*The Official Episode III Film Review Thread*

[Sandor 796]

Just saw ROTS and...

... I ABSOLUTEY LOVED IT!!!!!

One of the coolest films ever made! Exactly the way I wanted it to be. I will post more on this soon.

And by the way; the score did miracles in the film!

Great, great, great film!!!

[QMM 4]

Here's me in my armor right before I left for the theater

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Groovey.

Yeah, Luke, the droids sounded very stupid (as in dumb) in this film, even worse than in TPM. They were intentionally established there as inefficient, but they were total gits here.

And I too felt Vader breaking free was horrible. The NOOOOOOO! was so incredibly cheesy, and while I know there's 17 years between RotS and ANH, Hayden just looks bad in that Vader costume. He doesn't fill it out properly. You put David Prowse, or just someone with a better build then Christensen in it, and you can see it's Vader (or near Vader). Here it was just Hayden Christensen in a Darth Vader costume.

[A24 4,327]

Easily the best prequel and better than Return of the Jedi. I only wished the first prequel was this good. Here is a mix of positive and negative thoughts.

- First of all, this IS Ian McDiarmid's movie. Period! Finally we witnessed once again a Star Wars movie with a strong evil character. (and a better evil than whatever it was in LOTR trilogy).

- The heat of all that lava (or melted metal) should be enough to vaporize the two dueling Jedi. This was highly unrealistic.

- Mace Windu was good. (I did not expect that). McGregor as Obi Wan was much better too.

- Best visual joke is when Yoda enters the room guarded by those "red knights".

- Whatever happened to Padmé Amidala? This time, the once smart senator, came across as a stereotype dumb housewife.

- I never had the feeling Lucas hasted a scene. Good pacing.

- The lightsaber duels are a bit too closely filmed, making it difficult to "feel" the moves. However, it was much better than the ones in AOTC.

- The film is good but I don't think there's a super moment. Maybe I need to see it again on DVD. Maybe McDiarmid is the super moment.

- I like the reason why Padmé dies. Great find.

- Some music felt reused, which is a bummer.

- Too bad Ewan rides a dino. Dinos are a No-Go.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The Yoda bit was great. That had the audience laughing and there was some small applause, too. Finally no Sonic antics the moment he steps into a room.

And with Padmé, there was more. We saw her starting up the Alliance in the script, and there was also a scene where she offered a petition to the chancellor to stop the war. Both were cut.

[fommes 153]

The NOOOOOOO! was so incredibly cheesy

Perhaps Lucas will later on modify this and delete the scream. Jedi control fear and... Oh no, wait...

[Marian Schedenig 8,178]

Am I the only one who thinks Portman looked like shit in the "you're so beautiful" scene? Man, lighting and make-up seemed all messed up there, because she looks absolutely gorgeous in every other scene she's in.

Agreed.

Marian - who has to dig out his TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance CDs.

Return of the Sith

[Morlock 11]

Like everyone else I'm sure, I've got a ton of things to say. Problem is, I don't think I'll be able t formulate well enough for a real review. So I'll use previous posts as a starting point, and move on from there.

- First of all, this IS Ian McDiarmid's movie. Period! Finally we witnessed once again a Star Wars movie with a strong evil character. (and a better evil than whatever it was in LOTR trilogy).

Yes.

The heat of all that lava (or melted metal) should be enough to vaporize the two dueling Jedi. This was highly unrealistic.

IMO this is a bit nit-picky when talking about the movie, but yes.

Mace Windu was good. (I did not expect that). McGregor as Obi Wan was much better too.

Mace Windu's presence was good, I don't think Jackson gave much a performance. I thought Obi Wan felt like a high school counselor who was devastated to learn that this kid was on drungs again.

Best visual joke is when Yoda enters the room guarded by those "red knights".

Yes. Yes. A million times yes.

Whatever happened to Padmé Amidala? This time, the once smart senator, came across as a stereotype dumb housewife.

