Product Details

• Actors: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson
• Directors: George Lucas
• Writers: George Lucas, Jonathan Hales
• Producers: George Lucas, Lorne Orleans, Rick McCallum
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Special Edition, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: November 12, 2002
• Run Time: 142 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2,169 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00006HBUG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,315 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If The Phantom Menace was the setup, then Attack of the Clones is the plot-progressing payoff, and devoted Star Wars fans are sure to be enthralled. Ten years after Episode I, Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), now a senator, resists the creation of a Republic Army to combat an evil separatist movement. The brooding Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is resentful of his stern Jedi mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), tormented by personal loss, and showing his emerging "dark side" while protecting his new love, Amidala, from would-be assassins. Youthful romance and solemn portent foreshadow the events of the original Star Wars as Count Dooku (a.k.a. Darth Tyranus, played by Christopher Lee) forges an alliance with the Dark Lord of the Sith, while lavish set pieces showcase George Lucas's supreme command of all-digital filmmaking. All of this makes Episode II a technological milestone, savaged by some critics as a bloated, storyless spectacle, but still qualifying as a fan-approved precursor to the pivotal events of Episode III. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker

The Republic? The Federation? The Separatists? The clone army? The droid army? The Siths? The Kith? The Kin? The plot is incomprehensible to anyone over fourteen, and the actors intone their starched-collar lines as if they were attending a convention of rural vicars. But, allowing for some dull moments, George Lucas's latest movie has considerable style. Digital invention is becoming grander, wilder, more free-spirited: the multi-levelled cities of the future overflow with life. It would be nice to think that Lucas's visual imagination is just now taking off. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 155 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I really wanted to hate this movie, July 18, 2002

By A Customer

After the horror that was The Phantom Menace, which I own for those insomina plagued nights, I knew that I was going to hate this movie. I read the bad reviews and I knew that I'd agree with them. But, I was dragged to see it and I knew that it would be a grim few hours.

This is one case where I'm glad that I was totally wrong. I liked the movie so much that I've been back to see it again. The acting, that many have cited as dry, was appropriate to the setting and the circumstances of the film. I really didn't expect to see cheerful and lively characters in a story about an impending civil war. The romance, although muted, was appropriate for two very young characters who probably have never had much experience with romance to begin with. The middle was mostly talk and no action. I like a film that takes it's time and lets itself develop, instead of assaulting the viewer with non stop action and little plot or character development. I really felt that it was essential to the film to have the characters talk, as this is the installment of the series that starts to explain why Anakin becomes Darth Vader and why the Republic falls. I wish they'd actually developed them a little more, personally.

Hayden Christiansen delivered a solid performance as a moody, confused kid. The fact that he wasn't overly eloquent helped me to believe that the cute kid in PM could actually turn into the nasty guy that I believed was hiding in my closet when I was growing up. Natalie Portman again reminded me why she's one of my favorite actresses. She was able to blend the strong assertive side of her character with an almost maternal caring for Anakin. Ewan McGregor and his dialogue tied in the shame that Obi-Wan displayed in the later episodes toward Darth Vader and the driving desire to rectify his mistakes.

The special effects were dazzling. The seismic charges blew me away (by far the best sound effect that I've heard in a while), the speeder chase was amazing and the set design was just beautiful. And seeing lightsabres glowing throughout an arena was a childhood dream of mine.

There were a few flaws, but overall, it was fantastic.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars George Lucas has lost his mind., April 11, 2003

By 

T. Bux (Barnesville, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

First, let me say some positives about this DVD:

The image and sound quality are amazing. This DVD is probably the best quality DVD to date. Great for showing off a high quality home theater. Since the movie was shot on digital film, there was almost no ghosting or image quality lost.

Now the negatives:

What made the original Star Wars movies so spectatular was their campy dialog, fake but realistic special effects (even though you knew it was a fake spaceship you still knew it was a picture of a real model). The older Star Wars films were mostly a tribute to the cheesey sci-fi movies of the 50's and 60's. A true space opera, they were classics.

Episode II relies mostly on the impressive special effects to mesmerize and entertain. Acting and story are second to this. The totally cardboard acting of Haeden Christianson is so bad, that it makes you wonder if he should play an emotionally repressed andriod instead of the future Darth Vader. It made me miss Jar Jar.

Oustanding special effects that circumvent the rest of the movie. This movie seems to be made mostly just to fill a quota and to set up the clearly superior episodes 3-6. Makes you sad to see a performer past his prime, and Star Wars is way past its prime.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works for Me!, June 21, 2002

By 

Archmaker (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

The great thing about going to a film that has been out for awhile, and that many people have trashed, is that your expectation level is reduced to a normal level of expectancy, which is where it should be to begin with.

Flat out, I thought the film was terrific and that nearly all the criticisms I have read prior to seeing the flick were groundless, inane, and overblown. First, this absurd idealization of the original films is nonsense! They weren't that damn great. They were new & original and breakthroughs, but the stories weren't that hot with the exception of Luke's quest & discovery of who his father has become. There was little great dialogue, and no jaw-dropping performances. There was, thank goodness, Alec Guinness as Obi Wan. The rest of the cast just limboed in under the age limit not to be ridiculous in their awkward teen love scenes. At least the young performers in this film are young! Their awkwardness fits. I always found the byplay between Carrie Fisher & Harrison Ford embarrassing.

Anyway, I'm not going to compare and contrast the two sets of films. The old ones are what they are, the new ones are what they are. I will just comment on all the vitriol heaped on Lucas, e.g., that he is too isolated & out of touch on his ranch (read empire). Well, he may be, but he's also busy inventing worlds & universes out there that I found beautifully realized, detailed, and exciting in this film.

The movie has some slow spots, but they don't last long. There are some eye-popping, stunning and fantastic set-pieces: the chase through the nightscape of the huge city; the great fight on the water planet; the chase through the asteroids; the narrow escapes of the foundry/assembly line; the battle in the arena; the climactic battle with the clones & droids, and of course, Yoda going Postal!

All of this is done with seamless and gorgeous CGI work, with new and amusing characters, with all kinds of mean & nasty critters, with a new villain (our beloved Chris Lee) and with a drop-dead beautiful Natalie Portman (sorry Carrie) and a young Anakin who has a nasty temper and has committed a war crime already. And Ewan McGregor makes a nice young Obi Wan.

The look of the film is fabulous (I saw it in digital) and the inventiveness and immagination throughout is phenomenal. I ask his critics: what else can Lucas do? He cannot make it all new & never-seen-before again. He is presenting a complex story of how an individual and a society can turn to the "dark side". The groundwork for this story made Phantom Menace slow-going at times, I agree. But the pace is accelerating.

Lucas presents us with fabulously imagined worlds & creatures, done with meticulous care. He has this film filled with mind-boggling action scenes. He stretches the capability of the technology with each outing. It's enough. Works for me.