Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones

"There is unrest in the Galactic Senate. Several thousand solar systems have declared their intentions to leave the Republic. This Separatist movement, under the leadership of the mysterious Count Dooku, has made it difficult for the limited number of Jedi Knights to maintain peace and order in the galaxy. Senator Amidala, the former Queen of Naboo, is returning to the Galactic Senate to vote on the critical issue of creating an ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC to assist the overwhelmed Jedi...."

"We must keep our faith in the Republic. The day we stop believing democracy can work is the day we lose it."

"Our friends from the Trade Federation have pledged their support. And when their battle droids are combined with yours, we shall have an army greater than any in the galaxy. The Jedi will be overwhelmed. The Republic will agree to any demands we make."

"To be angry is to be human."

"I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."

"It is with great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling. I love democracy. I love the Republic. But I am mild by nature, and do not wish to see the destruction of democracy. The power you give me, I will lay down when this crisis has abated. And, as my first act with this new authority, I will create a grand army of the Republic to counter the increasing threats of the Separatists."

"A Jedi Shall Not Know Anger. Nor Hatred. Nor Love."

"The Clones Are Coming..."

"George is a product of Vietnam, not a product of Bush. [The political aspects of the Clone Wars] have been in the context of every script I've ever read—every draft—way before Bush became president..."

"War suits, at least initially, the greedy Trade Federation, which sees it as leading to the political victory of those who will reward their corporate backers. It also suits those (the Kaminoans—who care about "how big your pocketbook is" [Coruscant diner sequence]--and the Geonosians) who profit from armaments manufacture. And it suits ambitious politicians: not only Dooku, but also the Republic's Chancellor Palpatine (likely the deceptive outer face of Sidious), who is voted extraordinary dictatorial powers, by a fearful Senate, because of the threat of war. The film's ending makes clear both Lucas's political-economic critique and his anti-war stance: as we see the corporate-sponsored Dooku go from one hell setting (Geonosis) to another (the Blade-Runner-like industrial quarter of Coruscant), to a siren's song on the soundtrack, to report to Sidious that the desired war has now begun ("as planned," responds Sidious), and as the democratic Republic's Chancellor Palpatine oversees from a balcony the massing of a vast army of stormtroopers and war machines, to the ominous music of the Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back."

"In a real sense, the films of the original trilogy were about something more than X-wing fighters, lightsabers, and Ewoks. The first two films of the new Star Wars trilogy, however, are not really about anything at all. The films altogether lack a coherent theme and thus have disappointed adult and even adolescent viewers. This film presents a complicated plot and state-of-the-art visual effects, but, without thematic interest, Clones fails to duplicate the original trilogy's appeal. Indeed, the new films even undermine the themes of the original trilogy, as Lucas appears to have been seduced by the dark side of technology. There is barely any natural world in Clones. Most of the screen is filled, most of the time, with computer-generated visual effects, and much of the action takes place on the planet Coruscant, which, like Trantor in Asimov's Foundation series, is one enormous, world-sized city. Technology is everywhere in this movie, and even the Jedi Knights appear to be completely dependent on it. Yoda, the Jedi master who lives as a hermit in a primitive hut in the Empire and the Jedi, is shown riding on a hovering mobility cart, at the center of the political action, and Obi-Wan Kenobi is stumped when the answers are not available in the library's database. In the end, the Jedi are only saved from annihilation by biotechnology—in the form of an army of clones, which is led by Yoda himself! If Lucas were a more subtle thinker, the portrayal of the Jedi in Clones might be taken as a sign of corruption in the Republic's last days. Indeed, the corruption of the Republic and its fall could have been a theme to speak to the Zeitgeist. Instead, the fall of the Republic is depicted as the result of the machinations of Darth Sidious, a master of the dark side of the Force. Sidious plays faction off against faction, employing a strategy of divide and conquer in pursuit of absolute power. All the other characters, including the hapless Jedi, are simply his dupes at every turn."

"All democracies turn into dictatorships—but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julius Caesar or Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea. What kinds of things push people and institutions in this direction? That's the issue I've been exploring: how did the Republic turn into the Empire? ... How does a good person go bad, and how does a democracy become a dictatorship?"

"When I wrote [the backstory/Clone Wars], Iraq didn't exist."

"One of the things about Episode One I was slightly disappointed by was, I thought it was very kind of flat. I think there's much more humor and there's much more color in Episode II: Attack of the Clones. I think it's more reminiscent of the original three Star Wars films than Episode I was."

"I got over the hump of 18 so I'm allowed to show my tummy now, I guess."

"Ewan McGregor — Obi-Wan Kenobi"

"Natalie Portman — Senator Padmé Amidala"

"Hayden Christensen — Anakin Skywalker"

"Christopher Lee — Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus"

"Samuel L. Jackson — Mace Windu"

"Ahmed Best - Jar Jar Binks (voice)"

"Anthony Daniels - C-3PO"

"Kenny Baker - R2-D2"

"Temuera Morrison - Jango Fett"

"Silas Carson - Nute Gunray"

"Frank Oz — Master Yoda (voice)"

"Ian McDiarmid — Supreme Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious"