Revenge of the Sith vs The Rest

Rating: 9/10 (19 May 2005)

I went to the midnight screening of Revenge of the Sith with unusually high hopes (positive reviews, but Episodes I and II brooding in my mind).
Dialogue is a weak point as well as line delivery during the early scenes. But, Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor were somehow incredible to watch despite this, and I'm not even referring to their climactic duel. Hayden was able to find Anakin's depressing (and even confused, I think) anger within himself and portrays it epically. Ewan was equally as good at showing Obi-Wan's emotional stance when confronting Anakin and coming to terms with the failure of the republic.
A lot of comment has been made about how dark this movie is compared to the rest of the series, but I think this is due to the comical nature of the opening act. R2-D2 shows some attitude in the opening battle, as well as some hilarious tactics. I think the dark aspect of the film
The film is surprisingly dramatic, considering George Luca's dedication to audiovisual experience of film, as opposed to emotional. The fall of the Jedi, Anakin's betrayal of the Jedi Order and his father figure Obi-Wan. Even Mace Windu has a poignant moment.
I felt that there are some flaws. As mentioned before dialog needed work, but also I felt that Padme and C3-P0 were reduced to plot devices for the other characters. C3-P0 was nothing more than the butler whose shoulder is just in shot. He could've been left out entirely and people wouldn't have noticed. The ending is a little overlong, but ultimately necessary to make things gel between the trilogies, and considering what has to happen, it's quite well done.
So this is how I think the series pans out:
Revenge of the Sith (the most emotionally powerful)
Return of the Jedi (not quite the same emotional intensity, but up there)
Empire Strikes Back (Very strong character development and great battle on Hoth)
Star Wars (thought this was very flawed, but better than the other prequels)
Attack of the Clones (cos it wasn't as bad as Menace, and it had Clone Wars)
The Phantom Menace (cos it's Menace!)