Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

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Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is the fifth Star Wars science fiction movie released and the second part of the prequel trilogy which began with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and ends with Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

It is the first Star Wars film which used a high definition digital 24 frame system for most of the movie's live action scenes.[1].

The film was a financial success grossing over $300 million at the box office in United States; however, the film was overshadowed by an even greater box-office success then The Phantom Menace. For the first time, a Star Wars film did not gather the highest box office sales for the year; the highest grossing film turned out to be Spider-Man which garnered a more favorable critical reception.

Contents 1 Opening Crawl 2 Cast 3 Plot summary 4 Selected plot elements 4.1 Anakin’s mechanical hand 4.2 Geonosian-style-execution 4.3 Mirroring/Reference of original Star Wars trilogy 5 Filming 6 Reaction 7 Box office performance 8 Novelization 9 Errors 10 Trivia 11 Deleted Scenes 12 DVD release 13 See also 14 References 15 External links

Opening Crawl

Episode II

ATTACK OF THE CLONES

There is unrest in the Galactic

Senate. Several thousand solar

systems have declared their

intentions to leave the Republic.

This Separatist movement,

under the leadership of the

mysterious Count Dooku, has

made it difficult for the limited

number of Jedi Knights to

maintain peace and order in the

galaxy.

Senator Amidala, the former

Queen of Naboo, is returning

to the Galactic Senate to vote

on the critical issue of creating

an ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC

to assist the overwhelmed

Jedi....

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Cast

Plot summary

The Galactic Republic is in crisis. A separatist movement (secretly led by former Jedi Count Dooku) has threatened the peace. Senator Padmé Amidala, former Queen of Naboo, returns to the Galactic Senate to offer a vote against the creation of a Republic Army, even though there are no longer enough Jedi to maintain peace and order in the Galaxy.

Upon her arrival at Coruscant, she narrowly escapes an assassination attempt. As a result, Chancellor Palpatine requests that Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker protect her.

That night, a mysterious bounty hunter makes another attempt on Amidala’s life, and the Jedi Council asks Obi-Wan to track down the killer. Meanwhile, Anakin is given the assignment of protecting the Senator and escorting her back to her home planet of Naboo. Anakin welcomes the opportunity, as he often becomes angry and frustrated by Obi-Wan’s criticism, and is glad to have an opportunity to be on his own. Representative Jar Jar Binks assumes the Senator’s duties in her absence.

During the investigation, Obi-Wan is led to a mysterious planet called Kamino (missing from the Republic’s archives), where he discovers a secret clone army being developed for the Republic. He is told by the natives that the army was ordered some ten years ago by a Jedi named Sifo-Dyas — believed by the Jedi Council to have died around the same time. A bounty hunter named Jango Fett was hired to be the template for the clones. Obi-Wan meets Jango on Kamino, and believes him to be the killer he has been tracking. After unsuccessfully trying to capture Jango Fett, Obi-Wan places a tracking device on his ship and follows him to the planet of Geonosis.

On Geonosis, Obi-Wan overhears conversations between Count Dooku and the Trade Federation, and learns that they are behind the separatist movement and have built up a new droid army. He also learns that it was the Federation that ordered the assassination of Amidala, as revenge for the Battle of Naboo (see Episode I). Obi-Wan sends a recorded message to the Jedi Council to inform them of his recent findings just before being captured.

Meanwhile, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala have been spending much time together on Naboo, and Anakin reveals his deep love for her. However, Padmé resists, explaining that it would be impossible for the two of them to be together, since she is a Senator and he is a Jedi. Anakin is angered by this, and experiences inner conflict between his strong desires for her and his duties as a Jedi.

Anakin is also troubled by a newfound sense that his mother is in grave danger, and he beckons for Padmé to accompany him to his home planet of Tatooine (disobeying Obi-Wan’s orders to remain on Naboo). Upon arriving, he learns that his mother was kidnapped a month ago by local Tuskens. He travels through the night, and finds her in very poor condition. Within moments, she dies in his arms. Enraged, he slaughters the entire Tusken community. Back at Coruscant, Yoda senses a terrible darkness in the Force, coming from Anakin. Anakin then brings his mother’s body back to her home, where her funeral is held.

Now that the Jedi Council knows of Dooku’s army, Jedi Mace Windu leads a team to Geonosis. Unbeknownst to them, Anakin and Padmé also make their way to rescue Obi-Wan. Meanwhile, Representative Binks calls for Chancellor Palpatine to be given emergency powers, with which he can call the recently discovered clone army into battle.

Back on Geonosis, Count Dooku tries to persuade Obi-Wan to join him, warning him that Darth Sidious is now in control of the Senate. Obi-Wan refuses to believe him, saying that the Jedi would have known if that was the case.

Anakin and Padmé arrive on the planet, but are quickly captured and sentenced to death, joining Obi-Wan in an arena-like complex where three huge monsters are unleashed on them. During their struggle, Mace Windu arrives with his Jedi, and they battle Dooku’s droids on the field. Even though Windu kills Jango Fett, defeat for the Jedi seems imminent. Luckily Yoda unexpectedly arrives with the Republic’s new clone army.

