RETURNING TO BLU-RAY IN 2015: THE COMPLETE SAGA

Bridging the past and the present: The Complete Saga and separate STAR WARS adventures.

As four generations of STAR WARS followers worldwide get ready to immerse themselves into The Force Awakens, the imminent next generation of fans can catch up and familiarise themselves with George Lucas's universe of wonder, drama and excitement via DISNEY and FOX's Blu-ray re-release of EPISODEs I - VI, available separately in gorgeous new steelbook covers, featuring a key character from each film. As an added bonus, all six films have audio commentaries from Lucas, alongside collected archival remembrances from key cast and crew. The Complete Saga release of the entire iconic movie set has also returned to Blu-ray, retaining its three additional discs from the prior 2011 package, showcasing superb supplemental materials, notably intriguing deleted scenes material, that expand the viewing experience.

Vader brings his evil to bear on The Complete Saga cover.

The full line-up of steelbook covers.

US release info: The Star Wars Saga to Be Enshrined in Limited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbooks | StarWars.com

EPISODEs I - VI steelbooks will be available in the UK from 9th November, 2015.

The Complete Saga will be available in the UK from 12th October, 2015.

HEROES AND VILLAINS! MORE 'EPISODE VII' GOSSIP!

Mark Hamill, and friend, returns to Pinewood Studios for filming. Image: Nathan Hamill.

Lots of interesting and exciting rumours on EPISODE VII's story, characters (especially villains), costuming and action. But, with the exception of a possible Luke or cyborg villain's mechanical hand (courtesy of J.J. Abrams), still very little confirmed facts. Regardless, enjoy...

A galaxy faraway, so close: Adam Driver on 'Star Wars: Episode VII' | Inside Movies | EW.com
Exclusive: Domhnall Gleeson Says What He Can About Star Wars: Episode VII - ComingSoon.net
Rumor: Description Of Daisy Ridley's Episode VII Costume | The Star Wars Underworld
Indie Revolver EXCLUSIVE: No One Expects the Sith Inquisition |
Exclusive: We Know Whose STAR WARS Hand JJ Abrams Showed Us | Badass Digest
More Information Star Wars: Episode VII's Stormtroopers & Incendiary Stormtroopers. - MakingStarWars.net
“It’s Not the Years, It’s the Parsecs.” |
New Star Wars: Episode VII Image Reveals Potential Plot Clue
MintInBox.net - Star Wars Episode VII

Is the mystery of the Lucasfilm publicity's chief's intriguing Twitter image about to be revealed? 

Finally, if the news is true (still no official confirmation, and have the distribution rights and remastering issues been sorted out?), a wonderful 2015 present for original, unaltered Classic Trilogy lovers: 

Report: Disney To Release Unaltered Original Trilogy On Blu-Ray | The Star Wars Underworld

THE CLONE WARS SEASON FIVE. AFICIONADO's TOP FIVE EPISODES. NUMBER ONE: 'EMINENCE'

Deadly new alliances are forged in Eminence! Images: LUCASFILM ANIMATION.

Pole position has now been reached, as AFICIONADO's countdown to the Top Five episodes of THE CLONE WARS Season Five, out now on UK Blu-ray and DVD from WARNER BROTHERS, concludes in spectacular and explosive style. Its time for the baddies to get centre stage in the superb Dark Side unleashed showcase that is Eminence - our favourite game-changing episode of the shows final year, and an indication of the epic storylines planned but lost for its aborted final seasons-though at least the completed episodes of Season Six are on their way sometime soon to whet our continued appetites for the show...

Here's five reasons why Eminence was our Numero Uno!

Darth Maul reveals his Force might against Bo Katan.

1. Saga Enemies Unite! The kind of team-up we'd always dreamt about when playing with our PALITOY/KENNER figures during our formative years- now amazingly come alive thanks to George Lucas bold idea, with the kind of assembled quadruple threat villainy that could give MARVEL's THE AVENGERS a run for their money, let alone the STAR WARS universe heroes. The Maul brothers, the Mandalorian Death Watch, newcomers the Pyke Syndicate, together with the large-scale criminal universe belonging to the Black Sun organisation. They all hate and distrust one another, obviously, but in the end its the power of revenge and greed that binds them together. The benevolent Duchess Satine and the rest of the universe don't stand a chance!

A return to the nightmare well of Mustafar...

