AOTC Chapter 7: Speeder Chase DISCUSSION

Until the release of ROTS on 5/19/05, I would like to discuss AOTC chapter by chapter on the DVD. There are 47 chapters to discuss over the next 8 months, excluding Chapter 1: Opening Logos, Chapter 2: Attack of the Clones and Chapter 50: End Credits.

Each discussion will last 5 days. At the end of 5 days, the following chapter will be posted.

Chapter 7: Speeder Chase
DISCUSSION: September 18, 2004 - September 22, 2004
DVD TIME INDEX: 14:20 - 21:34

Synopsis:
Obi-Wan notices the droid outside the window and jumps out onto it as it takes off into the cityscape. The Naboo entourage enter the room to see how Padme is doing. Anakin takes off in a yellow speeder in pursuit of Obi-Wan, hanging from the assassin droid. Zam spots Obi-Wan and the droid and shoots the assassin droid with her rifle. Obi-Wan falls and Zam takes off. Obi-Wan lands on Anakin's speeder. The chase continues. Anakin follows Zam into a refinery. Zam shoots at power couplings that the Jedi intercept and get shocked. Zam escapes going through a tunnel. Anakin takes a shortcut. Almost losing Zam, Anakin stop the speeder and apologizes to Obi-Wan for his spur of the moment behavior. Moments later, he sees Zam's speeder, freefalls and hangs on to the bounty hunter's speeder. Zam tries to manuever the speeder in a way for Anakin to lose his grip. We can see Zam's Clawdite form for a second as Anakin flies to the back of the speeder. Anakin ignites his lightsaber, causing the speeder to catch fire. He loses grip of his saber and Obi-Wan, who is right behind him catches it. The speeder's altitude lowers as it is about to crash in an entertainment district. Anakin falls from the speeder, moments before flames engulf the vehicle. Anakin spots Zam and chases her down a few side streets. Obi-Wan lands Anakin's speeder near a local nightclub. END OF CHAPTER

Opinion:
I love the speeder chase. When I saw "Breathing" and "Forbidden Love", Obi-Wan, hanging from the assassin droid, was probably one of the most memorable moments from the teasers.

It improves on Anakin's backstory as an accomplished pilot. He acts just like any teenager, defiant and a daredevil. This is Anakin's scene. He's doing all the pursuing in contrast to the next chapter. He wants to see this killer be brought to justice for his precious Padme.

Going through different parts of Coruscant gave the planet some depth. It's not just a political seat, but a place for manufacturing, recreation and commerce. The confined alleys where Anakin chases Zam add a great element to this speeder chase.

And of course there's that brief second, when you say "did I just see that" during the few seconds Zam goes back to Clawdite form. Also the darkness adds the brooding feeling for the chase. If it was done in the day, it would not have made the same impact. It helps contrast to the other SW movies since there hasn't been a night chase. Good chapter.

 

Yeah this chase rules! One of my favorite chase scenes ever!

"Sorry, Master. I forgot you don't like flying."
"I don't mind flying but what YOU'RE doing is suicide!"

and then later...
"Blast, this is why I hate flying!"

 

One of the greatest cinematic sequences i've ever seen.

As a chase, its second only to Vader & his legion chasing Han through the Asteroids

 

Yes the first great avtion of AoTC. I can't get enough of this scene.

 

Obi-Wan leaping through the window is one of my favourite Star Wars moments

 

I wonder how many times in this sequence the laws of physics are cruelly tossed aside.

Lol.

 

I wonder how many times in this sequence the laws of physics are cruelly tossed aside.

28.5 times


I love the Coruscant Chase. Best chase scene I've ever witnessed. The music, visuals, speed, intensity, humor, and action are just fantastic. It's just great.

 

The Coruscant Chase is awesome-especially when Anakin loses his sabre...and then Obi-Wan just reaches up and grabs it wihtout hardly looking. Teh cool that was.

"I hate it when he does that..." This scene is cool-notice how often Anakin falls willingly in this movie? Hint of the future, methinks.

