Product Description

The STAR WARS saga continues on DVD with Episode II Attack of the Clones. Anakin Skywalker has grown into an accomplished Jedi apprentice, and he faces his most difficult challenge yet as he must choose between his Jedi duty and forbidden love. Relive the adventure the way it was meant to be seen in spectacular digital clarity, including the climactic Clone War battle and Jedi Master Yoda in the ultimate lightsaber duel. Experience this 2-disc set that features over six hours of bonus materials, and see how Episode II unlocks the secrets of the entire STAR WARS saga.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1431 in DVD
• Brand: TCFHE
• Released on: 2005-03-22
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .40 pounds
• Running time: 142 minutes

Amazon.com
If The Phantom Menace was the setup, then Attack of the Clones is the plot-progressing payoff, and devoted Star Wars fans are sure to be enthralled. Ten years after Episode I, Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), now a senator, resists the creation of a Republic Army to combat an evil separatist movement. The brooding Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is resentful of his stern Jedi mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), tormented by personal loss, and showing his emerging "dark side" while protecting his new love, Amidala, from would-be assassins. Youthful romance and solemn portent foreshadow the events of the original Star Wars as Count Dooku (a.k.a. Darth Tyranus, played by Christopher Lee) forges an alliance with the Dark Lord of the Sith, while lavish set pieces showcase George Lucas's supreme command of all-digital filmmaking. All of this makes Episode II a technological milestone, savaged by some critics as a bloated, storyless spectacle, but still qualifying as a fan-approved precursor to the pivotal events of Episode III. --Jeff Shannon

DVD features
Star Wars: Episode II, Attack of the Clones is a superior DVD, repeating many of the elements that made its predecessor, Episode I, The Phantom Menace, so good. The picture and sound are spectacular, helped immensely by the fact that the film was shot entirely in digital, making this the first live-action direct digital-to-digital DVD transfer. This version of the film was the one shown in digital-projection theaters; there are subtle differences from the standard theatrical version, such as showing Anakin's right hand in the final scene. Again, there's a commentary track compiled from various people, including George Lucas (why can't he pronounce the names he created?), producer Rick McCallum, editor Ben Burtt, ILM animation director Rob Coleman, and three visual effects supervisors discussing how the film was made and offering teasers to Episode III.

On the second disc are eight deleted scenes with optional introductions. Most interesting are a scene of Padme addressing the Senate to oppose the creation of a Republic army, and some bits with her family and home on Naboo, but it's probably telling that, unlike with Phantom Menace, none of the deleted scenes was incorporated into the film on the DVD. Three substantial documentaries on digital characters, animatics, and creating sound elements are complemented by three insubstantial featurettes, a recycled but interesting 12-part Web documentary, and various other items that should keep fans busy while they wait for Episode III. --David Horiuchi

From The New Yorker
The Republic? The Federation? The Separatists? The clone army? The droid army? The Siths? The Kith? The Kin? The plot is incomprehensible to anyone over fourteen, and the actors intone their starched-collar lines as if they were attending a convention of rural vicars. But, allowing for some dull moments, George Lucas's latest movie has considerable style. Digital invention is becoming grander, wilder, more free-spirited: the multi-levelled cities of the future overflow with life. It would be nice to think that Lucas's visual imagination is just now taking off. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Thank you Mr. Lucas
Despite all the Star Wars fanatics bashing George Lucas for Episodes I and II, I for one am grateful he has shared his vision with us. One just cannot compare the original Star Wars Trilogy with anything. They were the pioneer films, they set the standard for what we see now and will always stand above the rest. Any film compared to those are doomed to failure. I went to see the latest installment of Star Wars with an open mind and no preconceived notions and THOROUGHLY ENJOYED it. It had everything for everyone. A little romance, a little adventure, a little mystery and a lot of action. Admittedly, the love scenes were a little weak but when Jedis start whipping out their lightsabres, who cares. The story gets very interesting and we begin to see the threads from all the previous Star Wars woven together. Ewan McGregor is spectacular as Obiwan. I didn't think he could live up to Sir Alec Guiness' but I was pleasantly surprised. I was glad to see Christopher Lee cast as Count Dooku, he plays the part so elegantly.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone, except for the die-hard fanatics who are bent on criticizing everything because it doesn't fit their vision of what the movie should be. This is George Lucas' vision and I'm glad he has shared it with us. Go see it without preconceived ideas and expections. It should not be compared with the original. It should be seen and judged on its own merits. Enjoy it for it is and not what it should be.

