THE CLONE WARS THEATRICAL

[darthpsychotic]

August 19 2008
August 11 2008

• demonoid.com
• mininova.org
• thepiratebay.org

[Duke]

Friend of mine saw TCW in press screening few hours ago. Here is a rough translation from her review:

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Music was altered Williams but it was okay. I kind of liked those 2D Clone Wars episodes but these woody 3D characters are something that I really don’t like. And when characters spoke with different voices than they do in the movies it was hard to connect right voice to right character. Only Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Daniels and Christopher Lee were sounding right.

Story is about Jedi going to rescue Jabba’s son, so Jabba would become more favourable for the Republic and they could use Jabba’s territories for passage. Then they have battles and battles and battles against droid armies – lasers going back and forth. This is the half of the movie, so actually nothing really happens they just show these battles.

Then there is this Anakin’s padawan. When Anakin began as a padawan he hardly knew any of the Jedi tricks and still he was considered too old – this Anakin’s padawan seems to be even older than Anakin was but she fights like a Jedi Knight. And besides although she should just have been lectured by Yoda to have Jedi’s attitude for respect and humility, she still is extremely arrogant. Most likely meaning of this is to have some humor in the movie but still breaking the old philosophy is gone too far.

Dialog is collection of clips from all the movies and there are a lot of those clips. They are much more annoying than nostalgic. It feels like they haven’t came up with anything original.

Same goes with the story. There is absolutely nothing new in it. It all feels like recycled ideas. And then there are those laserfights – all I can do is yawn.

When they weren’t shooting lasers (and there weren’t many moments like that!) it was nice for example to see troopers without helmets – that made them more human even though they were clones.

Obi-Wan was made boring as hell (argh that fight with Ventress “you got to do better than that, my darling”). Anakin was pretty okay as a character but his puppy eyed padawan was a gruelling, cheeky brat.

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[Cryostar]

HARRY'S REVIEW

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[align=left]Dammit! Harry hated THE CLONE WARS!

I’ve never hated a STAR WARS film before. I have weathered Jar Jar and any number of Ewoks. I survived Hayden and a wooden Portman. I even accepted Jake Lloyd. I handled all that because it felt like STAR WARS.

I can accept all of Lucas’ flaws, so long as at its heart it felt like Star Wars. I can deal with politics in Star Wars. I can deal with trade skirmishes in Star Wars. I can deal with musical numbers, breathing in the vacuum of space. Basically – so long as it feels like STAR WARS – I can watch any of it.

Was I looking forward to STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (2008)?

FUCKING A!

I was dying. After Genndy’s CLONE WARS – I felt that perhaps Lucas “got it” – and that this new animated series was taking a lead from Tartakovsky’s brilliant assembly of pieces. Genndy’s CLONE WARS got STAR WARS better than anyone has got it since Lawrence Kasdan and Irvin Kershner. Genndy took designs and characters that folks were dissatisfied with and made them cool. He did this by using and adapting the themes created by John Williams, the wholly perfect entity involved with Star Wars along with… the sound effects of Ben Burtt. He understood speed and motion – not just with action, but in editing. He understood classic film composition and iconography. And he knows what BADASS is.

The folks behind this STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS movie… you could tell, they looked at what Genndy did – but they didn’t understand any of it. There’s a shitload of battles and shit going boom. There’s noise everywhere – fury everywhere… but none of it is directed. The music by Kevin Kiner is criminally bad. Why they didn’t employ Paul Dinletir and James Venable is beyond me. No, no – let’s hire the composer of WALKER, TEXAS RANGER. Ahem.

Now – I made excuses for this film as I was watching it. I don’t think you understand how much I love STAR WARS. Maybe you do, maybe you do too.

Before the movie started I was firing myself up to go out after the film and buy that new $200 Hasbro Millenium Falcon. I really wanted to go buy it, and I wanted this movie to empower my brain to go through with that. Instead, I found myself at home – putting on Genndy’s THE CLONE WARS – to try and rebuild my passion – so I can go get that new Falcon.

Instead – I’m thinking I’ll just be here at home enjoying this and that’ll be all I need.

Anyway – as I was watching the film, I was excusing the sloppy shots, the sloppy use of the Clone Troopers and Droids – undoing all the awesome work that Genndy had done – and the droids are silly again. The Clone Troopers are limp. And the Jedi – they’re at 25% power from the mind of Genndy. But I was accepting that. I figured that was Lucas dialing back so that the animated series wouldn’t overpower his features.

Then they introduced Baby Jabba aka Rotta the Huttlet aka Stinky. At the point of this character’s introduction – it officially became, the worst character in the history of STAR WARS. If you hate George Lucas cutsiepoo bullshit – oooooooh boy. You’re gonna have a field day of venting and hatred directed at this unbelievably fucking awful little shit.

Oh – but wait… Little Stinky the Hutt isn’t the worst character in the history of STAR WARS… because Stinky got introduced earlier in the film. As much as I hated lil Stinky… I was weathering Stinky. I seriously was. But later there was a character of such immense shit – offensively bad. The character was so bad, so incredibly awful – that it was a slap to the face. It woke me out of my shit-accepting stupor and made me angry. SUDDENLY my “inner . rage” was awoken.

As I watched this terrifyingly awful character named Ziro the Hutt. A seemingly female Hutt – with tattoos and make-up that sounds like a racist take on a Black New Orleans Crack-Dealing Whore. Because this Hutt speaks ENGLISH – and it is many times worse than I’m actually describing. This character was actually too much for me. So bad that every flaw I was looking past, was now a road sign to inadequacy and mediocrity. All of a sudden my brain realized that Asajj Ventress’ voice no longer was acceptable – and sure enough – the amazing Grey DeLisle, who originally voiced the character back in 2003 – had been replaced by a Nika Futterman – and that voice was missed. The character didn’t have that snarling menace anymore.

I realized that nothing in this animated film felt right. I felt time expanding. It seemed that the film was dragging – nevermind that lots of shit was firing all over the place – and stuff was going boom and things were being revealed. I just didn’t care because this wasn’t what I wanted.

I hated the score, the animation, the shots, the characters and most of all the retarded fucking idiot story.

I hated the film. HATED IT. REALLY HATED IT.

Does this mean the whole Star Wars Animated Series is doomed? No – but it isn’t a good sign. So much of this is awful because of the Hutt plotlines and character. I also feel that Dave Filoni must be a hack. His work here is sloppy – and depending on writers and directing talent – individual episodes may be better. This film was several episodes all strung together – my prayer is that the individual episodes will be both great and awful – and we’ll discover which talents are responsible for each.

That said – the audience did have light applause. My father liked it. My sister felt too much was going on. Me nephew really liked it. That said – Yoko was complaining right along with me. She thought it was shit too. I know Moriarty liked it. Wonder what Quint and Massawyrm thought.

