AOTC Commercials: Official Reaction Thread (NO SPOILERS!)

I just saw the Clonetroopers commercial for the first time. I am amazed! The similarity between the Clonetroopers scenes in the commercial and Lucas's THX-1138 are quite apt. I saw THX last weekend. The Clonetroopers, like the soldiers in THX, seem to combine a banal, calm, emotionless demeanor with a menacing, threatening appeal. That's the great irony of the soldiers in THX: they hit the poor humans with these shock sticks while murmuring utterly banal, technical, and emotionally unmoving expressions, just the way the Stormtroopers in ANH were chatting about drills and model types as Obi Wan snuck past them to turn off the generator. In THX, as they electro-shock the humans, the soldiers are chattering in a calm, banal way about voltages as they coordinate their next attack. You might think that soldiers will be all emotional, worked up, and full of jeers, but not the THX soldiers. And I get the sense that that's what's happening with the Clonetroopers: I can see it in the slumbering way that they pick up their gear, juxtaposed with the deliberation they seem to be having in the cockpit in the shaky camera scene. These guys don't get worked up about ideology or emotion as they execute their task: rather, they are conditioned to follow orders in a methodical, consistent, rational way -- no questions asked. And these are the guys that are going to be the stormtroopers of the impersonal, tyrannical bureacracy known as the Empire. I'm looking forward to hearing some more of that monotonal, technical, banal chit-chat between Clonetroopers that we heard in ANH and THX.

 

Yes! And now I just saw the Mace and Padme commercials. Excellent material! I think that Padme's and Anakin's reparte concerning "diplomatic resolution" vs. "aggressive negotiations" is brilliant! Also, it's a highly instructional lesson about how war is politics by other means. As for the performances, I felt both ideological and sexual tension between Padme and Anakin. That's good! In that scene, Anakin, the political hawk, has rhetorically cornered Padme, the political dove, showing her that her diplomatic ideals may seem reasonable in the plush Galatic Senate, but, on the ground, sometimes you have to fight. Padme won't let Anakin best her in this game of rhetoric, so she reformulates the action into diplo-speak: "aggressive negotiations." Great! It's another Star Wars lesson in the political science of war, right up there with Tarkin's explanation of the psychological power of weapons of mass destruction in ANH.

The Mace Windu commercial had its moments too; I get the sense that they really are holding back on the Windu footage, which is fine by me.

AOTC will rock!

 

Further THX influences:

Boba in Breathing trailer
and
LUH 3417

Jango in select picture
and
THX 1138

Helmet collection point
and
Still 1
Still 2

Those are all visual, but I agree with the brainwashed idea. I wonder if the clones have a religion?

 

I don't think so. It seems they're essentially just robots from what we've seen so far. Okay, they're real live people, but they are completely void of emotion, conditioned from conception (birth is perhaps not the right word) to obey orders from their superiors. It's a way of life, but not really a religion.

 

I don't know. It depends if they are merely biological droids, or whether they are conditioned people. In THX, the people are drugged into a state of near unconsciousness, living to work really. Yet THX rebels (despite reassurances from the mechanised voice of his religion) and does not take the drugs - he escapes his 'programming' and flees his life.

I wonder if some clones will feel the same way? (Maybe this should be another thread, apologies if I've hijacked this one.)

 

I just saw a new Padme commercial on the E! Channel. It had alot of new dialouge and a couple of glimpses of new scenes. Thanks to my Dish Network Tivo like thingy, I will have a description in a minute.

 

Here:

Picnic/Waterfall
Padme - Are you gonna use one of your Jedi mind tricks on me?
Anakin - Oh no, those only work on the weak minded.

Fireplace
Anakin - Listen to me!
Padme - No, you listen! Your starting to become a Jedi and I'm a Senator.

Holding on to some dirt wall
Someone else's voice (Qui-Gon's?) - Don't move.

Dooku - She will die.

Padme - I want to know who's trying to kill me.

Some kind of creature jumps down and I think I see Jango, then she's circled by a bunch of monsters in the Arena.

It also had the scene from her earlier commercial where she jumps and swings on a chain, where she gets scratched real bad on the back, the "I don't like this idea of hiding," and with Anakin on the moving pod. Also the scene from the Clone War trailer where she falls from the bridge, except there's dialouge now. She kind of yells and Anakin goes "Padme!"

Holy crap...is it May 16th yet?

 

I can't wait until this is available for download, it sounds great!

 

I believe this is the file your looking for.

(New Padme commercial )

 

I'm confused...

I want to see that one you just described, Jayme.

17 days...maaaan! Hurry up!

EDIT - Spelling

 

Yeah jayme, this new one isn't the one you described above. I'm psyched about seeing that one.

 

So many commercials...

*head explodes*

I think this is it.

 

That's still not the same you you described, you have more stuff at the beginning.

 

Why are the Neimoidians wearing really stupid hats? The ones in TPM were just fine.. these are.. stupid. I see Nute Gunray and Lott Dod.

 

The 2nd version of the Jango (Profession: Bounty Hunter) commercial rocks! It's not much different than the other one, but you see Jango give Obi-Wan a headbutt, and instead of seeing the Gunship explode at the end, there's a new scene from the arena. It's awesome!

 

"Why are the Neimoidians wearing really stupid hats? The ones in TPM were just fine.. these are.. stupid. I see Nute Gunray and Lott Dod."

I like the old hats much better than these as well, but it is not something that I am going to get all bent out of shape over. Actually, I am kind of glad that they have new hats. Over the course of ten years, the characters really should have a change in clothing....





Mace Windy,
windier than the signature feature!

 

I'm more bothered by their appearance in AOTC at all. Other than Jar Jar, the one thing that makes me cringe when I watch TPM are the Neimodians. Their accents are ridiculous and their mouths don't synchronize with the dialogue at all. Hopefully their roles will be severely reduced.

 

Hmmm, I disagree on your assessment of the Neimoidians. I liked them a lot. Anyhow, I think they'll have a semi-major role as villians, they do head the Trade Federation after all.

 

The weakness of Nemoidians is that their cowards, and Sidious holds their leash. This is what makes them such interesting characters.

The new Jango comercial rocks. I can't wait to see him and Obi-Wan in hand-to-hand combat!

 

I can't get the second Jango commercial to download. First one I've had trouble with...

 

Stupid hats? I've seen all 12 or 13 or however many movie commercials there are, at least off of TF.N and have only seen one clip of Nute Gunray, and from what I remember, it's the same hat he had in TPM.

Care to clear this up someone? What commercial is it in?

 

It's "Padme's Story" on the Official Site. Where Dooku is saying "She will die" (don't really like the delivery there.. sounds like a frog), you can see Nute and Lott. I'm pretty sure it's a different hat.

 

What is said right before Dooku's "She will die" line?

 

OBI-WAN: Don't move

 

Ohhhhhh-kay. Muchas gracias.

Obi-Wan, eh?