The Digital BitsStar Wars: Clone Wars
Volume Two - 2005 (2005) - Lucasfilm/Cartoon Network (20th Century Fox)
Program Rating: B+
Disc Ratings (Video/Audio/Extras): A/A-/C+
Following the 2003 success of Cartoon Network's original Clone Wars shorts, Star Wars creator George Lucas tasked Genndy Tartakovsky and his animation team with a new directive: To expand each mini-episode into a longer, more substantial story, and to build them all together in a climax that would end just as Revenge of the Sith begins. In effect, Tartakovsky and company were asked to visualize and animate the events described in Episode III's signature opening crawl.
As a result, we get to see the last climactic battles of the Clone Wars (begun in Episode II). We get to see Anakin's penultimate trials as Obi-Wan's apprentice, and we finally see him achieving the level of Jedi Knight. We also get to watch as the vile General Grievous storms Coruscant, with his massive space fleet and vast droid armies, to capture Chancellor Palpatine... and launch the Sith's final dark plot to dominate the galaxy.
As was the case with Volume One on DVD, the video quality of these episodes on disc is spectacular. They're presented in full anamorphic widescreen, so they look better here than they did on the original Cartoon Network broadcast run earlier this year. The colors are incredibly vibrant, and both contrast and image detail are outstanding. Note that all 5 of the original 13-minute animated episodes (technically comprising Series Three of the Clone Wars, or chapters 21-25) have been edited together for this presentation into a single longer film (with credits only once each at the start and finish).
Unlike Volume One on DVD, however, the audio here is presented in full Dolby Digital 5.1 (along with English, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround). The 5.1 mix features excellent dynamic range, good overall clarity and imaging, and highly active surrounds. Like the video, it's much better than what you experienced in the original cable broadcasts.
The extras here include another good audio commentary with Tartakovsky and his production team, a solid featurette (Connecting the Dots) on the ways that Clone Wars - Volume Two bridges the gap between Episodes II and III story-wise, a pair of image galleries containing storyboards and production artwork, the final Episode III theatrical trailer, a cute Revenge of the Brick short (featuring animated LEGOs - no kidding) and preview trailers for the Battlefront II and Empire at War videogames. You also get the same two Xbox-playable demo levels of Battlefront II that are found on the just-released Episode III DVD. It's not a ton of material, but it's enough to content most fans.
If you're a devotee of George Lucas's signature universe, Star Wars: Clone Wars - Volume Two is well worth adding to your DVD collection. It's a more engaging and satisfying animated series that takes fuller advantage of Tartakovsky's unique animation style. More importantly, it actually manages to enrich the experience of Revenge of the Sith. If only Episodes I and II had been this cool...
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