Yes. Yes. A million times yes. The worst main character presence a Star Wars movie has had yet (And I AM counting Jar Jar). Basicaly, the same transformation that Leia went through in the original trilogy. From feisty, smart equal to the guys to stupid sobby love interest.

I never had the feeling Lucas hasted a scene. Good pacing.

I totaly disagree. While the movie's main problem wasn't pacing, a few crucial scenes were crippled by terrible pacing.

The lightsaber duels are a bit too closely filmed, making it difficult to "feel" the moves. However, it was much better than the ones in AOTC.

I rather liked them.

The film is good but I don't think there's a super moment. Maybe I need to see it again on DVD. Maybe McDiarmid is the super moment.

I think there were a few. But most of them revolved around my realization of teh meaning of this scene in the grand scheme of things. The Yoda with the Emperor's Guard's moments is IMO one of the best Star Wars moments ever. So totaly Yoda.

I like the reason why Padmé dies. Great find.

Which reason is that?

Some music felt reused, which is a bummer.

I had very little trouble with the re-used moments, aside from the fact that I immidiately recognized they we re-used. So- yes, a bummer, but not one that really harmed the movie.

Too bad Ewan rides a dino. Dinos are a No-Go.

Yup. Yup indeed.

Yeah, Luke, the droids sounded very stupid (as in dumb) in this film, even worse than in TPM. They were intentionally established there as inefficient, but they were total gits here.

I didn't mind that at all. I actually liked how they treated them, like they were such non-factors in anything. One of the best bits of scoring JW did in the movie IMO was not scoring the few seconds when Anakin and Obi Wan exited their ship, as they went through a platoon of droids. Just telling us so confidentaly that these are such nothings for a Jedi. They've got bigger fish to catch.

And I too felt Vader breaking free was horrible.

Oy. Me too.

The NOOOOOOO! was so incredibly cheesy

OYYYYYYYYY. Worst moment of the movie. Ruined the otherwise totaly fine scene (save for the previous oy, of course).

and while I know there's 17 years between RotS and ANH, Hayden just looks bad in that Vader costume. He doesn't fill it out properly. You put David Prowse, or just someone with a better build then Christensen in it, and you can see it's Vader (or near Vader). Here it was just Hayden Christensen in a Darth Vader costume.

I actually liked that a lot. He is not Vader yet. Not confident as Vader yet. He needs 18 years to grow into the suit.

[A24 4,327]

 

I like the reason why Padmé dies. Great find.

Which reason is that?

It's because Anakin wants to save Padmé's life that she dies.

That's beautiful (albeit not very likely).

[Morlock 11]

I missed that. I must see the film again.

(I'm adding thoughts as I remeber them)

The opening of the movie is great. So dynamic, a genuinly dynamic opening scene, in every sense. The setting, the situation, the confrontation with Dooku. Though I was dissapointed the music on the CD immidiately after the crawl wasn't there. What a great musical opening to the movie that would have been.

[Lurker 5]

This was a totally unexceptional movie in everyway. Yes, it's better than ROTJ and AOTC, but then, I think most movies are, so that's hardly high praise. I laughed when Yoda knocked over the guards. I also laughed when R2 hid the radio/woman's leg razor inside himself. I also laughed at quite a bit of the dialogue and the performances. I laughed at the naming of Darth Vader. "Why Vader?" <Burp>"Why not?". I also laughed when the ship was crashing and was reminded of Airplane! ("Now arriving Gate 13. Gate 14. Gate 15. Gate 16. etc.). I also laughed when someone in the theater applauded at the slaughter of the younglings.

While watching this movie, I had no emotional attachment with any of it. The entire film played as 2 hours of no story and just exposition. The entire film, every line of dialogue and every action was just a way to tie this trilogy up and lead us into Star Wars, at the expense of any real story. It showed eveything we needed to know, but not in any sort of compelling way. It's amazing to me that the least interesting movies are the longest while the most interesting are the shortest. The only thing I cared about in this movie was the creature Obi Wan was riding that landed in the water. I had more compassion for that than anyone or anything in this movie.

