STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH

[Heineken Skywalker]

Saw a midnight showing of the latest chapter in the STAR WARS saga, EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH last night.

Contains MAJOR SPOILERS. You've been warned.



Well, this it. The one that ties everything together and answers all the questions. How were the Jedi wiped out? What happened to Padme after the birth of the twins, Luke & Leia? How did the Emperor come into power? How did the seemingly good Clone Troopers become the evil pawns of the Empire? Does Jar Jar appear in this movie? But most importantly, the question that first generation fans have been asking themselves for almost thirty years. How did Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen one, the Jedi who was supposed to bring balance to the Force, how did this once fresh-faced kid become the scourge of the galaxy, Darth Vader?

Another question. Was it worth the wait? You bet your ass.

The Clone Wars that began near the end of EPISODE II have now been going on for 3 years and the movie opens with a dizzying space battle. As usual the screen is almost always filled with amazing effects. Ships and explosions seem to cover almost every inch of the screen.
We soon get reaquainted with the two Jedi heroes, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) who are on a mission to rescue Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) from Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) and a new villain, General Grievous.
Of course, all of this is just a ploy by Palpatine, as Dooku is actually his Sith apprentice and Grievous just another one of his henchmen.

The outcome of this rescue is a major step into pushing Anakin further into darkness and his inevitable fate.

Grievous is a pretty amazing looking character. He's a wheezing, coughing, half alien-half droid that looks kind of like a mechanical insect. The character is fond of killing Jedi and collecting their lightsabers. He also has four arms. Lightsabers and four arms. You do the math as to what you think this guy is capable of. Yes, the visual is pretty cool.

Another important plot point. Padme and Anakin are still keeping their marriage a secret, not to mention the fact that Padme is now pregnant. And here's where we run into a little trouble with the film.
That wooden acting and sometimes flat dialogue from the previous installments? Like in Episode II, it tends to rear it's ugly head mostly in the scenes between Padme and Anakin.
Hayden is okay, but not great and Natalie Portman is worse. Not sure if it's the dialogue, writer-director George Lucas has given them to speak, or if Portman is just uninspired or bored. But pretty much whenever these two are on screen together, all I could think was, "Okay, let's get back to the ass kicking.". It's a shame because stronger writing, acting & chemistry would've definitely added some weight to their scenes. Thankfully, the courtship is over, so no speeches about the coarseness of sand, etc, and they have relatively few scenes together.
Now that Padme is pregnant she can't even join in the adventure so she basically stands around in her apartment, crying and worrying about her husband for the bulk of the film. It's a neccessity of the story though, as she needs to give birth to Luke & Leia so the original trilogy will make sense.
Hayden is definitely better in the scenes where he interacts with Chancellor Palpatine & Obi-Wan. Speaking of those two. Ian McDiarmid is fantastic as Palpatine and really gets to play the ultimate villain for the first time since back in '83 when he appeared in Episode VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI. Before he goes all Sith Lord, you get just a hint of slimeyness under the surface in every word he speaks. McGregor is also great as Obi-Wan and continues to channel the late Alec Guiness in his performance. These guys seem to have no problem bringing Lucas' words to life. Or maybe it's just that George writes better dialogue for certain characters than for others.
But seriously, besides McGregor and McDiarmid, the best performance and most rounded character in the movie? Yoda. He's a CGI wonder and you actually feel for him. When Jedi start dieing in different parts of the galaxy you see the anguish on his face as he "feels" each death.
The destruction of the Jedi is handled really well as we see several of them cut down, one by one, GODFATHER montage style.
And especially eerie is a scene where Anakin, before the black armor and mask, but now christened Darth Vader by Palpatine, walks into the Jedi Council chamber to find a bunch of hiding Jedi younglings. They approach him thinking he's there to help them and he ignites his Lightsaber. The scene cuts away, but the implication is certainly there.

