AOTC Deleted Scenes DISCUSSION (now discussing Padme's Parents' House)

Due to the success of the PT and CT CBC discussions, I would like to discuss the deleted AOTC scenes chapter by chapter on the DVD. There are 8 chapters to discuss over the next month.

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

DS - Chapter 1: Padme Addresses the Senate
DISCUSSION: July 5, 2005 ? July 9, 2005
DVD TIME INDEX: 0:00 ? 1:58

Synopsis:
Fog lies over the Senate Chamber. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine holds a session of congress telling the Senator from Malastare that talks are still going on with the Separatists. Peace is their objective. Padme makes her grand appearance and tells what happened on the landing platform. She said that both she and the Republic were the target. She has led the opposition against an army and someone will stop at nothing to assure its passage. She tells the senators to ?wake up? and becomes quite disgusted. Palpatine sees something is wrong and adjourns the Senate. END OF CHAPTER

Opinion:
This is the first deleted scene of AOTC, and this obviously occurs between Chapter 3 and 4 on the DVD. If this scene remained in the movie, it would have been an extremely slow beginning. Sure we opened with an action scene, but the first ten minutes in dialogue until you enter the Speeder Chase.

It?s a good deleted scene, but does not belong in the film. It?s not like the Senate scene from Phantom Menace or Revenge of the Sith, where it?s essential to the plot. And also the fact of the matter is it gives you the feeling that there are people in the Republic who would be behind this. Obviously we should assume that it the Separatists. A scene like this does darken the Republic a bit.

Padme?s comparisons to her welfare and the Republic?s is good, because they do parallel each other to some degree. The wake up moment was just stupid if you ask me. Her acts of being disgusted were pretty good. She wants what?s best for the Republic and if it weren?t for a certain Sith, she, Bail and Mothma would be the future.

Before anybody can spill the beans, Palpatine adjourns the Senate. Somebody was bound to say something, as there?s good and evil on both sides of the Republic and Separatists. As I said, it?s good on the DVD, but in the film it would have slowed it down.

 

Out of all the AOTC deleted scenes I think this was the best one. It gives an insight into Palpatine's manipulatation of the senate. It's also a good depiction of how strong/good a senator Padme is and how Palpatine sees her as a threat. I wouldn't have minded seeing this scene in the film.

 

Stupid that he ever deleted this one. I know his reasoning but if AOTC needs anything, it's more depth.

 

Mas Ameeda's toungue was cool

 

Strilo posted on 7/6/05 12:19pm

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Stupid that he ever deleted this one. I know his reasoning but if AOTC needs anything, it's more depth.[hr][/blockquote]

For once, I agree with you completely.

 

Order! Order! That's some great dialogue by GL and Hales.

 

I too think this is the best deleted scene of the lot.

This scene could have easily replace the scene in Palpatine's office. It elaborates on the openingcrawl, which introduced a new conflict that IMO needed more set up, through the eyes of an already familiar character.

I also agree with Strilo; AOTC needed more depth, and this scene not only added great depth to the conflict, but also to the character of Padme: we get to see exactly WHY she is against the creation of an army, as well as we get to see her doing some Senator stuff, something that was also mostly cut from ROTS.

I think it's too bad though that the scene wasn't properly finished though. The watered down version that it is works very well, and I think Natalie's performance is very good here, but the effects are quite poor; especially on Jar Jar. Also, there was a lack of sound effects (the pods, the floating camera's, the crowd's reactions) and the same Senators can be seen multiple times. And what the hell was that with Mas Amedda's tongue?!

 

I agree with you partially. AOTC needed to focus on Star-Crossed lovers amidst a declining Republic. It somewhat did that, but the Republic part was put on the backburner in ROTS.

Padme is more of a device in the beginning of the film and the first ten minutes focus on her than the Republic's situation. But I said that both situations do parallel. I like the fact that there are heroes and villains on both sides of the equation.

However, this cannot replace the scene in the Chancellor's office. That scene is a prelude to ROTS, especially during Arresting the Chancellor and the Duel between Yoda and Sidious. You need Yoda to sense something wrong with the situation as he stares at Palpatine and having Mace and all those Jedi reminds me what is going to happen 3 years down the road when they square off.

 

I am perfectly satisfied with Lucas' decision to excise this scene from the film. Attack of the Clones is already dense with political speechifying, and including more of it would not necessarily be a positive contribution, from my perspective. To have such an intricate and wordy sequence at the beginning of an already dialogue-heavy film, would have slowed Clones' narrative considerably; as Moleman has indicated, it is paramount that Lucas create a proportionate balance between the story's political, thematic, and character arcs, and including this bit at such an early stage, would have created an unnecessary amount of discord in the picture's respective qualities.

