***Official STAR WARS Episode III: REVENGE OF THE SITH Review Thread (1 Viewer)

[Blu]

I just returned from seeing Star Wars. What can I say? It was the best of the second trilogy. However it is not without flaws. IMHO that is.

As in most of George's films the dialogue is the weak part...well and the way they are plotted out. If you want a deep scifi movie with lots of metaphysical deep meaning see...The Matrix. If you want an over abundance of cgi action going on in every single square inch of the screen followed by mundane writing in scenes where you really don't care what is happening followed by more over blown action and then drift back to the mundane scenes again see Star Wars.

Allow me to expand upon this.

You start off with a action scene in space that has so much going on that you really don't know who to root for and then when you might catch a glimpse of what you are supposed to be seeing it is all gone in a blinding flash of...more action. Yes there is ships, lasers, motion...all of this and more with frenetic movement and exciting music which will almost make you yawn. It is like sensory overload and there is just too much happening too fast to make any kind of connection with what is happening.

However there is a ton happening! There is so much happening in the backgrounds that really nothing is happening! The cities are on what seem a planetary scale with amazing night scapes of the city lights with ships and people moving every single direction you can move. However keep in mind there is an intergalactic war going on and it seems that no one cares, not even when the massive Jedi Temple is attacked you might think with all of that technology there might be some kind of response of emergency workers or at least a brief moment of silence.

The rooms that people exist in are beautiful and massive but with all of this luxury to look at there is honestly very little there to look at. There is a huge illusion of activity with nothing behind it and no purpose for it. That can also be said for the intergalactic war, you don't know who to root for and it really makes no difference. The war is just a McGuffin to propel the story of Anakin's fall to the dark side.

There is a lot of good about this movie, the final duel is chilling and very well done. The extermination of the Jedi is very well done and Obi Wan riding the giant iguana is very cool!

 

[Dwayne]

Best of the prequels by and far.

Saw this twice already and will probably see it a third time.

It's a shame the other two films didn't exhibit the same amount of effort as this film did.

Better late than never.

George,

Thanks for giving me years of movie magic. I look forward to any future projects you have in store for us. Good luck.

 

[AJ Johnson]

I didn't really give a damn about the prequel characters because they were so bland in the first 2 movies so I just went for the space battles and the lightsaber duels. You would think that wasn't too much to ask for but EP3 even managed to screw that up.

The opening space battle sequence was underwhelming. The frame is so packed with pretty laserbeams and spaceships you don't really see anything and on top of that it looked so artificial. And for heavens sakes I think Anakin and Obi-wan lighsabered 1000 droids in that first hour. It was like watching the first hour of Phantom Menace all over again. Jedi slaughtering droids has been done to death. And those lightsaber duels were some of the worst I've ever seen...edited to hell. Half the time all you could see were closeups of the duelers and flashing...the Grievous vs. Obi-wan and Anakin vs Obi-wan suffered the most from this.

The last 15 minutes was decent as they were trying to connect the trilogies and throw as much nostalgia in there as possible to fool me into thinking I was watching a decent movie. And it was going good until the "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" which had the audience laughing so hard it took me out of the moment and ruined everything that was built up 10 minutes prior. As far as I'm concerned the prequels don't exist. No need for ratings.

 

[Neil Joseph]

- A New Hope - 8
- The Empire Strikes Back - 9
- Return Of The Jedi - 8
- The Phantom Menace - 7
- Atack Of The Clones - 8

All I can say is that ROTS contains all of the things I love about Star Wars, just more so, and none of the things that I disliked like the silly kiddie stuff, flatulence and/or burping gags, dumb kiddie lines ("yipee" for instance), dumb characters like Jar Jar Binks (no lines in the film).

- Revenge Of The Sith - 10

How C-3PO and R2-DT have no memory of any of the events of the PT when we get to Episode IV.
The droids had their memories flushed, mentioned at the end of ROTS

 

[Brian Kaz]

I didn't want to rate this until I saw it a second time and I'm glad I did. The movie worked MUCH better for me the second go 'round. I had a problem with the quickness of Anakin's turn at first, but on second viewing I paid close attention to everything being said, as well as body language. In the end, it really felt like he was desperate enough to make a pact with the devil. Once he made his first betrayal, you could tell he was being quickly consumed by the Dark Side. He would do anything to get what he wanted.

