Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
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| Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | |
|---|---|
| File:Star wars episode three poster2.jpg IMDB  8.0/10 (86,723 votes) | |
| Directed by | George Lucas |
| Written by | George Lucas |
| Produced by | Rick McCallum George Lucas |
| Starring | Ewan McGregor Natalie Portman Hayden Christensen Ian McDiarmid |
| Cinematography | David Tattersall |
| Edited by | Roger Barton Ben Burtt |
| Music by | John Williams |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates | May 19, 2005 (USA) |
Running time | 140 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $113,000,000 |
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 science fantasy film written and directed by George Lucas. It was the sixth and final film to be released in the Star Wars saga, but it is the third film by chronology of events. Among fans, it is commonly referred to as ROTS.
Three years after the onset of the Clone Wars, the noble Jedi Knights have been leading a extremely massive clone army into a galaxy-wide battle against the Separatists. When the sinister Sith, led by Darth Sidious, unveil a thousand-year-old plot to rule the galaxy, the fate of Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi order, and the entire galaxy is at stake. As the final film to be released in the series, it bridges the gap between the original trilogy and prequel trilogy of the Star Wars epic.
The film was released on May 19, 2005, and was generally positively received by critics, especially in contrast to the two previous prequels. It broke several box office records in its opening week, and went on to earn over US$ 850 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of 2005 in the U.S., the 2nd highest grossing film of 2005 worldwide (right behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), and the 12th highest grossing worldwide film of all time.
Production
The DVD featurette "Within a Minute" illustrates that the film required 910 artists, and 70441 man hours to create 49 seconds of footage on the Mustafar duel alone. The film was produced with a budget of US$113 million, making it the least expensive of the three prequel films. Principal photography on the film occurred from June 30 to September 17, 2003 at Fox Studios Australia, although the first scene shot for the film was the final scene, which was shot during the filming of Attack of the Clones in 2000. The long process of post-production continued until weeks before the film was released in 2005. The film's story was written by Lucas, in the form of a basic plot outline, in 1973. It was later adapted into a script from 2003 to 2004. According to an interview with Hayden Christensen in Playboy magazine, playwright Tom Stoppard did an uncredited rewrite and dialogue polish on the script. George Lucas finished the script of the film only five days before the beginning of principal photography.
After the earliest possible draft of the screenplay was submitted, the art department began designing various ways that every element could appear on screen. Over a period of months Lucas would approve which designs would appear in the film. He would later rewrite the script to correspond to certain designs he had chosen. The designs were then shipped to "pre-visualization" to create moving CGI versions known as "animatics". Ben Burtt would edit these scenes with Lucas in order to pre-visualize what the film will look like before the scenes were even filmed. The pre-visualization footage featured a basic raw CGI environment with equally unprocessed CGI characters performing a scene.
Later, the pre-vizualization and art department designs were sent to the production department to begin "bringing the film out of the concept phase" by building the various sets, props and costumes. To determine what sets would need to be built, Lucas analyzed each scene with the staff to see which moments the actors would come in most contact with the set, warranting that set to be constructed. Lucas confirmed in an interview that Steven Spielberg tinkered with several action sequences in Sith. This happened when a project of his fell through and he had some spare time. According to the DVD special features, he assisted in the art and pre-visualization department's designs. The production company were fortunate enough to be shooting at the same time that Mount Edna erupted in Italy. Camera crews were sent to the location to shoot different angles of the volcano that were later spliced into the background of the animatics and film version of the Mustafar planet.
During this time, Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor rehearsed existensively with stunt coordinator Nick Gillard to memorize and perform their climatic lightsaber duel together. In addition to performing the scenes as actors, they rehearsed each fight scene together for months on end. Like the previous two prequel films, all lightsaber battles featuring Obi-Wan and Anakin are performed with their respective actors themselves without the use of stunt doubles.
While shooting certain scenes, Lucas would often utilize "A camera and B camera", or the V technique in which where a scene is shot with two or more cameras in order to gain more angles of the same performance. Using the HD technology developed for the film, the filmmakers were able to send footage to editors the same day it was shot, a process that would require a full 24 hours had it been shot on film. All footage was given to lead editor Roger Barton who was on locaction in Sydney cutting the film including the climactic Mustafar duel. Any footage for the opening battle sequence was then forwarded to Ben Burtt who stayed at Skywalker Ranch and who's primary focus was the film's opening.
The post-production department during and after filming would create special effects using almost all forms including: Model work, CGI and practical effects. The same department later composited all such work into the filmmed scenes. Both processes taking nearly two years to complete.
Members of Hyperspace, the Official Star Wars Fan Club, received a special look into the production. Not only did they receive special articles, but they also received a webcam, which transmitted a new image every 20 seconds during the time it was on from Fox Studios Australia. Many times the stars, and Lucas himself, were spotted on the cam.
Release
Revenge of the Sith premiered at the Cannes Film Festival (out of competition) on 15 May, 2005. It was released in most other countries on May 19, six years to the day after the release of The Phantom Menace (A New Hope and Return of the Jedi were also released on the same day, six years apart). The global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas claimed before the premiere that it may have cost the US economy approximately US$627 million because of employees who took a day off or reported in sick.
Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a traditional venue for the Star Wars films, did not show it. However, a line of people stood there for more than a month hoping to convince someone to change this. Most of them took advantage of an offer to see the film at a nearby cinema, the Arclight.
A copy of the movie leaked into P2P file sharing networks just hours after opening in theaters. The movie was a time-stamped workprint, suggesting it may have come from within the industry rather than from someone who videotaped an advance screening. Then, on June 4 2005, an Internal Xvid Rip version of the film was leaked into P2P file sharing networks as well, which was the final, theatrical cut of the movie seen in theaters, and was a much higher fidelity version of the film than the workprint one, although still not quite as good as the theatrical release, and also wasn't a Telecine transfer yet, due to vibrations and frame-skips during certain moments in the movie. Both rips were widely spread and available in popular P2P networks.
Revenge of the Sith is the first and only Star Wars film to receive a PG-13 rating from the MPAA, officially for "sci-fi violence and some intense images". All previously released films in the series were rated PG. The PG-13 rating had not existed when the films in the original trilogy were released; however, the films in the original trilogy were later re-submitted to the MPAA due to changes in the re-released versions and once again received PG ratings.
When Revenge of the Sith was released in Canada, it was rated PG in most provinces, except in Quebec, where it was rated G. In Great Britain it received a '12' rating.
Reaction
Critical reaction towards the film was largely enthusiastic, especially in comparison to the two previous prequels. Film review site Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of 82% based on 229 reviews, compared to the 63% and 66% received by Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones respectively. Some critics noted that they view it to be the best of the prequels, while other reviewers judged it to be the best Star Wars film since Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. A. O. Scott of the New York Times concluded that it was "the best of the four episodes Mr. Lucas has directed," and equal to The Empire Strikes Back as "the richest and most challenging movie in the cycle."
Many critics were pleased with the acting, paticularly Ian McDiarmid's charismatic turn as the ascendant Chancellor Palpatine received widespread acclaim. As with earlier prequels, many felt that Lucas did not draw out the potential of Natalie Portman's performance. These flaws are generally seen as minor and not obtrusive to the film.
Many critics felt the dialogue in Revenge of the Sith still left something to be desired. Much of this criticism was directed toward the film's romantic scenes, which critics felt further demonstrated Lucas' weaknesses as a writer.
Other criticisms included previously raised issues with the prequels: "wooden" acting, overuse of flashy and colorful computer-generated special effects, and attempts to be both childish and mature at the same time (the movie combines many slapstick moments with a large number of severed limbs and heads). It is often said the film contains a number of plot holes, although this claim is widely disputed and debated by fans. Though many critics and fans saw it as one of the best of the series, others saw it as pretty much on par with the other prequels.
Box office performance
Revenge of the Sith was released in 115 countries. Worldwide gross eventually reached $848,797,674, ranking 2nd worldwide in 2005 (behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). The film earned an estimated $16.5 million from 2,900 midnight screenings in North America upon its release. In total, it earned a record $50 million on its opening day. This broke several box office records:
- Midnight screenings. Previously held by The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, which earned $8 million from 2,100 midnight screenings.
- Opening day gross. Previously held by Spider-Man 2 with $40.4 million.
- Single day gross. Previously held by Shrek 2 with $44.8 million.
- Thursday gross. Previously held by The Matrix Reloaded with $37.5 million.
According to the box office prediction and analysis site Box Office Mojo, Revenge of the Sith set domestic records for highest gross in a given number of days for each of at least its first twelve days of release except for the seventh and eighth, where the record is narrowly held by Spider-Man 2.
It totaled $158.5 million in its first four-day period, surpassing the previous four-day record held by The Matrix Reloaded ($134.3 million) and making it the second highest grossing movie of 2005 after just four days in release (behind Hitch, $177.6 million, which it passed on its fifth day). It joins Spider-Man, The Matrix Reloaded and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as the only movies to make $100 million in three days. It became the only film to tie Spider-Man 2's record of eight days to $200 million, and with $25,088,336 in its third weekend (June 3-5) it had passed $300 million on Saturday, its 17th day, surpassing the record of 18 days held by Shrek 2. It was the third fastest (after Shrek 2 and Spider-Man) to reach $350 million.
The film stopped running in domestic theaters on October 20, 2005. Its total of $380,270,577 ranks it 7th all-time domestically, the highest-grossing movie of 2005, outgrossing second-place The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by nearly $90 million. (Taking ticket-price inflation into account, it is the 55th highest grossing movie in U.S. history.)
