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Attack of the Clones: Impressions Revisited

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Brian:
After the discussion going in the TPM thread, I was wondering what everyone thought of AOTC at this point.  Like TPM, I re-watched this movie for the first time in quite awhile over the weekend on Spike TV.  Also like TPM, there is a lot of things that bug me, and some stuff that I really enjoy.

I remember coming out of the theater after seeing this for the first time, I thought it was great.  It seemed closer to "Star Wars" to me, maybe due to the presence of the Stormtrooper-like Clones, as well as ties to Boba Fett and other OT concepts.  The vehicles started looking more OT-esque as well, different from the sleeker/shinier looks in TPM.  My friend and I left the theater saying that the last 45 minutes or so (if I remember right) were amazing.  Pretty much from when Anakin and Padme get taken into the arena to the end - good stuff.

I pretty much feel the same way now.  I really enjoy the Arena battle(s), as well as the lightsaber battles following (although I always wished that Anakin/Dooku would have been a bit longer).  It was a nice setup to the Clone Wars and ROTS, and like Jesse mentioned in the other thread - it would have made a nice first movie, setting up a Clone Wars centric Episode II.  Dooku was a pretty cool villain, and I did enjoy Jango even if he was essentially just "cashing in" on the popularity of Boba Fett.  He still looked pretty cool to me, and Temuera Morrison was pretty good in the role.  I don't have quite the problems with Hayden as many others do, as I think he is a decent actor and has been good in other non-Star Wars movies I've seen.

On that topic though, some of the Anakin/Padme stuff was cringe-worthy to me.  From the first viewing to the current one, the "fireplace" scene dialog and the running through the grassy hills stuff was just not for me.  It really seemed cheezy.  I remember someone saying in an older thread one time that the original Clone Wars animated series seemed to portray the love story better with a few words or "looks" than the entire AOTC movie did.  I could see that.  Other than that, I don't know that I have a ton of other major complaints about the movie.  Jar Jar was really toned back, and there's things that could be changed, but the love story stuff didn't work for me as well as I'd hoped.  Also, it might just be me, but for some reason some of the Obi-Wan/Anakin banter really sticks out to me.  Mainly the way that Obi-Wan, when he's "scolding" Anakin, always calls him something that seems excessively long.  "My very young apprentice", "my young padawan", and things like that.  It just stands out to me as sounding strange for some reason.  They are supposed to be "good friends", and for the most part that didn't seem to come across all that well to me.  Anyways, what are your thoughts on AOTC now?

Ben:
I liked it, but these days, I think it would be a much stronger film if about twenty minutes of Anakin and Padme's "romance" was cut from it entirely. I agree with you Brain, that stuff really makes me cringe. I know that Anakin had spent the last ten years studying to be a Jedi, so I can't blame him for not being able to talk to girls, but damn. You don't have to say everything you're thinking or feeling.

I remember when Fox would air AOTC, and this cut (which I think is close to the same as the IMAX cut) had all of those scenes between Anakin and Padme cut out, and it was a much better movie, IMO.

Now, for what I liked about it- I loved the Arena battle, the Battle of Geonosis was something I'd been waiting forever to see in a Star Wars movie, and I finally got to see the Jedi in a large-scale battle. AOTC had most of the things I wanted the prequels to have in them, it's just that I was disappointed they were all jampacked into the last third of the movie.

jedi_master_sal:
I'd have to pretty much agree with what's been said so far. Most of the love story could be edited out. More WARS. After all that's what the story is REALLY about. The interaction between Obi/Ani is strained and shouldn't have been. I never got that they were friends/brothers in arms in any of the prequels.

At first I thought the Super Battle Droids were kind of stupid. Just an upgrade in armor. But they've grown on me a bit. The resounding theme that I didn't like about the prequels was that the bad army was all droids. There was no feeling there. Had they been aliens and humans I think I'd have felt more for the battle. The fact that the Republic had clones also diminshed my feelings towards that army. Don't get me wrong, of course we expected to see clones.  But when both armies are basically manufactured, there is no feeling of loss. Both sides could continue to manufacture their respective armies until finally one would come out on top. Heck we can even go so far as to say nearly the same thing for the Geonosians. Theywere afterall just "bugs" and a hive mentality for the most part-with exception to Poggle the Lesser of course.

Comparing this to the OT, at least with the OT you got the sense of loss. Named X-wing pilots being killed in battle. Hoth and Endor troops shot down. Those troops had faces and they were all different. So when their lives were lost it was felt more as they were unique individuals each with their own story. Not so for the battle droids, and barely for the clones as well.

I don't know if this was done to play down the violence or not, but it feels to me like we were short changed in this aspect. Only when the CIS leaders were slaughtered did I even feel a ping of loss for them.

Anyway getting back to AOTC. Overall I loved the movie and thought it was leaps and bounds better than TPM as it was much closer to what I think of SW being. One major complaint was that there was no major space battle. I'm not including Obi Vs. Jango either, I'm talking about an all out large battle. And it's disappointing too as there very well should have been in the space above Geonosis. As Dooku is escaping we see some of teh CIS ships but NO Republic ships fighting them. So the CIS is just getting away.

I was glad that Jar Jar's role was greatly diminished in this one.

David:
Sorry for the brief reply, but...damn, AOTC sucked. By far the worst movie of the saga. The bad acting, the lame romance, the lack of 'star wars', the horrible action figure line...yuck... :-\

clonebuyer111:
horrible? the super articulated clone was awsome!
also i like the aotc movie it showed the clones being made on kamino and it was really impressive

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