Forum - View topicEpisode 2 Discussion Thread [Spoilers Inside]
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cookie
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 2460 Location: Do not contact me for support. |
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(PSST -- Should I make this sticky for a bit, so we don't have 100 billion SW2 threads all over the place?)
If people want to discuss Star Wars, go for it... please mark spoiler sections with bold text before, and periods both leading and following the spoiler. Some people will read this for review purposes, but don't want spoiled (or, want spoiled as little as possible)... so please be gentle. ;) I camped for 36 hours and snagged tickets #1 and #32 for my local theater.. updating ANN in the interim. So, was it worth a 36 hour campout for tickets and seats? Well... I camped for 36 hours for Episode 1... and although now I regret it, at the time, I was pretty satisfied, with the exception of Jar Jar and Anakin. Since then, I've realized that George Lucas was at the heart of the problems surrounding them... but at the time, I was pretty happy with episode 1. I suppose maybe my mind will change as time continues, but right now, I'm pretty happy with episode 2. There were some cool fights, a lot of fan service (in terms of quotes and foreshadowing), and lots of hinting at "things to come" for episode 3... which Episode 1 lacked most of the time. So, if I assume that Episode 1 got a "C-" in my book, in terms of overall quality... then I'd rate Episode 2 around "B-". Lucas got a number of things right this time, that were flawed in Episode 1. The movie was far from perfect, and I had a number of gripes about it (detailed below), but it was improved in a number of ways over the first Episode. I just hope it doesn't take until 2006 before episode 3 comes out. And I hope, by then, that we'll get eps 4-6 on DVD. :p Minor Spoilers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Episode 2 looked to be a much more exciting, serious movie. In that aspect, I wasn't disappointed. The fight scenes, particularly at the end (The massive Jedi/Droid/Clone battle, and the Dooku/Anakin/Obi-Wan/[not-too-secret secret name] battle) were very, very pretty. Unfortunately, the whole "love" angle that Anakin and Amidala play up is poorly performed, particularly at the beginning.. although Portman's performance gets better as the movie goes on, Anakin's (whose actor's name i've forgotten) does not. I failed to see how anyone could pity this boy - sure, he has a hard life... but he's "the one" and he's really whiney about it. He's consumed by his love (i've seen that before) but he handles it as if it were simply something that he needs to have -- he "needs" to be angsty, perhaps. Anakin is "So full of hate", to borrow a quote Dom from MegaTokyo. It simply drove out any sorrowful feelings I might've had towards his character, because he was simply angry at everything. The story leads you along, but the path it takes is so predictable that some people might find it quite dull (self included). There are effectively no unusual turns of events in the movie. Anakin gets dragged (drugged? drug?) along by Amidala everywhere, and meanwhile Obi-Wan goes and does some investigative work. What Obi-Wan turns up is less than unexpected -- Clones. Gee, it's not like we weren't expecting them. What *was* interesting was who the clones are of. Episode 2 failed to explain why the clones existed, merely that some Jedi supposedly had authorized the creation of a ton of 'em. Gee. Yoda and company were unaware of the clones -- it was basically discovered on accident, but now there's a whole lot of disposable troops. Gee. The plot continues along those lines, and by the end Anakin and Amidala end up married (no suprise there -- Luke and Leia have to come from somewhere!)... The big battle to the end really changed what _I_ personally felt the 3rd movie was going to be about. I thought ep3 was going to be the "Great Jedi Purge".. but i think, after episode 2... it's probably going to be very few Jedi/Jedi battles, and a lot more space battles and mass land-battles. There were quite a few Jedi who got killed in the final major battle.. And although I missed it, apparently that was the bulk of high-ranking Jedi. I'll go back and see Ep2 again to be sure, tho. So, my dreams of a long game of "hunter/seeker" for ep3 appear to be completely shot dead. Instead, the ending *does* open up the possibility of even more flashy battles... hopefully we'll see some good space battles, because the ones in ep1 were dismal, and there weren't any real space battles in ep2 (except for the asteroid belt battle.. which was impressive, for the sheer number of THINGS flying around, if not more. . . . . . . (end spoiler space) So, yeah... if Ep1 is a "C-", then Ep2 is a "B-", with some nice loose connections that Ep3 could tie up.. or not. |
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4534 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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I didn't think it was a big improvement over Phantom Menace, but, then again, I really enjoyed Phantom Menace, so what do I know? I don't put the original trilogy on too high a pedestal, so TPM was in no way a disappointment. Jar Jar Binks isn't, by any means, my favourite Star Wars character, but I wasn't particularly bothered by his mere presence in the film.