Awards and nominations
- 2006 Academy Awards
- Nominated - Best Makeup to Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley
- 2005 Golden Raspberry Awards
- Won - Worst Supporting Actor (Hayden Christensen)
- People's Choice Awards
- Won - Favorite Movie
- Won - Favorite Movie (Drama)
Plot
The opening crawl reveals that the galaxy is in the midst of war. Chancellor Palpatine has been kidnapped by the Separatists' second-in-command, General Grievous. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi lead a mission to rescue him. The camera tracks down from a blinding Coruscanti sun, to reveal a Venator-class Star Destroyer, with two Jedi Starfighters flying alongside it. During the space battle, Obi-Wan's ship is damaged by several buzz droids and the two Jedi crash into the hangar of the The Invisible Hand, where the Chancellor is held hostage. They make their way to the observatory where Chancellor Palpatine is being held captive by Count Dooku (Darth Tyranus). In the ensuing lightsaber duel, Obi-Wan is knocked out and Anakin defeats Dooku by amputating his hands. Palpatine urges Anakin to kill Dooku, and despite Anakin's reservations, he does so by decapitating him. Anakin immediately expresses regret; to kill a foe who surrenders is not the way of the Jedi. Palpatine reassures him that Dooku was too dangerous to be kept alive. Anakin (with Obi-Wan on his back) and the Chancellor attempt to escape the ship, but are captured by General Grievous, leader of the droid army, and taken to the bridge. Anakin and Obi-Wan try to capture Grievous, eliminating most of the bridge crew in the process; Grievous escapes, however, in an escape pod. In the process of his escape, he decides to launch all of the cruiser's escape pods, therefore trapping the Jedi and the Chancellor on a fiery descent to the planet below. Unable to leave the cruiser, which has been damaged in an engagement with the Republic fleet, Anakin crash-lands the ship on one of Coruscant's landing tracks.
Meanwhile, General Grievous goes into hiding in the sinkhole planet of Utapau, where he makes contact with Darth Sidious who tells Grievous to relocate the Separatist leaders to the Mustafar system. As Sidious tells Grievous about that the war is nearing its end, he too claims that Dooku's death was a necessary loss, and that Sidious himself will soon have a new apprentice, "one far younger and more powerful."
Upon his return planetside, Anakin is reunited with his wife, Padmé Amidala, and she informs him of her pregnancy. Despite Padmé's worries, as they have kept their love and their marriage secret, Anakin is overjoyed at this news, and the couple make plans to raise their child. However, Anakin is troubled by visions of Padmé dying in childbirth, visions like those he had of his mother before she died.
Chancellor Palpatine makes Anakin his representative on the Jedi Council. The Council agrees with the Chancellor's appointment, however Anakin is not made a Jedi Master. This infuriates Anakin, who believes it to be an insult. Later, Obi-Wan privately tells Anakin that the Council wants him to spy on the Chancellor because they believe that he is corrupt. Anakin resents this as the Chancellor is like a mentor to him and has watched over him after he left his mother in Tatooine. As the Chancellor's bodyguard, Anakin builds a close friendship with Palpatine.
Later at an opera house, Anakin arrives and Palpatine tells him the story of an old Sith legend; the story of Darth Plagueis the wise. According to the legend, Plagueis was once a Sith Lord who was very powerful he could even influence the midi-chlorians to create life and avert death, and even save the ones he loved from dying. Palpatine subtly manipulates Anakin in their discussions, making him distrust the Jedi. Palpatine says the ability to save people from death is something that can be learned, but not from a Jedi. This intrigues Anakin, due to his nightmares regarding Padmé.
Obi-Wan is sent to Utapau to find General Grievous. After witnessing an argument between Grievous and Nute Gunray about the Separatist leaders being relocated to the Mustafar system, he emerges from the shadows on top of a walkway and quickly disposes of Grievous's personal bodyguards before engaging Grievous himself. Undaunted by the General's four-saber technique, Obi-wan quickly finds an opening in Grievous's defenses and slices off much of two of his four hands. At this moment, the Clone Army arrives, forcing Grievous to retreat on his Wheel Bike. After a long chase through the Utapauian city, Obi-Wan catches Grievous at his private hangar, where they yet again fight. General Grievous attempts to shoot Obi-Wan with a blaster he had in a hidden holster, but Obi-Wan knocks it away from him. Obi-Wan manages to break open Grievous's loose chestplate, exposing the living organs in his chest. Obi-Wan retrieves the droid's blaster and shoots the General several times in the chest, killing him, then tosses the blaster on the ground, muttering that it was, "so uncivilized."
Meanwhile, back on Coruscant, Anakin reports General Grievous' destruction to Palpatine. As Palpatine then tried to console Anakin after the council's rejection of being ranked master, Palpatine began to teach Anakin the ways of the Force, even the dark side. Seeing Anakin being intrigued enough, Palpatine reveals himself to be the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who had been controlling the Republic and the Separatist movement. Upon realizing this, Anakin threatens to kill Palpatine, but later decides to expose him to the Jedi Council instead by telling Jedi Master Mace Windu about Palpatine's true identity. Windu then attempts to arrest the Chancellor with the help of Jedi Masters Agen Kolar, Kit Fisto and Saesee Tiin. As the four Jedi arrive at Palpatine's office with lightsabers ignited, Windu is surprised to find that Palpatine had been waiting a lifetime for such a battle. Accusing the Jedi of treason, Palpatine drops the disguise of a harmless politician and emerges as a deadly Sith Lord. He conjures a lightsaber of his own and kills Kolar, Tiin and Fisto in swift and sudden moves. Palpatine and Windu then engage in a fast lightsaber duel. Just as Windu is about to kill the Chancellor, Anakin arrives. Palpatine unleashes a torrent of Force Lightning at Windu, but the Jedi Master deflects it back at the Chancellor. The reflected evil energies twists Palpatine's face into a scarred and deformed appearance. Sensing that Palpatine is trying to corrupt Anakin, Mace tells Anakin not to believe him, but Anakin believes that the only way to save his wife is to keep the Chancellor alive, so he attacks Windu by cutting off his weapon hand. Shocked, in pain, and caught off guard, Windu is consumed by Sidious' Force lightning, forcing him out the window and killing him. Darth Sidious takes Anakin as his Sith apprentice, and christens him with the Sith name Darth Vader. Sidious orders Vader to go to the Jedi Temple and kill all the Jedi within, then to go to the Mustafar system and kill Viceroy Gunray and the other Separatist leaders.
