Star Wars-Episode II: Attack of the Clones on DVD (Region 1)

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Travis Willock reviews

Star Wars-Episode II:
Attack of the Clones
(Widescreen Edition)
Distributed by
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

    CoverBuy the R2 DVD from

  • Cert: PG
  • Cat.no: 200539
  • Running time: 142 minutes
  • Year: 2002
  • Pressing: 2002
  • Region(s): 1, NTSC
  • Chapters: 50 (Eng. only)
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Languages: English, Spanish, French
  • Subtitles: English
  • Widescreen: 2.35:1
  • 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
  • Macrovision: Yes
  • Disc Format: 2 * DVD 9
  • Price: $27.98
  • Extras:8 Deleted Scenes, From Puppets to Pixels, Audio Commentary,Films Are Not Released: They Escape, Featurettes, Web DocumentarySeries, Across the Stars Music Video, Trailers, TV Spots, TheatricalPosters, R2-D2: Beneath the Dome, Production Photo Gallery, VisualEffects Montage.

    Director:

      George Lucas

Screenplay:

    George Lucas and Johnathan Hales

Cast:

    Anakin Skywalker: Hayden Christensen
    Padme Amidala: Natalie Portman
    Obi-Wan Kenobi: Ewan McGregor
    Mace Windu: Samuel L. Jackson
    Yoda (voice): Frank Oz
    Supreme Chancellor Palpatine: Ian McDirmid
    Jango Fett: Temuera Morrisson
    Count Dooku: Christopher Lee

How can people hate this film?Comparing the “new trilogy” to theoriginal cannot be done. We didn’t getPhantom Menacefor 16 years andlook how much technology had advanced. Someone like George Lucaswouldn’t just keep using the same techniques of effects. So do peoplehate these new installments because of the CGI? I think so. Even inMenace and Clones I felt they lacked a sense of realism the others haddown pat. That was part of the appeal of the first films, wires andmodels.

The characters hurt the new installments as well. Luke and Han are nothere and Chewie is nowhere in sight. But what appeals to us in this movieis that we know who Anakin is destined to become, we know who SenatorPalpatine is, and we know Jar Jar is ressponisble for the mess tofollow; what’s interesting is how they get there.

Attack of the Clones tells a fairly more complex story than Menace.While the “what now?” political references are here the kiddy feel tothe plot has not carried over. Queen Amidala (played by the hot NataliePortman) is now a senator and Anakin, ten years older, is a Jedi intraining. Obi-Wan Kenobi acts as Anakin’s mentor as Qui-Gon had before.

Obi-Wan and Anakin have been assigned to protect Amidal after a failedassassination attempt. After another attempt on her life, this time by abounty hunter, Obi-Wan sets out to track down the shooter of a poisondart and discovers a major event that will shape the Star Wars Universe.Anakin takes Amidala into seclusion on Naboo and of course… theyengage in one fo the sappiest love stories seen on screen.

That’s where many believe the film falls apart. The love story doesknock the wind out of the sails a bit, but only a little. In between wejoin Obi-Wan as he fights bounty hunter Jango Fett (in one of thecoolest SW fights) and engages in an awesome asteroid chase that needsto be heard to believe. Suffer through the love story and you’ll see theglory that is the Clone War. And, come on, the movie isn’t THAT bad tothe fact where you shouldn’t watch it. Let’s run down the list: morereferences to Darth Vader, bounty hunters plus a Boba Fett in training,Natalie Portman as Padme, Yoda fighting, asteroid chase, even a hologramof the Death Star! What more do you want?

If you have seen the TV spots for the DVD release you know what toexpect from the video department. This is a perfect transfer ported fromthe digital source. Presented in anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen (to mydismay there is a cropped full frame version available as well as anewly released full frame version of Menace) this looks great. Blacksare entirely solid and colors are fleshed out when needed. Colors areparticulary sharp and vibrant during the Clone War. I noticed veryminimal pixelization in interior scenes but nothing obtrusive.

The audio is as perfect as the video. A 5.1 track has never been soalive. The cars in Coruscant, the buzz of a lightsaber, the distantwaterfalls of Naboo, all shine perfectly throughout. In theaters Ialways waited (I saw it 3 times) for the asteroid chase between Jangoand Obi-Wan. When Jango fires those seismic charges it becomes silentand then this huge wave of vibration rocks forward. That part wasawesome in theaters and has carried over very well on DVD. The onlymemorable sound from a DVD is Lord of the Rings when Sauron explodesduring the prologue.

The extras are of course spread over two discs. Here’s how it all stacksup:

Disc 1:

  • Audio Commentary: George Lucas, Rick McCallum (the man who thinks DVDis killing Hollywood), Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Hellman, JohnKnoll, and Ben Snow. Subtitles saying who is speaking is are included.

Disc 2:

  • TV Spots and Trailers: 4 trailers are presented here in anamorphic2.35:1 widescreen. 3 are teasers (the laughably bad “love” one is here)and the full trailer. 12 TV spots are here as well. 9 focus onindividual characters and 4 on action. The TV spots are presented innon-anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen. Last is the “Across the Stars” musicvideo presented in anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen.
  • Documentaries: “From Puppets to Pixels” is presented in anamorphic1.85:1 widescreen and runs 52 minutes. This documentary is well producedand worth a watch. Focuses on the formation of Yoda and other digitalcharacters. “State of the Art: The Previsualization of Episode II” runs23 minutes and is presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen. Thisdocumentary is also interesting despite the sometimes annoyingsoundtrack in the background.
  • Deleted Scenes: 8 scenes are here with or without intros from thecrew. All are anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen and runs 12 minutes total.Some are interesting but it’s a good thing those scenes of Padme’s housedidn’t make it in.
  • Featurettes: “Story” and “Love” both run 9 minutes and are presentedin anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen. “Action” runs 8 minutes and isanamorphic. Each featurette features interviews from the cast and crew.
  • Web Documentaries: 12 total, all run under 8 minutes and are presentedin anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen. These are the most interesting as theyare short and straight to the point. Definitely check these out.
  • Dex’s Kitchen and Still Galleries: Stills include production photos,international posters, and outdoor campaign. Dex’s Kitchen houses the”Films are Not Released: They Escape” documentary which runs 25 minutes.”Episode II Visual Effects Montage” is pretty col and runs 3 minutes.”R2-D2: Beneath the Dome” trailer (the full thing is said to be aSuncoast exclusive DVD sometime soon) runs 6 minutes and is anamorphic.

Overall, Fox has put together one of the best extra packages on themarket and puts ‘Spider-Man’ to shame.

Packaging is amaray with a holder inside for 2 DVDs. Clones is splitinto an enormous 50 chapters (makesBig Trouble‘s11 chapters seempretty pithy). The cover sports a terrible “cast” photo that should haveincluded the poster instead. Menus are beautifully animated and the sametemplate that was used in Menace’s DVD is carried over flawlessly.

With all the Menace comparisons you probably thought I was reviewingthat bad movie but this is Clones alright. I liked Clones a lot andthink that Lucas finally got it together again and gave fans somethingto proud of. The DVD is also one of the best on the market. Now if wedidn’t have to wait until 2005 for the originals to come out on DVD…..

FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS


OVERALL
Review copyright © Travis Willock, 2002.

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