Did I somehow see the wrong version of AOTC

BobaFrank,

I just view the Star Wars movies as one. I love them all equally, and when Episode III is out and you can sit down and watch all six of them, I don't think it will matter if a certain one is better than the other.

Also, I don't really care what AFI says just for the fact that Braveheart isn't on their 100 greatest list.

I mean, how is that possible. To me Braveheart is flawless.

I mean, example, while Citizen Kane is amazing on a technical level, I do think story wise it is overrated, Very overrated and it has some glaring weak points.

Yea...kinda like how that one friend of Kane could recall that breakfast scene between Kane and his wife when that friend wasn't even at Xanadu at the time

"Because he had no young characters that the elementary school audience could identify with in AOTC, he had to insert a 9-year-old Boba Fett."

Where did you hear that? Boba Fett had to be in the film because of the clones. And he was 12 (not 9) because otherwise he would have been an old man in the OT. A senile Boba Fett wouldn't be very threatening.

1. The dialogue between Anakin and Padme is atrocious.
2. Some of the SPFX are subpar at best which is well beneath ILM. Examples: Dooku on the speeder bike is laughable. The monsters in the arena were no better than a Ray Harryhausen movie(this isn't bad if your living in the 60s) Because of the the use of digital video some of the city scape scenes looked no better than what you would see on Babylon 5 or TNG.
3. Shmi's funeral scene especially Cleigg Lars speech was unnecessary and hurt the emotional impact of the scene as well. We have no development or history on his character or their relationship but yet we are supposed to feel his anguish through some pathetic dialogue?
4. Whatever happened to overlapping dialogue? Some of the conversations between Obi and Jango were played out no better than a Naked Gun skit.
5. There is too much reliance of CGI and digital backgrounds. Some of the scenes looked like they were on a stage instead of on a far away planet.
If it wasn't for Yoda's lightsaber battle and the Tusken Slaughter AOTC would have been a total flop.
Its the weakest of all five movies.

exactly my thoughts.
i anticipate the release of fotr directors cut so much more than clones now. tpm was better, in every way. and i daresay, even the lightsaber fights at the end of the movie were subpar. worse than any others in the series.
yoda is cool, but he's a master, not a knight. a master is more akin to a wizard than a fighter. he could have beat dooky without lifting a finger.
from what the movies have given us, padme should be much more attracted to obi than to ani.
he's a badass with a saber, a smooth talker, calm, collect, and well... ask the ladies about his looks.
my ex-girlfriend thought some movie was awesome just cuz it showed his butt. goldmine or something. point is, ani's a psycho, and at no point in the movie do i find it to be a far stretch or a tragedy for him to become vader.
if looke had turned to the dark side, the nation would have been in tears. ani, eh... (shrugs) there was no transition from cute innocent little blonde-boy to brown haired menace.
i think the coruscant chase and everything with obi-wan is the best clones has to offer.

nice one zeekveerko!

"The whole arena scene was a homage to Ray Harryhausen films, and I think it worked fine."

that was a tribute to ray harryhausen? the greatest stop motion animation innovator of all time? please... my heart... i cant take it... *flump*

Why should Anakin's transition to Vader be such a surprise?

We allready know the history of Anakin. There is nothing to be suprised about in the PT.

To me thats not a fault, because we knew this going in.

And chicks dig the physco's.

"tpm was better, in every way."

You just lost all credibiloty. TPM was worst Star Wars movie ever. AOTC = one of the best!

at least i can spell credibility.
just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's horrible. funny thing about star wars movies. i like them in descending order of their release date: ANH is the best, AOTC is the worst. i just hope ep3 isn't a total loss, which i don't think it will be, since it's got the vader factor.
imo, anyone who thinks clones is the best sw, or the second best sw is watching the movies for the action and special fx, not for the story. i'm a writer. i care about story first and foremost, no matter what the medium.

Yep, it's fair to say that those who liked AOTC have different aesthetic priorities than those who didn't. Those who insist that Star Wars has "always been about the action and the special effects," tend to care less about how integral Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamil were to the OT's success. The rapport between those characters, C-3PO and R2 carried the dramatic weight of the series.

That kind of emotional connection between the characters and the audience and between the characters and each other is what's most glaringly absent from the PT films. Those who don't miss that aspect of Star Wars in the PT probably never cared much about it in the first place. For them it really is all about the action and effects, and maybe the storyline.

don't get me wrong, i liked clones, i just think it's my least favorite of all the sw movies. tpm really pulled me into the story, but it would have been better if obi wan was the main character instead of qui gon. he's the only one who retains his sarcastic humor.
obi really kept clones afloat for me.
anakin was cool, but it would have been better had their relationship progressed from the first scene through to the last, instead of trying to deny it like esb (which worked)
if they had both shown signs of more than just physical attraction throughout, it would have been easier to swallow. they could have skipped naboo completely, gone straight to tatooine.
(like, say, if anakin had his nightmare en route in space instead of on naboo)

Wow.............I am amazed to see how quickly the AOTC forum has become like the TPM one. Some really heated opinions flying around in here. The first week or so after the films were released I remember everybody seemed to love it. Is it really that bad on repeated viewing?.

I for one loved it. Yeah, the acting is cheesey in places, but no more so than in the OT. The storyline drags in a couple of places but no more than here and there in the OT. The bottom line is it is SW, it does have passion and the whole thing works well IMO.

Try and look at the series as a whole rather than seperate films, just like we now do with the OT. I think it all works great and love them all.

Obi-Wan is one of the bright spots of AOTC. Let's examine our other "heroes":

1. Anakin: Too whiny, lanky, loverboy, and Tigerbeat. This isn't the teenage Vader I ever imagined.

2. Padme: She goes from a (somewhat) mature 14-year-old queen in TPM to being the single biggest idiot yet it a SW flick. "Anakin, you feed me atrocious lines, semi-stalk me, and massacre some women and children. That means that I truly, deeply love you." Whatever happens to this chick in E3 isn't bad enough.

3. C-3PO and R2-D2: They are both just along for the ride. C-3PO accomplishes absolutely nothing, and R2-D2's only accomplishment was in a scene that should have never been filmed: Nat and Hayden Dodging Around in the Big Video Game Droid Factory.

4. Yoda and Mace: Did these guys check their brains at the door? They couldn't have been more compliant tools for Palpatine if they'd tried.

In short, I either hated all the heroes or they left me cold. Only Obi-Wan elicits any sympathy.

Obi-Wan is one of the bright spots of AOTC. Let's examine our other "heroes":

1. Anakin: Too whiny, lanky, loverboy, and Tigerbeat. This isn't the teenage Vader I ever imagined.
Luke was way whinier and just as much tigerbeat in ANH.
2. Padme: She goes from a (somewhat) mature 14-year-old queen in TPM to being the single biggest idiot yet it a SW flick. "Anakin, you feed me atrocious lines, semi-stalk me, and massacre some women and children. That means that I truly, deeply love you." Whatever happens to this chick in E3 isn't bad enough.
She's certainly better than that mean "independent" bitch Leia.
3. C-3PO and R2-D2: They are both just along for the ride. C-3PO accomplishes absolutely nothing, and R2-D2's only accomplishment was in a scene that should have never been filmed: Nat and Hayden Dodging Around in the Big Video Game Droid Factory.
Have you completely forgotten how annoying and pointless C-3PO and R2 were in ESB? 3PO with his constant "the odds of surviving..." and then getting blown apart by a stormtrooper. R2-D2 getting swallowed by that dumb monster. Sure...that really moved the plot along. As for video game droid factory...I'd have to say flying through a trench while dodging laser fire to shoot some torpedoes through a little hole at the end is far more like a video game.

4. Yoda and Mace: Did these guys check their brains at the door? They couldn't have been more compliant tools for Palpatine if they'd tried.
They were arrogant. "Too sure of themselves, they are." And besides, the idea that Palpatine could come to power by taking on thousands of Jedi in a straight fight is laughable. He must take power through sneaky manipulaton.

I'm not sure I have much sympathy for Obi-wan either. First he dismisses clear signs of psychological problems/Force disturbance with the idiotic line "Dreams pass in time." Then he whines to his superiors about Anakin's arrogance, as if someone else had been responsible for Anakin's training all these years.

For some reason, Lucas is deperate to convince us that Obi-wan and Anakin hated each other all along and that Obi-wan's failings as a teacher account for Anakin's fall to the darkside.

In short, there is no one to really like in AOTC other than Padme's decoy who has the good sense to exit the movie in the first scene.

Actually, I didn't love AOTC just for the action and special effects (though they were the best of the saga). It's the first Star Wars film I felt emotionally involved in since ESB. ROTJ traded on our love of the existing characters and didn't really add anything new to them, IMO (and Ford and Fisher could barely conceal their boredom throughout). TPM was fine for a setup, but none of the characters really felt developed apart from Qui-Gon (and he died at the end!) However, AOTC grabbed me right from the start and made me care about all the characters. Yoda and Mace seemed to have their personalities removed in TPM, but they both rocked in AOTC. And Ewan was so much better than in TPM. All the actors seemed more confortable in their roles this time, which is why I enjoyed the film much more.

Jabba, didn't you like Jocasta Nu? She was the heart and soul of the movie, IMO

Foxbatkllr, here are my responses:

1. In the 1977 SW, Luke was supposed to be whiny. Anakin, who has trained in the Jedi arts for ten years, shouldn't be whiny.

2. Mark Hamill looked Tigerbeat?

3. Leia certainly had some "bitchiness" to her. How that compares with Padme's complete lack of a brain in AOTC is beyond me. ("You just massacred some little kids? Oh, I love you! I want to marry you!")

4. C-3PO and R2-D2 often:
fixed ships
opened locked doors
gave necessary technical information
halted garbage compactor doors
etc
In AOTC, they're just there for laughs.

5. The battle over the first Death Star wasn't anything like a video game. The movie came out in 1977. Video games of that era were things like Pong, Space Invaders, and Asteroids. There wasn't anything remotely like it in the world of video games. In fact, the video games of a later era tried to copy Lucas. It's sad that now it seems that Lucas tries to copy the video games (the droid foundry in AOTC and the pod-race in TPM).

6. Sure Palpatine needs to be sneaky. But Yoda and Mace are so dense in AOTC that Larry, Curly, and Mo could have manipulated them.

Larry, Curly And Mo

if any body reads this note this. Attack of the clones may of had it's bad points(love scens) Over all they show star wars like it never has showen before. The empire in a way is begining to come in the picture. They show boba fett. They show the clone army. Every thing that once was asked about years ago like "i wounder what was the clone war" is now clear. The battle was the best. Plus the story line of star wars and how you see every thing heading into the path that it is just makes it a great movie. A 10 OUT OF 10

I loved the movie and my friends did and i have seen it 5 times I think you guys need to go read a book becuse GL has made good movies TPM was cool and a good movie. Also Gl did not drict ESB but he wrote it so it is the movie he made.

Star wars rocks

"1. In the 1977 SW, Luke was supposed to be whiny. Anakin, who has trained in the Jedi arts for ten years, shouldn't be whiny."

So sure are you, Binary? Haven't you ever heard of like father, like son?

"2. Mark Hamill looked Tigerbeat?"

I'm sure some girls liked him.

"3. Leia certainly had some "bitchiness" to her. How that compares with Padme's complete lack of a brain in AOTC is beyond me. ("You just massacred some little kids? Oh, I love you! I want to marry you!")"

Be fair, Binary, she didn't confess her love right after that scene, only once she thought they both were going to die in the arena.

"4. C-3PO and R2-D2 often:
fixed ships
opened locked doors
gave necessary technical information
halted garbage compactor doors
etc
In AOTC, they're just there for laughs."

3PO, maybe (but what purpose did he have in ROTJ? He couldn't even stop the Ewoks cooking our heroes!)
But R2 was very useful in AOTC. He saved Padme's life and brought Obi-Wan's message to Anakin. And repaired that idiot 3PO.

"5. The battle over the first Death Star wasn't anything like a video game. The movie came out in 1977. Video games of that era were things like Pong, Space Invaders, and Asteroids. There wasn't anything remotely like it in the world of video games. In fact, the video games of a later era tried to copy Lucas. It's sad that now it seems that Lucas tries to copy the video games (the droid foundry in AOTC and the pod-race in TPM)."

You're right, the battle of yavin INSPIRED video games. Now video games inspire Lucas

"6. Sure Palpatine needs to be sneaky. But Yoda and Mace are so dense in AOTC that Larry, Curly, and Mo could have manipulated them."

Yoda and Mace aren't dumb. Their ability to detect the dark side has been clouded, remember?

You're welcome.

"In fact, the video games of a later era tried to copy Lucas. It's sad that now it seems that Lucas tries to copy the video games (the droid foundry in AOTC and the pod-race in TPM)."

Binary_Sunset,
Wouldn't George than be copying from himself.

You know what I said the second I walked out of the theater opening night, at 2 AM?

"holy SITH did you see all those freaking lightsabers????"

But, thats just me.

I consider AFI a reliable source for determining whats the best of cinema due to the list is made up on the opinions of industry professionals who know a heck of a lot more about movies than us.

So an industry professional has a better idea of what I like than I? Interesting.

(Professional or not, they're still opinions.)

Remember what George said after he showed A New Hope to his friends??

"I Think that I have just made a kids movie"

Those people who grew up with Star Wars and that now hate the new movies... I hate you for saying that the new movies suck just because they're too kiddie-looking

Why did you like the first ones in the first place??

Chewwie

Darth Vader

Weird creatures

Spaceships

?!?!?

Each and everyone of them are aimed towards the kids why else they release it on the summer??


The nerve of some people.