Fuck. I hated a STAR WARS. That fucking sucks.[/align]
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MASSAWYRM'S REVIEW

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[align=left]Hola all. Massawyrm here.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…life was good and a movie named Star Wars rocked our god damned faces off. But those days are gone, in their place an endless stream of merchandising not meant for the average consumer, but the hyper specialized fan who still to this day must own everything and anything properly branded with the Star Wars logo. The inmates run the asylum now as Lucas long ago stopped listening to his soul as an artist - his heart as a storyteller – and has since begun listening to the slavering sheep who cry themselves to sleep at night with their Darth Vader backpacks clutched close to their chests lest they separate it from their beating hearts. He’s long since stopped working with the geniuses of old, replacing them with young, idealistic artists who revere him as some sort of living Man-God and long to carry on his legacy rather than forging their own. He’s forgotten that the most important duty you have to your fanbase is not to give them what they want – but instead to give them what they REALLY want.

Do the sheep REALLY want a bunch of scenes of characters whose destinies we already know fly through a series of dogfights so their pretty ships can go PEWPEWPEW against lifeless moronic droids so incompetent you question the tenacity of anyone that would put them into service let alone fight a war with an army of them? Do the sheep REALLY want to spend the next 20 years of their lives arguing that the movies they love don’t, in fact, suck the hair off of a nutless monkey? Do the sheep REALLY want an animated television series not written for 30-year-old men, but easily amused 8 year olds on Saturday morning between bites of soggy Corn Puffs? Because that’s what they’re fucking getting with The Clone Wars.

This. Is. Shit-ty.

Everything that was wrong with the prequels is wrong again here. There’s not much reason to dredge out all those complaints again. The Prequels aren’t actually Star Wars movies. They’re Fanfic. Bad fanfic that tries to include every element you love about Star Wars without actually using those elements the way they were intended. And while some might argue that it can’t be fanfic if the original creator is involved, I would counter that the creator in question died a long time ago. In a galaxy far, far away. As an artist Lucas is entirely bankrupt, no longer able to conjure a single, tangible, original idea. And unlike other artists in his situation, he isn’t able to properly recycle the ones he had to begin with either.

No, Star Wars is an ailing, dying beached whale of a property, too large to ignore but left too long in the sun to save. And the stench is unimaginable. So leave it to television writers to sit down and come up with a classic solution to lagging ratings. Their genius booster shot in the arm of suckdom? A plucky tween girl sidekick who keeps getting herself into trouble while being delightfully precocious and calling Anakin…Darth fucking Vader himself…Skyguy. Again. And again. And again. Every time this 14-year-old little monster opens her mouth to say something “witty” my jaw went slack and my eyes rolled into the back of my skull. She’s unbearable, absolutely excruciating to watch, and yet she finds herself in almost every scene of the film. She’s around so much I half expected her to pop up in scenes with the emperor or the Hutts, just stumbling into frame while saying something “cute” like “Oops, wrong door,” or “This isn’t the shuttle bay.”

Seriously, the only way she could be any more annoying is if she added the word MEESA to the beginning of every sentence and BOMBAD to the end of it. You beginning to feel me? I get that they might be working towards a Luke Skywalker type transformation, but that doesn’t replace the fact that A) her very presence makes me want to punch the person nearest me in the face repeatedly and B) she will not, ever, play a part in the mythology of the original films…or the fanfic prequel films…at all, unless Lucas goes back in to tinker with them AGAIN. So odds are she will meet a bitter untimely end sometime later in the series, like randomly slamming into an asteroid like the Han Solo clone from Shadows of the Empire. If and when that happens, I MIGHT tune in. If I don’t just youtube the scene. Again. And again. And again.

Then there’s the unending problem of putting characters in peril that we already know the fates of. Look, George. Having Anakin and Count Dooku have a dual ISN’T EXCITING. We already know what happens to Dooku. He died on screen YEARS AGO. We know he doesn’t die at the hands of Skywalker. Nor does Skywalker get so much as a scratch from him. We know this already. So why devote so much time to it, unless you’re completely out of ide…

Oh.

The party’s over guys. The only one’s left here are the folks who haven’t realized it yet. I’m sure the Star wars fan forums are going to be aflutter with the revelations that Dooku once fought Anakin or that Anakin actually once went back to Tatooine, or that Jabba has an Uncle that - unlike other Hutt’s - sounds like a bad New Orleans piano player. But for the rest of us? This is just another episode in a long line of attempts to charge you for something you loved as a kid. I mean honestly, how much shit would we be giving Coppola if he had greenlit The Further Adventures of the Corleone’s? Because that’s what this is.

Will I be watching the series? After an hour and a half of being bored to tears? Not on your life. That path leads only to fear and anger, and we all know that once you start down that path, there is no turning back. If you WANT this to be good rather than KNOWING it will be good, odds are you’re gonna be in the same boat as myself. This is no better than the Prequels. Scrub that hope out of your heart now.

Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm[/align]
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MORIARTY'S REVIEW

[spoil]
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[align=left]Moriarty’s CLONE WARS Review... Sorta...

Hey, everyone. “Moriarty” here.

You know what . phrase I really hate?

“George Lucas raped my childhood.”

No he didn’t. He didn’t “rape” you in any way. That’s such a specifically, intentionally ugly use of the word, and in the end, even if you hate every single thing he’s done since the end of JEDI, he still hasn’t “raped” you at all. He’s never forced you to do anything. Many of us grew up fans of the original trilogy, and I can understand feeling a massive disconnect from what he’s done with the series recently, but “rape”? Hardly.

George Lucas inspired a great deal of my childhood. He ignited a love of film in me that has continued, full force, from 1977 to today. I was there for the theatrical runs of the STAR WARS films. I was rabid long before there was an Internet. And the thing that Harry and I were first in contact over was the teaser trailer for STAR WARS: THE SPECIAL EDITIONS.

Since I started at AICN, I have written thousands and thousands and thousands of words about STAR WARS. Timing’s a funny thing, because right around the time I got actively involved with the site was the time that prequel rumors really started heating up. And we covered them. The real ones. The fake ones. The silly ones. The ones that made us hope. It was a thrilling time, and I was living with a good buddy, Segue Zagnut, and his wife while all that was going on. Obi-Swan was always over. All of our friends were STAR WARS crazy. It was just a great time to be a film geek and, in particular, a STAR WARS fan.

Here are a few of the highlights of the STAR WARS coverage I’ve done over the years here at the site.

Here’s my reaction to the EPISODE I teaser trailer, which was a great evening for fandom overall just because of that feeling of community.

Here’s my review of the script for EPISODE I. It was, as you can, published a wee bit early, which is what kicked off Lucasfilm’s now-decade-long war against me and, on a slightly wider scale, the site.

When I went to ShoWest in 1999, the Fox presentation was one of the things I covered.

As a result of that EPISODE I script review, I was Banned From The Ranch. Officially. How we learned that fact became the subject of this article, which earned me more mail than almost anything else I’ve ever written for the site.

That ban is evidently still in place today, which seems ridiculous, but we’ll get into that later.

So of course, I had to write a review for the script to EPISODE II, just to tweak George a bit.

Here’s my EPISODE I review once the film was finally finished.

Here’s my EPISODE II review once the film was finally finished.

And here's the summation of it all, my EPISODE III review, as well.

As some of you will remember, I spent over a year organizing “Jedi Council” meetings for AICN, roundtable discussions with other fans that we posted as massive transcripts. They were so much fun, but our search engine just coughs at me and then shits on the floor when I try to ask it to pull all those articles up.

