Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Timing: 2:22 (142 min)

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All about film

Video 9

Photo 311

Actors and characters

Release date

2002-05-15

Country

United States

Production

Lucasfilm Ltd.

Genre

Adventure, Action, Science Fiction

Budget

$120 000 000

Revenue

$649 398 328

Website

Director

George Lucas

Actors

Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz, Ian McDiarmid, Pernilla August, Temuera Morrison, Jimmy Smits
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Lorne Orleans, George Lucas

Operator

David Tattersall

Composer

John Williams

Artist

Jacinta Leong, Clive Memmott

Audition

Robin Gurland

Editing

Ben Burtt, Stephen Jones, Abdelaziz Ben Mlouka
All team (181)

• Hayden Christensen admitted that he really enjoyed playing in the bar scene, as the filming took place in a real bar, not among props or green screens necessary for composite shots.
• There's no need to look for a hidden meaning in the color of Mace Windu's lightsaber. Once, while chatting with stuntman and stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, Samuel L. Jackson asked George Lucas if he could make his lightsaber purple, as it was his favorite color. Lucas didn't object. In an interview with British television, Jackson said: "I decided it would be cool."
• Picking up a lightsaber during rehearsals, Hayden Christensen, like Ewan McGregor in *Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace* (1999), began to make sounds with his lips that he believed represented the sound of the weapon in action. George Lucas watched him for a bit, smiled, and said that the sound effects specialists would create more believable sounds during editing and post-production.
• Hayden Christensen was the only actor who didn't get to choose the design of his lightsaber, as his weapon had already appeared on screen in *Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope* (1977).
• During the staging and filming of scenes where Count Dooku fights with a lightsaber, a Yoda doll was used so that Christopher Lee always had a sense of where his opponent was. The doll was fitted with fangs, like a vampire, to which the actor remarked with a smile: "No, no comment. I didn't expect this from you, George." Yoda was given fangs as a reminder of Christopher Lee's role as Count Dracula in Terence Fisher's *Dracula* (1958) and in other horror films produced by Hammer Film Productions Limited.
• As a sort of compensation for the hostility Jar Jar Binks faced in *Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace* (1999), the working title for the next episode was *Jar Jar's Big Adventure*.
• The room housing the Jedi Order archives was modeled after the library of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
• The film’s budget was $115 million. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive installment in the franchise, a record that was only broken by the 2015 film "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" with a budget of $245 million.
• It will be easier for the viewer to understand who’s who if they remember a few nuances. Positive characters (for example, clones of the Republic army) always move across the screen from right to left, while separatist battle droids move from left to right. The sun shines behind the clones, while the sky above the separatists is darker. In addition, the contrails of launched missiles differ in color. Missiles of the Republic army leave a white trail, while missiles launched by the separatists leave a violet-black trail.
• The character Aayla Secura, played by Amy Allen, was not created by George Lucas. Secura first appeared in the 19th issue of the “Star Wars: Republic” comic book series (part one of “Star Wars: Twilight”) by Dark Horse Comics. Lucas liked the character so much that he decided to include her in the film.
• When the Toydarian Watto first appears on screen on the planet Tatooine, the buzzing of flies can be heard. This sound was once recorded near a pile of horse manure on George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch, and up until that point, sound engineers had been unable to find a scene to insert it into.
• It is claimed that George Lucas named one of the characters Django in memory of the main hero of Sergio Corbucci's spaghetti western "Django" (1966), who was also a bounty hunter and a loner with a difficult life.
• Considering that he was 78 years old at the time of filming, Christopher Lee allowed stunt doubles to perform many of the stunts, although he filmed most of the lightsaber duel scenes himself. However, even in these scenes, he was sometimes replaced by a stunt double whose face was digitally altered to resemble the actor's.
• Besalisk chef Dexter Jettster was formerly a mercenary and explorer. Together with Obi-Wan, they completed several missions.
• Visual effects supervisor Rob Coleman stated that the stormtrooper battle armor in the film is a product of computer technology and that employees of "Industrial Light & Magic" (a "Lucasfilm" division) used motion capture technology. The actors only wore helmets and sometimes shoes, while everything else was created using computer technology.
