Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Episode I: Army Of The Republic

Intelligent condensed edition of the heavily padded animated series. smudger9 wisely cut the juvenile elements, as well as Jabba’s kid, choosing to focus on Domino squad. I didn’t understand what he was doing initially, but it makes sense as the edit progresses.

Video - Good cutting throughout as the narrative weaves between Jedi Obi-Wan and Anakin and Domino squad, skitters over to Greivous and the delicious Asajj Ventress. Blacks are solid throughout and there are no problems around flares, bursts, explosions, etc ... Some of the edits seemed quick but never too noticeable.

Audio - Clear 2.0 stereo. No subs, though the dialogue was clear and understandable throughout. That includes droid-speak and garbled mutterings of Admiral Trench.

Narrative - Some unavoidable problems here, I’m afraid. smudger9 has shaved chunks of time, so there is a loss of cohesion. With the necessary re-arranging, there is a “jumpy” feel to the story. Character arrivals and departures are frequently abrupt. The same could be said for the Lucas originals and live action, however. In my eye, clone 99's story was nicely done, yet the subject of a spy onboard Resolute was broached and forgotten.

Enjoyment - Despite my teasing of Trekkies, I have been just as obsessive / compulsive at times with Star Wars. And, as I have commented with TrekVerse fans, Star Wars buffs can also be guilty of jumping for any installment of the canon. Which is why most older fans bought these “kiddee” videos, and learned to leap over lame portions.

smudger9 has done all the leaping for us. Despite above-mentioned quibbles, this edit holds together well and is enjoyable from start to finish. His version is more battle action heavy, less character study. Yet it is also Clone Wars, so what do you expect? It does not quite work for me as a fledged theatrical release, but it is better than a stitched together TV series or a vintage serial (no recaps!).

Anyone who does not have a problem with the animated series in general will have a blast with this.

Watched this with my three year old today. Simply fantastic and I already liked the Clone Wars series as is. Looking forward to part II.

I like the Clone Wars cartoon... there I said it. I wish it was a little more dark, a little more adult, and a little less "stompy" on the somewhat putrid flesh of a once great franchise, but overall, it is fun. I really like the Asoka character, and also the Asajj Ventress character and a lot of the other things going for it (clone troopers, etc), even though they violate alot of the "sense" of the overarching story.

All that being said, I think that this edit really nailed the best of what Clone Wars could have been. I liked that they treated Asoka more like the youngling she is, leaving her at the temple, etc. I also like how the story of Domino company (one of my favorite arcs) complemented the rest of the narrative.

My biggest problem, however, is that the episodic nature of the story made itself known: The spider-alien general who is a major villain then disappears, the really long gap between clone segments, the abrupt appearance and disappearance of Asoka, Ventress being there with no introduction. Minor quibbles really, but they still nagged at me a bit as I watched and ultimately lessened the experience. Perhaps it was my familiarity with the source material, and I intend to show it to a friend who has never seen the show before and see if they notice.

Overall, however, I found it to be very fun and a nice change of tone for material I already enjoyed but wanted more from. Definitely a watch again.

Just loved what you've done. Do more pliz =)

PS: If you can change voices or silence the B1s and B2s and make them look more machine and less stupid. I just hate what the've done with the battledroids both in episode 3 and the clone wars.

First off, I should say that I’ve never watched a single episode of this series before watching Smudger's edit. I’d heard bad reviews of the initial movie (bad animation, bad voice sync, etc.), and then I heard that it was pretty childish overall (silly droids, etc.), so although I LOVE the SW universe, I decided to pass on this. Now with Ep. 7 coming out, I’ve been more willing to consume SW media, to get myself back into the mindset.

So, first the good:
This edit is AMAZING. The story is very cohesive, the whole movie seems very well put together and seamless. I couldn’t tell where any episodes started or ended. It was like a standalone movie, worthy of being an actual theatrical release. I was a little concerned about the 2 hours + running time at first, but the story was very well-paced, action packed, and there was never a boring lull. I suspect this has a lot to do with Smudger's editing.

The quibbles:
I’m not sure if Smudger could have fixed this, but the storyline about the old guy, 99, and Heavy, seemed a little rushed and not very realistic. The old guy has 1 conversation with Heavy, and that completely changes his mentality to be a team-leader and to give the old guy his medal? I’m not sure if Smudger deleted too much, or if there just wasn’t any character development to begin with. One other little thing, the dialogue sound seemed to drop a little in certain places. The only one I can remember off the top of my head is Grievous' first appearance, I couldn't understand what he said to the hologram.

A recommendation:
This is just a personal opinion, but the duel between Ventress and Anakin could have seriously used the same background music as the duel between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gonn, and Maul in TPM. Epic duels just scream for that music, and it would have made it much more emotionally impactful. Also, I would have liked some appearances by Padme, and some more of Count Dooku and Sidious/Palpatine. I’m not sure if that was in the source material that Smudger decided to take Episode 1 from, or if he is saving more of that for later.

All in all, this was extremely entertaining, and now I’m seriously interested in watching the original series. I'm really looking forward to more of Smudger's episodes; I have a strong feeling they will be better paced and not childish. I'll provide reviews for those as well.

Excellent work!

Edit: From reading the rest of the reviews, I may just decide to wait until Episode 2 comes out. I think I'll get a better experience consuming only Smudger's edits than going back and watching the episodes. I definitely don't want to be subjected to some stupid "Baby Hutt" kidnap stories.

Keep them coming, please!