I found a few, though. Like this one.

Or this one.

Or this one.

Or this one.

The point is, I’ve written about STAR WARS for almost ten years here at the site, and I’ve been thinking about it nonstop as a fan for thirty-one years.

And I think it’s time to stop.

You did it, Mr. Lucas. You finally broke me of the habit. The embargo that you told Warner Bros. to enforce on our site, the ONLY SITE OR MEDIA OUTLET ANYWHERE THAT WAS HELD TO THAT EMBARGO DATE, is a very clear signal. You don’t want me to write about STAR WARS. And it may have taken me this long to realize that it’s not just that you don’t want me to spoil secrets... you don’t want me to write about it AT ALL... but I’ve finally taken the hint.

Yeah, I’m the only regular reviewer here at the site who kind of liked THE CLONE WARS. And, yeah, I’ll be tuning in with Toshi to watch every episode of the series, and I’m sure I’ll watch the live-action show, too.

But as of right now, midnight in Los Angeles on August 15, 2008, I am done writing about STAR WARS. No more. No reviews. No retrospectives. No news. No coverage at all. Because embargoes can work the other way, too. If it pains Lucas on a professional and a personal and a corporate level that someone who was part of the generation that made him a billionaire has an opinion about his product, then I will spare him that pain from now on. Happily.

Because let’s be honest... I love STAR WARS (which is what I still call the first film) and EMPIRE, and all the others are, I think, inferior product that I enjoy on a much more surface level. I love the iconography of the universe Lucas created. I love lightsabers and robots and spaceships and Art Deco intergalactic architecture, and I love Jedi Knights and Sith Lords and all that stuff. I can’t wait to play the FORCE UNLEASHED video game next month, and I’ll happily admit to having read the novelizations of both CLONE WARS and FORCE UNLEASHED that were sent over for review. The book for CLONE WARS is better than the movie, by the way. It explains more (including the idea that Hutts reproduce asexually, and only once, making Jabba’s link to his son far more dramatic) and there’s a slightly more adult tone to the whole thing. I enjoy all of this stuff, openly and without any of the baggage that seems to have poisoned a lot of fandom these days.

But maybe that’s because it’s no longer that important to me overall. You go back and read some of those pieces I wrote in 1998 or 1999, and that’s a hardcore STAR WARS fan, a guy who still believes that STAR WARS is an important cornerstone of genre film. These days, I consider it one of the many, many influences that turned me on to my overall love of film, but that’s it. It is not something I spend much time thinking about or watching. I doubt I’ll watch any of the films again until my kids are ready to see them. To be perfectly frank, I have something like 9000 or 10000 movies in my house, and yet I don’t have a single copy of any of the prequels. That sort of tells you how important the movies are to me these days.

You win, Mr. Lucas. When I was getting ready to see THE CLONE WARS, I was told there was an embargo in place, so I was prepared to honor it until opening day. What I wasn’t prepared for was the punitive and offensive way the rest of the situation was handled. Warner Bros. has a great publicity team that I deal with all the time, and although every single communication I got was from them, they were out of character. Warner never once blamed Lucasfilm for any of this, but come on... I know what was going on. Warner tried their best to behave with honor to Lucasfilm and to us, and they got just as screwed as we did.

I am sorry that I ever spend the time and energy I did on STAR WARS, Mr. Lucas. I am sorry that I poured my money and, before that, my parents’ money into your pockets. I’m sorry that after decades of being a fan, even when there was no new STAR WARS to satisfy that craving, I somehow made your life so unbearable simply by sharing my enthusiasm for that world with our readership.

You win. I’m done. From now on, my opinion about STAR WARS is for me and for my immediate friends, and that’s that. Your embargo has opened my eyes, and I wish you nothing but peace now that the threat of me saying something as controversial as “His cartoon movie’s kind of fun” has been erased. The internet is safe now. STAR WARS is safe now. Congratulations.

Like I said... George Lucas didn’t rape anything.

But he sure is a fucking bully.[/align]
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AICN posted 2 very negative reviews yesterday but were contacted by the studio and pulled them. apparently there's a review embargo until friday. hollywoodreporter.com posted their review and said it sucks too. Basically, pretty visuals, bad story.

Saw that. Merrick liked it, Harry and Mass didn't. Shrug.

I think it's a kids flick, as long as I go in with that mindset, I think I'll be good. I know my girls will at least.

[Daglington]

[spoil]
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[align=left]Press views: The Clone Wars

The Clone Wars premiere
The animation was premiered in Los Angeles
Critics have been delivering their verdicts on Star Wars: The Clone Wars which premiered in LA on Sunday.

The latest offering from George Lucas is an animated version of the cult sci-fi series.

Set between Episodes II and III - Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith - the movie follows Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker as they battle evil Count Dooku and his army.

MICHAEL RECHTSHAFFEN, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Situated chronologically between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith in the Star Wars saga, Star Wars: The Clone Wars serves as the maiden voyage for Lucasfilm Animation, but despite the exclusively CGI rendering, this anticipated new episode is at best a reasonable facsimile.

Frankly, given the newer instalments' increasing reliance on CGI effects, the transition from live action to animation isn't really all that dramatic and that's part of the problem with the latest adventure.

Read the full review

TODD MCCARTHY, VARIETY

One could say that excluding them from the big screen Star Wars saga was the equivalent of writing the history of the United States and leaving out the Civil War.

The omission, however, left Lucas and his cohorts with the opportunity to invent a virtually endless array of battles, which is what Clone Wars mostly consists of: a little exposition, an invasion; some more exposition, a light sabre fight; a bit more blah-blah, a spaceship dog fight; and on and on.

Read the full review

JAMES DYER, EMPIRE

The spiritual (and chronological) successor to Genndy Tartakovsky's animated series, this computer-generated tale boasts similarly stylised visuals and over-the-top action.

The hyper-real outlook takes some getting used to, but once you've made the transition, the beauty of Filoni's brave new world becomes apparent.

Read the full review

RICHARD EDWARDS, SFX

The characters may be heavily stylised CGI caricatures of the saga's heroes and villains, but the essence of George Lucas's creation remains in a movie that bests at least two of the prequels.

Indeed, The Clone Wars' brand of simplistic, action-heavy storytelling is a fantastic breath of fresh air after the complex political machinations that bogged down much of Episodes I and II.

Read the full review

SEBASTIAN CORDOBA, THE VINE

The main characters resemble thunderbird puppets and have marionette-like movements that you would not expect from a modern day CGI movie.

The animation overall is uninspiring and this is an absolute pity given the potential for a movie set in the Star Wars universe.

Read the full review [/align]
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BBC website has links for a few more reviews. I haven't bothered looking through them that much, but they don't seem particularly positive.

[Joe1138]

BBC website has links for a few more reviews. I haven't bothered looking through them that much, but they don't seem particularly positive.

Given the polarizing early fan response to the clips and images we all saw last year I can't imagine anyone would be particularly surprised by the reaction the film is getting. I think like with most everything Star Wars post '97, the series and film will have its supporters and its detractors.

One could say that excluding them from the big screen Star Wars saga was the equivalent of writing the history of the United States and leaving out the Civil War.

