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Mace vs. Jango
Once again, if you were a spoiler junky like me you may at one point come across the two sets of storyboards that leaked onto the internet during Episode II's production. These storyboards depicted two key fights scenes from AOTC. One being that of the Obi-Wan/Jango fight in the rain and the other of Mace Windu taking on Jango in the Arena.
Learning the details of these scenes so early in the game caused the anticipation for these fights to grow very high. George Lucas was even quoted as saying Samuel L. Jackson would probably win an award for best fight sequence.
After the movie was released, it was no surprise that fans were disappointed when discovered that the much hyped fight scene had been trimmed down considerably. Myself included. Such is one of the drawbacks of reading spoilers.
So how much of the fight was cut? In short, the whole middle of the fight as depicted in the storyboards got the ax. This included a small skirmish with a Destroyer Droid and a standoff between Mace, Jango and...the Reek! Ben Burtt commented in a recent "Ask the Jedi Council" question on starwars.com that the fight was trimmed down for running time issues.
Before we detail what was cut, let's review the shots still present in the movie...
- Jango using his flamethrower and catcching Mace's cloak on fire.
-Mace deflecting blasts from both the DDestroyer Droid and Jango. (We do not see the Destroyer Droid or Jango of course.)
-Mace doing a huge flip into the air annd deflecting a blast back at a Battle Droid upon landing. (This would have been the part where Mace leaps out of the crossfire between Jango and the Destroyer Droid.)
-Mace chopping off one of the Reek's hoorns causing him to drop his saber.
-Jango lunging to grap Mace's saber beffore Mace force summons it back to his grasp.
-Jango getting trampled by the Reek.
-Jango shooting and killing the Reek.
-Mace blocking a few shots from Jango bbefore slicing his head off.
Here is a full scene by scene description of the fight as depicted in the storyboards. Please note that the blue text indicates the deleted material...
Jango backs out of firing range. The droids then unmercifully open
fire. Mace deflects the first few bolts as Dooku and the other
dignitaries attempt to move to safer ground. The droids continue to
fire as Mace deflects the bolts right back at them. WIDE SHOT of Mace
as he spins and deflects shots from all sides. A number of droids are
smashed back by their own bolts.
Jango then brings up his flamethrower and fires at Mace. Geonosians fly
away in the background. Mace leaps as the flame scorches the area where
he was, but his cloak catches on fire. Instead, Nute Gunray is hit by
the flame. Jango then blasts at Mace in the air. Mace deflects all the
bolts as he flips in mid air and down into the arena, his cloak still
on fire. Jango looks for an escape and Dooku leaves the area. Once on
the ground of the arena, Mace throws off his burning cloak.
WIDE SHOT as Jedi fight for their lives against the superior number of
droids. Two Jedi leap from another VIP box just as it's blasted by
droids.
MORE SHOTS of Jedi defending themselves from attacks on all sides. One
Jedi destroys a Super Droid but is suddenly gunned down by a Destroyer
Droid.
Mace looks back at the VIP box he was in moments ago. Droids from the
VIP box shoot towards him. Mace blocks the shots again as we see Jango
fly off in the distance.
As Mace defends himself against the droids firing at him from the
stands, Jango lands behind him in the arena. Mace continues to defend
himself as Jango aims his cable from behind and fires. Mace turns
around just in time to "force push" the cable away, causing it to wrap
around a nearby Destroyer Droid.
Mace then turns away from Jango to take care of more droids in the
arena. The entangled Destroyer turns and fires upon Jango, shots
whipping around him. Jango then detaches his cable and flies past the
Destroyer. Jango's flight path leads him directly behind Mace, who is
still battling droids. As Jango passes, Mace swings his lightsaber over
his head and hits Jango's jetpack, sending him into an uncontrolled
dive towards the ground.
The destroyer droid tracking Jango ends up firing at Mace, who in
return deflects all the bolts. Jango crashes to the ground and rolls to
his feet. The Destroyer continues to blast at Mace as Jango tries to
fix his damaged jetpack.
Jango then fires at Mace with both blasters. Mace spins to deflect the
new attack of bolts. With a destroyer droid on one side and Jango Fett
on the other, Mace defends from both enemies at the same time. Mace
then suddenly leaps into the air leaving the destroyer and Jango firing
at each other. Jango leaps into a sideways roll and keeps firing at the
destroyer. The destroyer explodes under Jango's attack.
Mace lands as a battle droid begins to fire at him. He deflects the
bolt without even looking and charges towards Jango. CUT TO JANGO's POV
of Mace charging him as the battle rages on in the background.
Suddenly, the Reek (the enormous four legged, tri-horned beast with a
bull-like nose ring) then appears from a passageway and charges after
Mace through a number of droids.
