PT Droid Factory Sequence

One of the most hated parts of the Prequel Trilogy is the droid factory sequence in Attack of the Clones. I honestly have never understood why this scene is so despised. I actually enjoy the scene. It adds action in a much needed part of the film, and is reminiscent of a classic dangerous situation that Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers would have found themselves in. I see it as a homage to these types of films.

Does anyone else actually enjoy this scene? Or am I the only one?

 

So I think Lucas does a lot of paying homage to old serials in the PT and I enjoy a lot of it. I really enjoy the scene on Utapau where Obi-Wan is riding the varactyl and this was a good example of paying homage to old serials.

I had never thought of the droid factory scene as paying homage. I am one of the fans who has despised this scene. I didn't enjoy it because it was so linear; it felt too much like an old Nintendo video game, where you're moving along dodging, jumping, ducking, etc.

I clicked on this link in the hopes that someone had seen more to this scene and was opening that up to me -- to help me quit despising it. After reading you're point of view I am definitely more interested in looking into these old serials for similar scenes. Thanks. (youtube awaits!)

 

I loved that scene

 

Elaborate. I want to love this scene, but I need to get my ill feelings for it out of the way and I think hearing people's reasons for loving the scene would help.

 

I dislike mainly because it is too long and is yet another distraction (like the multiple pod-racing laps in TPM) that takes away from story advancement. It's like - timeout, let's have some campy fun adventure - return to story.

I'm not suggesting either scene be removed, mind you, just shortened.

 

I enjoyed it. It looks great. Apart from the nice homage to classic adventure serials (*), it has several nice moments of referencing and foreshadowing. Most obvious of course are the contrast with the cloning facility on Kamino, and Anakin "losing" his hand. The nicest on is where the door closes behind Anakin and Padme and they fall; in a similar situation in ANH, their offspring remains standing. I like that kind of stuff.




(*) There's a great spoof of this kind of a scene in "Galaxy Quest," the scene with the chompers. Of course the difference is that the chompers serve no purpose whatsoever.

 

It really looks like a videogame and could have been shortened. But I don't think it's completely unnecessary either (nor more so than a thrash compactor scene). There's some symbolism, including that of Anakin losing his humanity. Also, AOTC is about the start of the Clone Wars and we've already seen the clone facilities with Obi-Wan. Watching the mass production of droids you realize that clones and droids are not that different, all of them are meant as expendable killing machines for their masters. The point here is, the war is soulless no matter which side you're on.

 

I liked this scene becauseI got to see Anakin show his skills. He was moving and slipping past all of those projectiles. It was also cool for me to see artoo take off with those rocket boosters. I also was happy to see Padme being strong enough to save herself as oppose to waiting around to be saved by Anakin. Even though she wound up falling into that canister and had to be saved by artoo.

 

Artoo is a hero, there's nothing shameful in being saved by him!

 

C-3PO makes it unwatchable as is for me. It becomes more an hommage to Looney Tunes at that point. He's like a blabbering Wile E Coyote!

 

The physics feel off. 3PO is normaly barely able to pick up or hold onto a communicator or unbend his arms. Suddenly we are supposed to believe his slippery non-bendy metal fingers can grasp the edge of a giant ceramic molten metal container? This is one of the most significant of the many cringe worthy scenes in the PT.

 

The scene isn't bad in itself, it just suffers in the same manner that all of the action sequences of that film do: I don't feel a connection with the characters so it's all so unnecessary. I don't think it's because that particular scene was poorly done or anything, the problem is the big picture.

However, the R2 flying thing begs for of an effective covering of one's eyes.

 

I only don't like flying R2 and C3PO hanging attached to that huge droid, but I can live with that.

Beside those two moments I love this sequence - ok, it is not necessary for the plot development, but it the same might apply to the trash compactor scene on Death Star.

 

The trash compactor scene had characters I actually cared about in peril. That's the difference. Ymmv.

 

Trash compactor is the scene in ANH I feel most tempted to fast forward through. Droid Factory is tad over-the-top even for the more overtly stylized nature of the prequels, but like others have said it has some great symbolism going on. And I love the moment where Anakin starts an attack but realizes his saber is broke. Reminds me of an Indiana Jones moment.

