The Circle is now complete...

Rating: 10/10 (20 May 2005)

Quite amazed.... The production was a wonderful triumph, including both the visuals and the story/performances. Everything I wanted to know was included, filling the gaps while giving me - in spite of what I already knew of the Star Wars back story and mythos - a completely new perspective of the SW Universe.... Amazing. Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader is heartrending, particularly because he is so much a likable hero at the beginning of this film than he has been in the other prequels. He knows something is wrong, and he always wants more, but it isn't simply power or riches that turn him to the dark side... ultimately it is love. And the final events that complete his transition, both in to Darth Vader and into the Mask, are quite horrific. And the events end up horrific for Anakin as well - the look on his face as the Mask is finally placed is of a man becoming something Else. He is now the classic SF movie monster - a being changed both by evil and by misguided ideals, and so classic is that moment, it literally pays homage to Karloff's Frankenstein. Fantastic.