.gif)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)
Encyclopedia
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a 2008 CGI
animated science fiction
/action film
that takes place within the Star Wars
saga, leading into the TV series of the same name
. The film is set in the same time period as the 2003 Clone Wars television series
. Distributed by Warner Bros.
, the film premiered on August 10, 2008 at the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre
, while screening in wide-release on August 14, 2008 across Australia, and August 15 in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The Clone Wars was an introduction to the television series of the same name
, which debuted on October 3, 2008.
This Star Wars
spin-off
is notable for being the first animated theatrical film for the franchise. The film is also the first and, otherwise, (as of 2011) only to be distributed by Warner Bros.
instead of 20th Century Fox
, while also being the first theatrical Star Wars film to be directed by someone other than George Lucas
since Return of the Jedi
's Richard Marquand
. It is also the only theatrical Star Wars film not scored by John Williams
—Kevin Kiner was hired to compose brand new music, which was combined with selected John Williams themes from previous Star Wars films.
's son Rotta is kidnapped as part of a plot to make the Hutts join the Separatists. Meanwhile, a fierce battle is taking place on the crystalline planet of Christophsis between the Republic's small clone army and the Retail Clan forces. With the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi
and Anakin Skywalker
, the clones steadily advance on the Separatists' forces, gaining the Republic an early victory. It doesn't last long, though, as the droid army soon returns. With no communications or the ability to fly in reinforcements, the fate of the few remaining clone soldiers are in the hands of Obi-Wan and Anakin. A shuttle arrives, but without the needed reinforcements. Instead, it is a young Padawan named Ahsoka Tano
, who insists that she has been sent by Master Yoda
to serve under Anakin. The battle soon commences yet again, with the Separatist forces advancing behind an expanding energy shield that artillery can't penetrate. Anakin and Ahsoka succeed in penetrating the enemy lines while Obi-Wan stalls for time by holding a fake surrender negotiation with the droid army commander.
Soon after the final victory for the Republic on Christophsis, Yoda arrives and brings the Jedi up to date on the situation concerning Jabba's son. The Republic needs Jabba on their side to ensure unfettered travel through Jabba's trade routes. Anakin and Ahsoka are tasked with retrieving the child, while Obi-Wan flies to Tatooine to assure Jabba that Rotta will be retrieved. On the planet of Teth, Anakin, Ahsoka and their clones assault a monastery that sits atop a high stone pillar. They find Rotta, but discover that he is ill, requiring them to get him help immediately. But they have been caught in a trap by Count Dooku
, who hopes to frame the Jedi for Rotta's disappearance (and possible death), thereby ending any chance of the Republic striking a deal with Jabba. He sends his assassin, Asajj Ventress
, to secure fake evidence of the Jedi's supposed double dealing, then to recapture the young Hutt and return it to Jabba, putting the crime lord in the Separatists' debt.
Anakin and Ahsoka manage to escape the trap along with R2-D2
and hijack a derelict transport which they use to travel to Tatooine
. Obi-Wan, alerted by Anakin, arrives just in time to relieve the clone forces and engages Ventress in a lightsaber duel where he manages to defeat her, though Ventress flees in the face of capture. On board the derelict ship, Ahsoka manages to cure Rotta by the use of medical supplies on board. In the meantime, Senator Padmé Amidala learns of Anakin's mission and fears for his safety. She decides to contact Jabba's uncle, Ziro, who lives in a shady part of Coruscant. The Hutt refuses to cooperate, apparently believing that it is the Jedi who are responsible for the situation. Padmé, however, soon discovers that Ziro has actually conspired with Dooku to engineer the downfall of his nephew in order to seize power over the Hutt clans. Padmé is discovered and detained, but a chance call by C-3PO
enables her to summon help, and Ziro is arrested.
Upon their arrival on Tatooine, Anakin and Ahsoka are attacked and shot down. Faced with a long trek across desert sands and relentless opponents, Anakin devises a ruse: he confronts Dooku while carrying a decoy Rotta, leaving Ahsoka and R2-D2 to take the real Rotta to Jabba's palace. While Anakin fights Dooku, Ahsoka is ambushed by three Magnaguards. As Anakin and Dooku fight, Dooku activates a mini holo-image projector, showing Ahsoka nearing defeat. Dooku then explains that the Magnaguards are there to kill Rotta, and bring Ahsoka to Jabba for punishment for Rotta's murder. Believing that Ahsoka's life is in danger, Anakin abandons the fight to help her.
Anakin arrives at Jabba's palace to find that Ahsoka did not yet arrive with Rotta. Frustrated, Anakin activates his lightsaber, holds it at Jabba's throat, and demands Jabba tell him what he has done with Ahsoka. Just as Anakin is about to be shot down by the guards, Ahsoka enters, with Rotta, having defeated the Magnaguards. After Rotta is handed over to Jabba, Jabba orders Anakin and Ahsoka to be executed. Just before they can be shot down, Padmé contacts Jabba with the news that Ziro has agreed to admit working together with Dooku in having Rotta kidnapped, and the Jedi framed for the crime. With the truth now revealed to him, Jabba agrees to allow the Republic to use his trade routes. With their mission accomplished, Anakin and Ahsoka are triumphantly retrieved by Obi-Wan and Yoda.
, Samuel L. Jackson
, Matthew Wood, and Anthony Daniels
reprise their roles from the previous films.
. George Lucas
had the idea for a film after viewing some of the completed footage of the early episodes on the big screen. Those first few episodes, originally planned for release on television, were then woven together to form the theatrical release. The story of the kidnapped Hutt was inspired by the Sonny Chiba
samurai film titled: "Shogun’s Shadow".
Warner Bros.
had tracked the series' development from the beginning, and Lucas decided on a theatrical launch after viewing early footage declaring "This is so beautiful, why don't we just go and use the crew and make a feature?" Lucas described the film was "almost an afterthought." Howard Roffman
, president of Lucas Licensing, said of the decision, "Sometimes George works in strange ways." Producer Catherine Winder
said the sudden decision added to an already large challenge of establishing a show "of this sophistication and complexity," but she felt it was a good way to start the series, and thought budgetary constraints forced the production team to think outside the box
in a positive way.
