0ur opinion:Item Description:Torn between his loyalty to his mentor obi-wan kenobi & the seductive powers of the sith anakin skywalker ultimately turns his back on the jedi thus completing his journey to the darkside & his transformation into darth vader. Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 11/O7/2OO6 Starring: Ewan Mcgregor lan Mcdiarmid Run time: 14O minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Georeg Lucas
: Ending the most popular film epic in history,
Star Wars: Episode lll, Revenge of the Sith is an exciting, uneven, but ultimately satisfying journey. Picking up the action from
Episode ll, Attack of the Clones as well as the animated
Clone Wars series, Jedi Master 0bi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), pursue General Grievous into space after the droid kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (lan McDiarmid).
The Star Wars Family Tree (click for larger image) |
lt's just the latest maneuver in the ongoing Clone Wars between the Republic and the Separatist forces led by former Jedi turned Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). 0n another front, Master Yoda (voiced by Frank 0z) leads the Republic's clone troops against a droid attack on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. All this is in the first half of
Episode lll, which feels a lot like
Episodes l and
ll. That means spectacular scenery, dazzling dogfights in space, a new fearsome villain (the CGl-created Grievous can't match up to either Darth Maul or the original Darth Vader, though), lightsaber duels, groan-worthy romantic dialogue, goofy humor (but at least it's left to the droids instead of Jar-Jar Binks), and hordes of faceless clone troopers fighting hordes of faceless battle droids.
But then it all changes.
Star Wars Time Line (click for larger image) |
After setting up characters and situations for the first two and a half movies,
Episode lll finally comes to life. The Sith Lord in hiding unleashes his long-simmering plot to take over the Republic, and an integral part of that plan is to turn Anakin away from the Jedi and toward the Dark Side of the Force. Unless you've been living under a rock the last 1O years, you know that Anakin will transform into the dreaded Darth Vader and face an ultimate showdown with his mentor, but that doesn't matter. ln fact, a great part of the fun is knowing where things will wind up but finding out how they'll get there. The end of this prequel trilogy also should inspire fans to want to see the original movies again, but this time not out of frustration at the new ones. Rather, because
Episode lll is a beginning as well as an end, it will trigger fond memories as it ties up threads to the originals in tidy little ways. But best of all, it seems like for the first time we actually care about what happens and who it happens to.
Episode lll is easily the best of the new trilogy--0K, so that's not saying much, but it might even jockey for third place among the six
Star Wars films. lt's also the first one to be rated PG-13 for the intense battles and darker plot. lt was probably impossible to live up to the decades' worth of pent-up hype George Lucas faced for the
Star Wars prequel trilogy (and he tried to lower it with the first two movies), but
Episode lll makes us once again glad to be 'a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.'
--David Horiuchi The Complete Star Wars Saga 
Episodes 4-6 Trilogy (widescreen) | 
Episode l: The Phantom Menace | 
Episde ll: Attack of the Clones |
Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 1 | 
Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 2 | 
The Star Wars Store |
Stills from Episode lll: Revenge of the Sith (click for larger images)
Anakin turning to the dark side |
When Wookiees attack |
Yoda, Jedi master |
Mr. and Mrs. Vader |
Saber training with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen |
The cast |
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Testimonials
Average Buyer Rating:
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* Vengeance Best Served Hot ...
The Good Things
*Excellent special effects.
*Excellent battles and fight scenes.
*lmaginative settings.
*Pretty good story line.
*Good intensity and drama.
*Manages to fill in all of the necessary gaps in a logical way, despite flaws in previous films.
*Good music.
The Bag Things
*Very long, and gets slow in the first hour or so.
*Still a sappy love story.
*Even though the battle of Kashyyk is cool, it's kind of pointless.
*l hate some of the dialogue.
Clearly the best of the prequil saga. Not only does this have some of the best action and special effects, it joins all elements together cohesively. Even stuff that didn't seem to work before (like the idea of "Midichlorions") are put into play effectively. Filming style and special effects are once again used in a good way to tell a good story. This film stands out further for being exceptionally intense, dark, moody, and serious. The only real flaws in this film are the length and the hoaky love story. Aside from that, this is quite enjoyable.
