Stars: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz, Pernilla August, Jimmy Smits, Jack Thompson

Director: George Lucas

Summary: Anakin Skywalker, now twenty years old is an apprentice to the Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Together they are given orders to protect Padme Amiala, the former queen of the planet Naboo.

In the second installment of the Star Wars series, EPISODE II--ATTACK OF THE CLONES, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is now a teenage Jedi apprentice to Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Together they must protect Senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) from a militant group of political activists who are trying to assassinate her. This group is led by the evil Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). But aside from other troubles, Anakin faces some hard choices as he begins to fall in love with Padme, a love that is forbidden by the Jedi knights' creed. In addition, Anakin begins to show his rebellious attraction to the dark side--which will eventually conquer him, when he becomes the future Darth Vader.
The story is set 10 years after STAR WARS EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE, and there are appearances by some of PHANTOM's characters, including the much-maligned Jar Jar Binks. But CLONES also contains familiar faces from the original STAR WARS: the lovable droids R2D2 and C3PO appear here, as does Yoda, who plays a key role in this film. Although the acting is for the most part wooden, and the dialogue full of clunkers, Lucas creates an impressive array of beautifully rendered alien planets and beings, sleek spaceships, and dazzling effects; he remains at the head of the class in terms of technical ability and visual imagination. The film's climactic final sequences show the magic with which CLONES' earns its place as part of the beloved STAR WARS series.

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Reviewed by: cooljimbop
Posted on July 20, 2005 3:19 PM

A lover of the other Star Wars films I could never see why people raved about this one. For me it was worse than Episode 1. I am not a huge fan of CGI and this films contains more computer effects than you could shake a stick at plus yoda isn't a muppet! The acting is atrocious throughout and I found it quite boring. However, it is worth a look if you enjoyed the other Star Wars films, even if for the basic story line. But if you haven't seen a Star Wars, don't start with this.

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The most densely plotted instalment of the saga so far, Attack of the Clonesis a tale of both Machiavellian political drama and doomed romance; it's epic war film and silly comic-book fantasy combined, as teenage Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) chafes at the restrictions imposed by his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and falls in love with Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman). Renegade Jedi Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) is leading a breakaway federation of disgruntled systems; while the insidious influence of Darth Sidious is felt rather than seen as his invisible hand guides apparently unrelated events, from Jar Jar's unwitting instigation of a disastrous Senate decision to bounty hunter Jango Fett's revelatory role at the centre of the conspiracy.

Along the way the story has fun with the conventions of Chandleresque detective fiction as Obi-Wan explores the seedier side of Coruscant, and incorporates the noble warrior ethos of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonin its portrayal of the Jedi order. The portentous tone is lightened by tongue-in-cheek self-referential dialogue and the antics of robotic clowns R2D2 and C3PO. (One niggle for music fans, though, is the cavalier cut-and-paste approach to John Williams's music score.) Like the Empire Strikes Back, Clonesis the bridging film of the trilogy and thus ends on an equivocally bittersweet note.

On the DVD:Attack of the Clonesis an all-digital film, and so looks suitably superb in this anamorphic widescreen transfer, accompanied by a THX encoded Dolby 5.1 soundtrack. Anyone who owns The Phantom Menacetwo-disc set will know what to expect from the special features: here's another group commentary led by George Lucas, two lengthy documentaries on the digital effects ("From Puppets to Pixels" and "The Previsualisation of Episode II") plus several other featurettes and Web documentaries, notably "Films Are Not Released, They Escape", a look at the sound design. There's also a fun trailer for the R2-D2 mockumentary "Beneath the Dome", trailers, photo galleries and more to satisfy any Star Warsfan. --Mark Walker

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Commentary By George Lucas Also Rick McCallum Ben Burtt Rob Coleman Pablo Helman John Knoll And Ben Snow, 8 Deleted Scenes, From Puppets To Pixels A Full Length Documentary, State Of The Art The Previsualization Of Episode II Exclusive Documentary, Films Are
Subtitles:	English
Year:	2002
Release Date:	October 31, 2005
Runtime:	137 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	22545 D V D
Keywords:	Star, Attack, Wars, Two, General, Wide, Screen, Fiction, Science, Horror, Discs, Episode, Sci, Fi, Clones
Genre:	Science Fiction