Just a few observations: -I downloaded a script a couple of months back where the major events were pretty much the same as what appeared in the final cut. However, in the version of the Attack of the Clones script I have, Jar Jar speaks for one line in his usual pidgin when he first encounters the adult Anakin, but then, for most of the rest of the script, he speaks normal "Galactic Republic Standard" (re: English), which he had to learn for the Senate. In the film, Jar Jar speaks pidgin even in the Senate. I'm wondering, was that the real script I downloaded, or did some joker take the real script and make a few alterations (pehaps the way he would write Jar Jar's dialogue if he were George Lucas)? -This may be really, really subtle product placement, but look carefully at the cups in the diner: notice the vertical ridges on the cup that curve slightly around the cup as they get towards the top? Isn't that reminiscent of the ridges on Pepsi bottles (the glass kind, which are harder to find these days)? Can it really be just coincidence (since Lucas film has a promotional tie-in with Pepsi and Pepsi's Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell restaurant chains), or do they have Pepsi in Corusant? And why do they have an American-style diner in Corusant anyhow? -I've heard one rumour about Episode III, which I shall write in ROT13. Cut and paste it at the ROT13 site to decode (or don't if you don't want to know what, if true, would be a major spoiler). Gur ehzbhe V\'ir urneq sbe gur ovt cybg gjvfg va Rcvfbqr VVV vf gung vg gheaf bhg gung Fvqqrbhf naq Cnycngvar nera\'g npghnyyl bar naq gur fnzr. Cnycngvar vf na ubabhenoyr zna. Ohg, jura Fvqqrbhf vf qvfpbirerq naq xvyyrq, uvf fcvevg gnxrf bire Cnycngvar. Ohg guvf vf whfg n ehzbhe V urneq ba Gnyxonpxf ng Nva\'g Vg Pbby, fb vg znl or gbgny ohyyfuvg, naq fvapr V\'z jevgvat guvf va EBG13, V pna jevgr \"ohyyfuvg\" jvgu vzchavgl. |
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Slim Shinji
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 263 |
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Four Words:
spoiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yoda with a lightsaber . . . . . . . . . . [b]end spoiler[i] that scene (and to a lesser extent the multi-Jedi battle) made the whole frickin' movie for me. I thought it was much better than episode one, but still nowhere near as good as the original trilogy. |
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Armblessed
Posts: 20 Location: Alaska |
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I'll try to avoid any spoilers.
First off, I dont think its fair to blame George Lucas for any of this. It's his story, his characters and if we dont like it... thats our problem. Sure, I'll admit I was irritated by a few of the cheesier moments in Episodes I & II (and the special editions for that matter), but I still really liked the movies. I had fun and was entertained. If you try to analyze the Star Wars movies for character, plot, or any other serious film stuffs, you'll be sadly dissapointed. Just relax and be enjoy is what I say. I feel that people give the early Star Wars movies way more credit than they deserve - as far as serious film aspects go. Example: I've heard numerous people say that Episode I lacked in the plot department when compared to the first movies. Come on. A New Hope was about an average boy who finds himself thrown into a adventure to rescue a princess and beat the bad guys. How many times have I heard that before? Completely average. Hardly what I'd call a suberp plot. Its the atmosphere and detail that makes the movie. I've been a Star Wars fan for a long time and I get the feeling that anyone who grew up watching the movies and then went on to watch the new movies cant make a fair comparison(myself included). When you are younger stupid things just make sense and the popularity behind the originals makes them almost infalible. I think that the best comparisons will have to come from a later generation who sees all of them at once. As far as my direct thoughts on Episode II, I thought the end fight was really cool, naturally. However, I felt that some of the lightsabre fighting was shown with quick shots and flashing sabres in your face to cover up lesser fighting ability. You dont see much of the lengthy clean sequences that you did in Episode I with Darth Maul. I attribute that to the skill of Ray Park vs actors untrained in the martial arts in this one. Anyone else have any thoughts on that? I thought the romance in the middle of the movie was overdone and actually got a bit dull. I dont mean to nitpick. I liked the movie a lot. I couldnt tell you how it compares with the others. Just cant decide. Alright, I do have some SPOILERS SPOILER ALERT! . . . . . . . . -Assuming that the clones from this one go on to become storm troopers, they must have lost a lot of fighting ability along the way. The clones in this one were actually good shots and adept fighters! :) -I think the de-mystification of Boba Fett makes the character less exciting. -I was dissapointed by the double-lightsabre part by Anakin. He had two lightsabres spun around in a circle then got one cut out of his hand. I was hoping for more. -Whats the deal with C3PO? We see him living at what appears to be the same moisture farm with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru that Luke lives on in the beginning of Episode 4 yet when he returns in that movie, he seemingly doesnt know the place or the people. -I have a new favorite jedi! Kit Fisto!!! . . . . . . . . END SPOILERS I wrote a lot more than I originally planned to! :) |
