Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
★★★★½ — Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
George Lucas returned to the director's chair for the first time between 1977 and 1999, completing the prequel trilogy he had begun with The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Revenge of the Sith, released in May 2005, was always positioned as the bridge between his two trilogies, tasked with explaining how Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader and how the Galactic Empire rises from the ruins of the Republic. Principal photography took place largely on soundstages in Sydney, with extensive location work in various countries supplementing the film's heavy reliance on digital environments, a production approach that had defined (and divided opinion on) the prequel era as a whole. It grossed over $850 million worldwide, making it comfortably the highest-earning of the three prequel films, and closed out a saga Lucas had first conceived in the early 1970s.
The Fall of Anakin Skywalker Say what you will about the prequels, but Revenge of the Sith delivers one of the most tragic and compelling character arcs in all of Star Wars. Anakin’s descent into Darth Vader is heart-wrenching to watch. His fear, his anger, his misguided loyalty, it all comes crashing down in brutal fashion. The final act is peak Star Wars. The duel on Mustafar, the haunting Order 66 sequence, the sheer operatic scale of Palpatine’s rise… it’s phenomenal. And yet, all of that tension and heartbreak leads us to that moment, the infamous "NOOOOOO." as the Darth Vader we all feared as children is born. This is Star Wars at its most tragic, where the hope of the original trilogy is built upon the ashes of everything that came before. And for that alone, it stands as one of the strongest entries in the saga.
Rating: ★★★★½ | Year: 2005 | Watched: 2005-04-30
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Disney Plus
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from George Lucas: American Graffiti (1973) · Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) · Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) · Star Wars (1977)
More with Hayden Christensen: Jumper (2008) · Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