A large battle erupts between the Republic’s clone army, and the Separatist’s droid army. Confederacy of Independent Systems entrusts Count Dooku with the plans for the Great Weapon. Count Dooku attempts to escape, but Obi-Wan and Anakin track him to a secret hangar, where they engage him in combat. Unfortunately, they are no match for Dooku’s mastery of the Force and the lightsaber, and he injures Obi-Wan and cuts Anakin’s right hand off. Yoda appears just as Dooku is about to finish them off, and the two masters of the Force go head to head in lightsaber combat. Dooku attempts to topple a large pillar on Obi-Wan and Anakin, and while Yoda uses the force to divert the pillar, Dooku escapes. He meets up with his master, Darth Sidious, who is pleased that the war has begun as planned. Count Dooku presents Darth Sidious with the plans for the Great Weapon.

Back in Coruscant, Obi-Wan informs the Jedi Council of Dooku’s warning that Darth Sidious is controlling the Senate. Yoda is hesitant to believe this, stating that the Dark Side is capable of creating fear and mistrust. He and Windu agree that they should nevertheless closely monitor the Senate.

Back at Naboo, Anakin (with a new wikipedia:mechanical hand) and Padmé hold a secret wedding, with only C-3PO and R2-D2 as witnesses.

Selected plot elements

Anakin’s mechanical hand

Anakin has his right forearm cut off by Count Dooku, just as Luke has his hand cut off by Darth Vader (who is Anakin) in The Empire Strikes Back. This dual hand severing becomes important later on in Return of the Jedi, when Luke fails to kill Vader when he sees they both have a cybernetic hand. It is worth noting that Luke’s electronic hand is far more sophisticated than Anakin’s, which is perhaps due to development of technology between the two movies, although it seems that most major medical advances would have been made long before during the 25,000 year history of the Republic. The artificiality of Anakin’s hand may have at least partly been a personal choice. The composition of the group of C-3PO, R2-D2, Anakin and Padmé on the balcony at the end of Attack of the Clones is similar in nature to the end of The Empire Strikes Back.

Geonosian-style-execution

Within the movie, Geonosian style execution is a form of capital punishment practiced on the planet Geonosis. The origin of the term is that it was originally employed by the Geonosians. The scene depicting this method takes place in the Geonosian arena with the condemned chained to a pole, awaiting execution. The beastlike creatures approach from the arena door, and attack and eat the condemned persons in the manner of a wild beast. (This scene appears to reference an execution method employed by the ancient Romans at the Colosseum where lions and other dangerous predator animals were permitted to have their way with condemned prisoners.) Count Dooku sentenced Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Naberrie Amidala to be executed in this method. However, the executions were nullified by the timely arrival of Jedi reinforcements, led by Jedi Master Mace Windu.

Mirroring/Reference of original Star Wars trilogy

• A character has an arm amputated by a lightsaber (all Star Wars films)
• When entering the bar on Coruscant after the chase of Senator Amidala's assassin, Obi-Wan says to Anakin, "Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?" This foreshadows Vader killing Obi-Wan in Episode IV.
• A character has "a bad feeling about this" - Anakin in the Geonosis colosseum (all Star Wars films)
• Anakin is told by Palpatine to "trust your feelings". In "The Empire Strikes Back" Darth Vader uses a similar phrase; "Search your feelings, Luke," when he is revealing to him that he is his father. In "A New Hope" Kenobi tells Luke to "use your feelings".
• Kenobi uses Jedi Mind Trick (Episode IV)
• Obi-Wan Kenobi travels to a floating city where he is met by a seemingly benign administrator who gives him a tour of facilities but an enemy is nearby (Empire Strikes Back)
• The hero hides from an enemy in an asteroid field (Empire Strikes Back)
• R2-D2 repairs C-3PO (Empire Strikes Back)
• As an in-joke Jango Fett hits his head on the entrance to Slave I, a reference to the goof in Episode IV when an Imperial Stormtrooper hits his head.
• As an in-joke Padmé’s blaster makes the sound of a .44 Magnum. In Episode IV Leia’s blaster can be heard to make a gun shot due to a mistake in sound editing.
• As an in-joke an asteroid is shaped like a cow. In the Empire Strikes Back an asteroid is actually a potato
• Also,Obi-Wan has a drink and saves the hero by chopping a villain's arm,like in Episode IV
• As a No2 movie of each trilogy,Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones both have a ground and not a space battle in them.

Filming

Filming primarily occurred at 20th Century Fox studios in wikipedia:Australia, with additional location shooting in the Tunisian desert, at the Plaza de España in Seville, Spain, and in Italy at the Villa del Balbianello on the Lake of Como, and in the Royal Palace in Caserta.