My few minor niggles don't come close to tainting what is an otherwise thrilling, adventurous, beautiful & heart-wrenching Star Wars film. Thanks for the memories, George!

:star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Simon Massey]

The last Star Wars film. Ever.

First off, my major gripe was this was the worst cinema I have ever been to. The sound was way too low and I couldn't hear some of it.

Despite this, I completely loved this film. I still need to see this a few times yet but for now, this ranks up there with ESB, and I did not believe it was possible for that.

1. The Phantom Menace 8/10
2. Attack Of The Clones 8/10
3. Revenge Of The Sith 10/10
4. A New Hope 9.5/10
5. The Empire Strikes Back 10/10
6. Return Of The Jedi 8/10

Not only that, but this film contains a scene which, quite possibly, will rank as my favourite scene of the entire saga - the Immolation Scene. I had stated my problems with the graphic nature of this scene before seeing the film. but any problems I had were swept away when I finally saw it. Absolutely perfect. And of course, the knock on effect is that it impacts the way you view Vader's confrontation with Obi Wan in IV and Luke in VI.

Its hards to pick out other moments yet without seeing it again. My major criticism during the film was I kept thinking "Will someone please slow this film down so I can have chance to take it all in?" The pace was relentless.
My major praise of the film is knowing that, if it had been possible, I would have walked back into the cinema straight away and watched it again. And then gone home to watch the others. But being away from home in another country and not having the DVDs on me.... Damn!!!

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Kinda disappointing.

Was it good? Absolutely. Was it great? No.

Aside from the fact that I already knew the events of the movie (having seen the other 5 films, read the script review, and watched the trailer a billion times), I still felt kind of underwhelmed. The dialogue wasn't great, some moments that should have been serious ended up campy, silly, or downright hokey, and the last 20 minutes seemed like a soap opera ending (read spoiler below for more about that).

Anakin: "Padme, I'm not the bad guy. I'm a good guy."
Padme: "Oh no! You're breaking my heart"
Obi-wan: "Anakin!"
Anakin: "Obi-wan!"
Padme: "Obi-wan! Anakin! But..."
Anakin: "No Padme! How could you???"

later...

Darth: "Where's Padme?"
Emperor: "In your anger you killed her."
Darth: "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

On paper, the story rocks. Grievous wasn't made to be the bad guy he deserved to be, Obi-wan's stuff felt more like a way to keep him out of the rest of the story (thus making Grievous feel more like a plot device than a character), and the editing during some key moments (heck, even the cinematography) was off. The final Padme/Vader montage could have been MUCH better.

Had Lucas not been so claustrophobic during the big scenes (every battle in the movie, basically) and been closer during the dramatic ones (like the Padme/Vader montage) then they might have worked better for me.

Some scenes felt awkward, whether it was camera placement, the lack of camera placement (there's a lot of the same general "full room view" shots when they're not needed), the bad dialogue, the uncomfortable acting, or the lack of real "oomph" that was needed. Sure, it was darker, but the scenes that could have been classic Star Wars were lost. The big battle scene in Episode I (the entire last war segment) was, to me, more interesting to watch than any battle in Episode III, including the Obi-wan/Anakin fight.

In short, Lucas ruined the movie. It's still good, but whereas I came out of Episodes I and II extremely happy and excited to see them again, I came out of Episode III with the feeling that I'd have to see it again to really come to like it. That, frankly, sucks. Especially when I went into this with high hopes and ended up not being satisfied.

Empire is still the best.

7/10

Good, but could have been MUCH better.

And the emperor looked weird without his hood on. Got a few laughs in the theater for that one.

 

[JamieD]

Outfreaking standing movie. I can say nothing better than has been said here.

I do, however, think Natalie Portman has virtually lost the ability to act in a natural way. (based on this, Closer, eps 1 and 2, etc) Shame that.

