Screen Rant » clone wars

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 2 Premieres in October

Mike Wilkerson — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:20:31 +0000

The words “Clone Wars” were only mentioned once in the original Star Wars trilogy, while the three “prequel” films (during which the Clone Wars are set) are the generator of all kinds of feelings and mental images that are often hard for me to describe.

What isn’t hard for me to describe is the tone, quality and vision of George Lucas’s most recent animated offering, The Clone Wars – an ongoing series of CGI cartoons that recently received a second season green-light on Cartoon Network. The series will continue to offer literal filler of the years, events, and goings-on which occurred between the feature-film events of the Star Wars prequels.

The Clone Wars second season will offer 22 full episodes, running 30 minutes each, beginning with a special one-hour season premiere on October 2nd, 2009. Season 2 promises more insight about the origins and relationships between established and soon-to-be-introduced Star Wars characters, with a particular focus on the bounty hunters (”Rise of the Fetts?”).

“Satisfaction”… That’s not a word you’ll often hear from anyone when talking about any Star Wars movie prior to the original trilogy, but it’s true for The Clone Wars. All of the pain, embarrassment and “childhood-rape” of the Star Wars prequels gets a lot more polish in this cartoon series.

Tell us more of why you’re watching this great series on Cartoon Network in the discussion section below.

Source: Cinemastatic

You Might Also Be Interested In:

The Star Wars Mythos Continues With The Clone Wars

Bruce Simmons — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:32:25 +0000

If for some reason you just can’t get enough of “The Force,” well, “The Force” is with you! Lucasfilm Animation is presenting a 22-episode series called Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network.

The Clone Wars follows Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and other heroes as they deal with the troubles that come from the likes of Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, Darth Sidious and other evil forces from the empire.

A pair of episodes will premiere Friday night on Cartoon Network, and the first one is titled Ambush.

We watch as the Jedi Master Yoda and three clone troopers face off against Count Dooku’s assassin Asajj Ventress and the massive Separatist droid army, trying to prove that the Jedi are strong enough to protect a strategic planet, and thus, help forge a new treaty for the Republic.

In the second episode (titled Rising Malevolence), the clone Starfleet deals with a Separatist mystery weapon in the hands of General Grievous.

The first episode, Ambush is directed by David Bullock (Justice League: The New Frontier) from a script written by Steve Melching (The Batman). Dave Filoni is supervising director, George Lucas is the series’ creator and serves as executive producer, and Catherine Winder is producer.

Because Yoda was so serious in Episodes I, II & III, part of the creative team’s goal was to bring back some of the impish-like clever behavior we first saw Yoda wield about in Episode V (The Empire Strikes Back), as well as his inspirational and warrior side.

So joke around, he will, I say! (Don’t forget to read that with that pitchy little Yoda voice we all know, love and respect! Be happy I didn’t write this whole article in Yoda-ish!)

David Bullock had this to say about Yoda:

“When I was storyboarding Yoda’s big fight scene in Ambush, Rob (Coleman) told me that George (Lucas) liked to flip a switch so that Yoda would go from very reserved to “springy. Overall, the episode is a good mix of the impish Yoda of The Empire Strikes Back, some serious, reflective moments, and Rob’s ‘Ninja Yoda’ for the action bits. And Yoda kicks some serious butt in this episode.”

Which I think is an excellent way to introduce the series. I remember when Yoda broke out in battle wtih Count Dooku in Episode II. I was just taken aback watching him bounce all over the place like a Ninja Superball with a light-saber! It was too cool.

The series premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars is at 9 p.m. ET/PT Friday, Oct. 3 on Cartoon Network.

Source: Lucasfilm

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Review

Vic Holtreman — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 05:41:43 +0000

Short version: The Clone Wars is visually interesting, but in the end pointless – and worse: annoying.

Screen Rant reviews The Clone Wars

Holy cow there’s a lot of… angst? anger? annoyance? surrounding the latest addition to the Star Wars saga: The Clone Wars. Me, I’m indifferent. I’m not a huge Star Wars fan (although I was when the first three movies were released for the first time) and I think that George Lucas has run the franchise into the ground and it’s all about:

1. Visual Effects

2. Merchandising

3. Money (see #2)

The Clone Wars takes place between Star Wars episodes 2 & 3, covering the most intense part of the fabled “Clone Wars” first mentioned by Obi-Wan Kenobi way back in 1977 in the original Star Wars film. Therefore we have Anakin Skywalker (destined to become Darth Vader) still playing the hero and a young Obi-Wan Kenobi no longer teaching Anakin but fighting side by side with him.

I really won’t get into the story too much. It basically consists of a whole lot of battle sequences, one after the other – all very loud and very “busy” as far as what’s going on. The main plot involves Anakin having to rescue the infant son of Jabba the Hut. Yes, you heard right. Jabba the Hut is a loving daddy.

Go figure.

Of course we have Count Dooku in the mix, playing one side against the other and misleading Jabba the Hut into thinking that the Jedi have kidnapped his son when in fact he is the one behind it.

Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?

What’s good:

The animation, once you get used to the style of the characters, is excellent. There is nothing 2D about this, with sequences filmed in a very cinematic manner in regards to camera angles and movement. Hayden Christensen did NOT return to supply the voice of Anakin, and that my friends, is a blessing. Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee returned to supply the voices of their characters, and having Lee voice Dooku is a good thing.

Obi-Wan and Anakin in The Clone Wars

This may sound odd, but with the direction that George Lucas has taken the series, it actually worked better as a 100% CGI animated film. As it was with Episodes I, II & II, they were 90% CGI anyway. The live actors actually looked out of place in those films. At least here everything “matches.”

Finally, it’s actually an improvement over the three prequel films.

(Continue reading The Clone Wars Review)

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Check Out The Full Clone Wars Trailer

Vic Holtreman — Sat, 10 May 2008 05:20:12 +0000

Well since we do consider ourselves mainly a sci-fi, fantasy and superhero movie site, I guess we ought to post up the new full trailer for Star Wars: Clone Wars. If you haven’t heard, this will be a new ongoing CGI animated TV series, but Lucasfilm decided to launch it as a feature length animated film in theaters this summer.

You can check out the trailer for yourself below…

Oh, and since this page didn’t take long enough to download already, here’s the new poster as well:

I find it quite funny that one of the taglines in the trailer is “Star Wars like you’ve never seen it before.”

Really? I’ve never seen huge CGI-generated vistas and thousands of CGI characters in gigantic battles before? Apparently they’re assuming that no one has seen Star Wars 1, 2 or 3…

Clone Wars comes to a theater near you on August 15th.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: Mar 30, 2008

Niall Browne — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:21:53 +0000

Another weekend, another Weekend Movie News Wrap Up.

This week:

Legion starring Dennis Quaid and Paul Bettany, Tom Hanks quits Fahrenheit 451, Nic Cage hunts for more National Treasure, Battlestar Galactica producer plans to make a television adaptation of Children of Men, Surrogates with Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell and news on when we can expect to see a trailer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

For details on the above items, read on.

1. Dennis Quaid and Paul Bettany have joined the cast of Legion. According to Variety Paul Bettany stars as the archangel Michael:

“The only one standing between mankind and an apocalypse, after God loses faith in humanity. Man’s lone hope rests with a group of strangers who must deliver a baby they realize is Christ in his second coming.”

The film starts shooting soon and it will be directed by former FX guru Scott Stewart. Sounds like it should be good, and with Quaid on-board – I’m there.

2. Tom Hanks has pulled out of Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.

Darabont cites scheduling conflicts for Hanks’ departure. It’s another blow to the film that has been in development for about 15 years. Originally Mel Gibson planned to direct the project before passing it on to Darabont.

Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favorite books so I’d like to see this get made. Hanks probably wasn’t the best choice for the film, so it’s no great loss.

3. Nicolas Cage will get to hunt for more National Treasure.

Jon Turteltaub says that we should expect the third film in about three years:

“I’m guessing that we’re a few years away. By the time we come up with a decent idea and develop it into a complicated and intelligent puzzle it’s going to be at least 2009. Then to prep it and cast it… it should be three years away.”

I quite like these films, so National Treasure 3 shouldn’t be all bad.

4. Battlestar Galactica and Bionic Woman producer David Eick intends to make a television series based on Children of Men – the science fiction novel by P.D. James. The book also inspired the film directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Eick says that:

“It’s really taking root more in the origins of the novels in that it will focus on the cultural movement in which young people become the society’s utter focus.”

5. Radha Mitchell will join Bruce Willis in Jonathan Mostow’s Surrogates.

The film is based on a graphic novel which tells the story of a future where humans live their lives in isolation with surrogate robots interacting with others. Willis plays a cop who must leave the house for the first time in years in order to solve a crime. The film begins shooting on April 28th and it is due to open on November 20, 2009.

Sounds like it could be a pretty good film. Willis is always good value and Mostow knows how to put a good film together.

6. The trailer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be attached to Speed Racer when it is released on May 9th. The Warner Brothers release is the first Star Wars film not to have the famous Fox Fanfare before it.

The animated film will open on August 15.

That’s the Weekend Movie News Wrap Up for now, have a good week!

Sources: Variety , MTV , Cinemablend , Scifi.com , Comingsoon

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Star Wars: Clone Wars – Do You Care?