• Initially, it was believed that Hugh Quarshie would reprise his role as Captain Panaka, a character from "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" (1999). The actor refused the role when "Lucasfilm" did not allow him to read the full script, so Panaka was removed from the plot and replaced by Captain Tifore, played by Jay Laga'aia.
• George Lucas's daughter, Katie, appeared as one of the Twi'leks in a nightclub on Coruscant. While Obi-Wan and Anakin discuss the identity of Padmé Amidala's attacker, Amanda, Katie's older sister, appears in the background. Jett Lucas, the director's youngest child, appears in the Jedi Order archives as a young Jedi when Obi-Wan Kenobi talks to an archivist named Jocasta Nu.
• For security purposes, the boxes with film reels sent to cinemas were labeled “Billiard ball”.
• Film producer Rick McCallum recounted that in one episode, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala escape from enemies using a rope secured somewhere above, just like Luke and Leia did on the “Death Star” in “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” (1977). However, these scenes were cut during final editing.
• Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz, and Ian McDiarmid, who played C-3PO, R2-D2, Yoda, and Chancellor Palpatine respectively, were the only actors to reprise the same characters they played in the original “Star Wars” trilogy.
• Instead of bothering with a new costume for the C-3PO droid, the filmmakers ordered the one used in the original trilogy to be repainted and “aged”.
• Clone soldiers are mostly clad in white armor. Some command-level clones have color designations on their helmets and sleeves: green indicates a sergeant, blue a lieutenant, red a captain, and yellow a commander (Jedi hold the rank of general). Starship pilots wear armor different from the clones', and can be identified by the yellow insignia on their helmets.
• Initially, George Lucas wanted to show only the frame of C-3PO, played by Anthony Daniels, in the droid's first appearance in the film. However, the director later changed his mind.
• During filming, Boba Fett's starship, the 'Slave I', an 'FX' model, was on display at the Smithsonian Institution, so a computer-generated version of it was created for the film (albeit with different colored plating).
• The inhabitants of the planet Kamino more closely resemble 'traditional' aliens than representatives of any other alien race in the franchise. As George Lucas once stated, this was done as a tribute to his friend Steven Spielberg and his film 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977).
• The first film whose shooting process was documented for posterity. This practice was subsequently adopted by the creators of other films.
• The armor of the Republic clone troopers combines elements of Mandalorian armor worn by Jango Fett and later Boba Fett, with the armor of Imperial stormtroopers from Episodes 4, 5, and 6.
• The antennae on the head of the drug dealer in the sports bar on Coruscant were not part of the costume, but a product of computer technology. Commentary on the Blu-ray releases suggests the actor may not have even been aware of this element of his appearance during filming.
• To make the explosion of the combat starship believable, Industrial Light & Magic created a model, packed it with explosives, and detonated it on camera. Following this, the explosion and scattering debris of the starship were digitally processed, and the model starship in the shot was replaced with a digital copy.
• Nute Gunray, voiced by Silas Carson, and Shmi Skywalker, played by Pernilla August, were prominent characters in 'Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace' (1999), but their names had not been mentioned in dialogue prior to this film.
• The standard weaponry of the Republic clone troopers owes its appearance to the German MG-42 machine gun from World War II.
• The film was released a quarter of a century after the release of "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" (1977).
• The explosions in the final battle sequence were largely real, not computer-generated. Filming took place on the grounds of Industrial Light & Magic. Some computer-generated explosions were taken from the archives, originally created for the battle on the planet Naboo in "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" (1999).
• Padmé, played by Natalie Portman, was supposed to be several years older than Anakin, played by Hayden Christensen. In reality, Christensen is almost two months older than Portman, but their characters belong to different humanoid alien races with different aging rates.
• The film was shot on the same sets as Baz Luhrmann's musical film "Moulin Rouge!" (2001), in which Ewan McGregor also starred.
• While working on the film, sound designer Ben Burtt attempted to compile all sound effects from all films in the "Star Wars" franchise into a single database. By his most modest estimates, there should have been around 5000 of them. Burtt was very upset to learn that not all of the sound effects from the early films had been preserved in good quality.