 

[Citizen87645]

There's something to be said about my wanting to see this again in the theater rather than wait to buy the DVD to fulfill my completist tendencies. That said, my main complaint is the dialogue between Anakin and Padme. Holy hell! I'm not expecting Mamet, but I do expect more than soap opera cliches.

Despite that, it's a good sign that elements of the movie have stuck with me the day after. Anakin's descent is particularly chilling and I wasn't really expecting that, once again showing it's not what happens but how it happens. And being one who tends to enjoy tragedies, the final act definitely fits the bill. Part of me even feels it's almost TOO tragic.

At this time I would place it at #3 behind Empire and Star Wars.

 

[Fred Bang]

Saw it also yesterday, in a badly focused, too dark and too low-sounding theater, and in French... but still like it a lot. I give it a 8.5/10, but will probably give it a 9 on second viewing.

The Bad:
- Some truly horrible dialogs (mostly by Nat)
- Vader over the top reaction. I was reminded of the Energizer ad when he finds that his lightsaber's batteries are drained. (didn't mind at all the 'Frankenstein' walk. It's the first time he walks with the suit, what did you expect?!)


The Good:
- Order 66 by far
- The Duel
- Anakin's reaction when the mask is being put on: You truly sense that he doesn't want to be put in it and that he is afraid.
- Palpatine backstabbing the galaxy
- I liked Grievious and his awesome bike.
- The various Clone troopers design were AWESOME!
- Hayden Christensen was really at ease in his role.
- Like everybody here, I now see Vader in a new light: Sad and a bit pathetic (a good thing).


I place it 3rd best, but only marginally better than Return of the Jedi (which is after all very strong in my childhood's memory)

The Empire Strikes Back: 10
A New Hope: 10
REvenge of the Sith: 8.5 - 9.0
Return of the Jedi: 8.5
Attack of the Clones: 8.0
The Phantom Menace: 7.0

I have ROTS a second time and bumps my rating from 8.5 to 9.0. It is definitly better a second time around.

On another note, I'm rewatching Return of the Jedi and found the movie to be rather absurd (the first half at least).

Here's my Star Wars Ranking:

The Empire Strikes Back : 10/10
A New Hope: 10/10
Revenge of the Sith: 9 / 10
Return of the Jedi: 8.5 / 10 (with chilhood eyes)
Attack of the Clones: 7.5 / 10
The Phantom Menace: 7.0 / 10

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Never in cinematic history - and probably never again - has a movie been released that will carry the big Get Out Of Jail Free card like ROTS has.

This movie is the reason why the PTs were made. Short of a total screw up any filmed version of the Vader's birth will resonate with movie audiences. And why not? Many have been carrying an emotional bucket of that moment in their psyche for over 20 years.

The good news is that the movie delivers on that moment. The great news is it managed to throw in a couple of surprises. The bad news is that the fight does not match the physical level of the Maul fight - the higher ground scenario is a very weak end to the fight - and does not match the emotional level of the ROTJ showdown.

Since the movie contains that treasured moment and finally, finally SHOWS the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan it elevates itself slightly above the previous two installments.

There are design choices, - such as the idiotic robot voices - continuing logic gaps, poorly written dialogue, and plot that continue to undermine the believability of the movie.

I hope - and it looks like it - that the many SW fans are happy with the results.

I liked it more than the first two and am glad it is over. It is an OK movie but not a good movie. Lucas is ready to move on and so I am. And so I will.

 

[BrionL]

I saw it yesterday and was just blown away. It was very emotional and dark, which is what it needed to be. In my opinion it is just as good as Empire Strikes Back which has been my favorite since it was released in 1980.

:star: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

And yes that is six stars out of five.

Brion

 

[Anthony R]

I actually felt it had a lot in common with ANH. It had that same breakneak, snowball pacing. The character interaction was dynamic and energetic as it was in ANH.

And strangely, despite all the effects, I also felt like it had that gritty documentary feel a lot of the time (which I love). Like during the build up to Palpatine's arrest. And then the way there is no music during the scene where Mace is deflecting Palpatine's lightning.

And there were also those poetic, elegant moments where you are sort of hit all at once with perfect music, dialogue, editing, and visual composition. Where you are struck with the beauty and emotion of the moment.

So right now it some ways it seems almost like a dark version of ANH to me.

 

[Ricardo C]

I just saw quite possibly the best of the Star Wars films. Ok, so maybe Empire will still reign alone after the initial high wears out, but wow! A fantastic film, not just as a prequel, not just as a part of the saga, but as a film. Sure, it enriches the prequel trilogy, and it adds new depth to the OT, but even taken on its own... Wow.

I won't say more in this thread (as it is meant to be spoiler-free), except this: Go. See. It.

NOW!

 

[Jonathan Carter]

Saw it last night and it was unbelievable. The last 45 min. of this film is easily the best 45 min. of any SW film IMO, with the possible exception of the last 30 min. of ESB. I did have a couple of problems with it, notably, the scenes where

Portman was forced to deliver some of the worst dialog of her career and for some reason was unable to make it sound any better with some great delivery


as well as the Vader scene where he is told Padme is dead. I loved that he destroyed the room with his anger, but having him speak and do the scream just took something out of it for me.

Outside of that, outstanding effort all around. The acting was better, the writing was better, the raw emotion in some of the scenes was suprising and impressive, especially the Order 66 scene and the sequence where
Obi-Wan turnes his back on a burning Anakin while Anakin is so full of real rage and hatred I was wondering if I was even watching the same actor who had played him in AoTC. Simply great acting. HC has acting skills to spare when he wants to put them to use.
Even after hearing Obi-Wan scream "you were the chosen" in all the trailers, that whole section of scene still gave me chills.

The duels were amazing, and while the CGI was running rampant, it looked great. I'll be catching this one at least 2 more times in the theater. This film redeemed the PT for me and ranks above all but ESB out of all 6.

 

[TheBat]

I have to say that I really liked this movie.. some will know that I had alot of problems with hayden in episode 2..not here.. He was just fine.. the love story worked very well. it also had a better pace to it.

I did not like the beginning battle.. its seem very out of control and very unteresting.. when anakin and obi got back home.. then it got much better.

the problems that I had with the movie had nothing to do with the characters or the dieolouge as others have had.. more with the fake CGI when they were jumping around.
or even the anamial that obi rode when looking for general G.
I also found it a very emotional story in the second half..

I would rate ROTS over ROTJ.. but empire and star wars are still on top.
I probably prefer episode 1 over episode 2. I even watched episode 1 last night with a friend.

JACOB

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I just got back from a 3:30PM showing. I really liked this movie: 4 of 5 stars.

The Good: Terrific action. A+ special effects and camera angles. Great turns by McDiarmid and McGregor (note both had mucho theater acting experience). Great storyline. MVP role by a incredibly realistic and sympathetic Yoda. Good music. A+ set design. Ooodles of detail on the screen. Great battle sequences.

The Bad: Wooden dialogue. Good God Lucas, hire a decent dialogue guy. You are a billionaire for goodness sake!

The Ugly: Hayden Christensen although better here has no acting chops and not emotional connection with Padme.

I liked this better than Episodes I and II. Highly recommended to science fiction and fantasy adventure fans.

 

[Lynda-Marie]

I enjoyed it. Not loved it, as I did with A New Hope, but I did enjoy this movie.

Many of you have commented above on some of the things that rather bothered me about this one. It just seemed to go too fast, and there were so many special effects crammed into each and every shot I felt like I had Attention Deficit Disorder.

Even though this was supposed to be about Anakin and his fall into the Dark Side of the Force, I still felt a lot more for Obi Wan. One thing is certain, I am a Ewan McGregor fan for life.

It might have been interesting had there been a reading of the wording of "The Chosen One" prophecy that was extensively referred to but never brought forward. In all my time reading science fiction, fantasy and even Shakespeare, there ARE no absolutes in prophecy. I am rather surprised that the Jedi did not know this, since they are an old, wise order.

My interpretation of the snippet "Bring balance to the Force" is based on what was said of the Sith: "Two, one master, one apprentice." I interpreted that to mean that two Sith against an order of [how many?] Jedi was just overwhelming and unfair odds. Why not two Jedi versus two Sith?

One moment genuinely bothered me, but I don't know if it was an editing mistake, or whether I just did not see the action correctly.

During the first lightsaber fight, with Dooku Vs. Anakin and Obi Wan, Obi Wan was knocked out, and a large platform came down toward him. It looked like that large platform came down right on Obi Wan's legs, about mid-thigh and crushed his legs. Hence, when he came to and stood up, I was QUITE surprised. I thought, either the Jedi have some sort of really good pain control or someone screwed up in the editing, and forgot that they just crushed the man's legs. I commented on this after the movie and my youngest brother agreed.


This is what I like about attending a movie in a theater. Lots of people getting together to enjoy the experience. Crowd watching is one of my favorite parts of the Star Wars experience, and this time was no different. There were lots of Jedi [and Sith?] cloaks abounding, toy lightsaber fights, children saying, "Hi Darth Vader!" to someone in costume, and talking to other fans of the same thing. We laughed, gasped and cheered in unison, and it was all in good fun.

For the most part, the crowd was fairly well behaved, no cell phones or yackers or crying babies, but that may have been due to the uniformed police officer who spoke to the crowd beforehand. He was pretty funny, after warning that anyone with a cell phone or recording device who was caught with said devices on during the movie would be removed, with no argument, and if there was an argument, he would "call out the goon squad." There was a fellow named Nick who was being kind of a smartass, and the officer picked on him, telling Nick that he had his Taser fully charged, and that he would demonstrate its use on Nick. Nick got some laughs when he said, "Promises, promises!"

 

[Adam_WM]

I've to agree with Ricardo when I say this could be the best of the Star Wars films. I might be blinded by awe, but I thought this one kicked major ass. I read the novel ahead of time, so I was not really surprised with anything plot wise (except for the delivery of it). Even still, I thought Hayden was awesome. His performace really gave me a real sense of attachment to his character and to Vader on a whole.

Let me say this, I LOVE STAR WARS. I love all 6 of them. I have my complaints with Episode I and II, but honestly, I have my complaints with all of them. However, I feel the ROTS has made the prequels all worthwhile. I spent the day talking to a bunch of people in my office today and I basically said that this one made the prequels worth it. I think TPM will now really just serve as introduction to characters, settings, and political climate. AOTC will be the shift in politics and allow for some character development. ROTS blows all this up and, IMHO, does more with story than any other chapter (with the exception of Vader/Luke in ESB and Vader/Luke/Emperor in ROTJ).

My only real complaint with ROTS is that is raised the bar... high. I thought that in terms of quality, it raised the bar on the other Star Wars movies (even though they have already been made!). This is the standard to which these movies should be held. It might be safe to say that ROTS has been crowned the king of Star Wars, at least in this fan's mind.

so if you haven't... SEE IT.

:star: :star: :star: :star: /:star: :star: :star: :star:
This is Star Wars as George intended it.

 

[Ray Chuang]

Having seen the movie this morning, I can definitely say that Revenge of the Sith is vastly better than the first two prequels!

Yes, much of the dialogue is a bit hokey and wooden, and--

--I thought that Anakin suddenly turning to the Dark Side was a bit too abrupt and jarring--

--but the battle scenes were fantastic and the light saber duels were definitely wonderful. I thought the use of close-ups in the light-saber duels was not distracting, unlike what some people here have said. Also--

--General Grievous was far less annoying than I thought. I think if you saw Clone Wars on Cartoon Network you know what I mean, given that Grievous was seriously injured at the end of Clone Wars.

By the way, it appears that Lucasfilm did a wonderful job for the transfer to film from digital master this time around--the picture quality was vastly sharper than the same transfer they did for Attack of the Clones. Of course, sound quality was definitely top notch, too.

I do, however, think that ROTS is a bit better enjoyed if you have seen all 26 episodes of the Clone Wars animated series that was shown on Cartoon Network. Many of the plot points in ROTS are more understandable if you have seen Clone Wars.

In short, here's my rating:

If you haven't seen Clone Wars: :star: :star: :star: :star: / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

If you have seen Clone Wars: :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2 / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: