Ewan McGregor, the guy who plays Obi-Wan, hates the title.
And even though I wasn’t alive back in 1977, I can assure you “A New Hope” title did not appear on “Star Wars” until the reissue around the time “Empire” was released.
Ewen Macgregor regrets taking the role, from what I’ve heard: not unlike Alec Guiness.
After the crap constituting the Phantom Menace, I won’t be seeing it; and the stupid title assures me I’ve made the right decision.
If a bad title is going to turn people away (as it so appears) then boy did he ever make a big booboo.
By the way Number Six, the new movie won’t be promoted as “Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones”. The merchandising will only have Star Wars on it, and the Episode II part is not going to be any official subtitle, (except in geeky continuity circles).
What I mean is, Episode I was used to reinforce in people’s minds that they were going back to the beginning of the saga, not continuing where it was left off. Now they don’t need to do that, so they aren’t going to.
I disagree. ROTJ flows better. “Attack of the Clones” has two resonances of a sharp, sudden-sounding (i.e.-“K” sound) in the title. It sounds and feels clunky. Additionally, the way it’s spaced, with the word “Clones” at the end of the title, follows the traditional 50s B-Movie format: “Attack of the [Insert Scary Monster Name Here]”.
Also, the word “Attack” drums up images of, 1. Killer tomatoes (not a joke… this actually will turn people off to the movie), and 2. makes the whole thing seem primitive and unrefined. For example… brutish neanderthals “attack”… a superior, experienced military organization “strikes”. Word usage is important in cases like this.
Finally, it doesn’t mesh with the other ones because, well… the title shouldn’t be a basic description of the movie’s primary plot. “What’s Attack of the Clones about?” “Oh, an attack of the clones.” The other titles are much more vague in this respect, hinting at a tad of mystique in the movie.
I can not say “Attack of the Clones” unless I concentrate, it keeps coming out as “Attack of the Clowns”
The official title may have always included the words Star Wars; I never said anything to dispute that. But, as you said, it was never used until the boxed set was released. TESB and ROTJ were advertised, promoted, and are known by those names; in a practical sense, Star Wars wasn’t a meaningful part of the name. But the fourth movie was promoted heavily by the full official title, and is just as often referred to as Episode One. It’s as if they’re saying, “People won’t know this is a Star Wars movie unless we put those words in the title,” which is condescending.
Guanolad: That’s good to hear, but I still think that having Star Wars as part of the title is unnecessary, as was having Episode 1 in the title of the fourth movie. Those interested in seeing these movies are going to know they are Star Wars movies without those words being part of the title; if they don’t, the promotions guys at LucasFilm would have to be the most incompetent idiots in the industry.
Quite frankly, Mr. Lucas always intended his movies to follow the B-Movie/Saturday Afternoon Serial type of film. The fact that the film title sounds like it is one only means he accomplished his goal.
As Mahaloth said, the other titles of the Star Wars films (even the “Star Wars” part) are also pretty silly. The only difference is that the phrases have been engrained in our culture’s mind to mean more than just the words. For example, The Empire Strikes Back, nobody thinks about what the title means; but hearing the title conjures up the overall plot and the intense feeling that the movie brought. The Phantom Menace title is slowly beginning to have the same effect.
My only complain about Attack of the Clones, is that it doesn’t flow off the tongue easily (as SPOOFE pointed out), but one reason I think Lucas chose it was because none of the fans had thought of it.
And I wish everyone would stop with the “Clone” jokes. They were old five minutes after the title was released.
Hear Ewan McGregor laugh in disbelief with Nicole Kidman after first being told the title here: http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=9793
I’ve been emailing that soundclip to many a friend.
When I go see the movie, I’ll say to the cashier: “Star Wars, please.” He or she will know which movie I mean.
Uh-huh. And which of these fine franchises thought up Jar Jar?
Star Wars II: ET, Clone Home.
I suppose part 3 will be called The Dark Side Triumphant or something like that, 'cause it’s supposed to be in Part 3 where Annakin becomes Darth Vader.
As for how the second and third films were promoted, I clearly remember the logo for TESB had the title framed in yellow and the word “Star” in the upper left corner of the frame and “Wars” in the lower right corner. I think ROTJ was done the same way. (Click here and look at the photo of Luke on the right; note how the photo is framed; the frame is identical to the one sued for the movie logos. BTW: This site is an April Fool’s gag of what a SW site might have looked like had the WWW been around in 1979. Notice the mention of Parts VII, VIII and IX. Notice the “fan” asking why SW has not yet been released on Betamax!)
BTW: Do you realize that the whole saga has now become The Darth Vader Story?
Very good. I might use that.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The next installment of George Lucas’ science-fiction saga will be called “Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones.” *
I have this mental image now of Anakin and Obi Wan fighting Dolly the Sheep…
I can’t believe no one thought of the obvious!
When Clones Attack
starring, none other than:
George Clone-y himself!
Seriously tho, I think in 3 years, provided that the name doesn’t change, we’ll appreciate ‘Attack of the Clones’ as much as ‘The Phantom Menace.’ Of course never as much as the other three.
Also, if you look at a lot of the books written for Star Wars, the titles are rather dull, insipid or bland. I like (and met) Michael Stackpole, but the title I, Jedi just isn’t all that great. I can’t remember all the other titles, but I’m pretty sure all the ‘Jedi Academy’ titles were bad. Not to mention the comic books…sheesh…
A Few Good Clones
To Clone a Few
The Good, The Bad, and the Cloned
You’ve Got Clones!
The Clones not to be confused with the 1974 original