I didn't care for much of the music used in the film and overall, it's mildly better than what I expected, but twice nothing is still nothing.

The popcorn was good, as was the presentation. I saw it for free in DLP, so that was pleasurable.

Neil

[Jacck 23]

This was a totally unexceptional movie in everyway.  Yes, it's better than ROTJ and AOTC, but then, I think most movies are, so that's hardly high praise.  I laughed when Yoda knocked over the guards.  I also laughed when R2 hid the radio/woman's leg razor inside himself.  I also laughed at quite a bit of the dialogue and the performances.  I laughed at the naming of Darth Vader.  "Why Vader?"  <Burp>"Why not?".  I also laughed when the ship was crashing and was reminded of Airplane!  ("Now arriving Gate 13.  Gate 14.  Gate 15.  Gate 16.  etc.).  I also laughed when someone in the theater applauded at the slaughter of the younglings.

While watching this movie, I had no emotional attachment with any of it.  The entire film played as 2 hours of no story and just exposition.  The entire film, every line of dialogue and every action was just a way to tie this trilogy up and lead us into Star Wars, at the expense of any real story.  It showed eveything we needed to know, but not in any sort of compelling way.  It's amazing to me that the least interesting movies are the longest while the most interesting are the shortest.  The only thing I cared about in this movie was the creature Obi Wan was riding that landed in the water.  I had more compassion for that than anyone or anything in this movie.

I didn't care for much of the music used in the film and overall, it's mildly better than what I expected, but twice nothing is still nothing.

The popcorn was good, as was the presentation.  I saw it for free in DLP, so that was pleasurable.

Neil

You seem to have insisted that you would hate this movie.. even before it was released , so I'm certainly not suprised by the negativity of your comments....

[Morlock 11]

I think that just gives him...a bit more polarized view of things. I agree with a lot of the points, though perhaps not with the extremity.

I saw the movie with my brother and 3 of his friends, all very Neil-like when it comes to Star Wars, and we hada great time cracking up at so much of the movie, as well as reeling in agony at the terrible moments. We all yelled "Why Vader?" at the same time during the naming scene, and then we said "Why not?". I also liked the bit with R2 hiding the radio (which did indeed look like a woman's leg razor).

When Palpatine had the line "....Don't continue to be a pawn of the Jedi Council!" I was thinking "Be my pawn instead! we've got cooler outfits!"

And I cracked up so hard when I realized that the reason Anakin burnt up at the end was because his cape caught fire!!! The cape is the downfall of so many bad guys!

And we were in pain when they had Palpatine's face right after his confrontation with Mace. Worst. Palpatine. Makeup. Ever. Even worse than in the revisionist edition of ESB. Frankenstein's monster. Ruined a perfectly valid scene.

And Vader's breaking out of the chair also looked like Frankenstein's monster, crossed with the Mummy's minions in The Mummy. And that yell was painful. So much more painful than Luke's.

But still, I did like a lot in the movie. A couple more things I remembered:

I loved Yoda's "Not if anything I have to say about it". It's corny, but it's just so Yoda.

I thought it was great, very powerful when he burnt up at the end (despite the cloak thing), and Obi Wan's lines were perfect.

In general- I liked Hayden. I think he did a good job. Infinately better than AoTC.

This movie I think proves once and for all that Yoda must be real, not CGI. Yoda's crawling through the vent (despite the technical difficulty of getting a puppet to do that), should have been such a sad moment, the moment symoblizing the fall of the republic, but the CGI made it seem totaly unconvincing.

[mahler3 478]

During the film I kept thinking how great it would be for Sam L. Jackson to do a Jules from Pulp Fiction on Yoda and tell him he would get medievel on his ass if he didn't shut the F~@# up or speak properly! But that's just my warped sense of humour I suppose.