I also like:

Obi-wan hanging from the assassin droid. The looks he gets are priceless, and a couple of shots of him doing this crack me up. I can just imagine the Taxi-cab people looking at him like "***?"

 

What everyone else said.

Plus:

I love that you can clearly see the "lanes" of traffic and buildings the Jedi and the Assassin are flying around and through. It's easy to stay oriented as to what's going on where and it gives Coruscant a lot of realism. It isn't just close-up, action bit, close-up, different action bit, etc. Everything flows nicely together.

 

Obi-Wan leaping through the window is one of my favourite Star Wars moments

Oh yes, that shot is amazing! That's one of my favourites in the movie, too - it's a great moment.

I always wondered how on earth Anakin managed to fall so far and grab onto the vent of Zam's speeder without smashing his hands to pieces - I'm guessing he was able to slow his descent and grab into it with the Force, but it's not shown very clearly. Overall, though, this whole scene of the movie is fantastic - it reminds me a lot of Short Negotions in TPM, in that early on in both movies, we're given an example of Jedi doing their jobs - doing amazing stunts is what they do every day. I think Anakin's speeder also looks really cool.

 

One of the best scenes in the movie.

Fast. Intense. Not too long, not to short. Good humor. And the "I hate it when he does that" adds a bit more depth to Obi-Wna and Anakin's relationship.

Also, it was much more interesting than what I find to be it's counter part from TPM (the pod-race). It was much more fast paced. It didn't go on and on like the pod-race. The stunt's were greater and more dangerous. The stakes were higher and more important than the race. It made more sence why the antagonist was trying to kill them. It didn't repeat teh enviornment, each obstical was new, intriguing, and looked like you would findit in a city planet. And my favorite: it was three dimentional! That allowed for so much more possibilities and intrigue. This scene, eventhough it was special effect rich, the sfx was rich. This was probably the best example of sfx in all of the prequels. There was so much of it, but there wasn't an overdose. Not to mention the sfx were amazing!

And teh last touch, which was wonderfull, was the fact that it was at night. It is a glorious sight to see a big city at night, but to fly through an advanced city-planet was amazing. It looks so beutiful, and sinister. And it gives you the sence that the polititions have gone to bed, and the underworld of Coruscant has awoken. It is almost a different world.

 

The visuals were wonderful during this scene. Seeing the many districts of Coruscant was great. It truly did look like the center of the galaxy.

Sure the laws of physics were broken, but this is a scene that allows suspension of disbelief easily.

They probably should have made the speeders more interesting looking though. More recognizable. Something you'd remember.

The Sound effects were great but I wasn't fond of electric guitar in Williams score being dubbed over with zams speeder noise. Though I liked the speeder noise.

 

This was one of the scenes that didn't make a lot of sense to me in script, but that's because I'm bad at visualizing action sequences. So even though I had been reading about it for months, it was still like seeing it for the first time

 

Looking at the AOTC script, I thought they did a pretty decent job with the editing. Thank god they cut out or changed "I had to find a speeder with the gonzo color" I forget the line in the movie, but it's better.

I also noticed that Anakin's "Damn!" was also cut from the release. I know GL likes to throw one profane word in his movies, especially Indy, but I guess since Dex refers to the cloners as "Damn good ones" in the diner, I guess 2 would have been pushing it.

 

This is a great sequence, both in itself and in terms of the movie as a whole.

Taken as an isolated action sequence - well, others have already identified many of the things that make it work. The timing is very good; there is just enough dialogue between Anakin and Obi-Wan; the visuals are incredible. George Lucas really knows how to direct an action scene - and that's not as trite as it might sound. He knows how to make the scene visually intense while still making it easy and natural for the viewer to follow. Too many directors treat action scenes as nothing more than an opportunity to show a lot of short shots as quickly as possible, so that all the audience gets is a vague impression of something happening. But here we can follow the logic of the scene.

The scene also functions very well in the movie. It builds nicely on the Anakin/Obi-Wan relationship. GL points out in the commentary that the feeling in this whole sequence is that it's all in a day's work for the Jedi; and his comment, I think, is exactly right. The scene deepens the two characters by hinting at innumerable previous incidents on the same level of heroism and danger. It's early in the movie, and the audience is still digesting the status quo of their relationship.

Being early in the movie, it also functions as a sort of early set piece, something like the Battle of Hoth in Empire, or perhaps the Sarlacc pit in Jedi. After the intensity of this sequence, the audience is more willing to accept the talkiness of the following scenes.

 

Thank you for all your participation in CBC (Chapter by Chapter). AOTC Chapter 8: Into the Club DISCUSSION will be made available 12:30 AM EST. Although the discussion timeframe has passed, you may still discuss this chapter at your convienience. However, we will be moving on to the next chapter.

-Moleman1138

 

I'm one of those fans who likes that the PT has a radically different tone from the OT but the AOTC speeder chase is just straight up, old skool, classic Star Wars!

The stunts, the speed, the bickering - it feels like some crazy outtake from ANH or ROtJ. It's also the best bit of character development between Obi & Ani: they are friends but they do not agree - Obi is overwhelmed by the task he has taken on: to train The Chosen One, Ani is torn between his transference of parental relationship from a loving mother, to the like-minded Qui Gon to the nitpicking Obi.

The FX are, needless to say, awe inspiring. Watching it on the big screen with digital projection was an incredible cinematic experience. I love watching it on my uber-modern flat screen tv with the surround pumpin' loud n proud!

Just a great moment from the ultimate Saga!

 

I love this scene as well... it's exciting and keeps your attention.

Did anyone else think that alien in his own speeder that looks shocked to see Obi-Wan hanging looked a bit Rodney Dangerfield?

 

The chase was really cool. Like Moleman said it helps on showing you Anakins piloting skills. I think RoTS we might see that ability help Anakin in some trouble or summtin. As a kid thats what he enjoyed doing. Like he says in PM "I'm the only human that can do it." That tells you he has a special* power.. OO..

I think some parts were a little far-fetched though.

Overall: 8/10

 

When I first heard that there would be a city chase I was worried. After having seen Judge Dread I relized just how bad a city chase could look on screen.

The Fifth Element was better of course and showed great visuals.

But, they went and pulled this off far better than I could have hoped. With building heights that can be measured in miles, and populations that could fall into the trillions, they captured the awsome depth of the cityscape.

In the Art of Attack of the Clones there is a comment that GL had said "It has to look better than Bladerunner."

If you listen closely there is a sound effect that I know is in Bladerunner that makes it into the speeder chase, it is one of the shots of Zam pulling away from the screen, a wining sound that I recognized.

The other thing about the scene are the Easter Eggs, many of which were found by our very own Grilled Sarlac.

There is a TIE fighter chasing an X-Wing, the ST ship Enterprise makes and appearance, the Falcon was used as several building tops, and the Spinner Police cars from Bladerunner are there too.

 

I really like how Lucas realized this scene. He describes it as "all in a day's work for a couple of Jedi". Obi-Wan just fell some thousdands of feet through the air and after being rescued by his apprentice, his only comment is to casually ask what took him so long. However, I do agree with the Lardbiscuit (www.lardbiscuit.com) that Anakin's wit could use some practice. Anakin's sarcasm could have used a little more bite. For instance, "Perhaps you would have preferred the view from the ground?"

Now the part I absolutely love about this sequence is Anakin's sheer audacity as he casually leaps out of a speeder floating miles above the surface. I just can't get enough of that moment.

 

There is a symology in that moment. If you look at the OT you will see alot of falling and things being swallowed; consumed by the Death Star, the Sarlac Pit etc.

In this we see Anankin actually jump instead of fall, he is not falling from grace he is conciously jumping from it. This may be a bit of forshadowing, we shall see.

 

Luke does the same thing at Cloud City.