For your pleasure: exclusive Episode II teaser report

[Threatened]

Ok, I just logged on to the special Star Wars dvd website and got myself a nice piece of exclusive Episode II footage all packed in a nifty little teaser entitled "Mystery" (God, I love owning that dvd)

Here's a report of what I saw:

01-- After the standard FOX and Lucasfilm logos we fade in to a small floating droid(?) (sounding like one of Darth Maul's sensor thingies) making it's way through Corrusant-by-night.

02-- Then follows a shot of the ocean city (known to those who saw the "Breathing" teaser). Waves are really high this time and a big bird-like creature (looking like the flying JP dinos) is seemingly making it's way towards the city with someone on it's back.

03-- Voice over: [Uncle Owen?]"It was just before dawn, they came out of nowhere..." And a shot of two huge transport vehicles (used by the little guys in brown robes and with yellow eyes) with doors open, surrounded by metal parts - looks like a mess. A speederbike is parked nearby and we see the silhouettes of two men (Anakin and uncle Owen?)

04-- Meteor field chase (woohoo!) Boba Fett is chasing another, smaller vessel. This shot is followed by a quick explosion shot, seems like one of those Naboo cruisers being blown up.

05-- Shot of jedi counsil members walking, (incl CGI Yoda).

06-- Voice over: [Padme] "You've any idea who's behind this attack?" Close up of Queen's face, then to:

07-- Voice over: [Anakin] "We will find out who's trying to kill you Padme, I promise you" Shot of Obi-Wan and Anakin sitting.

08-- Shot of Corrusant (lovely) to:

09-- Voice over: [Mace Windu] "Escort the senator back to Naboo, she'll be safer there" Close up of Mace's face, followed by wide shot of Jedi Council with Obi-Wan and Anakin standing in the circle, bowing towards Mace and Yoda (accepting the orders)

10-- Voice over: [Padme] "I do not like this idea of hiding" Shot of Padme angrily walking out of a room (looking great) passing by Anakin.

11-- Voice over: [Anakin] "Sometimes we must do what is requested of us" Close up of Anakin's face followed by close up of Padme, looking up to him while reaching down to pick something up.

12-- Shot of Obi-Wan in a bar(/nightclub?), swiftly turning around while turning on his lightsaber and striking some guy with a gun in the head with it (I was immediately reminded of the cantina scene in A New Hope - very nicely done). To:

13-- Voice over: [Yoda] "Dangerous and disturbing this puzzle is" Shot of Yoda (CGI, looking great). To:

14-- Voice over: [Obi-Wan] "You are using her as bate" Shot of Obi-Wan talking to Anakin (strange line.. Obi doesn't sound happy).

15-- Shot of Padme in bed, awakened and scared by a disturbing sound (again, Darth Maul's droid's sound). followed by:

16-- Shot of the droid-thing making the sound at her window either scanning the room from the outside or trying to get through. To:

17-- Anakin jumping through (!) the window grabbing the droid, falling down with it. (Dual of Fates kicks in at this scene)

18-- Shot of Anakin fighting a dude with a red lightsaber... very dark, can only make out silhouettes. Followed by one of him getting into a cruiser. To:

19-- Voice over: [Anakin] "I'm a Jedi" He's saying this to Watto. Followed by:

20-- Voice over: [Watto] "A Jedi! What do you know...". To:

21-- Voice over: [Obi-Wan] "Follow that speeder!" (looking behind him) "He went that way!" Shots of Obi-Wan and Anakin in a speeder, Anakin's flying the thing and goes the opposite direction Obi-Wan was looking.

22-- Voice over: [Anakin] "This is a shortcut...I think" To:

23-- Shots of the speeder flying through some electric field, harming the two Jedi in their speeder while Obi-Wan shouts "Anakin! How many times have I told you to stay away from the...(can't make that out).

24-- The large birdlike creature from scene 02 takes off from under water, this looks cool.

25-- What follows is a compilation of quick shots, while Duel of The Fates plays in the background: Some more meteor field goodness - Fett firing at Obi-Wan - Anakin looking really pissed while fighting the red lightsaber guy again - Fett taking off using his backpack - Obi-Wan doing some nice sabertricks - Anakin running through a dark street (in corrusant?) - and:

26-- Pretty bad: Anakin being smoked by "Sith (emperor palpatine-like) lightning"

27-- Voice over: [Anakin] "We've decided to come and resque you" Anakin talks to Obi-Wan. He sounds sorta mean here, standing with his back pressed against a pillar in some arena (?) and with some really weird, but cool-looking CGI creature by his side. To:

28-- Voice over: [Obi-Wan] "Good job" Obi-Wan's pressed against a pillar, his arms tied above his head.

