George Lucas saves the best for last in the final installment of the trilogy

Rating: Null/10 (26 May 2005)

In the summer of 1977,a little known movie named "Star Wars",about characters who reside in a galaxy far,far,away became a mixture of sorts with very little fanfare when it was first released. The movie was a grand throwback to the Saturday matinée serials of the 1930's and 1940's,with different elements that resulted in science fiction,movie Westerns,Greek and Japanese mythologies,comic books and other stuff combine would basically find an audience,and from its opening sequence the rest of the story is Hollywood history. From the day the first installment of the original "Star Wars" film roared into theatres on May 25,1977,it became an instant classic in cinematic history,and one of the most influential films of the late 20th Century,which began the crystallization between its young viewers and special effects. It was the roadside attraction of the summer of 1977 and what "Star Wars" did was not only saved 20th Century-Fox from sudden bankruptcy but in a sense saved Hollywood thanks to George Lucas. From this,it spawned two sequels to the original trilogy,"The Empire Strikes Back"(1980),and the final installment,"Return Of The Jedi"(1983),and its prequels to the trilogies "The Phantom Menace"(1999),and "Attack Of The Clones"(2002). and now the final installment to his six-part chapter to the "Star Wars" trilogy-"Episode III:The Revenge Of The Sith"(2005)bring the thrilling conclusion to one of the most beloved and most spectacular science-fiction sagas of all time.
Before 1977,so-called "space movies" were typically grim and very Earth-centric involving humankind's journey into the great unknown and more often often encounter visitors from other worlds and distant planets. The last science-fiction movie to have that effect and was in fact astounding masterpiece of cinematic greatness to give audiences a view of the future as it would be seen years from now(A prime example of this was Stanley Kubrick's 1968 science-fiction classic "2001")not to mention in contact with other beings visiting our world(Examples of this would be,"Metropolis","Forbidden Planet" "The Day The Earth Stood Still","Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun","Fantastic Voyage","The Angry Red Planet","Westworld",and" The Close Encounters Of The Third Kind"). But by the mid-1970's "Star Wars" redefine the science-fiction genre with sheer brilliance and great achievement in its great storytelling and grand detail. George Lucas was basically the most creative and dominant force behind all six of his films,which used state-of-the-art FX and computer-generated technology that revolutionized the movie genre and eventually saved Hollywood. As far as his full installment of his saga would take nearly 28 years later to be completed(until 2005),die-hard fans of the space saga won't have to wait this time around. Episode III is the conclusion in which George Lucas saves the best for last in the final installment of his beloved space opera,and here it doesn't disappoint. Episode III does have its share of diversions in some parts,but here it appreciates and exploits an underpinning of Greek tragedy with a focus that hasn't been since 1983's The Return Of The Jedi. The remarkable results are visually stunning to behold especially with the opening space battle sequence to the Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader under the discipleship of the movie ultimate villain,Darth Sidious,aka Chancellor Palpatine,played with an utmost authoritative supremacy by Ian McDiarmid. But the real star of this film is Hayden Christensen who gives the character of Anakin Skywalker and dark and mysterious presence as he prepares to learn more and to cross over the dark side of the force. Very impressive. Props also go to Ewan McGregor as well. The romance between Anakin and Padme was just the central point that the conflict between the two lovers was just part of the trilogy to come never the less,end quickly,and by all means there was no romantic inter space between Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman since this was the scene in the movie that basically falls flat. Their relationship was like a cross between teen puppy love and a sappy soap opera that never seen to ever get to develop since Actress Natalie Portman,who starred in all of Episodes I thru III,was never given a chance to show her talent. The same can be said with Samuel L. Jackson,who was greatly miscast here as Mace Windu. It really is as the focal point of the film that actor Ewan McGregor who starred in all Episodes I thru III is basically the real star of the series and it is his character that carries the film throughly as Obi-Wan.
From the beginning of the film,several scenes with include the amount of death and dismemberment reaches copious levels that the camera lingers over into graphic detail. The most shocking scene is the slaughter of "younglings" which would be unthinkable in the earlier "Star Wars" films,and unimaginable just to let you know that this film is not for the kiddies,sturdy of its "PG-13" rating. The climax between Obi-Wan and Anakin where they battle on the lava planet is at the climax of the film reaches an operatic verve,and this is where the story folds into Episode IV,where Anakin is transform into the super-villain,Darth Vader,while on the other hand,Padme gives birth to twins Luke and Leia in which both children are separated and well hidden from Vader. Padme dies,and from there Vader and his evil emperor rule the Galactic empire. But Obi-Wan lives and so does Yoda and the robots R2D2 and C3PO and the wookie Chewbacca who continue onward in Episode IV,with the exception of Yoda,who would appear again in Episode V:The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI:The Return Of The Jedi. A grand finish to a great series and a grand finale in the history of the cinema. Now that this series is over with,George Lucas will find other project to work on and I heard that the origins of his beloved space saga will end up on television(Let's hope not),or returned to do more work on the next installment to Indiana Jones or returned for another installment to his "American Graffiti" film from the 1970's. However,we'll see what happens after "Star Wars".