Favorite moments

• People complain about the Padme-Anakin relationship, but keep in mind that we're not talking about Han and Leia here. This is evident when they first meet again, and Anakin's so nervous he finds himself saying "You've grown too... more beautiful I mean. For a Senator, I mean." Intentional cheesiness on Lucas's part. Obi-Wan rolls his eyes and Typho is amused. (If only they'd shown a reaction shot of Anakin thinking "Good job, you dolt.")
  That said, none of this justifies the dreaded "log scene," or Padme's arena confession. Or the odd "Sound of Music" scene (the alien creatures were a nice Star Wars-y touch to an earthly setting, but why roll around in the grass if they didn't love each other?).
• The Jango and Obi-Wan conversation. Each guy knows who the other is, and they're just putting on a show of pleasantries. Taun We thinks they're getting along swell. Minutes later the two are outside beating each other up. My first impression of Jango was that he was rather dull and without an "angle," but he's actually quite a cool character.
• An interesting spin on the sunset scene in ANH: There, we see Luke gazing out toward the suns, then see the suns ourselves. Here we see Anakin gazing, but then we look back, to see his shadow on the wall (there's no bright future for Anakin, and his imminent slaughter of the Tuskens is his turning point). That eerily Vader-esque shadow also makes for one of the best visuals in the saga, and a rather tragic one.
• The look in Watto's eyes as it slowly dawns on him that the kid he's talking to is "Li'l Ani." Plus the smooth, savvy way he tries to explain that selling Shmi was just business, when he was really just desperate for the money. Also how he cowers when Anakin, a Jedi, tersely reminds him he's only there to find his mom, and when he politely lets Anakin and Padme go first into the shop.
• The idea of 3PO and a battle droid switching bodies is utterly ridiculous, but it works. 3PO is unlucky like that. It's funny how after his head is placed on the battle droid, it starts to dawn on you that the opposite is about to happen. This also leads to the utter fear and anguish when 3PO realizes he's engaging in battle... "I was programmed for etiquette, not destruction!!" <blam blam> Reminiscent of the droid hi-jinks during ESB's otherwise dark closing scenes. The bad puns could've been avoided however.
• As soon as Yoda's shadow appeared on-screen before his duel, the crowd was wooping it up (I still remember thinking it was gonna be Sidious or something). Nothing beats the delicious delivery of Lee's "decide this by our skill with a lightsaber" line as he reaches for his own, followed by an old-fashioned salute, then Yoda grabbing his own saber with a "Let's rock" scowl/smirk.
  Another thing about the Yoda scene is that we'd waited so long to see him in action, he's almost developed a mythic air about him. It wouldn't have been the same had the wait only been 3 years as opposed to 20. Also note that the fact that Yoda could fight wasn't supposed to be a surprise, as Obi-Wan and Anakin allude to his ability during their speeder chase.

• The "aggressive negotiations" anecdote. Looks like rogue Jedi have their own version of "making offers one can't refuse."
• Pretty nice visual when Anakin and Padme kiss before they enter the arena, going from shadow to light, looking up and away from each other and out to the crowds. Of course, the dialogue beforehand could've been better.
• Mace stares down Dooku in the arena, and in the distant background one lightsaber ignites after another (although not quite enough).
• Jango didn't appreciate how Mace stuck his saber out in his face on the balcony, so he makes it a point to go after him on the battlefield. When Mace approaches him, Jango tries to fly out, but you can see his jet pack shorting out (trampled earlier by one of the monsters). And for the record, you can see two shadows on the ground when his helmet flies off, so his head came out, meaning that later on Boba is (thankfully) holding an empty helmet.
• Another mini-rivalry develops between Obi-Wan and that mantis-crab thing. He stabs it with a spear, thinking he's got him, only to be surprised when it snaps the spear in two (love the facial expression there). When he's fighting some battle droids later, he turns around to see that the pesky monster is back, and with lightsaber in hand, he makes it a point to finish it off once and for all (but in a seemingly un-Jedi-like fashion).

The clone soldier in the center of the mess hall shot doesn't seem to like his meal much. They may be docile, but I guess they don't have to like what they eat.

How Obi-Wan has to go back inside and hurriedly run up to the top floor to chase after Jango. It's so mundane for a Jedi.

I don't know if he's being sincere or not, but after Watto tells Ani that Shmi was freed by another guy and goes "Can you beat that?!" I love how he over-enthusiatically punctuates it with "Yeah!!"

Yoda's semi-grin when Palpatine is notified that Padme's party was ready to meet with him in his quarters.

• In Dex's diner, an alien can be seen walking in (I think the same species as the Coruscant taxi driver during the chase), then walks out a few minutes later with a drink in hand... one for the road. There's also a "space version" of peppy '50s music playing throughout the scene.
• Apparently what's supposed to be a horizontal can of Coke can be found after Anakin and Padme first kiss, when the camera shows a reverse shot. It can be seen to the left of Anakin's feet.
• In the Geonosian war room, the Death Star plans are displayed long before Dooku shows it in his hand to the audience. It can be seen in the background at one point, before the scene cuts back to the battle field, then returns to the war room when the plans are transferred.