That's it.

-T.

[Threatened]

This teaser looked really promising - the style is obviously much darker then in Episdoe I. Everyone seems worried here - "Mystery" indeed...

From what this footage shows, Hayden Christensen seems really good in his part as Anakin - Natalie Portman's performance seemed improved too, she seemed tougher and more in control then in Episode I. Obi-Wan is perfect.

What I noticed is there's only 1 shot of Jar-Jar in this trailer (none in Breathing) and it's of his back - you only see his left ear and part of his back while he stands beside the queen... nothing else - no dialogue, no other shots... This seems a good sign http://www.joblo.com/ubb/smile.gif

-T.

[This message has been edited by Threatened (edited 11-09-2001).]

[The Heart Collector]

Yoda looked WAY bad.
Unfortunately, InterActual keeps crashing my PC and I can only see half of the trailer. JOLLY.


I have to say, though, that Ewan REALLY, REALLY sounds and acts like Alec Guiness in that last bit. That was GREAT.

[This message has been edited by The Heart Collector (edited 11-10-2001).]

[Threatened]

Didn't think he looked bad at all - he looked older, as he is supposed to (after 10 years) and obviously different from the puppet, but very believable.

-T.

[Horror whore]

I didn't thnik Yoda looked any different in the teaser...?

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

I thought the teaser was pretty well done, except for the dialouge. The dialouge in this film, from what I have heard, doesnt seem to smart,....it seems "dumbed-down". If you dont know what I mean by that, I was simply saying that these characters, who are queens, and knights, and senators, and everything else; they dont speak very eloquently. Other than that, CGI looks to be slightly improved over TPM, the acting looks the same (which is not a good thing, in my case) and all this darkness everyone is talking about; well it is night in these shots. I know thats not what you mean, but I dont remember anyone saying how bright TPM looked. I just dont have too much faith in this new SW`s, and even if it is good, it wont be as good as it could have been if Lucas hadn`t sold out. Than again, I could care less if he sells out, just as long as he makes a good film; and thats exactly what this film looks to be, good, but not great.

[ak]

I agree with Dumb-Fokker-**, the trailers, to me, just seemed like a mish mash of visuals from The Phantom Menace, nothing stands-out as "new".
To be honest, i've never thought the films ever had a "wow" or jaw-dropping visual sense, apart from The Empire Strikes Back - my favourite all time film.

I'm looking forward to it, but it doesn't look like anything we haven't seen before.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

The Empire Strikes Back was awesome. I still dont understand though, how you people can say that this film is going to be better simply because it is darker. It`ll just be harder to see. And I know thats not what you meant,....

[Tuukka]

It was a very good trailer. I'm a sucker for big looking scifi films and I think this will be an improvement on Phantom Menace, which I didn't like at all.

The effects were better than Phantom Menace and I really liked the scope of it all. Action looks like a lot of fun and the cinematography and production design seem more sophisticated and adult. Doesn't look like a sunny candystore in the style of PM.

However, the acting and dialogue seemed again pretty wooden. And the humour didn't really strike a chord in me. It's hard to judge a film based on it's trailer, but this gives me an impression of average drama combined with great set-pieces. It guess that's worth my 7 bucks.

BTW, this trailer makes me suspect that the recent AOTC review was a fake. The guy stated that the film doesn't have any space battles, which is apparently not the case.

[Scorchlord]

I didn't much care for it. The acting seemed bad again (just listen to Anakin assuring Amidala or whatever the hell her name is). The effects look average. And the humor aspect just totally fell dead. Stupid droll humor should not go into a trailer depicting a supposed dark film.

[ak]

I agree Scorchlord.
I especially hated the line Ewan McGregor delivers right at the end of the trailer "Good job" - It was an awful, awful line, the same as the line where he tells Anakin not to go through the energy field - that summs up "wooden" acting to me.

Some of the effects, i can understand, are in their early stages, but Yoda did look badly CGI. The shot of him in the first teaser was a very good, very believable one, but this takes the biscuit.
The ocean scene looked impressive, and that flying creature (which, incidentally, cropped up in designs for Episode I by Doug Chiang), looked very well done.

