Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Feature Film Blu-ray Movie Review

'Star Wars,' or a reasonable facsimile thereof, arrives on Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 4, 2008

This is a stupid plan!

The wait is over. Star Wars is finally on Blu-ray. Well, sort of. The franchise's newest film, the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, resembles the Star Wars universe as fans know it from the prequel trilogy, but gone is any sort of cohesion, pacing, or urgency found in the second and third of the prequel installments. Clone Wars takes all that was wrong with the prequels -- the bad comedy in particular -- and builds its story around annoying characters, childish dialogue, flat jokes, repetitive action, and a bland plot line that meanders and never accomplishes much of anything in the grand scheme of the Star Wars canon. Say what you will about the prequels, but they emoted that Star Wars look and feel through and through, stayed true to just about everything established in the first three films, including music, sound effects, back stories, and action -- but on a grander, more robust scale. Clone Wars feels almost like a well-done fan-made adaptation. If it were indeed a big budget fan production, with no "official" ties to the franchise, some creative endeavor meant to show off the potential for an animated film, Clone Wars would be a success. As a finished studio project, particularly one set in such a well-known, respected, and established universe, one with perhaps the most rabid fan base of any cinematic series, it feels more like a test run, a rough cut, an incomplete film in every regard -- including its dialogue, animation, sound effects, pacing and story line.

At least it has lightsabers!

With the Clone War in full swing, the Jedi Knights of the Republic valiantly fending off the Separatist movement, led by Count Dooku, word comes of the kidnapping of Jabba the Hutt's son in an attempt to sway the Hutts' allegiances in the ongoing War. Whisked away by the Separatists in a scheme developed to pin the young Hutt's death on the Jedi Knights, the War effort is interrupted for two prominent Jedis -- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker -- to resolve this impending crisis and gain favor with the mighty Hutts, a race whose allegiance to one side or the other could sway the outcome of the War. Obi-Wan is assigned to travel to Tatooine and announce the Republic's efforts to retrieve Jabba's son, while Anakin and his new Padawan apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, are given the perilous task of securing the physical retrieval of the valuable infant Hutt.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is recognizable as an entity in the Star Wars universe, but only superficially so. The film retains several tell-tale Star Wars-esque trademarks, like the sweeping scene wipes or the employment of holographic communications between characters (used almost in excess here). Of course, many of the characters from the prequel trilogy appear throughout Clone Wars, bearing an animated physical resemblance to their live-action counterparts, and in most cases, utilizing voice-over dialogue that is at least passable for the voices of Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and others. Staying true to the feel of Episode II, and the prequel trilogy in general, Clone Wars' action sequences, repetitive as they may be, play out with startling resemblance to the action found at the end of Attack of the Clones. The handheld, fast-zooming, documentary-like feel frames many of the action scenes here, staying faithful to Lucas' vision but also becoming nauseatingly repetitive, almost like the filmmakers had no unique vision on how to capture the action. Perhaps the idea was to maintain continuity, and if that is the case, the scenes do work, but there is a staleness to them, and audiences members may feel they are being sold the same bill of goods in this movie as they were in Episode II.

While the film may feel repetitive in some cases and, quite frankly, unnecessary, the film is guilty of far more heinous shortcomings and failings than repetitive action sequences. First, Star Wars just isn't Star Wars without John Williams' Oscar-winning and now legendary score. Several times throughout Clone Wars, listeners will hear several familiar refrains, but the music has been subtly altered, the result an eye-rolling experience akin to, say, a singer taking the National Anthem and completely butchering the intended melody. The foundation is there, the nuances are not. It's not a bad score at all, really. It simply sounds out of place. Anyone thinking of purchasing Star Wars: The Clone Wars for the opportunity to hear the famed Star Wars themes in Dolby TrueHD lossless audio, keep that wallet or purse closed. The film further breaks away from Star Wars tradition by eschewing the famed yellow crawl against a star field that brings viewers up-to-speed on the background of the story about to unfold. Instead, viewers are subjected to a terribly goofy voice over straight out of Starship Troopers; no, scratch that, it's more akin to the lousy, two-bit FedNet narration as heard in Starship Troopers 3: Marauder. Perhaps most offensive is the atrociously bad dialogue, particularly when it comes to character nicknames. Anakin is "Sky Guy;" Jabba refers to his son as "[his] little punky-muffin;" and Ahsoka calls that same infant Hutt "Stinky." Yes, really. It's almost as if the film is deliberately trying to be bad, as if the filmmakers took everything that didn't work in the previous films, particularly the prequel trilogy, and made an entire movie from those aspects that drove many fans to despise the latter installments of the series.