The Empire prepares to strike......
Ok, first of all, I would like to say that all of the people out there who went to this movie expecting it to be exactly on the same level as the older trilogy, and left feeling disappointed by the story, or the characters, or anything else. You can't expect it to be the same at all. The first trilogy was set during a civil war, during a dark time. The characters were varied. You had a rogue, a princess, a wookiee co-pilot, an old war hero jedi, and a young antagonist with hidden potential, who all came together to defeat a common enemy. Now, flash back a few decades. It is a peaceful time, but with a stirring in the air, of a coming change. The government is becoming stale and corrupt, and the Jedi are losing their mystique and grandeur, because they are attached to the stale government. So, you can expect a few things. Dense political plotlines, corrupt individuals, Jedi who aren't in touch with their powers anymore, and a more old school soceity. You must understand this. Han Solo would never blend in an environment such as this, he wouldn't match. The characters in this movie were superb in my opinion, because they fit the times that they were set in. Obi-Wan (Ewan) was much more fleshed out, and you could tell that he was scared for Anakin, and his fear would lead to failure in his training of Anakin. Anakin ( Hayden) also came to full veiw. No longer the child who screamed "wizard!", He had come into the light as a troubled young man who would become The Darth Vader we all know. And Yoda, I know there are a few people out there who said that yoda's fight was sacrilige, I disagree. Yoda has trained for hundreds of years, His skills would reflect that. And add the fact that he wasn't at the end of his life like he is later. Padme was the same, but for good reason. Mace had more screen time, and Dooku was a good addition to the story, it's good to hear some smack talking in a fight. I miss that. The movie exceeded my expectations in many ways. I now have to wait a couple more years to see the empire rise to power and the climactic lightsaber battle that is inevitable, but I can make it now, thanks to the second chapter not sucking. Now I can watch a newer Star Wars DVD without wincing, the years will pass more easily that way.

Possibly the most under-appreciated movie ever
I find it kind of weird to be writing a review of Star Wars: Episode II so long after the fact. But for what is and has always been a series of popcorn movies, it took me a surprisingly long time and large number of viewings to really appreciate the subtlety of what Attack of the Clones was doing and how well the prequel trilogy as a whole succeeded.

In a nutshell, George Lucas set himself a gargantuan task in doing the three prequels. He had to take the character of Anakin Skywalker, make him a likable and sympathetic character that viewers would enjoy watching for most of three movies, and then turn him into Darth Vader at the end in a way that was both fundamentally believable and effective, and allow the us to feel the tragedy. In short, he had to do something almost completely unlike the heroic arc he did in the original trilogy.

And you know what, for me anyway, he succeeded, and once again the middle chapter is the key one. This is where Lucas had to develop Anakin as a real, likable character, and yet give us just enough of his darker side to set up his final fall without yet making us actually dislike him. I think Anakin's romance with Padme was the linchpin and very well-done, even though many fans have criticized it for lousy dialog. You know, I had badly-written dialog when I was that age too. We've had a lot of hip teenagers in popular culture these days, like the character from Buffy: the Vampire Slayer, who talk more like what their 30-something writers would have liked to have talked like when they were that age. Anakin is an awkward, conflicted, serious yet emotional teenager who is deeply in love with Padme and doesn't know how to talk to her. And that's what he sounds like, and for me, it worked, allowing Anakin to develop both sides of his character (Padme's side of the relationship is a little sketchier; her role isn't as well drawn in my opinion, and additionally Natalie Portman, a talented actress, may have been mailing this one in).

Needless to say, the action and chase scenes are brilliant, and George Lucas is the master when it comes to framing and setting these things up. Whether it's the skillfully managed tension of the bar scene, the cleverly-shot lightsaber duel between Dooku, Anakin, and/or Obi-Wan, or fisticuffs in the rain, Lucas makes all the action scenes compelling. Crucially, they are an extension of the plot and character development and not just spectacular set pieces as they are in so many movies of this genre.

I'm not going to say the movie is perfect, or as compelling as The Empire Strikes Back; it's got its awkward moments, not all of them there for a good reason. The first time I saw Episode II, I wasn't that impressed. But what Lucas set out to do was much more ambitious than it appears on the surface, far more ambitious than most Sci-Fi action flicks, and for me he's succeeded in delivering a trilogy of both exciting action and emotional depth. It took a little while for them to grow on me, and for me to appreciate and understand what he was doing, but now that I'm there I like the second three as much as the first three.