I’m soooo stoked as well :D.
I won’t be going on midnight, but I will be going on the 19th :). I wasn’t one of those fanboys that hated the two prequals so far (I didn’t think they were that bad, and actually liked AotC). I’m incredibly excited :). I just graduated from law school today, so it’s kind of like my graduation present from George Lucas :D.
Don’t get your hopes up. Boba’s MIA in Ep.3. Sorry.
Not me. The last two were such turkeys that I really don’t care all that much. I’ll see it eventually, but don’t really expect it to be all that good.
Daa DAH!
Daa daa da DAHHH da.
Daa daa da DAHHH da.
Daa daa da dummmm.
Thanks for posting that. I didn’t want to be the one to break the bad news to him. 
I do believe I may go and see it in the theater, as soon as the costume-wearing contingent dies down a bit.
I was so un-enthralled by The Phantom Menace that I never saw the next one, and I don’t believe I will. Therefore, could someone please sum up the plot of Attack Of The Clones in a spoiler of a couple of sentences?
I don’t know why, but I am so excited to see this movie. The original movies came out about twelve years before I was born, yet I watched them and I loved them. I’m not a full-out Star Wars geek, but I do enjoy them for the originality and because they had such an impact on all films after them. I am not watching this movie because of Hayden Christensen, despite what some may think because of my age. “Phantom Menace” was very blah for me and “Attack of the Clones” was more meh. But, this! This looks so awe-kickass-some.
Darth Maul is replaced by Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) as the Sith apprentice. He lops off Anakin’s arm before getting away to cause more mischief.
Dooku, you see, is also the frontman for a confederacy of separatists–groups/planets that want to set themselves apart from the Republic.
When the Jedi confront Dooku & co., they almost get their asses kicked, until Yoda comes to the rescue with an army of clones that Palpatine anoints as the Republic’s means of battling the separatists (whose army is a variety of battle droids).
The exact reason for the existence of this army, however, remains murky–supposedly ordered by a now-dead Jedi, Yoda & co. don’t seem to question the intentions for this army as much as take advantage of its availability in a time of crisis.
Oh, and Anakin and Padme fall in wuv and secretly get married, though not before Anakin slaughters some Tusken Raiders who killed his mother.
That’s about it, really.
I’m avoiding spoilers hoping it will make the movie (even) better.
Other than the released trailers, ads, opening crawl, and a very minimum that I’ve read, I’m going in relatively spoiler free.
I probably won’t see until Memorial day weekend. Every year some friends and I gather to play games (war games, Settlers of Catan type games, Unreal Tournament 2004, etc), we usually see a movie too, this year the designated movie is Episode 3 (tho some people will see it before the gathering, some of us won’t have the opportunity)
brian
Also, Anakin reveals that he doesn’t like sand.
ArchiveGuy did pretty well … here’s a bit more.
The Senate is divided between the Loyalists (who like things the way they are–Padme, Bail Organa, and some other people) and the Separatists (the Trade Federation and their ilk). Someone is trying to kill Padme. Obi-Wan and Anakin are appointed her bodyguards. Eventually, Anakin takes Padme to go hide out on Naboo, and Obi-Wan goes in search of the bounty hunter who was carrying out the job. He ends up on the planet Camino (which has been erased from all the records in the Jedi library), and finds that the Caminans (?) have been working away for ten years, filling an order for a clone army placed by a Jedi Master who may have been dead before the order was even placed. I’m kinda fuzzy on that. Anyhoo, the clones are being grown from aforementioned bounty hunter, Jango Fett, whose only request aside from his pay was that he get an unaltered clone to keep as his son, named, naturally, Boba.
Back on Coruscant, Palpatine is voted “emergency powers”, and uses them to create an Army of the Republic, which Obi-Wan just conveniently found.
Over on Naboo, Anakin is trying to get into Padme’s pants, she’s ineffectively shooting him down, and he’s somewhat bothered by dreams he keeps having about his mother. He and Padme go to Tatooine, find that Shmi was sold, then freed, and married to the guy who bought her. Upon finding his farm (which, naturally, looks quite familiar), Anakin is told by his stepfather (and stepbrother Owen) that Shmi was kidnapped by the Sand People, and has been gone over a month. Anakin goes to find her, and she dies on him before he can get her out. He then proceeds to slaughter every Tusken Raider in sight, men, women, and children. (Unfortunately, we didn’t actually get to see that.)