Independently, the scene is fine, not great by any means, but serviceable; for me, it is a little too reminiscent of The Phantom Menace's very similar Senate sequences, which was probably deliberate. Interesting to regard, but hardly imperative.

 

I agree with Tyranus, the film suffers nothing from the deletion of this scene. I'm also in agreement with Lucas who felt that this scene was far too political and was too slow an introduction to the plot and story of Attack of the Clones. Having already been criticized for having included "too much politics" in the previous installment, The Phantom Menace, it's little wonder that Lucas and the editors chose to remove this scene which is only complementary rather than necessary. While the art design, dialogue, and Williams' score all elaborate on the dark tone of Clones, this scene offers little new in the way of story, visual impression, and in many ways disrputs the pacing and narrative of the movie, which is best served by a rapid-fire succession of story, character introduction, and events.

Besides, the movie's long as it is!

 

I wished this scene had been in the movie, it provides some good background info

 

I definitely think this one should have been left in.

 

I also wish this was in the movie.

 

the deletion of this scene just goes to show how poorly AotC stands on its own as a movie, and clearly needs TPM as a 'briefing'.

 

I would have kept the scene in the movie, but then again I'm a guy who after he watches the deleted scenes always thinks they should be reedited into the movie, unless said deleted scene is actually bad.

The wake up moment was just stupid if you ask me.

I thought the "wake up" moment made perfect sense. Every item published or produced about the senate in the PT era has painted it as the bloated, blind, and deaf bear. It was once strong, it was once mighty, but now that it's gained such a high status it's grown fat in it's old age and no longer feels the need to see any wrongdoing, or hear any wrongdoing, and certainly won't do anything about any wrongdoing that it actually knows is going on. That "wake up" moment was one of Padme's many attempts to try and stir the bear back into action, but alas the Senate was so far gone by that point that no matter how poignant the rhetoric was there was no hope to ever reawaken the once mighty bear.

 

Thank you for all your participation in CBC (Chapter by Chapter). AOTC-DS Chapter 2: Jedi Temple Analysis Room DISCUSSION will be made available 7:50 PM 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

 

Due to the success of the PT and CT CBC discussions, I would like to discuss the deleted AOTC scenes chapter by chapter on the DVD. There are 8 chapters to discuss over the next month.

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

DS - Chapter 2: Jedi Temple Analysis Room
DISCUSSION: July 10, 2005 ? July 14, 2005
DVD TIME INDEX: 0:00 ? 1:07

Synopsis:
The day after Zam?s death, Obi-Wan is in the Jedi Temple?s analysis room. He puts the toxic dart in a container. The droids on the other side of the glass examine it, conducting several tests. They come to the conclusion that it was by a warrior not associated with any culture. The dart is returned to Obi-Wan who thinks of someone who can help him. END OF CHAPTER

Opinion:
This scene is good, but I agree is redundant. As being part of the mystery arc, you can?t have redundancy especially with the running time that AOTC had. What we have is a moment that gets repeated at Dex?s Diner, the Jedi Library and the veranda.

The scene reminds of the Polis Massa hospital. Obi-Wan?s on one side waiting for answers and the fate of the heroes are in the hands of droids. It?s a far-fetched comparison. But it just reminds me of that one scene for some reason.

The droids seemed weird, looked like something you?d get out of Short Circuit. I think this deleted scene does give some indirect backstory on Jango. When we see him kill Zam and give the Kouhuns to her, we don?t know what to expect. But with this scene, we know he?s a warrior associated with no culture.

I missed this scene in the theatrical cut, but I guess it was for the better, the beginning of the film was somewhat lethargic, and a redundant scene like this would not have helped. A good deleted scene nevertheless.

 

Yeah, I agree, I'm glad it's left out. As someone said on the deleted scene commentary, forgot who, said that Obi-Wan goes in there looking for answers but doens't get none, so it really didn't help it story wise.

 

I remember reading that this scene was the first scene the FX department finished, and also was one of the first scenes cut.
Because this scene was finished as the first, the effects looks great: much better than the effects in the other deleted scenes on the DVD.

The scene itself doesn't tell us anything new after seeing the movie. It's a nice expansion on Obi-Wan's little detective story, but nothing more.
Just like Moleman, I like the little bit about Jango being not associated with any kind of culture: before the prequels, I think that's the picture many fans had of Boba Fett.