Lucasfilm Ltd.
and Lucasfilm Animation
used Autodesk
software to animate both the film and the series using the Maya
3D modeling program to create highly detailed worlds, characters and creatures. The film's animation style was designed to pay homage to the stylized looks of both Japanese anime and manga
, and the supermarionation
of the British 1960s series Thunderbirds
. At a Cartoon Network
-hosted discussion, Lucas said he did not want the Clones Wars film or television series to look like such movies as Beowulf
, because he wanted a stylized look rather than a realistic one. He also felt it should not look like the popular Pixar
movies such as The Incredibles
, because he wanted the film and characters to have its own unique style. Lucas also decided to create the animated film and series from a live-action perspective, which Winder said, set it apart from other CGI films. Essentially, it "meant using long camera shots, aggressive lighting techniques, and relying on editing instead of storyboards." Animators also reviewed designs from the original 2003 Clone Wars series
when creating the animation style for the film and the new series. In charge was Steward Lee, working as the storyboard artist during filming.
, Matthew Wood, Christopher Lee
and Samuel L. Jackson
, returned to vocally reprise their roles of their respective characters.
The original motion picture soundtrack was released by Sony Classical on August 12, 2008. The disc begins with the main theme
by John Williams
, followed by more than 30 separate music cues composed by Kevin Kiner. Kiner is known for his work on such television series as Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: Enterprise, Superboy and CSI: Miami. The soundtrack uses many instruments
never heard before in a Star Wars score, including synthesizers, electric guitars, erhu
s, duduk
s, oud
s and taiko
s.
released several 3-inch Clone Wars action figure
s, an electronic clone trooper helmet, a customizable lightsaber, and an electronic All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE)
. Toys "R" Us mounted digital clocks in all 585 of its stores that counted down to the release of the Clone Wars toys, and more than 225 of the stores opened at midnight for the debut of the Star Wars products. Two of the Toys "R" Us flagship outlets in Mission Bay, San Diego and Times Square
in Manhattan
, New York City held costume and trivia contests on July 26, and gave away limited-edition Star Wars toys with every purchase. A section of the Toys "R" Us website was also dedicated to The Clone Wars.
, Burger King
and Kellogg's
, with which the Lucasfilm licensing company had a 10-year marketing plan for the other films. When questioned by The New York Times
about Star Wars merchandising in July 2006, a Pepsi spokesperson was unaware a new Star Wars film was even being released. Target
and KB Toys
also devoted shelf space for Clone Wars toys, but did not hold midnight releases or pursue the branding opportunities Toys "R" Us did. On August 15, McDonald's
held its first ever Happy Meal
promotion for a Star Wars film and for four weeks, 18 exclusive toys came in specially designed Happy Meal boxes.
published a six-issue digest-sized comic book mini-series
. Randy Stradley, vice president of publishing for Dark Horse, said the sudden decision to release the Clone Wars film required the company to temporarily delay plans for two other Star Wars comic book series, Dark Times
and Rebellion
. The Clone Wars comics did not receive the promotional campaign it otherwise would have due to the abruptness of the theatrical and comic book releases. Topps
, the trading card
s company, released a series of 90 Clone Wars cards on July 26, which also included foil cards, motion cards, animation cel cards and rare sketch cards by top Star Wars artists and Lucasfilm animators. DK Publishing and the Penguin Group
released books, activities and other merchandise that tied in with the film. Also released was the Clone Wars: The Visual Guide, published by DK, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars in the UK, published by Puffin and in the U.S. by Grosset & Dunlap. The publishers also released a storybook, picture books and an activity book. At the American International Toy Fair
, Lego
announced a product line for the film and the TV series, to be released in July 2008 in the United States and on August 2008 in the United Kingdom.
video game developer
adapted the film into Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance for the Nintendo DS
and Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels for Wii
. A reviewer from PocketGamer.co.uk said his expectations for the Jedi Alliance were low due to poor Clone Wars movie reviews, but he found the game "a varied and well-paced experience."
and a lightsaber
on it, a silver one with Captain Rex and a Galactic Empire
logo on it, and one with two Clone trooper
s on Coruscant
. One review claimed it improved upon a Darth Vader
MP3 player released in July 2008, which featured only 512 megabyte
s of memory and a dated visual display. A Star Wars iPod
iSpeaker (a speaker/dock for iPods, iPhone
s and MP3 players) was also released. The speaker includes an image of Captain Rex and three other Clone Troopers.
for the IndyCar Series
was unveiled at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International
. The #26 car, which also included Blockbuster Inc. decals and was driven by Andretti Green Racing
driver Marco Andretti
, ran August 24 on the Infineon Raceway
in the Sonoma Mountains
in California. Andretti said, "I'm hoping that my upcoming battle at Infineon will be as exciting as anything in a Star Wars movie so I can win it for both Blockbuster and Lucasfilm." The car finished 14th at Infineon, which Andretti attributed to a slow pit stop
early in the race; he added, "I just don't think it was a very good performance for us today." The Clone Wars car was the second collaboration between Lucasfilm, Blockbuster and Andretti Green Racing. It premiered as an Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull car at the Indianapolis 500
in May 2008.
listed Star Wars: The Clone Wars as one of the five worst films of 2008, with critic Owen Gleiberman saying,
site, and a 12% among 25 "Top Critics." This constituted by far the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating of any Star Wars film; the previous six theatrical films ranged from 63% to 97%, and even the made-for-television Ewok
movies and the much-derided The Star Wars Holiday Special
garnered higher ratings, although their averages encompassed far fewer reviews. At Metacritic
, the movie scored 35% based on 30 reviews, earning it the status "generally negative."
Ain't It Cool News
posted two reviews of the film during the week before its release, but pulled them down due to an embargo placed on those attending the screening its writers attended. The same reviews were reposted on the site the day of the film's release. The retraction prompted some readers to allege a conspiracy by LucasFilm to keep negative press out of circulation until the release of the film, but although the review by site creator Harry Knowles
was negative, Drew McWeeny
said that his review was positive and that no such conspiracy existed.
Several critics compared The Clone Wars to a Saturday morning cartoon
and described it as little more than a plug for the upcoming animated series. Linda Barnard, of the Toronto Star
, said the movie "pretty much drives a stake into the heart of every loyal fan of the movies. And now[George Lucas is] out to stick it to those too young to know about Jar Jar Binks
." Variety
magazine
reviewer Todd McCarthy said, "This isn't the Star Wars we've always known and at least sometimes loved." Joe Neumiar, of the New York Daily News, wrote, "If this were a true Star Wars film, right about now somebody would say, '...I've got a bad feeling about this.'" In his review for Entertainment Weekly
, critic Owen Gleiberman
gave the movie an F grade and wrote, "George Lucas is turning into the enemy of fun." Carrie Rickey, of The Philadelphia Inquirer
, said, "The best that can be said about the movie is that it's harmless and mostly charmless. The Clone Wars is to Star Wars what karaoke
is to pop music."
