Customer Reviews

Star Wars: Clone Wars - Volume One

5 star:		(126)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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!)

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...

This series is strictly a filler, being more about action and less on plot... and that is totally fine considering the format it was presented (3 minutes at a time, which I found annoying actually). But it was just incredibly fun to watch. I can tell that Tartakovsky is a fan and I doubt that anyone else could have done a better job. His imagining of Jedi power is precisely what I had imagined and, more importantly, what I think it should have been portrayed as in the movies.

For an action cartoon, he did it absolutely right. Very little dialog, no mindless banter and interjections that you'd see on other action cartoons. I especially love the long sequences of fighting choreography. Nice framing for the action and very stylized, while not being flashy. The cartooning was quality and the characitures were fun, particularly the facial expressions on Yoda.

While I think that a comparison to the movies, as so many other reviewers have done, is inappropriate I do believe that this is an incredibly worthy production that deserves to be fully blessed as part of the Star Wars canon.

Star Wars Clone Wars Volume 1 takes place 4 months after the events of Attack of the Clones. Since then the Clone Wars have traveled across the galaxy like fire. Hundreds of worlds have been engulfed in the horror of a massive galaxy war. The Jedi knights have been called to lead the clone army. While the movies show the beginning and the end of the Clone Wars the expanded universe has done the job of showing all the middle events. This cartoon is certainly exceptional. Its easily the best Star Wars cartoon by far. In fact its superior to The Phantom Menace and Return of the Jedi. Its Jar Jar and Ewok free. The cartoon shows multiple Clone Wars battles of many characters. She Mace go phyco on a whole mess of droids, see Obi-Wan as a general, See how lightsabers are made, and see some of the best lightsaber duels around. The cartoon has a lot of cool vilians. Dooku is at his best. Since the fact that hes evil is no longer a mystery as in the movie he is free to show off more then in the movie. We also get Durge and Assji Ventress. Both have been introduced in earlier comics and are awsome in animated form. Durge, who reminds me of Terminator 2s T-1000, gives Obi-Wan quite a match against this seemingly unkilable foe. Assji Ventress was a character planned for both of the previous prequel movies but got scraped both times. We now see her in this cartoon. She is a very tortured character and the battle she gives Anakin gives an awsome forshadowing on Anakins eventuel turn. By far the most important villian appearance has to be the introduction of General Grievous. The Military Cyborg killing machine who is the major villian of Revenge of the Sith. Grievous is unstopable. His fast, dangerous, and unholy fighting is absolutly amazing. I can't wait to see him as a realistic digital model on the big screen. He is sure to be awsome. Clone Wars Volume 1 ends with a cliffhanger for Volume 2. The 3 minute format kind of bothered me. For this DVD all 20 short episodes have been edited together into a single hour long movie. I am very happy about this but I am very dissipointed by the fact that we are having two seperate releases. Since both volumes only are 1 hours each they could easily have been given a single release as a single 2 hour movie and have plenty of room for extras and a 5.1 track. The fact that we are getting two seperate releases with only a 2.0 track feels like a very cheap attempt to get our money. Despite this I still recommend Clone Wars Volume 1 with a whole heart.

These twenty 3-minute episodes are action-packed and do a great job filling in some of the Clone Wars battles that occur between the Star Wars movies Episode II and Episode III. They are exciting, well-made cartoons with good voice acting and they are tightly directed; they have to be at only 3 minutes per episode! The continuity of the story suffers a bit due to the short length of each cartoon, as with only 3 minutes to tell each mini-tale it's impossible for any in-depth development, and what story arc there is gets stretched out over several episodes because of their short length. However, being able to watch them all continuously without interruption on DVD helps fix this problem quite a bit and they are very enjoyable to watch straight through like a 60-minute movie. These cartoons deliver non-stop action and even at times provide the treat of focusing on some of the secondary Jedi characters for which there is little time in the theatrical films. These cartoons are loads of fun for Star Wars fans of all ages.

There are a few extra features on this disc and some of them are fun to watch and hear while others are a bit disappointing. Specifically, the director's commentary on volume 1 was not always very intelligent, informative, insightful or interesting, and it offered virtually none of the interesting behind the scenes information one would expect. Instead, it consisted of simple observations that were largely inarticulate, such as "we thought this would be cool." Hopefully, the extra features will be a little better planned, thought out, and scripted for volume 2. Fortunately, the direction, acting and artwork on the cartoons themselves is terrific and they are fun to watch repeatedly. The cartoons alone are worth the price of this DVD, so regardless of the amount or quality of extra features on the disc, if you enjoyed the cartoons when they were broadcast then you will love this DVD. Recommended.