• The early part of the script has some annoying repetition: 1.) Three different Jedi using the "_____, not _____" declaration ("keepers of the peace, not soldiers, etc). 2.) Dexter only has one scene but says "beyond the outer rim" twice. 3.) Various versions of the phrase, "A bounty hunter called..."
• Using the Trade Federation music in an early Clone army scene? Granted, the Clone army ultimately become bad guys, but aren't the two sides at each other's throats at the end of this movie? Unfortunately there are more than a few instances where TPM music was recycled for this one.
• In the original trilogy, the three lead actors shared a single screen in the end credits, but in these prequels they each get a separate screen. I don't know if it's because they were more established actors before making the movies (which wasn't the case with Christensen), or Lucas is showing appreciation for them, but I like how the old way had an ensemble feel to it.

• R2 as watch-droid was interesting, but he's a rather lazy one. At least he wasn't eating doughnuts and reading the sports section.
• With a name like Sleazbaganno, how can one not descend into a life of crime? (He's the "deathsticks" guy). Also, he picks up a drink but puts it back down after Obi-Wan tells him to go home and reconsider his life. I wonder if that included alcohol consumption as well as drug dealing.
• When Dex hugs Obi-Wan, it's obvious that the former is pulling up his ill-fitting pants, but notice how enthusiastically McGregor pats him on the back.
• Nice to see that the Fett rocket launcher actually serves a purpose instead of being mere decoration.
• Nute Gunray strikes me as sounding more like Mojo Jojo compared to TPM. I love that evil monkey, but since he's more obviously supposed to sound Asian, I wonder if that's a good thing given all the racial accusations the prequels have had. For that matter, I always figured the Neimoidians were supposed to sound "Transylvanian" anyway.
• I'm wishing Lucas had allowed himself to have Anakin roll his eyes and sarcastically/ironically mutter "yippee." at some point in AOTC. (That line in TPM was the source of much annoyance for many fans).
• A "Toshiyuki Maeda" (no relation) is listed in the credits under "Digital Matte Artists." I'd always dreamed of seeing my name in the credits of a Star Wars movie.. that's the closest I'll ever get.

• Perhaps the biggest issue of the prequels is the Palpatine/Sidious connection. I'd thought a clone revelation would work, but upon realizing it had already been in the Dark Empire comics, it seems very unlikely. We've seen clone techonology already put to use by Sidious, and it would've explained: 1) why the Jedi don't sense the Chancellor's deception even in close proximity, 2) how he can move around Coruscant so quickly, 3) why the "classic trilogy" Emperor looks so much older than he should (assuming the "Chancellor" clone was created after "Sidious" was already an adult). But it seems more and more that the "same person" theory will somehow prove to be the right one.
• Vader's first victim just has to be Mace, does it not?
• What would make us really hate Anakin/Vader? Naturally it would be killing the Jedi... Not just the men, but the women. And the children. The kids' demise would have to be off-screen of course.
• Padme's final scene has her looking at Anakin's good luck charm from back in Episode I. It wasn't really a necessary scene at the time, so I'm thinking it was there for an emotional payoff in Ep III.
• To cap off the tradition of the famous catch-phrase, Yoda gets to say "A bad feeling about this, I have". It would work as long as it's not totally made up for cheap yuks, especially since it's an inside joke among diehard fans anyway.
• Please no cutesy Han Solo or Millennium Falcon cameos. The presence of Wookiees might be interesting, but if Chewbacca and Obi-Wan meet, and if the latter had recognized the former in the cantina, pretty much all the main characters in the original trilogy will have already had some tie to one another before the thing even starts and add to the bloated list of coincidences in the series.
• Assuming Obi-Wan was telling the truth to Luke about Anakin wanting him to have his old lightsaber, it should only be mentioned in passing and in retrospect in Episode III (eg, "You said you wanted your son to have your lightsaber one day, but we may not even live to see that that happens"). It seems the characters would be to busy at any point for Anakin to directly establish this desire to Obi-Wan once the movie is underway. Of course, whether this happens on-screen or off depends on whether Obi-Wan even accepts that he even got married, let alone potentially be a father one day.
• What ultimately leads to the final rift between the two? It could be that Obi-Wan learns about Padme's impending pregnancy, and keeps it from Anakin (who obviously never discovers this himself). Anakin would know that Obi-Wan is hiding something from him (apparently Jedi can detect lies from others), which only adds to the other problems he has with Obi-Wan as established in AOTC. Of course, this leads to the question of why Padme and Obi-Wan would want to keep it a secret, seeing as how it might prevent him from going to the Dark Side. Sure they knew the twins would "be a threat to him" later on, but they wouldn't be thinking this unless they knew he was a lost cause.
• There'd been some leaked promotional behind-the-scenes footage, which feature Anakin and Obi-Wan's duel including fist-fighting. I'm beaming with pride when I say I'd hoped for this a while ago in RASSM, although only by Anakin. It just seems that the fight would be so personal and emotional that at one point a lightsaber would be too indirect a manner to exert the hatred on his part.
• While in the same post I'd imagined there would be minimal use of Force powers, it might be interesting to see one lose his saber (perhaps leaving the other guy with both sabers), and then use the Force to hurl objects at the other, a reference to what Vader does to Luke in ESB. So either Vader would've learned the trick from Obi-Wan, or he'd be using the tactic once again.
• More of a wish than speculation: Anakin and Obi-Wan both fight each other with blue lightsabers. Unless the story absolutely necessitates that Anakin's is already red, it would be a waste of a golden opportunity. Metaphorically, it'd symbolize a battle of good vs. good. Visually it'd be hard to distinguish who's who in the wide shots, which I fear would make Lucas think is a bad thing, and give one of them a green blade for practicality sake. Up until now we've both seen that they prefer blue anyway, so why change? Do it, George!

Updated 2004.2.20