Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Episode I was the best of the new trilogy; it was actually a real movie with three acts, it's own internal plot, and at least an attempt at real characterization; rather than just a random collection of scenes full of fan service and bad dialogue for the sake of building a shaky bridge from Episode I to IV. What a mess.

But on that note, don't just blame Lucas, the fans need only look in the mirror to see who ruined Star Wars. They got the prequel trilogy they wanted, and deserve; just look now, they actually think this movie is good. I'd say this one's the worst just for the fact that it seals Star Wars' fate, there's no potential "savior" sequel to rescue this franchise; Star Wars officially sucks with no chance of parole.

You'll have to excavate your VHS tapes and LDs to prove to people there was ever a good Star Wars movie, not that anyone outside a wookie costume will care at this point.

http://cache.lego.com/movies/starwars/minimovie868613/SWNS.mov

http://www.treehouseanimation.com/rotb/movies/sso.mov

http://www.treehouseanimation.com/rotb/movies/bts.mov

i have seen the light!!! "Griffith No More!" thank you for your insight! i now see that it is my fault that the entire star wars franchise has gone to shit and that i must make amends immediately. i now sacrifice all of my star wars books to the the great ebay gods and can only pray that they accept my gift and give me their blessing to get on with my life. i was a fool to ever like Episode III for what it is, a movie made for the sole purpose of entertaining and making money. what was i thinking? i am forever in your debt.

You're welcome, don't forget to ebay the Chewbacca suit while you're at it. 8)







Actually, though I was responding to you, I wasn't referring to you personally... of course, that doesn't mean it's not applicable advice. =)

Even listening to both sides of these arguments, I still really want to see this movie. Is that bad? Anyway Griff, I speak out of pure objectivity, having not seen the movie yet, but it seems like you took Episode III too personally... Were your expectations for it really that high to begin with? I mean... am I missing something?

In all honesty, while I can say it didn't reach my (admitedly) high expectations, it was definatelly worth seeing.

I felt the acting was stiff and the dialogue ranged from the appauling to unusually poiniant (for a Star Wars movie).
Despite that, it was a feast for the eyes. The visuals (I felt) were amazing.

While we can't agree on how well it met our individual expectations, I think its definately worth seeing, Walter.

It's worth it for the duel between Anakin and Obiwan alone.

dwarfkicker said:

It's worth it for the duel between Anakin and Obiwan alone.

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All I remember were blue flashes and awkward cuts. =)

Meh..

Ok fine, I saw it. Even though I had low expectations, after I saw it, my first words were: "I felt like I just got punched in the face..."

But after about an hour and a half of processing, I'm still straddling the fence on whether it sucked or not. Really, I'm trapped between what Obi-Wan would call my 'point of view' (Luke - "CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW?!"). Most of my problems stem from my admittedly film dork complaints, such as pacing. And I know it's been said many times before, but i can't stress it enough: George Lucas' pacing is fucking embarassing.

BEGIN SCENE
(cue Microsoft Powerpoint clockwise transition/reveal)
Senator Organa: We have to do something before the Jedi fall into a trap.
END SCENE

This kind of 5 second crap is littered all over the film. Are we just supposed to look away, like a car crash on the highway and pretend that didn't happen?

Other than Anakin's looming christening as Darth Vader, there's no structure to the events in Episode III. The rest of the plot sort of orbits around randomly. A light saber battle here, killing droids over there, killing expendable Sith-associated villain #2 over there. The film doesnt gain any emotional momentum from the completion of any of these plot branches. It just weighs it down.

In the previous trilogy, there was a clea goal: stop the evil empire, reconcile with Luke's father, Darth Vader. In Episode III it's "got to get to volcano planet!!!"

But all embarassments aside, I was delightfully suprised at several moments. The jagged structure of the movie works to a great point of crossroads near the middle. Obi-wan has defeated Grievous, Palpatine is revealed to be a Sith Lord and is about to be apprehended. There's genuine suspense in the audience. Even though we all know the outcome, Lucas successfully makes us second-guess the outcome. That's not easy to do for a prequel to an almost 30 year franchise.

I also even sort of liked the Clone "betrayal" with EXECUTE ORDER 66. Don't really know why. For all intents and purposes it was ham-fisted and over-the-top, but i liked it =) .

