Official Title Announced!

Does anyone else now have the Episode II page at the OS as their wallpaper?

I think it looks so cool, that I did that. It took a little editing, but now it looks cool, and I see that cool

Episode II
Attack of the Clones

logo every time I load up my Desktop.

 

Patrick;

I'm quite amused that you're upset because the OS promises you a good, old SW adventure. Man, isn't that just what you want? Isn't that just what you thought you didn't get with TPM?

About the "darkness" issue; we are not able to say if George changed his mind and cuted up the PT. We have seen one third of that story. If the entire PT turns out to be in the tone of TPM, I'll agree with you. But you are jumping to conclusions way too early here. A light and happy start to the PT does not mean that it won't be way darker than the OT as a whole. You'd be foolish to state now that the PT isn't a darker and more depressing trilogy of films than the OT, after merely having seen one of the 3 films. And that is the introduction! The film that establishes characters and conflicts, the Republic and the Jedi, and shows us how it all was (Kenobi quote) "before the dark times. Before the Empire."

I just don't understand why some people refuse the notion that the first of these movies HAD to be light and happy, or else we wouldn't feel the darkness that lies ahead the way we should.

Well, what am I saying? Just don't tell the world now that the PT isn't as dark as it should be. It could make you look stupid in a few years time. But if you lost all but a tiny bit of trust in Lucas with TPM, and that tiny bit is gone with the announcement of the title of the next film...well, I guess you'd just as well leave SW alone from now and be content with the OT.

What is so "light and happy" about Attack of the Clones, anyway? ?
I'm confused. Are you people just determined not to like things...?

 

First of all, I'm on record as being on the fence about the whole title thing. Again, I'm cautiously optimistic and think that IF George gets his ass in gear this time and makes a good movie (TPM wasn't it IMHO... sorry) then the cheesy title will be fine. the title The Empire Strikes Back without the context of an excellent film is a pretty doofy-sounding title too.

BUT... like I said, for 15 years or so we basically had Lucas statements about the darkness and more mature themes of the prequel films. Basically we were going to be seeing a society in decline, and the deception and intrigue which hastened that decline. The OT was then going to be the fun, rollercoaster, youth-friendly adventure story. What did we get in TPM? The beginnings of a good political intrigue plot buried under layers of camera-mugging comic relief characters, poop gags, bad slapstick, direct references to late 20th century pop culture, and "villains" who cringed at their own shadows.

Now, with that in mind how is one supposed NOT to harbor at least a SLIGHT concern that Lucas has decided to pull his punches and not follow through with his original idea? He said for years that he didn't begin the saga with Episode I because the first three stories in the saga weren't nearly as marketable as the last three... and if TPM wasn't geared towards selling backpacks and lunchboxes to eight year-olds I don't know what is.

On top of that, the current description of AOTC on the official site is: "It harkens back to the sense of pure fun, imagination and excitement that characterized the classic movie serials and pulp space fantasy adventures that inspired the Star Wars saga."

Sounds like fun... actually, it doesn't sound like it's fundamentally different from the official descriptions accompanying every other SW film, including 1999's slapstick-fest.

How am I supposed not to wonder if Episode II isn't POSSIBLY going to end up being more of the "Star Wars Lite" that we dealt with in TPM, rather than the "Star Wars Extra Stout" that Lucas spoke of during the 15 or so years between the end of the OT and the beginning of the PT?

I'm not saying that Episode II will necessarily be the superficial mess that TPM was... I actually hope that it isn't. And I'll be the first to jump for friggin' joy if AOTC ends up being an excellent movie. But come on... unless I was a completely indiscriminate gusher there's no WAY I wouldn't harbor some definite doubts about Episode II at this point.

 

At least the word 'Attack' is central-- we want action, after all don't we?

And its not something that would lead you to assume there is a bunch of one-liner style dialouge that pervaded TPM

go get em gl

 

why would George Lucas call a love story something like "Attack of the Clones?"

 

Am I going nuts? The first time I saw the title was yesterday, and the first thought that crossed my mind was "well, after a title like The Phantom Menace, nothing really is surprising" Today, one day later, I am beside myself with how much I like the title. It is making me smile. And right now, imagining some kid from the 50's, when the only real trailer for a movie was the name of the movie, I can imagine kids reading a title like that and getting excited. No promo's or anything. Just the words on paper. Now, of course, kids of today may expect something a bit more harsh or I dont know...but obviously, to me, the title is working! If that's the kid in me being awakened once again, so be it! I wonder if Ewan is thinking the same thing! lol. At first, he said it was terrible..but is he allowed to retract that statement, if his thoughts change?

Isurus

p.s. I do find myself thinking of it as Attack of the Clowns, but that just makes me laugh.

