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Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith More at IMDbPro »

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3179 reviews in total

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1151 out of 1679 people found the following review useful:
Lucas Redeemed!, 8 May 2005

Author: mrbiscuit from Los Angeles, CA

When I asked the reviewer sitting next to me to sum up Revenge of the Sith, he simply said "great!" That seemed to basically be the consensus of virtually everyone in attendance at an advance press screening of the final chapter in the Star Wars saga.

There was an exuberant mood leaving the theater, as if everyone was in collective agreement that Lucas had finally done it. That he had gone out on top, with a stunning, rock-solid coup de grace. And from all the feedback I've heard from that screening, my sense of that collective mood was right.

There are no real spoilers in ROTS. Everyone basically knows what happens in Episode 4: A New Hope. We all know Anakin becomes Vader. We know Obi Wan lives and we know Luke and Leia are born. What we don't know is how Lucas weaves those story lines into the large, six-part opus and better yet, why?

No, it's not a perfect movie. There are those moments that make us cringe. Bad dialog and High School drama class acting make for a few awkward moments where you can hear audible moans and giggles in the audience, but we have come to expect this from modern Star Wars films. The upside is that these moments are rare in Episode III.

OK, get ready. Take a deep breath. No Jar Jar! Yes, you read that right. You can let out that deep breath now.

Fortunately, we have one savior to rely on for stellar acting. Mr. Ian McDiarmid as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. McDiarmid brings the elegance of an Alec Guiness back to the franchise in a knockout performance that leaves the audience riveted and exhausted. He is the lifeblood of the film.

As someone who saw the original 30 times in it's first month of release at the age of 13, I currently consider myself a Star Wars moderate. I don't have volumes of SW merchandise, nor can I debate whether or not carbonite contains enough oxygen to make it float. All I know is that magical feeling Star Wars gave me in the original 1977 release and that I'm happy to say, after a disappointing pair of prequels, has been finally restored and reinvigorated.

Here's to Mr. Lucas for giving us all something spectacular to remember for our entire lives that embodies the whole point of going to the movies in the first place, to escape and lose ourselves in another world.

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1051 out of 1546 people found the following review useful:
It's OK to be a STAR WARS fan again., 6 May 2005

Author: actorman_us from Los Angeles, CA USA

For several years now, it's been a rather uneasy proposition to be known as a STAR WARS fan. First, we had to put up with the great embarrassment of the clownish Jar Jar and the gut wrenching "acting" from the muppet known as Jake Lloyd in PHANTOM MENACE. Then came the laughably stilted dialog and the clumsily told love story from ATTACK OF THE CLONES. Fans far and wide were wondering what George Lucas had done to their beloved STAR WARS franchise! Something that once was so rollicking and without peer was being transformed into kiddie-pandering, muppet populated, CGI over-loaded dreck!

Mr. Lucas, all is forgiven. Welcome back. REVENGE OF THE SITH is the prequel installment we've been hoping for all along. Gone is the overly wooden acting and the ridiculously petrified dialog. In there place is a logical and believable storyline. Anakin's transformation is inexorably sensible. It is natural and not forced into shape by wooden dialog. Scenes between Anakin and Padme, are heartfelt and honest- a far cry from their nearly unwatchable scenes in ATTACK OF THE CLONES.

The same can be said of scenes between Anakin and Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor is legitimately great in this film. He gives Kenobi real depth and the viewer thoroughly believes that he grows up to become Alec Guiness). There exists a real bond of deep feeling the viewer can feel between master and apprentice thus making Anakin's fate all the more tragic, as he slowly becomes more and more entangled in Palpatine's (Ian McDiarmid, in a joyfully malevolent turn) web of deception and evil.

Visuals have never been an issue in the prequel films and this is most certainly the case with REVENGE OF THE SITH. The opening sequence is a jaw-dropping collage of ships in movement, dazzling colors, and frenetic combat. Additionally, the technology used to create Yoda seems to have grown exponentially over the already impressive wizardry used to animate Yoda in CLONES. Front to back, the vistas Lucas shows us are entirely believable and staggering joys to behold.

