Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a 2008 animated feature film directed by Dave Filoni. It debuts the later television series of the same name. It was released on August 15, 2008. According to Filoni, the film focuses on (in reference to Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi) "the mission they are sent on, which brings them together as a mentor and student".

Cast and characters

 * Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
 * James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
 * Tom Kane as Yoda, Narrator, Wullf Yularen
 * Christopher Lee as Count Dooku
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Captain Rex and the clone troopers
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu
 * Nika Futterman as TC-70, Asajj Ventress
 * Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
 * Ian Abercrombie as Palpatine/Darth Sidious
 * Catherine Taber as Padmé Amidala
 * Corey Burton as Whorm Loathsom, Ziro the Hutt, Kronos-327
 * David Acord as Rotta
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Jabba the Hutt
 * Matthew Wood as battle droids

Plot
The film begins with a narrator explaining the state of the war. An octopus-like craft heads for Tatooine to capture Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta as part of a plan to make the Hutts join the Clone Wars. Meanwhile, a fierce battle is taking place on the crystalline planet of Christophsis against the Republic's very limited clone army and the Banking Clan forces.

With the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Rex and Cody, the clones steadily advance on the Seperatists' forces, gaining the Republic an early victory. It doesn't last long, though, as the Banking Clan soon returns for more bloodshed, and with no communications and the ability to fly in reinforcements, the fate of the few remaining clone soldiers are in the hands of Obi-Wan and Anakin. General Loathsom soon arrives and ordered a retreat under the city's Deflector Shield. A shuttle soon comes with an important delivery; thinking it's reinforcements, the Jedi go to investigate - only to find a young Padawan named Ahsoka Tano, who insists that she has been sent by Master Yoda to serve as Anakin's Padawan. The battle soon commences yet again, and Anakin and Ahsoka succeed in taking down the deflector shield, using all their stealth, cunning and ability to improvise.

Soon after the third and final victory for the Republic on Christophsis, Master Yoda arrives with the urgent message that a mysterious group of renegades has kidnapped Jabba's son, and it's up to Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex and the clones to rescue him and bring him back home safely. Obi-Wan flies to Tatooine to assure Jabba that Rotta will be returned safely and to secure a promise by the Hutts to use their trading routes for safe passage within the Outer Rim.

After briefing in a Republic flagship, Anakin's forces descend through the clouds of the jungle planet of Teth heading for one of the many natural stone pillars which litter the landscape. Under heavy fire, Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex storm the monastery atop the pillar and find Rotta - only to be caught in an elaborate trap: Count Dooku has staged the kidnapping himself in order to blacklist the Jedi among the Hutts. First he has the Jedi retrieve the young Hutt to secure fake evidence, then Asajj Ventress, as the overseer of the operation, is charged with either retrieving or killing the young Huttling.

Whilst quarreling all the while about the proper procedure, yet slowly gaining respect of one another, Anakin and Ahsoka manage to escape the trap along with R2-D2 and hijack a derelict transport, which they use to travel to Tatooine. Obi-Wan, alerted by Anakin, arrives just in time to relieve Rex and the rest of his forces and engages Ventress in combat; the latter is beaten and narrowly escapes capture.

In the mean time, Senator Amidala learns of Anakin's mission. Worried about him, she decides to contact Jabba's uncle, Ziro the Hutt, who lives in a shady part of Coruscant. The Hutt strangely refuses to cooperate, and soon Padme finds out why: Ziro has actually conspired with Dooku to engineer the downfall of his uncle to seize the power over the Hutt clans for himself. Padme is discovered and detained, but a chance call by C-3PO enables her to summon help, and Ziro is soon arrested.

Upon their arrival on Tatooine, Anakin and Ahsoka are attacked by Magnaguards and shot down. Faced with a long way across desert sands and relentless opponents, Anakin devises a ruse. When Dooku corners Anakin, the pack he is carrying is revealed to contain merely a decoy; Ahsoka and R2 travel with Rotta to Jabba's palace unmolested. But just as they near it, Ahsoka is ambushed by three Magnaguards, whom she narrowly defeats. But as Anakin and Ahsoka enter the palace one after another, they are threatened with execution by Jabba's men even though Rotta is safely returned. Padme calls just in time to convince Jabba of his uncle's duplicity, and Anakin and Ahsoka are triumphantly retrieved by Obi-Wan and Yoda.

Production
Lucas and crew had the idea for a film after viewing some of the already completed footage on the big screen. Additionally, Warner Brothers had tracked the series' development from the beginning, and decided on a theatrical launch after viewing some footage. The film was designed to both be its own story and serve as a lead-in to the weekly animated TV series of the same name. The film's music was composed by Kevin Kiner. Steward Lee is a storyboard artist.

The film's animation style was designed to pay homage to the Thunderbirds animated series. Lucas sees no point in movies such as Final Fantasy, because he felt there was no point in making a CGI movie if a realistic style was used.

Release
At Hasbro's fall 2007 analyst event, it was announced that Star Wars: The Clone Wars would have a "theatrical launch" on August 8, 2008, with it beginning to be shown on TV during that fall. Although Lucasfilm had previously announced that it would produce an animated feature film in 2008, when initially asked for confirmation, an LFL representative replied that "It's one of the many things being discussed but we have no decisions yet. For us it's all about finding a creative way to launch a creative TV series."

At ToyFare 2008, a LEGO official announced that an animated feature film would be released in the UK in September 2008, and would be made up of the first three episodes of the series, with regular episodes airing later on television on an at-the-time unrevealed channel. Another report incorrectly stated that the film might have been made up of four episodes of the series. It was officially announced on February 12, 2008 that the feature film will be released in theaters on August 15, 2008, with the TV series debuting in the fall. Warner Bros. Showed a preview of the film in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 13, 2008. Lucas attended the event and held a question and answer session. The first theatrical trailer debuted on May 8, 2008 on five separate Turner Network channels. A second trailer was released in June 2008.