Vic Holtreman — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:10:45 +0000

So tell me, seriously – does the image above make you excited to see a new Star Wars series about the Clone Wars?

In case you don’t know, there’s a new completely CGI animated series coming out in the Fall that picks up where Episode 3 left off. So what actually should have happened in Episodes 2 & 3 will take place in this animated TV show.

The twist is that Lucasfilm will kick off the series with a theatrical movie which will be released on August 15th.

Genndy Tartakovsky, director of the first Clone Wars series, will not be involved with the production. That’s too bad because that series was quite well done story-wise, although I wasn’t a big fan of the animation style.

Although Genndy isn’t involved, I suppose there may be some hope that this may be decent since George Lucas is neither directing nor writing the episodes. I think his best destiny is basically being a tech-geek in charge of the visual/CGI effects.

Personally, I find it ironic that so many people scoff at Star Trek fans wanting new material on both the big and small screen, but when it comes to Star Wars they say:

“Bring It.”

Personally, I think this horse is dead and maybe they ought to think about not beating it any more.

But since it’s inevitable (they already have 30 episodes in the can), do you think it’s going to be any good? Are you looking forward to it? Or are you sick or it?

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Screen Rant Movie News Grab Bag

Heath McKnight — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:44:16 +0000

The new Star Wars: Clone Wars animated feature film will premiere theatrically August 15, 2008, then it will air on Cartoon Network and TNT. This one is from Lucasfilm Animation, not from Genndy Tartakovsky, who oversaw the original Clone Wars series in 2004/05. He’s attached to the new Dark Crystal movie.

This is cool, because I was just thinking that it’s been three years since the last Star Wars movie, and we’re not getting one this year. There were new Star Wars movies in 1999, 2002 and 2005.

Find out more at starwars.com.

Looks like a re-cast for Destro in G.I. Joe. He was originally to be played by David Murray, who was the jumpy baddie who asks, “Where are you?!” in Batman Begins (when Bats was upside down and answers, “Here!”). Now it looks like Dr. Who’s Christopher Eccleston has the role now.

This seems like even better casting to me! Eccelston was also in 28 Days Later, and has a lot of experience that can help him in playing Destro. Apparently, Murray had work visa issues. The movie has started shooting, so producers had to move fast.

Sources: Mania, IESB,

You Might Also Be Interested In:

A Star Wars TV Show That Networks Won’t Buy?

Heath McKnight — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:22:59 +0000

As unbelievable as it sounds, it’s true: According to several reports, George Lucas can’t find a network willing to air his new, self-financed Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series. Lucas says this is a PG-13 style show that doesn’t follow the model of the first animated Clone Wars series.

I first heard these rumors from my sci fi fan friends, and when I checked out IMDb, there it was. Lucas is financing 100 episodes of this new series (with animation, this could be at least two to four years worth of episodes). So what will Lucas do to get the animated series on the air?

My first guess would be to put the show on Cartoon Network’s mega-successful Adult Swim, and help build the presence and brand there. The other place to air it would be on the Sci Fi channel. If nothing else, syndicate it immediately and allow it to grow.

He is also paying for 100 episodes of the planned live action Star Wars TV series, which guarantees at least three to five years of shows. I’m guessing this one will possibly be syndicated immediately vs. finding life on a network. Not much is known yet about this show, except that it hasn’t started shooting yet.

Lucas is pretty busy these days, with Indiana Jones 4 in post-production for a summer 2008 release, the two self-financed Star Wars TV shows, and his planned Tuskegee Airmen movie called Red Tails (which I understand he’ll produce and possibly direct). I’m curious which network will pick up the new Clone Wars animated series, and I’m excited about something completely different for Lucas (Red Tails).

Source: IMDb

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Trailer… Meh

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 29 May 2007 17:27:46 +0000

You’ll notice I don’t post a lot of Star Wars related news here at Screen Rant. The reason is basically that George Lucas murdered the saga for me with his three prequel movies. That’s it, plain and simple. I think the man became:

A. Too full of himself (understandable I suppose considering the money and power he wields).

B. Too enamored of the VFX/CGI at the expense of the story and characters.

Having said that, I did enjoy the mini-episode animated Clone Wars saga that was broadcast on Cartoon Network. Lucas was pretty much hands-off on these and they were created by Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack.

Well for all of you die hard Star Wars fans that were NOT jaded by the Phantom Menace and Hayden Christensen as Anakin, there’s a brand new Clone Wars series coming out soon. This one will be CGI and will be full (half hour?) episodes as opposed to five minute clips.

I’ve watched the trailer and personally I think it takes itself too seriously. Maybe it’s the music, I don’t know, but it almost seemed like a parody of itself to me.

You can see the trailer at StarWars.com.

I’m sure most folks will disagree with my opinion on this.

You Might Also Be Interested In: