Here we go for the fifth iteration of the Star Wars Saga. Honestly, by this point I should give up the standard issue ponderings about how important Star Wars to me and to all of us born between about 1968 and 1980. Yes, you get it - Star Wars is a big deal and a cultural cornerstone, and unless you've been living under a rock for the last thirty or so years, you know what the deal is.

The story in 30 words or less: Anakin Skywalker continues to grow in the Force, falling in love with Padme along the way. Palpatine plays the Jedi and the galaxy like a puppet master, turning the Republic into his New Order. . . .

The question then becomes is Attack of the Clones any good? Does it live up to the legacy of The Holy Trilogy? More importantly, is it possible to discuss Attack of the Clones without the emotional baggage that came along with The Phantom Menace? The answer is: Yes, yes with reservations and maybe.

Might as well get the bad news right out of the way - the dialogue is still pretty bad. But then the dialogue was never this series' strong point. The love scenes, while not as ham-fisted as you might believe are a little too abrupt for me. I have no issue with the awkwardness of the romance - consider that we have a sheltered princess and a man was either a slave or sequestered away in an ivory tower. Normal human interactions just wouldn’t come easy for them, so naturally it'll come across as clumsy.

In fact, if anything, Clones needed more romance scene, rather than less. If the romance was going to be anything more than just suddenly sprung up from nowhere, we needed things to be more deep and believable. The deleted scenes on the DVD bear me out on this.

On the other hand, the action scenes in Clones are fantastic. The two Jedi versus Dooku, Kenobi versus Fett, Anakin searching for his mother, all top shelf stuff. The chase through the asteroid field - while not up to the gold standard that is the Empire Strikes Back asteroid field chase - is still amazing with some fantastic sound design. Ironically, the lightsaber fights are not as good as the battles with Darth Maul, but what you gonna do?

What else did it get right? Clumsy romance aside, I thought the characterizations were pretty good. Obi-Wan is still pretty cocky and self-sure, not the world weary and venerable Jedi we knew in Star Wars. Yoda teasing Obi-Wan about losing a planet seems like the old Yoda we all know and love from Empire. I thought that scene was dead on.

Oh, and I thought the very final scene, with the thousands and thousands of clone troopers stretching off into the distance, with the Chancellor looking on stoically with the Imperial March swelling to it's full evilness was brilliant. It was that moment, then and there, that the Empire had won. Everything else was just preamble, but that was the birth of evil right there. Best scene out of the whole saga.

When all is said and done, Attack of the Clones gets more right than it gets wrong. The action is natural, the characters (for the most part) are engaging, and we get some good moments. No, it's not perfect, but it's closer to the old Star Wars magic than we've had in a very, very long time

THE DVD -
Right from the get-go, Clones is a great looking disc. The all-digital shooting process means that the effects elements and composition were easily manipulated to create some of the most seamless special effects shots ever seen. More importantly, this all digital transfer means that the DVD looks un-freakin-believable. The colors look great, every detail is crystal clear - the quality of this disc is nothing short of stunning, and one of the best transfers I have seen.

The Audio is more of the same - nice and crisp with a wonderful 5.1 mix that is aggressive and bombastic. Everything from the opening score to Slave 1's seismic mines will blow you away and show off your sound system.

THE EXTRAS -
Six hours of extras. Yeah, you read that right - nearly SIX BLOODY HOURS of stuff crammed in here. And I though that The Phantom Menace was a loaded set - oh no, you aint seen nothing yet!

Disc one gets audio commentary from Lucas, Rick MacCallum, Ben Burtt, and some ILM guys. It sounds like the ILM guys were recorded together in one session while Lucas, MacCallum, and Burtt were recorded separately and edited together. It's a great track with loads of information.

Disc two has the bulk of the extras, far too many to go into individually, so I'll just skim. We start off with three teaser trailers and the full theatrical trailer, plus 12 television spots and the Across the Stars music video. We get two sizeable documentaries, detailing the evolution of creature shop from the Holy Trilogy to today's digital wonders. It's a pretty bare bones documentary, with not much in the way of structure or narration. The second is the pre-production of Episode II, and is put together far better.

And then the one thing that is sure to generate the most interest, the deleted scenes. Here, we get eight of them, complete and in as good a shape as the main feature. We can watch with an introduction from Lucas, MacCallum, and Burtt or without.

There are three shorter documentaries also included, running about ten minutes in length, focusing on the story (with talking head bits from Ewan McGregor), the love story (with Natalie and Haden) and Action (with the ever cool Sam Jackson). Following that are twelve web documentaries over from starwars.com, Pretty short, but really interesting

Finally we get three documentaries that were grouped together because they were the odd man out. One is a look at Ben Burtt, the wizard behind the sound effects and audio environments of Attack of the Clones. There is also a montage from ILM showing various stages in the creation of the visual effects. The montage is set to music and runs for about three and a half minutes. And lastly there's a six-minute trailer for R2-D2: Beneath the Dome, a mockumentary kind of in the vein of True Hollywood Story about the life, times, and troubles of R2-D2.

Rounding out the disc is a pretty comprehensive stills gallery with behind the scenes photos, one-sheet posters and press clippings.

THE BOTTOM LINE -
Lets be honest - the reason you watch a Star Wars movie - even the Holy Trilogy - is not because of the intricate plotting or deep and insightful direction or master thespians honing their fine art to a razors' edge. We go because we love the universe, the characters, and the sense of adventure. We go to watch two droids bicker like an old married couple. We go to see flashing lightsabers and swashbuckling daring do. We go to see the princess rescued from the evil dark knight who has locked her away in a distant castle. We go for fun.

Attack of the Clones delivers that fun in spades.

THE STAR WARS REVIEWS:
* THE PHANTOM MENACE
* ATTACK OF THE CLONES
* REVENGE OF THE SITH
* A NEW HOPE
* THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
* RETURN OF THE JEDI


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12