The Revisit – Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
As hard as it is to believe, 2005 may be more of a blur to me than the previous years the other prequels came out. Mostly because I had finally made the decision that if I were to make something of myself, I better get to college and do it. So I was taking A LOT of classes in junior college to gather up as many credits as I could before heading to a major college and finishing. I also was getting to be near the top of my professional game as well. My boss had decided to move me up the ladder, and instead of being on the loading lines of a warehouse like I had been four years and counting, it was decided to move me to dispatcher. I was not coming home as sweaty and tired every day from loading boxes, which helped me immensely with my school work, and I have never stopped thanking my boss for that move. Relationships were again coming and going. But I never really focused on those as much as bettering myself. A habit that I still practice to this day, much to the chagrin of the people around me.
Background: I guess what I’m getting at here is by 2005, I was finally starting to grow up to be the man I was supposed to be. Though, even in the heat of all this excitement, the only thing I had to keep me from going crazy was a listen to Howard Stern each and every morning. On one particular episode, he said that one of his favorite shows at the time, The O.C., was going to premiere the trailer to the, get this, brand new Star Wars movie. At this point, I was not keeping track of its making or cared even a little bit about it. But I decided that one night to tune in and check the trailer out. And ohh boy, did I get sucked in. The trailer started with Palpatine promising Anakin -looking more Jim Morrison-ish now than the INSYNC-like make-up he had last film- would need to learn about certain dark side powers if he were to save Padme from certain death. Guess what? I was already there. Sign me up. I was making plans to, on May 19th, the supposed very last day we would ever have a brand new Star Wars film in theaters, to go all out and dress up. Yes, I was that excited.
George Lucas, once again behind the camera, was making promises that Revenge of the Sith was going to be this trilogy’s The Empire Strikes Back. Meaning, get ready for the darkness to hit the fan this time, because he was going to bring it all from his psyche this time around. But here was the problem that I thought about even then. From where was he going to pull this darkness from? Back in the mid 80s, during his divorce from Marcia, he had that darkness and dread welled inside, and they came out in the forms of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and certain scenes of Return of the Jedi (I still maintain that the Sarlaac Pit is an evil vagina incarnate). But in 2005, he was a rich and wealthy man who was just trying to finish his story. Yes, the effects artists at his disposal would bring the hellish depths of Mustafar to life, and it was going to be interesting to see how he was going to portray a burning death in a PG-13 rated film, for kids. But the depths from which he was going to pull this off were really on my mind this time going in. He was not a hungry filmmaker anymore. Now, he was a storyteller with anything he wants at his disposal. Just how dark could he get? I would get my answer when Anakin discreetly enters the Jedi children training facility with lightsaber in hand. Still, it was going to take a certain balancing act to maintain the story he had already let get out of control in the last film, and his best directorial skills were going to be put to test. A huge test considering most people don’t find Lucas to be that good a director to begin with.
I would also like to point out that Kevin Smith was -surprise, surprise- running his mouth about how good a film Sith was compared to the 
others weeks before the thing even came out. He basically started giving away points such as the inclusion of the Corellian Corvette and how great it felt being a Star Wars fan walking out of that screening. Well Mr Smith, I’m happy you are so much better than us, but how about keeping your mouth shut until the day us normal people can see it.
When opening night happened, I thought I was ready. But we got to the theater much later than expected. Which of course meant we were seated about two rows from the screen. Never a good sign. Though the great sign here was, unlike the previous two prequels, there was not a film already released or being released in sight which had any potential of taking my excitement at there being another Star Wars film away from me. Not even the return of Batman. But we’ll get to that at another time.
What I Thought Then: That 2005 experience was something I will never forget. I am one who always has something bad to say about ‘audience/screen interaction.’ I think it’s ridiculous, unless you are too young to know any better, to clap at certain happenings onscreen due to the fact the audience is the only set of people who can hear you. You’re not getting a bow at the end of the film. But there is something about a Star Wars film which makes me into a ball of mush in the filmmaker’s hands. I know I am going to do it at The Force Awakens. And here was no different. When steam came bellowing out of Vader’s newly formed mask and I heard him breath for the first time, I got chills all up and down my spine. Even sitting that close, I was in it, and the tragedy of Anakin’s turn was something that would not leave my mind and heart for years. The operatic sounds of John Williams’s score, echoing each character’s theme as they are merely either mentioned or verbosely affecting the film’s outcome, reverberated in my ears. One particular scene of Anakin looking out into the lava as he contemplates what he had just done always gets me. In that theater, I thought I had finally seen Star Wars at its best in this era. Tragic when it needed to be, fun in only small spurts, with a great performance by Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi thrown in for good measure.
