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Star Wars: The Clone Wars
(2008)
Album Cover Art
Composed, Co-Orchestrated, and Co-Conducted by:
Kevin Kiner

Co-Orchestrated and Co-Conducted by:
Nic Raine

Performed by:
The City of Prague Philharmonic

Co-Orchestrated by:
Takeshi Furukawa

Produced by:
Mark Evans

Contains Themes by:
Labels Icon
LABEL & RELEASE DATE
Sony Classical
(August 12th, 2008)
Availability Icon
ALBUM AVAILABILITY
Regular U.S. release.
Awards
AWARDS
None.
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ALSO SEE





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   Availability | Viewer Ratings | Comments | Audio & Track Listings | Notes
Buy it... only if you've heard Kevin Kiner's distinctly youthful re-interpretation of the franchise in the film itself and appreciated the rocking electric guitars and other traditionally "non-Star Wars" sounds in context.

Avoid it... if you expect to hear anything remotely respectful to John Williams' famous music for the franchise, for the adaptation of his themes and styles is extremely minimal.
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EDITORIAL REVIEW
FILMTRACKS TRAFFIC RANK: #785
WRITTEN 8/9/08
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Star Wars: The Clone Wars: (Kevin Kiner) As if writer, director, and producer George Lucas' life wasn't already clearly defined by his infamous universe of Star Wars, he has followed through with hints that he would someday produce an animated television series based on the concept. The six live-action feature films in the saga have formed a neatly wrapped series with a massive cult following, and hopes have long involved the possibility that Lucas would create the final three films of his original nine-part saga. Instead, in 2008, he put the finishing touches on the animated series to run on TNT and the Cartoon Network, a concept that thrilled Lucas to such a degree that he insisted that its pilot be made into a feature film for theatrical distribution. The plot of the series covers the three years of events in between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, when the Jedi and the clone armies of the Galactic Republic are waging war against Count Dooku's own clone army and, by proxy, Senator Palpatine and his increasing influence. While the major voices from the films do not carry over, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, and Anthony Daniels do, allowing for at least some continuity. Yoda, R2D2, and Jabba the Hutt are additional familiar faces, joined by a couple of notable new characters, including an apprentice for Anakin Skywalker who will extend through the life of the show. It was Lucas' intent to return to the humorous atmosphere that defined parts of A New Hope, offering numerous funny plot twists and circumstances that are a distant cry from the desperate tone of Revenge of the Sith. The style of the animation, mirroring the scope of Japanese anime, is of an angular kind that does not attempt to recreate the exact likenesses of the films' people and ships. These two major differences (the humor and the adaptation of the imagery into the animated realm) caused a different environment in which the style of John Williams' famous scores for the franchise would not be a direct fit. Lucas turned to veteran television composer Kevin Kiner to adapt parts of Williams' themes into the music for Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Kiner is not only quite talented in his career of writing episodic scores, but he has also had the opportunity in times past to adapt other major composers' themes into a surrounding underscore, most notably for film music collectors on 1999's The Wing Commander. In that film, he adopted many of the mannerisms of David Arnold's pomp and bombast of the era for an adequate score, and here, he's tasked with the far more difficult emulation of Williams. It has been done before, with Joel McNeely's take on the Star Wars universe for the 1996 multimedia products of Shadows of the Empire remaining perhaps the most superior work of that composer's career. There is a significant difference between McNeely's faithful adaptation of Williams' sound and what Kiner has done for The Clone Wars, though. In fact, for quite literally 97% of the music contained on the 67-minute album release for The Clone Wars, you have absolutely no indication whatsoever that this is a Star Wars score. Kiner is so completely disloyal to John Williams' themes for the franchise's first five films that it's a wonder the maestro's name exists on the packaging at all (insert comments about product marketing here). Given how far off Williams' established path of the saga's music that Kiner has traversed, you have to wonder if Lucas specifically asked the composer not to even try to continue Williams' style for the series. Fans who have grown up loving the consistent structure, themes, and style of Williams' music for the franchise will be extremely disappointed by The Clone Wars; so much of their love of the concept rides on Williams' musical identity for it, and with extensive use of "Duel of the Fates" from The Phantom Menace heard in this animated film's trailers, most such fans will look at the "Original Star Wars Themes and Score by John Williams" line on the album's packaging and make the incorrect assumption that Kiner has succeeded at any level in matching Williams' sound for the franchise. As a standalone score, The Clone Wars is quite decent in parts. In fact, it features several excellent new melodic themes and action motifs that return throughout the work. But it's not a Star Wars score, and that's a point that simply can't be overlooked.


Ratings Icon
VIEWER RATINGS
981 TOTAL VOTES
Average: 2.12 Stars
***** 71 5 Stars
**** 84 4 Stars
*** 160 3 Stars
** 252 2 Stars
* 414 1 Stars
  (View results for all titles)

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COMMENTS
22 TOTAL COMMENTS
Read All Start New Thread Search Comments
An Alternate Star Wars The Clone Wars Soundtrack Review
K.S. - February 28, 2017, at 7:15 a.m.
1 comment  (807 views)
A soundtrack for a tv show
Jedivan - October 20, 2009, at 9:30 a.m.
1 comment  (1502 views)
This is WAY Better than John Williams!!!
Cousins - June 11, 2009, at 8:47 a.m.
1 comment  (2022 views)
The score makes me sad
Jimbo - August 25, 2008, at 1:00 p.m.
1 comment  (2414 views)
A Breath Of Fresh Air For Star Wars
Lucas - August 25, 2008, at 4:33 a.m.
1 comment  (2092 views)
I agree 100%   Expand >>
Jeremy - August 15, 2008, at 12:35 a.m.
12 comments  (7534 views)
Newest: August 19, 2008, at 5:01 p.m. by
Jeremy
More...


Track Listings Icon
TRACK LISTINGS AND AUDIO
Audio Samples   ▼
Total Time: 67:23
• 1. Star Wars Main Title & A Galaxy Divided (1:13)
• 2. Admiral Yularen (0:56)
• 3. Battle of Christophsis (3:19)
• 4. Meet Ahsoka (2:44)
• 5. Obi-Wan to the Rescue (1:24)
• 6. Sneaking Under the Shield (4:25)
• 7. Jabba's Palace (0:46)
• 8. Anakin vs. Dooku (2:18)
• 9. Landing on Teth (1:44)
• 10. Destroying the Shield (3:09)
• 11. B'omarr Monastery (3:11)
• 12. General Loathsom/Battle Strategy (3:08)
• 13. The Shield (1:37)
• 14. Battle of Teth (2:45)
• 15. Jedi Don't Run! (1:22)
• 16. Obi-Wan's Negotiation (2:07)
• 17. The Jedi Council (2:04)
• 18. General Loathsom/Ahsoka (3:40)
• 19. Jabba's Chamber Dance (0:42)
• 20. Ziro Surrounded (2:20)
• 21. Scaling the Cliff (0:46)
• 22. Ziro's Nightclub Band (0:53)
• 23. Seedy City Swing (0:35)
• 24. Escape from the Monastery (3:13)
• 25. Infiltrating Ziro's Lair (2:22)
• 26. Courtyard Fight (2:41)
• 27. Dunes of Tatooine (2:00)
• 28. Rough Landing (3:04)
• 29. Padme Imprisoned (0:50)
• 30. Dooku Speaks With Jabba (1:28)
• 31. Fight to the End (3:59)
• 32. End Credits (0:51)

Notes Icon
NOTES AND QUOTES
The insert unfolds into a poster, but includes no extra information about the score or film.
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