The Official 'Clone War' reaction thread.

Hey QuiGon - I got the impression you weren't going to watch it. Any regrets?

 

...i agree with those who see soemthing wrong with the shots and angles...it doesnt really look like star wars...

...what i always loved is that star wars looked like a real story and not a movie...i always loved the simple wide camera angles he usually uses...i hope what weve seen in the trailer doesnt conclude what we will see come may 16th...

...it kinda felt like the matrix...yuck...no place for that stuff here...

>>>EDIT<<<

...i just watched it again...the angles are fine...what the hell am i talking about...

 

I knew I couldn't possibly keep away.

If I think about it, it would have been really cool to have seen all that AMAZING stuff for the first time in the theatre, but it's also more fun to anticipate the movie knowing that it will in fact be the coolest movie ever!

I still think that the images are bigger spoilers than plot points. But I can't resist the trailers so I decided to stay away from the plot points instead.

 

anyone else notice that the blaster rifles everyone seems to be toting around are quite familiar?

 

Yoda = Real I swear!

 

The trailer was excellent and, so far, the CG work looks spectacular.

And I very much disagree with the critics of the camera angles and swooping shots of the battles on the ground. Regarding the charge that there is something "un-Star Wars" about the approach, I don't know what you're talking about. Lucas has done similar things in the past: In the Battle of Hoth in ESB, there were several kinetic aerial shots of the action on the ground and, in the space battle of Endor against the Second Darth Star, Lucas employed rather dynamic camera angles. The difference here is that the action and visual density is magnified by a hundred in the Clones Trailer.

However, to the extent that the camera shots in the Clones Trailer might represent a departure from the OT in some way, so what? The action in AOTC is very much different from the action in the previous films. Much more frenetic battlefields with a great deal happening on the ground -- so many different machines, so many different attack styles, so many different players. I prefer this kind of land battle complexity over the way that Lucas and co. filmed Ewoks vs. Stormtroopers or Gungans vs. Battledroids. In many ways, Lucas has taken the fluidity and dynamism of the space battles of ANH and ROTJ and translated them into complex ground battles. In TPM, he attempted to have a "War and Peace" style confrontation with Battle Droids and Gungans, but he didn't deliver intensity and dynamism. Now, in the Clones Trailer, Lucas delivers.

In my opinion, the camera angles I saw in the trailer were excellent and exciting. It's true that Star Wars movies employ very simple and straightforward shots. Indeed, Lucas wanted this. In Star Wars, he even brought back the wipe, which had gone out of style in movies. Lucas brought us back to the basics of filmmaking and storytelling. And the first three trailers revealed that Lucas largely relies on simple shots to drive the story. All the romantic scenes with Padme and Anakin and the meetings in Palpatine's office are conservative shots and camera angles. But let's not handcuff Lucas to the same repertoire of camera angles and shots. Let the man employ his equipment in the way that advances his creative vision. The limitations of SFX many years ago did not allow him to create the kind of battle he will present us in AOTC. Now Lucas can do it. So let him use the camera angles that he thinks will maximize the intensity, excitement, and visual display. And remember that when Lucas advances his vision, he advances his storytelling.

Anyway, if you're so hung up on the simplicity of the camera technique in the OT, then you might soon insist that there be no CG effects. After all, the CG in the OT was quite minimal. You might insist on stop-motion animation for everything. Well, I'd rather have the state-of-the-art SFX than see Lucas handcuffed to the older techniques. And if you insist that there was something more "real" about the stop-motion technique of ESB in the AT-AT's or the Rancor of ROTJ (which certainly had realism problems even through the Special Edition) than the CG in the Clone War land battle, then I've got news for you: movies aren't real. Indeed, this is exactly what Lucas said in an article he wrote before TPM came out. It's all artifice. So rather than getting nostalgic about an arguably more primitive SFX technique of the past, we should be celebrating Lucas's new fusion of live action and CG to create an optimal illusion.

It's still a Star Wars movie no matter what because of the essential stories, characters, and situations. And CG does not undoe the premise of Star Wars. I don't know where that notion came from. To the contrary, Star Wars movies have consistently been on the cutting-edge of special effects and changed the industry. And now CG is the current frontier for SFX filmmakers to conquer.

I'll gladly agree that FX are a waste if the story and dialogue are weak. But that doesn't seem to be in contention here.

I thought Obi Wan's performance in the trailer was excellent. His holographic scene ha

 

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHAHAHHHAHHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!

.... AAAAAAAAAAAASAGHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

THAT RUUUUULEED!!!!!!

Dude, that ruled.

-JWAC

 

I feel spoiled
Otherwise, kick butt trailer!
Loved Dooku pulling a Vader on Obi-Wan:
"Join me, Obi-Wan..."

 

Holy s---!!! OMG!!! That was great! Best trailer yet!!! I felt like celebrating! I danced and I KNEW right there that this is...gonna be something.

The battle scenes were awesome. Even at those few scenes, I felt that the TPM battle scenes in space and with the Gunguns paled in comparison.

Best part was the twist: Count Dooku could be a GOOD GUY??!! I had always assumed that he was the next apprentice of Darth Sidious after Darth Maul, but his one line in the trailer was enough to cast doubt on my assumptions. Which also means that I will have to reevaluate the Separatists and what they stand for. Perhaps the Separtists were right all along...

 

Twas a tad let down by the lack of Amidala, but yeah, it was just cool to get into the Star Wars mood again.

I have so many questions as to where little parts of the trailer will be in the storyline as I'm yet to discover anything, other than it being a love story, and with a clone war. So I'm definetely doing well with regaurd to not spoiling myself.

 

Yeah, I've watched all the trailers flipped out at them all and still have NO real idea what's going on in this movie.

-JWAC

 

After watching it in the early hours on the net, imagine how I feel to wake up and find one of my housemates taped it when it was shown on GMTV (for non-UKer's, it's a truly dire breakfast TV show) this morning a couple of hours ago.
But that doesn't matter! We've got it showing right now on a 44 inch TV!

 

This trailer has flipped almost all my preconceived ideas on how I thought it would go.

EDIT: How can Lucas beat this, even with Anakins fall.

 

All GL has to do is destroy his universe in the war, to achieve the ruined, lonely look of the OT.

 

Amazing!!! It made me almost emotional. I've been a huge SW fan since '77 and nothing could prepare me for the visuals in this trailer. What struck me first was this looks like no other SW movie, and I suppose EPIII will seem even more, uh...foreign? For lack of a better word. The visuals were both awe-inspiring and unsettling

Awe-inspiring because of how far the visuals have come since Lucas began using CGI. I think we're beginning to see the depth and genious of his imagination and unequaled talent for visual story telling. This will be a movie on a grand scale; some of the shots we see in this trailer are just so...HUGE!

Unsettling because we begin to get a sense of a republic losing control and a tragic civil war ensuing. All the while, our old friend Palpy, his dark side intentions already beginning to ruin his outward appearance, is masterminding the whole thing. And Anakin. Doesn't he make you nervous? When we hear Obi Wan say he has grown arrogant, I immediately thought of the Bible verse, "Pride goeth before a fall." I have a bad feeling about this. And I was also unsettled by the final shot: I counted only 14 jedi surrounded by those battle droids and other creatures (I'm trying to be spoiler free, I don't know what they're called). I shudder to think that's what the entire Jedi population in the galaxy had been reduced to at that point in the film.

Now for some questions.

1) The Clone Wars trailer and the Forbidden Love trailer almost look like two different movies. And both look like they could fill two different feature-length films, or at least one four-hour long one. But we know it'll be one 2.5 hour movie at the most. It just doesn't seem possible. Only on May 16 will I know how we go from a budding love afair between a Padawan and a senator on a tranquil grassy field, to what we see at 1:30 in the Clone Wars trailer. I think there will be only one complaint about this movie: There was way to much to see in too little time. Agreed?

2) Anyone out there sighing with relief and muttering, "Finally, a Yoda whose lips match the dialog"? I've been saying that since last night.

3) Since when does Obi Wan dislike flying? I must've missed something.

4) I watched ANH yesterday, in anticipation of the new trailer on TV later, and I was especially struck for the first time, Obi Wan telling Luke that his father was "a good friend". I don't get the feeling from any of the trailers that these two are good friends. Yet. Obviously we haven't seen everything, and won't till May. I also wonder if there will be any good Anakin left in EPIII, and possibly a fragile friendship with Obi Wan still existing until the final climatic battle.

5) This looks to be a SW movie more for adults. Sure, the visuals will be exciting for everyone, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of room for amphibious beings stepping in poo-doo (although I am not Jar Jar basher). The plot lines run very very deep. I get a sense the Jedi are fooled into fighting the wrong foe. I don't think the kids will understand that. I don't think the kids will understand Palpatine. I don't hink they'll understand what a separatist is. They're still wondering what the taxation of trade routes means from TPM.

