Having spent many days of my youth playing with my army of action figures in my mother’s flowerbeds I’ve always liked Robot Chicken’s premise. But, for one reason or another, I had never actually watched any of the series. So going into Robot Chicken: Star Wars- Episode III I had a vague notion of what to expect but nothing could prepare me for 44 minutes of insanity that ensued.
Episode III tells the story of the dark and mysterious Emperor Palpatine. From his earliest exploits (not an environmentalist) to his untimely death at the hands of his (somewhat absentminded) apprentice Lord Vader. The narrative occasionally strays to look in on the life and times of Boba Fett as he tries to cope with the death of his father. It’s a sad, but often hilarious, tale.
You don’t have to watch the various bonus features to know that the crew of Robot Chicken are huge fans of the Star Wars films (but if you do need convincing there are numerous interviews with the crew to back me up). The writing is crisp and while a few jokes fall flat the majority of the material is inspired. Things get a bit juvenile at times but even then, as in the case of Vader’s bathroom stall antics, it isn’t pointless or stupid.
The bonus features included are exhaustive. There are four commentaries. Those looking for comedy will want to listen to the two tracks dedicated to the actors. Those wanting a more technical experience will want to listen to the crew’s commentary. If you want a more balanced commentary the writer’s track mixes humor with behind-the-scenes insights.
There are five brief featurettes that take a look at the various stages of the creation of the show including the writing, voice acting and special effects. These featurettes make up for the fact that the picture-in-picture track, called “Chicken Nuggets,” is absolutely terrible.
The best bonus feature is 25 minutes of deleted scenes. The crew of Robot Chicken use simple animatics to screen test their material and weed out the less funny sketches. It’s very similar to what Pixar has done with their films. The introductions are pretty painful but the scenes themselves are pretty interesting. Its clear why the majority of them were cut but there are a few that are brilliant.
The gag reel, Star Wars Celebration V panel, skate tour footage and Skwalker Ranch premiere are marginally interesting. The boardroom meeting with George Lucas is a bit self-indulgent but it is nice to see that Lucas has a sense of humor and is willing to poke fun at himself.
There are also four trailers, three for the special and one for a video game, that are wildly entertaining.
The Blu-ray also includes a time lapse sequence showing the complicated stop-motion process as well as an animation reference feature that shows Seth Green acting out several of the scenes for the animators. Both are interesting but not essential.
If you love Star Wars and have any sort of sense of humor Robot Chicken: Star Wars – Episode III is a must own.
You should also check out Swank-mo-tron’s interview with Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich from last December here.