Hey folks, Harry here... This is the best look at the footage shown at ShoWest the other day. John Hammond, being a bit of a showman himself, knows the value of paying a keen bit of attention to the workings of the film... specifically one as potentially popular as the next chapter in the Star Wars saga. I have to say, this stuff sounds cool, though the Yoda thing sounds a bit weird. BEWARE OF SPOILERS, there are a few below. And enjoy....
Harry,
I was there at Les Theatre Des Arts in Las Vegas to see the McCallum speech and witness the incredible Episode II footage and trailer. I love Lucasfilm. They made a big announcement that there would be no cell phones or photographic equipment of any kind allowed. I felt pretty special.
First off, I agree with the others. The footage looked fantastic - definitely more moody and atmospheric than the first episode. As McCallum himself put it: "Every one of you [theatres] that gets this movie is going to make a SHITLOAD of money."
The ten minutes of footage they showed was amazing; it was meant to show off the digital technology and it worked well. Some random bits of juicy gooey joy:
Three Sandcrawlers at dusk looking gorgeous and immense,
a great shot of Obi-Wan checking out the massive workforce of clone boys,
the whole style of Coruscant's underworld (think Gotham City from Batman Forever but done just right - holograms, neon, weird symbols and dark lighting - YUM!),
a COOL scene that looked like it was out of one of the Super NES Star Wars video games with Ani and Ami dodging massive stamping machines on a conveyor belt while Ani slashes away at bad flying reptiles with his lightsabre
And there were TONS of beautiful shots of Coruscant and the water city (Geonesis??) and the torturous waves hitting it.
The footage was immense. Great. Splendiferous. Neato.
And McCallum showed off how digital images could be blown up to 300%. Yawn. (Except for Ami in the dominatrix outfit. That was A-OK)
The big thing was the trailer. God, I loved it. It made me sit up and yell, "You go, Lucas! You remembered to add the fun and thrills this time!!!"
Here are my favorite SPOLIER-STREWN bits (and if you don't believe that I saw it, watch it yourself on the 10th and see):
Palpatine throwing his arm around Ani and saying, "I see you becoming the greatest of them all."
The revelation that Obi-Wan hates to fly!
He and Ani are in a craft chasing an enemy through the Fifth Element-looking Coruscant skies, dodging other craft. Ani says, "Sorry, Master. I know you hate to fly." Then Ani just stops the craft. Obi-Wan says, "Great, you've lost them." Ani gets up and says, "I'll be right back." He then jumps over the edge of the craft, free-falling downward. Obi-Wan leans over and says, "I hate when he does that."
Later, while being chased by Slave I, Obi-Wan states, "This is why I hate to fly."
There were tons of other little things. Yoda floating down a hallway and later arnessing blue lightning in his right hand (which lloked a little cheesy).
Some random Yoda lines from the trailer"
"The dark side clouds everything." and "Begun these Clone Wars have."
My head is still buzzing. McCallum says there are 500 effects shots left to finish before May 16th. I for one can't wait.
Later!
John Hammond