I've not got high hopes for this film at all yet, there's nothing seemlingly dark about it, apart from, as someone mentioned, the fact that it's set at night.

P.S - I just slowed the trailer down, and it seems the Jedi master that has a very long neck (looks very alien) is riding on the back of that sea creature, so there could be more Jedi involvment than i first thought.



[This message has been edited by ak (edited 11-11-2001).]

[claire]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by ak:
I agree Scorchlord.
I especially hated the line Ewan McGregor delivers right at the end of the trailer "Good job" - It was an awful, awful line, the same as the line where he tells Anakin not to go through the energy field - that summs up "wooden" acting to me.

</font>

You gotta be kidding, right???
this line ( good job) was great!!!
it reminds me a lot of the OT with that cynical, sarcastic humor...
Jeez....we'll see if the acting is good on May...

[This message has been edited by claire (edited 11-11-2001).]

[ak]

Not kidding at all, i hated it, the way it was delivered wasn't bad....but this sums up Lucas' inability as a writer/director.
Can't you tell this is a really dangerous situation they're in, and he cracks a humorous line? Yeah, really dramatic.

[Eelco]

All this negativity really bothers me. The trailer looks great, c'mon people! Ok, I have to admit first that I didn't like the Attack of the Clones title, but I've gotten used to it. I further have to admit that it doesn't really look like it's going to be a very dark film, although some lines and sequences do look promising. I do sense a lot of chaos and worriedness amongst the characters in the trailer. I can't wait to see the next trailer.

[ak]

So far the only things that bother me are:

-Lucas' trite visuals. The same old CGI backdrops are not exciting.

-Some of the dialogue.

You know, The Empire Strikes Back is my personal greatest film of all time, it had the qualities i loved in a Star Wars film, so me thinking negatively about Episode II, thus far, is my right, my entitled opinion.
Maybe i'm particular, but i was hoping Episode II would be everything Episode I was not. So far, it looks exactly the same.

[Narrator]

i got the episode 1 feel as well, for instance when anakin and obi-wan r in the speeder goin into those pink light thingys so much 4 dark that was just plain stupid!

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

This is basically TPM at night, with the same bad effects, the same bad acting, and the same horrible writing. Anyone who says that you cannot judge a film from a trailer is wrong. Surely you can, but in some cases you may not be right. I know enough about Episode II (the actual title is too dumb to write, and I dont want to get used to it because it is stupid) to know that it will be an average sci-fi flick, which gains all its strength from its namesake. Take away the Star Wars in the title, and I bet half of the people who say it looks great, wouldnt care.

[ak]

Oh, i'd also like to add, to all those Star Wars fanatics, that you can also see Senator Palpatine aka the Emperor in the new trailer.
He's looking out the very large window in the scene where you see a wide shot of Yoda walking.
(Those of you who downloaded the trailer, i suggest playing it frame by frame, you can notice a lot more)...

*SPOILERS*

...Including: Jango Fett's space battle with Obi Wan - the space ships shooting lasers through the meteors. (If you slow it down, you can see it's Obi Wan's ship he's tailing). I know what Obi Wan's ship looks like from one of the Episode II documentaries available on the net a few months back.

Also, an interesting shot of what seems to be some sort of royalty being killed.
It's the scene with the big explosion where the guards get knocked off their feet. (Amidala's parents?) an R2 Unit, perhaps R2-D2 himself gets blown over by flying debris.

Another shot that lends itself to the first teaser trailer - I was wondering what it was Obi Wan was holding onto whilst flying at very high speed through Colruscant City. It's the probe droid that was scanning Amidala's bedroom.....Obi Wan smashes through a window and grabs hold of it.

The Jedi master that has a very long neck (looks very alien) is riding on the back of that sea creature, so there could be more Jedi involvment than i first thought.


And finally, um, nothing much, but you can also see Amidala tied to one of the pillars in the final shot.



[This message has been edited by ak (edited 11-11-2001).]

[trashing qbert]

less you see the better for you.
gimme more stupid looking alien like the long neck jedi master or the she-jabba the hutt, or any alien in episode one.
In episode 4-6 the alien don't look all like cartoon character or plain stupid, but man even dart maul look like a stupid wrestler with is make up.

