STAR WARS
CLONE WARS
VOLUME 2
Starring the vocal talents of:
Anthony Daniels, Matt Lucas, James Arnold Taylor, Tom Kane, Nick Jameson, Corey Burton and John Di Maggio

Director:
Genndy Tartakovsky

Running Time:
60 mins

Out to buy on DVD 05/12/05

"Wait Anakin, Wait"

War! The Republic is crumbling under attacks by the ruthless Sith Lord, Count Dooku. There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere. In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Senate. As the Separatist Droid Army attempts to flee the besieged capital with their valuable hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive Chancellor...

With every Star Wars movie there is an opening crawl but you never actually get to see what happened to get us to the start of the film, until now.

Following on from the massively successful first Volume and concluding the General Grievous/Jedi cliffhanger, Volume Two changes from the animated shorts to twelve-minute episodes. The remaining parts animate the opening crawl of 'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith' and fill in the gaps between Episode II and III.

The Clone Wars are escalating and the Separatist Droid Army, under the command of Count Dooku and General Grievous, are taking control of more and more systems. With the Clone Army and its Jedi commanders spread thinly over the galaxy, Coruscant is vulnerable and open to attack but unbeknownst to the Jedi Council all going proceeding as Darth Sidious has planned.

Genndy Tartakovsky's animation team returns and he brings his own unique style to the production. In the same style as Volume One, the second instalment pushes the animation to new heights. Successfully combining 2D animation with computer graphics, the epic conflicts of the Clone Wars are vividly brought to life with all the scale of anything that Lucas's ILM can achieve. The space battles and the invasion of Coruscant are just as exhilarating as anything the live action films can provide.

What made the first Volume such a fan favourite was the way the animation captures the essence of Star Wars that had been missing from Episode I and II. The good news is that the second Volume continues this fine attribute and adds more to the Star Wars mythology in sixty minutes than the first two episodes of the prequel trilogy. Here we find out how Anakin became a Jedi Knight, his own trails and how Chancellor Palpatine came to be captured by General Grievous, making this a must watch for Star Wars fans.

'Clone Wars: Volume Two' is Star Wars at its most pure. Capturing all the elements that made you love the franchise in the first the place. Brilliant animation combines with character and storytelling that made Star Wars what it is, the best science fiction franchise in movie history. The force is strong with this one.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 16x9 Widescreen with a THX enhanced Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, 'Star Wars: Clone Wars' never looked so good. Animation always looks good on DVD and this is no exception. The sharpness of the picture brings out the best in the animation and the sound what accompanies takes you into the Star Wars universe with all the classic music and sound effects from the feature films.

BONUS FEATURES

Audio Commentary
Director Genndy Tartakovsky, production coordinator/writer Darrick Bachman, storyboard artist/writer Bryan Andrews and art director/writer Paul Rudish come together to talk about the second volume of 'Star Wars: Clone Wars'. This chatty and fun commentary reveals how the second volume came about and the amount of input George Lucas and Genndy Tartakovsky and his team had in telling the story of the escalation of the Clone Wars and animating the opening scroll. They talk about finishing off the cliffhanger of Episode 20 of Volume One and the access they had to what was to come in 'Revenge of the Sith', including spaceship designs and moving the Clone Troopers towards Stormtroopers. This is a good commentary that reveals the technical and also the fun aspects the team had during the making of the film.

Connecting the Dots (10.24 mins)
Director Genndy Tartakovsky, production coordinator/writer Darrick Bachman, storyboard artist/writer Bryan Andrews and art director/writer Paul Rudish talk about connection the end of Volume One of the Clone Wars animated series to the start of 'Revenge of the Sith'. The group reveal how the Clone Wars were originally envisaged as commercials but George Lucas really liked their ideas and pushed it further. They also talk about how the series is like Episode II.5, a two-hour movie that connects the events of Episode II and III and how they used it to show the Clone Wars, the friendship between Anakin and Obi-Wan, Anakin becoming a Jedi Knight and the events revealed in the opening scroll.

Video Games
Watch the trailers for LucasArts games 'Star Wars Battlefront II' and 'Star Wars: Empire at War'. You can also play a demo of 'Battlefront II' if you place the DVD in you X-Box. Still Galleries View sketches, storyboards, posters and artwork from the second volume of the 'Clone Wars'.

Revenge of the Brick (5.17 mins)
In essence an advert for 'Star Wars Lego', this is a computer animated short that sees Anakin, Obi-Wan, Count Dooku, General Grievous, Yoda, Mace Windu, the Wookies and Darth Vader in Lego form. This is real fun and a must watch for all Star Wars fans.

Episode III Trailer (2.26 mins)
Watch the full theatrical trailer for 'Revenge of the Sith'.

DVD-ROM weblink
Place the DVD in your PC drive and you can access exclusive content on the Star Wars website.

OVERALL

As with Volume One, the extras features are not the most comprehensive but they do cover most of the things that the fans want to know. The featurette is good and the commentary track is very informative and fun. The highlight is the 'Revenge of the Brick' however. While it may be a Star Wars Lego advert, it is a real treat for Star Wars fans.

DVD


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