The omission, however, left Lucas and his cohorts with the opportunity to invent a virtually endless array of battles, which is what Clone Wars mostly consists of: a little exposition, an invasion; some more exposition, a light sabre fight; a bit more blah-blah, a spaceship dog fight; and on and on.

And that's precisely why Lucas didn't show the Clone Wars during his prequel films.

[VT-16]

which is what Clone Wars mostly consists of: a little exposition, an invasion; some more exposition, a light sabre fight; a bit more blah-blah, a spaceship dog fight; and on and on.

Yeah, what does a bunch of battles have to do with Star Wars anyway?

[Bandersnatch]

I seem to recall, not so long ago right here on these very internets, a bunch of critics and gay fan boys ripping The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones for being too talky, clunky, wooden and flat.

Now the new animated show has too much action?

Meesa no understandin' it...

[Mr. Pickles]

Before everyone heads-off to the theatre thinking they're in for something great. No, it's not even "good", IMO. Everything you hate about EpI & II is here. No, actually this is much worse.

Can't wait until I start hearing how "AWESOME" & "COOL" The Clone Wars cartoon is from some of you--'cause, hate to burst your collective bacta bubbles, but no, it's not. Just wait until all the reviews start coming in & back me up. It's nothing more than a promotional stunt to sell more toys & launch the T.V. series. Essentially, yet another Lucas cash-grab. Maybe it won't divide the fanbase like the prequels did, but it will reveal which peeps are the complete embarrassment of the fanbase. Will it be you?

No, those tools are all over at TF.N & Rebelscum.

I posted my glib review over there & they all acted like I knocked-up their sisters.

Which, in all honesty, I probably did.

[Cryostar]

Honestly, who thought it was more than a cash grab?

Property values in San Francisco have plumetted, Lucas has to pay for the Presido some how.

[Bandersnatch]

Ebert's review is up:


[spoil]
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[align=left]Star Wars: The Clone Wars

// / August 14, 2008


Cast & Credits
With the voices of:
Anakin: Matt Manter
Padme: Catherine Taber
Obi-Wan Kenobi: James Arnold Taylor
Count Dooku: Christopher Lee
Mace Windu: Samuel L. Jackson

Warner Bros. presents a film directed by Dave Filoni. Written by Henry Gilroy, Steven Melching and Scott Murphy. Running time: 98 minutes. Rated PG (for sci-fi action violence throughout, brief language and momentary smoking). Opening today at local theaters.

By Roger Ebert

Has it come to this? Has the magical impact of George Lucas' original vision of "Star Wars" been reduced to the level of Saturday morning animation? "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," which is a continuation of an earlier animated TV series, is basically just a 98-minute trailer for the autumn launch of a new series on the Cartoon Network.

The familiar "Star Wars" logo and the pulse-pounding John Williams score now lift the curtain on a deadening film that cuts corners on its animation and slumbers through a plot that (a) makes us feel like we've seen it all before, and (b) makes us wish we hadn't.

The action take place between the events in the "real" movies "Episode II: Attack of the Clones" and "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith." The Republic is still at war with the Separatists, its access to the Galactic Rim is threatened and much depends on pleasing the odious Jabba the Hutt, whose child had been kidnapped -- by the Jedi, he is told.

It's up to Anakin Skywalker and his new Padawan pupil, Ahsoka Tano, to find the infant, while Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda lead the resistance to a Separatist onslaught. And if all of this means little to you, you might as well stop reading now. It won't get any better.

This is the first feature-length animated "Star Wars" movie, but instead of pushing the state of the art, it's retro. You'd think the great animated films of recent years had never been made. The characters have hair that looks molded from Play-Doh, bodies that seem arthritic, and moving lips on half-frozen faces -- all signs that shortcuts were taken in the animation work.

The dialogue in the original "Star Wars" movies had a certain grace, but here the characters speak to one another in simplistic declamation, and Yoda gets particularly tiresome with his once-charming speech pattern. To quote the famous line by Wolcott Gibbs, "Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind."

The battle scenes are interminable, especially once we realize that although the air is filled with bullets, shells and explosive rockets, no one we like is going to be killed. The two armies attack each other, for some reason, only on a wide street in a towering city. First one army advances, then the other. Why not a more fluid battle plan? To save money on backgrounds, I assume. The trick that Anakin and his Padawan learner use to get behind the enemy force field (essentially, they hide under a box) wouldn't even have fooled anybody in a Hopalong Cassidy movie -- especially when they stand up and run with their legs visible, but can't see where they're going.

Ahsoka Tano, by the way, is annoying. She bats her grapefruit-sized eyes at Anakin and offers suggestions that invariably prove her right and her teacher wrong. At least when we first met Yoda, he was offering useful advice. Which reminds me. I'm probably wrong, but I don't think anyone in this movie ever refers to The Force.

You know you're in trouble when the most interesting new character is Jabba the Hutt's uncle. The big revelation is that Jabba has an infant to be kidnapped. The big discovery is that Hutts look like that when born, only smaller. The question is, who is Jabba's wife? The puzzle is, how do Hutts copulate? Like snails, I speculate. If you don't know how snails do it, let's not even go there. The last thing this movie needs is a Jabba the Hutt sex scene. [/align]
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"Has the magical impact of George Lucas' original vision of "Star Wars" been reduced to the level of Saturday morning animation?"

[Raveers]

[spoil]
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[align=left]By George, Give Up!

One critic begs and pleads for George Lucas to PLEASE stop already ...

By Jim Emerson
Special to MSN Movies

If George Lucas had given up directing after his first theatrical feature, "THX 1138," we would not have had "American Graffiti" or "Star Wars" as it existed when fanatical masses were camping out to see it (again and again) in the summer of 1977. Then again, we wouldn't have had "The Phantom Menace" (aka "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace") either, so there's always a bright side.

If Lucas had given up producing (or, more accurately, "executive producing," which could mean anything from developing a project to slapping his name on an already finished film), we might have been spared "Howard the Duck," but we wouldn't have had the "Indiana Jones" movies. The seriousness of the trade-off there largely depends on whether you've actually tried to watch "Howard the Duck."

Ever since the very first (er, fourth)"Star Wars" movie, Lucas has been talking about getting back to making those "small, personal" movies he claims he's always wanted to do. But for his last 30 years as a producer he has devoted himself almost entirely to "Star Wars"- and "Indiana Jones"-related projects: "The Ewok Adventure," "Ewoks" (animated TV series), "Droids" (animated TV adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO), Star Tours (Star Wars-based Disney amusement park ride), "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" (TV), "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" (TV series), "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" (home video), "Treasure of the Hidden Planet" (set between "Star Wars" Episodes III and IV), "Star Wars: Clone Wars" (animated TV series, 2003-2005), "The Clone Wars" (another animated TV series), "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (2008 video game), "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (soon-to-be-released animated feature film), "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" (video game), "Untitled Star Wars TV Series" (live action, scheduled to begin in 2009). He also reportedly plans to reprocess all the "Star Wars" films with Industrial Light and Magic's Dimensionalization software and reissue them yet again in "3-D" versions.

