Product Details

• Actors: Mat Lucas, Jerome Beidler, James Arnold Taylor, Bryan Andrews, George Lucas
• Directors: Tippy Bushkin
• Writers: Bryan Andrews, Paul Rudish, Genndy Tartakovsky, Darrick Bachman, Mark Andrews
• Producers: Brian A. Miller, Claudia Katz
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Extra tracks, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: March 22, 2005
• Run Time: 69 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (197 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0006Z2LMO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,108 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Star Wars: Clone Wars - Volume One" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the prequels?, April 4, 2005

By 

S. M. Robare "smurfwreck" (Duluth, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Star Wars: Clone Wars - Volume One (DVD)

Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky of Dexter's Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, and Samurai Jack fame, this series of 20, 3 minute shorts was created to bridge the gap in story between Episodes 2 and 3 of the Star Wars prequels. This is vol. 1 of a 2 vol. series; the second will be in a slightly different format (15 minute episodes) and will animate the opening scrawling text of Episode 3. These shorts, though brief, are a lot closer to what the fans have expected out of the prequel films but haven't gotten. There is a lot of action and the characters, for the most part, are much better realized than in the films. In fact, there is more character development in just the one 4 second scene between Anakin and Amadala in this series then there is in the entire second Star Wars prequel. Lucas gave Tartakovsky reign to tell original stories for this series and he has chosen to focus on the various Jedi and their skills, something the films generally lack. Once again, we learn more about Mace Windu and the entire order of the Jedi through these 3-minute shorts than we do in the hours of Prequel footage released so far. What's really nice about this DVD is that the shorts have been edited into one 69-minute feature that helps keep the story much tighter than when they aired on the cartoon network, broken up into 3-minute chunks. The extras are nice as well, though just as short as the original cartoons were. All in all, between this volume and the next currently in production, I think these cartoons will eventually find their way to becoming part of the Star Wars film series and not just a diversion from it.

149 of 179 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A New Hope, March 23, 2005

By 

Mark Anderson "Andertoons" (Schaumburg, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Star Wars: Clone Wars - Volume One (DVD)

I'm a big nerd.

I don't want to be excited about Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, I really don't. Lucas' last two movies have dulled what was a bright spot of my childhood.

So why am I watching the old movies (yes, even Episodes I & II), reading Labyrinth of Evil and playing Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy?

Somehow excitement about Star Wars stuff is just hard-wired into me, no matter how much Jar Jar you throw in.

Thankfully, Genndy Tartakovsky and crew have given me a new hope (pun intended) with the beautifully conceived Clone Wars, Vol. 1.

Airing originally on Cartoon Network and bridging Episodes II & III, Tartakovsky's animated shorts have the goods. Twenty episodes follow Anakin, Obi-Wan and a host of other Jedi as they wage the long awaited Clone Wars.

There's plenty to keep Star Wars aficionados happy. Memorable quotes include a few "I've got a bad feeling about this" and a nice homage to Vader with Anakin commenting "I have you now" with an enemy in his ship's sites. I'd have loved to have seen a nice stormtrooper head bumping, but what are you gonna do.

The episodes that impressed me most included the Kit Fisto underwater battle (this makes Aquaman look like a punk), the Mace Windu sequence (although I could have done without the doe-eyed anime child onlooker), and the hissing lightsaber duel in the rain between Anakin and Asajj Ventress.

George, buddy, take a cue from Clone Wars! Less political wrangling about separatists and more cool stuff like this that made Star Wars great in the first place.

(BTW, check out the latest episodes on Cartoon Network and at StarWars.com. You get to see C3PO showing off his new bod!)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jedi Jousts, Jedi Karate, Jedi Duels, and Jedi Killers!, May 5, 2005

By 

Strategos "The Guardian of Time" (In Space above Planet Earth) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Star Wars: Clone Wars - Volume One (DVD)

Oh, and Jedi Water-Breathers, Jedi Women, and Mind-Tricks!

Like most fans of Genndy Tartakovsky, I was hyper-ventilating when I heard that he was going to be creating Star Wars cartoons. The man had already proved time and again with Dexter's Lab and the Powerpuff Girls (to say nothign of Samurai Jack), just how tight, slick, mesmerizing (and just plain cool!) action sequences could be in modern cartoons.

Like those shows, the Star Wars cartoons were at first to be only a few minutes in length. "Oh no!", thought many. "How can you tell Star Wars in a space of a minute or two!?". Well, it just so happens that these guys specialize in making minutes count like no other, creating dramatic tension in seconds instead of minutes, and thowing elaborate fights at you right and left, smoothly flowing from one episode to another.

Of course when I saw these awesome cartoons on television I kept telling myself that I HAD to have them on DVD. For animation of this brilliance, the crystal-clear quality of DVD was just an absolute must. The wait HAS been worth it.

While the original flow the show had to be changed (each episode doesn't end in a dramatic musical moment and there are no lightning-fast preveiws of the next episode to grab your attention), these changes were neccisary to make the cartoon episodes flow smoothly in one continuous story arc.

In fact, I'd say I like the DVD version better. In place of individual episodes with beginnings and endings, we have one episode changing to another with screen-wipes (an old Star Wars standby that works to great effect here). The sparkling transfer and high-fidelity sound really add to your enjoyment of the show. And the two short documentaries (and the two commentaries!) will doubtless add to the enjoyment of hardcore fans just as much as they did for me.

The voice actors are mostly different from the movies. There isn't much dialog. The music is not as elaborate or sweeping. the animation is simple. Valid points all, but also all irrelivant. Genndy Tartakovsky's brilliance comes from the simplicity of the animation (you might even say that he's pioneering a brand new way of producing animation in our time). The dialog that is there is carefully chosen and tweaked. Music is used for maximum dramatic effect. And the action scenes...

The real reason to own this DVD is for the AWESOME action scenes. From the space battles, to the underwater battle, from the gladiator arena to the jedi jousts, there are constant surprises in the way that the action sequences work out. And when you see the fight between Ventress and Anakin for the first time you are bound to be impressed (it's the best fight Anakin has had yet {though I have not yet seen Revenge of the Sith}). I mean, in Attack of the Clones we had a fight between Obi Wan and Jango Fett, and I was dissapointed. In this we have a fight between Ventress and Anakin that is not only longer, but is more elaborate, and features a light-saber fight in the rain with crackling and SIZZLING of the light-sabers while the two combatants wait for the other to make the first move.

The characters manage to convey emotion despite a lack of dialog. In the first episode there is a wonderful farewell between Padme and Anakin (where Padme just looks at him and blinks like a character out of a Chuck Jones cartoon), in the episode with the two female jedi (my personal favorite) we get a strong sense of friendship and understanding (the last time the apprentice imitates her master is really great), and in the episode where Yoda launches a rescue for the two Jedi the interaction between Yoda and Padme (and the looks that they exchange when he tells her that he'll call her if he needs her help) is really sweet.

The greatest episode overall though, is probably the last. When a collective of Jedi are surrounded by General Grievous and his driod army, we finally get to see a REAL villain capable of wiping out Jedi (just as the space battles let us finally see why Anakin was the best star-pilot in the galaxy). The first time I saw Grievous fight all those jedi at once my mind was blown. It's a wonderful action sequence that keeps you guessing and keeps up a break-neck pace to the end, and also a wonderful tie-in to the movie still to come.

Now if only they would release the rest of the episodes on DVD so I can finally sleep at night...