Lost has been doing it with reruns for at least the last season, and now The Clone Wars will be adding some Pop-Up Video-style tidbits as it reruns. The enhanced episodes will begin airing May 1.
The Clone Wars as a season, why little boys like Star Wars and more…
Several reviewers have summed up their opinions after seeing a whole season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. IGN gives it a 7.7 out of 10, saying “it has a ton of great action and adventure, is increasingly great to look at, and has had some surprisingly effective character moments.”, calling out ‘Rookies’, ‘Cloak of Darkness’ and ‘Trespass’ among their favorite episodes. Ki-Aaaron-Mundi blogs about the impressive first season on his sw.com blog, pointing out the good, the bad, and the ugly. Lazypadawan highlights the sophistication of the writing, and the great new characters.
Reviews are also coming in for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars DVD – A Galaxy Divided (containing 4 episodes containing 4 episodes: the Yoda-centric ‘Ambush’ and the Malevolence three-parter). IGN also panned it for weak episodes and no extras – good for kids, but adults should wait for the full season 1 release. SWCloneWarsReviews sums it up: the reviewer bought the DVD so you don’t have to.
Meanwhile, SW.com takes a look at the latest issue of the UK’s The Clone Wars comic/magazine. EUCantina reported on briefly seeing “The Force Unleashed – Special Edition” on Gamefly, releasing at the end of September.
And the Washington Post’s Parenting blog looks at Star Wars and other kid obsessions, keying off of a Slate article by Emily Bazelon on why Star Wars resonates with little boys.
No more The Clone Wars on TNT?
TheForce.net reports that reruns of The Clone Wars haven’t aired on TNT in several weeks. Someone at the network told the Force-Cast’s Jimmy Mac that the show was only slated for a limited run, but Lucasfilm has so far not responded to TFN’s requests for clarification.
I’ve always thought that rerunning the show on another channel was a bit unnecessary – not when they still have a place on the Cartoon Network. Perhaps, as TFN’s Mike speculates, the TNT ratings simply weren’t as good as expected.
Wacky merchandise of the day: Le Parfum Des Jedi
Of course, after that mocking last month, it’s Clone Wars themed. And French. Oh, Lucasfilm.
Miller’s Wild Space and Rollin’s Crystal Skull novelization up for tie-in awards
The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers has announced their nominees for the 2009 Scribe Awards, and two Lucasfilm works are on it. Karen Miller’s The Clone Wars: Wild Space got a nod for Best Speculative Fiction Adapted, while James Rollins’ adaption of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is up for Best General Fiction Adapted. Miller is “massively chuffed!”
This is the first Scribe nomination for any Star Wars (or Indy, though that pool is considerably smaller) work, though Alan Dean Foster was named last year’s Grandmaster.
Cad Bane takes The Clone Wars viewers and reviewers hostage
Last week’s The Clone Wars season finale ‘Hostage Crisis’ brought in the viewers – Cartoon Network posted a viewership of 3.3 million (more than the 2.4 million brought in by the Battlestar Galactica finale), its best performance since the premiere, according to USA Today’s Nielsen’s roundup. Here’s what the reviewers are saying:
- io9 was pleased with “a surprising new-found maturity in the writing.”
- SW Clone Wars Reviews liked showing the Anakin / Padme dynamic as an important part of the saga but knocked the episode for bringing back Ziro the Hutt.
- Big Shiny Robot says that ‘Hostage Crisis’ stole the crown for favorite episode over ‘Duel of the Droids’, calling it downright spectacular.”
- IGN gave plus points for Cad Bane and Aurra Sing, minus points for Ziro the Hutt, and thought “The idea of Anakin doing his best John McClane impression, as he attempted to free Padme, Bail Organa and other captured prisoners … was fun.”
- Dauntless Media gives it a B for some plausibility concerns over the ability to storm the Senate, but likes seeing Anakin and Padme interact.
- LazyPadawan points out that with Anakin and Padme, a lightsaber is sometimes more than a lightsaber and says “What’s there not to love in this episode?”
And if you missed the Club Jade review of ‘Hostage Crisis’, you can read and comment on it here.
The Clone Wars review: ‘Hostage Crisis’
In the past few episodes, The Clone Wars has been kicking it up a notch, and the season finale, ‘Hostage Crisis’, is a definitely an extra serving of BAM! Imagine the Clone Wars if all the villains were competent, and this is what you get. Cad Bane and his crew of criminals live up to the hype – they’re lethal, they get the job done, and they are intimidating. The only hitch in their plan to raid the Senate building and take some senators hostage as a way to free Ziro the Hutt: Padmé’s celebrating Sneak-Your-Husband-Into-Work Day. Continue reading “The Clone Wars review: ‘Hostage Crisis’”
The Clone Wars is over for now, but hey! DVDs!
And so the first season of The Clone Wars ended on Friday with a ‘Hostage Crisis’. Dave Filoni talks about bounty hunters in the episode commentary, and Bonnie interviews Corey Burton, who voices Cad Bane, Count Dooku and Ziro the Hutt. And don’t forget about the S2 preview!
- DVDs: The show’s first four episodes are out today.
- Poll: Register your thoughts on the season in our latest poll. (More than a hundred have already weighed in!)
Did The Clone Wars S1 go out with a bang?
So, kids: Will you be picking up the inevitable Cad Bane action figure? (No, seriously. This is a serious discussion thread for serious The Clone Wars discussion. Serious. Okay, not really.)
[poll id=”51″]
‘Hostage Crisis’ takes The Clone Wars out to break
Tonight’s the night: The very last new episode of The Clone Wars before S2 starts sometime in the fall. I’m throwing a party! (A Battlestar Galactica finale party! Okay, not really: I’ll be at work, and not watching either show.)
- Last week: Watch ‘Liberty on Ryloth’ or check out Stooge’s guest review or James’ review roundup. Meanwhile, the Forcecast has a ‘Liberty’ roundtable featuring guests Kyle Newman and F.J. DeSanto.
As for BSG’s finale, stay tuned.