Club Jade

The Onderon arc continues in ‘The Soft Wars’ and I’m having Yul Brenner flashbacks. (‘Ramsis?’ I AM NOT FOOLED.)

Oh, and before I forget, season 4 is coming out on Blu-ray and DVD next week. Because 4 weeks into the new season is ideal timing for that, I guess.

StarWars.com has the official word of The Clone Wars season three Blu-ray/DVD release: They’ll be out October 18th.

The Blu-ray Blog reports a Amazon.ca pre-order page has appeared for The Clone Wars season three Blu-rays, giving a release date of October 25th for the box set. (There’s a page for DVDS as well.)

Nothing’s been formally announced yet, but the timing is similar to the S2 and S1 releases. (Thanks to Justin for the tip!)

Meanwhile, at Star Wars Weekends, the audience got a new peek at S4 and managed to wrangle a few tidbits out of Dave Filoni.

It’s a good week for releases – or a very bad week for your wallet, depending on your foci.

With plenty of folks being bored with what we’ve seen of S3 so far, it’s a good time to pick up The Clone Wars Season 2 on DVD and Blu-Ray. (StarWars.com has a bonus feature and virtual trading cards.) If you’re looking for a less passive experience, there’s also The Force Unleashed II – the actual game – sailing into stores today.

As for books, Death Troopers is now out in paperback.

Comic fans won’t go home empty-handed on Wednesday, either. Both Blood Ties #3 and Invasion: Rescues #5 – as well as the latest Star Wars Insider – should be in comic shops.

The second season of The Clone Wars is coming to DVD and Blu-Ray on October 26. Both versions will come with a 64-page production journal, and the Blu-Ray will feature another round of The Jedi Temple Archives.

Three comics out in a holiday week? Stranger things have happened, I suppose… Yes comic fans, you get three on Wednesday: Legacy #43, Knights of the Old Republic #48 and The Clone Wars: The Colossus of Destiny TPB.

Oh, and there’s some Family Guy DVD as well.

Now that season one of The Clone Wars has been released for a week on DVD and Blu-Ray, here’s what they’re saying:

• Wired’s GeekDad likes the featurettes looking at the artwork, and says it is “definitely worth picking up.”
• HD Room reviews the Blu-Ray, gives it 8.5 out of 10 with great video and replayability, thinking that this show has the best prequel-era stories.
• iF Magazine selects it as DVD pick of the week, with the characters that you love, and new characters that are as fascinating as the familiar faces.
• Blu-Ray.com gives it a 4 out of 5, with near-perfect video transfer, awesome featurettes, and says “the series itself has proven to be far more captivating, inventive, and entertaining than the feature film that bears its name.”
• Den of Geek doesn’t review it, but shows off some exclusive concept art.

Looks like the release of season one is getting a good thumbs-up!

Just a reminder of tonight’s special showing of the new Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode, ‘Landing at Point Rain’ – the first of a four episode arc – debuting a few days early on Cartoon Network tonight at 8 PM (ET/PT). DVR users: My DVR didn’t have the updated scheduling from Cartoon Network, so be prepared to record whatever your schedule says is in that time slot (possibly “Destroy Build Destroy”). Or, if you’re patient, it’ll rerun on the regular time Friday.

StarWars.com sheds some light on this opening chapter in a larger story arc, hoping that the action to retake Geonosis is “intense as any live-action movie about the assault on Omaha Beach.” Leading into this story is a prelude script set before ‘Landing at Point Rain’, read at the Fan Days in Dallas and now available online. In addition to setting the stage for ‘Landing’, it wraps up the events of ‘Senate Spy’ with some wry banter.

Starwars.com also has put up the conclusion of the S1 box set tour. (Grant Imahara fed his box set to the rancor!)

Or, you can just say screw it all, stay on the computer, and become a fan of Dave Filoni on Facebook.

Look for The Clone Wars season one on DVD and Blu Ray tomorrow. James has already run down the particulars for us, but I’m sure there will be more coming. Also keep an eye out for the latest Star Wars Insider. Uh, it has a whole page on Thrawn?

Meanwhile, Wednesday means Invasion #5, which will be the last for a while. (It alternates with Dark Times, or at least that was the plan.)

The box set containing the complete first season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray this Tuesday. StarWars.com starts a tour of the box set, looking at the contents of disc 1 – and showcasing the full cinematic aspect ratio used on this release, versus the broadcast version. There’s more picture to these moving pictures! The four disc set contains all 22 episodes of season 1, as well as seven extended director’s cuts, and a concept art book. The Blu-Ray version also comes with the Jedi Temple Archives bonus feature.

• CinemaBlend has got some clips, including a trailer and some episode clips.
• Monsters and Critics also takes a look, with a clip of their own.
• BigPictureBigSound gives the Blu-Ray version 3.5 out of 4 stars, and says about some of the extended director’s cuts: “I was surprised more than once by the level of intensity… It’s not the Star Wars I grew up on, but taken on its own, The Clone Wars is a captivating long-term adventure.

So add it to the holiday list, folks!