So, how's THE lightsaber fight? I don't think anyone will be dissapointed. It's lengthy, and full of the fancy flips and acrobatics we've come to expect from these confrontations. And even though you know how it "has" to end, you still sit there hoping that Obi-Wan can somehow convince Anakin to turn his back on the Dark Side and join him in overthrowing Palpatine and his minions.
You feel the pain Obi-Wan must be feeling to have to abandon what's left of his former apprentice and Jedi brother thanks to McGregor who has proven to be one of the master strokes of casting in this trilogy.
The result of this fight is some of the most graphic footage and gruesome make-up to appear in a STAR WARS movie and probably one of the main reasons for it's PG-13 rating.
This movie gives a whole new depth to Darth Vader. You get to see him more as the pawn of the Emperor that he really is. His first steps away from the operating table are awkward and clunky as he gets used to his new body. Vader is the monster to Palpatine's Dr. Frankenstein.
Another nice touch is to show the final transformation of Anakin into Darth Vader coinciding at pretty much the same time as Padme is giving birth to the twins. We literally get three births in this movie. Luke, Leia and Vader.
The movie ends with a montage of scenes that tie this trilogy even closer to the original trilogy.
Palpatine, Vader and a young Governor Tarkin (played by Peter Cushing in Episode IV) standing on the bridge of a ship watching the very first stages of the building of super battle station, the Death Star. Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) and his wife holding baby Leia on their home planet of Alderaan. And finally, Obi-Wan delivering baby Luke to the people Luke will come to call Uncle and Aunt, Owen and Beru Lars.
If those three scenes alone don't give your inner Fanboy chills, then you have no business calling yourself a STAR WARS fan.

Oh, and the burning question,, what about Jar Jar? Jar Jar has two cameo scenes as a background character and not one word of dialogue. Don't say George Lucas never did anything for you.

In the overall rankings for STAR WARS movies this is how I would rate them:
1. EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE 10/10
2. EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK 9.5/10
3. EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH 9/10
4. (TIE) EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES & EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI 8/10
5. EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE 6/10

Live long and prosper, er, I mean, May the Force be with you.

[Phoenix]

SPOILERS!

Saw the midnight showing as well and I can't add much - great review Heineken (I would expect nothing less from you!). When the Jedi (Aayla Secura! NOOO!)are stricken by the clones I actually got choked up - it was HORRIBLE! It was one of those things that I knew was going to happen but still wasn't prepared for I suppose.

And I agree 100% Yoda steals the show. When he admits to Darth Sidious defeat I felt so sad.

For me, an emotional movie. I'm a huge softie though!


As for Natalie Portman - her hair looked so great in every scene that I could overlook her kinda bad acting (or lines, or whatever it was!).

A++++ for me.
9.5/10

[Quorthon]

The only problem I had: Jar Jar didn't talk enough! Copme on!! Oh wait, he didn't talk at all, and I loved that...

Actually, the only real problem I had (aside from occasionaly "iffy" acting) was Darth Vader's "emotional" "NOOOO!!!" was one of the worst yelled out "Nooo's" I've ever seen. Aside from that, I fucking loved it! My first Midnight Showing of any of the Star Wars movies!

9/10 EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH IT!!

SPOILERS HERE, EVERYONE BUT HEINEKEN SKYWALKER SHOULD IGNORE: Hey, how'd yah like the "Anikin slaughters little kids" part? That, to me, was the biggest surprise of the whole movie.

[Heineken Skywalker]

SPOILERS!!

Hey, how'd yah like the "Anikin slaughters little kids" part? That, to me, was the biggest surprise of the whole movie.

Thought it was great, very dark, disturbing, and it showed exactly how far Anakin had fallen. Once he's done something like that, there's no coming back. Except of course, until Episode VI. ;-)
Obviously it had to be done if they were gonna wipe out all the Jedi. Little Jedi younglings will grow up to be adult Jedi Masters and come back and hunt your ass down.

[LivingDeadGirl]

phoenix said:

SPOILERS!



