EPISODE II: WHAT NEXT?

The Battle and Super Battle Droid armies have temporarily closed down their conflict against the remaining brave Jedi fighting within the vast Geonosian Death Arena, under the orders of Count Dooku, now fully revealed as the Separatists' clever and dangerous leader. As our heroes count the cost of their intervention against the enemy, what further evil will Dooku unleash?

A classic angle showing the Jedi, and Padme, from EPISODE II.

'ATTACK' AT 20: DOOKU ESCAPES!

Newly arrived at the secret hangar bay with an accompanying squad of Clone Troopers, battle-ready Padme Amidala is too late to stop the confident Count Dooku's escape from Geonosis, but not for want of trying with her assured blaster fire directed at his solar sail vehicle, which soon after arrives secretly within the hustle and bustle of Coruscant. Touching down in an antiquated building within the mysterious industry area of the planet, Dooku, in his true guise as Darth Tyranus, confidently gives his master, Darth Sidious the welcome news that the galactic war has begun.

His mission of chaos accomplished, Dooku departs Geonosis.

Concept art of the Solar Sail vessel.

Count Dooku returns secretly to Coruscant...

At the secret foundry location, Darth Sidious awaits his returned apprentice.

... to inform his master, Darth Sidious, that 'the war has begun'!

The original construction for the Solar Sail vehicle amidst the secret Separatist hangar at FOX Studios, Australia, for August 21st, 2000 filming.

Ian McDiarmid takes a break on set by the Solar Sail vehicle.

'ATTACK' AT 20: YODA vs DOOKU!

An intense duel ensues between the towering force of Count Dooku and the small but determined Yoda, the latter of whom soon shows the latest Sith Apprentice the full power of his abilities. Recognising potential defeat or stalemate, Dooku creates a distraction for Yoda that requires his abilities to rescue the injured Obi-Wan and Anakin, now in danger, instead. The Count soon escapes the hangar safely within his Droid-operated Solar Sail vessel pod.

“From what I could tell, George was asking for the Tasmanian devil.. every time we showed it to him he said, “Amp it up! He’s got to be bouncing around!” He kept saying, “He’s a frog, this wicked-ass frog that’s going to kick it.”” 

Rob Coleman - DVD Review magazine Issue 44 - 2002 

“I’ve done more fights on celluloid than any actor in history…and I’ve got the scars to prove it. And this fight is greater than anything I’ve been involved in.”

Christopher Lee - DVD Review magazine Issue 44 - 2002

“I thought it was a remarkable scene considering that I never, at any time during the fight, actually saw Yoda. When we were filming, he wasn’t there. There was no time to position him. The whole thing was very fast and quick, so there wasn’t any time to place him 40 feet up on the left, or 10 feet to the right or wherever he was. I had to do it against blue screen, without Yoda being there, or anybody else for that matter. It was mainly a question of eye lines. I was told to look in that direction, make that movement and then make another movement in another direction. It was choreographed. That was the only way to do it. The long shots where Dooku is running (weren’t performed by me) because I was 79 or thereabouts, and I just can’t run. So that’s done by a double. But everyone had doubles, and they are in Episode III too. They have to be on certain occasions. But most of the stuff that you saw that was close-up-that’s to say knees upward, waist upward-was done by me.” 

Christopher Lee - Starlog magazine Issue 336 - July 2005

Locking lightsabers!

A deleted moment where Dooku uses two lightsabers.

A part of the filmed duel sequence saw Dooku wield two sabers against Yoda but this experimental footage was ultimately unused, though still photos from it were used for EPISODE II marketing and publicity purposes linked to the Dooku character.

Struggling to find a way of developing a fighting style for Yoda that must be believable on screen and win over audiences, a desperate Rob Coleman seeks advice from his friend and SW co-star Ahmed Best. Together they watch classic martial arts movies loved by Best and pin down the little Jedi's unique combat style.

An impressive visual shot from the duel sequence.

Yoda congratulates Dooku on his duel prowess.

Dooku provides the cowardly distraction needed to escape.

Yoda rescues Obi-Wan and Anakin as Dooku escapes...

More on the live action part of the filming:

STAR WARS AFICIONADO WEBSITE: CLASSIC IMAGE: THE TWO MASTERS OF DARKNESS!

'ATTACK' AT 20: DEFLECTING DARKNESS!

Count Dooku, on the attack!

Upon entering the secret Geonosis hangar bay area, Yoda must soon deflect an attack of force objects direction, then a further assault of physical Dark Side strength, as Count Dooku brings down a piece of ceiling onto the diminutive Jedi. Directed bolts of of terrifying Force lightning are then unleashed and held back, before Dooku finally realises that the only way to defeat this former master will be through his experienced skills with a lightsaber...

Yoda surveys the secret hangar.

And squares off against the deadly powers of Count Dooku.

