Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the 20th Anniversary
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on April 27, 2025, 6:27 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
This year is the twentieth anniversary of Revenge of the Sith, the third installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the sixth film overall in the main series. The previous two films in the prequel trilogy, The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, had been very divisive among the Star Wars fandom, because the fans regarded them as being poorly written in comparison to the original trilogy, especially with how they portrayed Anakin Skywalker as a whining and angsty adolescent and their nearly suffocating focus on political tension, so expectations for this film understandably were very mixed, with some fans worrying that the prequel trilogy would not have a satisfactory conclusion and others hoping that this film would avoid the curse that seemed to have affected many third film installments around that time, including X-Men 3, Spiderman 3, Shrek the Third, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
Thankfully, the majority of viewers concluded that this film was one of the rare instances in which the third film in a trilogy was the best, which speaks of how poorly audiences received the previous two films, but I still believe that the prequels were not as bad as some people initially regarded them (to be certain, they are not nearly as good as are the original films, but they still had numerous positive points, and I can credit them for trying new ideas, rather than merely repeating the original trilogy, as did the sequel trilogy). Although Anakin was still an angsty adolescent in this film, he was not nearly as whiny as he was in the previous film, and, in scenes in which he either does not speak or has minimal dialogue, Hayden Christensen actually delivers very emotionally powerful performances, especially with his facial expressions and body language. The entire film has a very dark and bleak tone, as it tells the final chapter in the story of how Anakin fell to the dark side of the force and became Darth Vader, but that audiences were expecting that, and enjoyed it, for that reason.
I believe that the majority of the actors in the film gave spectacular performances, most notably Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu, Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ian McDiarmid as Chancellor Palpatine, and especially Christopher Lee as count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus, and, on that subject, one of the few major complaints that I have about the movie is that Dooku had far too little screen time, so, if I had made that movie, I definitely would have given count Dooku a more prominent role in the movie, likely removing general Grievous to make room for Dooku's increased role, since I felt that general Grievous was completely unnecessary, although I suppose that Christopher Lee's age may have been a factor in Dooku's reduced prominence in this movie. I also disliked how Padme's prominence in this film was reduced, as she was a very competent fighter and political leader in the previous two films, but was largely a source of emotional drama and turmoil for Anakin, in this film, although I suppose that that change in her character worked with the very bleak and depressing atmosphere of this movie. Also, I do not wish to complain excessively, about this film, but I felt that Yoda and Chewbacca being friends ruined continuity that the original trilogy had previously established, since Han Solo did not believe in the existence of the Jedi and the force, despite Chewbacca being able to easily prove the existence of both.
I recall being very excited to see this film during my senior year of high school, as it would be not only the conclusion of the prequel trilogy, but also the final installment (at the time) of the entire Star Wars saga (not counting all of the expanded universe media), providing a complete story for audiences to enjoy. While I do agree with the majority of audiences that the prequel trilogy was not nearly as good as was the original trilogy, it still was an entertaining series of movies that helped to provide the backstory of the characters and events that the original trilogy depicted (even if such a backstory was not entirely necessary, and the original trilogy certainly had its own flaws, as well), so I am very glad that I saw those movies. The legacy of the prequel trilogy has been a very controversial one, but I believe that the positive aspects of those films outweigh their negative aspects, so I do hope that Lucasfilm shall do something to commemorate this most momentous milestone, as it deserves to be memorialized.
What does everyone else say, about this? How do you feel about this year being the twentieth anniversary of Revenge of the Sith?
KongMing says... #2
Incredible transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader in this film. Truly the first six films are the tale of Anakin/Vader, and this one delivered the 'missing link' that connects those two characters. He embodied the struggle between the light and dark side. He was the chosen one, bringing balance to the Force (1000 Jedi and 2 Sith? Not balanced, how about 2 and 2?)
April 28, 2025 12:15 p.m.