George Lucas goes right for the jugular in this film (the PG-13 rating is well earned! Parents be advised!!). This is a very well-told story of a fall from grace told in an unflinching manner. And yet, the hope for the future is so firmly in place as this film rolls to an end, a tear will roll down your cheek if you've lived with this series of films as long as I have. STAR WARS is back. It's cool to be a fan again.

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882 out of 1326 people found the following review useful:
Story + Special Effects = Success!, 4 May 2005

Author: cpricciardi from United States

(No Spoilers!) Excitedly submitting my comments two weeks prior to the opening of the film (after a preview screening at the Ziegfeld Theater), I am thrilled to add to what appears to be a growing wave of positive reaction to Lucas's effort in Episode III. As a life-long fan deeply caught in a love hate relationship with Episodes I and II, I cautiously awaited this final installment. I felt in my heart that this would be a great film, but feared that somehow I would again be disappointed. Maybe I was starting to succumb to the notion that I no longer had the spirit of that six year old boy who was mesmerized by the original Star Wars, long ago in 1977 at that far away NJ theater. Maybe.

From the opening 20th Century Fox logo, the movie hits the ground running, proving once again the CGI capabilities of ILM and the thrills they inspire. However, unlike the first two films, where spectacular effects were layered upon complicated, contrived and sometimes dramatically vacant scenes executed with some of the worst performances in memory, there is solid story telling here. And that's the difference.

The drama builds steadily in the first act before hitting light speed with a combination of excitement, dread, intrigue and pain. This strong dramatic spark ignites the entire cast, helping them turn in what are easily their best performances of the three films. When you have a script with this kind of thump and talented actors, the result is fun to watch. And for once, perhaps most importantly, the special effects serve the script, not the other way around.

Anakin's internal struggle, present from frame one, quickly consumes him, catapulting the film towards its inevitable conclusion. While its no surprise that the film ends on a desperate note, there does remain a glimmer of possibility as the story segues into the aptly titled classic "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope". It's thought provoking and inspiring.

It's also worth noting that as advertised the film is dark, makes no apologies, and is much less child friendly then the others. All pluses in my opinion.

The final result with "Revenge" is a complete film that I will never forget, a somewhat renewed perspective on what Lucas was going for with Episodes I and II, and assurances that that little boy inside me is still there, popcorn in hand, ready for a good movie.

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817 out of 1272 people found the following review useful:
A movie to bring balance to the two Trilogies..., 4 May 2005

Author: Hyrum Romrell (buckeyespud@gmail.com) from Salt Lake City

I personally am more of a fan of the original trilogy than what I have been of the prequels. Although I did enjoy TPM, and AOTC, they definitely were not as well done as A New Hope or Empire. I think the general criticisms of the first two prequels was lack of good story, and poor acting. First I would like to say that the acting is much better in Revenge of the Sith than the first two prequels, but what truly stood out in this movie was the story. It was delivered perfectly, for the first time since Empire, Lucas connected emotionally with his audience. The last hour of the movie was especially powerful. Although probably not planned, I think this movie will be the bridge that brings the old star wars sheep back into the fold. Just as Anakin eventually brings balance to the force, Revenge of the Sith will bring balance back to the Star Wars Universe. And judging by the reaction of the test audience I was part of, everyone I was with feels the same way, no one left their seat for at least a couple minutes after the movie ended.

