Star Wars: Clone Wars DVD Review
Posted by G. Wayne on 04.09.2005
Count me as one of the five people who actually like the name General Grievous.
I'm going to be assuming that at least you have a vague idea of what’s happened so far in the Star Wars movies. If you weren't clear on the plot of the newer movies, hopefully I'll be able to clear a few things up. But if for some reason you haven't seen the movies and don't want anything spoiled, (I don't know, maybe you're waiting for the DVD release of all six movies at once) well, you've been warned.
At the end of Star Wars: Episode II, the Clone Wars had just started in the Star Wars universe. Essentially, it’s the Republic’s army of clone troopers, lead in the field by the Jedi Order, versus the Separatist’s droid army. (Fun kinda-Fact. The clone troops are early incarnations of the Imperial Stormtroopers seen in the later movies.) The real threat, however, is behind the scenes. Events leading up to the Clone Wars have been manipulated by the Sith, particularly the current Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious.
Okay, so we have the opposing sides in the war established. Next on the list would be reason why they are fighting. Let’s see what we can determine from what’s been shown so far.
After having one of those infamous “bad feelings about this”, the Jedi Sifo-Dyas contacts the cloners on the planet Kamino to start production of a clone army. This is odd though, because he doesn't consult with the Jedi Council, who are supposed to be involved in every major decision the Jedi make. Why he didn't contact the Jedi Council at first, well, that isn't really known at this point.
A rogue Jedi, Count Dooku, intercepts him and that’s the last we hear of poor Sifo. Dooku then proceeds to carry out the order for the clone army on Kamino, using the bounty hunter Jango Fett as the template DNA. Now keep in mind that Dooku has supposedly been following orders from Darth Sidious for some time now too. Dooku also set about purging Kamino from all known Republic records during this time. He couldn't have anyone stumbling across the plan, ya know.
Eventually the Jedi discover that Kamino has been wiped from the Republic records. Obi-Wan Kenobi is sent to Kamino and after learning of the clone army, informs the Jedi Council. They proceed to investigate, since they have no record of their council agreeing on such a plan. The clone troops still end up in the control of the Republic though.
Meanwhile, the Separatists have been plotting to secede from the Republic, in an effort to be able to conduct their business as they see fit. The Republic, on the other hand, isn't so hot on the idea, but that might have something to do with Chancellor Palpatine, who previously took over control of the Republic Senate on Coruscant. Since the Separatists happen to have quite a few droid factories, it’s not hard for them to rustle up a droid army to prove their point, that yeah, they should be able to secede. As luck would have it, the Republic happens to have an army of their own now as well. Of course you know, this means war.
So is this a masterful plan of misdirection in a bid for power on Sidious and Dooku’s part? Or is it an overly complicated plot necessary to tie up the loose ends of a story that’s being told out of chronological order and made up as they go along? I'll leave that up to you.
The Episodes
While the movies focus on the story of Anakin Skywalker, and barely touch on the battles of the Clone Wars, it was felt that there was plenty of storytelling potential in the details of events of the Clone Wars. Enter Cartoon Network and Genndy Tartakovsky, the genius behind Samurai Jack, and the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon was born.
Now the overall storyline to Clone Wars is the same as in the movies, Anakin’s slow fall to the Dark Side. However, the cartoon was designed in part to showcase what the other characters, mainly Jedi, were up to during the Clone Wars. Most of the episodes focus on vastly under-utilized characters, such the Jedi Kit Fisto (got to love that name) or Shaak Ti, in the battles fought during the time. I've tried to list as many of the named characters as possible, since there’s apparently some weird rule of thumb that secondary characters are given names but rarely referred to by them in Star Wars.
While the initial format of three minute episodes shown once a week may not have been the brightest idea, you knew it was going to come out on DVD sooner or later anyway. Clone Wars also proved popular enough for a second season, (no surprise there, these are arguably better than the new movies) and thankfully the episodes were increased to twelve minutes in length.
-Chapter 1
During some previews of later episodes, Yoda does a voiceover to get us up to date.
-Chapter 2
Obi-Wan Kenobi introduces the elite of the Clone Army, the ARC Troopers (that's Advanced Republic Commandoes).
-Chapter 3
The ARC Troopers go all “Republic Commando” against the droids on the planet Muunilinst.
-Chapter 4
-Jedi Kit Fisto leads some Mon Calamari troops against the Quarrens on the planet Mon Calamari.
-Chapter 5
Obi-Wan meets a Separatist secret weapon, the bounty hunter Durge.
(Fun Fact. The Clone Wars cartoon is the first appearance of Durge in the Star Wars universe.)