[ChrisAfonso 186]

Somehow both of you must have seen a different film :?

(edit: Morlock and Neil, that is)

But then, Neil doesn't like LotR, either. Somehow he seems to lack any sense for epic fantasy drama

[Morlock 11]

I've come to the conclusion that what the movie was lacking more than anything was the sense of occaision. The movie doesn't know it's the last Star Wars film.

[ChrisAfonso 186]

It doesn't? How? It has all that's needed for a grand conclusion, storywise, visually, musically, even regarding the acting. The only film that got more epic toward the end in recent time is RotK.

[mahler3 478]

I've come to the conclusion that what the movie was lacking more than anything was the sense of occaision. The movie doesn't know it's the last Star Wars film.

Even with the closing shot? A perfect and fitting way to end the saga I thought.

[Morlock 11]

It's got the story, visuals and music. And enough of the acting gets a passing grade. What it's also got is one shitty screenplay. There isn't a scene in it with good dialogue throughout. And so many should be climactic moments are wasted. In the scene where Anakin kills Mace, we're missing something in between his killing Mace to him accepting the dark side. Here is the exchange (roughly):

Anakin: "What have I done?"

Palpatine: "You are fulfilling your destiny, Anakin. Become my apprentice. Learn to use the dark side of the Force."

Anakin: "I will do whatever you ask. "

WTF?!?!?!?! Where the hell is the transition between "What have I done?" to "I will do whatever you ask"? Concidering the build up, it wouldn't take much, but totaly omitting the transition is IMO an unexcusable flaw. I was all ready for Anakin to turn bad. But they skipped the last step.

[Morlock 11]

I've come to the conclusion that what the movie was lacking more than anything was the sense of occaision. The movie doesn't know it's the last Star Wars film.

Even with the closing shot? A perfect and fitting way to end the saga I thought.

I loved the idea. But even that drew a "meh". The idea sounded beautiful, poetic, and I loved that it closed with that iconic moment, really the spot that Luke picks up the fight from, with the force theme. But it should have been a beautiful, sweeping shot. It was not. It showed us two suns with 3 people standing in the foreground.

[Adam 1]

From a musical point of view, I was frustrated that a fair amount of music seemed to be taken out, especially in the beginning of the movie. Of course, there was all the tracking that has been mentioned. Its done better than the other prequels but its still a major scar on the overall score.

On the positive side, I was impressed with the unreleased music. The initial unreleased battle stuff was kind of barried underneath the sound effects but what I heard was great. An early version of the force theme when a ship is taking off, I think, was really good. Even the smaller stuff like the dialog sequence with Anakin and Palpatine - at the opera thing, I think, caught my attention for being very effective. To the extent it may seem underwhelming, a lot of it has to play pretty brief segments so there isn't always a lot of time for development. If you factor in stuff that probably was taken out and JW saying he recorded a couple hours + of music, I'd imagine there's even more stuff to be heard.

As a whole, I thought it was a very good score but a challenge keep track of with all of the edits and tracking. It ends up feeling like kind of a mess, to no fault of JW. Its unfortunate since my main interest at this point is the music and I think the film would benefit from an in tact score. The Anakin's Betrayal sequence was probably the most musically satisfying. The movie slows down and puts together a fairly artful way of telling that part of the story and it shows what JW can still do with the right material. Lots of other positive impressions with the music but also a sense of disappointment at the way his music continues to get represented in the actual film.

As a movie, the first half really didn't do much for me at all. The second half had some very good moments but something still didn't feel right. How much was because of the movie, how much was my being taken out of the movie because of my concentration on the music and how much relfects my decline in taste towards all the Star Wars movies (outside of the music), I'm not exactly sure. Some combination of all 3, I guess. Glad that so many others like it, though.