There's too much that I feel about this to fit into one review... I have misgivings about how it was all executed but all in all, Star Wars is over. For good. It was a fun, choppy ride while it lasted, and we all miss the good old days. But it's over... Please be over?

My final score? 53% trash, 47% good-natured romp.

PS:
High point: The successful plot crossroad.
Low point: Yoda in his fucking pajamas, crawing through an air duct trying to escape.

I, for the most part, agree.

However, for me, the low point was frankenstein vader.

Biggest badass in the universe, his return after nearly 20 years, and thats the lines they give him?

All other scenes that didn't involve Hayden Christensen talking I pretty much liked.

CnC said:

I, for the most part, agree.

However, for me, the low point was frankenstein vader.

Biggest badass in the universe, his return after nearly 20 years, and thats the lines they give him?

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At least he was a "monster" in that scene, how about the fact that Darth Vader's legacy is now that of a giant pussy? =)

My biggest nag is Vader's "Noooooo!"

So bad.  So unneeded.  They could have just made him scream in rage.  But then again, I doubt that would have been executed well either.

I'm all about the lightsaber duels in these movies.  They are always the high points for me.

What irks me though is that you see this amazing duel between Anakin and Obiwan in EP3 and then in EP4 you see this pitifully pathetic attempt at a duel between the two of them again.  Talk about a lack luster of a rematch.  The battle in EP4 should have been just as intense if not moreso than the one between the two in EP3.  But what do you expect from something made way back in the 70s.  If EP4 was not out yet and was the next movie to come out then I would have no doubt that Obiwan vs Darth Vader would have been awesome to the max.

dwarfkicker said:

My biggest nag is Vader's "Noooooo!"

So bad. So unneeded. They could have just made him scream in rage. But then again, I doubt that would have been executed well either.

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I disagree. The NO was emotionally justified. And even though I laughed when i heard it (mostly because of all the hype i read from you guys...), I liked it. It had a lot more place in the scope of things than say... episodes I and II.

I've heard people say that it parallels Luke's "Noooo!" when he finds out Vader is his father. I can see Vader yelling "no" but it just could have been better. It seemed forced (no pun intended) and not believable that he was torn up about killing his wife whom he supposedly loved more than life itself.

dwarfkicker said:

I've heard people say that it parallels Luke's "Noooo!" when he finds out Vader is his father.

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How about you decide that for yourself? ::)

I could care less whether it does or not. I see it as him casting off what was left of his former self. And thus we have the bad ass Vader of the original trilogy.

"Griffith No More!" said:

At least he was a "monster" in that scene, how about the fact that Darth Vader's legacy is now that of a giant pussy? =)

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whether or not he was supposed to be a love-sick pussy might have been intended. Christenson looked best when he was brooding, not talking. The "younglings" scene was definitely not pussy-ish.

Walter said:

How about you decide that for yourself? ::)

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Luke's "no" was at least more believable. Vader's made we want to regurgitate

CnC said:

Christenson looked best when he was brooding, not talking.

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http://darthno.ytmnd.com/

Aazealh, you are the man.

Aazealh said:

http://darthno.ytmnd.com/

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dear god, it hurts to hear that... I can only pray they fix that in the DVD...
seriously, this is one time its ok, Lucas... please?

CnC said:

whether or not he was supposed to be a love-sick pussy might have been intended. Christenson looked best when he was brooding, not talking. The "younglings" scene was definitely not pussy-ish.

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Darth Vader is basically the biggest pussy in the universe now, yeah, and he killed some kids too, what a badass. Maybe he molested them first to be extra cool.

Anyway, who cares about the "NO" when the whole movie was a total abortion? Best part, really.

"Griffith No More!" said:

Darth Vader is basically the biggest pussy in the universe now, yeah, and he killed some kids too, what a badass. Maybe he molested them first to be extra cool.

Anyway, who cares about the "NO" when the whole movie was a total abortion? Best part, really.

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you say tomato, I say banana

agree to disagree

CnC said:

you say tomato, I say banana

agree to disagree

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"FROM MY POINT OF VIEW THIS WASN'T A SHITTY MOVIE!"

Obi-Wan weeps. =)

Actually seeing Anakin as a man being a bit of a puss and then seeing him as the merciless Darth Vader shows a great contrast between light and dark. Given Anakin's change in sides could have been shown and developed better. But what did you expect? A merciless jedi becomes a merciless sith lord?