Plot: What’s it about?
After the success of Attack of the Clones, George Lucas came up with an ingenious idea. Before the third and final chapter of the prequel Star Wars trilogy, he devised a plan to cover as much of the activity in between Episode II and Episode III as possible by the magic of animation and with a little cooperation for the Cartoon Network, Star Wars fans alike awaited two seasons before their favorite show along with the occasional marathons of all chapters. All fans can throw out their VCR tapes and erase their DVR’s for the first two seasons are all here in Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume One.
It is after the end of Attack of the Clones and begun this Clone War has. Plans of attack are being made and one special case comes to the attention of Chancellor Palpatine. With Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker at his side along with Yoda, an assignment is delivered, a decision is reached and Anakin leads a fleet of attack much to the chagrin of Yoda and Obi-Wan. Meanwhile, a army of troops are sent out amongst a banking city where clone troops await and thus continues the big war at stake. Many of our favorite characters are back along with a few new ones to sweeten the pot of the ongoings of this massive war leading to the Revenge of the Sith.
At first, the idea of the in between in animation looked like it was headed for disaster and like the other Star Wars related animated projects before it, looked as if it would be geared more towards kids and nothing else. Luckily, I was wrong as this twenty chapter series proved to be a very well animated and gripping volume packed with plenty of swordplay and some great moments between all the characters and the battles at hand. It’s all done in a little more than an hour and it begs for more at the end. The heart was in the right place along with the great effect as Star Wars fans won’t be disappointed by this in-between that proves to be a great lead in for the next chapter of events.
Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume One is an unexpected solid hour that keeps the interest from start to finish and keeps fans looking forward to the next chapter (and volume 2 of course).
Video: How does it look?
Clone Wars is given the anamorphic aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with the results being a lot clearer than expected. The colors sing out during the battles as the palette is never one to shy away from the trilogy’s use of color and it’s vivid imagination. There’s not a speck on the cels and everything moves smoothly. It is a clean transfer that has no bleeding of colors but just the right back lit animation to get any eye candy tasting sweeter with every viewing. A very good transfer.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital 2.0 track has it’s limitations thanks to the series being on television but with all the effects and the movements, it’s a solid track that captures the spirit of the series with it’s gun and sword effects along with a few surprises along the way in all channels with the dialogue staying through the middle channels and the effects making nice use of surround effects despite the lesser track. This disc also has a Spanish and French 2.0 track along with English subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
One thing this viewer can credit Lucasfilm for is that the supplemental features on any Star Wars title rarely disappoint and not only does the case look great but also the short but sweet featurette “Bridging The Saga” keeps everything moving very well and the result is that of an animator given a tough task and putting the right time in with the right touches any Star Wars fan can appreciate. Like the series, however, the viewer wants to see more even if there is a preview of the next volume.
Along with that featurette are 2 commentaries that can be accessed in the “Options” section and not the Special Features section. Both are by Genndy Tartakovsky and even though the presence of Lucas would have been much appreciated, Tartakovsky does a solid job through both of them. Although at the beginning it sounded as if there was going to be a descriptory commentary that any viewer dreads, give it a few more minutes and one or two chapters and the audience will be sucked into his enthusiasm with a few repetitions. Whatever isn’t covered in track one is picked up nicely in track 2 making for a solid combination commentary-wise.
After that there are two galleries of concept art, storyboards and other art galleries and finally three trailers, two of them for upcoming video games and the theatrical anamorphic 2.35:1 teaser for Revenge of the Sith which incorporates the other Star Wars films very nicely along with its great use of music from The Empire Strikes Back. It’s enough to whet any trilogy fans appetites.
There is also a game level of Republic Commando that can be played on the X-Box only.
With another volume in tow and the final prequel in the can, Star Wars Clone Wars Volume One carries a nice weight of a solid in-between series leading up to this summer’s big blockbuster along with being one of this spring’s pleasant surprises in terms of extras and the overall package.