 

I enjoy this scene, but given that it's an action scene that precedes an over 40 minute action sequence of action scenes, I can sometimes find it a bit...overwhelming. I like all the characters it involves -- Anakin, Padmé, R2 and C3PO (I actually like his jokes and puns), but the issue for me is that there are a lot of other scenes I'd love to see included -- such as Padmé visiting her family. Given that Lucas is pretty strict about running times, I'd prefer that he cut the droid factory sequence and add in her scenes if I had the choice.

It's similar with ROTS. Obi-Wan vs. Grievous is fun, but I'd much rather Lucas cut down on some of the fighting/chase scenes and re-insert Anakin and Palpatine's discussion of changes to the constitution.

It's not that I don't like the scenes themselves, I just prefer the alternatives by a great margin.

That's a great point. The symbolism is great -- such as C3PO switching heads. I also really like the fact that Anakin doesn't save Padmé -- it's R2D2 who comes to the rescue. I feel like it foreshadows ROTS nicely in that regard.

 

I like the fact that George Lucas can send the droids off on their own adventures. It is not the first time he has done it. He does it in A New Hope when they are strolling through Tatooine and Artoo goes off on his own to look for Old Ben Kenobi. It is done again in an Empire Strikes Back with Threepio when he gets blown a part by the storm troopers. It also happens again in Return of the Jedi when the two droids are back on Tatooine. Although in Empire Threepio did not talk as much as he did in the Attack of the Clones but that is alright. Threepio has seen a lot and been on quite a few adventures. Of course this is why his mind was wiped and he remembers nothing from the Prequel Trilogy but he is still an interesting character.

 

Well, the fact is that the scene was added very late in production. The original scene had Anakin and Padme being captured upon landing, but it was decided another action scene was needed to fill the void. And another strong opinion was that R2 and C-3PO needed to be in the action as opposed to staying on the ship).

While it technically is unnecessary for the story, it's a fun action scene and nothing more. I mean, on the plus side we get to see more of Anakin's abilities and get a better explanation for his missing lightsaber instead of it being confiscated by Jango Fett. Though I agree that it's the same as the trash compactor scene (yes, in both instances the main characters are in peril).

Also, does anyone else think R2 was a bit of a jerk for almost killing 3PO? If he didn't land on the platform, would he have just smashed on the ground? In general, 3PO's ordeal was a little odd at how convenient it all was. But I had no problem with R2's jets, though. I mean, he can do just about everything else.

 

Threepio has been blown a part many times. As long as his CPU is intact he keeps ticking. Let us remember that Chewbacca carried Threepio around on his back for the latter half of that film. Iev also noticed how GL likes to add a little levity to scenes with Threepio again this would not be the first time he has done it.

 

it was needed.

The film had slowed down considerably and it needed that umpphh to get it back on track,

 

I've often seen this as a reason to say that the scene is unnecessary... And it's not right. The scene was not part of principal photography, true, but it was shot in the first round of pick-ups (March-April 2001), much earlier than many other scenes, 14 months before the release of the movie.

 

I like the scene for the reasons that have been stated above. About the pacing, I agree that the action sequence was needed: there was no action in the whole Tatooine/Geonosis sequence that preceeded this scene. The senate scene marks the end of the second act, with everyone ready for the war. As Anakin and Padme arrive to Geonosis the third act begins, and the movie needs a punch at that moment: the political discussion is over. The personal struggles are over. The War is about to begin. I think the action sequence works perfectly as a preparation to the rest of the action.

 

After hating most of the movie, the action rush to the end was most welcome.

I hate all the Anakin/Padme stuff, but I loved just about everything on Kamino (Ewan and Temuera were brilliant together). Once they get to Kamino and past the romance, the movie really takes off and rushes to a fantastic ending.

 

I thought the scene was unnecessary and not well done.

The "peril" seemed to comic book/cartoonish and did not add any tension. The thing I hated most about it was 3po. From R2 pushing him off the platform to him catching that one moving part (which seemed very, very unrealistic considering he barely bends his arms in the movies) to his head being put on a battle droid (sigh). And it just added unnecessary "comic relief" attempts in the battle arena. The comic scenes did not work at all.

 

It's not really a reason to say it's unnecessary, but rather just a fact about how it was conceived. As you've said, it wasn't too late, but the point was that it was added after a part of the film was already completed, thus replacing it.