Chapter 33 – Cut To The Chase
December 12th, 2007
Anyway, now Dooku is bugging out. On a speeder bike, no less. 
INT: REPUBLIC GUNSHIP – DAY
The Gunship breaks through a cloud of dust.
OBI-WAN: (Pointing) Look over there!
Below, a speeder flies ahead flanked by two beak-shaped fighters. On the bike is the unmistakable figure of Count Dooku.
ANAKIN: It’s Dooku! Shoot him down!
CLONE CAPTAIN: We’re out of rockets, sir.
ANAKIN: Follow him!
PADMÉ: We’re gonna need some help!
OBI-WAN: There isn’t time! Anakin and I can handle this!
Dooku looks behind him. He presses controls on his speeder and signals to the two fighters flanking him. They veer off left and right, loop around, and come up behind our heroes’ Gunship. To avoid the Beak-Wing fire, the Gunship banks up a steep dune but is still hit. The ship lurches on its side, and Padmé and a clone officer tumble out.
ANAKIN: Padmé!!!
Anakin stares down in horror as Padmé hits the dune below. She rolls down the slope, reaching the bottom unconscious.
ANAKIN: (Con’t; to Pilot) Put the ship down!
OBI-WAN: Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way.
OBI-WAN: (Con’t; to Pilot) Follow that speeder.
The Gunship continues its pursuit of Dooku’s speeder, followed by the two Beak-Wing fighters.
ANAKIN: (To Pilot) Lower the ship!
OBI-WAN: I can’t take Dooku alone! I need you! If we catch him we can end this war right now! We have a job to do!
ANAKIN: I don’t care! (To Pilot) Put the ship down!
OBI-WAN: You will be expelled from the Jedi Order!
ANAKIN: I can’t leave her!
OBI-WAN: Come to your senses! What do you think Padmé would do were she in your position?
ANAKIN: (Resigned) She would do her duty.
EXT: COMMAND CENTER – DAY
Yoda stands next to the clone commander. He senses something.
YODA: Hmmmm…
CLONE COMMANDER: The droid army is in full retreat.
YODA: Well done, Commander. Bring me a ship.
EXT: GEONOSIS, SECRET HANGAR – LATE DAY
Dooku flies over a landing platform and into a opening built high on a cliff face.
INT: REPUBLIC GUNSHIP – DAY
Anakin and Obi-Wan watch as Dooku’s speeder disappears inside the cliff. The Gunship parks next to the landing ramp. Obi-Wan and Anakin, lightsabers activated, leap out with two troopers and run inside. The Gunship flies off, but is soon destroyed by the fighters.
INT: GEONOSIS, SECRET HANGAR – LATE DAY
Count Dooku throws switches on a control panel. His Interstellar Sail Ship is parked nearby. He gives orders to a nearby droid, and the droid quickly rolls inside the ship.
Obi-Wan and Anakin enter the chamber. Dooku turns toward them, his hand on his lightsaber.
ANAKIN: You’re gonna pay for all the Jedi that you’ve killed today, Dooku.
OBI-WAN: (To Anakin) We’ll take him together. Go in slowly on the left–
ANAKIN: I’m taking him now!
Anakin charges across the open space at Count Dooku.
OBI-WAN: No, Anakin! No! No!
Dooku smiles faintly, watching him come. At the last moment, Dooku thrusts out an arm and unleashes a blast of Force lightning. Anakin is hurled across the room, and slammed into the opposite wall. He slumps to the foot of the wall, semi-conscious. Count Dooku and Obi-Wan circle each other slowly.
COUNT DOOKU: As you see, my Jedi powers are far beyond yours. Now…back down.
Dooku sends a blast of lightning at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan calmly catches it with his lightsaber blade.
OBI-WAN: I don’t think so.
Dooku ignites his saber. Obi-Wan comes in fast, swinging at Dooku’s head. Dooku parries the cut easily. As they fight, it quickly becomes clear that Dooku is the complete swordsman,
elegant, graceful, classical – a master of the old style.
COUNT DOOKU: Master Kenobi, you disappoint me. Yoda holds you in such high esteem.
Count Dooku parries another cut and then thrusts. Obi-Wan steps back quickly, panting for breath.
COUNT DOOKU: Surely you can do better.
Obi-Wan takes a deep breath, gets a fresh grip on his lightsaber and comes in again. For a moment, he drives. Dooku’s superior skill begins to tell again, and he forces Obi-Wan to retreat. Anakin remains where he had fallen, writhing in pain.
EXT: GEONOSIS, DUNES – DAY
On the ground, Padmé groans in pain. A CLONE TROOPER approaches.
CLONE TROOPER: Are you all right?
PADMÉ: Uh-huh.
She gets to her feet.
CLONE TROOPER: We’d better get you back to the forward command center.
PADMÉ: No. No. Gather what troops you can. We’ve got to get to that hanger. Get a transport. Hurry!
CLONE TROOPER: Right away!
They both run off across the sand.
December 15th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
This is a problem? Try something like that in the military and you’d find yourself out of there so fast you’d practically break the sound barrier. (Not to mention that the military also have strict rules against romantic/sexual relations between troops, for precisely this reason.)
Bear in mind that just two years later, this stupid little child is complaining about not being made a Jedi Master.
Actually I never really understood that complaint. Sure, the Emperor is the only person who uses it in the OT, but we only see two Sith in the OT anyway. I’m far more concerned about all the cool Force powers we see in the prequels that didn’t seem to exist at the time of the OT.
On the other hand, I fully agree with you about the ‘absorb Force lightning with your lightsaber’ thing, which is just ridiculous. You’d think someone would have explained this to Luke at least once during his training, especially knowing that he’d almost certainly have to face Vader and/or the Emperor at some point…
One thing I’ve always wondered is, what exactly is meant here by the ‘old style’? The Republic has been around for 25,000 years, right? Describing something as ‘old’ in that context could mean almost anything. It’s yet another of those lines that would be make perfect sense if the film were set on 21st-century Earth, but none at all in the context of a millennia-old galactic republic.
January 18th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Great to see this back!
Where to begin, where to begin. There are some elements of things that I like here, but again, Lucas just can’t pull it together. For one thing, Dooku fleeing on a speeder just looks…unreal. I don’t know, I must be totally jaded at this point. I can’t but help look at those scenes and see Ewan and Christian standing in front of a green screen being jounced about. It really must be demoralizing to do that, to not know how the film will ultimately look like. I just couldn’t get into it myself unless I was rock-solid on concepts and look of things. I can pretend and act—been doing it all my life—but this has to be very difficult for actors, so I have to give them kudos for their patience.
Anyway, the whole Padme falling out of the vehicle is stupid. It just looks so bad. Padme just looks like a klutz. The troopers look soooo fake. I really wish they had used costumes. I’m just really hating movie-making nowadays. Thanks a lot, George.
I don’t know how I feel about the Sith Lightning. On one hand, I really wish it had been reserved for Palpatine, and it does make Luke look really stupid in ROTJ. I kind wish Luke had the ability to deflect it–that he was really a better Jedi– but couldn’t maintain it. With the Prequels it just looks like Yoda taught Luke nothing at all. Sigh.
Anakin charging in at Dooku is probably the only “young Vader” quality that I’ve seen in Anakin. I don’t mind it at all.
It’s so hard to care about the prequels, and as a side effect, I’m having less and less concern for the older films. Time for this franchise to fold.
April 10th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Umm Luke throws his light saber away long before Palpatine blasts him, so even if he knew the technique, he couldn’t have used it.