G Force George Lucas fires up the next generation of Star Warriors. Two jet engines thunder to life spitting flame, tethered in place by Jacob's ladders of pure energy. Velocity in tight quarters has served Lucas as the consummation of desire between men and machines, from the robocops' humming pursuit of Robert Duvall in THX 1138 to the speeder-bikes tearing like exclamation points through the redwoods in Return of the Jedi. Now it's time to play a symphony.
All hell breaks loose on the screen.
A rank of sleek, amphibious Gungan warriors drop to their knees behind translucent shields as a wave of ray bolts showers out of the sky. A second rank of soldiers volleys a fusillade of blue energy bursts at the offscreen battle droids. In the rear, a towering beast of burden surveys the first moments of war, its tail swaying in the CG sunlight. It's over too quickly. I watch it three more times, catching new subtleties with each pass, the individual expressions of fear and determination that flash across the faces of the young warriors as they brace themselves behind their shields.