Many criticized the animation as cheap, wooden, non-engaging, and out-of-date; some reviewers drew negative comparisons to 1960s marionette
-based shows Thunderbirds
and Fireball XL5
, although George Lucas previously said the animation style was a deliberate homage to such shows. Tom Long of The Detroit News
said the animation "is downright weak compared to what's generally seen on screens these days" and said the characters are so stiff they look like they were "carved by Pinocchio
's father
." Roger Ebert
said "the characters have hair that looks molded from Play-Doh
, bodies that seem arthritic, and moving lips on half-frozen faces—all signs that shortcuts were taken in the animation work." McCarthy said "the movements, both of the characters and the compositions, look mechanical, and the mostly familiar characters have all the facial expressiveness of Easter Island statues
." But some of the same reviewers who criticized the animation acknowledged some positive elements about it; McCarthy said it allowed for "somewhat more dramatic compositions and color schemes," and Carrie Rickey, of The Philadelphia Inquirer
, said the scenery and backgrounds were "vivid and alive", although she said the characters "move as you would imagine the statues at a waxworks
might."
Reviewers also criticized the dialogue, which Ebert said was limited to "simplistic declamations" and Claudia Puig of USA Today
described as "stilted and overblown, a problem also in some of the live-action incarnations." Many critics also said that the battle scenes were repetitive and lacked tension; McCarthy described the action sequences as "a little exposition, an invasion; some more exposition, a lightsaber fight; a bit more blah-blah, a spaceship dogfight
, and on and on." Linda Stasi, of the New York Post
, also described the lack of character development in the film, writing that whereas the original Star Wars films dedicated time to allowing viewers to get to know the characters, "Director Dave Filoni is so concentrated on the action that we're never given the chance to care who lives and who is blown into spare parts." Jason Anderson, of the Globe and Mail
, wrote that although The Clone Wars is intended for younger audiences, "parents may be perturbed by the film's relentless violence." Ebert also found protagonist Ahsoka Tano "annoying," and Michael Rechtshaffen, of The Hollywood Reporter
, said the attempts of humor amid the bickering between Tano and Anakin Skywalker are "strained". However, Puig said she enjoyed the character and that "her repartee with Anakin enlivens things." The Film Was Nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Animated Film
and a Razzie Award for worst prequel, sequel, or rip off
and The Dark Knight
, which earned $25.8 million and $16.3 million, respectively. Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures, said the box office performance met expectations because two-thirds of the audience were families and the budget for the film was $8.5 million, frugal considering it was a CGI film, and because the movie was meant to introduce the animated series. Fellman said, "It was targeted to a specific audience for specific reasons. We accomplished that mission, and it will continue in another medium." When The Clone Wars dropped to $5.6 million in its second week of release, ContactMusic.com described it as "the first bona fide Star Wars flop." The film also earned $22,725,360 from DVD sales in the US.
was released on November 11, 2008, in the United States and on December 8, 2008, in the United Kingdom. The film was released as a single-disc DVD, two-disc Special Edition DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. The standard-definition versions include the film in widescreen format with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX sound, and with feature-length audio commentary.
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
animated science fiction
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
/action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
that takes place within the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
saga, leading into the TV series of the same name
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)
-Production:At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production had begun on the series, according to Steve...
. The film is set in the same time period as the 2003 Clone Wars television series
Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003 TV series)
Star Wars: Clone Wars is an Annie Award-winning American animated television series set in the Star Wars galaxy. The series chronicles the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic under Chancellor Palpatine, and the Confederacy of Independent Systems under Count Dooku.Chronologically, the series...
. Distributed by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, the film premiered on August 10, 2008 at the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, is one of the world's most famous movie theatres. Opened in 1922, it was the venue for the first-ever Hollywood premiere.- History :...
, while screening in wide-release on August 14, 2008 across Australia, and August 15 in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The Clone Wars was an introduction to the television series of the same name
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)
-Production:At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production had begun on the series, according to Steve...
, which debuted on October 3, 2008.
This Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
is notable for being the first animated theatrical film for the franchise. The film is also the first and, otherwise, (as of 2011) only to be distributed by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
instead of 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, while also being the first theatrical Star Wars film to be directed by someone other than George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
since Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
's Richard Marquand
Richard Marquand
Richard Marquand was a Welsh film director best known for directing the 1983 blockbuster Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi.-Early life:...
. It is also the only theatrical Star Wars film not scored by John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
—Kevin Kiner was hired to compose brand new music, which was combined with selected John Williams themes from previous Star Wars films.
Plot
The Separatists control the majority of the hyperlanes, leaving Republic forces stranded in different parts of the Outer Rim. Jabba the HuttJabba the Hutt
Jabba the Hutt is a fictional character in George Lucas's space opera film saga Star Wars. Designed as a large, slug-like alien, his appearance has been described by film critic Roger Ebert as "Dickensian," a cross between a toad and the Cheshire Cat....
's son Rotta is kidnapped as part of a plot to make the Hutts join the Separatists. Meanwhile, a fierce battle is taking place on the crystalline planet of Christophsis between the Republic's small clone army and the Retail Clan forces. With the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is one of several primary characters in the Star Wars series. Along with Darth Vader, R2-D2, and C-3PO, he is one of the few major characters to appear in all six Star Wars films...
and Anakin Skywalker
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
, the clones steadily advance on the Separatists' forces, gaining the Republic an early victory. It doesn't last long, though, as the droid army soon returns. With no communications or the ability to fly in reinforcements, the fate of the few remaining clone soldiers are in the hands of Obi-Wan and Anakin. A shuttle arrives, but without the needed reinforcements. Instead, it is a young Padawan named Ahsoka Tano
Ahsoka Tano
Ahsoka "Snips" Tano is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe and is the primary protagonist in the 2008 animated film: Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the following series. When the series began she was depicted as a 14-year-old Togruta female...
, who insists that she has been sent by Master Yoda
Yoda
Yoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing in the second and third original films, as well as all three prequel trilogy films. A renowned Jedi master, Yoda made his first on-screen appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where he is responsible for...
to serve under Anakin. The battle soon commences yet again, with the Separatist forces advancing behind an expanding energy shield that artillery can't penetrate. Anakin and Ahsoka succeed in penetrating the enemy lines while Obi-Wan stalls for time by holding a fake surrender negotiation with the droid army commander.
