Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Cast View all

	Ewan McGregor	Obi-Wan Kenobi
	Natalie Portman	Padmé
	Hayden Christensen	Anakin Skywalker
	Christopher Lee	Count Dooku
	Samuel L. Jackson	Mace Windu
	Frank Oz	Yoda
	Ian McDiarmid	Supreme Chancellor Palpatine
	Pernilla August	Shmi Skywalker
	Temuera Morrison	Jango Fett
	Jimmy Smits	Senator Bail Organa
	Jack Thompson	Cliegg Lars
	Leeanna Walsman	Zam Wesell
	Ahmed Best	Jar Jar Binks
	Rose Byrne	Dormé
	Oliver Ford Davies	Sio Bibble
	Ronald Falk	Dexter Jettster
	Jay Laga'aia	Capt. Typho
	Andy Secombe	Watto
	Anthony Daniels	C-3PO
	Silas Carson	Ki-Adi-Mundi
	Ayesha Dharker	Queen Jamillia
	Joel Edgerton	Owen Lars
	Daniel Logan	Boba Fett
	Bonnie Piesse	Beru
	Anthony Phelan	Lama Su

Crew View all

Director	George Lucas
Writer	George Lucas, Jonathan Hales
Producer	George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Lorne Orleans
Musician	John Williams
Photography	David Tattersall

Personal

Notes

Story Synopsis:
A Jedi shall not know anger. Nor hatred. Nor love. Set ten years following the events in "Episode I," "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones" finds Padmé Amidala (Portman), now a senator representing Naboo, the target of an assassination attempt in an effort to prevent her from casting her vote against the formation of an army to protect the Republic. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor) and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker (Christensen) are assigned to serve as bodyguards and protect Padmé from further assassination attempts. Anakin escorts Padmé to her home planet, and soon a romance develops, an act forbidden by the Jedi Order. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan finds himself in the midst of an intergalactic mystery in an effort to track down the bounty hunter hired to assassinate Padmé. Kenobi's travels lead him to the water planet of Kamino where he finds - unbeknownst to the Jedi Council - that a clone army has already been created for the purpose of defending the Republic. Haunted by nightmarish visions of his mother on Tatooine, Anakin disobeys his instructions and travels back to the familiar desert planet in an effort to help her. What Anakin encounters leads him down the destructive road of the Dark Side, setting up events that unfold in "Episode III," including his transformation into Darth Vader, the Emperor's rise to power, the births of Luke and Leia, and the downfall of the Republic. Continuing the "Star Wars" Saga tradition, "Attack Of The Clones" delivers over two hours of sheer entertainment and fun, highlighted by dazzling visual effects and sound design, a writing and acting style patterned after 1930s and ’40s era science-fiction and cliffhanger serials, and a demonstration of why Yoda is THE Jedi Master. (Michael Coate)

DVD Picture:
The anamorphically enhanced DVD exhibits images that are remarkably reproduced for home theatre exhibition. The picture, originated in high-definition 1080p/24 frames per second and framed in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, has a generally slight, soft character, but details are capably depicted throughout, particularly during close-ups and medium shots. For instance, hairs that stray away from Padmé's gravity-defying hairstyles are clearly discernable, as are clothing textures like Obi Wan's linen robe. Colors are vibrant and superbly balanced, with natural fleshtones, vivid hues, and deep, solid blacks. The chase through the airborne streets of Coruscant in Chapter 7 are impressive, with excellent shadow delineation and vibrant splashes of color provided by neon animated posters and tail lights on space vehicles. Shadow detail is further appreciated in a completely blackened environment, such as when assassins try to take out a sleeping Padmé in Chapter 6. Her room is believably dark, with just enough light to allow key elements to be seen. As Padmé and Anakin sit by the firelight in Chapter 23, visual information is warmly rendered, then drops off into deep, smooth, and endless blacks (the black level in this and other similarly dark scenes was problematic in the D-Cinema and 35mm presentations, but is well-rendered on the DVD when CRT projected). Many scenes, which are entirely computer generated (particularly those in The Clone War sequence), can have a lack of contrast and color saturation, but with where technology is at today, these scenes are quite seamlessly combined with the live-action elements shot against bluescreens. Thankfully, edge enhancement is not a problem with this title as instances of edge halos and ringing were not detected (unlike the "Episode I" DVD), which is a virtual landmark for DVDs mastered in this day and age. While images often project a similar look of edge enhancement, hard edges around characters are inherent in the source material as a result of image compositing and can be minimally bothersome. The DVD also reveals a surprising lack of image break up due to compression, with minor pixelization only occasionally noticed. Lucasfilm and Fox have been hyping this DVD edition of "Episode II" as “the first major live-action motion picture captured and created directly from a digital source.” “Major” being a qualifier since a handful of other non “major” all-digital live-action movies have actually been released prior, including "Jackpot," "Session 9," and "How High." This edition of "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones," however, is the best example yet of how good a production utilizing an all-digital pipeline can look in a home theatre setting. (Suzanne Hodges/Michael Coate)

Soundtrack:
The Dolby Digital Surround EX soundtrack, as would be expected, is nothing short of excellent. The fidelity is surely reflective of the current state-of-the-art. Dialogue sounds abundantly natural and very nicely placed with the visuals. The music recording is excellent as well, with a nice, palpable low-end foundation and remarkable distinctiveness of the orchestra. Like the other "Star Wars" movies, sound design is the prominent factor in the creativity behind this soundtrack. The various effects, from the familiar light saber to the myriad of new sounds crafted for this movie, all have a unique and distinctive character on their own. As anticipated, spatiality is generous and often aggressive in nature throughout, with the split surrounds equally effective with directional pans and rendering of atmosphere. You'll surely get lots of panning in the opening sequence as well as the nighttime chase on Coruscant (Chapter 7). And then much later on in the film, there is a lot of directionality in the battle on Geonosis, as Yoda and the clones come to the rescue. The back surround sees equal effectiveness with both overhead panning and other instances of directional effects, as well as in enveloping the listener from behind. The low-end is powerful at times with extremely deep and intense extension, sometimes even potentially challenging your subwoofer with sub-25 Hz activity in all channels. This is an amazing soundtrack, following the heels of "Episode I" and the creative legacy of sound in the "Star Wars" saga. (Perry Sun)

This Disc Contains The Following WSR-Rated Superb Qualities:
Superb Sound Effects Recording Quality
Superb Music Score Recording Quality
Superb Special Visual Effects Quality
Superb Color Fidelity
Reference Quality
Collector Edition

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