-Chapter 6
Count Dooku has organized gladiatorial games on the planet Rattatak, though we don't know why just yet. A late entry to the games, a female named Asajj Ventress, handily beats the competition, impressing Dooku. For those of you interested in Geek Trivia, of Ventress’s victims, Anchor Blue is the big thing with a harpoon hand, Carl is the insect thing, Giant Flog has the rock on a chain, Jasper McKnives has the knives (surprising, huh?) and Nilo is the wide-eyed alien thing that looks like it doesn't want to be there.
(Fun Fact. Asajj Ventress was originally intended for Darth Maul’s role in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. She didn't make the final cut, which I'm going to take a wild guess and say that had something to do with Maul’s theorized merchandising potential with kids. Tartakovsky and company were given the initial designs and felt the character had enough potential to be a major part of the series. Have to agree there.)
-Chapter 7
After Ventress’ initial confrontation with Dooku, she’s given her mission to find and eliminate Anakin Skywalker.
-Chapter 8
Obi-Wan versus Durge on Muunilinst, Round 2.
-Chapter 9
Obi-Wan with some ARC Trooper assistance versus Durge on Muunilinst, Round 3.
-Chapter 10
Anakin leads a squadron of troops against droid fighters in spaaace above Muunilinst.
-Chapter 11
After the fight in spaaace, Anakin follows a mysterious ship that attacked him.
-Chapter 12
Mace Windu leads a squad of troops against a giant droid "seismic tank" on Dantooine. For what it’s worth, Paxi Sylo is the kid that watches the battle.
-Chapter 13
Mace wraps things up with the droids, and meets Paxi before leaving.
-Chapter 14
Jedi Luminara Unduli instructs her Padawan (Jedi talk for “trainee”) Barriss Offee on the finer points of lightsabres in a Jedi Temple on the planet Ilum. This is an action cartoon, so of course some unexpected company shows up.
-Chapter 15
While en route to somewhere on the other side of the galaxy with Senator Padme Amidala, Yoda senses that Luminara and Barriss are in trouble, and calls for a rescue.
-Chapter 16
Yoda makes short work of the unexpected guests on Ilum.
-Chapter 17
Asajj Ventress leads Anakin to the planet Yavin 4.
-Chapter 18
Anakin versus Ventress on Yavin 4, Round 1.
-Chapter 19
Anakin versus Ventress on Yavin 4, Round 2.
-Chapter 20
Jedi Voolvif Monn pops in quickly on Muunilinst, as Anakin and Obi-Wan are informed by Jedi Daakman Barrek of another problem, before we make it to the cliffhanger for the season. The Jedi Kai-Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura, Shaak Ti, Roron Corobb, Foul Moudama, K’Kruhk and Padawans Tarr Seirr and Sha’a Gi encounter the biggest threat from the Separatist army, General Grievous.
(Fun Fact. George Lucas decided to let Tartakovsky introduce Grievous, (who'll be in Revenge of the Sith if you didn't know) in the cartoon. Interestingly enough, according to Tartakovsky, if they would have been informed of Grievous earlier in the production of Clone Wars, he probably would have taken the place of Durge in the earlier episodes.)
The Video
1.78:1 Widescreen. No problems here.
The Sound
Dolby 2.0 Surround. The music, sound effects and dialogue all come off fine. In the commentaries however, Tartakovsky mentions, mostly concerning Chapters 12 and 13, that standard TV speakers can't fully handle everything they did with the sound effects.
The Extras
Every time you load the DVD, it seems like the background artwork for the initial screen alternates between the either the good guys or the bad guys.
Options
-Commentaries are listed here for some reason, with Director (an explanation of what's going on) or Hyperspace (production facts and tidbits), both by Tartakovsky, being the choices. On a side note, other than by re-starting the DVD player, I can't quite find a way to shut the commentaries off though.
Concerning the Hyperspace Commentary, it’s probably just the geek in me talking, but I find some of Tartakovsky's commentary to be oddly amusing, given the circumstances. He continually talks about the methods used to animate the episodes, traditional techniques for the characters and fight scenes, and CGI for the fighter sequences. He also points out how work intensive and difficult the battles scenes are (but worth it in the end), and how much easier the space scenes were due to the decision to use computers. What I find funny, is that this is comparable to the “long and difficult path of the Light Side” and the “quick and easy path of the Dark Side.” Yup, I'm a geek.
Bridging the Saga
-A seven minute feature explaining the inspiration to do the Clone Wars cartoon, and the decision to use the second season to bridge the gap in events between Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
Video Games
-Preview trailers for the Episode III and Star Wars Republic Commando video games.
-And a playable demo of Star Wars Republic Commando for the XBox.
Behind the Scenes
-A four minute featurette on the intricacies of making the cartoon.
-Sketches & Storyboards. Twenty-seven samples in total.
-Posters & Artwork. Four preview posters and thirty-six artwork samples here.
Episode III Teaser Trailer
-The original, shorter trailer.
The 411: The artwork is pretty stylized, which may take some getting used to. That aside, highly recommended if you're a fan of Star Wars or quality animation.
