I still recognize Leia's Theme

Rating: Null/10 (20 May 2005)

The challenge of making Revenge of the Sith (as in any other prequel) is that we all know the ending but here, for some of us, it's 28 years ago. From this angle, George Lucas did a wonderful job in bringing things full circle, moving almost seamlessly back to the beginning 28 years ago, into the ORIGINAL Star Wars (1977), which is now given a somewhat contrived title "A New Hope".
After the rather bizarre look in the first two episodes, C3P0 is finally looking like his good old self again. The X-wing fighter is back too, or at least an earlier version of it. And there is adorable Chewbacca (we even named our dog after him). And what ecstasy  as baby Leia is handed over to the foster parents, the long missed "Leia's Theme" wanders languidly into the background. There are also things unlooked for. Yoda's mention of the secret of immortality seems to be an attempt to explain why in the original trilogy Obi-wan deliberately allows himself to be struck down by Vadar in Episode IV and later appears as some kind of apparition in Episodes V and VI.
Lucas delivers, making Episode III a satisfying, if not elating experience. The fiery lava scene does look a little bit too much like Mount Doom. The weakest point I think is the rather unconvincing conversion of Anakin to the Dark Side, seeming so easy, with hardly any struggle after blocking off Windu's killing blow at Dooku. We must remember that what started Anakin's road to the Dark Side was the anger and lust for vengeance of his mother's death. Although without graphic visuals, we were told of the ruthless slaughter of women and children in the hands of Anakin. This is the root of his evil side. It would be much more convincing had we been shown some quick flashbacks of that memory at the critical, fateful moment, the point of no return for Anakin/Vadar. Christensen is still the weakest link. I would prefer to see Ryan Gosling or Jake Gyllenhaal, two actors in the same age group that have much more depth in their acting.
After watching the global opening of Revenge of the Sith in this part of the Galaxy, I immediately bought the DVD set of the original trilogy and re-watched all three. The most touching moment will always be when Anakin in the very end comes back, dying in his son's arms. The Force is back, alive and well.