One long and endless light saber fight

Rating: Null/10 (18 June 2005)

First let me state that I am an avid Star Wars fan from the first hour, having seen Episode IV on the big screen when I was some 12 years old.
A quick rundown off all episodes :
Stars Wars IV : never had an audiences seen something like it: who can forget the opening shots of that enormous Starcruisers thundering over your head ? Undoubtedljy one of the most influential movies ever made.
The Empire strikes back V : Even better. More elaborate special effects, good character development and a brilliant story, largely thanks to then wonder boy screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and the seasoned Leigh Brackett (from Rio Bravo fame). Probably the best SF epic ever made.
Return of Jedi VI : brilliant first half but then the Ewoks showed up. You know the rest.
Phantom menace I : Dull story, tepid acting but somehow passed the test through the absolute mind blowing CGI and special effects (The Podrace, the incredible spectacular end battle)
Attack of the Clones II : not bad at all, some fine characters (Boba Fett Mace Windu) , a rather exciting story (the creation of the Stormtroopers) combined with (again) super CGI wizardry, makes it the best of the first trilogy.
And then this thing comes along. An absolute embarrassment for everyone involved. "Plan Nine from Outer Space" on a massive budget.
Some spoilers ahead.
Except the (totally confusing) space battle at the start , the whole movie seems to consist of a series of interminable light saber duels : Anakin vs. Count Dooku, Mace Windu vs. the Emperor, Yoda vs. the Emperor, Obi-Wan vs. General, Obi-Wan vs Anakin, only to be interrupted by some of the most inept acting ever to be witnessed in such a major Hollywood movie. Ewan Mcgregor, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, etc are normally pretty competent actors but here they are just plain awful. But it is of course Haydn Christensen who is the most likely candidate for the next bad acting Golden Raspberry award. I mean some of these scenes feel as they have been directed by Ed Wood.
The less said about the storyline, the better. The part in the end maybe, where they have to tie the knots with Episode IV, are rather moving, but they do not take very long.
So a very big disappointment, but let us not condemn the whole saga on this dud. Most of the others episodes are still magical and will be in my memory forever