I won't go into how exciting the light saber battles look, and I won't try to imagine how Williams' score will heighten our emotions beyond the amazing sights that will unfold. I'm just gonna go examine the trailer shot by shot now, and try not to think about this all being over two months away.

 

After watching the trailer, I totally feel unspoiled. If anything, I have even more questions about the plot then I did before. All the strange creatures and scenes totally blow me away.

How do you think that Ep2 compared to Ep1, will compare to ANH and ESB? I think that Ep2 will be just as awesome as ESB was back in the 80s. I think that it is all part of Lucas' dream...

Also, do any of you have different feelings about "Attack of the Clones" the title after seeing the trailer? I do. I think that it is somehow a lot more fitting.

 

Some blue bastard was sitting in Yarael Poof's seat!

Anyways....

The shot of the Jedi Temple with Obi-Wan, Mace, and Yoda hovering was not great cgi. But I can deal with it.

Jedi Knights, Clonetroopers, Battle Droids, Super Battle Droids, Destroyer Droids, Weird rolling Donuts, ugly mechanical spiders, Assault Gunships, Republic vessels, Trade Federation ships, and many other (not really spoilers any more because you've seen them but I can't put a name to because the names aren't "official) things will make that battle on Geonosis grand indeed.

I love politics!!!!

P.S. Would knowing the name of some of those things that were in the trailer be spoiler material now considering seeing them is a much bigger spoiler than knowing the name?

 

I have ALWAYS defended the name AOTC ever since it was announced last year. I had never disliked the name. It's classic Star Wars sci-fi old-school sounding bliss. I love it.

And Star Wars: The Clone Wars just don't sound right. I mean-

Is it Star Wars?

Or Clone Wars?

I'm thinking that if Lucas named it that, people would get mad and say "The Clone Wars is the dumbest name; it should have been Attack of the Clones or something."

And yes, the trailer totally took my breath away. Never before have I been so excited to see a film- this even MATCHES my anticipation for Episode I, which I LOVED, even though my hype was as high as possible.

Bring on the 16th of May, plz kthx.

 

Argh, where can I get a fullscreen version of the trailer, the OS one is just too darn small to appreciate it to the fullest.
Isnt there somewhere I could get it and view it fullscreen?

 

Where are the Trade Federation ships?

And to me, it looks like there are two battles at the end there, one big land one, and the one in the arena.

Y'know, I'd hate to be spectators in there

 

Uhm-

In response to the individuals who think that the Forbidden Love trailer and the Clone War trailer looks like two different movies-

Why?

I mean, Most films start out smooth, with no action- see Empire. There were no action scenes until the battle of Hoth.

And mind you- all the trailers combined equal about 7 minutes- SEVEN minutes of a 2 hour 30 minute+ film. I think most of you aren't thinking right. The Love trailer is showing one aspect of the movie and the Clone trailer is showing another aspect.

Look at Titanic.

Plenty of action, tons and tons of love. There could have been a Titanic trailer dedicated to love and another entire trailer dedicated to action- and you'd wonder how all that fit into a 3 hour film. Now, I know AOTC isn't that long, but Titanic was just drawn out for length.

Lucas can EASILY fit EVERYTHING in a 2 hour+ film- and I imagine he DID considering the proof from the trailers. He can fit all the stuff we've seen and a LOT more into a two hour movie.

 

KnightWriter wrote:
The magic is back.

It never left, my friend. It never left.

 

Loved the trailer. It looks and feels more like the OT.

Man, I can't believe people are bashing the trailer! Are you using slow motion on your vcrs or computers to nitpick every scene? Geez! You know why some of the stuff looks "fake" to you? Because the stuff doesn't exist in real life, so you have no frame of reference for it. It looked pretty damn good to me.

Can't wait for May!

 

Uhm- everyone watch the trailer and go to the part where Amidala is on the creature- if you pause it in the right place, you see it scratch her back and there is an exceptional amount of blood for a "kids' movie." It makes three slash marks on her back and it looks like it hurt pretty bad, lol.

 

"I don't think the kids will understand"

That is one of the great things about starwars that gives it its broad age appeal, when I was a kid I did not completely understand all the rebel and empire aspects I just thought of them as good and bad guys, but as I grew up star wars grew up with me, I started too see it on a diiferent level and I think the kids of today will do the same with prequels. To them its going to be cool space and light sabre battles but as they grow up the political side of the saga will become more important and give them a new view on the films.