“There was bluescreen in The Lord of the Rings, but nothing like there was on Star Wars. About 85% was shot on bluescreen for Star Wars. Walls, floor, the complete stage was blue. They need that for technical reasons, which I can not go into, for it’s something I do not understand. They need that to put in the background, what’s behind you, in front of you, besides you. Reading the script, I know what is taking place and where this is supposed to be, but I do not know what it is going to look like and I do not know if I’m going to be surrounded by other people, droids or that I’ll be alone. I have no idea. So when shooting, there is nothing there – and there certainly wasn’t when I had my fight with Yoda! They have to match what he does after what I’ve done first! I do the lightsaber moves, after I’m told where Yoda is going to be. So I do not know exactly what he is going to do in the fight. I’ve often been asked the question what it is like to work with bluescreen. Over the years I got quite used to that. The answer is of course that you have to have a very powerful imagination, experience, professional knowledge, powers of invention of your own and you have to have the right instincts. You either have them or you haven’t. If you have them, it’s a great help to everybody. What else do you need to be an actor? Dedication, devotion. All these elements are vital if you want to make a career as an actor.” 

Christopher Lee - Internet interview (source unknown) 

The Dark Side of the Force is unleashed!

Yoda prevents the ceiling from coming down on him.

Sending out Force lightning.

Yoda absorbs the dark energy...

and redirects it back at Dooku.

'ATTACK' AT 20: ANAKIN'S FATEFUL TRIAL BY COMBAT!

Dooku critically injures Anakin, severing his right arm in a shocking moment that also echoes Luke Skywalker's later limb loss against Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back.

Speedily blocking Count Dooku's attempt to kill Obi-Wan, Anakin shows his skills anew as a lightsaber duelist against such a formidable enemy. Sadly, Dooku proves too strong and critically injures the young hero. The scenario for our two now disabled and weakened heroes looks grim, but help of the most intriguing and diminutive kind is on the way...

Back in the duel, Anakin blocks Dooku's death blow to the injured Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Anakin makes a brief attack on Dooku with his and Obi-Wan's lightsabers.

Posed reference/publicity image of Hayden Christensen with two lightsabers.

Though down to just his own saber, Anakin fights on in the now darkened hangar but is soon defeated by his strong adversary.

Dooku Force sends the badly injured Anakin over towards the also fallen Obi-Wan.

'ATTACK' AT 20: IMPULSIVE DUELLING!

"You're gonna pay for all the Jedi you've killed today, Dooku!" - Anakin Skywalker

Anakin and Obi-Wan race to the hangar bay and discover Count Dooku making his final preparations to leave Geonosis. Though they should have taken on the formidable dark side enemy together, Anakin recklessly decides to take Dooku on himself and is soon taken out of combat temporarily by an immense bolt of Force lightning dispatched by his opponent. Though Obi-Wan proves an adept duellist, even he can't defeat Dooku at this time or reach stalemate, the former Jedi's combat experience and power soon leaving him seriously injured and facing imminent death from his enemy's blade...

The classy but deadly lightsaber of Count Dooku. Image: StarWars.com

Filmed towards the end of the original principal photography run of EPISODE II at the FOX Studios, Australia - late August, 2000, Christopher Lee would do as many shots possible of the duel without too much potentially painful movement, as well as close-ups where he was actively able to use his hands with the unique lightsaber blade specially created for the character. 

With height and build similar to Christopher Lee, expert duellist Kyle Rowling would play Dooku for the intense parts of the duel that were once more choreographed by Nick Gillard and rehearsed over an eight week period (notably alongside Hayden Christensen). Rowling would often have his head CGI replaced with a digital double of Christopher Lee during the film's ILM post production phase.

A superb wide shot of the hangar pre-duel.

“I can recall reading the script and saying to George, "If I play Anakin as on the page - the whiny teenage quality - there's going to be a backlash.'' And there was. But I thought the critics got it wrong. Sometimes they were blasting me for Anakin's flaws. Sometimes I had to remind myself that George must have seen something in me.” 

Hayden Christensen - unknown internet interview quote - 2005

Rushing in alone, Anakin is soon taken out for a time by a burst of Force lightning from Dooku.

Dooku attacks Obi-Wan with another Force bolt but the Jedi deflects it with his saber.

With Anakin incapacitated, Obi-Wan fights Dooku alone, but the Sith's lightsaber skills soon prove too experienced.

"The (lightsaber) fighting in EPISODE II was unsatisfactory, I think. I don't think the fight (Obi-Wan and Anakin versus Dooku) was nearly as good as it should have been and I certainly didn't have as big a crack of the whip as the first one." 

Ewan McGregor - FemaleFirst.Com internet interview - 2005

Obi-Wan continues to fight Dooku.

Behind the scenes duelling shot of Kyle Rowling fighting Ewan McGregor.

Sure enough, Dooku delivers two fast lightsaber cuts that sends the injured and saber-less Kenobi to the floor. Dooku swiftly prepares to cut him in half.

The Geonosis tower secret hangar interior set at the FOX Studios, Australia. 2000.

Geonosis Cut Scenes - The Lightsaber Duel

'ATTACK' AT 20: DOOKU's DEPARTURE PLAN!

It looks as if he's retreating from a losing battle with the newly arrived Republic forces, but Count Dooku's real goals for the Clone Wars, in his true guise as Darth Tyranus, are all proceeding to plan. Now ready to leave Geonosis, the confident Sith soon realises, however, that he's being pursued by the Jedi...

Behind the scenes.

Ryan Church artwork for the scene of Dooku and his pod fighter escort leaving the Geonosian underground hangar.