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743 out of 1202 people found the following review useful:
Thank you Mr. Lucas for utterly destroying "Star Wars", 18 May 2005

Author: erik_wetter from Stockholm, Sweden

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

It is always sad to watch potential die. This film, this story had it all. It could have been the greatest of them all. The heartbreaking tragedy of the man who gave up his name Anakin Skywalker to become Darth Vader. Instead we were given, crap. This is why: (contains spoilers) The first problem is that since the first two movies were boring and nothing really happened, everything has to happen now. So we've got approx. 4 hours of plot to be shown in 2 hours. The space battle: Mr. Lucas does only care about one thing, his need to show the world how great the guys in ILM are to create special effects. So what we see is 5 or 10 minutes commercial. And let us add some cheesy dialog for Ewan and Hayden so everybody will know it's actually a movie. Because it's not exciting, it's not amazing, it's impossible to get an overview what's going on, it's just light flashing and speakers trying to make the loudest BOOM-sound. "Oops here comes Dooku that I for some reason didn't kill off in the last flick. Well let him fight for three minutes, say some cheesy lines and then die." And Lucas or Hayden, you made me believe Anakin killing Dooku would be the first step on his path towards the dark side. That he would be torn apart by agony of his action and the inevitable satisfaction of letting go of his hate. None of this happens. Anakin says something like "Oh perhaps I shouldn't have killed him lalalala, well, well, nobody's perfect". So Dooku is dead. But hold on we've got another villain, General Grievous. Darth Maul was underused. It's even worse with Grievous only he's not cool. The idea of the mix between droid and alien is great, however nothing of this is revealed. Grievous is just another stupid villain. And the actor that provided his voice for him should seriously think about changing professional. "Sh*t, I've already spent like 20 minutes of the film; I really need to make Anakin evil now." So we see some more wannabe-sound-of-music love scenes where poor, poor Natalie Portman yet again has to fight against lines and dialog that is absolutely horrible. I pity her, she must curse the day she signed on Star Wars. Not your fault Natalie, we know the truth. Yes, Anakin has more nightmares and yes, it is shown in the same bad way as the last time. And yes, the Jedi council that never seem to do anything useful, just sit and watch and do nothing (no wonder you all will die) appears in a few scenes. "Oh my, I need to make Palpatine subtly persuade Anakin of the pleasure of the dark side. Should we say like 2 scenes are enough?" Basically it's just "Anakin join the Dark Side!" "No." "Yes do it." "No." "Yes come on now." "Okay." No wonder you could not persuade Luke. "Aah I still have to kill Grievous. Well, well more time for my lovely fellows of the ILM to show their skills." Let me say that Grievous dies easier than Maul did and have even less screen time. Rubbish NOW COMES WHAT BUGGERS ME THE MOST Finally after about 2 minutes of persuading Anakin, Palpatine reveals himself to be the Sith Lord. Anakin's life is shattered, everything he believed was in fact a lie. This is dramatic, this is the purest betrayal. How does he respond? Something like "Oh really, hmm, I suppose I'd better alert the council" Either Hayden is the worst actor or Lucas the worst director. Poor Sidious, I reckon he wanted a better reaction than that. And when Anakin tells Windu about it, Windu who has dedicated his life to the Republic and to destroy the Sith? "Palpatine's a Sith Lord, damn, well, well, I think we need to catch him, you reckon it can be done before lunch break?" Yoda was humiliated to a mere action figure in AOTC. Here Palpatine gets the same punishment. The death of Windu is kind of cool though (thanks Jackson for at least making Lucas fulfill our wishes concerning that scenes) Anakin helps Palpatine kill Windu. How does he react? "What have I done? I'll do anything you want (to Palpatine)" Yes that really does make sense. Anakin you may have a high level of midi-chlorians (yes they are mentioned) but your IQ-level is about zero. "I fight for peace and justice and in order to achieve those I have to kill a bunch of innocent children." Are you playing stupid games with me or something Lucas? Which person would think that way? It is not logical, it's pathetic. Every single scene with Anakin is in some way illogical. In the end we have the Fight. With mystical dialog and with a tense of broken friendship and love? No we get "fast-forward" 10 minutes of a blue blurring light. And yes cuts from when the emperor throws chairs at Yoda. You read it right. Poor Natalie is made to say her final cheesy lines and is then allowed to die. Darth Vader is awoken; he really doesn't seem to care about anything save that he screams "no" that is a parody of the screams-of-no's-movie-history. The End The dream is dead. Lucas failed us fans, for him showing a 2½ hour commercial of how great he can make special effects were more important than conveying a powerful story. On the night bus home a man clad in Jedi robes wept. We all felt like it. This movie could have been everything we could have asked for. In hands of a better director, with corrections by a real writer, this could have been a new TESB. Now we were watching a fallen hero. Not Anakin. Lucas.

