Attack Of The Clones And Revenge Of The Sith
Yoda Throws Down Against Count Dooku, "Attack Of The Clones"
Yoda: Much to learn you still have.
Dooku: It is obvious this contest cannot be decided by our knowledge of the Force, but by our skills with a light saber.
Travis: No one was more against Yoda wielding a light saber than I was. While the prequels were being made, I was a sucker for a juicy bit of spoiler material, but when I heard that Yoda may be fighting with a light saber I was worried. It sounded like the kind of thing that could derail the whole prequel trilogy. I could not have been more wrong.
After Count Dooku whipped Obi-Wan and Anakin we saw that diminutive shadow creep across the floor and Yoda emerge like an old man waiting for a bus. I grimaced waiting for it to all go wrong, but when I saw him move back his cloak and Force-pull his light saber off his belt, I was an instant fan. Yoda got mad style points before the fight even started. He soon became a tiny blur of glowing green death and the crowd erupted in applause. Not only did it work better than I ever expected, it completely energized the character of Yoda for the third movie. There are some scenes in "Revenge of the Sith" after the call to execute Order 66 goes out where Yoda delivers some righteous beat-downs to the attacking clones, and for those to be believable Yoda's skill with a light saber must be set up in its own right in an earlier movie. At the end of "Attack of the Clones," he goes from gentle Force sage to a howling, cart wheeling engine of destruction, and I went from jaded skeptic to applauding cheerleader.
Yoda breaking out a light saber to fight Count Dooku was the crowd-pleasing moment of "Attack of the Clones."
View Star Wars Slide Show (23 images)
Anakin And Padme Gaze Across The Sky, "Revenge Of The Sith"
Palpatine (voiceover): You do know, don't you? If the Jedi destroy me, any chance of saving her will be lost.
Travis: This one may come as a surprise, but it really stuck with me the first time I saw the film. Anakin has been sent to the Jedi council chamber to wait for further instruction after telling Mace Windu that Palpatine is the Sith lord that they've been looking for all this time. The scene cuts back and forth between Anakin and Padme with these slow zooms across the cityscape giving the impression that they are looking at each other and almost communicating despite the distance that separates them. What makes the scene stand out to me is how quiet and un-"Star Wars" it is. The music is this creepy mix of ethereal tones and voice that has none of the loud brass that typically punctuates "Star Wars" music, and the only dialogue is the line from Palpatine spoken in voiceover. These movies have far too many moments where awkward dialogue is shoved into the mouths of actors and to see it all pulled back for an important character moment like this shows incredible restraint. This is the moment where Anakin decides to defy the Jedi council choosing Padme over his life as a Jedi knight, and all the conflict is completely underplayed. He's all but decided to become Palpatine's Sith apprentice, and yet knows it's wrong. You can almost hear the conversation between the two of them where she begs him not to go but he tells her he has no choice. It's a major turning-point for Anakin and to see it happen with so little attention drawn to it really pleased me.
