Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) - Movie Details

After three long years of relentless fighting, the Clone Wars are nearly at an end. The Jedi Council dispatches Obi-Wan Kenobi to bring General Grievous, the deadly leader of the Separatist droid army, to justice. Meanwhile, back on Coruscant, Chancellor Palpatine has grown in power. His sweeping political changes transform the war-weary Republic into the mighty Galactic Empire. To his closest ally, Anakin Skywalker, he reveals the true nature of power and the promised secrets...

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Movie Review

Perfect "Episode III" is not. Good acting "Episode III" does not have. Special effects overwhelming they are. Disappointing "Episode III" is... entertaining yet. Full movie review »

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Comments

Dales231 says:

May 25, 2008

the best star wars movie yet, but george lucas sold his rights 4 the 7th 8th and 9th movies 2 his son. He better do good

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Anonymous says:

December 8, 2006

the best star wars movie ever the best lightsaber battle ever nuff said

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Anonymous says:

September 26, 2005

Hey, Carl D! I appreciate your comments in reply to my review and found you had some astute observations, including on Hayden's acting that really get to the heart of why I liked his work in the role of Anikan. But in "Sith" in particular and Star Wars in general the acting and dialogue are best explained by the kind of movies they are. Besides that, think about it--what would you rather see, Natalie Portman as Princess Amidala (yeah, I admit the birth scene was bogus, especially since I am into home and natural birth and midwives, and despise c-section happy OB docs and all their f*cking high tech intervention) or Natalie Portman in "Closer"? She shows much more of what she can do in "Closer" (and deserved an Oscar nomination for that role) but I rate that as one of the all-time worst films I've ever seen. As a matter of fact, I'd like to invite you to my place for some skeet shooting practice using "Closer" DVDs as targets. Then, afterwards, I would love to treat you to a beer or two and back-to-back showings of "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," if you like dialogue and acting so much because these are two great flicks with the best dialogue I have ever heard and some of the best acting I have ever been a witness to. But I stand by my review of "Sith"--Ok, forget about Christopher Lee--because at the risk of sounding simple- minded it is Star Wars being Star Wars, with its own brand of dialogue, acting, and action sequences and I wouldn't want them to be other than what they are. By the way, if you want to see Ms. Portman act up a storm, check out "Garden State." She rocks in that one! And that is one hell of a good flick on top of it!

Cheerio, mate!

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Anonymous says:

July 22, 2005

Personally, I disagree to Griz Bear Man, about where he named every flaw in the movie. In Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas got back into the meaning of the Star Wars series, and that is pretty good. Also, compared to the wooden acting of Attack of the Clones, the actors did a tremendous job. And actually, I very much liked the action scene at the beginning of the film. I liked it better than the talking, and discussing at the beginning of the other ones.


What I would criticize more would be the video game. They just slapped on different models over the background of Lord of the Rings, and went ahead.

Here are some of my own ratings:

The Phantom Menace
A-

Attack of the Clones
C

Revenge of the Sith
A+

A New Hope
A

The Empire Strikes Back
A-

Return of the jedi
A+

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Anonymous says:

June 15, 2005

Griz Bear Man shows some highly educated, astute commentary--like coming up with his bit about Renaissance forbidden love story in "Clones"--and I actually agree that "Clones" was a much better movie than people give it credit for. Indeed, it is actually the best of the prequels, which leads to my thoughts on "Sith," a movie Griz Bear Man rates too highly.

I don't mean to be one of Griz Bear's "whining critics" because for all its problems I still enjoyed "Sith" I loved seeing ALL the Star Wars movies, including Phantom Menace." But for my money "Sith" had too many sword fights and suffered from special effects overload, which obscured a powerful story that was not given the depth it deserved No, I do not expect Shakespearean dialogue when I see Star Wars, but I still expect better--I don't need to hear yet another "I have a bad feeling about this!" That line belongs to Han Solo and should have stayed with him. Indeed, it should have died with him. And I expect decent acting, even with comic book type characters. Hayden Christensen was in many ways good for the part--his moody demeanor gives his role the edge it needed--but he can't act or if he can act then Lucas did not let him show his stuff, which is more likely since Natalie Portman, a proven fine actress of Oscar calibar, was not able to show what she can do. Still, Hayden's demanor made up somewhat for his lack of acting skill in the part. The best part about his acting was that he subtly displayed some of the mannerisms of Luke Skywalker albeit a moodier, more menacing version--so you can actually see some of Luke in Annikan by the way Hayden does the part--it's in the genes so to speak. Ewan MacGregor showed everybody up in this movie, turning in a strong performance even with some crappy lines. I do not know why Griz Bear commends Christopher Lee, since he was "offed" early in the film (unless Griz Bear is referring to his performance in clones (or LOTR?).

I could have done with one-third of the light saber fights. The Evil Emperor was comical and rather undignified fighting Yoda (who is the film's best swashbuckler)--I much preferred that he would have remained the dignified, understated (however vile) character he was in "Jedi."

Some people dissed Darth Vader's undignified "No-o-o-o!" in "Sith" but that was actually one of the film's more creative, nicer touches--it foreshadows the vulnerability Darth Vader would later display in "Jedi." "Sith" showed Darth Vader to be a curously fragile and troubled character so I now know that all his strut and menace in "Empire' And "Star Wars" was just a front, merely for show, a cover for his considerable insecurities.

I agree with Mr. Griz Bear that "Empire Strikes Back" was the best film in the whole series and there is absolutely no excuse for why the other movies that followed "Empire" could not maintain that standard but for the lack of professionalism George Lucas since showed in turing in a half-assed job. He simply did not care to render serviceable dialogue, sound acting, and tight cinematic story-telling balanced with good visuals instead of sensory overload. "Empire" had all those ingredients.

Despite this, I still very much enjoyed the movies that followed "Empire." Imagine what "Jedi" (an uneven film that nonetheless had some of the best scenes in the whole series) and the Prequels could have been had they lived up to the standard set by "Empire"!!!!

Star Wars IS a legend for our times, which is all the more frustrating when "Sith" did not deliver the high impact finale it should have delivered.

In answer to Griz Bear Man, here are my grades for all the movies:

Star Wars B
Empire Strikes Back A+
Return of the Jedi A-

The Phantom Menace C
Attack of the Clones A
Revenge of the Sith" B-

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