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Yoda struggles to stop the rise of the dark side in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
Standing on the corner of 56th Street and 6th Avenue in New York City, I waited patiently an hour before screen time to watch the last Star Wars film at the historic Ziegfeld Theater. The line before me — and behind — was populated with a mixture of people from all walks of life. Business men and women, fat guys and skinny, pretty girls and… not so pretty girls.
It was about 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 19th. It was slightly breezy, and my wife and I were snacking on a salted pretzel and mini-MM’s.
Surprisingly, it was my wife’s idea to go to the Ziegfeld. I had gone online one night to get tickets about two weeks in advance, and had planned to simply get them at a local movie theater. But then she suggested we go to the Ziegfeld. Only fitting, she said, to see the last Star Wars film at the famous movie house. When she put it that way, I suddenly wondered how I couldn’t have thought of it myself.
At about 5:30 we were ushered in, and the line moved quickly. We split up: I went to get the necessary popcorn and soda, while she edged her way into the theater for seats. In minutes I joined her, seated about a dozen rows up from the screen. We were nervous we’d end up sitting in the front row, getting cricks in our necks as we watched the massive silver screen light up virtually on top of us. But we ended up with the perfect seats. Next to us was a friendly couple dressed as Jedi Knights. Both of them were proud of their lightsabers, and posed for pictures from others seated nearby.
We waited patiently for the film to begin, and sat through five or six trailers before finally getting to the opening crawl to Revenge of the Sith.
New York City audiences are the best in the world. The energy in the room was intoxicating. They applauded R2-D2, laughed at the clever humor of the film’s opening action sequence, Yoda’s kicking ass, and Anakin’s eventual transition into the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader.
Episode III starts with the final major battle of the Clone Wars. Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Republic, has been kidnapped by General Grievous, the cyborg commander of the Separatist’s attack force. Before he can escape, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, are sent to rescue the Chancellor from Grievous’ ship.
With the help of R2-D2, the duo manages to free Palpatine, but Grievous avoids capture. After the battle, Anakin reunites briefly with Padme, where she reveals that she is pregnant. We also find that the relationship between Anakin and Palpatine has grown. Palpatine appoints Anakin to the Jedi Council as his personal representative. The Council reluctantly agrees, but it is clear they are suspicious of Palpatine… and perhaps Anakin as well.
Soon the Council tasks Anakin to spy on Palpatine, and the young Jedi Knight is torn as to where his loyalties lie. Plus, he has been haunted by nightmares. Visions of Padme dying during childbirth. The emotionally imbalanced youth then must make a choice that will change the course of the future for the entire galaxy: Help the Jedi Council destroy Chancellor Palpatine (a.k.a., Darth Sidious), the last of the Sith, or align himself with the Dark Lord and save Padme from dying, as his visions has predicted.
Watching Revenge of the Sith unfold, I found myself completely swept up in it. I applauded excitedly along with everyone else — sometimes even on my own. During some of the film’s most dramatic moments, my eyes actually weld up, which really shocked the hell out of me. Not so much because I was sad, but just overwhelmed with excitement to see that Episode III was shaping up to be the very film I wanted it to be.
Of the prequels, Revenge of the Sith was really the heart of the trilogy. It is the one that counted beyond the others, and if George Lucas dropped the ball here, it would have been disappointing beyond words. What we were given is a powerful, moving, non-stop film that delivers on every note, and still managed to surprise me.
Episode III was full of dramatic highs, but the two scenes that stood out to me more than any other were when Mace Windu led a group of Jedi to arrest Chancellor Palpatine. Not only is this entire sequence exciting, but it also had some beautiful editing, visuals and music. It was about as perfect a moment in a Star Wars film as I’ve ever seen. There’s a section of it where Anakin is seated alone in the Jedi Council, and Padme alone in her apartment, and the editing between the two accompanied by the tragic music was just beautiful.
The other moment was the conclusion of the epic lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin. It was quite simply powerful. Dark, tragic and moving. Lucas opened the film with these two reveling in their friendship as they work together to rescue the Chancellor. He closes it with these two long time friends at each other’s throats. Obi-Wan a shattered man emotionally because of it, Anakin shattered physically. It was horrific and stunning, and I’d never been prouder of George Lucas.
There are many other moments in the film that I just loved, and I won’t detail all of them. But after two films that failed to even come close to expectations, I was filled with excitement to see that Revenge of the Sith was all that it needed to be, and more.
That’s not to say it didn’t have problems. The dialogue is goofy, and sometimes just plain bad, but for some reason it seemed fun. Some people take these things too seriously, I think, so they get really bothered by the corny lines. I just laughed or chuckled at those moments and let it go. I also thought that the acting was questionable in some places, but was terrific when it needed to be.
My biggest complaint about Revenge of the Sith was basically Padme. Her character becomes completely marginalized. In Phantom Menace, she’d started out as this strong, dynamic leader. By Revenge of the Sith, she is nothing but Anakin’s girl toy. So consumed by her love for the emotionally unstable Jedi that everything else is meaningless, even the very children she carries.
Episode III is basically at its worst during the scenes between Anakin and Padme. The dialogue is corny, the acting by both Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen is questionable. What saves these moments is the fact that they’re relatively brief, and scattered about the first half of the film. Everything else around them is so good that you quickly forgive and forget.
With Lucas’ six-part epic finally concluded, I left the Ziegfeld feeling relieved, excited, and a little sad. My earliest memories are accompanied by images of Luke, Leia and Han as they struggle against the Galactic Empire. Now that journey has been completed. Those vague stories that Obi-Wan talks about in those films now detailed.
Only one thing remains: Getting Revenge of the Sith on DVD, so I can watch all six episodes back to back.
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