 

If you haven't noticed, alot of the inspiration in the design for this movie has come from the 1950's, espeicailly in the despign of vehicles and the clothing of Coruscant citiznes. Heck, the lights in Paly's office are a direct rip-off of a 50's style flying saucer.

 

Why not call it Anikan and Obi Wan's Big Adventure? or The Good, The Bad and the Gungan? Or Attack of the really bad suck up media consultants who smiled and said, "Sure George, thats a great title..." The time for rebellion is at hand....

 

In the past couple of years I noticed a very interesting phenomena. People have adopted the motto "Hate everything - Criticize everything!". People say there are no good movies anymore, people say the new Star Wars sucks, people say the new Star Wars title sucks. Come on! We all know that if "A New Hope" came out today, half of you would hate it. We all know that if "The Empire Strikes Back" came out today, half of you would say the title sucks, and the movie sucks because it isn't directed by Lucas. Don't even get me started on RotJ. We all know that's true. You know why? Simple. S T A R W A R S I S C H E E S Y !!! It's the nature of the film. It's filled with so called cliches. But then again, 20 years ago, these weren't cliches. 20 years ago, that was new, innovative, exciting... So there comes TPM. It's innovative. It's new. It's exciting. And half of the world is slaughtering it - Why? because it's not like the old Star Wars movies! But come on, we all know that if it WERE like the old Star Wars movies people'd still slaughter it, saying it's Cheesy, Corny, and full of cliches. The new title proves it. What's the big difference between "The Empire Strikes Back" or "Return of the Jedi" and "Attack of the Clones"? Think about it... Lingually, it's exactly the same. Somebody or something in the move, somebody or something doing something active, yada yada. In other words, this time Lucas is going back to the origins, this time he IS doing at least the title like the old Star Wars movies, and you guys say it's cheesy, corny, you get the point.

The bottom line - whatever happens, whatever anyone would do, you'd be against it. Look at yourselves. Instead of criticizing things, instead of making such a fuss out of a TITLE, instead of searching for reasons all around to hate and criticize everything, just try to watch the movie for a change as a movie?

Thank you, and have a nice day.

 

I understand your pov, Patrick!
Still, I'd like to see some Lucas quotes or something to back up what you say he said back then...

 

I haven't logged on in a few months. After hearing the title announced I figured there would be a couple hundred threads complaining about it. With predictability like that, it's hard to maintain my Star Wars-posting enthusiasm.

The title was going to be a surprise no matter what it was. "Attack of the Clones" DOES sound like a cheesy sci-fi flick, but all the titles are supposed to sound like that. "The Empire Strikes Back" isn't the most imaginative thing I've ever heard.

But the title says exactly what the movie is about. The movies are ABOUT the Skywalker clan and their comrades, but the TITLES refer to the ups and downs of the galactic politics in the background. The Jedi are part of that political structure, so "Return of the Jedi" fits right in.

And, just as the Jedi were the enforcers of goodness in the old Republic, the clones and stormtroopers serve that function for Palpatine's empire.

"Attack of the Clones" fits right in. "The Shadow Falls" and "Empire Rising" and all the other mock titles I've seen do not.

 

Lucas, you magnificent Bantha!

You've done it! You've picked the perfect title out of thin air and simultaneously threw everyone a curve ball. No one saw it coming and it's simply beautiful! Brilliant! And simplicity defined. Keep it Simple Stupid. That's my motto.

So JWAC = likes the movie. Before I say some other stuff though I'd like to adress some things that bug me. Not about the title but about the debate. I'm with the people who like the title, obviously, but some of what they said nags at me. Namely this kind of talk: "starwars IS cheese. Just enjoy it for what it is." If you really beleive this ... Man, I feel sorry for you. Why are you a starwars fan? (you = no one in particular)

Starwars is NOT cheese. I never thought I'd have to argue that in a starwars forum. I say again star wars is NOT cheese BUT ...

... we are made to think it is.

That's it's brilliance. It's calling itself cheese, a saturday serial while hiding all these important mythological, spiritual elements in plain sight. Star Wars is not cheese.

That said, the title is a brilliant piece of cheese. As it should be. Let's look at what exactly it conjours up. A hokey b-movie. But what KIND of b-movie?

Attack of the Clones.

What kind of movie is this. Science fiction definitely but not the H.G. Wells-esque ditsy adventure science fiction ... Look at that title. This'a horror movie, folks. Night of the living Clones.

We don't have something happy and fancy we've got a horror movie starring a wicked scary looking Palpatine and the guy who played frekin' Dracula! I would be VERY surprised if Christopher Lee did not turn out to be a villian of somekind. Maybe it's common knowledge that he is, don't tell me (no spoilers) but come on ... maybe here he ends up playing the starwars version of Dr. Frankenstein! Maybe not, I have no idea, but don't pay the price for your lack of vision. Don't let this title throw you. Star Wars is NOT cheese. You're calling the dark turn you've all been clammoring for nothing short of juvenile.

