The two most eagarly anticipated films of 2002

[Juan Aneiros]

"Star Wars: The Attack of the Clones" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" will be battling it out as the top film in 2002.

The Two Towers is the second film of the trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" and will be released next Christmas. Mr Lee has completed all his scenes in this part and will play a more important role as Saruman. This depends, of course, on how much Peter Jackson is willing to leave in or edit out, but we anticipate that Mr Lee will in one of the leading roles. The Fellowship of the Rings, was an introduction to the ring, the hobbits and the fellowship. In The Two Towers, the real battle begins.



"The Attack of The Clones" will decide if George Lucas still has what it takes to make a brilliant film or has lost its touch. Episode II comes out in May and has the largest fan following in the history of any film, not even LOTR can challenge its fan base. Contrary to the tactics employed by "New Line", "Let's hype up the films as much as we can and let information leak all over the place", Lucas Film's are adopting the "Tighten up security to the limit, let the fans guess and the results speak for themselves" sort of approach. With the more quiet attitude and star studded casting, Lucas Film's hope to blow away any previous criticisms proceeding "The Phantom Menace".

Mr Lee's character was keep under maximum secrecy and described only as a "Charismatic separatist". Now officially known as "Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus", will make its debut in the film as leader of the Dark side. Count Dooku can be described as an extremely intelligent, cool and calculating villain with unbeatable fencing skills. An ex Jedi master himself, has a connection that will make a lot of sense in the film and which will surprise a lot of guessing fans. The move by Lucas to cast a legendary actor of the quality of Mr Lee in Star Wars, will give the film a different dimension and pose a threatening challenge to "Darth Vader" as the number one villain in the series. Every film needs a good villain and Mr Lee is simply the best actor for the part there is. His imposing figure, his natural fencing skills and experience in this sort of roles will make "Dooku" a household name. He will be using a light saber in the shape of "The Sword of Charlemagne", his ancestors' sword. Coincidence or not, this saber will be at home in the experienced hands of Mr Lee, who at 79 has the fastest arms around.

If the first teaser trailers are anything to go about, the film will prove to be a bigger hit than a lot of skeptical fans anticipate. Those who have seen parts of the film, agree that "The Phantom Menace" was merely a needed introduction to EpII and now that the groundwork has been done, the film will blow everyone away. "Count Dooku" has been described as "Bad, evil and the fans are going to love him". He is the troublemaker in the story, the cause of every high action scene and where he teaches the Jedis an thing or two.

This brings us to the question, will Dooku be a better villain than Saruman? I think Dooku is the best villain that Mr Lee has had the fortune to grace the screen with. With a mixture of coolness from Scaramanga, the sarcasm of "Lord Summerisle", the speed of "Dracula" but with much better fencing skills than Rocheford and certainly the most intelligent of villains. Saying that, Saruman cannot be counted out as we don't know what he will be like in "The Two Towers". The only thing that is certain is that Mr Lee will play both parts to perfection.

As for best film, that's anyone's guess and will depend a lot of what you prefer. Special effects wise, LOTR is no challenge for SW who could have done with the experience of Lucas in the FOTR. Some of the special effects were not credible enough. Story wise, Star Wars is a new story and script while LOTR is an adaptation of arguably one of the best written books in history, a bit of a copy, paste and try in computer terms.

Note: Parts of this article are only personal opinions based on what I have seen so far from EpII and TFOTR.

[Alfonso Casal]

"Star Wars: The Attack of the Clones" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" will be battling it out as the top film in 2002.

. . . and the winner will be. . . Christopher Lee's fans!

[Old Soul]

So true Alfonso!!!!!

We do win all around don

[wickedwolf]

Having grown up with Star Wars and seeing more times than I've seen any other movie, I do feel a certain loyalty to the films. But let's face it, George Lucas is not a masterful director (count how many films he's directed for the number of years he's been in the business) but he knows (or did at one time) to give the people what they want. The original trilogy was a fantastic visual romp that gave you just about everything you could ask for.

The Phantom Menace came along and I felt like I was stabbed in the back by an old friend. This film did not have the heart and soul that made the first three benchmarks in Sci-fi. I lost any hope for the next two movies...until I read that Mr. Lee would be playing a significant part in Attack of the Clones. Once again I have faith in Star Wars and I am eagerly awaiting May.

As for LOTR. It is a great and time tested story. You'd almost have to think that George Lucas received some inspiration from it. It has everything you could want in this genre to please the senses of the mind. I've seen Fellowship two times and it is a very well made movie. Peter Jackson has done a marvelous and masterful job and so has the entire cast. Over time I think this trilogy will be the true benchmark in fantasy.

As someone said, no Christopher Lee fan will be a loser in 2002.

[dvxagent1]

that sounds pretty cool, i of course will see both movies!cant wait.