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394 out of 582 people found the following review useful:
Perhaps a writer will rescue this franchise someday..., 21 May 2005

Author: phusmus from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

...like Frank Miller did for Batman.

It would be impossible to truly spoil this movie. It's outcome is already determined and the movie spoils itself.

You might hope the PG-13 indicates that Mr. Lucas saw the light and/or heard his audience and raised the story from the Telly-tubbie schlock that was Ep1. You'd be wrong. It's still written at (perhaps) a 3rd grade level, but this time with flashes of gore -- guess who gets the full body burn -- that make the movie unacceptable to children for whom the only hope of enjoyment is turned into a nightmare.

War is bad is a primary theme, but in Lucas-world, devoid of interesting characters or credible violence, the endless assault of epic fight scenes is sterile and boring.

Like Ep2, the dialog is laughable - literally. I saw the movie on opening night, in the San Francisco Bay Area (Lucas Films back yard) and the audience was laughing, embarrassed for the otherwise strong acting cast. Any other writer + director could have sneezed a classic from this cast. What a waste. Ewin MacGregor sneaks through as the only actor to somehow sneak by Lucas and deliver a credible performance.

The special effects are strong of course, but the scenes move and switch so quickly, you'll probably miss a lot being too busy popping pills to prevent epileptic seizure.

You'd think the 27 year climax of a six movie series would be one of the most carefully delivered in history. You'd be wrong. While Obi-wan is sent specifically to kill Annakin and save the universe, he casually walks away. What's worse, he'd have every motivation to put Annikin out of his firey misery, he casually walks away. "Sorry old chap, you were supposed to be the chosen one, and we were like brothers, but yet I'm compelled to deliver this odd soliloquy while watching your legs burn off. Then, I think I'll casually walk away."

Almost any other possible scene could have been written to deliver the necessary result. Lucas blew it once again. This is the worst episode of all. Don't be fooled by the rating, or the inexplicable ratings of the sycophantic 'professional' reviewers out there. Save your money and gain a couple hours of life that I and too many others have lost.

HTH.

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491 out of 791 people found the following review useful:
surprised., 8 May 2005

Author: hanneskruppa from ca

i loved star wars as a kid. i grew disenchanted with the new trilogy. i was prepared for another letdown.

i was surprised to see that things really come together. 'sith' has a coherent story, well told, well paced. the movie is full of fireworks, but they always support the progression of the story, nothing felt unnecessary like some stuff in the earlier episodes. the characters were all solid. some were even great. there were quiet, slow paced moments that made sense, felt right. the transformation of the characters came across well. the conflicts are complex, personalities are multifaceted. this movie carries a lot more weight than episodes 1 and 2.

not everyone will be happy. there are weak moments, there is wooden dialog, there's cheesy romance. nevertheless, for most of the audience, even non hard-core star wars believers, this movie works. it's great entertainment, and it ties in very well with episodes 4-6. the sense of disconnect that people felt with episodes 1 and 2 is gone. you will want to go home and watch 'a new hope' right after seeing 'revenge of the sith'.

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323 out of 456 people found the following review useful:
And Lucas' failure is complete., 19 May 2005

Author: deaconblues1979 from Waterloo, Iowa

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

***Spoilers!****

Lucas finally leaves behind the childish stupidity of the first two episodes and delivers a much grimmer movie. Too bad he does it so poorly. The first problem with the movie is the acting. The forced, pitiful dialogue is enough to make a person cringe. It is glaringly obvious during the exchanges between Padme and Anakin. But rather than leave a movie to be destroyed by bad dialogue and acting, Lucas decides to take it a step further and brilliantly adds a pointless robot villain named General Grievous. This robot's special power was that he had reptilian organs and suffered from a bad cough yet could somehow mysteriously breathe in space. But the hardest thing to stomach about this movie is Anakin's sudden and whimsical switch to the dark side. Lucas tries to create all of these different factors for Anakin's change to darkness, yet none are convincing enough. First Anakin struggles with visions of Padme's death, then he gets placed on the Jedi Council and is asked to spy on his dear friend Palpatine, and to top it all off, those stingy Jedi have the gall to not award Anakin with "Master" status. Then Palpatine reveals himself as the Sith Lord to Anakin and tells him they may be able to save Padme from death. One thing leads to another, and Anakin lops off Mace Windu's hand and decides to become a Sith. It is truly unbelievable. Out of 6 or so hours of movie-time between Episodes I, II, and III, 10 minutes are dedicated to the Dark side's "seduction" of Anakin Skywalker. It takes Palpatine 3 whole scenes to convince Anakin to switch sides. But the fun doesn't stop there, oh no! After walking the path of good(except that Sandperson incident in episode II) for all these years, Anakin has little problem slaughtering all of the Jedi younglings and hating all of the Jedi, especially Obi-Wan. The truly glorious thing is that this movie all takes place in maybe a week's time, and Anakin's complete switch to darkness takes about 1 minute. I suppose it is possible that the events in this movie were supposed to span a few months, but that is not made clear, due to the story-telling genius of Mr. Lucas. Lucas had two movies before this in which he could have shown a gradual change to darkness. That would have been believable. But Lucas is such an idiot and has no idea how to develop characters, and this is the result. Yes, it is understandable that Anakin is troubled and frustrated and supposedly loves his wife very much, but that just isn't enough to make his sudden change to the dark side believable. Lucas has had 28 years to figure out how Anakin became Darth Vader. You'd really think he could have come up with a more convincing story than this. But then something truly wonderful and realistic happens that nearly redeems the film. Padme simply "loses the will to live" and kicks the bucket. This is really great coming from a formerly strong and independent character, who now has children to concern herself with. But I guess that's not a good enough reason to live. It's a good thing that this trait isn't passed down to Luke, otherwise he may have dropped dead from depression in that Death Star trash compactor. I would also like to point out the stunning use of the drawn-out soap opera-esquire "NOOOOOooooooo!!!" that Darth Vader bellows forth upon discovering that Padme has perished.

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603 out of 1063 people found the following review useful:
All I can say is that Lucas has finally redeemed himself!, 4 May 2005

Author: StarWarsFanForLife from United States

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

Yep, I got to catch an advanced screening of the long awaited final episode of the Star Wars saga, up here in Nothern California.

All I can say is, WOW! This has the best action sequences of any of the six Star Wars films! The battle sequences at the beginning with Jedi star fighters and separatist forces is by far the most spectacular special effects sequence ever put to film.

Anakin's downfall towards the dark side begins after an opponent of his is killed, which lures him more and more towards the dark side of the Force.

Anakin and Obi-Wan spend the first half of the film trying to end the Clone Wars between the Republic and the Separtist forces.

Acting wise, Heyden Christensen does a much better job this time around portraying the darker Anakin Skywalker as he heads towards his destiny, all of the wooden Anakin from The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones is finally free from his shackles this time around.

Ewan McGregor, excellent as always does a great job portraying Obi-Wan Kenobi as a jedi master who knows his pupil is headed for the dark side.

Natalie Portman does a great job portraying Padme Amidala as the tragic wife of Anakin who knows that the Republic and her husband are slowly drifting away from her. Padme's final scene is heartbreaking to say the least and adds some serious emotional impact towards the ending of the film.

But, the real scene stealer is Ian McDiarmand who does an excellent job portraying the kindly Supreme Chancellor Palpatine as well as another major character in this film.

The new villain, General Grievous, is cool, but I liked Jango Fett and Darth Maul a little more. Grievous isn't in the movie too much but when he and Obi-Wan are fighting on the planet Utapau, it's war on a large scale, with Obi-Wan riding this large lizard and Grivous riding this wheeled vehicle. While this is going on, Anakin grows even more closer towards the dark side, with fits of rage and jealousy towards his fellow jedi and towards the Republic.

In this film you see how all of the jedi are exterminated, what finally happens to Padme, the mother of Luke and Leia, how Anakin becomes Darth Vader, and how the crumbling Republic becomes the first Galactic Empire. Warning though, Anakin's change to Darth Vader is quite scary and will definitely upset the little ones! Wow, Lucas has done it, and made a successful connection to the original Star Wars film, A New Hope! One of the coolest bits is seeing the Tantive IV, Bail Organa's rebel blockade runner, from A New Hope in action towards the end of Revenge of the Sith.

We finally get to see Alderaan, and the wookie Chewbacca for the first time since the classic films, and the best bet, only a short glimpse of Jar Jar Binks towards the end of the film during a highly important funeral.

The final confrontation between Obi-Wan and Anakin on the planet Mustafar, a lava planet, as well as the final duel between Yoda and Darth Sidious are far the best lightsaber battles of any of the films so far, and their tragic endings will only highlight the impact of the events that unfold in the film!

While I'm sorry to see the cinematic portion of Star Wars come to an end, Lucas has ended the Star Wars saga on a grand fashion. All of John Williams music has pieces of the earlier prequels and some elements from the classic films to tie Revenge of the Sith with the other five films of the saga.

Now, I'm more excited than ever for the upcoming television series, which takes place right after the events of Revenge of the Sith! Here's hoping that Revenge of the Sith, knocks off Titanic as the highest grossing film of all time!

Buy your tickets now, because Sith doesn't just happen, it rules!

By far the best of the three Star Wars prequels. Thank you George for thirty years of great entertainment! Get in line now!

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262 out of 389 people found the following review useful:
What a piece of junk!, 27 May 2005

Author: Fizzgig70 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Little could Mark Hamil have known when he uttered these words in A New Hope that he was making a profound prediction of the future of the Star Wars movies. Did he also foresee the rise of an actor who would make him look like Laurence Olivier?

As a Star Wars fan I so wanted Sith to be good, but after the first five minutes I just wanted it to be over.

I can't recall the last time I witnessed such a poor performance from a professional actor as from Haydn Christansen. All his lines were delivered in a monotone totally devoid of any emotion, nor did his facial expression ever change - he could have been pushing a trolley round his local supermarket rather than being in a film. I belong to an amateurdrama group and any of our blokes could have acted him off the screen.Perhaps that was why Christopher Lee had so little to do - he wouldhave acted Christansen off the damn planet!! I have never seen Haydn in anything else so I'm prepared to admit that I could be doing him a disservice. Maybe that monotone was the only way he felt he could deliver such lousy dialogue without laughing or puking up. During the film I wanted to do both.

Even if I could have ignored the lousy acting and the even worse dialogue (and it would have taken a Jedi mind trick of gigantic proportions to make that possible) the CGI was just as tiresome after about five minutes of it. The opening space battle looked more like a traffic jam on the M1 Motorway than a battle.

I wasn't thrilled, I wasn't moved, I wasn't touched by any of it. I cared more about the slaughtered Jawas in New Hope than I did about Padme and Anakin through all 3 prequels.

This film said more about Hollywood's obsessions with youth and thinness than about a galaxy far, far away. If the following films were made now there would probably be no Han Solo character (a type of character the prequels badly needed) - way too old! They can't even show a woman properly pregnant with twins - I swear in some shots that Natalie Portman wasn't even wearing any padding.

If you are a true Star Wars fan there are only 3 ways to deal with these prequels-:

1) Wipe them from your memory 2) Bombard Peter Jackson with frantic pleas to remake them 3) Write your own

I'm going to try the last one - I'm sure it will be a million times better, just a shame I won't get paid millions for it!

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