Star Wars: Clone Wars: Volume Two DVD Review

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Title: Star Wars: Clone Wars: Volume Two

Region: One

Genre: Animated Sci-Fi Adventure

Starring The Voices Of: Mat Lucas, James Arnold Taylor, Tom Kane, Nick Jameson, Anthony Daniels, and Richard McGonagle

Storyboard Artist/Writer: Bryan Andrews

Based On Characters Created By: George Lucas

Art Director: Paul Rudish

Producer/Director: Genndy Tartakovsky

Feature Length: 64 minutes

Extras: “Connecting The Dots” Featurette, Audio Commentary, Still Galleries, “Revenge Of The Sith” Trailer, “Star Wars Battlefront II” Videogame Trailer, “Star Wars: Empire At War” Videogame Trailer, “Revenge Of The Brick” Trailer From Lego, “Star Wars: Battlefront II” Xbox Demo

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Closed Captions and Subtitles

Packaging: Keep Case

Chapter Stops: 6

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound

Year of DVD Release: 2005

Home Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

The Emmy® award winning epic animated microseries “Star Wars: Clone Wars” returned for a five-part third and final season on Monday, March 21, 2005 and ran at the same time through the week until Friday March 25, 2005 with each chapter running for approximately 12 and a half minutes instead the three minutes or so the first twenty chapters had ran in 2003 and 2004 respectively. These final five chapters pick up where the second season left off with a squad of Arc Clone Troopers rescuing the surviving Jedi from the Confederacy’s General Grievous. Grievous’ tactics and skills with a light saber have turned the tide of battle against the Jedi. Despite the objections of some council members, Obi Wan’s suggestions to have Anakin forgo the trials and become elevated to the level of Jedi Knight are granted. However this is not before Anakin shares a brief romantic interlude on the streets of Coruscant with his secret wife Padme. Despite some verbal resentment from Anakin, who assumes he has been called before the council to be scolded, Obi Wan accepts Anakin as a brother as Anakin is dubbed a Jedi Knight of the Republic by Yoda and goes off on new missions that include the liberation of the planet Nelvan from the strange biomechanical experiments of the Techno Union. This is where Anakin undergoes his own trials with the rage that exists within him and he sees before him an omen of what is to come should he follow the path of anger that he is on. The series concludes with the abduction of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Battle of Coruscant while setting the stage for the new feature film’s explosive beginning.

The “Clone Wars” is a pivotal time in the history of the “Star Wars” universe. There has never been a galactic war fought on such a scale in a thousand or so years at least. The Jedi Knights are spread thin throughout the galaxy, serving as generals for millions of Clone Troopers. There is a bit of humor in the episodes, such as the Super Battle Droid Army’s reaction to the grenade like explosives the Clone Troopers drop as they fly through them to save the Jedi. There is also some terrific humor interspersed with the action during the Jedi defense of Coruscant where three lone Jedi Knights struggle to protect the Chancellor from General Grievous and his deadly droid bodyguards. The scenes with Anakin walking alone among the various species that inhabit Coruscant is interesting because it not only shows the character’s ever growing brooding nature, but we see a certain amount of distrust in his eyes, which for me signaled a possibility for why the Galactic Empire of the original trilogy is so xenophobic. With the Separatist movement being made up primarily of non-human beings that control galactic trade, commerce, and technology, it is easy to see how the Empire will become a metaphor for super power imperialism dominating and exploiting other cultures for their resources. The ceremony where Anakin becomes a Jedi is one of those sequences I think fans have been wondering about for decades and we even get to see C3PO in his shiny gold plating complete with a brief explanation by the robot himself for why he has undergone this change. The evolution of the relationship between Anakin and Obi Wan is fascinating since they go from a parental like bonding to one more akin to being like close brothers and yet one can constantly see and understand how Anakin is at times misunderstood as well as how he misinterprets intentions just like anyone else and while watching the animated series is not required to understand and enjoy the “Star Wars” theatrical releases, it does make it a richer experience.

Like the first volume that contained the first 20 episodes, “Star Wars: Clone Wars: Volume Two” is presented in a beautiful THX Certified anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) aspect ratio with the addition of a lively and full English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack mix. English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Surround Soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVD along with English Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and English Language Subtitles as options. The THX Optimizer program is also included for proper picture and sound calibration. Genndy Tartakovsky and members of his creative team provide an interesting feature length audio commentary that is supported by a featurette entitled “Connecting The Dots” (10:24), which explains the additions and last minute changes that were made to match and complete the transition between episodes II and III through the entire “Clone Wars” animated microseries. Interesting tidbits from the commentary track include the reason why chapter 21 picks up almost exactly where the chapter 20 left off, the creation and evolution of General Grievous’ character that was continually developed up through the week the episodes first premiered to keep in continuity with what George Lucas decided would appear in his movie.

Additional anecdotes include visual references to the Nelvana Animation Studios, which had produced the animated segment that first introduced the character of Boba Fett in the “Star Wars Holiday Special” as well as the “Droids” and “Ewoks” animated series. A Dulok can be seen walking among the aliens that surround Anakin on the streets of Coruscant and the planet Nelvan is a nod to the Canadian animation studio while the Nelvan Warriors were inspired by the mutant canine creatures seen in the Nelvana animated feature “Rock & Rule.” There is also a classic Cylon Centurion to Anakin’s right during the above mentioned scene of Anakin walking among the varied species that live on the Galactic Republic’s capital world. Personally I think little sci-fi in-jokes or nods to other sci-fi films or franchises in the “Star Wars” saga add to the fun of rewatching the films over and over again. So a glimpse of a character from the original “Battlestar Galactica” is no different from the subtle visual Easter eggs found in “The Phantom Menace” that include “Star Trek”, “2001: A Space Odyssey”, and “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.”

A gallery of storyboards and sketches as well as a gallery featuring the one-sheet, which I have framed in my office here at GENRE ONLINE.NET and character cells are also included along with the “Revenge Of The Brick” trailer from LEGO (5:17), which I loved because it reminded very much of what I used to imagine when I was boy and would play with my “Star Wars” action figures thinking of the made-up adventures as stop motion films made with toys. Now through computers it can be done, but back then it was just a dream. The “Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith” launch trailer (2:32), “Star Wars: Empire At War” video game trailer (2:18) and “Star Wars Battlefront II” video game trailer (2:06) wrap up the basic DVD-Video extra value features on this disc. Microsoft Xbox users will have the added access to two playable demo levels from the “Star Wars: Battlefront II” video game. I am unsure if these levels can be played on the recently released Xbox 360, which has some backward compatibility with the original system though I believe the hard drive and perhaps a subscription to the Xbox Live online service may be required for playback. Again this is a guess on my part and I may be wrong.

The DVD menus are well rendered and easy to navigate. “Star Wars: Clone Wars: Volume Two” is available on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm. Finally or for now anyway, the saga on DVD is complete.

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