With strong animation by Tartakovsky, the Star Wars world has been able to open up even further while also implanting more doors that we (the lowly nerd) could easily escape to and spend hours upon hours exploring. I am talking about the sheer brilliance of Star Wars: Clone Wars released by the Cartoon Network. I walked away from the first two prequels wondering if we were ever going to see any decent action or adventure. While there was some in the films, it was nothing like what I experienced here in the animated versions. Finally, we have gripping Jedi battles, lightsaber moments that will have you grimacing from your couch, and our first glimpse into the dark cloud that will surely begin to cover the third and final episode of this gripping mythology. This was exactly what I needed to bring a stronger feeling as to what these Clone Wars were going to be like. Now, I know that I haven't seen Episode III yet, and I know that more of my questions will be answered, but this was the PERFECT segway. These animated cartoons are for the most avid fans, as well as those just looking to catch up before entering into the doorway of nerdom that opening weekend. It is powerful and visually beautiful, just how Mr. Lucas would have wanted it.

I will be honest, I am one of those poor saps that had never seen a full episode of Dexter's Laboratory or Samurai Jack due to having no cable at the house, but after a viewing of what Tartakovsky has done with this simple task, I cannot wait to get my hands on more of his work. To say that his work was visually beautiful would be a dark understatement. His work on this project fully embodied the feel and emotion of the Jedi's during these battles. A "war" does take place between more than one person, and I gobbled up the idea of watching the smaller battles being won by the smaller heroes (if there is such a thing). The Windu battle is one of my favorite, as the battle between the female Sith and Anakin will flashback you to early Star Wars moments. Lucas did right by placing his stamp of approval on this project, which shows that this war is more than just his imagination, but that of thousands.

While I will agree with most critics that there was very little character development, I do not see this as a negative towards the film. In the first two episodes, we have enough to familiarize ourselves with the characters as well as understand their purpose in life. We do not need that here, this animated film is designed to give us a great range of the war, the impact that it has on more than just our "popular Jedi". This opened up that proverbial "door" that I mentioned before that literally opens several hundred different stories and adventures. It pulled this war from the mere shadows of the bigger films and gave us these haunting images that may seem rather poignant in today's culture. It is sad, exciting, and intense all at the same time.

Finally, I would like to say that I cannot wait to see where these artists take this series. I know that there is already a "Volume II" preparing to be released, and I will be very excited to get my hands on that to see where our next battle will take place, or whose lives in the Star Wars universe it will effect. It is like a Pandora's box that is going to release some darkness on the world, and it is up to us to open it. I cannot wait, and again, suggest it to anyone that has kept this galactic story close to his or her heart.

Overall, if you couldn't tell already, I loved this "short" film. While I remember watching them on my computer when they were first released, I felt that the three minutes they were handed were not enough, I wanted more and I didn't want to wait. Thankfully, this is released in a full 65 minute run which will give you the full effect of the power behind this universe. I am a Star Wars fan, and I am not afraid to admit it. I thought that this disc did a great job of blending the episodes together and giving this ultimate war, the Clone Wars, some depth and humanity (if you can call it that). I suggest it to anyone looking to get a leg up on the recently released episode, while constantly impressing your friends and loved ones at a party. Don't worry, I do it all the time!

Hurrah!

Grade: ***** out of *****

One reviewer sites that any praise for this series deeming it superior to the recent live-action prequels is "inflammatory". I'm not sure why that is, but I do know that I enjoyed this set of shorts a great deal more than the soulless, empty and ultimately unnecessary recent feature-length films. There's nothing remotely inflammatory in my remark, it's simply my, and, apparently, many other's opinion. Just because someone dislikes something that (for whatever reason) you in fact do like, doesn't mean they're "hating". Also, how can anyone knock this brilliant collection of cartoons? "A rip-off of The Animatirix"? That's just asinine. And are you really defending the Star Wars prequels by stating that this cartoon series "consists of no plot, no story arc, no character development, and nothing but mindless action"? Ummm... that pretty much sums up the last 2 prequels.

Anyhow, this is a fantastically entertaining set of toons that any true Star Wars fan would be proud to add to his or her DVD collection.

I did not watch Clone Wars on TV - I could never quite figure out when they were on, and they were shown in annoyingly short increments. Viewed on DVD all at once however, they are a worthy addition to the Star Wars Saga - with plenty of action, light saber fights, and first-class animation.

I felt the need to watch Clone Wars after seeing Revenge of the Sith. Since Episode III begins in the midst of things, I felt that there was a significant amount of back-story that I needed to catch up on. In Clone Wars, we first meet General Grievous - one of the chief villains of Episode III. His light saber battle with the Jedi makes the DVD worthwhile by itself.

I'm looking forward to Volume 2.

As I'm sure most reviews of clone wars make clear, these are better than the prequel films. More action, less standing around discussing politics and forbidden love, and stories that don't grind to a halt every 20 minutes.

These are amazing. It's hard to call them cartoons. It will haunt me forever that the attack on Coruscant in vol. 2 wasn't in Episode III.

These are must haves for any fan.