2. Fused Universes. Black Sun on the volcanic hell of Mustafar (quite a busy little planet that one!), Hutts on Tatooine and Nal Hutta, the outcast Sith brothers found in deep space (a nice visual nod to the beginning of ALIENS), the flying Mandalore Death Watch. Heck, even ineffectual but great to see in action Gamorrean Guards! This episode's supremely enjoyable, dizzyingly fast visual and storytelling pace sees a wealth of planets and battles satisfyingly mixed together and ripe for epic conflict, well handled by writer Chris Collins and director Kyle Dunlevy, with CG Supervisor Joel Aron and the brilliant animation team clearly working overtime on this ambitious entry. It's the perfect fusion of Classic and Prequel Trilogies characters and environments that only THE CLONE WARS animated series could do, and so well, particularly fleshing out the other parts of the under-rated Prequels beyond Anakin's overall storyline in the films.

Black Sun heads will roll...

3. Black Sun Arrives. Steve Perry's dangerous and consuming alternate empire of scum and villainy, led by the reptilian Falleen- first introduced back in the nineties with the excellent SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE comic and multi-media platform- finally get the powerful and threatening onscreen realisation they deserve. Unwilling to join the Mandalore/Sith combo- considering themselves all powerful to any outside influences and threats, even if they are Sith, the commerce conglomerate of evil soon have no choice but to align themselves with the party-poopers new enterprise, especially after the majority of its core leaders are swiftly decapitated by a lightsaber javelin Savage Opress (this scene is shown complete on the Blu-ray, having been edited on its original transmission by CARTOON NETWORK).

Hard-hatted Embo (middle) and the Bounty Hunters retaliate.

4. The Return of the Bounty Hunters. Pushing in on the Hutt territories, the slug empire soon decides that, to fight such powerful encroaching superb baddies, you need equally resourceful opponents- popular anti-hero bounty hunters Sugi, big hatted fan favourite Embo (soon to be seen in the "Bonus Content" Rush Clovis storyline), Marrok, Latts Razzi and Dengar (thankfully not voiced by Simon Pegg this time around-the producers presumably having learnt their lesson!) give Maul, Vizsla and co. a headache they'll not soon forget, but ultimately failing to stop them, during a beautifully rendered and edited action sequence, showing all the skilled combatants in their prime, within the core of Nal Hutta. Swatting them away like flies, Maul ultimately can't be bothered to kill the bounty hunters- instead they escape to fight another animated day!

Attack from the sky! Death Watch converge on Jabba's Palace.

5. A State of War. Black Sun may be down, but the still powerful Hutt crime empire tries to retain its independence from Maul and Vizsla's ambitions. But its not for long- soon that duo's gathering force strikes a further incredible blow beyond Nal Hutta and their slaying of Oruba, attacking the heart of Jabba the Hutt's palatial territory on Tatooine!

Having previously seen the power and dominion of the Hutt empire in film, TV and the Expanded Universe, their might having threatened to damage the Republic in the first THE CLONE WARS movie, its genuinely unnerving to see Jabba and co. being so soundly, but credibly, defeated!

Get hold of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS SEASON FIVE on Blu-ray here:
Star Wars Clone Wars - Season 5 Blu-ray Region Free: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV

Get hold of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS -THE COMPLETE SEASONS ONE TO FIVE here: Star Wars Clone Wars - Season 1-5 Blu-ray Region Free: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV

THE CLONE WARS SEASON FIVE. AFICIONADO's TOP FIVE EPISODES. NUMBER FIVE: 'TIPPING POINTS'

Facing the price of resistance. Ahsoka Tano helps the outgunned Onderon Rebels fight on in Tipping Points. Image: LUCASFILM ANIMATION.

Its life may have been frustratingly cut two seasons short, but that doesn't mean we can't still enjoy and make the most of the complete fifth and final season of THE CLONE WARS for so much of its well-crafted and animated storytelling, out now on lavish Blu-ray and DVD from WARNER BROTHERS.

Keeping its annual tradition, STAR WARS AFICIONADO presents its Top Five favourite episodes from the run, in what would prove to be a very diverse group of storylines this season. Starting in reverse order, as ever, Number Five in our selection is the climactic fourth episode in the planetary revolution saga involving the Expanded Universe's favourite planet of Onderon: Tipping Points. 

And here's five reasons why it made the grade:

1. The First Rebellion. An intriguing past prologue into the kind of state of affairs that would explode by the time of EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, as the Jedi instinctively go against many of their non-interference beliefs to aid the Onderon Rebels. Twenty-three years later, the whole galaxy, now enslaved by the Empire, and with the Jedi seemingly extinguished, would find itself in a new civil war involving another rebellion, and on a much wider scale, with Anakin Skywalker, now the dark lord Darth Vader, in a reverse role as a tyrannical executioner rather rebel rouser. An intriguing kind of storytelling paradox that the STAR WARS SAGA does so well.

