Space Wars: Chapter III – The Civil Wars

""This planet is merciless. It takes everything from you.""

- Captain Adrian Starrider

Space Wars: Chapter III – The Civil Wars is a 2045 American epic science-fiction film directed by Brandon Greene. The sequel to Attack of the Troops (2042), it is the seventh film in the Space Wars film series and third chronological chapter of the "Starrider Saga". The film stars Brad Pitt, Mae Whitman, Dante Basco, Sarah Nicole-Robles, Mark Hamill, Dennis Haysbert, Christopher Lloyd, Harvey Fierstein, Gedde Watanabe, Jerry Tondo, David Tennant, Dee Bradley Baker, and George Takei.

The film's setting and characters is primarily a parody of .

The story is set shortly after Attack of the Troops, at the start of the titular Civil Wars. In the film, Count Doofus and Yabba the Butt's uncle Zero orchestrate a plan to turn Yabba against the 0R-01 Enterprise and the Spacefleet Republic by framing the Astro-Knights for the kidnapping of his son. While Captain Adrian Starrider and his newly assigned apprentice Celfhea along with the 0R-01 Enterprise crew attempt to deliver the child back to his father, General Oberon Canary and Senator Stella Amadeus lead separate investigations to uncover Doofus and Zero's plot.

The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on August 18, 2045. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, claiming it as an improvement from the first Space Wars two films. Revenge of the Smith (2048) followed The Civil Wars, concluding the Space Wars prequel film series.

Plot
One Year later after the battle on Genesis during the first year of the Civil Wars, 0R-01 Enterprise Captain Adrian Starrider and his master, General Oberon Canary, lead their Enterprise crew and a small battalion Republic Space troopers against Count Doofus' Organization robot army on the planet Christopher. Awaiting reinforcements, the two Astro-Knights greet a shuttle carrying a young Cadet-Squire named Celfhea, who insists that she has been assigned by Grandmaster Yoga to serve as Adrian's apprentice instead of Oberon's, as initially believed. Adrian reluctantly accepts Celfhea as his apprentice and the two succeed in deactivating the Separatists' energy field while Oberon stalls the robot army commander, allowing a Republic victory. Celfhea earns Adrian and the crew's respect.

Following the battle, Yoga arrives and informs the Enterprise crew that alien gangster Yabba the Butt's son Rota has been kidnapped. The kidnapping has been engineered by Doofus' evil Smith master Dark Hideous, who hopes to frame the Astro-Knights for Rota's kidnapping in order to get Yabba to ally with the Organization and fuel anti-Astro-Knights sentiment from the Butts. The Enterprise crew are tasked with retrieving the Buttlet, while Oberon is sent to the planet Thiserilia to negotiate with Yabba over a potential treaty between the Butts and the Republic. Adrian and Celfhea track the kidnapper and Rota to the planet Tet, where they are ambushed by Organization forces led by Count Doofus' assassin and Dark Astro-Knight Astrid Vengance. The crew manage to escape the trap along with R.O.V.E.R. and hijack a derelict transport with which they travel to Thiserilia. Oberon, alerted by Adrian, arrives on Tet and defeats Vengance in a lightsaber duel. Though she manages to escape, she knows she has failed.

Meanwhile, Adrian's secret wife Senator Stella Amadeus learns of her husband's mission and fears for his safety. She decides to contact Yabba's uncle Zero on Coruscant. The Butt refuses to cooperate, apparently believing that it is the Astro-Knights who are responsible for the situation. Despite President Paladine's concerns for her safety, Stella travels to Thiserilia. However, she soon discovers that Zero has actually conspired with Doofus to have Rota killed, so that Yabba would execute Adrian and Celfhea in return and be taken into custody by the Astro-Knight Council, which will allow Zero to seize power over the Butt Clan. Stella is captured but a chance call by H.U.E. enables her to summon a squadron of space troopers, and Zero is arrested, despite revealing Dooku threatened to execute him if he did not cooperate with the conspiracy.

Upon their arrival on Thiserilia, the enterprise ship is shot down by MagnetGuards, but the crew survive. Adrian devises a ruse to confront Doofus while carrying a decoy Rota, leaving Celfhea to take the real Rota to Yabba's palace. While Adrian fights off Doofus, Celfhea, Yoel, Lane, and Cheepo are ambushed by the MagnetGuards, whom they defeat, despite them being difficult adversaries. The crew deliver Rota safely to Yabba, who nonetheless orders the enterprise crew to be executed for their supposed kidnapping attempt. However, Stella contacts Yabba in time and reveals Zero and the Organizations' responsibility for the kidnapping. Acknowledging the Astro-Knights' heroism and allowing the Spacefleet Republic to have Zero punished for his betrayal, Yabba, in gratitude, agrees to the treaty. Meanwhile, Doofus reports the plot's failure to Dark Hideous, who assures him that the tide of the war is still in their favor. Back at the palace, Adrian and Celfhea are picked up by Oberon and Yoga as Hooked on a Feeling plays in the background and credits.

Voice cast

 * Brad Pitt as Oberon Canary, an Astro-Knight Master, Anakin's mentor, and the general of the 0R-01 Enterprise, who leads the 212th Attack Battalion.
 * Mae Whitman as Senator Stella Amadeus, the Senator of Nara and Adrian's secret wife.
 * Dante Basco as Adrian Starrider, a former Cadet-Squire who has recently been promoted to the rank of Astro-Knight, and the captain of the 0R-01 Enterprise, who leads the 501st Legion.
 * Sarah Nicole-Robles as Celfhea, Adrian's new Squire apprentice, a new member of the 0R-01 Enterprise, and commander of the 501st Legion. She is a parody of Ahsoka Tano.
 * Mark Hamill as President Paladine/Dark Hideous, the Supreme President of the Spacefleet Republic who is secretly a Smith Lord, Count Doofus' master, and the true mastermind behind the Civil Wars.
 * Dennis Haysbert as Mane Windup, an Astro-Knight Master, senior member of the Astro-Knight Council, and general of the Spacefleet Republic.
 * Christopher Lloyd as Count Doofus/Dark Tyranny, a Smith Lord and the puppet leader of the Galactic Trade Organization Alliance. He is the main antagonist of the film.
 * George Takei as Yoga, the Astro-Knight Grandmaster and leader of the Astro-Knight Council.
 * Harvey Fierstein as Yoel, an Astro-Knight and helmsman of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * Gedde Watanabe as Lane, an Astro-Knight and Chief Engineer and Second Officer of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * Jerry Tondo as Cheepo, an Astro-Knight and navigator of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * David Tennant as H.U.E., Adrian and Stella's protocol robot servant.
 * Dee Bradley Baker as:
 * R.O.V.E.R., Adrian's astromech robot who often accompanies him and Oberon on missions.
 * the space troopers, including Lieutenant Rick and Commander Zack. They are parodies of and Commander Cody.
 * Grey Griffin as Astrid Vengance, a Smith assassin and Count Doofus' disciple. She is a parody of.
 * Shelley Calene-Black as Najera, an Astro-Knight master and high-ranking member of the Astro-Knight Council.
 * Sonny Strait as Barack, a low class Astro-Knight and a member of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * Mike McFarland as Toron, a member of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * Chris Rager as Fugush, a member of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * Linda Young as Sasha, a female member of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * Chris Sabat as Axal, a member of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * Adriano Giannini as Rat, an Italian Astro-Knight and lookout of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * Raman Hui as Jin, an Asian Astro-Knight and member of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * Chung Chan as Lee, an Asian Astro-Knight and member of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * Jim Cummings as:
 * Yabba the Butt, a notorious alien crime lord, the leader of the powerful Butt Clan, and Rota's father.
 * Luca, an elderly member of the 0R-01 Enterprise.
 * Frank Welker as Zero the Butt, Yabba's uncle and a member of the Butt Clan.
 * Eric Bauza as:
 * Rota the Buttlet, Yabba's son.
 * The battle bots.
 * Narrated by Vince Caroli

Soundtrack
No. Title.......................................................................Music


 * 1) "I Love Rock 'N Roll"....................................Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
 * 2) "Ain't Too Proud To Beg"....................................The Temptations
 * 3) "My Sweet Lord"....................................George Harrison
 * 4) "I'm Still Standing"....................................Elton John
 * 5) "The Chain"....................................Fleetwood Mac
 * 6) "Go All The Way"....................................Raspberries
 * 7) "Jump"....................................Van Halen
 * 8) "Moonage Daydream"....................................David Bowie
 * 9) "No Easy Way Out"....................................Robert Tepper
 * 10) "Hooked On A Feeling"....................................Blue Sweede

Score

 * 1) "Space Wars (Main Title)"....................................Alexander Courage, Gerald Fried, Bob Karlan
 * 2) "Tune in for Saturday Morning RPG"....................................Vince DiCola, Kenny Meriedeth
 * 3) "Stella Imprisoned"....................................Kevin Kiner
 * 4) "Fight to the End"....................................Kevin Kiner
 * 5) "The Astro-Knights of the Spaceship Frickin' Enterprise"....................................Tyler Bates
 * 6) "Space Wars: The Civil Wars (Main Theme)"....................................Jerry Goldsmith
 * 7) "Space Wars (End Title)"....................................Alexander Courage, Gerald Fried, Bob Karlan

Production
The Civil Wars was made to serve as both a sequel to Attack of the Troops and a lead-in to the weekly animated Web series of the same name. Brandon Greene had the idea for a film to make this like if Star Wars made Episode III: The Clone Wars which takes place in between ' and '. Paramount Pictures had tracked the film's development from the beginning, and Greene decided on a August launch after viewing early footage declaring "This is so beautiful, why don't we just go and use the crew and make a feature?" This decision helped convince Amazon Studios parent company Time Warner to distribute the movie, and to encourage its subsidiary Cartoon Network to air the series. Lucas described the film as "almost an afterthought." Pendleton Ward said of the decision, "Sometimes George works in strange ways." Producer Olan Rogers said the sudden decision added to an already large challenge of establishing a show "of this sophistication and complexity," but she felt it was a good way to start the series, and thought budgetary constraints forced the production team to think outside the box in a positive way.

Release
The Civil Wars premiered on Amazon Prime Video on August 15, 2045.

Reception
Space Wars Chapter III: The Civil Wars received mostly positive reviews from critics claiming it as an improvement from the first two prequel films.

Sequel
Main article: Space Wars: Chapter IV – Revenge of the Smith

A sequel titled Revenge of the Smith was released May 19, 2028 and was written and directed by Brandon Greene. It concludes the story of Adrian's transformation into Dark Slader following the fall and disbandment of the 0R-01 Enterprise and the destruction of all the Astro-Knights except for Oberon, Yoga, Celfhea, Yoel, Lane, and Cheepo.

Trivia

 * The film is a parody of  (2008).
 * The Civil Wars is also a pilot to the animated web series Space Wars: Civil Wars.
 * A Lupian (Apollo's alien species) Astro-Knight makes a brief appearance in film.