Picture the poster in Crimson. Put one of those imperial guards in your mind then think of the title.

Star Wars - Episode II: Attack of the Clones

now imagine you can hear the emperor cackling. "goood ... goooood."

-JWAC

 

I think that one of the biggest problems here is with the word "clones".
I mean, come on, do you think there'd be nearly as many people complaining about the cheeziness of the title if the movie had been called "Attack of the Sith" or even "Attack of the Empire"?
No, of course not. The Sith and the Empire are both cool/evil/nasty/Star Wars related things. They *should* be attacking. Clones are cheezy. They bring to mind visions of Dolly the sheep and generic B movie villians.
Well, what happens when Episode II comes out and the Clones turn out to be vicious killers who are synonymous with the Dark Side, and end up helping Darth Sidious bring about the fall of the Old Republic? (I'm guessing here..No spoilers for me)
Then people are suddenly going to start saying "Oooohhh Attack of the CLONES...Cool."
These Clones are going to eat Dolly the sheep for breakfast.....

 

Adali, I'll see if I can find any vintage Lucas PT quotes online.

Again, most of what I'm referring to was in magazines that I read years ago well before Lucas started working on the PT. I MAY still have some stashed away at my parents' place, but I get back there once every few months at this point (out of state). So next time I'm there I will see what I can dig up. What I remember, however, are statements saying that the OT was the trilogy with the most action and the PT stories were more cloak-and-dagger political mysteries, so that's why he led with Luke's trilogy... more marketable. Also, there was mention made of the PTs not appealing as much to the younger audiences because of the nature of the stories, which always struck me as another reason why he led with Luke's trilogy... get the younger moviegoers digging the flashy stuff first, and then follow up with the earlier political stuff when they're older and can appreciate it.

But again, I'll see what I can find. A lot of it goes back to roughly the time ROTJ came out, and I was just starting high school at that point... God knows what magazines I saved and which ones I didn't.

 

The title is beginning to sound better but I still have some problems with it. I've realized that my problem really is with "Clones" not "Attack of the". As someone said maybe after seeing the movie it will sound better with me thinking of clones as evil. Maybe it would sound better if it was Attack of the (blank) Clones, something more like Attack of the Emperor's Guards. Not that title but something to describe the clones make them evil. Now they are more neutral and I don't really have anything to associate with them. Imagine The Empire Strikes Back without knowing about Darth Vader, stormtroopers, etc. Or if they never told you that Darth Vader and the Empire were the Empire. You would be wondering who the Empire was, Good or Bad?
If the movie is good I guess the title will start to be good too. Maybe it has a double meaning too.

 

Am I the only one who finds it a bit odd that so many of us are upset about an episode title for a series that's called STAR WARS? Ah... what a brilliantly imaginative, subtle moniker that was!

Moral: The quality of a title does not often reflect the quality of the film.

 

I think its encouraging that the very first reaction of most people, e.g. Ewan McGregor, Mark Hamil, is laughter and disbelief. I still luagh at the notion of the next SW movie being called "Attack of the Clones!" but its great. It lets us have a little fun with our Star Wars.

 

I think one of the problems for people trying to make sense of the title is that the Clones are never mentioned in detail in any part of the other movies. Episode I had no mention of them. If there had been Clones in TPM and they were shown to be a threat, this title would be more well accepted. The only mentioning of clones is in the line about the Clone Wars in ANH, but that's supposedly after Episode II, so we don't get that continuity. But, perhaps the idea is that the clones attack suddenly and without warning. And also, this keeps right in line with "The Phantom Menace". After seeing TPM, you have a title like "Attack of the Clones" - is the menace in TPM now releasing the Clones - and in the process revealing its true nature?

 

Keltic32,

You`re dead on, methinks. Certainly a likely possibility in today`s movie world.

Ambious,

I don`t speak for anybody else here, but I dislike the title because I think its a weak title for a movie. I liked Jurassic Park 3 better than 2 because it was a more mature movie than 2, although I could still rail for days on the plot holes and flaws that have gnawed at me.

Jar Jar was a childish inclusion NOT on-par with the truly entertaining C-3PO and R2D2 characters from the first "real" Star Wars movies. Explaining the Force away as the ambient by-product of tiny organisms living in our bloodstreams was incredibly stupid. Showing a young Anakin to be a 'special kid' was a necessary idea for TPM... doing so in such a comparatively juvenile way (he may as well have been flying his bicycle across the moon, with a beaming grin stretched across his face...) was insipid and condescending.

This has established a post-Empire history, and I am therefore always skeptical until Mr. Lucas proves me wrong.

