The most stunning Star Wars movie.

Rating: 9/10 (20 May 2005)

"Revenge of the Sith" packs a powerful impact both visually and emotionally, and is undoubtedly the most stunning of the 6 Star Wars films.
"Sith" is an amazing movie, but not just because it is an enormous triumph of film-making. It is amazing in how graphically it portrays evil. The movie is rated PG-13, and it earns it. This is the chapter in the saga in which Anakin Skywalker, so recently an innocent (if cocky) boy, comes fully onto the path of evil. The evil is not something only talked about, or hinted at (although it is also that). It's right there on the screen, and it's graphic and shocking.
Getting one's hand cut off with a light-saber is about as clean a dismemberment as you could hope for (apart from surgery). There is no blood, and it's over quickly. In the original Star Wars series, there are a few dismemberments, but they are not particularly disturbing. In "Sith" they are. This movie is not for children.
After struggling through 5 Star Wars movies with stiff dialog and awkward romances, someone has finally figured out how to solve these problems. For the first time (at least in the most recent three movies), when the inevitable line was uttered, "I've got a bad feeling about this," it actually made sense, and it was only said once! In Episode II, the romance between Anakin and Padme was so awkward it's a wonder they ever got together. In Episode III, they can finally talk to each other, and we can feel their emotions. Granted, the stakes are higher in their relationship at this point, but they act like people now, instead of like puppets. I don't know if George has finally wised up, or if other people have pressured him to improve these aspects of the movie, or if the actors are just better, but I was pleasantly surprised.
As Roger Ebert says, ""Episode III" is a return to the classic space opera style that launched the series." Episodes I and II make more sense if you think of them as warm-ups to this movie. Kind of like "Lord of the Rings" is really one movie, and watching "Fellowship" by itself is unsatisfying. "Revenge of the Sith" opens with more space ships on screen at one time than I think have ever been seen. The ensuing battle absolutely blew me away, visually. (In a way, this scene is easier to understand when you read the novel. The book takes time to explain that the Jedi must draw on the power of the Force to navigate the insanely chaotic maze of ships and laser fire to do the impossible things they do.) The first Star Wars movie had 360 effects shots. This one has 90 minutes of effects shots. With 2,151 in a two and a half hour movie, this basically means that the movie is as much *drawn* as it is live action. The realism of animation is growing exponentially, so that there were only a few times out of those 2000 shots that I noticed looked anything other than completely real.
During and shortly after the movie, my brain, all of its own accord, starting shuffling around all its Star Wars memory files to incorporate what it had just experienced. I went to this movie expecting it to tie the "old" Star Wars series in with the "new." It went far beyond that, clarifying countless nuances and actions of characters in the original movies. As George Lucas first envisioned it, Star Wars really is one huge movie. The six movies encompass fascinating character arcs not only for Anakin, but also for Palpatine and Obi-Wan, and even minor characters like Owen and Beru. George has gotten a lot of flak (including from me) for "messing up" the Star Wars universe with his latest 3 movies. Now he's giving us some pay back, and it feels really good!