The Clone Wars TV Series

[Tommy K]

now i have looked at none of the posts before this one becausei want to ask this question

is this really a good season? does it have any refrences to the other movies?

[kup]

So far its very good and it is based on the prequel stories but with much less ham, proper narrative and 'tuned up' characters to make them more believable and less annoying (Anakin).

[Beast_Wars_Superior]

I never saw the theatrical release of the pilot for this series so I cannot comment on that but If you have not seen these new televised episodes I recommend you do. You won't be disappointed. The first and second episodes have much better quality story telling and character portrayals than the prequel trilogy combined so even if you were dissatisfied with the last few movies like I did, watch this new series, the first two episodes will not disappoint.

Wow, I can't believe that I am once again hyped about Star Wars. I honestly did not see that coming

I did see the theatrical release, and I don't understand why everyone hated it so much. I mean, when Episode 1 (or was it 2?) came out, people whinged about the lack of space battles. All of a sudden, Clone Wars comes out, 90 minutes of epic battles, and everyone hates it!

Admittedly, the Clone Wars movie did seem more kid-oriented than any of the prequels. Based on what you've said, the full TV series sounds way better. I was going to watch it anyway out of curiosity, but after reading your impressions I'm really looking forward to it!

[Beast_Wars_Superior]

I have to say, I watched the TV series on Ten and I like it. Some annoying bits, but generally it was very good, with tons of potential. And I agree, the guy who plays Anakin is way better than Hayden Christensen. It's good to see Anakin as a strong leader for once, as opposed to a whiny little boy.

I was thinking about how great it would be later on if there was an episode where Anakin got shore leave and went home to Coruscant and they had an episode about his relationship with Padme. I know, the love story in Ep II was garbage, but I get the feeling the writers and directors of this show can do it better. Maybe after seeing Anakin being this awesome Jedi Knight and strong leader, we get this episode where once again he shows his vulnerable side (ie. a vulnerable side NOT written and directed by George Lucas ), which we all know is what turns him to the Dark Side. Too adult perhaps?

Also, some nice foreshadowing of what's to come. 'One step ahead, Count Dooku always seems to be'. Hmm, I wonder why that is...

Also, this show allowed me to demonstrate some of my Star Wars nerdishness. My brother was like:

"This show is bullcrap! If the robots are all controlled from a central Command on the ship, why would they be disobeying orders?"

After thinking about it, I came back with something like this:

"Look, in the Episode 1 incredible cross-sections, or maybe it was Episode 2, but anyway, I'm pretty sure they said that as well as the regular droids, they built special 'Commander' droids, who had better AI and were capable of independant thought, so because one was yellow and one was green, the green one was thinking independantly..."

EDIT: I just read throguh the whole thread, and instead of making a triple post...

(I have a soft spot for Captain Rex who's now my acquisitions mascot )

I'm just gonna come out and say it- Commander Rex was my favourite part of the whole movie.

The voice actor for the clones doesn't seem to be holding up his attempt at an Australian accent so well here.

Uh, the guy who played the clones in the films was a New Zealander, so I think that's more the accent they're going for.

Maybe they're like Ballchinians...

Oh geez, don't get me started on how terrible THAT movie is! The first Men In Black is one of my fave films of all time, but the second was just godawful from top to bottom.

Finally got around to watching Ep 2, it has PLO!

I'll be honest, I didn't know who Plo Koon was until I saw that episode. Where did you first hear of him? I'll bet it was a book or comic, right?

Also, why the hell is everyone in this thread ripping on TF Animated? I love Animated! It's my second favourite TF show after Beast Wars, and at one point I thought it was gonna hit the number 1 spot!

Oh, and one more thing- when is Commander Cody gonna get some screen time?

[Beast_Wars_Superior]

Sorry for the triple post, but I had to inform everyone that Ten has dragged this show after two weeks. Oh well, looks like it's downloading again for me...

[kup]

Sorry for the triple post, but I had to inform everyone that Ten has dragged this show after two weeks. Oh well, looks like it's downloading again for me...

Its not reliable to watch anything on Australian Television unless its CSI:Whatever or some dumb reality show.

[kup]

This was an excellent episode and I am happy to see things coming back to form after that god awful Jar Jar episode. It is also good to see the series as a whole once again pushing boundaries when it comes to story telling as its more concerned about telling a good story rather than conforming with 'let's keep it nice and safe by adding bad excessive toilet humor instead of violence so that the soccer moms don't bug us' like many modern cartoons are plagued with.

Certainly this series is more concerned about telling a quality story without talking down or underestimating the intelligence of its audience like many contemporary cartoons do. This series makes me feel that once again things are moving forward rather than backwards when it comes to children's entertainment.

Certainly one of best if not THE best American cartoon series this decade even though that is not difficult as most cartoon series since 2000 have been horrible and I can only count this decade's worthwhile cartoon series with 3 fingers. However Clone Wars does stand up on its own right as its mostly excellently written.

Several more observations bellow.

SPOILERS :




As mentioned before, this episode is once again pushing boundaries in children's entertainment. In this episode we saw a decapitation of a clone trooper, several non 'sugar coated' deaths and even an uncensored and upfront stabbing through the heart. No blood but the violence was there. However this was not just mindless violence as that would have been bad too, it all had a purpose in the story and it actually helped to create the sense of vulnerability among the 'good guys' and to highlight the danger of the situation.

Despite this episode having a fairly simple but well written plot, the characterisation was excellent particularly among the Jedi and the Sith. The pace of the episode was such that sometimes it felt as if the good guys would win and at other times it felt as if the bad guys were getting the upper hand which made it all more exciting.

We need more people like these writers in the industry, I hope Clone Wars sets a precedence and we begin to see more and more cartoon series that do not talk down to children or are overly 'sugar coated' so that it doesn't offend anyone or excessively trying to be 'politically correct'. It is also good to see a cartoon concerned about telling a good story rather than following the all to common modern approach of sticking to episode 'formulas', excessive toilet humor or stereotypical children's writing. Its like we are back in the 1990s and children's entertainment is once again progressing unlike many of its contemporaries which leave a lot to be desired.

The episode was not without flaws however although they are very minor and more in the technical department than the writing. The main flaw that I saw was noticeably poorer animation quality in the begining sequences but I am guessing that they were trying to balance their budget a bit as the animation improves as the story progresses and the fight scenes are outstanding.

Another flaw that I saw and this is very minor however, is that the way that the Imperial Guard was drawn already gave him the aura of a betrayer. I suspected him as such at the start but to be fair to the writers, they did an excellent job handleling him as midway through the episode, I begun to doubt my initial perception of the character as he was advicing Ahsoka even though later on the episode my initial instinct was confirmed. This helped in giving the episode that bit of a roller coaster feel which I applaud.

I am loving this series and if it continues being this good, I may actually develop an appreciation for this 'era' of Star Wars as I am a big time critic of the prequels and a Lucas Basher.