Reaction

Initial reviews of the film were mixed, with general admiration for the action sequences and special effects, and criticism of the more traditional cinematic elements such as character development and dialogue, particularly with respect to the relationship between Padmé and Anakin. The marketing of the film reacted to this by downplaying the subplot by the time of the DVD release and emphasizing Yoda’s popular fight scene.

The dialogue was noted to be "leaden" and "flat" by critics. The acting was also disparaged by some critics for these same characteristics.

Fans consider the visual effects superior to The Phantom Menace; many were pleased to see that Jar Jar Binks plays only a minor role. He, in fact, makes an emotional appeal to the Galactic Senate (during Senator Amidala’s absence) in support of granting Palpatine emergency powers, quietly laying some of the guilt on his shoulders. Also, Jar Jar’s attempts at comic relief seen earlier were toned down, with C-3PO reprising some of his bumbling traditions in that role.

Many fans have also voiced complaints about the way the movie is edited, in particular that the frequent crosscutting of plots prevents the buildup of momentum. In addition, the fireplace scene between the two lovers that takes place about halfway through the film is often cited as an example of egregiously poor editing.

Box office performance

The film grossed $310,676,740 in the United States and $338,721,588 overseas, a huge financial success which nevertheless was overshadowed by the even greater box-office success of The Phantom Menace. Also, it was not the top grossing film of the year, the first (and only) time a Star Wars film has not had that distinction. The films that outearned it were Spider-Man and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which also enjoyed a more favourable critical reception.

Novelization

A book version of the movie was written by R. A. Salvatore. It includes scenes created by Salvatore and unique to the novel. The book's Prologue describes Anakin, while flying to Ansion with Obi-Wan, having a nightmare of his mother turning into glass and shattering. The following pages relate the events leading up to Shmi Skywalker's capture by Tusken Raiders and Cliegg Lars' loss of his leg while attempting to rescue her. These scenes give a more detailed insight into Shmi's life on the moisture farm and her relationships with Cliegg, Owen, Beru and C-3PO than can be provided in the film. Interspersed with these events are scenes of Senator Amidala on Naboo prior to her departure for Coruscant to vote on the Military Creation Act. She discusses with her sister the question of retiring from politics to start a family and receives reports about the unrest (briefly mentioned in the film) among spice miners on Naboo's moons.

The book also delves more deeply than the film into the father-son relationship of Jango and Boba Fett, making Jango's death more emotionally meaningful. This material was drawn upon in the first of the Boba Fett series of young adult novels.

Errors

• The end credits erroneously list Alan Ruscoe as playing Neimoidian senator Lott Dod. In fact, not only is there serious doubt as to whether the Neimoidian abetting Nute Gunray is actually Dod (as some sources identify the character as Gilramos Libkath), the character was actually played by an uncredited David Healey and voiced by Christopher Truswell.

Trivia

• The first scene in which Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker appear was filmed after wikipedia: had finished. Ewan McGregor had shaven off his beard, so he had to wear a fake one.
• When Zam Wessell is killed by Jango Fett, her last words are in Huttese. What she says translates to "Bounty hunter slimeball."
• Mace Windu has a purple lightsaber blade. This was a personal request made by Samuel L. Jackson.
• Favorite characters from the original trilogy that make their first chronological appearances here are Boba Fett, Owen Lars, and Beru Whitesun.
• In the scenes on Kamino, thunder occurs after lightning, thereby forgoing the movie convention of having them occur at the same time. Ben Burtt points this out in the DVD audio commentary.
• The film's working title, intended sarcastically in light of the fan response to Episode I, was Jar Jar's Big Adventure.

Deleted Scenes

• Jedi Attack Droid Control

This scene involves a group of Jedi led by Ki-Adi Mundi and Plo Koon who attack a Droid Control Ship during the Battle of Geonosis.

• Padmé Addresses Senate

Padmé forcefully objects to the Senates plans to create an army to fight against the Separatist movement.

• Analysis Droids

Obi-Wan takes the Kamino Sabre-Dart to the Jedi Analysis Droids which deduce that they don't know what it is and Obi Wan instead heads for Dex's Diner.

• Padmé's Home

Before heading for the lakeside retreat, Anakin and Padmé stay at her parent’s house where Anakin meets the family.

• Departing Obi Wan

Obi-Wan is about to leave for Kamino in pursuit of Jango Fett. Mace Windu accompanies him to the platform where his Jedi Starfighter waits. Obi-Wan expresses his doubts about Anakin.

DVD release

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was released on DVD in 2002, with certain elements edited or added in by George Lucas that make the DVD a slightly different version from its theatrical release.

See also

• Star Wars:Clone Wars

References

• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Retrieved Dec. 10, 2003 from http://movie-locations.com/movies/s/sw_attack.html
• Saxton, Curtis John, Hans Jenssen, Richard Chasemore. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: Incredible Cross Sections. Dorling Kindersley Publishing, 2002.

External links

• StarWars.com’s official Episode II site
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones at the Internet Movie Database
• Defense of the Clones, from the website of a Portland, Oregon-based film journal
• Episode II script
• The Star Wars Actors Database

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