Review for Star Wars Episode III Revenge Of The Sith (UK)

Introduction

The Blu-rays are coming! The Blu-rays are coming! Which in no way explains why I'm reviewing the DVD of Revenge of the Sith, the final movie in the Star Wars saga, or the third one depending on how you look at it. It's been six years since Revenge of the Sith was released, and a big reason why I've finally put fingers to keyboard is that it is the one film that I have yet to opine on. The advent of High Definition Star Wars has also impelled me in the direction of finally getting my thoughts down in print. Also, this year I belated jumped on the HD bandwagon, invested in the big screen TV and a Blu-ray player, and I have been re-watching all my old DVDs to take advantage of the big screen up-scaled experience. You'd think that the Star Wars movies would have been first on the list. Actually it's been over six months and only now have they crossed my mind as worth watching.


If that isn't enough of a hint as to why I'm so hesitant in approaching Star Wars again, I'll spell it out for you. I'm utterly jaded with Star Wars, I'm actually tired of the franchise, and have been ever since 2005, when Revenge of the Sith was released. This is actually only my third time watching the film, the first in the cinema, the second when I bought the DVD, and today, six years later. Actually my disillusionment stretches back even further to 2004 with the release of the original trilogy on DVD, an event that ought to have been a cause for fan celebration, but turned into a grand controversy as it became apparent that George Lucas can't stop tinkering with the films. He treats them like an Internet Browser, adding new features and changing things with each new release, except he doesn't do us the courtesy of issuing release notes with each version, and neither does he allow those of us who prefer the earlier versions to have them as we would wish.


After the degree of alteration to the 2004 versions of the original trilogy became apparent, my cynicism eclipsed any feelings of joy and wonder I may have once had for films that, as a child, I considered my favourites. I approached news of the Blu-ray release warily, excited at the idea of having these films look as good as they possibly can, but concerned at what may have been altered yet again. I already hate the idea of the packaging for the 9-disc complete saga. Putting discs in card sleeves is a recipe for having them pre-scratched before they even get near the player. I can already envisage the hardcore collectors buying all three releases, the complete saga for the extras discs, and the two trilogy collections in their sensible plastic cases for everyday play. And somewhere in Hollywood, there's a massive 'kaching' sound. Then word started filtering out on just what had been changed for the original trilogy this time around, and the likelihood of me buying the Blu-ray release diminished considerably. Just so you know, this is the state of mind with which I am going to watch Revenge of the Sith. This'll be as fair and balanced as Fox News!


The Clone War that began at the end of Attack of the Clones is coming to its conclusion as Revenge of the Sith begins. In a last ditch attempt to gain ground, the Separatists lead a daring attack on Coruscant, capturing Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, in an effort to hold him and the galaxy to ransom. It's down to two plucky Jedi to mount a rescue attempt, and free him from the grasp of Count Dooku, and the reptilian cyborg General Grievous. In actuality, this is the first move in the endgame for the Dark Lord of the Sith, Lord Sidious, as one of the plucky Jedi is none other than Anakin Skywalker, the prophesied one, the one who will bring balance to the Force. Lord Sidious has decided who his next apprentice shall be, and all that remains is to sow seeds of mistrust, and lay the perfect breadcrumbs of temptation, and the plan that has been developing a thousand years will unfold, and the Sith will rule the galaxy once more.


For Anakin Skywalker is a powerful Jedi, rapidly growing in ability. It's that growth of power, and his close relationship with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine that already causes the Jedi Council to mistrust him. When Palpatine insists that Anakin be his liaison to the Council, and the Council hesitates in making him a Jedi master, that only increases the mistrust on both sides. In addition to that, Anakin starts having nightmares about his pregnant wife Padmé, the same precognitive visions that presaged his mother's death, and the Jedi can't help him protect her, teaching him that death and loss are a natural part of life. At the same time, his mentor and best friend Obi Wan is sent halfway across the galaxy to hunt down General Grievous. Separated from his friends, lustful for power, fearful for his wife, the conditions are ripe for a Jedi to fall to the dark side.

Picture

Revenge of the Sith gets a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, which is I quote, "Movie captured and created directly from the digital source." I'm not going to be picking nits about the transfer, as Revenge of the Sith looks absolutely fantastic. The image is clear and sharp, and the digital cinematography borders on the filmic on occasion, when it comes to richness of detail, depth and dimension.

