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

Smudger9 has engaged in a monumental effort with their cuts of 'The Clone Wars' and it's quite remarkable just how much effort they have put into making these movie cuts from the TV series. A TV series I have to say, I was never a fan of, despite trying to get into the show several times and failing.

But the editor here has sliced out much of the show's most awful moments and therefore made for a far more enjoyable viewing experience. It's also a more "adult" experience too, in that a lot of the overly "kid friendly" elements have been eliminated. Unfortunately, annoying characters like kid Ahsoka and kid Boba are still present. But, there's nothing that Smudger9 can really do about that. Although, using some judicious cuts, they are less irritating here than they were in the TV show. I still just want to slap Boba though. And those "roger roger" droids still have the capacity to make me want to murder, despite them being heavily truncated.

My particular problem is not with Smudger9's version of 'The Clone Wars'. It's with 'The Clone Wars' itself. It just wasn't a very interesting show, had a tendency to ramble terribly and, unfortunately, some of that poorness comes through. Don't get me wrong, Smudger9 has made a very watchable and enjoyable cut here. But the problems are ingrained in the show itself.

It's usually accepted that 'The Clone Wars' didn't get good until Series 3. Although I was question if it was ever truly good and as of Smudger9's Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Episode V: Rise of the Dark Side, we've just got to Series 4 of the original show. So, the editor still has a bit of work to do, turning a generally poor show into a watchable one.

In spite of my criticisms of 'The Clone Wars' itself, I can highly recommend Smudger9's cuts. It's a great effort and well worth checking out. In fact, I'd recommend avoiding the TV series altogether and just watch Smudger9's far better versions.

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!

What an amazing fanedit! Considering this is my first ever fan edit I've watched I was very amused. The story was very well done, mainly taking the main story arc of the film mixing it very well with the first few episodes of the series into a singular film. I actually liked this more than theatrical film. And if future films are like this one I'll continue being a fan!

Guess if there is a con it's the transitions, some of it felt like it jumped quickly to the next scene, but most of it was very small and almost nonexistent, can easily be overlooked.

I really can't wait for the 2nd installment.

Smudger9 has done a fantastic job of creating a genuine Star Wars movie experience out of a set of Clone Wars episodes. I truly hope the rest of his series are woven together as masterfully as this first release. The narrative is nearly flawless with constant themes throughout and a strong feeling that the story comes full circle in a naturally way.

A few of the transitions could have been a little stronger, several seem too quick but I imagine this in most cases is a limitation of the source material. There was at least one instance where I noticed dialogue had been stripped from a character and the resulting line he delivered didn't make much sense but it wasn't too out of place. Some of the scenes felt a bit jumpy like the encoding didn't go off quite 100% perfectly but again it was very minor.

This is one of the best Star Wars edits I've seen and I'm very excited to see what Smudger9 comes up with next. Great work!