And gimme more "heroic" battle scene against droid and other non interesting robots. Who care about robot character being destroyed???

poor Boba Fett, I wonder how they will screw up your character like they have screwed up c3p0 http://www.joblo.com/ubb/frown.gif

[Threatened]

I can't believe all the negativity surrounding this trailer. I.M.O. it's a pretty solid trailer - only thing that I found slightly disturbing was Hayden's acting in the shot where he's assuring Padme they'll find "the one who's trying to kill her" but that's all - really liked the rest of it and thought the CGI looked better then in EpI, very believable - especially dig that weird alien standing next to Anakin at the end.

As for the humor - what's wrong with you guys?! You're all talking like Star Wars 4, 5 and 6 were the most serious movies ever... There's always been humor in these films - and very often it has been used succesfully in very bad situations, like the meteorfield chase and hide in Empire, or the rescue of Leia in New Hope... Why change that??

I for one really liked Obi-Wan's line at the end of the trailer - reminded me of Han Solo and the sarcastic humor he often used when things got rough in the first three films... Besides, how can you even judge that line without knowing what happened before?? Obviously Obi-Wan has a reason to react like that - perhaps they got into that situation BECAUSE of Anakin - just a guess...

I think you guys should lighten up and stop worrying so much - EpI wasn't the best Star Wars movie ever, but it certainly had it's moments - I believe EpII WILL be so much better. I'm looking forward to seeing the next trailer, expecting to see some of the romantic aspects of the movie and how Anakin, being a Jedi, will deal with his love for Padme... It should bring forth some pretty dramatic situations.

-T.

[beastieben21]

Man oh man, its a trailer folks. We can't judge the film by the trailer (COUGHDUMBFOKKERCOUGH), if we all did that Episode 1 would be the greatest movie of all time. Remember EVERYONE saying "wow, that trailer looks so good, Episode 1 will be the best movie ever" and we all know how that turned out. Lets just give our opinions on the TRAILER and not the actual film, save that for May. I myself kinda like the twists that Lucas is throwing us. The first trailer was very eerie and had a sense of doom to it, and the new one shows us some lighter moments, as well as AT LAST, some humor that doesnt involve Jar Jar getting his tongue stuck in a pod racer. It makes me wonder what we are going to see in the final film, and unlike Episode 1, i can't tell you how its going to end w/ this trailer. It made me want to see it more, and I guess thats all that matters to me. So how about saving your feelings for the film, until you get the chance to see it.

[Narrator]

I think the first trsile was so awe inspiring and had such good signs that we cudnt help but be let down by the fact that we r reminded people do talk in this movie!

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

Im sorry, but I whole-heartedly disagree with your idea that someone cannot judge a movie from its trailer. A trailer gives you an early preview of the acting you can expect (which was bad) and the quality of the special-effects (which looks slighly above average in some scenes) and the quality of the dialouge (ok, so we have humour that doesnt involve Jar-Jar - now, can we have some good humour) and the tone of the film (which looks to be dark,.....because it is night-time). So, I would hardly say it is impossible to judge a film from its trailer. Oh, and the only reason people were so excited about The Phantom Menace trailer was because it was the first release of a Star Wars film in, like, 25 years. After TPM people know that Luca$ uses the trailers to his advantage by giving away the best parts, ad using John Williams incredible soundtrack. Im telling you, this will just be another sci-fi film. A good one, but regular old sci-fi, nonethless. It will not be an event, as Star Wars was.

[Eelco]

I'm convinced you can't judge an upcomming movie by only its trailer. I found for instance the trailer of Hannibal very good, but it turned out to be a piece of crap (according to me than). Also the trailers for The Mummy Returns and The Blair Witch Project looked cool, but these movies turned out to be awfull (again according to me).

[ak]

Trailers can work either way really. The Phantom Menace trailer was amazing, really making Episode I look like a bloody great film, yet, i don't know, it can work either way.
But, still, there is NO "definite" when it comes to trailers.

[Scorchlord]

You can get hints and snippets from a trailer, but that's about it. For instance, in the Ep. 1 trailer (which I loved, like most everyone else), I could tell that some of the acting was weak. Especially Queen Amidala, who was feature more than that little ratboy who can't act.

The trailers don't offer up the pacing of the movie, or the real storyline, or real dialogue. THat's how a great trailer can be misjudged into a great film.

I heard the same problems in this Ep. teaser trailer. The acting seemed weak, and the humor just didn't cut it for me. Does that mean the movie will suck? Probably not, but if it's anything like Episode I...