I could not stop praising the film, and have even gone on record as saying that George Lucas had done it and made the definitive Star Wars film. Ok Kevin Smith. You were right for once. Go write another ‘fantastically hilarious’ Jay and Silent Bob‘ movie. On a side note, I love how the only film of yours you put down as being bad, Jersey Girl, is actually your best.
What I Think Now: Unlike the other prequel films of the same era, I do not feel Revenge of the Sith has gotten better with age. Its flaws stick out even worse due to all it had to accomplish. In watching it again with my fellow Bingers for the audio commentary we recorded a few weeks ago, I noticed how much what Moreno had said was right on the nose. The turn Anakin makes from good to bad is just too quick. Which is something there is literally no excuse for. Three films in, and Lucas did not accomplish his goal of wrapping everything up with a bow. Oh yes, the semblance of a great film is there. The tragedy still sticks out. But more verbiage or acting out of Anakin’s complete distrust of the Jedi Order would have been nice. Then again, I think it has been established that with Lucas’s use of dialogue, the less spoken word the better. Instead, Anakin’s turn is made to be more emotionally based, and the way he is formed into the Jedi killer he is, does not make complete sense.
Still, the slaughtering of each Jedi is nicely done. I will not fault the ease in which they are killed as much as how putting it all into a sort of montage is kind of lazy. I think the Lucas’s big decision to render this part of the film the most flowing section is a bad one. We need to feel the pain in which these Jedi are killed, and Williams’s emotionally manipulative score can only do so much.
I do still get a kick out of Yoda throwing the Royal Guards against the wall, and his fight with Palpatine is good fun. Of note is how Palpatine is both literally and figuratively destroying the Republic by throwing those Senate pods at Yoda. I also liked the ‘bubble circus show,’ and most of how we get from Anakin and Obi Wan being friends to fighting it out on the planet of Mustafar. Though how Yoda and Obi Wan got a highlight reel of Anakin’s actions still bugs me to this day.
Going back to when Vader is first formed, I would be remissed if I did not mention what happens when the ‘more machine than man’ Darth Vader walks and talks in his new suit for the first time. That moment of Vader breathing is STILL to this day the best moment out of the entire prequel trilogy. I firmly believe to this day, that if Lucas had cut the film off at this point, Revenge of the Sith would be as fondly remembered as at least Return of the Jedi. But his decision to play up the tragedy that has befallen Padme with Vader’s NNOOOOO reaction makes the moment go from uniformly tragic to unintentionally funny. Of all things I can defend, I have absolutely nothing for this moment. The Shakespearean tragedy Lucas tried for was ruined with Vader dispatching of a few droids, looking to the heavens, and screaming no. Frankenstein is what the scene started as. What it ended up as falls somewhere between Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and the ‘I don’t like sand’ speech from Attack of the Clones. Not a good place to be. Again, it goes back to editing. The absence of what he had in ’77, and no that is not a hungry killer instinct, but an editor and production staff not afraid to tell him no, is what ultimately makes this prequel trilogy the back and forth conundrum it is in so many peoples’ eyes.
In Conclusion: George Lucas’s Star Wars prequels accomplished one thing: they proved how a hungry filmmaker with aspirations to tell his stories is able to accomplish everything he wants and more. But I think the biggest problem I have with this trilogy of films is that they did not tell us anything we did not already know. At least, not without hints of fan wish fulfillment. It’s fine to change anything around due to you not knowing who or what is going to connect with an audience. But the way the Fetts, the Wookies, the droids…..I think you get my point.
With all these revisits of the past Star Wars films done (no, there will NOT be columns dedicated to the Ewok and Clone Wars films, at least not yet), there is only one thing to do. That is look forward to the brand new world JJ Abrams and the Mouse House brings us. Can we expect Kashyyk to show up? Will there be another Jar Jar to hate? Will the lens flares get to be too much? All I know is I sure hope I can do one of these columns ten years down the line and say, ‘you know, I still really like that movie.’ Because a recurrence with this one could be devestating to Star Wars in the long run. After all, we still have all those single character based films to look forward to. Ahhhh, Disney.