CUT TO a shot TRACKING the Reek as it quickly advances toward Mace.
Jango appears stunned in the distance. Mace turns and spots the Reek as
Jango scrambles to his feet.
MACE'S POV of the Reek charging directly at him. Mace swipes at the
Reek, chopping off one of its' horns. The Reeks still catches Mace with
its shoulder, sending Mace sprawling and losing his lightsaber.
Mace hits the ground and rolls up onto his side. MACE'S GROUND POV of
his lightsaber as Jango is running toward it. Just before Jango reaches
the lightsaber, one of the Reek's feet slams down on it.
The Reek snarls at Mace as he gets back on his feet and tries to
"force" calm over the beast. The Reek then turns to Jango on the other
side, forcing him to back off. HIGH ANGLE of the Reek and the two foes
on either side of it. A tense moment.
Mace attempts to get closer to his lightsaber while Jango tries to get
a clear shot. Jango moves slowly around the beast. The Reek is still
looking at Jango while Mace heads closer to his lightsaber. The Reek
then reacts to Mace's close proximity. Mace again tries to calm the
beast with the force - the Reek calms somewhat. Mace moves closer and
then tries to free the lightsaber with the force. Jango moves toward
the Reek's backside. Mace is obscured by the Reek's front leg.
Jango spots his discarded jetpack lying on the ground a short distance
beyond Mace. CLOSE UP on the jetpack. Jango shifts aim and fires at the
Jetpack. Mace reacts, throwing himself backwards and away. The jetpack
explodes as Mace dives clear. Mace hits the ground in a roll and ends
up near a wall.
Startled by the explosion, the Reek rears up on its' hind legs, freeing
the lightsaber. Jango is ready to pounce and then dives at the
lightsaber but... it floats off screen just as he reaches it. The
lightsaber returns to Mace's hand.
Jango looks up at the Reek as its' shadow falls over him. He rolls out
of the way of the Reek's front legs as they thunderously crash back
down on the ground. The Reek charges at Mace, trampling Jango. Jango
avoids being crushed by the beast's huge feet.
TRACKING the Reek as it charges at Mace. Mace leaps into the air as the
Reek reaches him, causing the Reek to smash into the wall of the arena.
Mace flips into the stands in the midst of a group of droids. He lands
and attacks.
Jango recovers and retrieves his blaster. The Reek shakes it's head,
looks around and spots Jango. The Reek lumbers around and trots towards
Jango. Jango raises his blaster and aims carefully. The Reek begins to
fully charge. Jango pauses. JANGO'S POV as the Reek charges closer. In
the last moment, Jango fires into the beast's eyes and dives out of the
way, still ready with blasters if need be. The Reek tumbles and crashes
to the ground, dead.
Jango stands and whips around looking for Mace with both blasters
raised. Mace leaps down from the stands and charges forward. Jango
desperately opens fire but Mace deflects all the bolts as he runs.
Mace lunges with his lightsaber at Jango's head and Jango ducks, but is
left off balance. Jango manages one blast from his arm-mounted blaster,
but it misses. Mace spins and slices across and downward.
Jango's helmet bounces and rolls in the dust. His body falls to the
dirt - safely assumed dead - leaving Mace the victor.
Just like the Obi-Wan/Jango fight, I believe this fight was filmed in its entirety. Even the material that's still in the movie follows the moves shown in the storyboards. There might have been a few minor modifications though, for instance, Jango is still wearing his rocket pack when Mace cuts his head off. Whereas in the storyboards, it was damaged by Mace's lightsaber and then blown up by Jango.
The pictures below include:
-Image Attack pic of Jango blasting awaay from Dooku's arena box balchony.
-Possibly a shot of Mace deflecting Janngo's cable onto the Destroyer Droid. (Pic is from a Topps trading card so it could just be a publicity pose.)
-Jango picking up his pistols. (From the "Choices" slideshow video on the DVD exclusive website.)
-Select #43 of Mace using the Force to calm the Reek.
-Mace using the Force to calm the Reek.. You can also see footage of this in Making of Episode II #10 "Good To G.O."
-Jango ready with both pistols. (Likely a shot from the standoff with Mace and the Reek.) From Making of Episode II #10 "Good to G.O."
-A comparison pic of SLJ in front of bluescreen kicking an imaginary Droid as depicted in the storyboard.
-Couple pics of Jango leaping or perhaps flying while blazing away with both guns. (Still photo from the AOTC DVD.)
Sources:
-starwars.com: Select #43, Making of EpII #10, Choices slideshow video.
-Storyboards.
-Star Wars Insider #55 magazine.
-AOTC DVD: Still photo gallery.
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