Attack Of The Clones (Episode II) - Standing Strong
Attack of the Clones is set 10 years after the story of Episode I where they showed the galactic empire on the brink of a civil war. It was released on 16th May 2002, and was the first film to be released in the HDD 24-frame format. The film picked up nearly 650 million dollars worldwide, but failed to latch on to the Star Wars reputation of turning out to be a gripping film. The other films released alongside were great competitors including Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Spiderman and a few others. Many critics believed that this missing part of the Star Wars series was underplayed in the box office mainly due to its lack of newness beside the other much-awaited films that year.
Attack of the clones had started its promos a good two months in advance after the teaser trailer was used as a glimpse for the curious fans in early 2002. Since March second week that year, the film had begun being promoted through Fox Television, as advertisements between popular programs such as Malcolm in the Middle and X-Files. Before release of the film in May, a discouraging stride at the Cannes Film Festival (2002) did not deter critics from promoting high hopes about the film's performance in general. The predictions about the film's release included more than 300 million dollars loss in American productivity owing to fans crowding the movie halls by taking a day-off from work.
Attack of the Clones was filmed to be one of the most thrilling movie-hall experiences of contemporary times, but many movie halls like the IMAX was not yet ready to support the upgraded version of the film, which was done without the foresight of showing the film in IMAX theaters. If that did not pose an appreciable threat to the film's success, what had been happening without the director's knowledge was piracy! Attack of the Clones was release after capturing the film using a handy cam in a private screening of the film a few years before its public release.
The piracy problem reported to have caused a damage pertaining to more than 1 million fans having seen the film before its release. A Western Australian group from Perth is known to have claimed responsibility for the pirated edition of the film. Many thousand copies of the version were seized at the Kuala Lumpur airport after Lucasfilms Ltd. was reported of the theft and security authority bodies managed to take action. The events gushed through the film corporation's hearts as the day of the film's release was nearing more and more.
Attack of the Clones was a film that had taken its beating quite early on since its infancy, finally managing to hold strong amongst various kinds of mishaps and half-hearted reception amongst many fans of the Star Wars. Although it did not appear to be a favorite for any Star Wars fan, certain aspects of the movie won unanimous admiration from critics and fans. The animations, sequencing, special effects and suspense were areas of major satisfaction and pure home entertainment for both, the fans and the filmmakers.