Another point: what I find really infuriating with the whole Star Wars series, post success, is that of all the people in the entire world who make films, George Lucas is the single most capable man to possibly eliminate any common mistakes or weaknesses in his movies... and yet, there they are.

"You Rebel scum..."

What a ****** delivery. In all of Hollywood, I guess there was nobody that could deliver that line just a little better... I have to go slap my gang-shirt on now (The Rebel Scums...). Yep - no aspiring Hamlet that could possibly have delivered that 1 line better.

Or how about a few bits of delivery from Billy Dee Williams in Return Of The Jedi, just before they part company and attack the new Death Star? That was the kind of performance that would demand another take. Kirschner would have done it.

This point is, there`s no reason for such feeble trademarks to exist in this universe... Lucas can spend whatever over any length of time and ensure dumb things like the above don`t occur. And then with Phantom Menace we get Jar Jar, the Force sabotage, and some sincerely unusual gadget-belt grappelling.

Lucas himself established the standard by which he is measured with the first 2 movies, and he has since failed to match it.

 

Scott Hunter said....
'
"You Rebel scum..."

What a ****** delivery. In all of Hollywood, I guess there was nobody that could deliver that line just a little better... I have to go slap my gang-shirt on now (The Rebel Scums...). Yep - no aspiring Hamlet that could possibly have delivered that 1 line better. '

Hehe, that is a classic line in ROTJ. How the guy sneers and points the blaster and says the line, with the music in the background, it's awesome. There's nothing wrong there.

So we've gone from lambasting the Episode II title to whining about a three-word piece of dialog spoken by an unknown actor; this actor probably on screen at that time for at most 5 seconds. I love it.

 

"Explaining the Force away as the ambient by-product of tiny organisms living in our bloodstreams was incredibly stupid."

Perhaps if you paid attention to what Qui-Gon was saying, you would understand that he never says the midichlorians created the Force. In fact, he says the opposite. Midichlorians are simply the pathway between life and the Force.

If you want to learn more about what midichlorians might be, read the Midichlorian Study on TF.N by Chris Knight.

 

Yeah I have to say that this attack on Midi Chlorian's being stupid is just lame. I am really sorry that George Lucas did not consult with our imaginings before he filled in some of the blanks about the Force and other things we'd had to imagine for ourselves before. I for one am fascinated by the idea of the Midi Chlorians.

The Force is still every bit as mysterious and mystical as it was before. The Midi Chlorians do not create the Force, they simply are a conduit through which the Force speaks. They are the burning bush talking to Moses in the desert. God remained every bit as powerful and mysterious after we learned he spoke to Moses through that bush right? The only difference is the conduit resides within all living things. But then the Force is created by all living things, so this fits very well.

George Lucas was right to explain the Force more in Episode 1. We are talking about a more civilized age, when the technology was less crude and knowledge was more wide spread and easily accessed. History has shown this as a fact. The dark ages of western civilization show how easily culture can regress and knowledge can be lost.

We have to be open minded to change. Because what George Lucas created to fill in the gaps and flesh out the back story won't always jive with what we came up with in our heads. But that does not make it bad or wrong.

 

Have you ever read aloud the titles to most of Lucas's work. Read the title slowly, word for word and be honest with yourself.

Indiana Jones & The Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Rerelease title)
Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom. (I mean, come on!)
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.
Star Wars.
The Empire Strikes Back. (Really)
Return of the Jedi. (Ya sure)

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Masks of Evil, (1999) (V) (executive producer)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: The Mystery of the Blues (1999) (V) (executive producer)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Spring Break Adventure (1999) (V) (executive producer)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: The Trenches of Hell (1999) (V) (executive producer)
Young Indiana Jones and the Attack of the Hawkmen (1995) (TV) (executive producer)

Most of it sounds like B movie stuff anyway, so what's the big deal. Try to remember that he was a HUGE fan of the serials back in the day. And I LOVE Lucas' stuff.

You know what, maybe it's the working title. Maybe he's trying to pull a fast one and wants to find out the reaction from most of the fans. Otherwise, if you dislike it that much and have become disillusioned with him then leave these message boards for the people are true fans!

 

Midichlorians are actually necessary. Even if they didn't mention them in the movies, there still would be midichlorians. The reason is that we know Force ability is inherited. If all it takes is concentration, then anyone can have it, and the Skywalkers would have no more adeptness with the Force than any other person. So something has to explain all that, and midichlorians are the mechanism. Previously, before they were introduced, the Force was determined genetically. Even if they didn't say it in the movies, such a thing would still be true for the Star Wars universe, and the Force would be no more mystical than it is now.

 

You guys are thinking of it all wrong. Invision it as Attack of the StormTroopers. That's what we're getting only it's a NEW kind of enemy. It's the CLONE army the ones from the CLONE wars so in an already established precendent they must then be called "clones." I still bet their bigger and badder than the stormtroopers.

-Tristan