Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Widescreen Edition)

I'm a big fan of most things Star Wars. I loved the original triology, I liked Revenge of the Sith, would give a nod to episode II and a shrug for episode I. The Star Wars novels are hit and miss (The Thrawn Triology is the hallmark of any SW novel series), and the comic books are generally amazing. When it comes to The Clone Wars microseries which preceeded the CG version currently running I was at a loss. The microseries delivered action at a steady, relentless pace which eclipsed much of the story line and left little to no room for character development. In regards to the action it is very over the top and unbvelievable even for Star Wars. If the Jedi were truely capable of the feats shown in the microseries the war would have ended at Geonosis or Mace Windu would have killed Palpatine during their confrontation on Coruscant. Anyway I'm sure your wondering where my review for the Clone Wars CG Animated series is... well its right here.The Clone Wars is awesome. When it comes to cartoons I believe the Japanese are the best and I was delighted to learn that the style in which this series is portrayed was inspired by Japanese anime. The animation does not degrade the action and lightsaber battles are as breathtaking as ever. The characters actually resemble the actors who portrayed them in the movies and that is a testement to the talent Lucasfilms has working for it.When I started watching the series I expected poor dialogue and no character development but I was proven wrong. The dialogue is good, all though "I have a bad feeling about this," needs a rest as it is used at least once or twice per episode. I actually found myself laughing at the character's remarks and even thinking that a few lines were witty. To get to the point no one feels out of character when their speaking. The voice acting is good and only gets better as the series goes on. The voice actors really capture the essence of their characters, especially Count Dokku and Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious.Right from the start you get the impression that this is a character driven story which is my favorite kind. Obiwan is still the calm Jedi Master and Anakan now a Jedi Knight excersises his new authority as a General by disobeying orders because he can. A great new development for Anakin's character is the addition of his new padawan, Ashoka Tano. Put simply Ashoka embodies Anakin as a padawan, she is defient, headstrong, a Jedi with seemingly limitless potential, but above all she forms connections. Ashoka like Anakin understands the Jedi beliefs about forming connections but finds herself unable to not care about her new Master. In little time at all Anakan finds himself attached to Ashoka as the series progresses and the question is asked can he let her go when the time comes? Another interesting character is the clone Captain Rex. Rex represents the clone soldier on the field of battle. He is loyal to the Republic and the Jedi Generals he serves but he is not a mindless automaton. Rex has a personality that comes out through the progression of the story. He looks out for the men under his command and believes that the mark of a good commander is experience.So all in all The Clone Wars is a great series. It embodies what Star Wars should be and while it might seem like a show for children it evolves to appeal for all ages. I'm 22 and can't get enough this show. So when you watch this series don't let it go right away if your feeling meh, give it time and you'll change your mind. Like all things this show needs some time to warm up and when it does get ready for Star Wars as it should be.

Don't bad on me for posting a review before the product is released. Amazon is so bad at informing of bonus features I thought some might want to know what this Blu-Ray (or DVD) set will include.This is from the press release (which also notes the release date as 3 Nov.):Star Wars: The Clone Wars The Complete Season One is presented in widescreen with English, Spanish and French 5.1 DTS audio and English, French and Spanish subtitles.Bonus features include:* Seven Director's Cut Episodes: Rising Malevolence, Shadow of Malevolence, Lair of Grievous, Rookies, Storm Over Ryloth, Innocents of Ryloth and Liberty on Ryloth* 22 Episodic Featurettes that go behind-the-scenes with Supervising Director Dave Filoni and crew about the making-of each episode* Spectacular 64-page production journal that includes early sketches, artist notes, and concept art from each episode from Season One* Blu-ray Exclusive -- The Jedi Temple Archives: An extensive database exploring test footage, early concept art, 3-D character and object turnarounds and early animation. The Archives is a rare look at the assets in various stages of creation for The Clone Wars, with a wealth of surprises and never-before seen moments sprinkled throughout.UPDATE: Now I have the set and can add that the disks are Region Free (I play them on my European BD player) and are encased in a book cover with a 62-page book. The front flap holds disk 1 and the back flap holds disks 2 and 3. The book is 64 pages (including front and back cover) of amazing artwork and behind-the-scenes pictures, scans, script pages, info, background, character drafts, etc for the entire first season. I hope some body uploads some scans or photos to the product page so you can see the detail. It is excellent! I can't believe they included so much in this set for such a low price.The packaging is well done allowing disk removal without scratching. Each disk holds 7 or 8 episodes, which run back-to-back as one long movie (however with the "Clone Wars" logo and news real preceding each).The bonus features are similar to Seinfeld's "Inside Look" features where each episode is dissected - in this case mostly by director Dave Filoni with an occasional guest - either a writer or producer. There aren't picture-in-picture tracks, everything is done as stand-alone featurettes - one for each episode. There are hidden content within each featurette where you can hit the "enter" key on your remote at certain cued times to go into an animatic or design sketch, and then back where you left off.The "Directors Cut" episodes aren't noticeably longer and scarcely different from the aired versions. I noticed a few seconds added here and there, mostly to action sequences (space battles, saber battles, etc). I doubt the casual viewer will notice any difference at all. The quality of both audio and video is exactly as I hoped - top notch!Regardless: I can't recommend this set highly enough! It's such an amazing steal at this price and has a much bettter packaging than ROME or Battlestar Galactica which pretty much pissed me off! (You can't remove the disks in either of those box sets without scratching them since they are encased in cardboard sleeves with very shoddy casing!)Aside: In a commentary for the last episode (featuring bounty hunters and a new character named "Cad Bane") director Filoni reveals that Zero the Hutt will be back in season two for a run of episodes and that we'll see more of the Hutts throughout the Cone Wars!