Then there is the CGI. I had a whinge about CGI when I wrote about Attack of the Clones, and you can multiply that whinge by 10 for Revenge of the Sith. If you watch the making of for these films, you'll see that as time has progressed, sets and locations have vanished to be replaced by greenscreen, partial sets, digitally manipulated location stills. Aliens are quite obviously CG, more surprising is that all of the clone troopers are CG as well, not a single costume was made. Any scene where Temuera Morrison removes his helmet is actually a head replacement on a CG model. The droids are CG; stunts are accomplished by CG stuntmen, with actors morphing to CGI for the more complex (and physically impossible) actions, and morphing back for their close-ups. It's seamless, looks fantastic, and I'm not fond of it at all. The actors don't have an environment to interact with, and the way George Lucas directs and edits his films, the actors aren't necessarily interacting with each other either. There are too many moments in this film that make me feel like I'm watching a videogame that I'm not allowed to play, the opening rescue mission, the Utapau battle, the Kashykk battle, and disappointingly, the climactic Mustafar battle.

Sound

No complaints about the sound here, computer generated or otherwise. Just place DVD in player, turn amp on, choose the DD 5.1 EX Surround audio track, turn up the volume, and sit back with a grin plastered to your face. Revenge of the Sith sounds fabulous, the action, John Williams' music, the quieter, more subtle moments, the richness of the sound design and the sheer bombast of the surround audio truly makes this a spectacular disc to revel in. You also have the choice of DD 2.0 Surround, and the sole subtitle track is an English one.

Extras

Disc 1

As well as containing the movie, the first disc has a choice of three animated menus based on Utapau, Coruscant, and Mustafar.

Hidden away on the disc is an Easter Egg although this time it isn't a blooper reel. It's a hip-hopping Yoda instead, followed by the DVD production credits. There is the usual THX optimiser as well.

Finally on this disc is the audio commentary, with George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, animation director Rob Coleman, and visual effects supervisors, John Knoll, and Roger Guyett. It's one of those recorded separately and patched together commentaries, with George talking about the story and adding some titbits about the filming process, Rick McCallum patting everyone on the back, and everyone else talking about the visual effects and getting a little technical. It's an interesting enough commentary that flows well.


Disc 2

As usual, the second disc contains the bulk of the extras, separated into different categories.

The Documentaries and Featurettes contains the most substantial piece, Within A Minute: The Making of Episode III, which lasts 79 minutes. Taking a different tack from the making of documentaries on the previous discs, this one looks at just one scene, 49 seconds worth of Mustafar Duel, which follows the production process all the way from script to release, and it offers the opportunity to see every aspect of the production, and just how many people are involved in making a Star Wars movie.

It's All For Real: The Stunts of Episode III lasts 11 minutes, and follows Nick Gillard as he goes about his day job of co-ordinating stunts, as well as choreographing the various lightsaber battles in the film.

The Chosen One lasts 15 minutes and is a character study of Anakin Skywalker, following his journey from Chosen One to Darth Vader, with interviews with George Lucas and Hayden Christensen.

The Deleted Scenes, of which there are six are in another section, and as before you can watch them with, or without intros from George Lucas and Rick McCallum. Two are disposable, one is repeated information, but the most interesting subplot excised is that of Padmé and the seeds of the rebellion, which made more use of the Bail Organa character and Mon Mothma. No doubt this will be restored, with added Gungans on the Blu-ray.


There are 3 trailers, and 15 TV Spots, quite appropriately in the section marked Trailers and TV Spots.

Web Documentaries is the second substantial addition to the disc. This contains 15 featurettes looking at various aspects of the production, and you can see more here about C-3PO, Obi Wan, John Williams' music, Lord Sidious, the lightsabers and other weapon props, the new version of video assist, the non CG effects department and much more, with interviews with the cast and the crew. In total, the featurettes run to 97 minutes, which is a fair bit of material.

Video Games and Stills Galleries again states the obvious, with stills galleries for Production Photos, One Sheet Posters, and the Outdoor Print Campaign. In terms of video games, you'll find trailers for Battlefront II and Star Wars: Empire at War. If you have an X-Box, inserting the disc should also boot up a demo for Battlefront II.

Finally there is a weblink for Star Wars.com.

The extras disc has subtitles in English and the Scandinavian languages.

I tried, but I couldn't find a blooper reel for Episode III.