 

Excellent choice for deletion on the filmmakers' part. Unfortunately, they wrote and shot it first before realizing it was useless filler.

having missed the earlier discussion, let me weigh in briefly: I do miss the Senate scene, as it highlights the significance of WHY Amidala is a target for assassination a little better than the office scene that follows. (I also think it highlights Portman's true acting ability than the rest of the film does.) The film's running time wouldn't be as much an issue with tighter editing across the board, but that's a whole 'nother discussion.

 

the film worked with obi-wan and dex's references to the analysis droids. it's a good thing this scene was cut.

 

I enjoy this deleted scene.It is interesting, but I do agree that it didn't need to be in the film.
Also, I thought the analysis droids were pretty cool

 

The "Jedi Temple Analysis" scene was, as others have indicated, a source of redundant information, and therefore serves as little else than an extraneous appendage which would considerably impede the picture's narrative. The special effects and dialogue here are fine, and indeed, I don't have any significant problems with the scene itself, yet its inclusion in the body of the film would be quite unnecessary, especially given the already (drawn-out) nature of Obi-Wan's investigation.

I do miss the Senate scene, as it highlights the significance of WHY Amidala is a target for assassination a little better than the office scene that follows. (I also think it highlights Portman's true acting ability than the rest of the film does.) The film's running time wouldn't be as much an issue with tighter editing across the board, but that's a whole 'nother discussion.

I don't entirely disagree with you, but dramatically, the office scene is slightly less dense and opulent than its "Senatorial" counterpart, and Lucas is able to use its brevity to communicate several different pieces of information in a fluid, economical fashion: Dooku is introduced into some of the dialogue; Amidala's situation and personal jeopardy is addressed; Palpatine is allowed to exhibit some of his insinuating subtleties; the Jedi's uncertainty, as well as arrogance, is suggested; Yoda is observed to be wary of Palpatine's intentions; and Obi-Wan and Anakin are mentioned, creating a nice segue into our protagonist's introductory scene, which follows this one. I think it would have been a mistake to position the Senate sequence near the beginning of the film, due to the fact that it is not only lengthy, but steeped in such dense political dialogue that it would have turned off many neophyte viewers; at this point of the film, Lucas wisely opted to keep his scenes succinct, thus engaging his audience in the interpersonal conflict before delving into exposition in the film's transitional second-act.

 

Thank you for all your participation in CBC (Chapter by Chapter). AOTC-DS Chapter 3: Obi-Wan & Mace - Jedi Landing Platform DISCUSSION will be made available 12:40 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

 

Due to the success of the PT and CT CBC discussions, I would like to discuss the deleted AOTC scenes chapter by chapter on the DVD. There are 8 chapters to discuss over the next month.

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

DS - Chapter 3: Obi-Wan & Mace ? Jedi Landing Platform
DISCUSSION: July 20, 2005 ? July 24, 2005
DVD TIME INDEX: 0:00 ? 1:55

Synopsis:
Obi-Wan and Mace are in the Jedi Temple hangar. Obi-Wan believes somebody doesn?t want them finding out about Kamino. They approach an extending landing platform. Obi-Wan also suspects that someone has tampered with the files. Mace hopes not. Obi-Wan?s concerned for Anakin. Mace assures him that he will bring balance. Obi-Wan says that Anakin will not be able to protect Padme since he has a special bond with her. Mace assures him again. Master Kenobi enters his starfighter blasting into hyperspace using a ring. END OF CHAPTER

Opinion:
This is quite the redundant scene, but is great foreshadowing is setting and plot for Revenge of the Sith. The scene was replaced by the talk in the atrium with Obi-Wan, Mace and Yoda, which is okay, but could have been much better. This is good but no Yoda.

Most of the dialogue from this scene is in the atrium scene so I do have equal reaction. This one does give a closeness to Obi-Wan and Mace, something we really don?t see. We see more of Obi-Wan and Yoda. It?s not a bad scene for Sam, it just needed to be worked on many levels.

It tells much exposition we already know. Kamino?s a mystery to the Jedi. Anakin?s attached to Padme and you know something bad is going to happen. Same old same old if you ask me. However, this scene is foreshadowing the Mace-Anakin scene in the hangar and the use of the hyperspace ring rockets I guess you call them.

Ironic that Obi-Wan tells Mace that something?s wrong and this is the last place Mace sees Anakin still on the light side. Weird isn?t it. For those who have seen ROTS and not the deleted scenes won?t make the connection. Good chapter.