STAR
WARS
E P I S O D E I I
ATTACK OF THE CLONES

2002 ***1/2 142 mins.

When I read the book, I thought this was the best Star Wars of them all. The story was fantastic, intriguing, and suspenseful. So many things were made clearer in this story. When I saw the film, though, I was sorely disappointed. The special effects are absolutely atrocious and over done. The whole film looks animated, even the actors, the action sequences are way too long, and Hayden Christensen gives the worst performance I have ever seen in a film. He is the whiniest Anakin Skywalker ever. Anakin would not be a whiner. Well, that is how he is portrayed by Hayden Christensen. This film does have a plus when we finally see just why Yoda has been called a "great Jedi warrior." It is this wonderful moment and the power and importance of the story that give this film the three and a half stars. I do recommend reading the book by R. A. Salvatore. It is much better.
Rated PG for sustained sequences of sci-fi action/violence.

• Original theatrical aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (HDCAM [1080p/24])
• Original theatrical release date: May 16, 2002

• ACADEMY AWARDS NOMINATION: Best Visual Effects (Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll, and Ben Snow)
• ACADEMY OF SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & HORROR FILMS AWARDS: Best Costumes (Trisha Biggar - Tied with Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers) and Best Special Effects (Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll, and Ben Snow)
• ACADEMY OF SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & HORROR FILMS AWARDS NOMINATIONS: Best Actress (Natalie Portman), Best DVD Special Edition Release, Best Director (George Lucas), Best Music (John Williams), Best Performance by a Younger Actor (Hayden Christensen), Best Science Fiction Film, and Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award Male (Hayden Christensen)
• BMI FILM & TV AWARD: BMI Film Music Award (John Williams)
• BOGEY AWARD, GERMANY: Bogey Award in Platin
• BRAODCAST FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS NOMINATION: Best Digital Acting Performance (Yoda)
• DVD EXCLUSIVE AWARDS NOMINATIONS: Best Menu Design (Van Ling), Best New, Enhanced or Reconstructed Movie Scenes (George Lucas for the fully produced deleted scenes with CGI effects), Best Overall New Extra Features, New Release (Jim Ward), Original Retrospective Documentary, New Release (John Shenk for "From Puppets to Pixels")
• EMPIRE AWARD, UK: Scene of the Year (For the Yoda duel)
• MTV MOVIE AWARD: Best Fight (Christopher Lee versus Yoda)
• MTV MOVIE AWARDS NOMINATIONS: Best Action Sequence (The arena conflict) and Best Virtual Performance (For Yoda)
• MOTION PICTURE SOUND EDITORS AWARDS NOMINATION: Best Sound Editing in Domestic Features - Sound Effects & Foley (Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood, Teresa Eckton, Bruce Lacey, Christopher Scarabosio, Mary Helen Leasman, and Kevin Sellers)
• ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY AWARDS NOMINATIONS: Best Sound (Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood) and Best Visual Effects (David Young)
• RAZZIE AWARDS: Worst Screenplay (George Lucas and Jonathan Hales) and Worst Supporting Actor (Hayden Christensen)
• RAZZIE AWARDS NOMINATIONS: Worst Director (George Lucas), Worst Picture, Worst Remake or Sequel, Worst Screen Couple (Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman), and Worst Supporting Actress (Natalie Portman)
• SATELLITE AWARDS NOMINATION: Best Costume Design (Trisha Biggar)
• TEEN CHOICE AWARD: Film - Choice Actress, Drama/Action Adventure (Natalie Portman)
• TEEN CHOICE AWARDS NOMINATIONS: Film - Choice Actor, Drama/Action Adventure (Hayden Christensen), Film - Choice Chemistry (Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen), and Film - Choice Movie, Drama/Action Adventure
• VISUAL EFFECTS SOCIETY AWARD: Best Matte Painting in a Motion Picture (Paul Huston, Yusei Uesugi, and Jonathan Harb)
• VISUAL EFFECTS SOCIETY AWARDS NOMINATIONS: Best Character Animation in a Live Action Motion Picture (Rob Coleman, Hal T. Hickel, Chris Armstrong, and James Tooley), Best Effects Art Direction in a Motion Picture (Alex Jaeger, Doug Chiang, Erik Tiemens, and Ryan Church), Best Models and Miniatures in a Motion Picture (Brian Gernand, Russell Paul, Geoff Campbell, and Jean Bolte), Best Visual Effects Photography in a Motion Picture (Pat Sweeney, Martin Rosenberg, Carl Miller, and Fred Meyers), and Best Visual Effects in an Effects Driven Motion Picture (John Knoll, Ben Snow, Pablo Helman, Rob Coleman)
• WORLD SOUNDTRACK AWARDS NOMINATION: Best Original Soundtrack of the Year - Orchestral (John Williams)
• YOUNG ARTIST AWARDS NOMINATIONS: Best Family Feature Film - Fantasy and Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor (Daniel Logan)

• Commentary by George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll, and Ben Snow
• Anamorphic Widescreen (Aspect Ratio 2.35:1)
• Captured and created directly from the digital source
• English Dolby 5.1 Surround EX
• Spanish Dolby 2.0 Surround
• French Dolby 2.0 Surround
• English Subtitles
• Closed Captioned for the hearing impaired
• Digitally Mastered in THX
• Eight deleted scenes created just for this release, with introductions from George Lucas, Rick McCallum, and Ben Burtt
• Witness the revolution in digital character animation in the all-new, full-length documentary "From Puppets to Pixels"
• Exclusive documentary, "State of the Art: The Previsualization of Episode II"
• Follow Ben Burtt and his team as they explain the process of creating the sound for Episode II in the all-new documentary, "Films Are Not Released; They Escape"
• Three Featurettes explore Attack of the Clones' general storyline, action scenes and love story
• Comprehensive award-winning twelve-part web documentary series
• "Across the Stars" music video featuring John Williams
• Theatrical teasers and launch trailer, and twelve TV spots
• Theatrical posters and print campaign from around the world
• "R2-D2: Beneath the Dome" mockumentary trailer
• Never-before-seen Production Photo Gallery with special caption feature
• Episode II Visual Effects Breakdown Montage
• DVD-ROM weblink to exclusive Star Wars content