- Adam

[Lurker 5]

I forgot. I also laughed when Palpatine/Sidious says "No. NO!!! NOOO!!!" (just before shocking Mace). For anyone who didn't get it before, that scene in the office shows the split between the two characters and certainly proves that the Emperor is just a cackling buffoon. His temper tantrum there is so indicative of the piss poor character he really is. And since so many people think this is his movie, it can only lead to one disappointing experience.

Neil

[King Mark 3,626]

I don't think you even tried to enjoy it.

K.M.

[Jeshopk 8]

It was awesome. Except for the music tracking.

Neil and Morlock! You guys ruined it for yourselves! This movie is awesome!

Who cares if its still cheesy at parts? How can a movie that is supposed to lead right into the 1977 episode NOT be a little cheesy and still work? The cheese was necessary.

I was laughing with glee and holding back tears alternately. What a ride. The only thing that took me out of the film was all the damn tracking.

[King Mark 3,626]

This was a totally unexceptional movie in everyway.  Yes, it's better than ROTJ and AOTC, but then, I think most movies are, so that's hardly high praise.  I laughed when Yoda knocked over the guards.  I also laughed when R2 hid the radio/woman's leg razor inside himself.  I also laughed at quite a bit of the dialogue and the performances.  I laughed at the naming of Darth Vader.  "Why Vader?"  <Burp>"Why not?".  I also laughed when the ship was crashing and was reminded of Airplane!  ("Now arriving Gate 13.  Gate 14.  Gate 15.  Gate 16.  etc.).  I also laughed when someone in the theater applauded at the slaughter of the younglings.

While watching this movie, I had no emotional attachment with any of it.  The entire film played as 2 hours of no story and just exposition.  The entire film, every line of dialogue and every action was just a way to tie this trilogy up and lead us into Star Wars, at the expense of any real story.  It showed eveything we needed to know, but not in any sort of compelling way.  It's amazing to me that the least interesting movies are the longest while the most interesting are the shortest.  The only thing I cared about in this movie was the creature Obi Wan was riding that landed in the water.  I had more compassion for that than anyone or anything in this movie.

I didn't care for much of the music used in the film and overall, it's mildly better than what I expected, but twice nothing is still nothing.

Neil

It's eazy to get into that "kind "of mood of ridiculising and laughing at everything that's on screen if you set yourself up for it,especially if you go with regulars of the Prequel Hater Forum.I remember I did that in Star Trek 3 with a friend.We'd crack up every time Shatner said something or they showed the cheezy set on planet Genesis.Of course in retrospect there was no real reason for it other than that night we decided we were too cool for a ST film.

The film is 83% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes and every news clip I've seen of people coming out of the cinema love the film.It can't possibly be as bad as you describe it.

K.M.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

I don't have much to say about it, as of now at least. I thought it was all right, which was pretty much what I expected. Not better than anything in the OT, but probably better than the other prequels. I just found it hard to be truly engaged in it....I liked a good portion of it, but when you start with two films introducing characters you really don't care much for, even if things are done better in the third, it's just too late to create the desired audience reaction. People are saying that those who had problems with it were just setting themselves up for it - this is very possible, but I think that a lot of you who really loved it were likewise setting yourselves up for it. Plus, you all saw it opening day/night......give it some time and repeated viewings. Remember, a lot of people loved AotC when it came out.

Ray Barnsbury - who laughed at a lot of the things already mentioned in this thread

[King Mark 3,626]

I haven't seen it yet,I can't predict how I will react to that film.For example I love A.I. but some here hate it vehemehently(hey a new word!)

K.M.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

vehemehently(hey a new word!)

K.M.

That's not a word, it's a mistake.

[Lurker 5]

I haven't seen it yet,I can't predict how I will react to that film.For example I love A.I. but some here hate it vehemehently(hey a new word!)

So it's alright for you to set yourself up for a movie, but not me? Interesting.

The fact is ROTS is better than I thought it would be, as I was anticipating the worst piece of junk movie. It turns out AOTC just can't be beat in that department.

Neil

[King Mark 3,626]

Well you just seemed like a HPFAN 2/PoA case.

K.M.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I haven't seen it yet,I can't predict how I will react to that film.For example I love A.I. but some here hate it vehemehently(hey a new word!)

K.M.

as does or did the public at large which gives hope that the public is not always stupid.

Joe, who will try to get in tomorrow, but if not, no big deal.

[Lurker 5]

Well you just seemed like a HPFAN 2/PoA case.

K.M.

But you did the same exact thing!

Neil

[King Mark 3,626]

Actually I trashed Chamber of Secrets.

K.M.Not sure what he's arguing about anymore.

[A24 4,327]

Revenge of the sith has a good drive, which is essential for a pop corn movie, and as such it delivers the goods. The Phantom Menace had no drive what so ever and is filled with myth-killing explanations and kiddie stuff. It just muddles on. It had a few good intentions but as a whole it's completely steerless.

But most importantly, Revenge of the sith showed more heart, which I can't say for the static Attack Of The Clones. It seems that Attack Of The Clones is made by a director who lost his identity and his ability to make contact with his art and with a large part of his audience.

While remaining loyal to the new generation, I also felt the last film respected the Original Trilogy much more than its predecessors. It had a goal. It was Good vs. Evil. It displayed emotions. The characters were more human. This time I actually cared for Obi Wan and felt compassionate for his failure as a mentor. If Windu was any good in the previous films we would have cared for him too (I was starting to care already).

Another unbelievable advantage Episode III has over the other prequels is that this time evil has a face. In the OT evil was Darth Vader. Then the prequels came and "evil" was reduced to politics and a few actions by a shallow Sith Lord. Their story storylines felt like the director was searching and searching, but never struck the mother lode. He was making thing up as he went along. There was no backbone, nothing of a foundation. So much attention goes to Jar Jar, which he tought people would embrace! Then he found out he wasn't popular, so he scrapped him. Searching and searching. The pod race! What a boring piece of cinema. I show a long pod race, so I don't have to tell a story. While not flawless, Revenge of the Sith rectifies much of the shortcomings that plagued us in the prequels. If the first two were good movies, the third one would've scored even better.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

I loved this film. I cringed a little at Vader's "Noooo!", and I almost wish he'd just let out a wordless howl instead. The finest moment in Godfather III is Al Pacino's wordless howl of grief at the death of his daughter.

I think Hayden and Natalie's acting was much better in this than in either of the other prequels. Ewen McGreggor is one step closer to being Alec Guinness. Excellent performance on his part. I was amazed how short the film seemed. For a 140-minute film it seemed to end pretty damn quickly! Always the sign of a well-paced film. I really felt I'd only been sitting there for 90 minutes.

[nightscape94 965]

Anyone else think that every scene with Yoda was cool as hell? Spoilers throughout....

When Yoda and Obi-Wan make a break for the Temple and have to slice their way passed a dozen stormtroopers, Yoda tosses his lightsaber into the chest of one soldiers and jumps on him, pulling it out. How cool was that!

Or when Yoda hitches a ride on Chewbacca?

I thought it was a little heart breaking, the delivery at the end of the Palpy/Yoda duel when Yoda jumps down into the ship with Senator Organa and says he failed his mission. Frank Oz's delivery is so sad.

Tim

[Olivier 5]

I saw the movie on Wednesday morning, and--

it was great! I loved it.

[This message is an edited, expanded version of messages I posted on other boards]

No spoilers in this first part

It's what I had been expecting; I was really curious to see how Anakin lost it; the part with his mother's death in "Clones" was good.

"Sith" was good in that respect; sure, it would have been great to give it even more time, to develop it further, over some more hours, but the idea was good.

There is one particular thing that is very striking at the end, that truly shows how far he's gone (even after the pretty bad things we've already witnessed).

The humor at the beginning is a bit odd; funny, and there was humor in the original Episodes, but it did sound a bit odd.

