Star Wars: The Clone Wars (DVD, 2008)

Like the 2003 animated short films of the same name, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS reveals what happened during the conflicts of the title, which are set between EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES and EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH. Unlike the former series, this CLONE WARS feature film uses computer animation (rather than more traditional 2-D animation) to tell its tales, which follow Obi-Wan Kenobi (voiced by James Arnold Taylor), Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), and precocious new Jedi recruit Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) as they face off against the sinister Separatist forces led by Count Dooku (the legendary Christopher Lee, who reprises his role from the live-action movies). The film also features appearances by such beloved characters as Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson, also of EPISODES II and III), C3PO (Anthony Daniels), and Yoda (Tom Kane). Directed by Dave Filoni (AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER), THE CLONE WARS shares the same era and characters as the 2003 series, but is stylistically quite different, with a blocky look influenced in part by the marionettes of the 1960s U.K. show THUNDERBIRDS. While the voices of actors such as Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christiansen, and Frank Oz are missed, their successors handle their mantles well, confidently leading the heroes in fierce battles and tense chases. Though diehards of the original STAR WARS trilogy may shrug their shoulders at the CGI wizardy, young fans will find much to enjoy in this action-packed movie, which promises to be continued in a regular Cartoon Network TV series.

After the success of his live action and legendary Star War films. Little was unknown of the clone war era. Little was detailed in the feature films in anticipation of his new Clone Wars cartoon launching on Cartoon Network, Lucas launched this movie in theaters and started a series of untold stories. With animation unseen before now, Lucas weaves plots and characters of familiarity in the process of adding new characters. Familiar locations are revisited and new are explored for the first time. Even Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee who portrayed Jedi Master Mace Windu and Sith Lord Count Dooku return to lend there voices to the movie. The rest of the original actor and actresses did not return. Please remember, this is the movie and is a prequel to what you can expect of the series. They are currently in there second season of the Clone Wars show and season one is now available on DVD/Blu-ray. The animation is superb, but the voice over of the actors can throw you off a little. All in all, the movie is really good and I enjoyed it because I am a Star Wars fan.

The film opens without the traditional scrolling prologue and is replaced by a transatlantic voice that would have been at home in a 1980's Saturday morning cartoon. From here we are thrown into episode 2.5 of the Star War saga. Without giving too much away about the plot: the acting and characters are wooden and two dimensional, even for a kids film (or for that matter a recent Star Wars film). The dynamic between Anakin Skywalker and his new sidekick, will grate on the nerves of anyone over the age of 8 years old. The stiff animation makes everyone come across as a cross between an action figure and a Thunderbird. Another problem is for a theatrically released film, it's "shot" (if you can call it that) in an almost camera-nailed-to-the-ground fashion. Compared to recent Pixar efforts, it looks about as cinematic as a midday tele-movie. The saving grace of this film are the fight scenes, which somewhat make up for the film failings everywhere else.

As a spin off from the Star Wars franchise it's OK at best, as a kids film there's much better, as a pilot episode to the upcoming cartoon series it's watchable and if compared to a direct to DVD Disney sequel, it's decent.

We rented this movie at our local Blockbuster. My son liked it so much we decided to buy it. Ebay is the cheapest way to go for buying these. This movie is really entertaining and action packed. The cool thing is how the characters really tie into some of the more recent Star Wars live action movies.

If you're tempted to buy it, I think you should. It's a great animated movie that is appealing to all ages of Star Wars fans.

Parents be warned that there are scenes of battles and violence.

the movie reviewers dog this movie pretty hard, but overall the movie was pretty good. this movie takes place between attack of the clones and revenge of the sith. this would be a great movie to launch a great cartoon of star wars. also this would be great for the kids to watch. other than that its a pretty good action overall and the special effects were great in this movie. george lucas did a great job on this movie.