Watched already really enjoyed it

Initially this seemed to be a one off TV movie that covers a little of the ground between SW EP 2 and 3. The story is okay, the Jabba part being the weakest. However the most important thing about this, is that it is essentially the pilot for the subsequent 5 seasons of the Clone Wars TV series. The mildly annoying (but then she is a kid being thrust into a war) Ansoka turns into one of the best characters ever (IMHO) in the subsequent series. So my recommendation is, buy this at the same time as the 5 season boxset of Clone Wars. Watch this first and then REALLY enjoy the series afterwards.

I had very low expectations as an adult going into this - assumed this would be a very 'kiddy' show but this is actually a lot of fun and very accessible for all ages. Highly recommended for all core fans - also do watch the bonus features - the interviews and segments with the production crew is really interesting and insightful.

For whatever reason - be it pig-headed stubborness or stupidity - I have only just seen this film. I love the original trilogy and found the prequel trilogy to be adequate (Phantom Menace), very good (Attack of the Clones) and excellent (Revenge of the Sith). But, knowing that the Clone Wars was set between AotC and RotS left me feeling a little cold and uninterested. Now, if it has been set after Return of the Jedi that would be a different matter.Nonetheless, when the boxset of Seasons 1 & 2 appears in a sale I thought I'd give it a try. To coincide I ordered this film too. Thankfully it arrived first and I was able to watch it. After the first few minutes of adjustment to the animation style I found myself totally engrossed and immersed into the Star Wars universe once again. While the story is not intricately involved it is still very effective and engaging. I was probably only 30 minutes in when I realised I was hooked. I promptly cancelled my order for Seasons 1 & 2 and changed it to Seasons 1-3!Anyone who has doubts - all you lovers of the original trilogy - open your hearts and minds and give this a try; I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.I was very impressed with the blu-ray picture quality too; although a little disappointed that the audio was only DD5.1. But, having said that, it's a very good DD5.1 track!

This is so sick defo a good watch , love how we get more story about mace windu , also like how Anakin is mentoring Ashoka ,the best thing is the directors episodes they are amazing, I'd say the best special feature is probably the Jedi archives, this is such an extensive story to attack of the clones through to revenge of sith , thank you George Lucas for making this amazing extension of the star wars world

When I heard another Star Wars movie was coming out I was quite relieved as many people were dissapointed with Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge Of The Sith though I wasn't, but when I saw it in aninmation as a trailer I thought Lucas had gone mad. But I saw the flaw of it, star wars episode 2 and 3 missed out a point that the expanded universe needed from those films that never was until now which was what happened between the Clone War events? though there have been comics and the first volume of the Clone Wars in 2003 I was quite intrested to see how this would go. When I bought it off amazon and watched it, I saw mistakes and good points so this is what I thought:The storyline was simple to follow which was good, Jabba the hutt's son was kinapped by what semmed to be the sepratists so Jabba the hutt erges help from the Jedi's to go save his son which would be hard to think he had a son really, so Lucas has thought this through, Brining in the clones many battles are fought against the battle droids and new chacrters are randomly introduced, like Asouka and Ventress but brings more to the expnded universe. Dooku being the criminal since episode 2 tries to cheat throughout the movie, though I won't spoil anything for those who have not seen it him and Ventress have a totally new side to them, in return to bringing back jabba's son the clone's get to roam through Jabba's palace which is where Dooku's scheming mind comes into it.The good points of this is that the characters are well recognised, new characters are seen, the Clone's have a different side to them as they battle in fighting modes and shout "clankers!" all the time and go rambo on them, the battle droids make the film funny and during a great Dooku and Anakin scene, Anakin's past and dark side is seen. The bas side of things is that it's aimed for children because I saw that Lucas wanted to portray the characters again in a different way, people who haven't seen Star wars before he wants them to get into it so he portrays Anakin as a good person but in a bad way. The action is all good but what makes it bad is the actors voices, Obi-Wan sounds over posh and not wise, Anakin sounds not Anakin, he sounds more like Ob-Wan and Palpatine's voice sounds terrible, Mace Windu even in the tv series is terrible, he has little viewing on the movie as does Yoda except in episode 1 of the tv series. The only good voices are Asouka as it gives a new background to a new character and Ventress, despite her mood swings and stress every time she loses she has a good villain character.There are good things and bad things about this, suppose the last bad thing is that when watching it sometimes you enjoy it, sometimes after wtaching it a second time like with my brother he said it was like watching a game like a cut scene is on and then its your turn to start playing which sometimes I agree with him but it was 50/50 because of the expanded universe timeline. Mostly I would say the tv series is better but because I'm a major Star Wars fan I liked it in ways, sorry if this review doesn't help most people.