I think the oddest thing is that the older Obi Wan doesn't spend his time cracking one-liners-- even if this experience made him somewhat sour, it still doesn't sound like him.

Too bad Grievous doesn't have more screen time; the Clones Wars TV show really is his shining hour (I got to see the final two-parter on Tuesday). I love the design, which is way cooler than Darth Maul's (though the latter was good, and the swordplay was great), and the animation is splendid.

Puppet Yoda was wonderful, and using the puppet again would have been nice, but the CG is perfect.

SPOILERS from here on

The striking moment I referred to in my first message was Anakin force-choking Padmé. Shocking. Great move, Lukas.

The fall was a bit fast on film, indeed, but then, Anakin's been obsessing about it for months.

Notice how fast Padmés pregnancy seems? He had his dream when it didn't show yet, and Palpatine worked on him all the while.

It's hard to tell (especially having seen it only once, without paying attention to time) how many days or weeks pass between Palpatine's story (about Darth Sidious learning how to bring back the dead) and the big moment.

We got the landmarks, a some more minutes were needed to flesh it out, to show Anakin's torment.

He thinks about this dream and this possibility for a long time, hesitates. He's frustrated to still be considered a Padawan when he thinks he has deserved to be a Master. Palpatine's way of presenting things is very cunning: you've got to know all the angles about the Force to truly understand it, even the Dark Side-- not as a phantasm of things possible as in the mysterious tree, but hands-on. Anakin struggles a lot with this.

When he plunges, Anakin gets scared; he shows remorse, but is scared, and that's one the things that lead you to the dark Side, remember. Escape here consists in going the whole way.

Palpatine has convinced him of the Jedi's treason, which Wace seemed to embody (ready to kill Palpatine wihout a trial, thus in a sense killing Padmé too); he's played to his one weakness, telling him the Jedi won't teach him how to save Padmé, though they might know.

This, the confusion of the moment, fear, the need to escape (by wiping out those who could arrest & kill him-- thus again, kill Padmé), lead to his dark deeds.

Then, he rationalizes it into a big self-delusion that this brings peace, and that he'll just get rid of Sidious to reign over the universe in a peaceful way.

So yes, it's a bit short and quick on film, but you ahve to keep in mind it's not all real-time, not on all-screen, that a few awkward shortcuts may have been taken, but basically, it's not that far-fetched. People do snap "in real life"-- but there's a build-up to that.

As for the "Nooo!"-- well, what would you have done? The man destroyed everything, slaughtered dozens of people and children, sold his soul to the devil to save his beloved, he angrily chokes her our of paranoid jealousy, kills her (grief), is teribly burnt, disfigured, saved by yet imprisoned in a mechanical suit (when he might have preferred to die at that point)-- and you would have had him not react?! Just sigh? "Oh well, too bad." Just stay on the slab or fall limply?

A worldess moan? okay, it's a good idea too (though people would have then accused Lucas of ripping off that movie you refer to which I haven't seen), but that's not much different.

END OF SPOILERS

Yes, I really loved that movie.

And John Williams' music is gorgeous, far more interesting in my opinion than that of I & II, because of the wonderful darker tracks & themes (great use of voices too).

I don't like the end dredits suite on the disc, however. The "Throne Room" abruptly kicks into the suite, as if you had accidentally hit the wrong button, then there's this weird trumpet blast that doesn't bridge anything at all, and it's back to the end credits suite (again as if you ahd hit the wrong button).

I'm thinking of making a copy of the whole think just to edit the "Throne Room" out-- and order the tracks chronologically.

Watching the whole six films in order will be interesting now. Actually, discovering Star Wars with Episode I and thus discovering I-VI in the story order must be quite an experience, as you get to know Anakin, thus Vader; of course, you lose the huge impact of "I'm your father" & "She's your sister", but following Anakin and actually caring for Vader must be rather special too.

