Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones

Opening crawl

Plot summary

Set a full decade after the events of The Phantom Menace, the Galactic Republic faces a critical juncture. A Separatist movement, spearheaded by the one time Jedi Master Count Dooku, also known as the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, is jeopardizing the peace, leading the Galactic Senate to consider a Military Creation Act to establish a standing army for the Republic's defense. Senator Padmé Amidala, who previously served as the Queen of Naboo, intends to cast her vote against the Act upon her return to the Senate, despite the dwindling number of Jedi available to uphold peace and justice throughout the galaxy.

Upon her arrival on Coruscant, Amidala barely survives an assassination attempt that results in the death of her decoy, Cordé. Consequently, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine calls upon Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, to ensure her protection.

That very night, the assassin Zam Wesell launches another attempt on Amidala's life, which the Jedi successfully thwart. They pursue her through Galactic City, eventually subduing her within the Outlander Club. As Obi-Wan and Anakin interrogate her outside the establishment, she is fatally struck by a mysterious man using a saberdart before she can reveal the identity of her employer. Returning to the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan is assigned by the council to locate the assassin's killer. Simultaneously, Anakin is tasked with safeguarding the Senator and accompanying her back to her home planet of Naboo. Anakin embraces this opportunity, as he often feels frustrated by Obi-Wan's criticism and welcomes the chance to be independent. Moreover, he has developed strong feelings for Padmé and eagerly anticipates spending time with her. Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks steps in to fulfill Amidala's duties in her absence, despite the Senator's frustration at not being present in the Senate when the fate of the Military Creation Act is decided.

During his investigation, Obi-Wan's path leads him to a secluded planet known as Kamino, conspicuously absent from the Jedi Archives. There, he uncovers a clandestine clone army being cultivated for the Republic. Prime Minister Lama Su informs him that the military force was commissioned nearly ten years prior by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, despite Obi-Wan's belief that Sifo-Dyas had perished before that time. A [bounty hunter](/article/bounty_hunter] named Jango Fett was enlisted as the genetic template for the clones. Upon encountering Jango on Kamino, Obi-Wan suspects him to be the assassin he has been pursuing. He attempts to apprehend Jango, leading to a fierce confrontation between them. Jango employs his blasters and missile arsenal, ultimately defeating Obi-Wan and sending him plummeting into the turbulent sea below. Presuming him dead, Jango departs Kamino with his son Boba. Unable to capture Jango, Obi-Wan affixes a homing beacon to his ship, Slave I, and trails him to the planet Geonosis.

In the meantime, Anakin and Padmé have been spending considerable time together on Naboo, relishing each other's company and engaging in lighthearted activities in the fields. Eventually, Anakin confesses his profound love for her, pledging to fulfill her every wish. However, Padmé resists, explaining that a relationship between them is untenable due to her position as a Senator and his role as a Jedi. Anakin becomes frustrated by this and experiences internal conflict between his strong feelings for her and his obligations as a Jedi.

Anakin is also disturbed by a premonition that his mother is in imminent danger, prompting him to request Padmé to accompany him to his home planet of Tatooine, thereby defying Obi-Wan's instructions to remain on Naboo. Upon their arrival, Anakin locates his former owner Watto, who informs him that his mother has married a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars. Anakin then travels to the Lars moisture farm. There, Anakin and Padmé encounter C-3PO, who introduces Anakin to his stepbrother Owen. Cliegg reveals the tragic truth that his mother was abducted a month prior by a band of Tusken Raiders. Anakin ventures out into the night and discovers her bound and battered within a Tusken camp. She dies in his arms moments later. Consumed by rage and grief, he slaughters the entire Tusken community, sparing neither men, women, nor children. On Coruscant, Yoda senses a palpable darkness in the Force as the massacre unfolds (with Qui-Gon Jinn's voice crying out "Anakin, Anakin, no!" during this moment). Anakin then returns his mother's body to the homestead, where her funeral is held.

On Geonosis, Obi-Wan eavesdrops on a meeting between Count Dooku and the leaders of the commerce guilds, learning that they are the masterminds behind the separatist movement and have amassed a new droid army. He also discovers that Nute Gunray orchestrated Amidala's assassination as retribution for the Trade Federation's defeat at the Battle of Naboo. Obi-Wan transmits his findings to the Council via Anakin and Padmé's ship, but he is ambushed by droidekas and captured before completing his report.

With the Jedi Council now aware of Dooku's army, Jedi Master Mace Windu leads a battalion of Jedi to Geonosis. Unbeknownst to them, Anakin and Padmé also journey there to rescue Obi-Wan. Meanwhile, Representative Binks urges Chancellor Palpatine to be granted emergency powers, enabling him to deploy the newly discovered clone army into battle.

