Star Wars The Clone Wars DVD Review

Star Wars The Clone Wars

DVD Review
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Released: November 11, 2008

Star Wars is back with the first ever animated feature on DVD, Star Wars The Clone Wars, a film that was seen by many as a preview of the upcoming TV show which was set to air this fall.  You get plenty of your favorite Star wars characters back once again such as Anakin Skywalker, Count Dooku, as well as some new faces.

This marks the first-ever animated feature from LucasFilm Animation, and needless to say it did not disappoint.

The film focuses on the Clone Wars, bridging the huge gap of events between Star Wars Episode II as well as Episode III.

Going into the release of this film I was a bit skeptical in a sense as to how the Star Wars universe would make the transition over to an animated film.

A lot of the film revolves around Anakin Skywalker as well as his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi.    They are assigned to try and rescue the son of Jabba the Hutt by none other than master Yoda.

The jedi need Jabba, as he is in full control of all of the supply routes which are needed for their success in the war.

You are going to see a lot of familiar faces with Yoda, Darth Sidious, Dooku, as well as the biggest new face, the padawan of Anakin Skywalker Ahskoa Tano.

The animation is presented in a way that allows for the action sequences to really impress, with plenty of large-scale battles with tons of special effects, explosions, all of that good stuff.

The story itself could have definitely panned out with a bit more detail though, as it did sway away from what you are used to in traditional Star Wars films.

For Star Wars fans though, this was a quality first animated feature for Star Wars, and hopefully will not be the last.  Just do not expect it to be perfectly aligned with the actual Star Wars saga.

The video transfer on DVD will truly impress as LucasFilm Animation did a superb job of putting a great deal of detail in just about everything from the worlds, animations, characters, etc.

The level of clarity and detail will have you in awe in many aspects as the film has a great deal of pop to it, making it a very impressive release on DVD.

The audio is rather impressive as well as it does a great job of using all of the surround channels to create an immersive experience.  The dialogue and all of those sequences come across in a clear manner, while the sound effects have some amazing power behind them when needed.

The two-disc release on the DVD format has some pretty cool extras which fans are going to enjoy.  The first is on disc one as you get a commentary by director Dave Filoni, producer Catherine Winder, writer Henry Gilroy, and editor Jason W. A. Trucker.

From there, on disc two there are plenty of other extras starting with a feature on The Clone Wars called The Untold Stories.  This is a great feature as it looks very deeply into The Clone Wars.  We all knew there was more to be told of them, but just the level of content here is crazy.

From here, there is a nice feature on the voices of The Clone Wars, which looks at some of the recording sessions of the film and TV show.

One feature that I truly enjoyed focuses on the musical score with Kevin Kiner and his 90-piece orchestra.  This was great to watch and listen to as the musical score of Star Wars is up there as one of the best of all time.

Rounding out the extras include an image gallery, deleted scenes, trailers, and 6 making-of featurettes presented as Webisodes.

A bonus digital copy of the film is also included on Disc Two, and looks great on the iPhone!

Star Wars The Clone Wars is a solid animated feature from LucasFilm Animation, and is a film that fans of the franchise are likely going to enjoy as long as they go into it with an open mind.  The level of entertainment here is very high, with a decent story and plenty of quality Star Wars adventure.  Recommended for Star Wars fans!

Film: 8.0 Plenty of great Star Wars adventure to be had here, a fun animated Star Wars film.

Video: 9.5 The video transfer on DVD is quite impressive, crystal clear and highly-detailed.

Audio: 9.5 A great audio mix on DVD, great use of the surround channels.

Replay Value: 8.0 The extras are well-done but not quite as plentiful as they could have been.

Final Score: 8.8

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