Meanwhile, Obi Wan has followed Jango Fett to Geonosis, where he finds droid factories making battle droids, and discovers that the Separatists are being led by a guy named Dooku/Darth Tyrannus. He gets caught, they do the “Join me and we’ll rule the galaxy”/“I’ll never join you” stuff. Anakin and Padme arrive to rescue Obi-Wan, get caught themselves, and everybody’s sentenced to death.
During the Roman Coliseumesque execution, Jedi Master Shaft comes in and tells Count Dooku that “This party’s over.” (That line cracks me up every damn time.) Then a mess o’ Jedi in disguise take on a boatload of battle droids. Windu kills Jango, Boba holds the bucket helmet and mourns. The Jedi are pretty much surrounded and beaten … till Yoda shows up with all the clones in the frickin’ galaxy. The clones, incidentally, wear armor that’s about three millimeters off from a stormtrooper outfit.
Clones kick Droid ass. Anakin and Obi-Wan go after Dooku, the fight, Obi-Wan gets singed in a couple places, Anakin loses his right arm. Then Yoda shows up. This is where we discover exactly why he’s later referred to as a “great warrior.” Tiny green can of whoop-ass. See the movie if only for this scene.
Dooku gets away, Anakin and Padme get married in secret, and as you see Chancellor Palpatine and the Loyalists survey about half a million clone troops preparing for battle … you slowly realize that the same guy is in charge of both sides of this war.
The end.
…and in Ep. II Kenobi again displays why he is such a hassle for any club bouncer in the galaxy. I mean, c’mon Ben, I know it’s all Jedi business (blah, blah, blah)…but can’t we all have one night out which doesn’t end with you slicing someone up? You’re a buzz kill, dude, a total buzz kill.
Given the positive reviews, I’m quite excited. I’ll be at the chinese theater in LA for the may 17th premiere 
I’ll see you there!
Not to mention, we get to see why the two worst lines in the series were included in Episode II:
“The thought of not being with you, I can’t breathe.”
“I don’t like sand. Its rough and course, and it gets everywhere.”
Too psyched for words over here.
I’m so psyched I can hardly sit still!!!
Trying not to read too many spoilers but oh the temptation of the dark side is so great…
Da da dum da da-dum da da-dummm…
P.S. I’m too old for this but Anakin is a hotty-o-saurus!
I have tickets for the noon Thursday showing at (of course) The Uptown. In preparation, I’m in the process of watching all five of the other movies, in order of release. I may watch Episode VI when I get home tonight, but it might have to wait until tomorrow. I watched Episodes IV and V last night and this morning.
I didn’t let myself get “psyched” until I read A.O. Scott’s glowing review. He and Ebert are my two favorite critics, and they both loved it. And keep in mind, given the overhype the first two films went through, you’d think it’d be fashionable now for critics to trash the thing. But they’re not. So I think this isn’t just a case of the critics wanting so badly for it to be good that it alters their perception. I think they genuinely like it… except for Peter Travers, for some reason.
I actually let the end credits of Empire Strikes Back play all the way through when I was watching it… man, does that end theme give me chills.
Trunk and Draelin:
I hear you don’t actually see the slaughter of the children, but it’s in the film. I guess you see Anakin going toward them, lightsaber blazing, and the next thing you see is Yoda sorting through the charred corpses. But, yes, children are killed in this movie.
The negative review from the Times is as much a part of Star Wars tradition as a Thursday premier, so imagine my surprise when I read A. O. Scott’s review. (reg. req.)
I’m mildly excited, but I’m reserving judgment until I actually see it on Thursday. I thought Ep I was mostly crap and Ep II was slightly crap, but so far Ep III has gotten much better ratings on rottentomatoes.com. Also I saw a segment on Ebert and Roeper’s show, and they both liked it.
It is definitely not shown on screen. But then again, would Lucas (or anyone for that matter) have been able to get away with actually showing children being slaughtered? That seems like it would warrant an R rating.
Draelin, well done, but you forgot to mention that Count Dooku is a former Jedi Master who left the Order shortly after the events of TPM. We learn that he was Qui-Gon Jinn’s Master, and that he claims the reason he left was Jinn’s death. He tells Obi-Wan that he would have liked Jinn’s help, and of course, Obi gets pissed at the idea that his beloved Master would have ever have gotten involved with the Separatists.
Mmmmm…I loves me some Obi-Ewan.