Back on Geonosis, Count Dooku attempts to sway Obi-Wan to his cause, citing his past as Qui-Gon's master, asserting that Qui-Gon would have joined Dooku if he were alive, and arguing that the Republic and Jedi have strayed from their principles and must be opposed. Obi-Wan refuses to align with Dooku, contending that Dooku is mistaken about the Republic and Jedi's decline and that Qui-Gon would never have sided with Dooku. Anakin and Padmé arrive on the planet but are swiftly apprehended by Jango Fett and sentenced to death, joining Obi-Wan in the Geonosis arena, where they are to be executed. In the moments before their execution, Padmé and Anakin profess their love for each other. From the stands, Count Dooku, Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, Poggle the Lesser, Jango Fett, and Boba Fett observe the commencement of the planned execution. The trio is forced to confront a reek, a nexu, and an acklay while bound in chains. During their struggle, Mace Windu arrives with his Jedi strike team, engaging Dooku's droid army in the arena in battle. Witnessing the concentration of Jedi in one location, Jango Fett descends to the arena floor and confronts Windu. After a brief skirmish, Windu kills Jango due to his jetpack malfunctioning. While the Jedi mount a valiant defense, they are eventually overwhelmed by the Droid Army's sheer numbers and appear to be on the verge of defeat. Yoda unexpectedly arrives with the Republic's new clone army, but only a handful of Jedi have survived.

A larger conflict erupts outside the arena between the Republic's clone army and the Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Nute Gunray and Rune Haako subsequently flee in Gunray's ship. The Clone Army gains the advantage, leading to the Droid Army's retreat. Poggle the Lesser entrusts Count Dooku with the initial blueprints for the Death Star. Dooku attempts to escape, but Obi-Wan and Anakin pursue him to a concealed hangar. Anakin immediately disobeys Obi-Wan's orders to confront Dooku together and charges at Dooku, who retaliates with Force lightning, incapacitating Anakin and sending him crashing into nearby rocks. Obi-Wan cautiously circles Dooku, who asserts that his powers surpass Obi-Wan's and unleashes force lightning upon him. Obi-Wan deflects it with his lightsaber, countering that he does not believe so as Dooku ignites his curved-hilt crimson red lightsaber. Obi-Wan attacks Dooku, engaging him in a lightsaber duel. However, Obi-Wan is no match for Dooku, who mocks him, stating that Master Yoda praises Obi-Wan greatly and that he is disappointed in Obi-Wan's lack of skill. After a brief battle, Obi-Wan is defeated. As Dooku prepares a killing blow, Anakin, having just regained consciousness, intervenes and blocks Dooku's strike, engaging Dooku, who toys with him for several minutes before slicing off Anakin's right hand and force pushing it to the ground next to the defeated Obi-Wan. Dooku puts away his lightsaber. Yoda appears just as Dooku is about to escape, and the two masters of the Force engage in a fierce battle of the force and then a lightsaber duel with Yoda using his acrobatic style and Dooku using his elegant style. Dooku, realizing he cannot defeat Yoda, attempts to topple a large pillar on Obi-Wan and Anakin as a diversion. While Yoda uses the Force to divert the pillar, Dooku escapes in his solar sailer. He flies to the Works in the Industrial sector of Coruscant and meets with his master, Darth Sidious, who expresses satisfaction that the war has commenced as planned.

Within the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan, Mace, and Yoda contemplate Dooku's warning that Darth Sidious is manipulating the Senate. Yoda is hesitant to accept this, asserting that the dark side is capable of instilling fear and mistrust. Nevertheless, he and Windu agree to closely monitor the Senate. Simultaneously, Chancellor Palpatine and a number of senators, including Bail Organa, oversee the deployment of the massive clone trooper forces.

Back on Naboo, Anakin, now fitted with a new mechanical arm, and Padmé exchange vows in a secret wedding, with C-3PO and R2-D2 as the only witnesses.

Development

John Knoll shared with Star Wars Insider that the adaptation to digital cameras posed the greatest challenge for his team as production began on Attack of the Clones. However, Knoll recognized the advantage of digital cameras—which allowed for immediate playback of footage—and greatly enjoyed shooting with them. In a 2005 interview with Temuera Morrison on The Tem Show, Rick McCallum revealed that New Zealand was initially considered as a filming location before Australia, but the concurrent filming of The Lord of the Rings films in New Zealand presented logistical challenges. Despite the complications of filming in New Zealand, Lucasfilm Ltd. casting directors still scouted the country, selecting several actors, including Bodie Taylor and Daniel Logan.

In December 2001, rumors circulated that members of *NSYNC had filmed scenes as extras in Attack of the Clones. The story gained traction in the following days, with reports indicating that three band members—Joey Fatone, JC Chasez, and Chris Kirkpatrick—were cast as Jedi and Naboo citizens by producer Rick McCallum. Lucasfilm later confirmed the news but refuted claims that George Lucas had arranged the casting as a favor to his daughters Katie and Amanda, who were fans of the band. Justin Timberlake also clarified that he and Lance Bass were not involved, but that Joey Fatone's brother Steven Fatone was. Many Star Wars fans reacted negatively to the news, viewing the incident as further evidence of Star Wars "selling out," similar to reactions to Jar Jar Binks or the Ewoks. On January 12, 2002, a Saturday Night Live sketch satirized Attack of the Clones, depicting the movie being interrupted by *NSYNC performing an impromptu musical number titled "I'm a Jedi Knight in these Jedi Days." Joey Fatone later announced that the singers' parts had been cut from the film due to negative fan reaction. However, Lucasfilm's Lynne Hale denied this, stating that it was up to Lucas, and that "the final edit of the film is what he determines it will be."

