STAR WARS - EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH - PREVIEW

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Star Wars - Episode III (2005)

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson
Director: George Lucas

Opening Date: May 19, 2005

Remember the Simpsons episode in which two of Homer’s nuclear plant co-workers were duelling with lightsabres while arguing about whether The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones were the worst? Well, come May 2005 then they’ll have another movie, namely Revenge of the Sith (the recently titled Episode III) to add to the mix.

Redundant from the outset, the two so-called “prequels” have so far proven to be major disappointments. Sure, the special effects were great, but the giddy space opera fun of the original trilogy went simply missing underneath bland acting, poor dialogue, slow pacing and at times incomprehensible plotting. When the hype died down on Phantom Menace (after all it was the first Star Wars movie in decades!), we were simply left with a movie that could at best be described as “almost as good as Return of the Jedi.” Also, long-time fans railed against annoying CGI creatures and bad child actors aimed at the kiddie market.

Efforts to make Attack of the Clones “darker” didn’t exactly result in a new Empire Strikes Back. Instead the movie was probably the worst in the entire series – technically proficient, but outright dull. No amount of special effects could make up for an overlong story with gaping plot holes and the most wooden acting since . . . well, Phantom Menace.

Lucas was wise to have “outsourced” Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi to other directors and screenwriters back then but, enamoured of his technical toys, he unfortunately doesn’t want to give up the prequels. This is unfortunate because I would have loved to have seen what someone like Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson would have done with the Star Wars universe (instead Jackson is remaking the 1930s King Kong – you can find a script for it here).

Still, Star Wars fans are an overoptimistic lot and the hype (particularly on the Internet) will reach fever pitch in the months to come. I’ll probably get a stack of hate e-mail for calling the prequels dull and Revenge of the Sith will end up making a huge fortune at the box office. So it doesn’t matter what a few disgruntled thirtysomethingers who saw the original trilogy as kids in the late 1970s have to say about it, right?

(I wanted to end this article on how we at least have the original movies on DVD, but that isn’t quite the case since we got the lame so-called “special edition” versions instead and not the original movies. Sigh . . .)

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Plot Summary for Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005):

After three long years of relentless fighting, the Clone Wars are nearly at an end. The Jedi Council dispatches Obi-Wan Kenobi to bring 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 of the Force in an attempt to lure him to the dark side.

— Some sources: Amazon.com

Trivia about Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith:

George Lucas announced publicly that this will be the last Star Wars film he'll make. He had plans to make Episodes VII, VIII and IX, but the 57 year-old writer/director has declined.
George Lucas has said Episode III will be the darkest of all the Star Wars films.
Unlike the previous Star Wars films, which were shot both on soundstages and on location, this episode was filmed entirely in the studio. The only location work was a background plate shot during the production of Episode II.
George Lucas allowed a short scene for Episode III to be shot in the Tunisian desert during the production of Episode II, to avoid the inconvenience of having to fly the team back out and shoot the scene three years later. It is widely rumoured to be the so-called 'Harry Potter' scene, in which Obi-Wan Kenobi delivers the infant Luke Skywalker to his aunt and uncle.
Daniels, Anthony and Baker, Kenny (I) are the only two actors to appear in all six Star Wars movies.
Actors Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen will train for two months in fencing and fitness in preparation for their fight sequences.
Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu) said that he knows he must die in this film, so he told George Lucas that he'll only do the film if Mace Windu goes out in a blaze of glory and not "like some sucka". On an American late-night talk show, he confirmed that he did indeed have a meaningful death scene, and did not go out like "some punk."
The original design of Anakin had him sporting a mohawk, a tattoo on his right arm and a shredded looking design to his Jedi robes. Lucas said that it was, "too much". The design was later changed to traditional robes and long hair in a pony-tail. Hayden Christensen thought it was "too pretty". Finally, they settle on the design similar to Obi-Wan's look in Episode II.