"THE CLONE WARS" SEASON TWO. SWA's TOP FIVE EPISODES. NO 1: "LANDING AT POINT RAIN"

Anakin Skywalker leads the charge in LANDING AT POINT RAIN. Our top episode of THE CLONE WARS Season Two.

We've reached the top of the tree in our list of STAR WARS AFICIONADO's best five episodes of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS Season Two (out tomorrow in the UK on DVD/ Blu-ray from WARNER BROTHERS) and, we have to say, last year didn't get any better than with its critically acclaimed fifth episode: LANDING AT POINT RAIN. I think you'll all agree with me that this was THE CLONE WARS at its finest moment so far, and that it truly stands apart by quite a distance from many of the other excellent stories of the year, especially with its tough war to the hilt story (the prior liberation of Ryloth was a picnic compared to this!) and superbly advanced animation, in what was a combined and ever evolving effort from George Lucas, Dave Filoni and their animation teams, and an adventure which was also one of the the most difficult to pull off with such a short production schedule. Faith manages, however, and LANDING would prove to be an absolute winner from start to finish.

The attack on Geonosis begins...

And here's just five reasons, from so many, why it deserves its success:


..but the Clone casualty rate is horrific.

The Battle of Geonosis: Take Two. The majority of STAR WARS fans may have all thrilled to the amazing revolutionary CG action of EPISODE II's Geonosian arena and the outwards spill of fierce battle between thousands of Clone Troopers, led by numerous Jedi Knights, against Separatist Battle Droids (amidst amazing vehicles and heavy weaponry of all shapes and sizes caught in between!) - the stuff of my imagination when thinking about what happened in the mysterious Clone Wars years ago as a child, but George Lucas, ever the effects challenger, wasn't. There was still so many ideas and action sequences planned for the film in the animatics pre-visualisation that, for time and pace reasons, he just wasn't able to bring to the conflict, resulting in LANDING AT POINT RAIN being the ultimate chance to rectify this, whilst also proving to be the most exciting, perilous, scary and heroic episode of the season, and totally living up to our high expectations from its opening scenes. Its STAR WARS meets APOCALYPSE NOW meets BAND OF BROTHERS, with cinematography thats one step above so many other modern cartoons, and realistically close to the kind of conflicts our soldiers are involved with in our modern day world, but also brilliantly transferred into the kind of STAR WARS universe action that viewers of all ages are excited to see. And there hasn't been an episode as well paced and immaculately plotted as this since.

Despite overwhelming losses, the Jedi and Clones fight on!

"It's a Trap!" Right from the start, the Republic invasion plans are thwarted -well, they would be, with Palpatine being told of them!- as the Geonosian army lays ready for their attackers every move. Gunships and Clone Troopers as are quickly taken down in savage numbers, and the odds of the Jedi fulfilling their their objectives in reaching the Geonosian droid foundries looks grim as their three pronged attack becomes confused and then shattered. Its only through the sheer determination of Jedi leaders Anakin Skywalker and newly introduced to the animation front Ki-Adi Mundi that victory is finally grabbed from the jaws of defeat.

Death from the skies! The Geonosians attack.

Geonosian swoops. Its a disturbing sequence, effectively realised with great sound design, when the repellent Geonosians, weapons blazing, fly down from the skies to kidnap and brutally kill Clone Troopers left, right and centre. Its the type of scene with the creatures that was almost in EPISODE II but didn't make it to fruition. The dread atmosphere continues when Ki-Adi and his remaining forces enter the dark and foreboding caves shortcut as they press onto their destination, and then come under attack from an enemy, working best within its natural habitat, picking them off one by one. Thankfully, to cheering fans of the Clone Troopers, our Republic friendly soldiers didn't forget to bring their flamethrowers to use against the alien bugs!

Down but not out, Obi-Wan Kenobi prepares for rescue.

Obi-Wan injured. We've seen him resolute and determined in the face of battle and triumphing against overwhelming odds, and we've seen his raw physical power as a Jedi in action against the likes of Darth Maul, but we've never seen him so badly wounded and almost down for the count as he is in this episode, when his Gunship takes the full brunt of an enemy counter-attack and crashlands on the desert plains of Geonosis- his men dead, and overwhelming enemy firepower moving in. Bravely, if barely able to walk, and his Force resources weakened, he only just manages to hold out for rescue. You can see in his brilliantly animated war and injury strained eyes, just able to clutch his lightsaber, that, when hes finally rescued, he's out for the count and exhausted by battle -  a shocking sight to see for one of the series most beloved and action orientated characters, and a further indication that this episode is showing us the most brutal and decisive conflict yet in the Clone Wars.

Heroes of the Republic: Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano.

The heroes without fear: Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex. Never has their been a more centralised, daring and courageous group of Republic era war heroes than these three as, against all odds and any risk of success, they storm into the heart of the enemy defenses. One of the episodes many adrenalin charged moments, which keeps the audiences on the edge of their seats, must be towards the end of the episode when Anakin and Ahsoka are fighting back to back on the wall of the Geonosian barricade battlements, outnumbered and just about holding their own until the moment where those dread blaster ball Droidekas burst upwards from hidden emplacements and begin their laser volley onslaught. Seeing their friends cornered, ever loyal Clone Captain Rex, with the help of his fellow officers, propels himself upwards to become their surprise ace in the hole in what must surely be one of the most memorable moments of STAR WARS action packed heroics ever seen in any of its mediums, ending with the enemies enclosure breached and Anakin and Ahoska making the kind of leap from a huge explosion that wouldn't have been out of place in a DIE HARD movie, with a screaming, soon Force held Rex following right behind them in full Bruce Willis scream mode! A tremendous sequence.

Ki-Adi Mundi and Obi-Wan are temporarily out of the fight. 

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS Season Two available on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK from November 15th.