The Clones Wars – Season 5
DVD & Bluray Set available Monday 14th October, 2013
The Grand Army of the Republic, led by Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and other Jedi Knights, fights the new droid army of the Separatists.
Generals Skywalker and Kenobi, aided by Skywalker’s Padawan Ahsoka Tano, continue their fight against the Separatist Army led by the villainous General Grievous. But with treachery, danger and deceit at every turn, can the Jedi stay true to their cause and more importantly, to each other?
Season Five is a season of story arcs in The Clone Wars. For fans of this fabulous television series, no introductions to characters are needed. In fact, the narrative is now minimalised and only sparsely used to give the viewer a quick heads up on previous events and episodes.
The story arcs follow characters both old and new, each one lasting several episodes and going into great character depth. Unlike most animation series, The Clone Wars challenges the viewer in their beliefs of what is right and wrong, and sometimes, just like in life, these lines become blurred. The Clone Wars has never shied away from more ambitious, and at times horrifying, consequences and that is exactly what happens in season five.
The stories vary from rebels fighting oppression on their homeland and becoming terrorists fighting for freedom; droids taking on dangerous missions as they are thought to be expendable; younglings creating their first lightsabers and fighting pirates; revenge on an intergalactic scale in the form of Darth Maul and his brother Savage. Then the final story arc involves Ashoka being accused of murder and the destruction of the Jedi Temple.
Each of these stories explores characters old and new, some familiar and not so familiar faces, though most of the time they are in some sort of peril. True, there is some happier moments in this series, but for the most part, it is a downward spiral where the viewer is left in no uncertain terms that good may not always triumph over evil.
The animation is top notch, so much so that in certain sequences the viewer can be forgiven for thinking that they are not watching animation but a CGI action film. The writing is perhaps the best out of all of the seasons in that both script and dialogue have been pumped up to make it the best series of all.
Each disc has each episode with either a video commentary or a Director’s Cut. Each commentary gives the viewer a little insight into the writing or filming of the episode, not to mention a glimpse of the studios and the actors portraying the characters. As it is the final season, a re-cap of the principal characters’ journeys or a farewell to those who made this series would have been a great addition, but sadly nothing was included in this set.
For fans of The Clone Wars, the tearful news that the series ended was compounded even more by the sad passing of Ian Abercrombie (Voice of Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious), who died during production of this series. A particular episode is dedicated to his memory and it is certainly one to cherish.
The Clone Wars television series has ended, but it went with a bang to rival the explosion of the Death Star!
4 out of 5 Nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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