• In the receding opening crawls of the films in the original trilogy, important plot elements (such as "THE DEATH STAR" or THE GALACTIC EMPIRE) are highlighted in capital letters only in even-numbered episodes. The same tradition is observed in this film when the opening crawl mentions THE REPUBLICAN ARMY. In the opening crawls of the first and third films of the prequel trilogy, nothing is highlighted in capital letters.
• Many of the busts by Richard Miller that can be seen in the Jedi Order archives depict members of the film crew, including George Lucas himself, animation director Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Pablo Helman, who oversaw the visual effects team, and Brian Gernand, who was responsible for creating computer models of objects and people.
• New high-resolution progressive scan cameras (running at 24 frames per second) developed by "Sony" and "Panavision Inc." were used during filming. The cameras worked flawlessly even in fifty-degree heat.
• In the Brazilian translation, the names of Count Dooku and Jedi Zeffo-Dias were changed to avoid indecent puns. Dooku became "Dukan," and Zeffo-Dias became "Zeffo-Vias." In all other Portuguese-speaking countries, the names of these characters remained unchanged.
• Australian actors Graham Blandell, Trisha Noble, and Claudia Karvan were chosen to play the roles of Padmé's parents and sister. Ahmed Best interviewed them for a documentary series about the making of the film. Blandell even appeared in one of the on-location episodes when filming took place in Italy. Ultimately, however, all scenes with their participation were cut from the film, including even scenes where Karvan’s daughters were played by Kira Wingate and Hayley Muir. Many of these can be seen in the "bonus materials" section on the DVD. The entire Nabberrie family (Padmé Amidala Nabberrie’s family) is shown at the very end of "Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith" (2005), and the actors’ names are listed in the credits.
• According to a report on the film's official website, one of the ideas the filmmakers considered but ultimately rejected was making a female Sith the main antagonist. This idea did not die completely and led to the creation of a new character named Asajj Ventress, who plays a prominent role in the comic, animated, and novel storylines of the Star Wars universe.
• The script featured a conversation between Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Jedi Order's Chief Librarian, Jocasta Nu. This episode was even filmed, but was cut from the film during editing. At one point in the conversation, Obi-Wan looks at a bust of Count Dooku.
• According to the film's visual dictionary, Jango Fett was adopted and raised by warriors of the Mandalorian army after the death of his parents.
• The Blu-ray commentary states that some initial script drafts were jokingly titled "Episode 2: Jar Jar's Big Adventure".
• Dexter Jettster's surname is a playful nickname for Jett, George Lucas's son. The character was inspired by the legendary Hollywood actor Ernest Borgnine (1917-2012), as well as the cook Mel from the television series "Alice" (1976-1985), played by Vic Tayback (1930-1990). Another reminder of this series is the droid waitress "WA-7", whose name tag features "Flo" written in one of the languages of the Star Wars universe.
• The only film in the *Star Wars* saga released in the same year as one of the *Star Trek* franchise films. This refers to Stuart Baird's *Star Trek: Nemesis* (2002).
• When selecting sound design for the episode at the droid factory, Ben Burtt experimented with percussion until George Lucas asked him to provide standard sound effects. Thus, a passage from John Williams' musical score for *Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back* (1980) appeared in the episode.
• There is Swedish blood running in the veins of the actors who play the Skywalkers. Pernilla August, who played Shmi, is of Swedish descent. Among the ancestors of Hayden Christensen and Mark Hamill, playing Anakin and Luke respectively, were also Swedes. Anakin's adoptive father bears the typically Swedish surname "Lars".
• The reaction of critics and audiences to *Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace* (1999) was mixed, and George Lucas was hesitant to start writing the screenplay for the next film. A draft screenplay for *Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones* was completed just three months before filming began. Work on the script continued after that, resulting in a second and then a third version. Lucas brought in Jonathan Hales to work on the third version, who had written scripts for several episodes of *The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles* (1992-1996), but had little experience working on scripts for feature films. The third and final version of the script was ready just a week before filming began.