That's not all of them, but you get the picture. After 22 years of product management, Lucas returned to directing with the unfortunate "Phantom Menace," and completed the prequel trilogy with "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith" between 1999 and 2005. Were these the "small, personal" films he'd been waiting all this time to create? Apparently not. He's still talking about an urge to get small, get personal, with his movies.

One word of advice for Mr. Lucas: Don't.

Two words: Please don't.

First of all, given Lucas' obsessive, single-minded devotion to the comic-book mythology and minutiae of what is commonly referred to as "the Star Wars saga" (we won't even go into the "extended universe"), what at this point could conceivably be more "personal" to Lucas, or offer more profound insight into his innermost psyche, than Star Wars? He directed two films before "Star Wars" -- "THX 1138" (1971) and "American Graffiti" (1973) -- and for the rest of his adult life, from his 30s into his 60s, he has committed himself to comic-book and storybook fantasies, including "Labyrinth," "Willow" and "The Land Before Time."

Secondly, Lucas' talents as a director have eroded dramatically over the years. Let's put things into perspective. Between 1971 and 1977, Lucas directed "little" movies. "THX 1138" felt like an expanded student film (which it was), set in an overexposed, dystopian science fiction universe, and is now best known for providing the name of Lucasfilm's sound design system/certification. "American Graffiti" was the closest thing to an autobiographical Lucas movie, a poignantly nostalgic ensemble comedy about the adventures of a group of teenagers on the last night of summer. Not only was it a gigantic hit (and the inspiration for TV's long-running "Happy Days"), but it was also hugely influential, triggering a wave of 1950s nostalgia, pioneering the use of the licensed-song scores (and best-selling soundtrack albums made from repackaged hits), and introducing (or at least popularizing) a technique that would be copied and parodied for years: the closing series of titles that spells out what happened to the characters in later years.

Here's the problem: After "American Graffiti," "Star Wars" was, directorially speaking, a significant leap backward. The state-of-the-art technological effects served a Buck Rogers mentality. And that was perfectly fine, because (for all the allusions to Joseph Campbell and Akira Kurosawa Westerns like "The Hidden Fortress") that's exactly what it is. Critics who actually "got" the movie in 1977, whether they went along for the ride or not, weren't proved wrong. They were proved irrelevant, shouted down by cheering crowds and Dolby zaps, roars and explosions (in the vacuum of space, no less!).

Influential New Yorker critic Pauline Kael wrote: "Maybe the only real inspiration involved in 'Star Wars' was to set its sci-fi galaxy in the pop-culture past, and turn old-movie ineptness into conscious Pop Art. And maybe there's a touch of genius in keeping it so consistently what it is, even if this is the genius of the plodding. Lucas has got the tone of bad movies down pat: you never catch the actors deliberately acting badly, they just seem to be bad actors, on contract to Monogram or Republic, their klunky enthusiasm polished at the Ricky Nelson school of acting." But while Kael recognized that the movie was "synthesized from the mythology of serials and old comic books" -- "THX 1138" began with an actual trailer for a Buck Rogers serial -- generations of "Star Wars" fans had no idea what she was talking about.

But even the quaint pulp zippiness of the early Star Wars trilogy was completely overwhelmed by digital artificiality by the time of the prequels. Returning as writer-director for the first time since "Episode IV -- A New Hope" , Lucas seemed dwarfed by the intricate mythology he had created. He dutifully carried out his mission, but with the evident enthusiasm of a battle droid mindlessly going through preprogrammed motions. OK, so Kaboo Wingtang was a Plebian Underlord who lobbied for excessive trade tariffs. Not even Lucas seemed to care, but he felt obligated to include the information, like a fifth grader cramming his book report with irrelevant plot details. (I don't think there's a Plebian Underlord named Kaboo Wingtang -- I could be wrong -- but that doesn't matter. But the trade tariffs do kick off the whole saga.)

Lucas' return to directing only confirmed what had been apparent for many years: He's a mogul, not a director.

"I've enjoyed 'Star Wars' enormously," Lucas told Wired magazine, "but it's great to be able to look forward to projects that I've wanted to do for a long time. I get to go back to what I was doing before this big thing happened." That was in 2005. Nobody believed it then, either.

By 2008, Lucas was telling The New York Times that "Star Wars" kept distracting him from writing those other things he wanted to write. Just when he thought he was out, it pulled him back in. Like a black hole. Still, if anyone could afford to make whatever movie he wanted, even if it's only for himself, it's Lucas.

"Maybe it ends up in a festival somewhere," he said. "Maybe it ends up in half a dozen theaters around the country for a couple weeks." Then again, in reference to his friend (and longtime executive producer) Francis Ford Coppola's "little, personal movie" from last year, "Youth Without Youth," Lucas asked the Times rhetorically: "Did you see it? Uh, no. Did you even know it came out?" Clearly he remains ambivalent about self-expression on a less-than-intergalactic scale. As the Times headline proclaimed, Lucas was "Free to Follow His Heart Right Back to 'Star Wars'."

But let's say, for the sake of argument, that Lucas did come up with something more personal than Luke (christened after his own high school nickname) Skywalker. His last film to acknowledge adult concerns (adult sexuality, adult emotions) was "THX 1138," co-written with sound designer Walter Murch and directed when he was 26. Any signs that he has grown up since then? Or did Kael's description of those who were hailing "Star Wars" as the film of the year apply even more so to Lucas' arrested development, which "goes way past nostalgia to the feeling that now is the time to return to childhood"?

Think of it this way: Do you want to see Jerry Bruckheimer's "small, personal" films? Michael Bay's? Rupert Murdoch's?

George: Stick to the moneymaking, which is what your empire does best. Leave the moviemaking to somebody else.

Agree or disagree? Will you see "Star Wars: The Clone Wars"? Write us at heymsn@microsoft.com [/align]
[hr]
[/spoil]


People need to lighten up. This has been obviously geared towards kids. Most Star Wars fans and critics take themselves way too seriously. This article on msn proves my point.

[Joe1138]

You know, when I walked out of the theater last night i basically came ot the realization that for me Star Wars is Episodes I-VI and that's it. Clone Wars is fun but forgettable. It held my interest to the same degree that the micro series did but I didn't loose any sleep over that fact that the film didn't blow me away. Then again, I wasn't that pumped for this flick, I mean the fact that I showed up at the theater 10 minutes before show time (and still got a good seat) should tell you all you need to know about where I coming from on this.

I think most of the complaints we've been hearing about this film are more along the lines of the same Lucas bashing rhetoric that we've seen for the past nine years.

[Topeka]

I saw two theaters excitedly packed with kids under the age of 10. This film is geared toward them and marketed succesfully so.

[foxbatkllr]

The movie was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. No it's not a 7th Star Wars movie and the critics seem to completely forget that. It is what it is. The droid banter was hilarious. I really had a lot of fun watching. A good way to kill an hour and a half.

[jad]

Can't wait until I start hearing how "AWESOME" & "COOL" The Clone Wars cartoon is from some of you--'cause, hate to burst your collective bacta bubbles, but no, it's not. Just wait until all the reviews start coming in & back me up. It's nothing more than a promotional stunt to sell more toys & launch the T.V. series. Essentially, yet another Lucas cash-grab. Maybe it won't divide the fanbase like the prequels did, but it will reveal which peeps are the complete embarrassment of the fanbase. Will it be you?

