Star Wars - The Clone Wars [DVD] [2008]

It's a new star wars movie.

It's set betwene episodes two and three.

It's a cgi cartoon.

And it appears to be three episodes of the new tv series the clone wars edited together into one feature film.

the story involves anakin skywalker and his new apprentice - whom he didnt want to take on - having to rescue the kidnapped son of jabba the hutt from separatist forces under the command of the evil count dooku and his associates. the jedi and the clone troopers who fight on their side face a hard journey to reunite jabba with his son.

the animation is rather stylised like a japanese cartoon. whilst the characters do look rather good the backgrounds can be a bit static.

very few of the original voice cast actors [just samuel l jackson as mace windu, anthony daniels as c3po and christpoher lee as count dooku] reprise their roles. all the other characters who have been seen before are voiced by new actors who try and impersonate the performance of the originals.

anakin's apprentice talks like a californian valley girl.

and jabba's son is nicknamed stinky.

so this could all be horribly dumbed down.

but the movie succeeds because it contains the one element that the first three star wars films had, and the second trilogy so conspicuously lacked.

It's fun!

It's never dumbed down.the apprentice may talk like a valley girl but she's a fully rounded character and never gets annoying.

and it contains action scene after action scene all of which are really gripping.

this is quality star wars entertainment of the kind we thought we'd never see again, and it's a hugely enjoyable experience for fans of all ages. if they're prepared to give it a chance.

the dvd has language tracks in english and hebrew and english for the hearing impaired. it also has subtitles in arabic hebrew and icelandic.

it offers direct scene access to the film, and the sole extra is a commentary from the director, the producer, the writer and the editor.

the lack of other extras is disappointing, but the quality of the movie is such that the dvd rates a five stars. unleash the inner star wars fan in you again. it's worth it

I took my six year old son to see this film. As a "girl" i wasn't really expecting to enjoy it but it was actually great fun and my little boy loved it. It's probably not a bad thing that it was me and not hubby who went as he prefers the original trilogy to any other... No it's not like the old Star wars films but that doesn't make it bad - just different and definitely good for little ones to cut their teeth on.

Lucasfilm Animation, director Dave Filoni, and screenwriter Henry Gilroy have crafted the perfect Saturdy morning summer animated film, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars", which is a more than adequate sequel to the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy, set between Episodes II and III. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't expecting much, but left the theater quite impressed with the quality of much of the animation, which, I might add, is much closer to Pixar Studio's than classic Walt Disney in its realism. I was also surprised with the amount of screen time given to Count Dooku (voiced by the ever incredible Christopher Lee), as well as the voice "returns" of Samuel L. Jackson (General Mace Windu) and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) (Daniels has now the distinction of appearing in every "Star Wars" film.).

"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" captures successfully much of the excitement found in the original trilogy and in "Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith". Moreover, it offers more amazing battle sequences and light saber duels than seen in the live action films thanks to state-of-the-art animation technology. Where "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" fails is in some of its insipid dialogue, and the rather curious introduction of the inexperienced Ahsoka Tano as Anakin's padawan (Jedi apprentice), who comes across more as a spoiled brat than a genuine Jedi warrior in training. And yet, with these few glaring defects, this remains a film which I can recommend highly to those who are diehard "Star Wars" fans and others seeking high quality cinematic entertainment that's suitable for the entire family.