On October 23rd Lucasfilm Animation released Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season Four on Blu-ray and DVD. Who knew from the small mention by Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Clone Wars in A New Hope that George Lucas and his staff would make a detailed animated series of the events that took place between Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith.
The Clone Wars animated series is now in its fifth season and has been strong in the Force since Season One. So far I will say that Season Four has been my favorite to date. The reason is because it has the return of one of my favorite Star Wars characters, Darth Maul. For those who remember Maul’s fate in The Phantom Menace you might question how can he be back. Well watch Season Four and you will know.
There is much more to this season than just Darth Maul’s return. Obi-Wan and Anakin headline the fight for the Republic as they both are tested with things from their past. Anakin’s padawan Ahsoka Tano is looking to fight for her people. Even the famous bounty hunter Boba Fett is in this season. In the episode called “Bounty” Asajj Ventress starts to collaborate with the teenage Boba Fett and other bounty hunters Bossk and Dengar to complete a mission. This is a great look at how Ventress and Fett and company work together to try and fulfill their assignment as they are tested throughout the episode. This season we also start to see a difference of opinion between the Jedi and the Clone Troopers. This will start to affect the views the Jedi have on the Clone Troopers and vice versa.
There are some notable guest starts in Season Four. Some of them are Jon Favreau , Simon Pegg, Clancy Brown, and Katee Sackhoff. In this season there are five episode commentaries that feature Supervising Director Dave Filoni and members of the cast and crew. These commentaries are outstanding for all us Star Wars geeks because we get to go inside and learn more of the behind the scenes information about Season Four. My favorite of the five commentaries was the Darth Maul Returns feature because I was very intrigued on the planning and production it took to bring back the Sith Lord.
If you are deciding between the Blu-ray and the DVD set, let me just tell you that the Blu-ray version has a bit more to offer. There is a great feature called The Jedi Temple Archives. This feature takes you on a deeper journey into this season with deleted and extended scenes. You are able to see how they created the special effects and their early animation of this season. There are some other great parts to this bonus feature that will amaze any Star Wars fan. With over 500 minutes of Star Wars viewing pleasure you will want to pick up this season of Star Wars: Clone Wars.