For me, an emotional movie. I'm a huge softie though!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got emotional during the movie. Maybe it's just a girl thing... But seriously. It was very emotional, the scenes that got to me most were Yoda's reactions to the deaths of the Jedi & his battle scene w/ Palpatine, like Phoenix mentioned. And the final scene between Anakin & Obi-Wan. If I hadn't been in a theatre full of people I would've been crying like a girly-girl.
That was in stark to contrast to the very UN-emotional response I had to the scenes w/ Anakin & Padme. Absolutely no chemistry between those two, & I kept having to try to convince myself that they were actually so much "in love". Seperately, I think they did wonderful in their roles, although Natalie didn't have much to do in this one, but together they just didn't mesh. That's about the only real problem I had w/ the movie, but all the rest more than made up for that .
I agree 100% w/ Heineken's comment about McGregor's performance. I kept asking myself if Alec Guiness came back reincarnated as Ewan McGregor. To me, THE outstanding performance of the first three ep's. And also like Heineken said, Ian McDiarmid was great as Palpatine & I actually found myself shuddering a couple of times when he was on-screen.
Ok, not much more to add to everything else that's already been mentioned, but to say I loved it!
As a first generation fan I was kinda going into it w/ a cautious optimism, but I loved the movie & was not disappointed at all!!

[taxidriver]

I agree with Quorthon on the whole Darth Vader "Noooo!" thing - actually, heaing Darth Vader saying stuff about Padme in that crazy voice of his just seemed out of place. You can see it took him a few years to perfect his ability to only say dramatic things, like "I am your father", "The force is strong with this one" and "Your powers are weak old man". "Is Padme alright?" just doesn't cut the mustard for me.

Overall though it was miles better than the last two, even if the script was laughably bad at times. It probably had something to do with the distinct lack of Jar Jar Binks and far more Samuel - "My lightsaber's the one with bad motherfucka on it" - L. Jackson. Good move on Lucas's part. Also, Ewan McGregor's Alec Guiness impression was uncanny, even if it sounded like it belonged in Bridge Over The River Kwai.

I also really liked the shot at the end with Luke's foster parents looking up at the two suns, echoing the shot in New Hope where adult Luke does the same.

[LivingDeadGirl]

taxidriver said:

Samuel - "My lightsaber's the one with bad motherfucka on it" - L. Jackson.

;D

[Pulpmariachi]

I have to disagree with the CGI Yoda. I think he's missing a lot of the heart that was in the Muppet version. Though I did like this one better than the first two.

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
STAR WARS
RETURN OF THE JEDI
REVENGE OF THE SITH
ATTACK OF THE CLONES
THE PHANTOM MEANACE

[Heineken Skywalker]

pulpmariachi said:

I have to disagree with the CGI Yoda. I think he's missing a lot of the heart that was in the Muppet version.

To each his own, but oh, man, I loved Yoda in this movie. The puppet in EMPIRE was great for the older, not as agile Yoda, but I felt the younger Yoda in SITH was so much more lifelike than any previous incarnation, especially the frog face-like puppet of PHANTOM MENACE. To me, Yoda truly felt alive in this movie. Up there with Gollum as far as realistic CGI characters in movies go.
There are some really nice character moments with Yoda.
I loved the scene where he took out the two Clone Troopers that were about to kill him. And when he climbs up Chewie's arm and onto his back to hitch a ride.
Hated to see him being tossed about by Palpatine as his tiny body slumps to the ground a couple of times and the sadness on his face when he admits his failure against Darth Sidious/Palpatine.
Yoda rocks!

[Pulpmariachi]

Yeah. I agree. And his fighting this time was a lot better than the Dooku fight from Episode II.

I thought the Jedi Temple Massacre was one of the best scenes in the film, too. And the end lightsaber battle, for me, ranks among Lucas's best (though Empire [directed by Kershner] still has the best ever).

[Pulpmariachi]

From IMDB's trivia section:

"George Lucas allowed his friend Steven Spielberg to design some of the action sequences, including Yoda's duel with Darth Sidious, and Obi-Wan's fight with General Grievous. Spielberg also consulted on other scenes, such as the climactic battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin."

Maybe this is why those were so awesome...

[Termination]

Saw this film about a week after finishing the game on X-Box.

I didn't have neither high or low expectations going in to see it. So many things happen in the film, it feels like the story is trying to keep up. I really enjoyed this film & am glad I decided to see it in the theater instead of waiting for the dvd release mainly because... The opening scene.. WoW That was some serious Imax shit going on their with the camera following the ships. That scene HAD to be seen on the big screen, NO home theater could replicate that scene.. unless you're bill gates.

2+ hours! That time just flew by. I've never experienced a film like that sinse Titanic.

I pretty much don't have anything negative to say about this film & I'm trying, trust me. The only thing I can think of is irrelevent to the film cause its merly based on the game. Now for those of you who don't play vids, this game is the best video game based from a film. It has about 7-10 minutes of actual film footage included & with 16 levels, it follows Obi-Wan & of course Aniken throughout the levels. What I like about the game is that it IS NOT a shooter or space type game. Its all Lightsaber action. So my negative thoughts from the Sith film come from scenes that were not in the game.. some scenes altered.

2 scenes I really wanted to see in live action that were in the Sith game but not in the movie.

1) There is a level in the game where instead of Sam Jackson being destroyed by the Emperor, their is a massive lightsaber battle between Aniken protecting the Emperor from Wandu.

2) I really wanted to see that librarian get killed along with every other jedi in the training temple. In the game that 1 level is all based on you being Aniken killing all the Jedi including the master trainer & his daughter. In the film we see Aniken enter one room full of younglings, than the movie cuts to a different scene. I almost yelled out SHIT in the theater! All that was cut Fuck!

However, there was so much going on in the Clone War, I guess Lucas couldn't fit these 2 scenes in without having the film cost more money & obviously have a longer running time. Thats the only negative thing I can say about Sith & it really isn't that negative now is it? The film was Go Go Go from start to finish & NOT 1 Star Wars film in the entire saga had this much action. So I can see why people are just eating this one up at the box office. Who knows might break some more records as it all ready broke 1. Best First Day opening with $50 million! Not bad Mr. Lucas, though I don't remember Spider-Man 2 opening at 12am. That might have been a factor, might not of, who really cares right? This film will lay a major can of whipass at the boxoffice & dvd sales surely & I can't wait to get my widescreen copy this December. (crossing fingers)

Its a real treat (finally) reading positive reviews from film buffs to movie critics. It feels like that happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away!

[Phoenix]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got emotional during the movie. Maybe it's just a girl thing... But seriously. It was very emotional, the scenes that got to me most were Yoda's reactions to the deaths of the Jedi & his battle scene w/ Palpatine, like Phoenix mentioned. And the final scene between Anakin & Obi-Wan. If I hadn't been in a theatre full of people I would've been crying like a girly-girl.

Yea I held it together b/c I thought I would be ridiculed! Saw it a second time tonight and, for me, just as emotional as the first time. In fact (and I can't believe I'm saying this) I liked it better a SECOND time. Caught lots of small details. Now someone told me today in the theater that the DLP theaters are showing a slightly altered version of the film. Anyone else heard this or have seen it this way?

[LivingDeadGirl]

phoenix said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got emotional during the movie. Maybe it's just a girl thing... But seriously. It was very emotional, the scenes that got to me most were Yoda's reactions to the deaths of the Jedi & his battle scene w/ Palpatine, like Phoenix mentioned. And the final scene between Anakin & Obi-Wan. If I hadn't been in a theatre full of people I would've been crying like a girly-girl.

Yea I held it together b/c I thought I would be ridiculed! Saw it a second time tonight and, for me, just as emotional as the first time.

Just wait until it comes out on dvd, then I'll grab a box of tissue & be as emotional as I want in the privacy of my own home. ;D We were thinking about going to see it again too, like you said, to catch the little things we may have missed the first time b/c there was so much going on. So this weekend I may be heading off to a theatre far, far away again.

[ZapRowsdower]

Full review, straight from my website.

George Lucas' Star Wars Trilogy set a milestone in American cinema, and has become a major part of American pop culture over the years. It's very rare that you would find someone unfamiliar with the names Yoda, Darth Vader, Han Solo, or the phrase "I am your father." That is because the Star Wars trilogy are simply three of the greatest films of all time. It has spawned endless video games, novels, spin-offs, comic books, TV series, and even a ride at Disneyland. George Lucas, much like J.R.R. Tolkien, has created a world (or galaxy if you will) worth building an entire history on. Therefore, George Lucas decided to add onto the history of this galaxy by creating a prequel trilogy. The Phantom Menace was not the success A New Hope was. Sure, it made the money, but many were left unimpressed by young Jake Lloyd and Jar Jar Binks. Still, several elements in the movie kept it worthy of the title, just not of the original trilogy. Attack of the Clones improved upon the Phantom Menace by giving us less Jar Jar, a less annoying (yet still unimpressive) Hayden Christensen, and a bad-ass Yoda fight scene. Still, the movie was plagued by faulty writing; particularly in scenes involving Anakin and Padmé. Then came Revenge of the Sith, the movie that would close the saga. Yet another improvement on its predecessor, but how much so?

Imperfections aside, no one can deny that the prequels all had excellent stories to tell. Sure, the delivery was awkward at times, but the stories were great. The Phantom Menace was about political turmoil and a boy caught between his dreams of becoming a Jedi and a life with his mother. Attack of the Clones was about a Jedi struggling with a Jedi code that forbids him from falling in love, yet cannot control his feelings. Finally, Revenge of the Sith brings all this boy's inner turmoil out and shows us his inevitable fall to the dark side. The storytelling has been known to go awry in the prequels, but Revenge of the Sith improved on almost all of the imperfections brought on by its predecessors. Sure, there were instances of weak screenwriting, but they were offset by instances of great screenwriting. The weak screenwriting usually fell on scenes where Anakin and Padmé had to get "lovey-dovey" with each other, which luckily for us, Lucas decided to keep to a minimum. The scenes of political turmoil and character development were very well-written, and George Lucas should be proud of that.

Jake Lloyd was bad in the Phantom Menace. Anakin Skywalker should have been a little older; at least old enough for a relationship with Padmé to look legal. But in Attack of the Clones, Hayden Christensen was less than impressive. He came across whiny, and scenes where he was forced to get emotional were almost painful to watch. As an actor, however, Hayden Christensen has grown significantly between Episode II and Episode III, and has done well enough to (dare I say it) deserve an Oscar nomination. Christensen got the character of Anakin down. He knew what to do, all the way down to facial and physical expressions. He was perfect. I also commend Ewan McGregor for his ability to portray a character that belonged to the late Sir Alec Guinness. I watched Episode IV again the day after I saw Episode III, and I must say that the resemblance between McGregor's character and Guinness' character is uncanny. Natalie Portman unfortunately had very little to work with, so her performance was disappointingly mediocre. Still, she had her moments. I was also glad to finally see Ian McDiarmid and Samuel L. Jackson use their talents to the fullest. George Lucas gave Mace Windu a wonderful send-off, which ends up being the best scene in the movie (in my opinion).

I never doubted George Lucas as a director. As a screenwriter, he certainly needs to take notes on movies like Blade Runner, Dark City, and the Matrix. But as a director, George Lucas thrives. He has an eye for visual effects and camera angles. This man could make Van Helsing look good if given the opportunity. Yes, Revenge of the Sith is that much of a visual masterpiece. True, in this day and age, we've seen these effects before, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this movie looked beautiful. Yoda was very nicely animated, as were his facial expressions and physical mannerisms. The green-screened backgrounds were excellent, as they were in the two predecessors. General Grievous looked very bad-ass, and speaking of bad-ass, those fight scenes were the best designed fight scenes I've seen since Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Whether it was Obi-wan Kenobi vs. General Grievous, Yoda vs. Darth Sidious, or Anakin vs. Obi-wan, the fight scenes were all kinds of awesome. Another great directorial aspect of this movie - for the first time since Return of the Jedi, Star Wars toys with your emotions. The execution of Order 66 and the incredibly dark ending should have you pretty damn close to shedding a couple of tears.

And so, the Star Wars saga has concluded. A saga of six films, four of which can now be considered some of the greatest of all time, and the other two - almost. Is Revenge of the Sith as good as the original trilogy? No. But it is up there, and I do consider it among the greatest films of all time, simply because of its deliciously dark premise and the sheer poetry that emanated from most of the movie. Sure, there were certain elements that could have (and should have) been ironed out, but they are ultimately covered up by the greatness in visual effects, the strength of the actors, and what is quite possibly the greatest story of the six movies. Star Wars, one of the greatest sagas to ever happen to the realm of cinema, has finally ended, and I couldn't think of any better way to do it. Revenge of the Sith - the original trilogy it's NOT, but a masterpiece it is.