Star Wars – The Clone Wars (2008/Warner Blu-ray + DVD-Video Set + Single DVD-Video)
Picture: B/C+/C+ Sound: B+/B-/B- Extras: C/C/C- Feature: C
Is the
only way George Lucas can continue the Star
Wars franchise by ruining things when they get too good? If plastering and replastering the original
films with new digital effects, new digital characters, new sound effects and
reediting great scenes into flat ones was not bad enough, new peaks also
suddenly become valleys. Case in point, The Clone Wars subdivision in all of
its animated glory, almost.
When the
original TV show arrived in 2003, it was a hit and backed by the creative
animated distinction of Genndy Tartakovsky, whose Dexter’s Laboratory was already a hit. With even more detail, nuance and a style
that was the best the franchise had seen since it first arrived and we even
reviewed the initial DVD release which explains the plot as well:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1996/Star+Wars:+Clone+Wars+-+Volume
The show
played on and then was folded. Instead
of having Tartakovsky making a feature film out of it with the great style he
applied to the show on a larger scale, Lucas gets rid of him and decides to
revive Clone Wars as a CG animated
property with poorer color, detail, naturalism and just about everything
else? Why? Does it matter when you mess up this badly?
Now comes
a CG feature film also entitled Star
Wars – The Clone Wars (2008) and it is one of the biggest exercises in
boring sequels/prequels (he is so out of order with the two trilogies, both are
valid) you will ever see, from the flatter-than-you-can-ever-imagine voice
acting to the watered-down versions of all of Tartakovsky’s work that looks
more like a bad imitator of the franchise than the actual thing. Like Indiana
Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (reviewed elsewhere on this
site), this is a tired exercise in revisiting the once exciting “a long time
ago” as the same old same old. The
thrill, excitement, energy and originality have been substituted for new
clichés and recycling that has made more fans former fans than the press would
ever dare to report. That this is barely
better than the new Indy film is not saying much.
So you
would think since Lucas was a founder of Pixar and that though he spun it off,
his having access to all their technical innovations would make this an
impressive digital eye-candy feature, right?
Think again!
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on the Blu-ray is shockingly flat and
dull throughout, with a lame softness that makes it look older than most CG
animation of late and makes the Tartakovsky series on DVD seem like HD. The anamorphically enhanced DVD image is even
worse, with so much softness, I though when I saw it (we got he DVD first) that
it was just a picture quality trade down problem. Boy, was I wrong!
The Dolby
TrueHD 5.1 EX mix is the default highlight, with good sound design, yet it has
a ceiling and is still restrictive in ways it should not be. This is far from state of the art sound,
while the Dolby Digital versions in both versions are not as good, but are EX
encoded. Kevin Kiner’s music can only
ape John Williams and adds to the repetitious feel.
Extras on
all three releases feature the audio commentary by the new makers, while the
double DVD set and Blu-ray add trailers, deleted scenes, still galleries, six
webisodes tied to this release, music featurette, voicing featurette and Untold
Stories featurette. The Blu-ray adds A
Creative Conversation Video Commentary, but that never adds up to much
more. Only diehard fans will care. Others will look on in shock and simply
ask…why?
- Nicholas Sheffo
