What did we do to deserve this?

Rating: 1/10 (13 June 2005)

When you see somebody - an adult, not a child, mind you - eulogising about this movie, raving that it's the "greatest" or "best" film they've ever seen, you know the sun is genuinely setting on the human race. We're not evolving, we're regressing. If you truly believe that ROTS is the finest story ever committed to celluloid then you have my sincere pity; I cannot imagine how bad must be all the other movies you may have sat through.
George Lucas once showed considerable promise as a filmmaker. Apparently he said that The Wild Bunch was the greatest film ever when it came out, so he obviously recognised and appreciated film genius in others, at least. Then he got lucky with his competent, fun but pretty much ho-hum western-in-space in 1977 and promptly had every atom of cinematic talent surgically removed from his brain. Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi I can just about forgive him for (smart move handing the megaphone to a proper director, George) but there is no excuse whatsoever for the three vapid, brainless and breathtakingly badly written "prequels". Oh, sorry, there is one: bucks; oodles and oodles of lovely green lolly.
ROTS is not the worst film ever made, not by miles. (Look no further than Howard the Duck for starters.) It has some fun sfx and, well, some fun sfx. But the greatest film ever made? Come on, guys, get a life. Read a book, do something, but get a life.