George Lucas Unveils Animated 'Star Wars' Movie

I saw it today. It was not terrible, It was just ...there. I was entertained but I did not get a real Star Wars Buzz. Frankly, I haven'nt had one since 1983. It could have been worse. It was basically three episodes of the new series strung toghther. In a month or two it will be in heavy rotation on the Cartoon Network. I wish Lucas would do some project based on the original trilogy. I am kind of clone wared out.

[Aphrodite]

If no one noticed, Samuel L Jackson and Christopher Lee each voiced Mace and Dooku respectively.

Thst was a nice touch. Mr. Lee Rules! 80 years old and still evil.

[StarshipTrooper]

I actually heard a couple of yahrens ago that Christopher Lee made more movies than any other actor in history!

While Mr. Lee has amassed quite a lot of credits in his film career, he is not the person with the most film roles in history. Since 1948, he has appeared in 261 film and TV roles. Who is #1? I don't know. My research has shown that other actors have earned more roles. According to the IMDB, Ian Wolfe appeared in 277 roles, John Carradine in 338 roles and Edmund Cobb in a wopping 633 roles! To be fair to Mr. Lee the other actors played supporting roles and not the star. Still, even though Christoper Lee is 86, he can still catch up!

[The 14th Colony]

Well hello, Colonials. I have not posted here in quite some time. I hope everyone is doing well.

I had no enthusiasm whatsoever leading up to this film, which was odd considering how I've been a Star Wars fanatic ever since '77. But unlike the impatient years leading up to each prior film, I had no interest, apparently, in this one. Part of that was due to it being a cartoon rather than live action. Another part of it was that the main points had already been answered, such as how the Clone Wars would start, and how Anakin would be seduced to the Dark Side, so there was nothing to look forward to, no pressing element that remained unresolved. In other words, we already know how it will end. But at the last minute last Sunday night I had the urge to grab a quick showing and headed to the theater. And here are some of my thoughts...


Wow. I really enjoyed this film. Much, much more than I expected that I would. I did have a lot of trouble with the digital character's clunky movements, and Liberace the Hutt was ridiculous, but otherwise I quickly fell into the enjoyment mode and felt my inner child again.

The space scenes and expecially the space battles were incredible and very realistic, almost as if they were done with actual models and not CGI. The space and land battles were intense and thrilling. I have to say, they were really well done, and felt very Star Warsy indeed. My concerns that the film wouldn't feel like SW at all were certainly proven wrong. The absence of the crawl bothered me for a moment, but the appearance of the title in the same way as the other episode's title appearance gave me a familiar satisfaction. Nevertheless, the crawl, and the 20th Century Fox fanfare, were missed.

The beginning felt rushed, even for a SW movie. The ending felt even more rushed, more so like a TV show ending than a movie ending. The battle scenes lasted a good long time, longer than I had expected that they would. I dare say that there may have been more (or longer) battle scenes in this film than in the other episodes.

The music was very good, with many nods toward William's scores. Well done, there.

I still think, despite my praise for the film, that so soon after AOTC, there was no way that Anakin was ready to be a teacher to a padawan.

And then there are my thoughts on Ahsoka, whose inclusion in this film I was dreading, who I expected would be the Jar Jar Binks of this movie. Big surprise...I liked her. She was cute, likable, and funny. In fact, this whole movie was actually quite funny. There were more jokes than in all the other episodes, and I laughed a lot more than I had expected to.

So there you have it, folks. This was definately worth seeing in the theater, and I might even be inclined to see it again. I liked the story, and loved the battle scenes. My complete lack of enthusiasm beforehand has been countered with a movie that was completely enjoyable.

My rating:

May the Force be with you!

[deathwisp]

Thank you so much for the detailed review of how you enjoyed the movie. I myself have been somewhat iffy about checking this latest episode of the series out. I was trying to decide whether or not to rent it, so thanks again for your review. I'm going to rent it next time I head to the video store.

[ulimann644]

Originally Posted by MR PETER K

I hope they don't make the "Star Wars" TV show. I think they will do a bad job.

I don´t think so - the technical side was very impressive especialy the battle-scenes at the planetary surfaces.
I´ve also seen some pics of what will come in the show, in the "Illustrated Encyclopaedia" so I guess we´ve not seen yet the best SFX of it...

The only real crit-point is the comic-style ( and more Obi Wan Kenobi´s outfit ) of the figures - that´s Warcraft but not Star Wars IMO...

The clone wars provide great eye candy. Lots of cool stuff to see. When you think about it though, the clone wars are a dramatic dead end. Not only do we know how it ends, but there is no one to cheer for. Sure, the Jedi are the heroes, but they are unwitting pawns for Palpatine. The entire war is a sham to gain power for Palpatine. The clone troopers are obstensibly working with the Jedi. In reality, they are minions of palpatine. The Trade Federation separatists are controlled by Dokou who is in the thrawl of, you guessed it, Papatine. So in the end there are no heroes just lots of perverbial sound and fury signifying nothing. I would rather see an animated series showing what happened after Return of the jedi!

[ulimann644]

Originally Posted by Bijou88

I would rather see an animated series showing what happened after Return of the jedi!

I agree about the story - That´s nearly the same what I´ve posted at 3dgladiators some weeks ago. But I´m more interested to see what happened before - The Rise and Fall of the Sith for example or about the Foundation of the Old Republic or... or... or...

[Athene]

I liked the Clone Wars.
It has very good animation in it.

[Aphrodite]

Originally Posted by Bijou88

The clone wars provide great eye candy. Lots of cool stuff to see. When you think about it though, the clone wars are a dramatic dead end. Not only do we know how it ends, but there is no one to cheer for. Sure, the Jedi are the heroes, but they are unwitting pawns for Palpatine. The entire war is a sham to gain power for Palpatine. The clone troopers are obstensibly working with the Jedi. In reality, they are minions of palpatine. The Trade Federation separatists are controlled by Dokou who is in the thrawl of, you guessed it, Papatine. So in the end there are no heroes just lots of perverbial sound and fury signifying nothing. I would rather see an animated series showing what happened after Return of the jedi!

There are books that take place after ROTJ. One book in particular titled The Truce At Bakura takes place the day after ROTJ. It's my favourite Star Wars book.

[Aphrodite]

I'm really enjoying The Clone Wars cartoons. My daughter as well loves them.

[David Kerin]

I would really love these, if it were not for the horribly embarrassing attempt at humor that are forced into the battle droids. They're robots for heaven's sake, why are they bumbling like keystone cops? Lucas cannot do humor and should be stopped at all cost. Jar Jar Binks is thankfully not in the CGI Clone Wars series, but he's there in spirit in the battle droids. Cringe inducing and embarrassing.

[Gemini1999]

Originally Posted by David Kerin

I would really love these, if it were not for the horribly embarrassing attempt at humor that are forced into the battle droids. They're robots for heaven's sake, why are they bumbling like keystone cops? Lucas cannot do humor and should be stopped at all cost. Jar Jar Binks is thankfully not in the CGI Clone Wars series, but he's there in spirit in the battle droids. Cringe inducing and embarrassing.

David -

I agree with you there. The battle droids are just plain annoying in a very "Jar Jar" manner. I can see if the humor was unintentional and it just came off as funny, but I just don't see it in this case.

As you said - cringe inducing and embarrassing indeed.

Bryan