No, those tools are all over at TF.N & Rebelscum.

I haven't seen the flick yet, so I dunno if I'll like it or hate it. Could go either way, but I didn't start a post to discuss that. I wanted to comment on what you said above. Using your quoted example, if I ended up liking it I guess I would be the "embarrassment of the fanbase". Why would anyone actually give a shit enough to care though? You're coming off as somewhat of a tool yourself if you actually value the opinion of people you don't know on the internet...

[Joe1138]

The droid banter was hilarious.

Yeah, I thought the battle droid humor was better in Clone Wars than in any of the prequels.

[Ayatollah Krispies]

This has been obviously geared towards kids.

You know, it's possible for something to be geared towards kids and still be accessible to all ages, extremely well made, and overall worth your time; like, say, practically all of the Pixar movies. It's also possible for something to be directed at kids and yet still suck, like, say, Speed Racer. If Lucas or anyone else at Lucasfilm Animation went into this endeavor with the attitude that it's "for kids" and therefore doesn't have to be good, I hope they get exactly the audience they deserve.

[ETandElliott]

Yeah I was about to say the same thing. The interviews with the geek in the fedora didn't lead me to believe this was a strictly kiddie affair. Regardless I'm not seeing it.

[Raveers]

Well I guess in a way Ayatollah you are correct. I plan on seeing it but I will wait for it to come out on DVD to see it. It's just too damn expensive to go to the theaters these days. Hell it was nearly $20 for tickets alone when my dad and I went to see The Dark Knight.

[stan Marsh]

...

You're coming off as somewhat of a tool yourself if you actually value the opinion of people you don't know on the internet...

ooops, I was about to post a pic of the new shirt I just bought for opinions

you are also not cool if you enjoyed episode 2 in case you didn't know. everyone must fall in line and have the same opinion or else lose status as a true fan and be shunned from the cool fans on the internet.

[Mr J in the UK]

Right I've not seen this fella yet but I can't believe there haven't been any reviews on MF. Go on then, hit me (not literally though), is it worth going to see or hopeless nonsense that should be fired into a nearby star...

[Emperor's Prize]

If you're a big SW fan: You may want to catch this one in the theater because, quite frankly, it's a gorgeous film from a purely visual standpoint (wooden characters notwithstanding) and seeing the Clone Wars in full swing, on the big screen might be something you'd want to see. However ... you'll have to be prepared to look past a number of faults to be able to enjoy it.

Basically, unless you're willing to go into the film in a forgiving mood, you may want to wait for a Netflix rental, especially if you've got a solid home theater system.

At any rate, here' my full REVIEW:

[spoil]
[hr]
[align=left]In recent years, Star Wars has become something of a flashpoint in pop culture. About a decade ago, Star Wars held a nearly unimpeachable public opinion as seemingly everyone remembered, with great nostalgia, the power and glory of the original trilogy. Then the prequel trilogy arrived and it polarized … just about everyone. Now, over three years since the “last Star Wars movie ever” bowed in theaters, we get the release of The Clone Wars, an hour-and-a-half of pure CGI action, narrative and character. Is it a money grab from Star Wars creator George Lucas? Probably. But even if it is, he can likely be forgiven if the final result is worthy of the Star Wars brand which seemingly everyone once remembered so fondly. The verdict?

There’s plenty here to both like and dislike. Those who want to enjoy another Star Wars cinematic experience can easily look past the warts and faults to find something they will appreciate. Those who are more concerned with pointing out yet another of George Lucas’ mistakes (and he had plenty with the prequel trilogy) will ignore the good and go straight to the parts that can be mocked.

On the positive side, The Clone Wars features the best, most vivid, most frenetic, most copious amounts of action ever seen from Star Wars on the big screen. For anyone who wanted to see the legendary Clone Wars close up, this film is worthwhile based on that element alone. The CGI is brilliantly rendered and the action is brutally honest (perhaps too much so for the younglings in the audience). But the action is also aided by the discussions of strategies and tactics in such a way as to allow the audience to know and understand exactly what is at stake in the various battle sequences. Add in a fair amount of lightsaber action and duels and, without question, the overall action is the film’s most prominent strength.

The story itself, while it may, perhaps, be a bit too convoluted, was good in terms of its ability to provide connections between the trilogies, focusing on the continued machinations of Darth Sidious and Count Dooku to not only orchestrate the flow of the war, but also to undermine the Jedi Order in the process. There are a few issues, such as the Padme subplot, or the decision to make the surface level story about the search for Jabba’s son, but for the most part, the narrative was tightly focused and kept the movie moving at an energetic pace from start to finish – taking us from Coruscant to Tatooine and to two new planets in between. And actually, I didn’t think that the Jabba angle was as bad as I had anticipated it being.

The film’s characters are a mixed bag. Obi-Wan Kenobi shines as a powerful tactician and warrior, relentless in the pursuit of his objectives. But he also spends long periods of the film simply playing “catch up” to Anakin Skywalker. Anakin is perhaps the most inconsistent character, but that is the result of the film’s most questionable decision: to give him a Padawan learner, a girl by the name of Ahsoka Tano. Her character challenges Anakin to be more responsible and “proper” even when his instincts urge him to be as reckless as we see in Attack of the Clones. And while I certainly enjoyed Ahsoka’s spunk and tenacity, the interactions between her and Anakin are, perhaps, some of the film’s weakest elements. Instead of playful banter, their exchanges often tilt toward outright bickering – and seeing Anakin bicker with a young girl just doesn’t compute on screen.

And speaking of characters, the weakest element of the film is, undeniably, the visual look of the characters, particularly of the humans. The design was meant to provide an interpretation of Genndy Tartakovsky’s very stylized look in the “Clone Wars” cartoon series (2003-2005). But with everything else in the film so realistically portrayed – down to the Clone Troopers themselves – the stylized characters, especially in three dimensions, are distractingly bizarre. And it’s ironic. One of the major criticisms of the actors in the Star Wars saga was that their performances were often too wooden. In The Clone Wars, they look like they have been literally carved out of wood. Who knows … perhaps it’s supposed to be an inside joke. But even if it is, the on-screen look is still embarrassing enough to pull viewers completely out of the movie.

It’s a shame because it ruins some enjoyable voicework, particularly from James Arnold Taylor (Final Fantasy X) as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Also featured in reprising roles are Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu, Christopher Lee as Count Dooku and Anthony Daniels as C-3PO. The support work is also well done and quite enjoyable. The result is to create characters who, had they been rendered a bit more realistically, would have been complex and compelling enough to generate some interest all on their own.

And what of the soundtrack? A full soundtrack review is available HERE. Within the film, the soundtrack is very, very strong. Because this is CGI and because this is a different take on Star Wars, the fact that the score isn’t from John Williams is not an issue. Kevin Kiner’s score is suitably epic and energetic and colorful – to match the colorful, action-packed visuals that we so often see on screen.

Overall Grade: C+
(If you’re the forgiving sort, give it a B-)

So is The Clone Wars a good film?

Yes.

And no.