Conclusion

Revenge of the Sith is a grand spectacle, a relentless thrill ride, and an amazing action movie. It grabs you by the throat from the first frame and remains latched on like a determined Rotweiller until the end credits. In that respect it is a success, and an improvement over the leaden pacing of Attack of the Clones, and the overly cute Phantom Menace. And yes, I am disappointed by it, and not just by the CGI overdose I mentioned earlier (which I can, with a little effort get past). What I can't get past is that as a storytelling opportunity, Revenge of the Sith tells us nothing new, it doesn't add to the Star Wars saga, it doesn't blow us away with any revelatory knowledge, there's no light bulb moment that makes you sit up and re-evaluate the saga and draw any new conclusions from it. It just takes Obi-Wan's confession about the downfall of Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, and gives it pixels.


In the end, that turns out to be a criticism of the entire prequel trilogy. George Lucas had the end of the story, spelt out in the original Star Wars movie novelisations, Palpatine's rise to power, The Clone War, Anakin's fall to the dark side and Vader's rise, and the battle between Obi Wan and Anakin that wound up roasting the latter in lava. He used the prequels to show us just that, a railway journey from A to B to C, with no diversions, no dead ends, no red herrings, and only a few inconsequential surprises. Everything incidental that did happen, whether it was the Separatists, Count Dooku, Jango Fett, and the Trade Federation all felt like the necessary stepping-stones for the story to advance, but in terms of the narrative, really just padding.

I wanted the unexpected from the prequels, and I still have a whole lot of what-ifs that get me thinking. What if the Jedi Order that Obi-Wan waxed lyrical about in Star Wars really was corrupt and morally bankrupt, what if Palpatine and Sidious weren't one and the same (clones), what if the one who championed Anakin to the Jedi, who believed so strongly in the prophecy, Qui Gon, was actually a bad guy? Obi-Wan's truth from a certain point of view should have given George Lucas a world of possibilities when it came to telling the prequel stories, yet he has remained pretty much constrained by that which was previously established. It's always a danger when you are telling a prequel story with a set end point, but the somewhat pedestrian recitation of established facts, albeit with an expanded narrative, is actually what I find most dull about the prequel movies, even more so than the turgid dialogue. The only surprise I had with the prequels was the revelation that the Clone War was a war between clones and droids. I always assumed that it would be clone versus clone.


Revenge of the Sith is enjoyable, mostly because it gets relentlessly dark and dramatic, giving us a downfall worthy of the name. Lucas even restrains his predilection for comedy, although that is after the opening act. If there is a comic relief character in this film, it's General Grievous, the coughing, cowardly cyborg. He's supposed to be a badass, who collects lightsabers from his defeated foes, but comes off as annoying as Jar-Jar Binks. The problem is that we get half of the story. We're told in the commentary to get The Clone Wars cartoon for the other half. I hate it when films do this, giving us half the story, and acting as an advert for a media tie-in. Admittedly it isn't as annoying as when The Matrix did it, or The Chronicles of Riddick, but it is still pretty disappointing.

But once Revenge of the Sith gets past this, it does two things very right, predictable though they are. The downfall of Anakin Skywalker, his temptation to the dark side by Lord Sidious is dramatic and effective, even though Sidious is telegraphing his intentions pretty strongly. Also the Order 66 moment, the betrayal of the Jedi and the fall of the order hit all the dramatic high notes. It doesn't hurt that Revenge of the Sith has some serious lightsaber action to it, and this is the film where Ewan McGregor really excels as Obi-Wan, really taking the role by the scruff of the neck and inhabiting it. I do feel that the end of the film stretches a little long, as George Lucas once again indulges his tendencies to spell everything out, leave nothing to the imagination. Like many other fans, I also could have done without Darth Vader's first words in the mask, and I also felt that the Qui-Gon revelation at the end of the film was an utterly pointless throwaway.


Revenge of the Sith is the most entertaining, and the most satisfying of the Star Wars prequels, but that is faint praise. I do question what the prequels give us beyond spectacle and predictable narrative and I'm hard pressed to answer. Revenge of the Sith was the last chance to really surprise us with the Star Wars saga, and in that it failed. It's the missed opportunity that rankles the most, and lowers all three prequel films in my estimation. And after all that, I probably will still buy the saga on Blu-ray, but I will hate myself for doing so. No movie should make me feel like that. After all, these are just movies, right?