episode II : Yoda Kicks A$$ *

(* dollar signs deliberately in title to remind everyone how much money George Lucas is making from the Star Wars franchaise, and also how much money he could make if he did the right thing and released the original trilogy on DVD!!)

[Enchanter]

Seeing how Batman rated it, I was probably too lenient in my rating. Well, it really was not as good as the previews would have us believe. Enough spoilers. I know some people who would watch it over and over again after all.

[Batman]

I don't mean to be overly critical. It is a good movie, it has plenty of potential---but it could be so much more. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't have the same "aura" or "amazement" as the first movies. Its fun to watch. However, there's plenty more prequels to come, and as the admin mentioned, this was an imporvement over TPM---and yes, the boorsih humor was replaced---with actually funny material. More action, and more story would be nicer, and of course I like dialogue (stuff you can repeat for days on end). but I didn't find it here. In some parts it falls a little "flat", but in other places its good. Maybe Lucas is "finding his way" and things will get better

[admin]

To George Lucas : Please please please get someone else to help you write and direct Episode III

I think one thing to remember that the original plan was to film the entire 9 episodes (3 trilogies) as one very very very long movie (like Gone with the Wind, War and Peace, etc..). The story from the first 3 movies would setup the whole entire movie, and the action really begins in the middle 3 movies, and concludes in the last 3 movies.

I think I heard GL say that the reason he made Episode 4-6 first was because they were the most exciting chapters in the rough storyline he planned out before making Episode 4. It also has a simplier storyline, a good-versus-evil-rescue-the-princess type storyline. Episode 1-3 is a lot more complex, as it has to setup the whole father/son-emergence-of-the-darkside scenario, which Episode 4-6 can use.

That's probably one reason why Episode 1 & 2 aren't very exciting (it's more of the "telling the story" phase which can be boring, just like the beginning half hour of most movies). Episode 2 is more exciting than TPM in that most of the characters have been setup properly in Episode 1, although the plot still needs explanation (how Anakin turns to the dark side, how the New Order gets created). By Episode 3, everything should be explained and out of the way, and as GL said previously, it should be the darkest of all the SW movies.

I am just wondering if SW Ep4 : ANH was released today, as opposed to in 1977, I wonder if this whole SW thing would have gotten off the ground. I have a bad feeling that people will just regard it as another B-grade movie, destined for a straight-to-video release or something.

My order of the best to worst SW related movies, in terms of story and film making :
1. Empire Strikes Back
2. Return of the Jedi (better direction/acting, less exciting)
3. A New Hope (more exciting, poorer direction/acting)
4. AOTC
5. The Ewok Adventure (Caravan of Courage) - no, I'm not joking. Really, seriously ...
6. TPM
...
...
999. Star Wars Holiday Special - a must read : http://www.teleport-city.com/movies/.../starwars.html

And in case if anyone is wondering, I am both a Star Wars and a Star Trek fan - "I feel the conflict within you"

[Batman]

I liked Return of the Jedi (except for those weird cuddly creatures in the forest). Yup, I do think changes should be made to current Star Wars movie, more plot more action. Remember guys, the father-son dilemma in Return of the Jedia was immense, it was really cool, and an important part. The emotional side of character is an important part, that should be properly executed, along with action. Maybe it would be cooler if the "political" part were more important, and the social and ecnomic changes that brought about so many changes...a hyped up sci-fi political/action thriller?

Just curious now, admin, how would you rate the Star trek movies? How would you compare the (workmanship/directing/storylines) of those movies to Star Wars? I value your opinion a lot

[admin]

The Star Trek movies has nothing on the Star Wars movies (EP1 excepted), IMO, as the TV series are what really made the series what it is today (that's why all the characters start off on TV, then move to movies).

If I had to rank the best to worst ST movies, then :

1. ST 8 : First Contact
2. ST 2 : Wrath of Khan
3. ST 6 : Undiscovered Country
4. ST 4 : Voyage Home
5. ST 9 : Insurrection
6. ST 3 : Search for Spock
7. ST : Motion Picture <= not really sure about this one, as I haven't seen it a lot of times, nor have I seen the new director's cut
8. ST 5 : Final Frontier

(note that the even numbered movies come first)

As for the TV series, it's really hard to say since I like all of them, even The Animated Series. I haven't watched all of The Original Series episodes yet (watched a few on TV, and download some others), since it is a little before my time. So far, I have downloaded every single episode of Enterprise (just downloaded season finale, haven't watched it yet), since it takes a while for them to show up on TV here in Australia.

[techno]

But they show it faster in Australia than the UK!

[Enchanter]

Because I believe it was filmed here.

[hacker_on_fire]

YODA YODA YODA YODA YODA YODA

soory, anyway i was just wondering in Star Wars they (yoda) says the force is not balanced and there is someone who will bring balance to the force. Anakin is said 2 b this person, but we know he is not. So who is ?

Also they were orginally 9 episodes. I think they should make 7-9 cos the story is what makes me addicted to star wars. oh the light saber fights are so cool 2.

[Batman]

Yeah Star Wars, has a great story---they should develop it more The good news is that AOTC is better than TPM, things seems to be getting better, and I'm hoping subsequent releases, will have the same dazzling effect as the originals.

[admin]

soory, anyway i was just wondering in Star Wars they (yoda) says the force is not balanced and there is someone who will bring balance to the force. Anakin is said 2 b this person, but we know he is not. So who is ?

Actually, Anakin/Darth does bring balance to the force by throwing the Emperor off the abyss in Episode 6 : Return of the Jedi. So in actual fact, it was Darth Vader/Anakin that kills the Emperor, and restores balance to the force.