Release

Leading up to the release, Lucasfilm launched another series of web documentaries and experimented with various promotional tools, including Episode II Select and Ahmed Best's on-set videos. On May 11, 2002, TV Guide released three different covers to promote the film.

Merchandising

The film's soundtrack was released by Sony on April 23, 2002.

A book version of the movie was written by R. A. Salvatore. It includes scenes created by Salvatore and unique to the novel. The book's prologue describes Anakin, while flying to Ansion with Obi-Wan, having a nightmare of his mother turning into glass and shattering. The following pages relate the events leading up to Shmi Skywalker's capture by Tusken Raiders and Cliegg Lars's loss of his leg while attempting to rescue her. These scenes give a more detailed insight into Shmi's life on the moisture farm and her relationships with Cliegg, Owen, Beru, and C-3PO than can be provided in the film. Interspersed with these events are scenes of Senator Amidala on Naboo prior to her departure for Coruscant to vote on the Military Creation Act. She discusses with her sister the question of retiring from politics to start a family and receives reports about the unrest (briefly mentioned in the film) among spice miners on Naboo's moons. The book also delves more deeply than the film into the father-son relationship of Jango and Boba Fett, making Jango's death more emotionally meaningful. (However, it also has several inaccuracies concerning Jango. For example, the author referred to his Armor as grey, when it is actually white with blue accents.) The first of the Boba Fett series of young adult novels draws upon this material.

Home video

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was released on VHS and DVD on November 12, 2002. The VHS included six deleted scenes and a segment of Star Wars: Connections. Attack of the Clones would be the final VHS release of any kind for Star Wars in the United States. As such, it is impossible to acquire a full VHS set for the Prequel Trilogy since there would not be one for Revenge of the Sith (though Revenge of the Sith did receive a VHS release in other countries such as the UK and Australia). The DVD contains certain elements edited or added by George Lucas that make the DVD a slightly different version from its theatrical release.

• Disc 1 DVD Menu themes based on planets from the movie: Coruscant, Kamino, and Geonosis Available subtitles: English Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) Commentary by writer-director George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, animation director Rob Coleman, and ILM visual effects supervisors John Knoll, Roger Guyett, and sound designer Ben Burtt DVD Credits with Blooper reels DVD-ROM content including website archive of HoloNet News[15]

• Disc 2 Main DVD Menu's theme is based on the Jedi Library Eight exclusive deleted scenes with introductions of George Lucas, Rick McCallum, and Ben Burtt "From Puppets to Pixels: Digital Characters in Episode II": all-new full-length documentary about the creation of digital characters in Episode II "State of the Art: The Previsualization of Episode II": witness the vital role of the animatics team "Films Are Not Released: They Escape" sound documentary Three featurettes examining the story line, action scenes, and love story through behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and filmmakers 12-part Web documentary "Across the Stars" music video: an original composition by John Williams crafted exclusively for this DVD Exclusive production photos One-sheet posters International outdoor campaign Trailers and TV spots "R2-D2: Beneath the Dome" mockumentary trailer ILM visual effects breakdown montage Exclusive DVD-ROM content Production photo gallery College Want Ads Campaign gallery Easter egg (enhanced DVD-ROM multimedia content when you click on the weblinks of any of the posters in the image gallery, featuring downloadable wallpapers and messenger icons)[15] DVD-ROM content includes a free trial of Hyperspace

The film was released on Blu-ray in September 2011.

On April 7, 2015, the Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the six released Star Wars films. As Lucasfilm had retained digital distribution rights to Episodes I through III and V through VI, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released Attack of the Clones for digital download on April 10, 2015.

Despite the Walt Disney Company's 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm Ltd. and the release rights to all future Star Wars films, Fox was to retain original distribution rights to Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which they co-produced and co-financed, in perpetuity in all media worldwide. Fox was also to retain theatrical, nontheatrical, and home video rights worldwide for the franchise's five subsequent films, which Lucasfilm produced and financed independently, through May 2020, at which time ownership was to transfer to Disney. This complex relationship between Fox and Disney, particularly in regards to Fox's perpetual rights to Episode IV, was to create an obstacle for any future boxed set comprising all nine films. On December 14, 2017, The Walt Disney Company announced that it was acquiring most of Fox's parent company, 21st Century Fox, including the film studio and all distribution rights to A New Hope. On March 20, 2019, the deal was officially completed. On April 12, 2019, a Blu-ray box set containing the nine main instalments of the Star Wars saga remastered in 4K was reportedly announced to be in development for a 2020 release.

Credits