You will be interested to know (unless some of you watch CNN at 5am) that those idiots had it labeled "episode V" instead of "episode II". No fans in the newsroom, for sure.
Well my first reaction was, "you've got to be kidding", but now its kind of grown on me. Definately a return to George's homage to the old serials....actually its pretty cool in a retro, grade B kind of way. The more I roll it over, the more I like it.
Well, I for one am really happy with the name. I think I would have chosen that name myself. Well done George!!
By the way, I have a few suggestions for Episode III too:
Star Wars : Episode III Fluffy goes to Hospital
Or...
Star Wars : Episode III Mr Chimpy has a birthday
WHAT THE F... IS LUCAS ON?? Sure, I'll still go see the movie, but the title Sucks! I laughed when I heard it, I thought some three year old had made a fan film or something. And George doesn't care what people are saying? I think he should care, it's not that TPM was a great film was it! AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHH!
I'm Angry!
This was posted on TFN and pretty much says everything I want to say about it -
Polls are being conducted (most of them going negative) and fans are getting themselves into a tizzy over the recent announcement that the next installment of the prequel trilogy will be entitled Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Learning of a new Star Wars title is like opening a fine bottle of wine. You have to let it breathe. So let's take a deep breath and consider this like the reasonable obsessed fanatical Star Wars fans we are. Let me ask you a question: what did you expect? Expectation is everything. Since The Phantom Menace faded from the theaters and our interest turned toward Episode II, speculation has been rampant. All sorts of predictions about the content of the next prequel were made. Suggested titles were offered. Most of these titles had to do with the Clone Wars or with foreboding thoughts about Anakin's inevitable fall to the Dark Side. Many also referenced the rise of the Empire that Episode II was sure to feature. Names like the Rise of the Empire, The Clone Wars, The Darkness Within, and others were passed around with seemingly every fan getting his two cents in. However, one need only look at the past names chosen by Lucas to see that such titles were folly. A New Hope? I bet no one would have seen that coming. When Lucas dropped "The Phantom Menace" bomb everyone was a little dazed and confused. Wasn't it going to be called "Balance of the Force" or something like that? What the heck is a Phantom Menace? So, first of all, get past your own expectations. It's not your movie. You don't get to name it. Have an open mind.
Also let me extend my congratulations to the flanneled one. About a million fans have been giving Lucas title suggestions for the last three years. It seems to me that such an atmosphere would preclude any original thought, but Lucas has not backed down from the critics, the naysayers, or the Jar Jar haters. He's been "keeping it real" Star Wars style (more on this later). He went back to his favorite resource for titles, those old sci-fi serials a la Flash Gordon, and came up with the seemingly unoriginal title: Attack of the Clones. Unoriginal except for the fact that no one else thought of it. No one.
Why is this? Was it too cheesy to consider? Cheesier than say, The Empire Strikes Back? What's the difference? Are the words "The Empire Strikes Back" somehow cooler than "Attack of the Clones"? I suspect the "coolness" of the title is merely a function of how awesome the movie is. TESB is widely regarded as the best of the original trilogy (though it ranks third in box office). It's great not because it has the word Empire (a cool word to be sure) in combination with the words "Strikes" and "Back" (two words that are neutral at best). Empire is great because it is the wonderful second act to one of the greatest stories ever told. Empire is great because it introduces us to the Force, both light side and dark side, Yoda, Han & Leia as a couple, and one of the greatest surprises ever: "I am your father." In short, it's great because it's a great movie. It's name is now synonymous with its greatness, and you can't imagine it being called anything else (for example, "Lando's Revenge" or something really cheesy). Likewise, I will imagine next May most of these naysayers will come out of the theaters thrilled and excited never second guessing the name they are so distraught over now.
Still troubled? Try this thought experiment. Imagine that you are ten years old. You have been thirsting for new Star Wars figures ever since the last of the Episode I line came out (yes, you actually take your Star Wars figures out of the package and play with them). You've got a few Darth Mauls that were severed at the waist way before the "battle damaged" figure came out so you could have that realistic show down with Obi-Wan. You live in this surreal world where Summer lasts forever and it feels like decades pass in between Star Wars movies. You thought Jar Jar was funny (I will lose some of you here). Now consider the title of the next movie: Attack of the Clones. Whoa! What's going on there? Clones? Are they Stormtroopers? Is Boba Fett a clone? Awesome! I can't wait!
