Best of the Latest Trilogy

Rating: 10/10 (21 May 2005)

Wow! Lots of expectations, lots to live up to and nowhere to go but down. However Lucas does a masterful job of putting together his finest work of the new trilogy.
The opening scenes of the movie make you feel like you are on "Star Tours" in Disneyland. The action looks close to 3D and makes you almost feel like you are in the action yourself. This beginning is the best special effects sequence I have ever witnessed on the big screen.
Oh and in case you didn't know, Mr. Lucas plans to re-release all 6 movies (one per year) in the theaters starting in 2007 (the 30th anniversary of Star Wars) all in 3D!!!! Moving right along, this was one of the most bizarre events in movie history. That being that everyone knows about the Star Wars characters and thus, everyone knew what this movie was going to be about years ago. However, knowing what was to come in advance did not spoil anything as Vader's transition to the Dark Side was extremely dark and exceeded expectations. The Emperor cast his shroud of pure evil convincing Anakin to become Darth Vader.
And for all of you that say "what about this little detail and that little detail," I say who cares! That is the genius of Lucas. He doesn't really care about every tiny, minute detail as he knows he can never perfectly match up EVERY single tiny detail between the two trilogies. If you want proof of that, then he never would have added in the scene with the CGI Jabba scene on the New Hope DVD where Harrison Ford calls Jabba "a wonderful human being" (a scene that was never printed on the original release as Ford was talking to a human playing the role of Jabba). Lucas knew that this would be an error, but knew those who were intelligent enough would "get it." However, if you want to talk about great storytelling, go back and watch the original trilogy (IV-VI). You will see that Vader's transformation to the Dark Side by the Emperor was eerily similar to how Vader attempted to turn Luke to the Dark Side in Empire Strikes Back. Furthermore, as just one more example of many, in Empire Strikes Back, Yoda forces Luke into the cavern where he faces what he believes to be Vader. He chops off Vader's head only to reveal Luke's own face in the helmet. This is clearly reflected in the Revenge of the Sith when Anakin is having the nightmares (future revelations) about Padme. Both of these events foretold possible paths down the avenue of the Dark Side for the father and son.
Additionally, we get to see how many of Anakin's comments from Attack of the Clones foreshadowed events in the Revenge of the Sith. Comments about having the power to prevent others from dying, having one person lead the Senate like a dictator, becoming the most powerful Jedi ever, etc, etc, etc. These comments made for a smooth transition between Episodes II and III. Moreover, items such as the triangular shaped Star Destroyers, plans for the original Death Star, Chewbacca, the emergence of the StormTroopers, Yoda's final assignment to Obi-Wan, etc all made outstanding tie-ins between episodes III and IV.
When all is said and done, this entire 6 episode saga is about one thing... the story of a family. In episode I, Anakin leaves his only family (his mother) to join a new family (the Jedi). In episode II, he loses his only real family as his mother dies, only to gain a new member in Padme. In III, Anakin is so scared of losing his only real family, that his fear leads him to the Dark Side as his hatred leads him to kill off his former Jedi family. In episode IV, it is Luke who loses his only family, his Uncle and his Aunt who were like his parents. In V, it is revealed that Vader is Luke's father and in VI, it is the father that saves the son and Luke is reunited with his sister that he did not know that he had. So in the end, it was Anakin who betrayed his surrogate family (the Jedi) while Luke did not betray his surrogate family (Han, Leia, Yoda, Obi-Wan, etc). It was Anakin who did bring balance to the Force by killing the Emperor and saving his blood family. Furthermore, Anakin redeems himself with the Jedi family as evidenced by Yoda, Anakin and Obi-Wan together at the end of Return of the Jedi.
In Revenge of the Sith, Lucas masterfully transforms a Darth Vader that was previously thought of as "pure evil" into a figure of tragedy. And not so ironically, it is implied that perhaps if Anakin did not switch to the Dark Side that Padme could have possibly lived (as evidenced by Obi-Wan being in the second dream sequence... if Anakin had not switched over, Obi-Wan and Padme never would have been together in that exact place in that exact situation as they went in search of the new Darth Vader). And had Obi-Wan killed Anakin, who knows if the Emperor ever would have been stopped, as it was Vader who ends the Emperor's reign by killing him in Return of the Jedi. Yoda could not stop the Emperor in Revenge of the Sith and Luke could not defeat him in Return of the Jedi, so it could be assumed that if Anakin were killed, that perhaps no one would have ever defeated the Emperor and returned peace to the galaxy.
As you can see, it all comes together masterfully.
In conclusion, GO SEE THIS ON THE BIG SCREEN!!!! Well done Mr. Lucas!