Let me start things off by saying that this is one very beautiful package. Despite having a terrible looking Photoshop cast composite image as the cover, similar to the Phantom Menace DVD, we're once again treated to three beautifully done menus created once again by DVD maestro Van Ling, a stunning Dolby Digital 5.1 EX audio track, and quite possibly the best video performance ever seen on a DVD. It is no secret that director George Lucas filmed this movie entirely using only Sony digital cameras, bypassing the process of using film altogether. Thanks to it's digital origins, this means that this DVD is the result of a digital-to-digital transfer, resulting in crystal clear and blemish free images, setting a new benchmark for all other DVD titles.

The video is just PERFECT. There's no edge enhancement, or colour bleeding, or any other image-related problems typically associated with MPEG2 compression. Every minute detail ranging from the wrinkles on Yoda's forehead to Jango Fett's armor to the hundreds of spacecrafts flying around Coruscant can be seen in stunning clarity, and it's a very significant improvement over the Phantom Menace DVD, which was plagued with an almost obscene amount of edge-enhancement.

Once again blessed with a Dolby Digital 5.1 EX audio track, there is no doubt that this DVD is audio reference material. Whereas once people thought of the Pod racing sequence in the previous movie as a great example of an EX track, wait 'till you check out the sequence where Obi-Wan Kenobi engages Jango Fett in a dogfight in the asteroid belt near Geonosis. The audio blackhole effect created by sound designer Ben Burtt for the seismic charges ejected from Jango Fett's ship is truly magnificent and is one of the coolest sound effects I have had the blessing to experience.

Unfortunately where the technical details of this DVD shines, it comes up short as far as the movie itself is concerned. Set roughly 10 years after The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan Kenobi has since become a highly regarded and respected Jedi and Anakin Skywalker has now all grown up and just about ready to complete his training to be a Jedi knight. An assassination threat against Padme Amidala, who has since finished her democratically elected term as the Queen of Naboo, and is now serving as an ambassador to her homeworld, reunites her Obi-Wan and Anakin with Padme Amidala.

Fearing for her safety, the Jedi Council orders Anakin to protect Amidala and escort her back to Naboo, while Obi-Wan investigates the assassination threat. His investigation leads him to Kamino, where a secret order for a clone army was made a decade ago by a Jedi named Sipho Dias. The army is cloned from the bounty hunter Jango Fett, and is nearing completion. After a confrontation with Jango Fett, Obi-Wan tracks him down to the planet of Geonosis where he is ambushed and captured by Count Dooku, a Jedi knight who has gone to the dark side.

Whilst on Naboo, Anakin experiences recurring dreams of his mother, prompting him to return to Tatooine with Amidala. There he discovers that his mother has since been sold off by Watto to a moisture farmer named Clieg Lars, with whom she has since married. Unfortunately, she has been kidnapped by the Tusken Raiders a month prior to Anakin's return, paving the way to his descent to the dark side.

The most significant problem I had with this movie was that there was absolutely ZERO suspense, drama, and mystery surrounding it. It's inevitable that Anakin and Amidala would fall in love, and the festering anger and hate within him that would lead him to the path of the dark side was telegraphed well in advance the moment the movie began. And everyone knows that the Clone Wars was going to happen. All these were already fact back when Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope first appeared way back in 1977.

As such, this movie felt more like a history lesson of the Star Wars universe than anything. Not even the impressive and lengthy Geonosis battle sequence at the end of the movie could save it. The romance sequences between Anakin and Amidala felt very stilted, through no fault of actors Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman. Rather, they are saddled with painful dialogue and stilted pacing that is all part and parcel of George Lucas' screenplay. Ewan McGregor continues to shine in his evolving portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi, instilling a greater sense of calm and maturity in the character not seen in The Phantom Menace that befits the character's growth over the past decade. Christopher Lee brings an air of regal and majesty as Count Dooku, and Hayden Christensen definitely succeeds in bringing an intensity to the hot-headed Anakin Skywalker.

Still, this movie is not entirely devoid of memorable moments. The fight between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jango Fett from the water drenched planet of Kamino all the way to the asteroids of Geonosis, as well as the lightsaber duel between Yoda and Count Dooku will probably go down in the annals of Star Wars history as some of the coolest moments in the series.

Fortunately, the special features on the second disc are much more enjoyable than the movie itself. Instead of having one main feature much like Jon Shenk's superb The Beginning dpcumentary from the Phantom Menace DVD, this one has three shorter features focusing on the CGI work, the special effects techniques used, and the sound design work put in by Ben Burtt. The highly entertaining 12-part web documentaries that first appeared on the Star Wars website are included in their entirety here, and they even put in the trailer for the R2-D2: Beneath The Dome mockumentary. It would have been nice if the actual feature itself was included in this package rather than having it appear in a separate DVD release available only in selected outlets in the United States.

A series of eight deleted scenes are also completed and included here, but they are mainly insignificant filler material, and they are nowhere near as exciting and interesting as the extended Pod Race sequence or the Naboo waterfall scene from the Phantom Menace DVD.

Overall, this DVD, while a significant technical improvement over the previous instalment, feels a lot less exciting, no thanks to the soulless and manufactured feel of the movie itself. Many people have commented that this movie is a benchmark for the series and is second only to The Empire Strikes Back. However, having viewed this movie twice on the big screen and twice on DVD, I fail to see how they could have come to this conclusion. Boring, clumsy, and totally devoid of any life whatsoever, this ranks as my least favourite Star Wars movie yet.