REVIEW: STAR WARS: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Released in 2005) [15th Anniversary]

DIRECTOR: George Lucas (also WRITER)

PRODUCER: Rick McCallum

PERFORMERS: Ewan McGregor Hayden Christensen Natalie Portman Ian McDiarmid

Matthew Wood Anthony Daniels Kenny Baker Jimmy Smits with Samuel L. Jackson and Frank Oz

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" - Matthew 6:22-23 NIV

Star Wars is one of the biggest , if not culturally, influential film series of all time. From the first film in 1977 to this past year with The Rise of Skywalker, each installment never seems to let up. Between the years of 1999 and 2005 we got the second trilogy which told the backstory of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, apprentice to Obi-Wan Kenobi and father of Luke Skywalker and Princcess Leia Organa. In this story is the third and final entry in the prequel trilogy where the story finally reveals everything Star Wars fans have been wanting to know since 1983, who was Anakin Skywalker? How did he become Darth Vader? And why was he so easily seduced? This film answers all those questions and director George Lucas gives us perhaps the darkest chapter in the saga since 'The Empire Strikes Back'. Never before have I seen such eerie and dark elements in a Star Wars film like I saw in this one!

Set Three years after 'Attack of the Clones', this entry in the prequel trilogy ties up all the loose ends as we witness the final days of the Clone Wars while Jedi Knight and soon-to-be father Anakin Skywalker (CHRISTENSEN) fulfills his inevitable destiny as he is seduced to the Dark Side of the force and becomes his future counterpart Darth Vader. In a way, it's like that feeling you get when you're thinking: "Just when you thought it was finally over, now we have to deal with this!" Exactly what everyone in the film goes through once the Sith is revealed. George Lucas must have done something right with this one because compared to the last two entries, this is really a given. And although I did, without regret, enjoy the other two films, I thought this one was more superior in forms of all entertaining purposes. Unlike the others, they touch on several themes: Betrayal, Heartbreak, Seduction and even Loss. I remember seeing the teaser trailer for the first time, boy was I excited and scared at the same time because I knew what would happen but not how. It wasn't until the official trailer that my excitement level really started to build up and on Friday night when released... I knew I was in for a real show. My heart was pounding every second, I was very tense and once the film started building up to Anakin's transition I got breathless.

Everything that plays out in this film is a set up for the original trilogy and fan or no fan, you knew how things were going to work out. To watch these people do what they do either thrilled you or scared you. Watching Anakin's fall to the dark side was like watching a real tragedy, which it was. The sad part about it was Anakin was a tragic character, we meet him as a young boy with a bright future in 'Phantom', excel as a Padawan in 'Clones' and in this one he a fully fledged Jedi Knight ready to take on the next chapter in his life. Then just when the galaxy is on the brink of peace, it's all taken away by this shadowy figure who's been waiting for a very long time to strike and no one saw it coming (1 PETER 5:8). The performances of the main cast are superb, from McGregor to Christensen, Portman and especially McDiarmid, each part is delivered with grandeur and believability. Perhaps the most epic thing about this film are the battle scenes, heck we all know that those lightsaber duels are what makes the Star Wars movies worth seeing and the ones in this are beyond imagination. During the climax, Obi-Wan and Anakin/Vader (once friends now turned enemies) end up in the most insane lightsaber duel since Obi-Wan's duel with the Sith character Darth Maul in 'Phantom'. When I first saw this in the theater I was super obsessed, so much in fact that I saw it three more times when it was out. But this however goes way beyond the time limit that one had, this duel was the mother of all the duels within the Star Wars universe. It set the course for the events that would occur later, the fates of these people in the many years to come. And in a way, you were watching the end and the beginning of this world within worlds. The enemy rises from the shadows, then ultimately to power, the remaining heroes are forced into hiding and the last hope for the galaxy lies in the form of two newly born twins who would eventually grow up to become the saviors they were destined to be. See how fate tends to play out these things? We are all destined for greatness, but it's up to us to choose the right path (ACTS 17:29).

The settings were all eye popping, as were the special effects that it took to make this picture and Lucas's vision come to life. Not only did he lead this entry into succession, but also to complete satisfactory. The music by John Williams, there are not even enough words to describe how great it was. First of all, he's been scoring these films since the very beginning and it's impossible to do these things without him being involved. Whereas the tagline says "The Saga is Complete", in way it's like the entire storyline is complete. When you watch all episodes I-VI in chronological order, it's really all about the rise, the subsequent fall and eventual redemption of a person who is easily corrupted by the devil, becomes a crossbreed between a human and a mechanical being and while his humanity is lost, he's redeemed by his children because they are the last and only ones who can stop him, if not get through to him. This was before the trilogy we got these past five years came into play and don't get me wrong, I did enjoy them as well, but in regards to the first six films when Fox still had them, these ones were just better. That what made them such important landmarks on cinema, they told stories in a way that hadn't been seen before and they took place throughout the whole universe and on different planets that looked so real that you almost imagine yourself moving there just because. Mostly integrated humans with otherworldly beings and robots and kept the tradition of good vs. evil alive in them.

As I conclude my review on this film, I remember how and what it felt like to be seeing this on the big screen the many times I did. Every viewing was always the same as the first one, but at that, I mostly remember walking out that theater thinking "what an excellent film". It was well written, well played and well set up for the original counterparts. It even had me crying inside if not for real, watching Anakin go down the dark path and what he does after being seduced is just tragic and it hurts to see the people you love fall into darkness. Normally some stories have a happy ending but this one did not have that. It had not one, but two elements: the end of one thing and the start of something new. Once the film was over I felt I was saying goodbye to Star Wars thinking that's a wrap. Little did I know, that would change with the sequel trilogy in the later years to come. Just the fact that I was blessed to see these kinds of films in my lifetime is something that will stay with me forever. 'Revenge of the Sith' was perhaps the most adult like 'Star Wars; film I had ever seen. In a way it was like the death of innocence, the birth of darkness and a beacon of hope storywise. 'Star Wars' will most likely go on forever and this year not only marked the 40th anniversary for 'Empire' but also the 15th for this one. So in a way, two of my most liked chapters of the saga have culminated with each other this year... in 'Empire' secrets were revealed, destinies were foretold and in 'Sith' we see where they came from and why they happen the way they do. In any case, this and it's predecessors (past and future) never get old. Happy 15th Anniversary to 'Revenge of the Sith' and as they say... That's a wrap... for now. #starwars #starwarsprequeltrilogy #revengeofthesith #ROTS15 #anniversaryreview #filmreviews #filmsof2005