Clone Wars may be the final nail in the Star Wars coffin. It is quite possibly a series killer in the same vein as Alien: Resurrection, Weekend at Bernie's II, or Speed II: Crusie Control. Ultimately, the animated television series that this film introduces may succeed, but unless there are vast improvements to the scriptwriting, among other things, it's destined to be a minor hit until the novelty quickly wears off and people, even the young pre-teen boys who seem to be the target audience, stop caring. The only saving grace for the film, the tiny shimmer of light that is a distant vessel just-jumped into hyperdrive, is that this is Star Wars. It earns a point here and there for the inclusion of some of the famed, tried-and-true Star Wars sound effects, a hint of the music, and the presence of a few characters. Nevertheless, a few different clicks of the mouse and a few altered keystrokes later, and Clone Wars could have easily been just another run-of-the-mill Sci-Fi/Action oriented animated feature with no connections to the Star Wars universe, and in that regard, the film may have been ever-so-slightly better.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Feature Film Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Star Wars: The Clone Wars battles on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer. The video quality is generally exceptional. The image is slightly dim in appearance, but the animation itself looks fine with great colors and nice depth. The animators have given the film a very distinct look, one that may not suit everyone's tastes, but at the end of the day it looks like Star Wars and the general appearance of the film reflects that of the prequel feature films. A tremendous amount of detail is given to every frame, as each character, vehicle, and location features a unique, individual appearance. Clone Trooper uniforms are dirty and battle worn, for example, and vehicles show grime and wear-and-tear. Still, the animation is awkward; hair never flows, for example, instead simply sitting atop heads in a clump. Backgrounds are stagnant and facial features are exaggerated and stiff, looking like plastic models or toys rather than more natural, organic life forms. Everyone, even Yoda, looks more blocky than fluid. Still, the disc reveals the smallest of details, for example numerous tiny pits on Yoda's forehead. Colors are generally strong; Yoda's green skin appears true to the character's look in the live action films, and the entire palette is awash in exceptionally rendered color in most every scene. Laser blasts offer a true green or red, for example, and the various lightsabers emit their trademark glows. There are some minor instances of banding in a few shots, but for the most part, the transfer is exceptional, the sometimes funky animation not withstanding.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Feature Film Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Star Wars: The Clone Wars features a lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless sound mix. The quality is generally exceptional, featuring a room-filling and dynamic experience with decent lows that don't always rattle the furniture, but certainly get the job done. The deep bass one might expect form the explosions, the heavy steps of large battle droids, or laser blasts just doesn't rock the sound system as one might expect of a brand new Star Wars movie, but the slightly reserved bass fits well with the entirety of the mix. The entire soundstage is utilized to good effect, particularly in the film's action sequences. The track is never too loud or in-your-face. In fact, it could have been a bit more precise, but it spreads out very well all around for a robust, entertaining experience, far superior and interesting than the actual movie. Surrounds are in constant, but not overly active, use. They support the front nicely; music plays softly in the back, sound pans and flows effortlessly from back to front, and various action sequences play through the back to engulf the listener in the action. Dialogue reproduction is excellent, whether one actually wants to hear said dialogue is another matter entirely. Star Wars: The Clone Wars offers listeners a high quality, action-filled soundtrack slightly short on deep, rattling bass but otherwise a (laser)blast to listen to.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Feature Film Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Star Wars: The Clone Wars features all the supplements a stinky Hutt baby could ask for. First up is a video commentary track with several participants, including editor Jason Tucker, director David Filoni, producer Catherine Winder, and writer Henry Gilroy. Rather than simply playing over the video, the screen breaks up into halves, with the film playing on top and the video commentary on the bottom right, with supporting video streams sometimes appearing on the bottom left, for example a scene from Episode IV early in the commentary track or behind-the-scenes looks at the making of the film, including concept art, early stages of the animation's development, and more. The best feature on the disc and a novel and intriguing commentary presentation, this is one commentary well worth checking out.

Behind the Story is a series of four features. First is 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' - The Untold Stories (1080i, 24:53). This piece examines the goal of the series, the varying genres it entails, and the back story that leads up to the series. George Lucas plays a prominent role in this feature, discussing the purpose and scope of this film and the series to follow. The feature progresses to become a long commercial for several episodes from the series. The Voices of 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' (1080i, 10:00) examines the actors that lent their voice-over work to the film and series. A New Score (1080i, 10:45) features a look at Kevin Kiner's original music. Concluding the Behind the Story segment is Gallery (1080p), a series of conceptual art created for the film and series.

Webisodes offers 6 making-of featurettes. Introducing 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' (1080i, 3:41) features director Dave Filoni discussing the genesis of the story and the expectations that come with the Star Wars franchise name. Epic Battles (1080i, 2:45) looks at the fresh approach the filmmakers took in creating the film's action sequences. The Clones are Coming (1080i, 3:27) looks at the individuality and distinctive appearance of the clone troopers. Heroes (1080i, 3:27) and Villains (1080i, 3:58) both examine the series' opportunity to delve into character development. Finally, Anakin's Padawan (1080i, 3:43) takes a closer look at new character Ahsoka Tano.

Three trailers -- Launch (1080p, 2:16), Dark (1080p, 2:09), and 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Video Game (480p, 1:10) -- are also included, as are four deleted scenes (480p, 10:51). The final supplement on disc one is the Hologram Memory Challenge game. This is a Star Wars-themed brain game that challenges viewers to recall the locations of briefly-seen holograms and recall their locations on a board. Finally, disc two of this set contains a digital copy of the film.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Feature Film Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Star Wars: The Clone Wars returns the Star Wars franchise to the big screen with mixed, though sadly mostly negative, results. Playing as more of a rough cut of what the film could have been rather than a finished product, the film is short on plot, sometimes bland to look at, and is downright laughable in several instances, particularly in the film's insistence of introducing characters and dialogue that make Jar-Jar Binks look like a serious character. Much of it just doesn't work, and the better parts seem ripped straight from Lucas' previous films, particularly the action sequences that sometimes play like an animated version of Episode II. As it is, the entirety of the experience makes the film dull at best, practically unwatchable at worst, even at its tiny 98 minute runtime. Nevertheless, Warner Brothers has assembled a fine Bl-ray presentation of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Featuring fine video and audio quality, along with a series of special features that do a wonderful job of selling the film and series, and may make one want to give the film another spin and the series a chance, the disc itself is a winner. Star Wars fans will want to check this one out one way or another, but a rental seems to be in order before a purchase for those that have not yet seen the film.