“Someday I will be the most powerful Jedi ever…”
This month marks the 20th anniversary of George Lucas’ STAR WARS: EPISODE II – ATTACK OF THE CLONES.
The second film in the Prequel Trilogy that started in 1999 with THE PHANTOM MENACE, ATTACK OF THE CLONES continued the story of the rise and fall of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker; the young man destined to become Darth Vader, and the eventual fall of the noble Jedi Knights and the peaceful Republic.
Written and directed by series creator George Lucas, the film was set 10 years after the events of THE PHANTOM MENACE, and had many goals of not only continuing the story of Anakin, the Jedi, and the Republic, but to set up various backstories including the popular bounty hunter Boba Fett, the origin of the famed Imperial Stormtroopers, and the eventual marriage of Anakin and Padme Amidala…parents of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. The script had a rushed process with Lucas doing the writing with help from Jonathan Hales, who had written several episodes of THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES. The screenplay was completed just one week before filming.
For the role of Anakin Skywalker, Lucas cast 19-year-old Canadian Actor Hayden Christiansen. He was joined by the returning supporting cast of Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, and Samuel L. Jackson. Newcomers to the franchise included famed actor Christopher Lee, along with Temuera Morrison, Daniel Logan, Bonnie Piesse, and Joel Edgerton.
Filming began in June of 2000 across locations in Tunisia, Spain, London, China, and Italy. The production advanced technical development: discarding traditional 35mm film for digital, and often creating shots through filming and CGI using elements that were shot miles and years apart from each other. John Williams returned to provide the score.
Upon release, ATTACK OF THE CLONES was met with mixed reviews from critics and fans. At the box office, it would become the second-fastest film to reach $100 million, but despite this, it would be the first STAR WARS film to be outgrossed in its year of release; placing third domestically and fourth worldwide. Despite this, it is still among the 100 highest-grossing films of all time. It was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 75th Academy Awards.
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Today, ATTACK OF THE CLONES is not looked at favorably by STAR WARS fans, with many considering it to be among the worst in the franchise (this Blogger ranked it 10th out of 11 live-action films in his STAR WARS ranking HERE). The complaints are many, ranging from the dialogue, acting, humor, and slow-burning pacing. But there are still many things to appreciate in CLONES. The action sequences (they are sparse, admittingly), when they do come, are excellent…and the last 20 minutes, when the famed Clone Wars begins, is pure STAR WARS big-screen fun. And the crumbling of the Republic from within suddenly has a relevance in today’s world. The filming techniques used set a new standard in the industry; changing the way films would be conceptualized, shot, edited…and even projected. Story-wise, CLONES has several strong building-blocks that would inspire future STAR WARS TV projects: THE CLONE WARS (2008-2020), THE BAD BATCH (2021), and THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT (2022). Despite any flaws, ATTACK OF THE CLONES still stands as an important step in the larger world of STAR WARS.
“Begun, the Clone War has…”
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