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Tenchi
Posts: 4534 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Maybe, at the beginning of A New Hope, when that one Stormtrooper hits his head on the top of the door on the Death Star whilst searching for C3PO & R2D2, there's some Borg-like collective consciousness thing going on with the Clones/Stormtroopers that Lucas just forgot to mention, so his blow knocks 50 I.Q. points off every Stormtrooper's intellect. Say, I saw it for a second time this evening; anyone notice in the bar that on the video monitor at the left, not only is it Pod Racing on the screen, it's actually one of the many versions of the Star Wars Episode I Racer video/computer/arcade game, 'cause the high score screen comes up? |
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dudesup
Posts: 88 |
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I really did like the movie. In fact, I think its my favorite.
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Ramza
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 36 Location: Michigan |
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Here are my brief thoughts...
Episode 2 is much better than Ep. 1, which wasn't too great. With the movie's astronomical budget, the special effects and some of the scenery of the movie was absolutely amazing. Some of the best I've ever seen for a scifi movie. It was also nice to see a protagonist not be a complete goody-goody and have a few scenes where he's disturbed, making him a little more interesting. However, I fail to see where some of Anakin's motivations are coming from. Anakin dreaming and being madly in love with Padme is absolutely silly. He went out on a little adventure with the chick, who's about three times as old as him, when he was a little booger of a kid and that's all. Horrible romance scenes. The action scenes could have been filmed better as well. Scenes cut away too fast and there were never really any lengthly one on one battles you could actually follow. And JarJar is still annoying. That's all. |
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COOKIERULES
Posts: 3 |
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SPOILERS PROBABLY....
. . . . . . . . . Sorry it isn't bold . . . . . Ok...that should be ample warning -Whats the deal with C3PO? We see him living at what appears to be the same moisture farm with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru that Luke lives on in the beginning of Episode 4 yet when he returns in that movie, he seemingly doesnt know the place or the people. Ummmm...I'm pretty sure the books say that the bots memories get erased...droids...whatever...as far as them not noticing 3po and r2...I'm sure they see bots like that a lot...it's not like they are the only ones of their shape or whatever... second... Maybe, at the beginning of A New Hope, when that one Stormtrooper hits his head on the top of the door on the Death Star whilst searching for C3PO & R2D2, there's some Borg-like collective consciousness thing going on with the Clones/Stormtroopers that Lucas just forgot to mention, so his blow knocks 50 I.Q. points off every Stormtrooper's intellect. you can actually see Jango hit his head on the door of the Slave 1 or whatever it's called when he enters it after the rain scene I think the next one is gonna be really interresting...NAMED jedi need to die...annakin needs to completely flip out...we need some kids, etc. I'll have more opinnions when I actually SEE the other movies (4-6, and 1) and see this one again...trust me... |
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Nixale
 Posts: 8 Location: The swelting heck known as Woodstock, Georgia |
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. . . . . . . . . just to be safe. . . . . . . At the begining of ANH, (step) Uncle Owen says something to the effect of 'Make sure this droid's memory is erased'. Which means that he could have recognized C3P0. I doubt it, because C3P0 must get his gold skin before ANH. He was still a junky silver in AOTC. Unless he gets the gold skin in EP3, and goes with whoever (I would assume Obi-Wan) to hide Luke, and Step-Uncle Owen recognizeses him from there. I'm such a geek. |
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Ataru
 Posts: 2327 Location: Missouri (Strikeman) |
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Here's a spolier for the Ep. III
Anakin becames Darth Vader 
For the most part, after about an hour within the movie, it start to get good (after all the mussie stuff). All and all, I give a 7 out 10, Ep 1 only got a 5 thought *LOL* |
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Tenchi
Posts: 4534 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Hmm... I wonder if that was an intentional reference? Anyhow, I mentioned the "Stormtrooper hits his head on the door" scene in A New Hope, because I always see it named as one of the top movie bloopers of all time on movie blooper lists. I never saw what the big deal was with that, because the guy was wearing a helmet, but, apparently, the actor had to be seen at a hospital after for a concussion. |
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Vicious
 Posts: 97 |
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I remember my friend being into the star wars collectable card game years ago and the quote on C3P0s read something like "I've never been memory wiped...to the best of my knowledge" :) Not sure if it's in the original movies or not.
