film: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

There was a time - in a galaxy far, far way - when a new Star Wars film was a landmark event. Loyal fans would sleep rough for weeks to bag seats at the first screening. They’d applaud the shimmering Lucasfilm idents and whoop with excitement when the backstory text rolled imperiously onto the screen.

But times have changed. Blame Episodes 1, 2 and 3. And Jar Jar Binks. Mostly Jar Jar Binks. So here’s the latest offering from the Lucas camp. An animated movie set during The Clone Wars. Unsurprisingly, it’s very average. Depressingly so.

At number 10 is Star Wars: Clone Wars an animated television miniseries produced by Cartoon Network. On air between 2003 and 2005, the series is set in the time period between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Whilst never quite achieving excellence, the series nevertheless won an Emmy for “Outstanding Animated Programme” in 2004.

Cruising into 9th place is the 1997 computer game Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. Heralded as a masterpiece, it was the first Star Wars gameplay that incorporated lightsabres and the force, but also online multiplayer action. Even though it slightly sucks, tt also scores nostalga points for being the first Star Wars franchise to film lightsabre footage since the Return of the Jedi in 1983.

At 8, it’s the one and only Star Wars kid. On November 4 2002, the 14-year-old high-schooler from Quebec filmed himself using a golf ball retriever in the style of Darth Maul’s double-ended light sabers. The clip was found by his classmates and shared on Kazaa, a file sharing service. The clip went on to be viewed roughly 900 million times and also led to a lawsuit after the kid’s family claimed he had been the subject of harrasment. Personally, I think he’s brilliant.

In at 7, it’s the Star Wars Gangsta Rap. This marvelously inventive fan film started life in 2000 as a song written by Jason Brannon and Chris Crawford. However it took on a life of its own when animator Thomas Lee discovered the rap, and used it to hone his Flash skills. The result has been seen 20 million times and even had a special edition released in 2004.

Cruising in at 6, it’s Darth Vader being a smartass. This YouTube hit has racheted up 4.4 million views courtesy an editor called Doomblake. The video came about as an accident after Doomblake was cutting a trailer for The Empire Strikes Back. When he scrolled back and forth over Vader’s opening pod, he realized he’d struck comedy gold.

In at 5, it’s Adam and Joe’s Star Wars TV. Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish become British cult legends in the late 1990s thanks to their low-fi Channel 4 sketch show. Their zany approach to comedy had them recreating movies using stuffed toys and sending Adam’s pensioner father to review music videos and smoke pot at the Tribal Gathering music festival. But best of all was their use of Star Wars figures to parody popular British TV shows.

At 4, we’re doffing our hats to the mulitifaceted talents of Steve Oedekerk, writer of Bruce Almighty and The Nutty Professor. Steve also created Thumbmation, the technology behind his Thumb Parody Projects, which included “Bat Thumb”, “Frankenthumb” and “The GodThumb”. In 1999, he gave Star Wars fans a right old treat with Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle.

At 3, we salute a spin off that was so obscenely bad, that it’s actually good. Yes folks, it’s the legendary Star Wars Holiday Special, a two hour TV spin off transmitted in American in 1978. In the show, Chewbacca and Hans Solo visit Chewie’s home world to celebrate something called Life Day, whilst being pursued by evil agents of the Galactic Empire. Despite boasting Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher in the cast, this was quite comfortable George Lucas’s biggest mistake. To this day, he can’t even talk about it.

At 2, it’s Family Guy: Blue Harvest. This hour long special sees Peter retelling the story of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope with several Family Guy characters recast as Star Wars characters. The result is a gorgeous blend of close-to-the-bone Family Guy gags and a hilarious take off of the Star Wars galaxy.

And finally in first place, it’s Robot Chicken: Star Wars. Robot Chicken is an Emmy award winning stop motion series that appeared on the Adult Swim network. On its most basic level, the brainchild of Seth Green and Matthew Senreich takes simple puppets and puts rude words in their mouths. But in the Star Wars special, the show took itself to new heights parodying some of the franchise’s most memorable scenes to fantastic effect.