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Ending the most popular film epic in history, Star Wars: Episode
III, Revenge of the Sith is an exciting, uneven, but ultimately
satisfying journey. Picking up the action from Episode II, Attack
of the Clones as well as the animated Clone Wars series, Jedi Master
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker
(Hayden Christensen), pursue General Grievous into space after the
droid has kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).
It's just the latest maneuver in the ongoing Clone Wars between
the Republic and the Separatist forces led by former Jedi turned
Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). On another front, Master
Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) leads the Republic's clone troops against
a droid attack on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. All this is
in the first half of Episode III, which feels a lot like Episodes
I and II. That means spectacular scenery, dazzling dogfights in
space, a new fearsome villain (the CGI-created Grievous can't match
up to either Darth Maul or the original Darth Vader, though), lightsaber
duels, groan-worthy romantic dialogue, goofy humor (but at least
it's left to the droids instead of Jar-Jar Binks), and hordes of
faceless clone troopers fighting hordes of faceless battle droids.
But then it all changes.
After setting up characters and situations for the first two and
a half movies, Episode III finally comes to life. The Sith Lord
in hiding unleashes his long-simmering plot to take over the Republic,
and an integral part of that plan is to turn Anakin away from the
Jedi and toward the Dark Side of the Force. Unless you've been living
under a rock the last 10 years, you know that Anakin will transform
into the dreaded Darth Vader and face an ultimate showdown with
his mentor, but that doesn't matter. In fact, a great part of the
fun is knowing where things will wind up but finding out how they'll
get there. The end of this prequel trilogy also should inspire fans
to want to see the original movies again, but this time not out
of frustration at the new ones. Rather, because Episode III is a
beginning as well as an end, it will trigger fond memories as it
ties up threads to the originals in tidy little ways. But best of
all, it seems like for the first time we actually care about what
happens and who it happens to.
Episode III is easily the best of the new trilogy--OK, so that's
not saying much, but it might even jockey for third place among
the six Star Wars films. It's also the first one to be rated PG-13
for the intense battles and darker plot. It was probably impossible
to live up to the decades' worth of pent-up hype George Lucas faced
for the Star Wars prequel trilogy (and he tried to lower it with
the first two movies), but Episode III makes us once again glad
to be "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." --David
Horiuchi
Product Details:
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman
Director: George Lucas
Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably
NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX),
Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX), French (Dolby Digital 2.0
Surround)
Commentary by writer-director George Lucas, producer Rick
McCallum, animation director Rob Coleman, and ILM visual effects
supervisors John Knoll and Roger Guyett
Exclusive deleted scenes with introductions by George Lucas
and Rick McCallum
"Within a Minute" documentary film about the making
of the Mustafar battle
"The Chosen One" featurette: George Lucas traces
the myth of Darth Vader through episodes 1-6
"It's All for Real: The Stunts of Episode III"
A 15-part collection of Lucasfilm's Web documentaries
Star Wars Battlefront II trailer and Xbox game demo
Star Wars Empire at War PC game trailer
"A Hero Falls" music video
Poster and print campaign
Trailers and TV spots
Never-before-seen production photo gallery
DVD-ROM content includes a free trial of Hyperspace, the
ultimate online Star Wars experience