If you’re a Star Wars fan, you owe it to yourself to see The Clone Wars (whether it’s the theater or on DVD is up to you) and make up your own mind about it. But you’ll have to decide through which lens to view this movie — forgiving, or critical. If you’re a casual moviegoer, you might still want to catch this on the big screen, simply to enjoy the action and the visuals. But you’ll have to endure a few bumps along the way.

As for me … I had fun.[/align]
[hr]
[/spoil]

[Topeka]

It opened to $15.5 million this weekend, which shows there really wasn't that much interest outside of the -12 demographic.

It had its moments. The opening battle of Christophsis was great. Obi-Wan vs. Ventress was the action highlight for me. The theater was packed with kids, and they seemed to love it.

[Mr. Pickles]

Before everyone heads-off to the theatre thinking they're in for something great. No, it's not even "good", IMO. Everything you hate about EpI & II is here. No, actually this is much worse.

Can't wait until I start hearing how "AWESOME" & "COOL" The Clone Wars cartoon is from some of you--'cause, hate to burst your collective bacta bubbles, but no, it's not. Just wait until all the reviews start coming in & back me up. It's nothing more than a promotional stunt to sell more toys & launch the T.V. series. Essentially, yet another Lucas cash-grab. Maybe it won't divide the fanbase like the prequels did, but it will reveal which peeps are the complete embarrassment of the fanbase. Will it be you?

[s]No, those tools are all over at TF.N & Rebelscum. [/s]

I posted my glib review over there & they all acted like I knocked-up their sisters.

Which, in all honesty, I probably did.

FIXED: Nope, they're here too.

When did MF posters go so soft?! This is DP's domain, and it ain't bean-bag over here.

I could give a fuck less what other people think of my comments. It's just a place to leave an opinion and go on the record about something. That way I can find out who the other like-minded peeps are. It's an easy way to find out who's worth paying attention to on these boards and whom to skip over.

Clearly those who take personal offense because The Clone Wars sucked are not the type of douches I'd bother to wipe my ass with. The old chestnut "Well, it's just a kids movie, so it's okay that it's stupid" is one of the weakest arguements of all-time. Seen a Pixar movie latey?

So if ya don't like what ya read, ignore it, move along. Why bother responding? It must help heal the wound of finding out that you have no sense of taste what-so-ever. You're the type of ass clown that puts ketchup on steak. Idiot.

Sorry if I temporarily derailed the soundtrack thread, DP. My bad.

Guess I'll just go back to being a fly on the wall and posting once every 4 months.

[Cryostar]

It opened to $15.5 million this weekend, which shows there really wasn't that much interest outside of the -12 demographic.

It had its moments. The opening battle of Christophsis was great. Obi-Wan vs. Ventress was the action highlight for me. The theater was packed with kids, and they seemed to love it.

I'll agree with most of that Topeka. The kids around me were glued to the screen, and despite how much I cringed @ stinky, all I could hear about was how funny he was. I'll give it 3 out of 5, and maybe a 4 if it helps me get my adult oriented Live Action Series. I was also rather fond of the Dooku Anakin duel.

[TroyObliX]

I could give a fuck less what other people think of my comments.

As it should be. Personally, I haven't seen this yet because I'm a broke mo fo'. But the fact that you didn't like it won't stop me one bit. You should feel free to hate shit if ya' want to. As long as you explain it. And you did, so good job with the descriptively not liking something! I don't see too many people jumping on you for anything, allthough I am too lazy to reread this entire thread.

[Cryostar]

I felt like jumping on Troy for being a lazy mofo, but his laziness has infected me.

[TiniTinyTony]

I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. It was definitely very visually stimulating, but as said above since this takes places between Episodes II and III, we know that know one we like is going to die, and with the series coming to TV, I knew they weren't going to kill off Ahsoka.

It would have been nice for Lucas to have the foresight to see that the Clone Wars would have been good, IF his movies were more centered around them, but instead he begins them and ends them with Episodes II and III respectively, and we still have Ep I which everyone hates anyway. But what are you going to do, right? What's done is done.

Also, as it has been said above, Star Wars is and will always be Episodes I - VI and that's how I view them, the story of Anakin Skywalker. Anything else is bonus, but otherwise forgettable.

I doubt Lucas has anything left in him that will make a top 100 list of greatest movies of all time. I'll take what Star Wars I can get, and hopefully enjoy it, for I will continue to let him attempt to entertain me while he still chooses to do it.

[Joe1138]

Basically, unless you're willing to go into the film in a forgiving mood, you may want to wait for a Netflix rental, especially if you've got a solid home theater system.

Lucasfilm would be crazy not to release this on Blu-Ray.

You know, the more I think about it the more I wish Clone Wars would gave been a made for TV movie-broadcast in full scope ratio. I mean wouldn't it have made sense to debut a feature for a series that promises cinema quality animation every week on TV... on TV?

[Raveers]

Hopefully next year Lucasfilm releases the Star Wars saga on Blu-Ray.

[Ayatollah Krispies]

You know, the more I think about it the more I wish Clone Wars would gave been a made for TV movie-broadcast in full scope ratio. I mean wouldn't it have made sense to debut a feature for a series that promises cinema quality animation every week on TV... on TV?

Yeah, but then he wouldn't have had a test run for his plan to release the debut of the live-action series in theaters.

Weekend take for this film was $22M worldwide. I doubt its production budget was anywhere remotely near that. It doesn't matter what the reviews are like -- this is going in Lucas's win column.

[Cryostar]

Keep in mind that these 4 episodes will debut in a few weeks on Cartoon Network as well, which means lucas will get a cut of the commercial revenue as well.

[Joe1138]

Hopefully next year Lucasfilm releases the Star Wars saga on Blu-Ray.

I hope so too. I don't know if we'll see the saga on BD that soon but Bill Hunt over at The Digital Bits has hinted that we might see more Indy Jones in high-def next year. Coupled with the confirmed "Crystal Skull" disc thats set to debut this fall, that's about as close to an acknowledgment as we're likely to get at this point. I'm just glad it (probably) won't be as much of an uphill battle to get the saga on BD as it was to get anything Lucafilm on disc in the early days of DVD.

Weekend take for this film was $22M worldwide. I doubt its production budget was anywhere remotely near that. It doesn't matter what the reviews are like -- this is going in Lucas's win column.

Keep in mind that these 4 episodes will debut in a few weeks on Cartoon Network as well, which means lucas will get a cut of the commercial revenue as well.

I've heard the budget for the flick was around $10 mil (gotta wonder if that includes the marketing as well). I'm willing to bet "Clone Wars" was well into (or very near) profits with the licensing revenue alone. The weekend take was probably just icing on the cake. Lucas you cagey bastard.

[darthpsychotic]

Right I've not seen this fella yet but I can't believe there haven't been any reviews on MF. Go on then, hit me (not literally though), is it worth going to see or hopeless nonsense that should be fired into a nearby star...

FIXED: Nope, they're here too. When did MF posters go so soft?! This is DP's domain, and it ain't bean-bag over here. Sorry if I temporarily derailed the soundtrack thread, DP. My bad.

I plan on seeing it but I will wait for it to come out on DVD to see it. It's just too damn expensive to go to the theaters these days.