This is a story that really deserves a lot of expanding, to delve deeper into Anakin's psychology, his torment, his doubts, his fears, his ambition, his frustration, his fall, ... We get the great lines in the movies, especially in this one, and Episode III is really good, but I wish we had a bit more.

[MSM 126]

Two questions regarding to Vader:

- So Vader only has a few shots at the end of the movie, right after his transformation?

- How's James Eral Jones as Vader's voice? In the trailers his voice ("Yes, master") sounds old and not deeply and resonating. Or does he say such a few lines that it doesn't catch the ear?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

There's only a few shots of Vader, but they're not very well done, IMO.

Hearing James Earl Jones was a real treat. He sounded great, IMO.

[A24 4,327]

- How's James Eral Jones as Vader's voice? In the trailers his voice ("Yes, master") sounds old and not deeply and resonating.

Check your sound system, or, go visit a doctor.

[MSM 126]

- How's James Eral Jones as Vader's voice? In the trailers his voice ("Yes, master") sounds old and not deeply and resonating.

Check your sound system, or, go visit a doctor.

First you should compare for yourself James Earl Jones voice in ESB and then how he says "Yes master". It sounds old.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

My review:

- The opening space battle was awesome!

- Count Dooku was great, but he got bumped off way too early.

- General Grievous was just too cool for words.

- Alex is right. The is truly Ian McDiarmid's movie! He fought like a maniac!

- Music was mixed too low. Bummer.

- Music needs a 2-CD complete edition. There's too much unreleased Williams material that is just so good.

- I cannot understand people's gripes about the dialogue. I thought it was written and delivered competently.

- The choice of calling the Jedi Purge "Code 66" was interestingly "satanic", despite the fact it's missing a digit.

- Obi-Wan is so enviously heroic and level-headed compared to Anakin. He's the hero you'd really love to be like. A true role-model, I'd say.

- Anakin becomes Vader when he kills Shaft?! I can't dig that!

- Cutest scene was when Chewy gave Yoda a piggie-back.

- The dream sequences seemed unusually surreal for a SW movie. Not bad, though.

- Anakin catching on fire and Obi-Wan pissing off was interesting as it was cold (for a hot planet).

- Padme not having the will to live despite the fact she had two kids to raise made no sense to me whatsoever, but Lucas had to get rid of her some how, I guess.

- Padme must have left a note saying "At me funeral, make sure my corpse is wearing that funny necklace Anakin gave me when he was a tiny-tot".

- I was honestly expecting Vader to go "HULK SMASH!" when he started crushing droids with the force.

Thumbs up.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I thought the piggie-back ride was very well done. When Yoda climbed up Chewie's shoulder is CG Yoda's best moment to me. Right there I totally forgot it was a CG creature, even though he did something the puppet never could've done.

And was I the only one who thought of Mr. Bush's rantings when Anakin proclaimed "anyone who's not with me is my enemy"? Obi-Wan's answer to that was classic.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

What did Obi-Wan say again?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

"Only a Sith Lord deals in absolutes!"

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Ah, yes. Excuse my poor short term memory.

Another thing I liked was how Yoda explains why some Jedi become ghosts and some don't (in reference to Qui-Gon) in ONE sentence.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The reference to the Journal of the Whills was cut, though. I'd've liked that in there just as a little wink.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Just saw ROTS and...

... I ABSOLUTEY LOVED IT!!!!!

One of the coolest films ever made! Exactly the way I wanted it to be. I will post more on this soon.  

And by the way; the score did miracles in the film!

Great, great, great film!!!

When this thread was started I was 90% sure Neil would not like ROTS and give a list with what he thought was wrong with it.

And I was 100% sure Roald would post a short message containing at least 1 line of CAPITAL letters saying that he loved the film and that he would post his reasons for loving it later.

[diskobolus 3]

"Only a Sith Lord deals in absolutes!"

Actually, he says, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes!"

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I thought there was something wrong with what I typed. Anyway, I smirked at that when it happened.