• Initially, it was intended that Rune Haako would play the Neimoidian shown on the planet Geonosis with Nute Gunray. Unfortunately, Rune's mask was lost after filming of the first film was completed. Dolph Dofain's mask was worn by actor David Healy (without credit), who played the role. During filming, the newly-minted Neimoidian had no name (he was simply known as "Nute's buddy"), but was eventually given the name Gilramos Libkat – in honor of costume designer Gillian Libbert and technical director Kathryn Farr. Unfortunately, due to a regrettable oversight in the final credits, it was incorrectly stated that Alan Raskow played the role and the character's name was Lott Dod. LucasFilm stated that this was equivalent to Rune Haako, but many fans of the saga were disappointed, arguing that the character didn't resemble Rune in either manner or voice. In *Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith*, this character again differed in no way from the one viewers saw in the first episode.
• Aunt Beru's maiden name is Whitesun.
• Ten years have passed since the events depicted in the film "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" (1999). To reflect this, Ewan McGregor, the actor who played Obi-Wan, grew a beard and let his hair grow slightly longer for the next two films in the saga ("Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" in 2002 and "Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith" in 2005). Thus, his appearance differs somewhat from the Obi-Wan seen by viewers in the original trilogy (1977, 1980, 1983).
• The Clone Wars were first mentioned in the film "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" (1977). Fans of the saga had to wait 25 years for this topic to be explored in "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" (2002).
• One of the sculptures in Padmé's residence on Coruscant resembles the work of Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși (1876-1957). Resembling a tall, slender flame, the sculpture is located on a table near the balcony.
• Actor Christopher Lee once stated that "Dooku" (the name of his character) means "poison" in Japanese, which is an inaccurate claim. The Japanese word for poison is pronounced "doku".
• Terence Stamp declined an offer to reprise his role as Chancellor Finis Valorum.
• The rocket launcher with two large front wheels is an IG-227 'Fiery Hail' droid tank (also known as the 'wheeled droid'). Its design was largely inspired by the 'Tsar Tank', developed in Russia by engineer Nikolai Lebedenko in 1914-1915.
• As George Lucas recounted, the incident where Obi-Wan hid in the asteroid belt near the planet Geonosis helped Boba Fett when he grew up and became a bounty hunter. Remembering how Obi-Wan had once hidden from them with his father, Boba Fett understood where to look for Han Solo in 'Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back' (1980), and was correct.
• When Anakin engages in a brawl in the Tusken Raider camp, a quiet voice of Qui-Gon can be heard. This is not accidental. According to the canon of the 'Star Wars' saga, the ghost of Qui-Gon attempted to control Anakin's rage, but failed.
• The episode where Jango Fett hits his head on the airlock door while boarding the ship after a fight with Obi-Wan was intentionally inserted into the film. Viewers were reminded of an episode from 'Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope' (1977), where a stormtrooper hit his head on the doorframe in exactly the same way.
• Anakin is talking with Senator Padmé Amidala before heading to Tatooine to search for his mother. At one point, the camera operator shifts the lens from the talking characters to their shadows. Anakin's shadow resembles the shape of Darth Vader. According to commentary on the DVD, this happened completely by chance and was not the result of any special effects.
• According to the canon of the "Star Wars" saga, the people of the sands kidnap Shmi Skywalker on the orders (and for the money) of Count Dooku, who in turn carries out the will of his master, Darth Sidious, also known as Palpatine.
• The Senate voted to delegate extraordinary powers to the Supreme Chancellor to fight the Separatists. In exactly the same way, Adolf Hitler gained unlimited power in Germany in the mid-1930s.
• DVD commentary states that the fight between Jango Fett and Obi-Wan was intentionally made different from other fights in the saga. The emphasis here was on the physical strength of the antagonists and hand-to-hand combat.
• The duel between Yoda and Count Dooku was originally planned to be different than shown in the film, with Yoda entering the fight immediately upon arrival. However, the film crew had doubts. It was decided that Yoda, and especially the audience, needed time to experience the immaterial clash of Good versus Evil. Thus, blue lightning and falling rocks appeared in the film—all demonstrating Yoda's power. The direct clash of lightsabers became the culmination of the scene. Shots showing Count Dooku using Anakin's or Obi-Wan's lightsaber in the fight were not included in the final version of the film.
• The film's main villain, Count Dooku, played by Christopher Lee, is mentioned even in the opening credits, but only appears in the film at the 76th minute.
• In a sports bar on the planet Coruscant, where Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin (Hayden Christensen) are searching for Zam Wessel (played by Leeanna Walsman), the failed assassin of Padmé Amidala after the attempt on her life, actors from the 'Star Wars' saga films are present in the crowd. These include Ahmed Best, the voice of Jar Jar Binks, Anthony Daniels, who plays C-3PO, R2-D2 puppeteer Don Bies, as well as employees from his unit responsible for the operation of droids, Zeinap Selcuk, Justin Dix, and Trevor Tai.