My point is that when you were a kid there was no "EEWW, that sounds too much like the Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman" or "that's not the title of a serious film." If that's your reaction, you don't get Star Wars. You may have enjoyed the movies in the past, but you don't get it. The original slogan for Star Wars was "Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and now Luke Skywalker: Star Wars - It'll make you feel like a kid again." Think about that. Star Wars was not derived from the same scifi primordial ooze that movies like Bladerunner or Alien came from. Its roots go back to those swashbuckling space pirate stories that enthrall children and the child inside each one of us. Indeed, it's not really science fiction at all. It has more in common with Arthurian legends than any classic sci-fi. It's a myth. It's a space opera. It's a saga. "Attack of the Clones" fits right in with that simple mythic vision of a long time ago in a galaxy far far away where heroes wear white and bad guys wear black. If you truly understand Star Wars, you will also understand that there is profound truth to this simple "unoriginal" tale and that what makes it so darn great.
I for one love the name; but then again, I also love Jar Jar.
I agree with everything written above.
Another thing - Whoever said that Star Wars will loose fans because of this, I kind of agree with. But I'm glad because the people who are saying they won't go and see the movie because of the title aren't real fans. They're fan boys who think SW is about Boba Fett or something.
TPM sorted out the real fans from the hangers on and so will this movie. I'm also delighted that the press seem to be against it. What other film can create this much contreversy over a title? The press have always hated Star Wars and so have the film critics who can't see past "Citiven Caine". The more George Lucas pisses them off the better. 😄
Well, look, I don't mind the title, but over-justifying it isn't going to help.
It doesn't matter how much of a hark back to the roots of the mythology it is (which was my first reaction, if you look back...). An out of date title is an out of date title. If it doesn't ring true with the potential audience, it was a bad choice. You can justify it artistically but it still wouldn;t have been the most intelligent thing to do.
I'm not saying this is necessarily so, but if it does turn out to be harmful justifying it on the basis that it fits the feel is not a good argument, the title is the part of the image of a film.
Besides, while the influences are very clear, the Star Wars films ARE a modern phenomenon. They are a modern take on old mythology like Flash Gordon and so on. The differences between the two are immense even if the core values are identical. 'Attack of the Clones' would have been a good FLash Gordon title. It MAY be a good Star Wars title, but it doesn't AUTOMATICALLY become one just because it harkens back so.
And no disprespect to that TFN poster, but he has made two large mistakes- 1. saying SW isn't really sci-fi (is his vision so narrow?) and b. saying that a ten year old kid will have a less cynical and more positive approach to the title than us jaded adults.
Well, I can tell you from real world experience- no! If anything, they are worse because they will not accept the justifications we have made. Even the ones who found Jar-Jar funny. They are a product of the modern world as well, you see.
So we will see how this goes, but I will have as little patience for those who blindly defend the title with pseudo-justifcation as I have for thiose who attack it blindly as well.
Hello folks,
My time machine just brought me back from the middle and late bronze age. And what do I find? A new SW title? Well, kind of .... interesting....
My main worry is how we are going to abbreviate this. AOTC? ATC? AOC? All a bit odd.
And yes, it does sound fifties like. But let's face it: ESB and ROTJ are titles like that. We didn't have an Attack title yet, and it's always better than ANH.
THe first thing that cam to my mind though was lots of marches in the soundtrack..... Maybe Ush can play along. 😈
king jedi is right!!!!, to paraphrase
I love the title!!! superbly cheesey and come on people is it any more or less cheesey than the name star wars??? or for that matter the Empire strikes back??? people moaned about the phantom menace as a name but that soon stopped, the same will happen here. there is just a stupid reaction from people who loved star wars as a child and have grown up forgetting what this series of film is and to just sit back and enjoy it!!!.