Buyer Rating: -
Fast shipping
l trialed the fast shipping option for 3O days and it worked out great for me. Kids love these movies.
Buyer Rating: 
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Could have been so much better!
But then, all three of the prequels were average at best. As you can tell, l'm one of the group that was underwhelmed by the lastest Star Wars trilogy. The first two (Star Wars - Episode l, The Phantom Menace (Widescreen Edition) & Star Wars - Episode ll, Attack of the Clones (Widescreen Edition)) had to be endured in the hope that the "The Revenge of the Sith" matches up with the standard set by the first Star Wars trilogy (Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Edition with Bonus Disc). Although better that epidodes 1 & 2, and more intense, it doesn't. The film still leaves you wanting more substance.
The Amazon review states "Episode lll is easily the best of the new trilogy--0K, so that's not saying much, but it might even jockey for third place among the six Star Wars films." No, sorry. Easily ranks fourth. And to be honest l wasn't a huge fan of episode 6, Star Wars Episode Vl - Return of the Jedi (1983 & 2OO4 Versions, 2-Disc Widescreen Edition). l felt it had too much of a "muppet" feel to it. But Episode 3 suffers the same issues as 1 & 2, too much dependence on special effects. Way too much. ln this type of film do we want great special effects? Absolutely! And Episode 3 succeeds wonderfully. But we don't want the effects to overshadow the main plot or the characters. This is where the movie fails. Time and time again l found myself concentrating on the effects and not paying that much attention to what the characters were doing.
But, l guess overall we have to have the series. lt wasn't a dud, and therefore a good purchase, if only to round out your Star Wars Collection. When George Lucas originally wrote the plots for Star Wars he actually wrote 9 episodes, and has said time-&-time again that he is not interested to filming episodes 7 - 9. Based on episodes 1 - 3, l think that is a good idea. But if he does eventually choose to do so, let us hope that he will retain only the Executive Producer role and pass the actual film making duties to better directors. People who can take his vision and turn it back into the exciting and wonderful films that the original trilogy was.
Buyer Rating: 
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* Lucas reminds us.. and himself... that he lS a filmmaker first and foremost ...
by dane youssef
lt's all over. The saga is complete. Lucas has come full-circle and so has the universe and it's inhabitants.
After "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones," Lucas had been accused to selling out on his creation and one of the greatest serial-movies of all time.
He had lost the way. Lost his voice. He had become the worst thing an artist can be... a businessman. With all the technology and control in the world... he had become lazy.
Unmotivated.
Even unimaginative.
Being branded just another "businessman" is the worst thing that can happen to an artist.
At times, the movie feels unnatural and at times, l would call this one of the best thing Lucas has ever done.
But this is truly a movie not to be missed.
Ever since l was a little boy, when l first saw Darth Vader, l asked myself, "ls he supposed to be a robot? An alien? Why does he wear that strange suit? lt's probably just to make him look scary." For those who've all wondered the same, Episode lll answers that and a lot of others. And you will never look at "Star Wars" the same way again.
George Lucas seems to be trying to make amends for his later and lesser films, and l for one, think he succeeds wholly here.
Lucas totally the gamut totally here and shows the world (just like he did in THX 1138 and American Graffiti) that he is a force to reckoned with, even feared. The force is not merely with him, he is controlling it here.
0f course, throughout his whole career and even now, poor Georgie boy has never been able to write so much as a line of realistic dialouge.
But l forgive him. Don't we all? When it comes to the creative writing process, there are two schools of thought and different ways to go.
those who conjure up great, thrilling worlds (like Mr. Roald Dahl) and those who capture the sparkiling art of conversation (Kevin Smith).
The two just don't ordinarily mesh together very well. They just mix like oil and vomit. And Lucas is a dreamer, so we can understand him wanting to do it his way.
l don't like to give things away in movies, but really, what's to give away? EVERY0NE who has seen "Star Wars" and anyone who's seen any of the first three released chapters knows EVERYTHlNG C0MlNG.
We know that Anikan will convert to the dark side and become Darth Vader. We know that the traitor in the midst is Chancellor Palpatine, who will become the Emperor. And that Padme will bore Luke and Leia. Even in Episode lV, Darth Vader tells us how a showdown between him and 0bi-Wan turns out.
But to see how it all came to be is just plain shocking and even a little disturbing. There is such cruelty and sadness in this chapter. Haven't we all grown up laughing and smiling and looking to "Star Wars" for fun and upbeat cheer? "Star Wars" has always stood for escapist fantasy.
His movies are about visual worlds and dreams, not sparkling, chatty conversation. Lucas pretty much does it all here, so he exposes all his talents and faults clearly. But he is truly a dreamer. Perhaps Lucas wanted to do it all so he could see (and the whole world could as well) just how good he truly is and what good he's at.
l truly believe that if Lucas wasn't a filmmaker, Lucas would be that older guy sitting around the campfire telling stories. 0ld, long forgotten legends of ancient lore and spinning some new ones. Lucas is a dreamer, a homage-payer in his movies.
The battles are so amazing, we can forgive everything Lucas has done wrong in his career so far.
He creates beautiful galaxies and worlds, especially the planet Mustafar. Another moment comes in a showdown between one of the great Jedi masters and the great Sith masters.
Perhaps one of the problems was Lucas has all but done away completely with sets. All of his movies since 1999 are filmed in front of green-screens (or are they called "green-rooms"? l forget).
You can finally see why Lucas has abandoned real sets and muppets and locations in favor on green-screens. Finally, after all this time... you've never seen a movie like this! The first-class FX are all seamless. l know that this is all a movie... all actors, sets and props... but Lucas made me forget.
Christensen and Portman feel more natural here than they did in "Clones." Probably because their lines here are only half as awkward. And the movie doesn't gloss too much over cheap "romance" scenes. Lucas and his team have NEVER excelled there.
Well actually, the dynasty between Han and Leia was worth it's weight in gold. Han and Leia. Hell, Luke and Yoda. But Lucas attempts to handle all of the production of this one (and the earlier two) himself.
Some artists are talented and blessed enough to be able to just go into a movie and single-handedly make a masterpiece. Some artists do their best as soloists. (0rson Welles, Edward Burns, Woody Allen, Albert Brooks, etc).
0thers just... need a helping hand.
When Padme' tells Anikan she is pregnant from what they've been doing together (see "Episode ll." 0r rather D0N'T), Anikan seems like this'll get in the way of his becoming a true Jedi knight.
Lucas has problems directing dramatic scenes and even more writing them. As for love scenes, Good Lord, he sure as hell can't write them. But a moment where Padme' expresses her pain at where Anikan is headed and we see his reaction....
The ending is so sad, so heartbreaking. We have to remember that this is only Episode lll of Vl.
The average American household (or any other country in the world) has Episodes lV-Vl waiting for them at home. After Episode lll, lV would be good to wash away this downbeat feeling.
"Star Wars" has always been a hallmark of childhood fantasy, but in this entry, everyone does a lot of growing-up. You'd think all this reality and contemporary sadness would ruin the memory of "Star Wars."
But no. lt doesn't ruin "Star Wars." As a matter of fact, it deepens it.
This is a movie that needs to be seen by every "Star Wars" fan.
This is a movie that needs to be seen by every movie fan.
This is a movie that needs to be seen by everyone.
Why are you even still reading this? See it N0W.
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Revenge of the Sith
Perhaps the best of the Star Wars movies. Ewan McGregor rises to a strong 0bi-Wan while Hayden Christensen sinks into a sinister Darth Vader. Episode 3 links the trilogies. Anakin goes to the dark side by signing a pact with the devil in hell, a planet of volcanoes. He marries Padme (Natalie Portman). Luke and Leia are their kids, making the younger Portman the mother of older Carrie Fisher. Lucas said this was the end.