• During the chase scene on Coruscant, when the Jedi are pursuing Zam Wessel, a T-65 X-wing starfighter can be spotted in the lower left corner of the screen, being chased by three 'SIDs' (SIDka – a colloquial term for a SID-fighter with Twin Ion Engines).
• The final scene of the film, in which Padmé and Anakin are on the planet Naboo looking at the lake in the company of droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, mirrors the final scene of 'Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back' (1980), where Luke and Leia, along with the same droids, look out into open space from the porthole of a spaceship.
• After filming 'Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones', Ewan McGregor starred in Ridley Scott's war drama 'Black Hawk Down' (2001), which required him to be clean-shaven and wear a short buzz cut. During the editing and color correction period for the 'Star Wars' franchise film, some scenes with Obi-Wan needed to be reshot. As the actor did not have time to regrow his hair and beard, he had to wear a wig and a false beard. The episodes where McGregor wears a wig and a false beard are easily distinguishable. These are the scenes of Obi-Wan's conversation with Anakin in the elevator, the conversation between them in the nightclub on Coruscant, the conversation between Obi-Wan, Mace, and Yoda in the Jedi Temple, and Obi-Wan's interrogation by Count Dooku.
• "Death sticks," which Obi-Wan was offered in a nightclub, are a forbidden narcotic whose name is similar to a slang term for cigarettes. As George Lucas explained, the drug's effect on the body is similar to that of nicotine: it shortens life, and the further it goes, the more, with each new dose increasing dependence. The director inserted the character of a drug dealer into the plot due to his strongly negative attitude towards smoking.
• According to special effects artist John Knoll, one of the large, cow-like animals (grazing in the field where Anakin and Padmé rested) can be seen in the asteroid belt that Obi-Wan flew through. One asteroid clearly shows "legs."
• This is the first film in the saga where Yoda fights with a lightsaber. It was not possible to convincingly depict a sword fight with a puppet that had been used in previous elements of the franchise.
• In the film *Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope* (1977), a "T-16 Skyhopper," Luke's vehicle, is in the Lars family hangar. In this film, a similar vehicle can be seen in its place, but smaller. A garage in this film reveals an antigravity vehicle that Luke also used to use.
• Anakin's lightsaber was created based on the image of Darth Vader's sword, as shown in the film *Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope* (1977). Count Dooku's lightsaber resembles a rapier with a slightly curved hilt, while Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber is an exact copy of the one he lost at the end of *Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace* (1999).
• Each film in the franchise ends with a silent mise-en-scène. Here too, the film's characters look at each other, and then at the lake.
• An archivist of the Jedi Order tells Obi-Wan Kenobi: "If something isn't in our archives, then it simply doesn't exist." This is a slightly altered slogan from the "yellow pages" of Pacific Bell.
• Senator Amidala's weapon on the arena emits a characteristic sound of a .44 Magnum when fired. The same sound was accidentally left in the frame in the special edition of "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" (1977), where Princess Leia is shooting.
• Dog-like creatures fighting over a bone in the Tusken Raider camp on Tatooine were originally planned to be shown on Geonosis, where Obi-Wan Kenobi stumbles upon their pack. This scene was cut during editing, and the animals, to avoid waste, were decided to be used in the episode on Tatooine.
• Sebulba, a recognized favorite in the podrace in "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" (1999), appears in this film in the Coruscant race episode, and then in Dexter Jettster's besalisk diner. The last scene involved two representatives of the Dug race, to which Sebulba belongs. One of them was named Sebo, and he was a taxi driver, with Rednax sitting with him at the table.
• The episode in which Obi-Wan Kenobi meets Mace Windu and Yoda was initially filmed with Windu sitting at a table. The scene was generally considered to be very much in the style of a "film noir". However, the episode was eventually reshot as it did not fit the overall tone and atmosphere of the other films in the saga.
• Almost 90% of the musical accompaniment to the final battle is taken from music written by John Williams for the film *Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace* (1999) – presumably because, like the episode on the droid factory, the Clone Battle episode was inserted into the film at the very last moment.
• Originally, Ralph McQuarrie conceived and created a huge creature emerging from the ocean waves on the planet Kamino for the film *Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back* (1980), where it would have been shown on the gas giant Bespin. Later, the saga’s creators considered using it in the episode with the monstrous Sarlacc in the film *Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope* (1977), and then – as a means of transport for the Gungans in the film *Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace* (1999).
• During previsualization (a technique of modeling a scene before actual filming begins) of the Coruscant chase episode, an old speeder belonging to Luke Skywalker from the film *Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope* (1977) was taken out of storage. It depicted an open-top speeder in which Anakin and Obi-Wan were speeding. George Lucas’s Ferrari was used as the speeder of the would-be assassin.
• The episode on the droid factory was not present in the initial script. According to the plot, Anakin and Padmé were captured immediately upon their arrival on Geonosis. George Lucas wrote the episode on the droid factory later and filmed it in March 2001.
• The forbidden love of Anakin and Padmé largely mirrors the forbidden love between Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere from the legends of King Arthur. The Jedi Knight Anakin falls in love with Padmé, the former queen of Naboo, while Jedi are not supposed to love. In the legends of King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, one of the Knights of the Round Table, falls in love with his wife, which is also against the rules.
• In Troy Denning's novel "Ghost of Tatooine" (2003), it is stated that the massacre that Anakin staged in the camp of the sand people became a legend. This legend is told in a dance performed to the sound of a lightsaber.
• The first film (chronologically) where Obi-Wan Kenobi cuts off an opponent's hand with a weapon. The patrons of the bar fall silent for a moment when this happens, and then return to their usual activities. The next similar instance will occur shortly before Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker meet Han Solo in "Star Wars: Episode 4 – A New Hope" (1977).
• Discussing with producer Rick McCallum and visual effects supervisor Rob Coleman Yoda's movements during a lightsaber duel with Count Dooku, George Lucas stated that he should move in jumps "like an illegitimate child of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy" (characters from "The Muppet Show").
• The design of the yellow speeder in which Anakin and Obi-Wan chase the would-be assassin on the planet Coruscant strongly resembles the design of the yellow Ford coupe from George Lucas's film "American Graffiti" (1973).
• During an episode in the dining hall at the Lars’ residence, Owen Lars asks Anakin: “Where are you going?” as he gets up from the table. The film *Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope* (1977) features a similar episode where Luke Skywalker gets up from the table and leaves, with Aunt Beru asking the question.
• As Natalie Portman herself explained in commentary on the Blu-ray releases, her character intended to leave politics at the end of her term. Padmé Amidala became a senator only at the insistence of the new Queen of Naboo.
• For the film, the garage on the planet Tatooine, where Luke Skywalker cleaned droids in *Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope* (1977), was recreated, though not entirely. The front part of the premises was recreated for the film *Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones* (2002), while the back part was reproduced using computer technology.
• To achieve believable damage to the Trade Federation starship that was shot down, two computer models of it were created. One model was painted normally, and damage was depicted on the other using paint. Both models were used, both performed the same movement, and animation specialists gradually replaced the “intact” model with the “damaged” one, concealing the substitution with computer fire and explosions.
• The “Wilhelm scream” sound effect can be heard at the beginning of the film during the explosion of Padmé Amidala’s starship.
• There's no need to look for a hidden meaning in the color of Mace Windu's lightsaber. After talking with stuntman and stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, Samuel L. Jackson asked George Lucas if he could make his lightsaber purple, as it was his favorite color. Lucas didn't object. In an interview with British television, Jackson said, "I thought it would be cool."
• While holding a lightsaber during rehearsals, Hayden Christensen, like Ewan McGregor in "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" (1999), began to make sounds with his lips that he thought represented the sound of the weapon in action. George Lucas watched him for a while, smiled, and said that the sound effects specialists would create more realistic sounds during post-production.
• Hayden Christensen was the only actor who didn't get to choose the design of his lightsaber, as his weapon had already appeared on screen in "Star Wars: Episode 4 – A New Hope" (1977).
• During the staging and filming of the scenes where Count Dooku fights with a lightsaber, a Yoda doll was used so that Christopher Lee always had an idea of where his opponent was. The doll was fitted with vampire-like fangs, to which the actor wryly remarked, "No comment. I didn't expect that from you, George." The fangs were attached to Yoda as a reminder to Christopher Lee of his role as Count Dracula in Terence Fisher's "Dracula" (1958) and in other horror films produced by Hammer Film Productions Limited.
• As a kind of compensation for the hostility that Jar Jar Binks encountered in the film "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" (1999), the working title for the next episode was "Jar Jar's Big Adventure".
• The film lasts 142 minutes, making it the longest film in the Star Wars saga.
• Actors Ryan Phillippe, Paul Walker, Colin Hanks, and Jonathan Brandis auditioned for the role of Anakin. Hayden Christensen was ultimately chosen because he and Natalie Portman "looked good together".
• The only film in the Star Wars franchise in which the camera moves upward after the opening crawl. In all other films, the camera moves downward after the opening crawl.
• The only film in the franchise that did not become the highest-grossing film in the US in its year of release. "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" (2002) was the third highest-grossing film after "Spider-Man" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers".
• This is the first film in the Star Wars saga in which Yoda, voiced by actor Frank Oz, is 100 percent a product of computer technology. During the preparation for filming Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), an attempt was made to create a “computer-generated” Yoda, but it was unsuccessful. Three years later, special effects master Rob Coleman and his team presented George Lucas with a short film in which the “computer-generated” Yoda tells Luke Skywalker about the nature of the Force. After watching it, Lucas decided that computer technology had reached a level where a “computer-generated” Yoda would look believable on screen.
• The film's budget was $115 million. At the time of its release, this was the most expensive installment in the franchise, a record that was only broken by the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with a budget of $245 million.
• The character of Aayla Secura, played by Amy Allen, was not created by George Lucas. Secura first appeared in issue #19 of the Star Wars: Republic comic book series (part one of Star Wars: Twilight) by Dark Horse Comics. Lucas liked the character so much that he decided to include her in the film.
• When the Toydarian Watto first appears on Tatooine, the buzzing of flies can be heard. This sound was once recorded near a pile of horse manure on George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch, and up until that point, sound engineers had been unable to find a scene where it could be used.
• It is claimed that George Lucas named one of the characters Jango in memory of the main character from Sergio Corbucci’s spaghetti western Django (1966), who was also a bounty hunter and a loner with a difficult life.
• Visual effects supervisor Rob Coleman stated that the stormtroopers' battle armor in the film is a product of computer technology, and that employees of "Industrial Light & Magic" (a division of "Lucasfilm") used motion capture technology. The actors wore only helmets and sometimes shoes, while everything else was created using computer technology.
• Initially, it was believed that Hugh Quarshie would reprise his role as Captain Panaka, a character from "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" (1999). The actor turned down the role when "Lucasfilm" refused to let him read the full script, so Panaka was removed from the plot and replaced by Captain Typho, played by Jay Laga'aia.
• For security purposes, the film reels sent to theaters were labeled "Billiard Ball."
• Film producer Rick McCallum recounted that in one episode, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala escape from enemies using a rope secured somewhere above, as Luke and Leia did on the "Death Star" in "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" (1977). However, these shots were cut during final editing.
• Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz, and Ian McDiarmid, who played C-3PO, R2-D2, Yoda, and Chancellor Palpatine respectively, were the only actors to play the same characters as they did in the original "Star Wars" trilogy.
• Instead of bothering with a new costume for the droid C-3PO, the filmmakers ordered that the one used in the original trilogy be repainted and 'aged'.
• At the time of filming, Boba Fett's starship 'Slave I' (FX model) was on display at the Smithsonian Institution, so a computer-generated version was created for the film (albeit with different colored paneling).
• The inhabitants of the planet Kamino more closely resemble 'traditional' aliens than representatives of any other alien race in the franchise. As George Lucas once stated, this was done as a tribute to his friend Steven Spielberg and his film 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977).