just to be safe 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 (what the hell happened to 7?!) 9 10 Just going into random thoughts Best line of the movie was the reference to the originals- "I've got a bad feeling about this", which say what else you will about Christiansons overall performence was delivered perfectly. Made me burst out laughing. It is true that Boba Fett's badass bounty hunter character was devalued, but I think that the film makes up for it with Jango Fett being cooler then Boba ever was. Boba Fett just went around looking cool in the original trilogy, but when it came down to it and it was time to fight he couldn't back it up. Now Jango fought Obi-Wan Kenobi to at least a draw(It's arguable that he even won the fight) And while I thought his death was way to sudden, it sure beat the hell out of Boba Fetts. Jango Fett stole the show for me, ninja Yoda excluded of course. Speaking of which Yoda gave me the holy !$#% feeling, despite having been spoiled ahead of time. People complain that Dooku should have been developed more, but keep in mind he's still alive and well and can be furthur developed in Episode III. Dude! Natelie Portman! Dude! |
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Cassandra
 Posts: 1356 Location: Birdsboro, PA |
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Here's the spoiler warning, but if you've read this far than you've already been spoiled
Dooku was only there as a set-up for the Emperor. To show how much power Palpatine really has and how the Emperor comes into play. (Remember...the Emperor is Darth Vader's boss...) |
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Pilot Zero
Posts: 11 Location: in front of TV and comp. |
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hehe, ok, this sint exactly spoiling but, one HUGE improvment with this one from phantom menace is....its 95% jar-jar free! with that said, if you like star wars, go see this movie.
my favorite battle arena animal= that spider/prayin mantis thingy my favorite jedi= Plo Koon (though he doesnt speak, he's in alot of the scenes) a downgrade= sure, theres less jar jar, but more c-3po.....ugh, c-3po is about the biggest wuss ever. |
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nagash
Posts: 280 |
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I have read most of the Star Wars books that take place after Return of the Jedi (up until the 4th book of the Vong attack series).
The movie seems to not match future events, according to the books. Boba Fett was definitely made to look weak in this movie, however, don't be fooled. You don't see it in the movies but he kicks some serious tail. And no, he did not die in ROTJ. It took him a while but he did get out of there with the help of another bounty hunter. For details on that, may I suggest the Boba Fett book trilogy. It's a very interesting read. The death star. It makes its first appearance as a blueprint in this movie. It would appear that the winged creatures are designing it. Very interesting considering the books in both the RPG and those that follow the movies. A human named Bevelisk designed all of the Emperors major weapons, including the death star, and as such suffered some very agonizing deaths (upon their destructions). You're probably wondering why I said deaths. The emperor knew that Bevelisk was a genius, so he had to keep him alive, but he also knew he had to be punished should he fail. And so, he set up a set of clones of Bevelisk in the exact same way he set up clones for himself. Upon death, you simply transfer the knowledge. That is detailed in a book titled Darksaber. Am I the only one who thinks that Yoda has been pulling one over on us for the past 25 years? Cane my behind. What an act. A guy that can bounce off the walls like that doesn't need a cane, he needs wings. |
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