An Animated ‘Star Wars’

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Colonel Dooku in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars"
courtesy of Warner Home Entertainment

“An Animated ‘Star Wars’”

“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” has now been released to DVD where it belonged all the time. How the mighty have fallen! The once great series “Star Wars” has now been reduced to an animated episode that looks better suited to Saturday morning TV than for a movie house. Plus we have moved from a movie starring Harrison Ford to one starring Hayden Christensen to one featuring Matt Lanter’s voice. Aah, the horror. “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” is just a way for the owners of the franchise to make a buck.

The animated film has Anakin Skywalker (voiced by Lanter) trying to find the kidnapped son of Jabba the Hutt. He is assisted in the search by Obi-Wan Kenobi (voiced by James Arnold Taylor). A Jedi in training named Ahsoka Tano (voiced by Ashley Eckstein) is also trying to help.

The baby has been kidnapped in a plot masterminded by Count Dooku (voiced by Christopher Lee). He plans to return the child while putting the blame for the abduction on Skywalker, etc.

None of this is very interesting but the animation does make it seem more exciting than it is. Seeing the alien creatures of this universe, plus the crafts of war, make us long for the actual movies that started this whole story a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Most of the original “Star Wars” characters are in this story. R2D2, C3PO, Padme, Mace Windu and Yoda join Skywalker and Obi-Wan. The setting of the tale places it somewhere between Episodes II and III of the prequel trilogy.

The animation is good at times and poor at others. It never captures the look of Skywalker or Padme but it does Obi-Wan. He looks like Ewan McGregor and even sounds like him.

If you are a “Star Wars” fanatic then you will have to see this movie, and on DVD it is more acceptable as an animated film than it was in the movie theaters. At least I feel that way, but that is the only plus I can give it.

Better to spend your time watching “300” again. Now there is “300 Limited Collector’s Edition.” This new release of the super popular film has a bonus disc with all kind of extras plus a documentary titled “To the Hot Gates: A Legend Retold.” This film tells the story of the journey of the old legend through its form as a graphic novel and then to the big screen (and later to the little screen of DVD’s).

Filmmaker Zack Snyder took great pains to tell the story of King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and his battle against Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). It was a fight to the death and was fueled by valor and courage.

This new collection is a limited edition and the supply of product won’t last long. Get one if and while you can.

And now it is game playing time with DVD’s. You get to solve a mystery with “Scooby Doo: Funland of Freaky Delights.” Up to four players can take part in this mystery set in a funland park. You can work with the gang to find clues and solve the mystery. How much fun is that!

Then there is “The Hannah Montana DVD Game.” There are eleven interactive games on this DVD and all you need to participate is a DVD player and a remote. It is a great time of singing, dancing, drawing and acting as you take part in the Hannah Montana auditions and other fun things.

This is now the age of the DVD game so get both of these super fun DVD’s and take part in the world of Scooby-Doo and Hannah Montana.

Click above to find out more about Jackie's books!