Palpatine orders clone troopers across the galaxy to turn against their Jedi Generals by enacting a pre-programmed directive called Order 66 — an order which identifies every Jedi as a traitor to the Republic. Ki-Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura, Barriss Offee, Luminara Unduli, Plo Koon, Stass Allie, and other numerous Jedi across the galaxy are exterminated, but Yoda and Obi-Wan barely manage to survive. With a battalion of clone troopers of the 501st Legion, Darth Vader goes on a killing spree through the Jedi Temple, killing Jedi teachers, teenagers, and younglings. Vader later goes to Padmé and tells her the Jedi have tried to take over the Republic.
Senator Bail Organa rescues Obi-Wan and Yoda, and brings them to the Jedi Temple before heading to the Senate building. Palpatine informs the Senate of a Jedi plot to overthrow the Republic and announces that the Republic will be reorganized into the Galactic Empire.
In the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan and Yoda reconfigure a signal to warn all Jedi to keep away. Upon noticing that the children in the temple have been slain by a lightsaber, Obi-Wan looks into the security recordings and sees Vader carrying out the orders of Darth Sidious and kneeling to him afterward. Yoda says the Sith must be destroyed and sends Obi-Wan to kill Vader. Obi-Wan initially refuses but Yoda convinces him, saying, "Twisted by the Dark side young Skywalker has become. The boy you trained, gone he is, consumed by Darth Vader."
On Mustafar, Vader is initially greeted by Viceroy Nute Gunray, however Vader immediately attacks the Separatist leaders and their small force of guards, ending the slaughter by killing Gunray. After informing Darth Sidious about his slaughter of the Separatist leaders, Sidious tells Vader to send a message to the Trade Federation ships to shut down all battle droid military units.
Obi-Wan meets with Padmé and tells her that Anakin has turned to the Dark Side, but Padmé refuses to reveal where Vader is. Padmé later departs to Mustafar to see her husband. Unbeknownst to her, Obi-Wan secretly boards the ship just before it takes off. When the couple reunite on Mustafar, they embrace. Padmé wants to leave public life to live together and raise their child, but Vader tells her that he has brought peace to the Republic, and that he can overthrow Palpatine so he and Padmé can rule the galaxy together. Horrified, Padmé realizes that Obi-Wan's story was true. Vader sees Obi-Wan emerge from Padmé's ship, and suspects her of betraying him to his former Master. Enraged, he uses the Force to choke Padmé unconscious. Obi-Wan and Vader break into a ferocious lightsaber duel.
In the Senate building, Yoda confronts Palpatine, and the two engage in a fierce battle. In a ferocious contest of Force powers both are flung apart, Yoda falling to the floor of the Senate chamber. With clone troopers coming to aid Palpatine, Yoda makes the decision to retreat, and escapes with the help of Bail Organa.
The fierce lightsaber duel intensifies between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. Obi-Wan eventually gains the advantage of higher ground, and tries one last time to save Anakin. But when Vader attempts to jump over his former master, Obi-Wan cuts off both of his legs and his left arm. Vader tumbles down the embankment and rolls to a stop at the edge of the lava. He catches on fire, sustaining near-fatal fourth-degree burns and severe lung damage. After picking up Vader's lightsaber, Obi-Wan leaves Mustafar with the badly-injured Padmé. Later, Palpatine arrives at Mustafar with a squad of clone troopers, and they rescue Vader from the brink of death.
Padmé is given medical assistance, but although she is physically intact, her will to live is gone and she dies. However, they manage to save her babies—she delivers twins, a boy and a girl. Padmé gives them the names Luke and Leia. Just before she dies, Padmé says there is still good in Anakin.
On Coruscant, occurring simultaneously in the film with the birth of his children, Vader has his missing limbs and damaged body parts replaced by prostheses and cybernetic implants. Vader is put into a suit of black armor and his head is sealed in a respirator mask and helmet, which will allow him to survive his injuries. When Vader asks Palpatine about Padmè's condition, he tells Vader that Vader himself killed Padmé. Vader unleashes a furious scream in a rage that distorts and destroys droids and equipment in the room.
Aboard the Tantive IV, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Bail Organa agree to keep the children hidden and separated. Obi-Wan and Yoda will watch and wait until the time is ready for the Skywalker children to do their part in the battle against the Sith. On Naboo, Padme's parents hold her funeral. Onboard a Star Destroyer, Darth Vader and the Emperor oversee the construction of a Death Star. Leia is brought to Alderaan to live with the Queen and Senator Organa, and Luke is brought to Tatooine to live with Owen and Beru. The film concludes with Beru, Luke, and Owen staring out over the desert at Tatooine's twin suns.
Cast
Cameo Apperances
George Lucas makes an appearance at the Coruscant Opera House as a blue faced being named Baron Papanoida, that can be seen outside Palpatine's box. It marks Lucas' first and only appearance in any of the Star Wars films. His three children also play cameos: his son, Jett, as a young Jedi-in-training called Zett Jukassa killed defending the Jedi Temple against clone troopers; his daughter, Amanda, as a character called Terr Taneel, seen in the security hologram; and daughter Katie as a blue-skinned alien called Chi Eekway, visible when Palpatine arrives at the Senate after being saved by the Jedi, and talking to Baron Papanoida at the Opera House.
Much of the crew also make cameos in the film. Nick Gillard, the stunt coordinator, plays a Jedi named Cin Drallig (his name spelled backwards). Also in the movie was Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in the original trilogy), who played a speaking role as Captain Colton, the pilot of the Rebel Blockade Runner Tantive IV. As the film wraps up towards the end, we get our first glimpse of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia as babies, both played by Aidan Barton, the film editor's son.
Deleted roles
Scenes with Captain Needa and Mon Mothma were deleted. George Lucas wrote early drafts of the script in which a 10-year-old Han Solo appeared, but the role was never cast or shot. However, the Millennium Falcon makes an appearance in the scene in which Anakin and Obi-wan return to Coruscant. It is one of the ships landing in the background. The scene where Yoda arrives on Dagobah to begin his self-imposed exile was also cut, but is featured in a deleted scene in the DVD release, though producer Rick McCallum has stated that he hopes Lucas may include it to the theatrical release when and if he releases a 6 episode DVD box set.
Many Order 66 scenes were cut. The deaths of Barriss Offee and Luminara Unduli were either cut from the film or never filmed in the first place. The death scene of Shaak Ti aboard the Invisible Hand (which can be viewed in the DVD deleted scenes section) is non-canon, as Lucas has confirmed that the character met her end later in the film at the hands of Vader, during the attack on the Jedi Temple. Expanded Universe character Quinlan Vos' death scene was never filmed, though his death was implied (but not explicitly shown) in the comic adaptation. (However, the final storyline in the Republic comic series reveals that Vos escaped this initial attack.)
Bai Ling filmed minor scenes for the film playing the role of a senator, but her role was cut during editing. She claimed this was because she posed for the June 2005 issue of Playboy magazine, whose appearance on newsstands coincided with the movie's May release, but Lucas denied this, stating that the cut had been made more than a year earlier, and that he had cut his own daughter's scenes as well.
Cinematic and literary allusions
Throughout Revenge of the Sith Lucas refers to a wide range of films and other sources drawing on political, military and mythological motifs to enhance the impact of his story. Early on the Jedi navigate their way through General Grevious' ship by traversing elevator shafts, thematically and visually echoing the tradition of post-Die Hard action movies and Lars von Trier's mini-series Riget (The Kingdom). Anakin's execution of Dooku mimics the scissor-beheadings of Ridley Scott's film Gladiator, and the subsequent run across the elevator shaft walls while the spaceship is falling in battle echoes the disastrous situations of The Poseidon Adventure.
Palpatine's fabrication of a Jedi "coup d'etat" is comparable to the plot of the John Frankenheimer thriller Seven Days in May, while his conversion of Anakin to the dark side and motivating him to assassinate his political enemies in order to aid his ascent to dictatorial powers are more close to the content of Frankenheimer's previous film, The Manchurian Candidate. Also, in both films, the brainwashed assassin eventually murders —or is led to believe he has murdered— his own wife. In Frankenheimer's film, the wife is the daughter of a liberal senator. In Lucas' film, the wife herself is a liberal senator.
Some have also compared the character of Anakin/Darth Vader to the Pasha/Strelnikov character from the novel and movie Doctor Zhivago (played by Tom Courtenay in the film version). The two each start out as idealists, but later becoming hard-line military leaders with little regard for human life and a propensity for murdering their enemies (or alleged enemies). Lucas, however, has not said anything about Zhivago being a reference point for his films (though he is a fan of the film version's director, David Lean).
The very idea of the individual slaughter of the Jedi, Order 66, is reminiscent of the individual mass-arrest of the Knights Templar by Pope Clement V and Phillip IV the Fair on Friday the thirteenth, 1307.
Palpatine's appearance and actions are also reminiscent of Dr. Mabuse, particularly as portrayed by German actor Rudolph Klein-Rogge in director Fritz Lang's films. Anakin also bears a resemblance to a villainous character played by Klein-Rogge from a film by Lang —the mad scientist Rotwang from the classic film Metropolis. Both Anakin and Rotwang wear a menacing leather glove on one hand and are obsessed with saving —or resurrecting— a lost loved one. Also, Rotwang builds the android whose appearance heavily influenced the image of Lucas' C-3PO, who was built by Anakin prior to The Phantom Menace.
