My son and I snuck in this flick last night so time for another RE-REVIEW!
Star Wars Re-Review – Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
2005 was a strange time for Star Wars. One controversial and one mixed prequel film had come and gone, and the fever felt in 1999 seemed like a distant memory. Other genre films like The Lord of The Rings: Return of the King even took home best picture Oscars while Star Wars seemed to be the running joke of the still young Internet forums and chat rooms. Still, its draw was undeniable, and many fans felt that spark of hope when the first teaser was released:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK5Tbq2eQFs
There it was. A brief flash of the image of Obi-wan and Anakin fighting near a volcano that super Star Wars geek like myself had heard about as far back as the early 80’s in magazines like Star Log. Could this be the movie that righted the ship and redeemed the prequels? It was a tall order, and lots of pressure was put on this film as at the time it was made clear by George that this would be his last foray into the Star Wars universe and he wanted to move on to more personal films.
Driving to our favorite theater at the time was my friend and I along with my wife who had humored me through all this nonsense. It was a warm May day in Colorado as Franz Ferdinand came on the radio as we pulled into the parking lot seeing what I thought would be my last Star Wars movie in a theater.
We got there around 10 PM for our midnight show and were let in shortly after for the long wait. I remember sending my friend to get Subway while we saved a seat.
Sitting in a fully lit theater full of Star Wars fans waiting for the movie on opening night is probably my favorite memory of this era and this evening was no different. The room seemed electric about 20 minutes before showtime, and to our surprise this showing skipped the trailers and went right into the movie. After the normal glorious opening and text crawl, I was treated to one of my favorite opening shots of any movie ever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8IL46sokYw
For the first time since 1983 I was thinking about whether I was enjoying this Star Wars movie, because I was! There wasn’t anything complicated to absorb, just a simple rescue mission and two Jedi’s being badass. Once the ship crash lands (well, half a ship anyway) on Coruscant I had already had this movie as my favorite of the new trilogy.
To this day I hold Revenge of the Sith in as high esteem as I do the original trilogy. It is sometimes silly, sometimes overly melodramatic, but damn if it isn’t pure Star Wars for most of its runtime.
The look on Count Dooku’s face when he realized he is betrayed before losing his head, the moustache twirling bad guy we get in General Grievous, the Opera Scene where Anakin is seduced by the dark side, Order 66, and of course the duel on Mustafar… so many great Star Wars moments.
Do I wish all three movies in the prequels were better on some level? Of course. But to me the scope, world building, set design, and story of the prequels was very solid even though sometimes the execution was lacking. Ultimately, I feel that Episodes I-III added to the fabric of the Star Wars mythos, and you can take or leave elements you liked or didn’t like and it doesn’t upset the legacy of the originals. Not exactly a glowing compliment, but I will fight anyone who says Revenge of the Sith is not a good Star Wars movie.
Re-Review Score 9/10