2. Steela. The STAR WARS SAGA has had lots of great female characters for girls and women to enjoy and root for, and THE CLONE WARS has pushed and evolved these opportunities further, what with the introduction of young and fearless of heart Jedi Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, who particularly has lots of to do in this storyline. But its Onderon resistance leader Steela who clearly shines the most, not only in this story but also the season as a guest star character, showing the spirit and bravery of forebears like Leia and Padme as well as being an excellent shot in battle, and having a believable relationship with the admiring youngster, and fellow rebel Lux Bonteri.

High altitude warfare!

3. Dragons! Channeling the spirit of respected sci-fi author Anne McCaffrey and her obsession with the enchanted creatures, and perhaps even a little bit of George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones mixed in, the stunning and colourful Ruping bird-dragon hybrids of Onderon add much to the episode's fantasy spectacle. Seen early on in the Season Five trailers, they are now properly shown here in their full spectacular glory above the airlanes of Onderon, soon used by the resistance, alongside some equally fantastical horses, in visceral epic battle against the mechanical onslaught of the Trade Federation and its slimy allies.

4. The Return of Hondo. In dire need of weapons, and with time running out against overwhelming odds, Anakin manages to acquire the merchandising services of that always hilarious and cunning Weequay rogue, Hondo Ohnaka-surely one of the THE CLONE WARS greatest creations, who makes several well deserved guest star reappearances throughout this season. Here he puts in a brief-very brief!-pit stop in the Onderon war zone to help the almost extinct Resistance ultimately win the ground war, and not without a couple of standout lines of comedy dialogue! Nice to see you again...

5. A Death and a Near Miss. Just as the battle is won, writer Chris Collins and director Bosco Ng cleverly pull the heartstrings out from us and sadly kill off the character of Steela in a shocking and memorable sequence: plummeting to her doom from a cliff, with her lover unable to save her. Even the Jedi powers of Ahsoka herself are almost stopped in their tracks when only just surviving a near-fatal and equally unexpected Separatist missile attack. This is clearly another indication that this season will continue killing off characters no matter how large or small in distinction, and no matter how popular- with even the possibility of this happening to our favourite Jedi Padawan somewhere down the storytelling road...

Note: The Blu-ray contains an alternate death scene for Steela different to the final TV version.

Get hold of STAR WARS: THE CLONES WARS - THE COMPLETE SEASON FIVE here:
Star Wars Clone Wars - Season 5 Blu-ray Region Free: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV

Get hold of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS- THE COMPLETE SEASONS ONE TO FIVE here: Star Wars Clone Wars - Season 1-5 Blu-ray Region Free: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV

JJ ABRAMS GOES 'INTO DARKNESS'

Currently making a phaser impact on the Blu-ray and DVD charts, JJ Abrams summer blockbuster STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS acts as a perfect appetiser to his and ILM's upcoming work in STAR WARS: EPISODE VII starting next year, as well as proving a welcome and vibrant part of this week's 47th anniversary of the original series, as created by the indomitable Gene Roddenberry.

Check out the Blu-ray review here: KOOL TV REVIEW: 'STAR TREK - INTO DARKNESS' BLU-RAY

'THE CLONE WARS' - WHERE'S THE "BONUS CONTENT"?

THE CLONE WARS fans attending the German CELEBRATION EUROPE finally got the news they were waiting for on the release date of the fifth and final season of the hit animated series on Blu-ray and DVD: October 15th, though there has also been some murmuring, building disappointment that the completed episodes of the aborted sixth season (which apparently includes some voice work by Mark Hamill (possibly as the mysterious Darth Plagueis, or some other kind of Sith Lord, linked to Sifo-Dyas in his upcoming arc?)), previously described by LUCASFILM as upcoming "Bonus Content", are not actually ending up as the expected bonus content on the final box sets. Likely, time issues have prevented this from happening. However, we assume LUCASFILM's home entertainment deal with CARTOON NETWORK/WARNER BROTHERS is presumably up once the official completed fifth season release is widely out there, and that the only home for them will end up being online, probably to be paid for, on STARWARS.COM or via iTUNES (And unlikely to end up being commercially released by DISNEY- fan rumours are that its chief execs apparently hated THE CLONE WARS and don't want anything Prequel-era related in their new STAR WARS purchase deal).

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5 Blu-ray and DVD Trailer - YouTube

CEII: Secrets of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Panel Highlights | The Star Wars Underworld

On a personal note, if this last section of THE CLONE WARS is only available on online, it'll be a very disappointing state of play. Here's hoping that someone out there takes up the mantle of releasing what's left on Season Six on official Blu-ray and DVD as well as online. The critically acclaimed, now award-winning, high ratings gathered series more than deserves it.