Based on the scene in the opera, it has been speculated that either Palpatine or Plagueis manipulated the Force to create Anakin, thus being Anakin's "father", but this has been neither confirmed nor denied, and was purposefully left ambiguous.
The lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and the four-armed skeletal cyborg General Grievous echoes similar fight sequences in Ray Harryhausen's filmography, particularly the fights involving animated skeletons and multi-armed statues in Jason and the Argonauts and the Sinbad the Sailor series. The close-ups on Grievous' and Obi-Wan's eyes is likely an homage to the work of Sergio Leone, whose protracted gunfights featured such extreme close-ups, especially in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Following the march on the Jedi Temple sequence (itself a direct tribute to Sergei Eisenstein's "Odessa Steps" montage in Battleship Potemkin; save that the white-armored troopers are marching up the steps), Lucas' editing schemes during Order 66, the slaughter of the Separatists and the declaration of the Galactic Empire are eerily reminiscent of the montage of massacres during the christening scene of The Godfather, a film directed by mentor Francis Ford Coppola.
Palpatine has been compared by many, including McDiarmid himself, to those of Iago, the villain of Shakespeare's Othello. In Othello, Iago manipulates the title character into believing that his wife has committed adultery with his confidante and lieutenant. In Revenge of the Sith, Vader comes to believe that Padmé has betrayed him to his former master, Obi-Wan. In both cases, jealousy drives the husband to strangle his wife.
McDiarmid, Lucas, and others have also called Anakin's journey to the dark side faustian in the sense of making a "pact with the devil" for short-term gain. Midway in the film, Lucas intercuts between Anakin and Padmé by themselves, thinking about one another in the Jedi Temple and their apartment, respectively during sunset, in a sequence without dialog and complimented by a moody, synthesized soundtrack. Lucas' coverage of the exterior cityscapes, skylines and interior isolation in the so-called "Ruminations" sequence is similar to the cinematography and mis-en-scene of Roman Polanski, particularly in The Pianist, The Tenant and Rosemary's Baby, a film in which a husband makes a literal pact with the devil.
References to the original trilogy
The prequel trilogy films often make references to the original trilogy in order to connect the films together. Lucas has often referred to the films as a long poem that rhymes. Such examples are of the now popular line of "I have a bad feeling about this" that is used in every single film, as well as battles (namely lightsaber duels) always almost always taking place over a variety pits. When Obi-Wan Kenobi slays General Grievous with a blaster, he mutters, "so uncivilized." This is a reference to the beginning of A New Hope, when Obi-Wan described a lightsaber as being "less clumsy than a blaster" and "from a more civilized time". Of all prequel trilogy films, Revenge of the Sith makes the most references to the original trilogy.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to the film was released by Sony Classical on May 3, 2005, more than two weeks before the release of the film. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices. John Williams was also composer and conductor of the score for the other five films in the Star Wars saga. A music video titled A Hero Falls was created for the film's theme, Battle of the Heroes, featuring footage from the film.
The soundtrack also came with a collectors' DVD, Star Wars: A Musical Journey, at no additional cost. The DVD features 16 music videos set to remastered selections of music from all six film scores, set chronologically through the saga.
This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005 (#83).
Novelization
A book version of the movie was written by Matthew Stover. The novelization includes much more dialogue than the movie, including a conversation between Count Dooku and Darth Sidious, where the reader learns Palpatine lied to Dooku about what the Empire would truly be. The novel includes many little details that some Star Wars fans are likely to appreciate. For example, during the Battle of Coruscant, Anakin's callsign is Red 5, a reference to Luke's callsign in the Battle of Yavin. In addition to this, the siege of the Jedi Temple is slightly more violent than the cinematic version.
Stover's willingness to tamper with the dialogue and tone of many scenes in Lucas' script, while still retaining the sequencing, plot, and general characterizations of the film, resulted in a book that worked as both a movie adaptation and literary work. Fans have particularly noted changes Stover made to the crucial middle act of the film, wherein Anakin learns of Palpatine's true nature, confronts him, and chooses his side during the fight with Mace Windu.
Video game
A video game, based on the film, was released on May 5, 2005, two weeks before the film. The game followed the movie's storyline, for the most part, integrating scenes from the movie. However, many sections of the game featured cut scenes from the movie, or entirely new scenes for the game. The style of the game was mostly lightsaber combat and fighting as Obi-Wan or Anakin. One unique and popular aspect of the game was that it included an alternate ending, which functioned as such to both the game and the movie, which involved Anakin killing Obi-Wan, instead of Obi-Wan defeating Anakin as in the movie. After Obi-Wan's death, Anakin proceeds to kill Palpatine, and takes over the galaxy.
It also has a form of multiplayer mode, which includes both "VS" and "Co-Player" mode. In the first mode, two players fight with characters of their choice against each other in a lightsaber duel to the death. In the latter mode, two players team up to combat increasingly difficult waves of enemies.
DVD release
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released on DVD on November 1, 2005 in the United States. The DVD was a two-disc set, with picture and sound mastered from the original digital source material. The DVD includes a new full-length documentary as well as two featurettes, one which explores the prophecy of Anakin Skywalker as the Chosen One, the other looking at the movie's stunts. The 15 part web documentary series, "Making Episode III" and a playable demo of Star Wars: Battlefront II were also included on the DVD.
Features (USA):
Disc 1
- Available subtitles: English
- Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), 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
Disc 2
- 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
- Production photo gallery
- DVD-ROM content includes a free trial of Hyperspace
Bonus discs
When Revenge of the Sith was released on DVD, Wal-Mart stores had a two-pack available that featured an exclusive bonus disc, entitled The Story of Star Wars. [1] As with many previous Star Wars "history" featurettes, it is hosted by the droid duo, R2-D2 and C-3PO. The sticker on the cover describes it as "R2-D2 and C-3P0's chronicles of Luke and Anakin Skywalker". Presented in full frame with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound and running 1 hour in total, it was originally produced for a 2004 3-disc collection for the VideoNow Color personal video player. The DVD version contains the content from the first two discs: The Story of Anakin Skywalker and The Story of Luke Skywalker. The footage used contains no scenes from Revenge of the Sith nor does it have the changes contained in the 2004 DVD Special Edition releases. The footage of the droids is actually recycled, with new voiceovers, from the wraparound segments for the "Star Wars Connections" featurettes seen at the head of each film when the previous Star Wars films were aired on television in 2002 prior to the release of Episode II.
Target stores also offered a bonus disc with the Revenge of the Sith DVD, usually purchased separately. The disc contained Star Wait, a documentary about Star Wars fans who had waited in line for Episodes II and III. Some Target stores also offered a collectable coin, complete with protective plastic case, with the purchase of the DVD. The front of the coin shows the image of Darth Vader, while the reverse shows a stylized version of the Anakin/Obi-wan duel as seen on the DVD cover.
Trivia
- The name "Utapau" was originally intended for Tatooine and then Alderaan in the early drafts of A New Hope, and then for Naboo in The Phantom Menace, until it became the sinkhole planet seen in Revenge of the Sith. Although parts of Revenge of the Sith were filmed in Thailand, the Lucas spelling of Utapau is a romanized spelling of a Thai military base in Sattahip, Thailand within 50 miles of Bangkok. In the film, Yoda pronounces the word differently than Anakin (in a later scene where the Jedi Council is voting where Yoda is in a hologram); Anakin's pronunciation of Utapau in the film is the correct pronunciation by Thai nationals and tourists.
- The speeder car driven by Senator Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) is based on the revolutionary, but ill-fated, 1948 Tucker Torpedo automobile. In addition to owning one of the 51 Torpedoes built, George Lucas executive produced the 1988 biopic, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, starring Jeff Bridges as Preston Tucker, and directed by Lucas' old friend, director Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola also owns a Tucker Torpedo.
- Throughout the Palpatine/Mace fight, Palpatine's hilt periodically switches to Anakin's saber hilt. The reason for this is revealed in one of the documentaries on Disc 2, where Ian McDiarmid is seen using the Anakin lightsaber prop while rehearsing the scenes. Further revelations in The Making of Revenge of the Sith show that the scene originally had Anakin present, with Palpatine using the Force to borrow Anakin's lightsaber to duel. It never occurred to the effects crew that they hadn't inserted the correct hilt during post-production. Incidentally, an action figure of Palpatine was also produced holding a blue lightsaber, but later corrected to red (the hilt remains incorrect).
- On the call sheets, Natalie Portman was listed as "Debbie Gibson."
- Ewan McGregor's stunt double was Nash Edgerton (the brother of Joel Edgerton, who plays Owen Lars in the film). Coincidentally, the Return of the Jedi novelization refers to Obi-Wan Kenobi as Owen Lars' brother
- The limestone mountains depicting Kashyyyk were filmed in Phuket, Thailand (which was later damaged by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami).
- This is the only episode that does not have R2-D2 and/or C-3PO in the closing shot.
- Rumored subtitles for the film included The Fall of the Jedi and Rise of the Empire.
- George Lucas's daughters, who make cameos at the opera house, refused to be in the scene unless their father was in the scene with them. Lucas stands on screen left talking with his youngest daughter, and his oldest daughter is in center screen, talking to her boyfriend. (DVD audio commentary)
- Several lava explosions, seen in Mustafar at the fight scene between Anakin and Obi-Wan, were in fact real explosions shot from Mount Etna's eruption which were later combined with computer generated effects to create the impressive and real-life atmosphere.
- The Darth Vader costume used in the film was created specifically to fit Hayden Christensen, rather than the old one from the original trilogy. The new costume featured shoe lifts and a muscle suit.[2]. It also required Christensen (who is six-foot-one or 1.85 metres, while David Prowse is six-foot-seven or 2 meters) to look through the mouthpiece of the helmet.[3].
- In the DVD commentary, Lucas makes an offhand comment regarding the first Death Star. He explains that it was the exact same one as seen in A New Hope. He goes on to say that it would be "a bit of a stretch," but explains that due to "union disputes and supply problems," it took 19 years to build. However, Kevin J. Anderson's novels Jedi Search and Champions of the Force explain that a prototype Death Star was built in preparation of construction of the first Death Star in A New Hope, which would give another explanation for why the first Death Star took so long to build, in contrast with the second Death Star from Return of the Jedi. Until a further source fully explains this, the issue remains disputed.
- Revenge of the Sith holds the world record for most special effects used in a single film — over 3500.
- Revenge of the Sith features the longest opening continuing shot in the entire Star Wars saga (over two minutes long).
- On the film poster, Padmé wears an outfit that does not appear in the movie itself. However, the costume does appear in some of the deleted scenes. A different costume was used on the DVD cover, however this costume appears in the same way as on the cover only in the deleted scenes. In the movie, this costume appears with the hood down. In Padme's Wardrobe site, the costume used on the poster is called the Peacock Gown, and the costume used on the DVD cover is called the Green Cut Velvet Robe.
- This was the first Star Wars film in which Anakin Skywalker and the suited Darth Vader were played by the same actor in the same film. In all of the other films, the two characters were played by at least two different people.
- As confirmed in the Revenge of the Sith online text commentary, the growl heard by Tarfull in the scene of Yoda's departure from Kashyyyk was actually Itchy's growl from The Star Wars Holiday Special. The sound editors likely added this in as a joke and/or a nod to the fans.
- Gary Oldman was originally approached to provide the voice of General Grievous, and he accepted. However, complications arose during contract negotiations after Oldman learned the film was to be made outside of the Screen Actor's Guild, of which he is a member. Out of respect and solidarity with the other members of the guild, he chose to back out of the role rather than violate the union's rules. Matthew Wood, who ultimately voiced Grievous, disputed this story at Celebration III, held in Indianapolis. According to him, Oldman is a friend of Rick McCallum's, and recorded an audition as a favor to him. The audition was never chosen.
- This is the only Star Wars film not to be nominated for an Academy Award for best Visual Effects.
- When Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Palpatine arrive via shuttle to the Senate docks after crash landing on Coruscant, the Millennium Falcon can be seen landing on one of the lower platforms as the shuttle approaches.
- In the scene where General Grievous's command ship is side by side with a Republic Command Ship, firing on each other, one of the clones aboard the Republic ship screams a classic "Wilhelm scream".
- After returning Palpatine to Coruscant, Obi-Wan tells Anakin ". . .that business on Cato Neimoidia doesn't count." This was going to be a running gag throughout the film, but all subsequent uses were eventually cut.
- General Grievous' breathing problems were intended to emphasize his organic nature as well as the flaws of cyborg prosthetics. Grievous has prevously appeared in Star Wars: Clone Wars before many of his personality traits and quirks had been finalized. To reconcile the differences between the two presentations, Mace Windu "force-crushes" Grievous towards the end of the show's third season (volume two) as the General was making off with Palpatine, crushing the cyborg's chest panel. John Knoll acknowledges and points out this fact in the Revenge of the Sith DVD commentary. The audio effects for the coughing were taken from Lucas, who had bronchitis during principal photography.
- Unlike any other film directed by Lucas, Revenge of the Sith was released on DVD without any noticeable alterations from the film's original theatrical cut. The only alteration made was the change of a scene transition near the end, which involved the change from a wipe to a straight cut.
- According to the filmmakers in the audio commentary, the speed in which Anakin and Obi-Wan engage in their duel is the speed in which it was filmed, and was not digitally accelerated. However, there are instances where single frames are removed to increase the velocity of particular strikes. An example of this occurs as Obi-Wan strikes down on Anakin after applying an armlock in the first half of the duel.
- The DVD cover art is the only cover of the six films not to include a central character brandishing a lens flare-boasting lightsaber blade towards the viewer. Additionally, Anakin is missing the scar on his right eye on the DVD cover.
- This release is notable because, due to marketing issues, it was the first Star Wars film never to be released on VHS (except in Australia and the United Kingdom). This has caused some backlash from fans collecting the VHS versions, complaining that their VHS set will not be complete without Episode III.
- This was the first release not to contain a secret blooper reel of footage from filming as an easter egg. Instead it contained a rap video with a dancing Yoda and clone troopers.
- On early discs with the DVD release, the files containing the film and the the bonus features were each named a variation of "CHARLOTTE," rather than something relating to the movie itself. This was done intentionally by those who created the DVD, in order to confuse would-be bootleggers and to combat 11th Hour DVD piracy.
References
- ^ Box Office Mojo - Star Wars: Episode III.
- ^ Latest 'Star Wars' Movie Is Quickly Politicized by David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, May 19, 2005.
- Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith - Novelization, 1st edition hardcover, 2005. Matthew Woodring Stover, George Lucas, ISBN 0-7126-8427-1
- Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith DVD documentary Within a Minute, 2005
External links
- The official Revenge of the Sith site
- Revenge of the Sith at IMDb
- Revenge of the Sith at Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki.