Soon after the final victory for the Republic on Christophsis, Yoda arrives and brings the Jedi up to date on the situation concerning Jabba's son. The Republic needs Jabba on their side to ensure unfettered travel through Jabba's trade routes. Anakin and Ahsoka are tasked with retrieving the child, while Obi-Wan flies to Tatooine to assure Jabba that Rotta will be retrieved. On the planet of Teth, Anakin, Ahsoka and their clones assault a monastery that sits atop a high stone pillar. They find Rotta, but discover that he is ill, requiring them to get him help immediately. But they have been caught in a trap by Count Dooku
Count Dooku
Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. Dooku is one of the main antagonists of both Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the events of the Clone Wars and is a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Count Dooku plays a substantial role...
, who hopes to frame the Jedi for Rotta's disappearance (and possible death), thereby ending any chance of the Republic striking a deal with Jabba. He sends his assassin, Asajj Ventress
Asajj Ventress
Asajj Ventress is a fictional character from the Star Wars Expanded Universe. She is best known for her appearances in the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series, in which she is played by voice-actress Grey DeLisle and serves as Anakin Skywalker's arch nemesis during the first season...
, to secure fake evidence of the Jedi's supposed double dealing, then to recapture the young Hutt and return it to Jabba, putting the crime lord in the Separatists' debt.
Anakin and Ahsoka manage to escape the trap along with R2-D2
R2-D2
R2-D2 , is a character in the Star Wars universe. An astromech droid, R2-D2 is a major character throughout all six Star Wars films. Along with his droid companion C-3PO, he joins or supports Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Obi-Wan Kenobi in various points in the saga...
and hijack a derelict transport which they use to travel to Tatooine
Tatooine
Tatooine is a fictional planet and setting for many key scenes in the Star Wars saga, appearing in every Star Wars film except The Empire Strikes Back, although it is mentioned at the end of the movie...
. Obi-Wan, alerted by Anakin, arrives just in time to relieve the clone forces and engages Ventress in a lightsaber duel where he manages to defeat her, though Ventress flees in the face of capture. On board the derelict ship, Ahsoka manages to cure Rotta by the use of medical supplies on board. In the meantime, Senator Padmé Amidala learns of Anakin's mission and fears for his safety. She decides to contact Jabba's uncle, Ziro, who lives in a shady part of Coruscant. The Hutt refuses to cooperate, apparently believing that it is the Jedi who are responsible for the situation. Padmé, however, soon discovers that Ziro has actually conspired with Dooku to engineer the downfall of his nephew in order to seize power over the Hutt clans. Padmé is discovered and detained, but a chance call by C-3PO
C-3PO
C-3PO is a robot character from the Star Wars universe who appears in both the original Star Wars films and the prequel trilogy. He is also a major character in the television show Droids, and appears frequently in the series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games...
enables her to summon help, and Ziro is arrested.
Upon their arrival on Tatooine, Anakin and Ahsoka are attacked and shot down. Faced with a long trek across desert sands and relentless opponents, Anakin devises a ruse: he confronts Dooku while carrying a decoy Rotta, leaving Ahsoka and R2-D2 to take the real Rotta to Jabba's palace. While Anakin fights Dooku, Ahsoka is ambushed by three Magnaguards. As Anakin and Dooku fight, Dooku activates a mini holo-image projector, showing Ahsoka nearing defeat. Dooku then explains that the Magnaguards are there to kill Rotta, and bring Ahsoka to Jabba for punishment for Rotta's murder. Believing that Ahsoka's life is in danger, Anakin abandons the fight to help her.
Anakin arrives at Jabba's palace to find that Ahsoka did not yet arrive with Rotta. Frustrated, Anakin activates his lightsaber, holds it at Jabba's throat, and demands Jabba tell him what he has done with Ahsoka. Just as Anakin is about to be shot down by the guards, Ahsoka enters, with Rotta, having defeated the Magnaguards. After Rotta is handed over to Jabba, Jabba orders Anakin and Ahsoka to be executed. Just before they can be shot down, Padmé contacts Jabba with the news that Ziro has agreed to admit working together with Dooku in having Rotta kidnapped, and the Jedi framed for the crime. With the truth now revealed to him, Jabba agrees to allow the Republic to use his trade routes. With their mission accomplished, Anakin and Ahsoka are triumphantly retrieved by Obi-Wan and Yoda.
Cast
While this film does not feature the original cast from the prequel trilogy, Christopher LeeChristopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
, Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
, Matthew Wood, and Anthony Daniels
Anthony Daniels
Anthony Daniels is an English actor. He is best known for his role as the droid C-3PO in the Star Wars series of films made between 1977 and 2005.-Early life:...
reprise their roles from the previous films.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Matt Lanter Matt Lanter Matthew Mackendree "Matt" Lanter is an American actor, former reality TV personality and model, perhaps best known for his roles in Commander in Chief, 90210, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Disaster Movie, Sorority Row and Vampires Suck.-Early life and career:Lanter was born in Massillon, Stark... |
Anakin Skywalker Darth Vader Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy.... |
| Ashley Eckstein | Ahsoka Tano Ahsoka Tano Ahsoka "Snips" Tano is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe and is the primary protagonist in the 2008 animated film: Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the following series. When the series began she was depicted as a 14-year-old Togruta female... |
| James Arnold Taylor James Arnold Taylor James Arnold Taylor is an American voice actor, Impressionist, and Announcer. He is the current voice provider for Fred Flintstone as well as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and also the movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Johnny Test in Johnny Test... |
Obi-Wan Kenobi Obi-Wan Kenobi Obi-Wan Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is one of several primary characters in the Star Wars series. Along with Darth Vader, R2-D2, and C-3PO, he is one of the few major characters to appear in all six Star Wars films... 4A-7 |
| Tom Kane Tom Kane Tom Kane is a prominent American voice actor with over 25 years of experience. He is most widely known for his animation work... |
Yoda Yoda Yoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing in the second and third original films, as well as all three prequel trilogy films. A renowned Jedi master, Yoda made his first on-screen appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where he is responsible for... Narrator Admiral Yularen |
| Christopher Lee Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films... |
Count Dooku Count Dooku Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. Dooku is one of the main antagonists of both Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the events of the Clone Wars and is a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Count Dooku plays a substantial role... /Darth Tyranus |
| Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker is an American voice actor. He is noted as his long-running-role as Klaus Heissler in American Dad! and other various characters including Squilliam Fancyson in the hit TV series SpongeBob SquarePants, Nightcrawler in X-Men: Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance... |
Captain Rex Commander Cody Clone trooper Clone trooper The clone troopers of the Army of the Republic are soldiers in the fictional Star Wars universe, cloned from Jango Fett, a Mandalorian bounty hunter. They first appeared in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and returned in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith where they were played... s |
| Samuel L. Jackson Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,... |
Mace Windu Mace Windu Mace Windu is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, most famously portrayed by actor Samuel L. Jackson in the prequel films. However, Windu has also been voiced by other actors in assorted video game and animated projects.... |
| Nika Futterman Nika Futterman Nika Futterman is an American actress, singer, voice artist, and comedienne.She did the vocals "Give it to me, baby" in The Offspring hit single "Pretty Fly ."-Animated Series:... |
Asajj Ventress Asajj Ventress Asajj Ventress is a fictional character from the Star Wars Expanded Universe. She is best known for her appearances in the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series, in which she is played by voice-actress Grey DeLisle and serves as Anakin Skywalker's arch nemesis during the first season... TC-70 |
| Anthony Daniels Anthony Daniels Anthony Daniels is an English actor. He is best known for his role as the droid C-3PO in the Star Wars series of films made between 1977 and 2005.-Early life:... |
C-3PO C-3PO C-3PO is a robot character from the Star Wars universe who appears in both the original Star Wars films and the prequel trilogy. He is also a major character in the television show Droids, and appears frequently in the series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games... |
| Ian Abercrombie Ian Abercrombie Ian Abercrombie is an English actor, best known for playing Alfred Pennyworth in Birds of Prey. He appeared as Elaine Benes' boss Justin Pitt during the sixth season of Seinfeld, and as a fastidious butler on Desperate Housewives.-Biography:He is the cousin of John Abercrombie, a jazz guitarist of... |
Palpatine Palpatine Palpatine is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Star Wars saga, portrayed by Ian McDiarmid in the feature films.Palpatine first appeared as the unnamed Emperor of the Galactic Empire in the 1980 film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back... /Darth Sidious |
| Catherine Taber Cat Taber Catherine Taber , also known as "Cat Taber", is an American actress who has appeared in films, television and video games.-Filmography:* Final Fantasy XIV - Various... |
Padmé Amidala Padmé Amidala Padmé Amidala is a fictional character in the Star Wars science fiction franchise. She first appeared on film in the 1999 feature film, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, as the young queen of the planet Naboo. In subsequent prequel trilogy films, Padmé represents Naboo in the Galactic Senate... |
| Corey Burton Corey Burton Corey Burton is an American voice actor, perhaps best known as Count Dooku, Ziro the Hutt and Cad Bane in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Brainiac in the DC animated universe and Spike Witwicky and Shockwave in the Transformers universe... |
Whorm Loathsom Ziro the Hutt |
| David Acord | Rotta the Huttlet |
| Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson is an American actor and voice actor who currently stars as Cleveland Brown, Jr. in The Cleveland Show... |
Jabba the Hutt Jabba the Hutt Jabba the Hutt is a fictional character in George Lucas's space opera film saga Star Wars. Designed as a large, slug-like alien, his appearance has been described by film critic Roger Ebert as "Dickensian," a cross between a toad and the Cheshire Cat.... |
| Matthew Wood | Battle droid Battle droid Battle Droids are a fictional, robotic combat unit used in the Star Wars Universe. Though developed earlier, battle droids served as frontline units in the Trade Federation Army and for the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars era. They were mass produced on Confederate planets... s General Grievous General Grievous General Grievous is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, an antagonist in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. He was voiced by Matthew Wood... |
Filming
Star Wars: The Clone Wars was designed to serve as both a stand-alone story and a lead-in to the weekly animated TV series of the same nameStar Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)
-Production:At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production had begun on the series, according to Steve...
. George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
had the idea for a film after viewing some of the completed footage of the early episodes on the big screen. Those first few episodes, originally planned for release on television, were then woven together to form the theatrical release. The story of the kidnapped Hutt was inspired by the Sonny Chiba
Sonny Chiba
, also known as Sonny Chiba, is a Japanese actor, singer, film producer, film director and martial artist.Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience.- Early life :Born in Fukuoka, Fukuoka,...
samurai film titled: "Shogun’s Shadow".
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
had tracked the series' development from the beginning, and Lucas decided on a theatrical launch after viewing early footage declaring "This is so beautiful, why don't we just go and use the crew and make a feature?" Lucas described the film was "almost an afterthought." Howard Roffman
Howard Roffman
Howard Roffman is an American lawyer representing Lucasfilms and a photographer who specializes in the male full frontal nude photography.-Career:...
, president of Lucas Licensing, said of the decision, "Sometimes George works in strange ways." Producer Catherine Winder
Catherine Winder
Catherine Winder is the executive producer at Lucasfilm Animation, where she oversees development and production on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series; she also served as a producer for the 2008 film of the same name...
said the sudden decision added to an already large challenge of establishing a show "of this sophistication and complexity," but she felt it was a good way to start the series, and thought budgetary constraints forced the production team to think outside the box
Thinking outside the box
Thinking outside the box is to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking....
in a positive way.
Lucasfilm Ltd.
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Limited is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco, California. Lucas is the company's current chairman and CEO, and Micheline Chau is the president and COO....
and Lucasfilm Animation
Lucasfilm Animation
Lucasfilm Animation is an animation studio founded in 2003. In 2008 it was officially launched after the premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars...
used Autodesk
Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. The company was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of the first versions of the company's...
software to animate both the film and the series using the Maya
Maya (software)
Autodesk Maya , commonly shortened to Maya, is 3D computer graphics software that runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Linux, originally developed by Alias Systems Corporation and currently owned and developed by Autodesk, Inc. It is used to create interactive 3D applications, including video...
3D modeling program to create highly detailed worlds, characters and creatures. The film's animation style was designed to pay homage to the stylized looks of both Japanese anime and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, and the supermarionation
Supermarionation
Supermarionation is a puppetry technique devised in the 1960s by British production company AP Films. It was used extensively in the company's numerous Gerry and Sylvia Anderson-produced action-adventure series, the most famous of which was Thunderbirds...
of the British 1960s series Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
. At a Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
-hosted discussion, Lucas said he did not want the Clones Wars film or television series to look like such movies as Beowulf
Beowulf (2007 film)
Beowulf is a 2007 American animated fantasy film written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary inspired by the Old English epic poem of the same name. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film was created through a motion capture process similar to the technique he used in The Polar Express...
, because he wanted a stylized look rather than a realistic one. He also felt it should not look like the popular Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
movies such as The Incredibles
The Incredibles
The Incredibles is a 2004 American computer-animated action-comedy superhero film about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers. It was written and directed by Brad Bird, a former director and executive consultant of The Simpsons, and was produced by Pixar and distributed by...
, because he wanted the film and characters to have its own unique style. Lucas also decided to create the animated film and series from a live-action perspective, which Winder said, set it apart from other CGI films. Essentially, it "meant using long camera shots, aggressive lighting techniques, and relying on editing instead of storyboards." Animators also reviewed designs from the original 2003 Clone Wars series
Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003 TV series)
Star Wars: Clone Wars is an Annie Award-winning American animated television series set in the Star Wars galaxy. The series chronicles the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic under Chancellor Palpatine, and the Confederacy of Independent Systems under Count Dooku.Chronologically, the series...
when creating the animation style for the film and the new series. In charge was Steward Lee, working as the storyboard artist during filming.
Deleted scenes
On the 2-disc DVD, there are some deleted and extended scenes.- In an extended scene at the beginning, when Anakin and Ahsoka are trying to destroy the shield generator, they lose the box they were hiding under as they come across some Federation tanks. The scene follows them jumping about and taking cover under the tanks before they get back under the box. It also shows Obi-Wan telling his clone troopers to hold the droids back as long as they can.
- Portions of the Anakin/Ventress fight scene were also cut. In this scene, Ventress comes into the room where Anakin, Ahsoka, Rotta and R2-D2 are trying to find a landing platform. R2-D2 activates a trap door that Anakin, Ahsoka, Ventress and Rotta fall into, in addition to some droids. Anakin and Ventress continue their fight, but Ahsoka accidentally releases a rancor which tries to eat her and Rotta. Anakin and Ventress fight on the rancor's head until Ventress falls off and the rancor lands on her. Anakin, Ahsoka, Rotta and R2-D2 escape. Ventress stings the rancor on the behind and pursues Anakin.
- In another extend scene, when Anakin, Ahsoka, Rotta and R2-D2 arrive at the backdoor landing platform, Anakin calls for a gunship, but a vulture droid destroys it, before landing and being destroyed by the Jedi. Ahsoka picks R2-D2 back up after the fight. Meanwhile, on Tatooine, Dooku tells Jabba that his droids are near to beating Anakin and returning his son. He suggests discussing a treaty between the Hutts and the Separatists. Jabba insists that no treaty be discussed till Rotta is returned safe and sound.
- In a further extended scene when Anakin and Ahsoka are escaping Teth in the Twilight, Anakin says they must jettison everything in the cargo hold. Ahsoka goes to the cargo bay to open the doors and nearly falls out, but manages to destroy the vulture droids on their tail. When she gets back to the cockpit, Anakin points out that she could have just used the cargo bay door release controls in the cockpit.
Music and soundtrack
The film's music was composed by Kevin Kiner. Some actors from the live-action films, including Anthony DanielsAnthony Daniels
Anthony Daniels is an English actor. He is best known for his role as the droid C-3PO in the Star Wars series of films made between 1977 and 2005.-Early life:...
, Matthew Wood, Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
and Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
, returned to vocally reprise their roles of their respective characters.
The original motion picture soundtrack was released by Sony Classical on August 12, 2008. The disc begins with the main theme
Star Wars music
The music of Star Wars consists of the scores written for all six Star Wars films by composer John Williams from 1977 to 1983 for the Original Trilogy, and 1999 to 2005 for the Prequel Trilogy. It includes the Star Wars: The Clone Wars music written by Kevin Kiner...
by John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
, followed by more than 30 separate music cues composed by Kevin Kiner. Kiner is known for his work on such television series as Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: Enterprise, Superboy and CSI: Miami. The soundtrack uses many instruments
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
never heard before in a Star Wars score, including synthesizers, electric guitars, erhu
Erhu
The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...
s, duduk
Duduk
The duduk , traditionally known since antiquity as a Ծիրանափող is a traditional woodwind instrument indigenous to Armenia. Variations of it are popular in the Middle East and Central Asia...
s, oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
s and taiko
Taiko
means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...
s.
Toys
Star Wars: The Clone Wars merchandise was first released on July 26, 2008. HasbroHasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
released several 3-inch Clone Wars action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s, an electronic clone trooper helmet, a customizable lightsaber, and an electronic All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE)
Walker (Star Wars)
Walkers are vehicles from the Star Wars universe that traverse the landscape on mechanical legs. They are used by the Old Republic and the Galactic Empire for ground assault or transport. Throughout the saga, walkers have played a pivotal role in the fate of characters and the outcome of battles...
. Toys "R" Us mounted digital clocks in all 585 of its stores that counted down to the release of the Clone Wars toys, and more than 225 of the stores opened at midnight for the debut of the Star Wars products. Two of the Toys "R" Us flagship outlets in Mission Bay, San Diego and Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City held costume and trivia contests on July 26, and gave away limited-edition Star Wars toys with every purchase. A section of the Toys "R" Us website was also dedicated to The Clone Wars.
Food
Due to Lucas's sudden decision to make the film, Lucas Licensing did not have time to enter into agreements with previous Star Wars marketing partners like PepsiPepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
, Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
and Kellogg's
Kellogg Company
Kellogg Company , is a producer of cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles, and vegetarian foods...
, with which the Lucasfilm licensing company had a 10-year marketing plan for the other films. When questioned by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
about Star Wars merchandising in July 2006, a Pepsi spokesperson was unaware a new Star Wars film was even being released. Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
and KB Toys
KB Toys
K·B Toys was a chain of mall-based retail toy stores in the United States. It was founded in 1922 by the Kaufman brothers. K·B operated 605 stores in 44 U.S. states, Puerto Rico as well as Guam. It was privately held in Pittsfield, Massachusetts...
also devoted shelf space for Clone Wars toys, but did not hold midnight releases or pursue the branding opportunities Toys "R" Us did. On August 15, McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
held its first ever Happy Meal
Happy Meal
A "Happy Meal" is a meal specifically marketed at children, sold at the fast-food chain McDonald's since June 1979. A toy is typically included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a small box or paper bag with the McDonald's logo....
promotion for a Star Wars film and for four weeks, 18 exclusive toys came in specially designed Happy Meal boxes.
Comics and books
Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
published a six-issue digest-sized comic book mini-series
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
. Randy Stradley, vice president of publishing for Dark Horse, said the sudden decision to release the Clone Wars film required the company to temporarily delay plans for two other Star Wars comic book series, Dark Times
Star Wars: Dark Times
Dark Times is a 2006, eighteen issue comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics. It is part of their 30th anniversary retooling of its long-running Star Wars series of comics, replacing Star Wars: Republic....
and Rebellion
Star Wars: Rebellion (comics)
Star Wars: Rebellion was a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. The first issue was released in April 2006, the series ran for 16 issues. The series was a continuation of the series Star Wars: Empire. The series was presented as a series of miniseries, the first arc having five issues...
. The Clone Wars comics did not receive the promotional campaign it otherwise would have due to the abruptness of the theatrical and comic book releases. Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
, the trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s company, released a series of 90 Clone Wars cards on July 26, which also included foil cards, motion cards, animation cel cards and rare sketch cards by top Star Wars artists and Lucasfilm animators. DK Publishing and the Penguin Group
Penguin Group
The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...
released books, activities and other merchandise that tied in with the film. Also released was the Clone Wars: The Visual Guide, published by DK, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars in the UK, published by Puffin and in the U.S. by Grosset & Dunlap. The publishers also released a storybook, picture books and an activity book. At the American International Toy Fair
American International Toy Fair
The American International Toy Fair is one of a few major toy industry trade shows held around the world. It is held annually in mid February in New York City's Toy Center, located at 23rd Street at the crossover of Fifth Avenue and Broadway and at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and is...
, Lego
Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
announced a product line for the film and the TV series, to be released in July 2008 in the United States and on August 2008 in the United Kingdom.
Video games
The LucasArtsLucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
adapted the film into Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
and Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels for Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
. A reviewer from PocketGamer.co.uk said his expectations for the Jedi Alliance were low due to poor Clone Wars movie reviews, but he found the game "a varied and well-paced experience."
Portable media players
A Star Wars: The Clone Wars MP3 player was released in August 2008. The player includes one gigabyte of memory, which holds 200 songs or 20 hours of music and comes with three interchangeable faceplates: a green one with YodaYoda
Yoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing in the second and third original films, as well as all three prequel trilogy films. A renowned Jedi master, Yoda made his first on-screen appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where he is responsible for...
and a lightsaber
Lightsaber
A lightsaber is a fictional weapon in the Star Wars universe, a "laser sword." It consists of a polished metal hilt which projects a blade of light about 1.33 metres long. The lightsaber is the signature weapon of the Jedi order and their Sith counterparts, both of whom can use them for close...
on it, a silver one with Captain Rex and a Galactic Empire
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
The Galactic Empire is one of the main factions in the fictional universe of Star Wars. It is a galaxy-spanning regime established by the series' lead villain, Palpatine, to replace the Galactic Republic in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The Galactic Empire is introduced in Star Wars...
logo on it, and one with two Clone trooper
Clone trooper
The clone troopers of the Army of the Republic are soldiers in the fictional Star Wars universe, cloned from Jango Fett, a Mandalorian bounty hunter. They first appeared in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and returned in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith where they were played...
s on Coruscant
Coruscant
Coruscant is a planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. It first appeared onscreen in the 1997 Special Edition of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, but was first mentioned in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel Heir to the Empire...
. One review claimed it improved upon a Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
MP3 player released in July 2008, which featured only 512 megabyte
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
s of memory and a dated visual display. A Star Wars iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
iSpeaker (a speaker/dock for iPods, iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
s and MP3 players) was also released. The speaker includes an image of Captain Rex and three other Clone Troopers.
Racing sponsorship
A Star Wars: The Clone Wars open wheel carOpen wheel car
Open-wheel car, formula car, or often single-seater car in British English, describes cars with the wheels outside the car's main body and, in most cases, one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or fenders...
for the IndyCar Series
IndyCar Series
The IZOD IndyCar Series is the premier level of American open wheel racing. The current championship, founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League . Citing CART's increasing reliance on expensive machinery and...
was unveiled at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
. The #26 car, which also included Blockbuster Inc. decals and was driven by Andretti Green Racing
Andretti Green Racing
Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, Star Mazda Championship, and U.S. F2000 National Championship.-Current IndyCar Drivers and Cars:*7 Danica Patrick, GoDaddy.com*26 Marco Andretti...
driver Marco Andretti
Marco Andretti
Marco Michael Andretti is an Italian American auto racing driver who drives the #26 car for Andretti Autosport in the IndyCar Series. He is the son of 1991 IndyCar World Series champion Michael Andretti and the grandson of racing legend Mario Andretti...
, ran August 24 on the Infineon Raceway
Infineon Raceway
Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway, is a road course and drag strip located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains near Sonoma, California, USA. The course is a complex series of twists and turns that go up and down the hills...
in the Sonoma Mountains
Sonoma Mountains
The Sonoma Mountains are a northwest-southeast trending formation of California Coast Ranges in Sonoma County, California, USA. The range is approximately fourteen miles long and separates the Sonoma Creek watershed from the Petaluma River and Tolay Creek watersheds...
in California. Andretti said, "I'm hoping that my upcoming battle at Infineon will be as exciting as anything in a Star Wars movie so I can win it for both Blockbuster and Lucasfilm." The car finished 14th at Infineon, which Andretti attributed to a slow pit stop
Pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...
early in the race; he added, "I just don't think it was a very good performance for us today." The Clone Wars car was the second collaboration between Lucasfilm, Blockbuster and Andretti Green Racing. It premiered as an Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull car at the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
in May 2008.
Critical response
The film received negative reviews from critics. Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
listed Star Wars: The Clone Wars as one of the five worst films of 2008, with critic Owen Gleiberman saying,
It's hard to tell the droids from the Jedi drones in this robotic animated dud, in which the George Lucas Empire Strikes Back—at the audience. What wears you out is Lucas' immersion in a Star Wars cosmology that has grown so obsessive-compulsively cluttered yet trivial that it's no longer escapism; Because this movie has bad lightsaber duels and the lack of the original cast, it's something you want to escape from.The Clone Wars received a 19% approval rating (earning a "rotten" rating) among 150 reviews compiled at the Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
site, and a 12% among 25 "Top Critics." This constituted by far the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating of any Star Wars film; the previous six theatrical films ranged from 63% to 97%, and even the made-for-television Ewok
Ewok
Ewoks originate from the Star Wars films. In the series, they are a species of teddy-bear-like hunter-gatherers that inhabit the forest moon of Endor. The Ewoks live in various tree-huts and primitive dwellings. They first appeared in the film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...
movies and the much-derided The Star Wars Holiday Special
The Star Wars Holiday Special
The Star Wars Holiday Special is a 1978 American television special set in the Star Wars galaxy. It was one of the first official Star Wars spin-offs, and was directed by Steve Binder. The show was broadcast in its entirety only once, in the United States and Canada, November 17, 1978, on the U.S...
garnered higher ratings, although their averages encompassed far fewer reviews. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the movie scored 35% based on 30 reviews, earning it the status "generally negative."
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...
posted two reviews of the film during the week before its release, but pulled them down due to an embargo placed on those attending the screening its writers attended. The same reviews were reposted on the site the day of the film's release. The retraction prompted some readers to allege a conspiracy by LucasFilm to keep negative press out of circulation until the release of the film, but although the review by site creator Harry Knowles
Harry Knowles
Harry Knowles is known for his website called Ain't It Cool News. Knowles is a member of the Austin Film Critics Association.-Biography:...
was negative, Drew McWeeny
Drew McWeeny
Drew McWeeny , also known by his pseudonym Moriarty, is a film critic, screenwriter, and the former west coast editor of the Ain't It Cool News website...
said that his review was positive and that no such conspiracy existed.
Several critics compared The Clone Wars to a Saturday morning cartoon
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
and described it as little more than a plug for the upcoming animated series. Linda Barnard, of the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, said the movie "pretty much drives a stake into the heart of every loyal fan of the movies. And now
Jar Jar Binks
Jar Jar Binks is a fictional character from the Star Wars Saga , and the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. His primary role was to provide comic relief, but many reacted negatively to his character...
." Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
reviewer Todd McCarthy said, "This isn't the Star Wars we've always known and at least sometimes loved." Joe Neumiar, of the New York Daily News, wrote, "If this were a true Star Wars film, right about now somebody would say, '...I've got a bad feeling about this.'" In his review for Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, critic Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
gave the movie an F grade and wrote, "George Lucas is turning into the enemy of fun." Carrie Rickey, of The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
, said, "The best that can be said about the movie is that it's harmless and mostly charmless. The Clone Wars is to Star Wars what karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
is to pop music."
| Remember how people talked about the Star Wars prequels like they were the worst movies ever made, when really, come on, they weren't THAT bad? The Clone Wars actually IS that bad. |
| — Film critic, Eric D. Snider |
Many criticized the animation as cheap, wooden, non-engaging, and out-of-date; some reviewers drew negative comparisons to 1960s marionette
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
-based shows Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
and Fireball XL5
Fireball XL5
Fireball XL5 is a science fiction-themed children's television show following the missions of spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol...
, although George Lucas previously said the animation style was a deliberate homage to such shows. Tom Long of The Detroit News
The Detroit News
The Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960,...
said the animation "is downright weak compared to what's generally seen on screens these days" and said the characters are so stiff they look like they were "carved by Pinocchio
Pinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
's father
Mister Geppetto
Mister Geppetto is a fictional character in the novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. Geppetto is an elderly, impoverished woodcarver and the creator of Pinocchio...
." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
said "the characters have hair that looks molded from Play-Doh
Play-Doh
Play-Doh is a modeling compound used by young children for art and craft projects at home and in school. Composed of flour, water, salt, boric acid, and mineral oil, the product was first manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA as a wallpaper cleaner in the 1930s...
, bodies that seem arthritic, and moving lips on half-frozen faces—all signs that shortcuts were taken in the animation work." McCarthy said "the movements, both of the characters and the compositions, look mechanical, and the mostly familiar characters have all the facial expressiveness of Easter Island statues
Moai
Moai , or mo‘ai, are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the...
." But some of the same reviewers who criticized the animation acknowledged some positive elements about it; McCarthy said it allowed for "somewhat more dramatic compositions and color schemes," and Carrie Rickey, of The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
, said the scenery and backgrounds were "vivid and alive", although she said the characters "move as you would imagine the statues at a waxworks
Wax museum
A wax museum or waxworks consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses....
might."
Reviewers also criticized the dialogue, which Ebert said was limited to "simplistic declamations" and Claudia Puig of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
described as "stilted and overblown, a problem also in some of the live-action incarnations." Many critics also said that the battle scenes were repetitive and lacked tension; McCarthy described the action sequences as "a little exposition, an invasion; some more exposition, a lightsaber fight; a bit more blah-blah, a spaceship dogfight
Dogfight
A dogfight, or dog fight, is a form of aerial combat between fighter aircraft; in particular, combat of maneuver at short range, where each side is aware of the other's presence. Dogfighting first appeared during World War I, shortly after the invention of the airplane...
, and on and on." Linda Stasi, of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, also described the lack of character development in the film, writing that whereas the original Star Wars films dedicated time to allowing viewers to get to know the characters, "Director Dave Filoni is so concentrated on the action that we're never given the chance to care who lives and who is blown into spare parts." Jason Anderson, of the Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, wrote that although The Clone Wars is intended for younger audiences, "parents may be perturbed by the film's relentless violence." Ebert also found protagonist Ahsoka Tano "annoying," and Michael Rechtshaffen, of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
, said the attempts of humor amid the bickering between Tano and Anakin Skywalker are "strained". However, Puig said she enjoyed the character and that "her repartee with Anakin enlivens things." The Film Was Nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Animated Film
Saturn Award for Best Animated Film
The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Animated Film:-Winners:...
and a Razzie Award for worst prequel, sequel, or rip off
Box office
The movie was a moderate box office success despite negative reviews from mainstream critics. The Clone Wars earned $69,182,844 worldwide, including $35,161,554 in domestic box office grosses and $34,021,290 in foreign grosses. The film earned $15.5 million on 3,590 screens in its opening weekend, including $6.22 million on its opening day, August 15. It was the third-highest earning film of the weekend, behind Tropic ThunderTropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder is a 2008 American action satire comedy film written, produced, and directed by Ben Stiller, and starring Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black. The main plot revolves around a group of prima donna actors who are making a Vietnam War film...
and The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight (film)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
, which earned $25.8 million and $16.3 million, respectively. Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures, said the box office performance met expectations because two-thirds of the audience were families and the budget for the film was $8.5 million, frugal considering it was a CGI film, and because the movie was meant to introduce the animated series. Fellman said, "It was targeted to a specific audience for specific reasons. We accomplished that mission, and it will continue in another medium." When The Clone Wars dropped to $5.6 million in its second week of release, ContactMusic.com described it as "the first bona fide Star Wars flop." The film also earned $22,725,360 from DVD sales in the US.
Home media
The film's two-disc DVD and Blu-ray DiscBlu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
was released on November 11, 2008, in the United States and on December 8, 2008, in the United Kingdom. The film was released as a single-disc DVD, two-disc Special Edition DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. The standard-definition versions include the film in widescreen format with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX sound, and with feature-length audio commentary.