The film premiered at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on August 10, 2008.

Marketing
Dave Filoni has been interviewed several times about the film and series, in which he explains the importance of the new character Ahsoka Tano.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars merchandise was first released on July 26, 2008, with Toys "R" Us debuting some of the products at midnight. Hasbro has released several toy tie-ins based on The Clone Wars, including a 3 3/4-inch action figure line, an electronic clone trooper helmet, a customizable lightsaber, and an electronic AT-TE. There will also be a LEGO toy line based on the film. McDonalds will sell Clone Wars-themed Happy Meals, the first time they've ever done a Star Wars promotion.

In 2007, LucasArts announced they were working on a handheld video game based on the series, ultimately announcing two games: Lightsaber Duels (for the Nintendo Wii) and Jedi Alliance (for the Nintendo DS). Handheld video games will also be released for the Leapster2 and Didj systems. Several books will be released, including a novel, storybook, picture books and an activity book. Dark Horse will publish a 6-issue comic mini-series. Topps will release trading cards. The film's soundtrack will be released on August 12, 2008.

Home video and television
Warner Bros. also has the home video rights, and has already planned a DVD release of the film and TV series. The film's DVD release date is set for November 18, 2008. According to SpikeTV producer Terry Minogue, the channel will ultimately debut the film on television at some point after its theatrical release.

Reception
The film garnered largely negative reviews prior to its release, with a 18% "rotten" rating according to Rotten Tomatoes, with 5% from Top Critics. The Hollywood Reporter published a largely negative review. The New York Press, ComingSoon.net, MSNBC and Variety all posted negative reviews as well. Ain't It Cool News posted two scathing reviews of the film during the week before its release, but pulled them down due to an embargo placed on those attending the screening at which the writers viewed the film.

Characters

 * 4A-7
 * Padmé Amidala
 * C-3PO
 * Cody
 * Davijaan aka Oddball
 * Count Dooku
 * Kit Fisto
 * Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes
 * Fox
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Plo Koon
 * KRONOS-327
 * General Whorm Loathsom
 * Palpatine
 * R2-D2
 * R2-KT
 * R4-P17
 * Captain Rex
 * Rotta
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * TC-70
 * Ahsoka Tano
 * Jabba Desilijic Tiure
 * Asajj Ventress
 * Mace Windu
 * Yoda
 * Wullf Yularen
 * Ziro the Hutt

Creatures

 * Bantha
 * Can-cell
 * Digging creature on Tatooine (Galoomp?)

Droid models

 * R2-series astromech droid
 * R4-series agromech droid
 * B1 battle droid
 * B2 super battle droid
 * Droideka
 * Dwarf spider droid
 * FA-4 pilot droid
 * IG-86 assassin droid
 * IG-100 MagnaGuard
 * NR-N99 Persuader-class droid enforcer
 * Octuptarra combat tri-droid
 * OG-9 homing spider droid
 * 3PO-series protocol droid
 * RA-7 protocol droid
 * Retail droid
 * TC-series protocol droid
 * Tri-droid
 * Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droid, Mark I

Events

 * Clone Wars
 * Battle of Christophsis
 * Third Battle of Tatooine
 * Battle of Teth

Locations

 * Christophsis
 * Coruscant
 * Geonosis
 * Tatooine
 * Dune Sea
 * Jabba's Palace
 * Teth
 * B'omarr Monastery

Organizations and titles

 * Confederacy of Independent Systems
 * Dark Acolytes
 * Retail Clan
 * Techno Union
 * Trade Federation
 * Galactic Republic
 * Grand Army of the Republic
 * Clone trooper
 * Clone trooper pilot
 * Jabba Desilijic Tiure's criminal empire
 * Jedi Order
 * Jedi Knight
 * Jedi Master
 * Padawan
 * Order of the Sith Lords
 * Dark Lord of the Sith

Sentient species

 * Aqualish
 * Bith
 * Gran
 * Human
 * Hutt
 * Ithorian
 * Jawa
 * Kel Dor
 * Kerkoiden
 * Kowakian monkey-lizard
 * Nautolan
 * Nikto
 * Neimoidian
 * Rattataki
 * Quarren
 * Rodian
 * Skakoan
 * Togruta
 * Twi'lek
 * Yoda's species

Vehicles and vessels

 * Acclamator I-class assault ship
 * AT-TE
 * AT-RT
 * Armored Assault Tank
 * Bantha-II cargo skiff
 * Belbullab-22 starfighter
 * Soulless One
 * C-9979 landing craft
 * Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor
 * Anakin Skywalker's Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor
 * Flitknot speeder
 * G9 Rigger
 * Twilight
 * Heavy Missile Platform
 * Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship
 * Low Altitude Assault Transport/carrier
 * Crumb Bomber
 * Lucky Lekku
 * Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry
 * Munificent-class star frigate
 * Nu-class attack shuttle
 * Porax-38 starfighter
 * Providence-class carrier/destroyer
 * Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop
 * Republic Artillery Gun
 * STAP
 * Theta-class T-2c shuttle
 * TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank
 * Ubrikkian Industries Luxury sail barge
 * Khetanna
 * Unidentified octopus ship
 * V-19 Torrent starfighter
 * Venator-class Star Destroyer

Weapons and technology

 * Cybernetics
 * Cyborg
 * DC-15A blaster
 * DC-15S blaster
 * E-5 blaster rifle
 * Electrostaff
 * Hologram
 * Lightsaber
 * Curved-hilt lightsaber
 * Double-bladed lightsaber
 * Paired lightsabers
 * Phase I clone trooper armor
 * Shield