Right now the television forum settings maybe set to mods-only can post topics and others were using the soundtrack thread to post reviews and links. The forums settings are such to prevent inane speculative threads and also related to MF.com's ghetto frontpage areas. A review thread should have been created once the articles were posted, however I was waiting for the cam to leak because hey that's how we roll.

Regarding this being my domain, MF.com is my version of Ternian's private Attack Of The Clones-era ezboard, which housed SI's shooting script. In other words, the same people who spoiled and leaked Attack Of The Clones, were basically the same ones who spoiled and leaked the Original Trilogy 2004 DVDs and Revenge Of The Sith here, only publically.

The Clone Wars "movie" is actually the first three episodes with new footage tied together so one doesn't have to wait till the DVD comes out. That is you can view the movie this October 3, 2008 when 1/3 of the movie airs as a episode (or download the HD TVrip).

Lastly, this thread has the previously-removed embargoed reviews and now has been updated with torrent links - THIS IS MF

[Cryostar]

Rock!

[darthpsychotic]

Rock!

lol thanks for the courtesy reply. If one is going download the telesync, this torrent here is the one to use, as it has the most seeds and most trackers associated with it.

sample.avi


From the sample.avi the release (and movie) looks pretty good. Hopefully my download finishes before Hurricane Fay wipes my ass out.

[DoubleSith]

Boy, this took its time leaking. Thanks as always, DP!

[Cryostar]

Supposedly, WB has a new strategy, not so much to stop piracy, but to prevent it from leaking for the first 3-4 days of release after that they don't care so much. It worked with Dark Knight, I'm betting they'll be using it on all their movies soon.

[darthpsychotic]

Well "King Ben" did all the heavy work as always as this person seems to be some sort of scene superstar. Anyways MF is neither hosting or distributing this, just pointing it out.

Regarding the Clone Wars movie - holy fuck everyone is blowing this three episode as a feature out of proportion. Admittedly, after reading all the internet rage, my expectations were lowered but I found the feature to be quite good. I'm only sorry that my viewing wasn't in a theater but given that a Hurricane-Tropical Storm is over our state, I may have a excuse.

The dialog, with terms consisting of "skyguy"and "snips", while may have been used to much, wasn't that bad and probably was used to demonstrate the youthfulness of the character or perhaps to get away from the "wooden" dialog of the Prequels. The other controversial dialog is the Hutt-speak and should be viewed as such. Ziro the Hutt's, Lucas dictated, Truman Capote dialog came off as a intergalactic Boss Hogg whose headquarter's is a inner-city, swingin neon-infused bar with a Bith Band! In fact, maybe it's a anti-reaction to the negative press but I thought Ziro the Hutt to be over-the-top awesome - at least compared to the other two Hutts.

The problem with the feature is that the plot perhaps wasn't on a movie level and would work better in it's original three-episode story arc. That's in addition to the deliberate puppet design of the human characters. The New Clone Wars is like Rankin-Bass on crack, and the facial design contrasts greatly with the photorealistic background and vehicles.

Another problem, especially with the upcoming series, is the Clone Troopers versus Droid Army will get old. For the time being however it isn't and the Clone Troopers in the feature were like a ninja swat team, coming in at the last moment to save the day.

Also, Ventress stole the show.

If you read all that thanks and if you haven't done so, get downloading

[Topeka]

Hutts are asexual. Can they really be gay?

[Cryostar]

Would he be a sexual hutt then?

and DP, no, not an excuse. It's not like it's a cat 3 or something. :P I'm sure lucas is adding this to your list.

[darthpsychotic]

Yes it didn't become a Hurricane but the storm re-entered Florida through our county which is St Johns and everything is shut down.

Here's the MTV.com article where the reporter got LucasFilm to confirm the nature of Ziro:

moviesblog.mtv.com /is ziro the hutt the first gay alien in star wars history/

[hr]
“Ziro, Jabba’s uncle, originally spoke in Hutt-ese, like Jabba and then he had a different sluggish voice just like Jabba, and then George one day was watching it and said ‘I want him to sound like Truman Capote.’ He actually said that and we were like ‘Wow!’ ” Filioni revealed.

“It’s a hybrid of it but the inspiration is definitely there on Capote. It’s one of those things that takes him from being an interesting character and I think really does put him over the top and does something. He’s a favorite among the crew here.”

[hr]

Another issue this three-episode feature may have is we already seen the "good parts" by way of the trailers and web-docs. Back in January 2007 there was bunch of online rage over the lack of tv news from Lucas. In retrospect, at least in terms of the Clone Wars footage, LucasFilm really spoiled us to the point of Clone Wars fatigue.

I think LucasFilm should think about streaming the movie online, for download via itunes, or airing it on television very soon. The theatrical feature isn't that bad, it's just that a plot around Space Slug family feuds isn't the thing movies are made of.

[Cryostar]

If you like the seedy underbelly of the starwars universe, it might.

GL thrives in there, perhaps we're being prepped for what we might see in the Live Action series.

[VT-16]

I liked it alot. Wasn't expecting to with all the talk of kiddie stuff and baby "humor". It barely even registered. Shit, dawg, if this is how the series gonna start off, sign me up for 100 episodes.

I also can't believe they had some EU references in this. B'omarr monks, Wild Space? Hell yeah.

[DoubleSith]

This is a nice little feature on TOS on secrets and easter eggs in the film. I never noticed those robeless Senate guards!

[Cryostar]

Woo, more figures to look forward too.

For those comment about the new "assault shuttle" Lego's got it on slate for 2009 already.

[TroyObliX]

I finally broke down and saw this one today. And considering how bad the press has been on it, I wasn't expecting much. And oddly enough I thought it was great. Sure, there were some awkward moments, and the faces are hideous, and the idea that Anakin has a padawan seems really out of character to me. But the story, while pretty kid-friendly and basic still moves along pretty well. The action was fantastic and the visuals looked a lot more expensive than I've read that they actually were. The bi-pedal characters walking motion seems a noticeable tad un-natural, and some of the gravity and mass items were a bit sloppy, but after a few minutes I got used to it. I'd say this was worth seeing at the theatre, and I'm going to be watching for it on television.

The only real major "wtf?!?" moment I had was the Waterboy Hutt, Zero. The voice pattern, homage or not, just didn't fucking work. If this is the kind of experimental crap Lucas has been boning to do for so long, he should stick to just milking his cash cow. Because that shit was fucking stupid.

Other than that, I dug it.

[Ayatollah Krispies]

I watched the first 15 minutes of this on my computer and it actually seemed OK to me, so I think I'm going to catch it at the theater. If the remainder of it changes my mind, I won't be shy about saying so.

I really wish Ventress had been in ROTS instead of Grievous.

[Cryostar]

A-fucking-men to that. 30000 times better villan, hands down.

[Daglington]

Went on the weekend. Saw negative reviews and didn't expect much, but was pleasantly surprised. It's not a top-notch movie, but it was never supposed to be. It's just a relaxing SW Universe movie where you can just relax and easily get into the flow.

Although I don't know if I agree with Ziro sounding like Truman Capote. Both myself and my fiancee (independently) thought it sounded more like Cartman. We were expecting a "Respect mah authoritie!" when Padme was causing trouble.