Back in the eighties, there was a phenomenon known as the compilation tape. Much like a mix tape, where you would take pop hits and compile them thematically onto a cassette, a comp tape was a VHS filled with all kinds of action bits of movies. All those annoying elements like plot or backstory or character development was tossed out so you could get to the really good bits with the guns and the cars and the explosions. So you'd have two hours of the "Ski, Jump Shoot" sequence from For Your Eyes Only, the truck chase from Raiders of the Lost Ark, the freeway chase from the Terminator and so on.

I mention the Comp tape for one reason - that's pretty much what the Star Wars: Clone Wars is. An hour of nothing but action and zero plot.

For those of you who don't know - and to those people, I extend a warm "welcome to the 21st century" - the Clone Wars is the galaxy spanning conflict featured in George Lucas's Star Wars prequel trilogy. Set between Attack of the Clones (where we see the opening skirmish of the Clone Wars) and the Revenge of the Sith (where we see the closing hours of the conflict), the Clone Wars is the animated adventures of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi - plus a whole bunch of Jedi you really need to be a SuperNerd to know about like Mace Windu and Kit Fisto, and Asajj Ventress.

The series, originally shown in three minute segments, is a series of vignettes - Obi-Wan leads battalion of clone troopers against the droid armies of the evil bankers' union. Anakin is point man (and pretty much the whole battle) in his custom tricked out starfighter, flying against the vast Confederacy armada. Kit Fisto goes deep-sea diving with his lightsaber. Mace must battle an imposing (and highly impractical) superweapon while Padme, Yoda, and the droids journey to rescue some Jedi. Eventually the narrative settles down slightly, focusing on Confederacy big shot Count Dooku and his recruitment of a new potential Sith Lord Ventress. Ventress is charged with going engaging with Anakin and destroying him in a pretty impressive saber duel on Yavin. Oh and much like how Boba Fett was first seen in the Star Wars Holiday Special, we get our first glimpse of Sith heavy, General Grievous.

Here's the thing I don't get - people who are down on the prequel trilogy generally tend to point to something like "The story sucks! There's nothing but eye candy and special effects!" and then go on to praise Clone Wars. "That's what Lucas should have done! Why didn’t he do it this way!"

I'm glad he didn’t - this would have been dreadfully boring!

Don't get me wrong, it's amazingly cool to see Mace kick mucho grande droid ass and be as awesome and full of Win as Samuel L Jackson should be. But there's no structure to it, only the barest of plots to support this amazingly cool Jedi asswhuppin'. In three minute segments, I love it. In one hour long compilation, I start to get antsy. Two hours of relentless clone combat, gratuitous Jedi jumping and Force-pushing, copious lightsaber duels and my eyes would glaze over and I'd be heading for the exits.

On the plus side, I do like the look of the disc - for the most part, we get old-school two-dimensional line and ink art (well, digitally created line and ink art - but you know what I mean) The computers do come into play during the amazing starfighter battles, but the rest of the animation is done by hand. It's colorful and well done, and really shows off the blazing action well.

Sadly the only cast member to reprise his roll from the movies is Anthony Daniels as C-3PO. The rest of the cast does the job well enough (and honestly there's not a lot of dialogue anyway), but it would have been nice to get the rest of the real voices onboard (much like the new computer animated Clone Wars movie coming out next week - sporting at least Sam Jackson, Chris Lee, and Tony Daniels back in their rolls again).

The other complaint is that the transitions between episodes aren’t as smooth as I'd like. The credits and openings have been removed and the body of the episode stitched together from the individual segments, and the seams do show.

THE DVD -
While you may not like his work, you do have to admit that Lucas knows how to put a disc together - this thing looks great. We get a nice, colorful 1.78:1 widescreen anamorphic print. The sound isnt too bad - the Dolby Digital 2.0 mix is good but it doesn't really work the surround sound like it should.

THE EXTRAS -
Not a huge selection here - we get a couple of fairly engaging commentaries from Tartakovsky, one recycled from the internet broadcasts and one freshly minted for the DVD. There's a couple of short interviews with Tartakovsky and Lucas about bridging the two movies and the mechanics of bringing the animation to life. There's a stills gallery with concept art, drawings and posters, and lastly a handful of trailers - the teaser for Revenge of the Sith and a couple for some lucasarts video games.

THE BOTTOM LINE -
I'm of two minds of this disc. The intellectual movie watcher in me craves plot and character development and stuff that will stimulate my higher brain functions. However the fanboy in me loves to see Jedi doing what Jedi do best - whupping the hell out of bad guys with tons of cool lightsaber moves and action. So, in this instance - let the force guide you. Will an hour of gratuitous Star Wars action leave you satisfied? Then this disc is for you!

THE STAR WARS REVIEWS:
* THE PHANTOM MENACE
* ATTACK OF THE CLONES
* THE CLONE WARS VOLUME 1
* THE CLONE WARS VOLUME 2
* 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