Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Film Blog #6 by Andres Baca)

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

(2005, dir. George Lucas)

by Andres Baca

FILM DATA: TRAILER: http://youtu.be/4raW1agJG7U

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was written and directed by George Lucas based on a story and characters by George Lucas. It was released in May 2005. Revenge of the Sith’s budget was $113 million. It made $380 million in the U.S. and $848 million worldwide. The film stars Hayden Christensen (as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader), Natalie Portman (as Padme/Senator Amidala), Ewan McGregor (as Obi Wan Kenobi), Frank Oz (as Yoda), Anthony Daniels (as C-3PO), Samuel L. Jackson (as Mace Windu) and Ian McDiarmid (as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine)

SYNOPSIS:

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith opens with a massive space battle at the administrative center of the galaxy.

The separatist leader General Grievous (Matthew Wood) has captured the leader of the Galactic Republic (Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, played by Ian McDiarmid) and is attempting to escape to use him as ransom.

But the naval forces of the Galactic Republic try to stop while the Jedi duo of Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) infiltrate General Greivous’ flagship.

They reach Palpatine where Count Dooku stands in their way.

Obi Wan and Anakin both take Dooku on simultaneously, Dooku quickly overpowers Obi Wan, leaving only Anakin to fight Dooku.

Finally Anakin fights Dooku alone eventually leaving the old Sith lord helpless and unarmed.

Palpatine, tied to a chair, tempts Anakin, echoing the temptation of Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, but in this case Anakin takes the bait, succumbs to his anger and kills the defenseless Count Dooku instead of taking him hostage, but he regrets his action even after taking it.

Palpatine even tells Anakin to leave the wounded Obi Wan Kenobi behind, but Anakin refuses to abandon him.

The ship starts plummeting towards the planet, but the pilots soon regain its bearings and Greivous’ forces capture the three.

With the help of an electro-magnetic-pulse delivered by R2-D2 they escape Greivous and defeat his soldiers while Grievous boards an escape pod.

But now Obi Wan and Anakin have to deal with Grievous’ damaged flagship which begins plummeting to the earth and is ripped in half by the gravitational pull.

Anakin manages to bring the ship in for a crash landing and our heroes are safe… for now.

Almost as soon as he gets off the ship he finds out that his secret wife Padme (Natalie Portman), a senator for the planet of Naboo, is pregnant.

Anakin is tormented by dreams in which he sees his wife die in childbirth. He vows to do everything that he has to do to prevent this from happening…

The Jedi Council shifts all of its resources and manpower to capture the diabolically brilliant General Grievous. So integral has he been to the success of the Separatists that when he is captured, we are told, the war will be over.

Meanwhile Chancellor Palpatine calls Anakin Skywalker to a private meeting (the two have a rapport since Episode I) where he makes a special request of him: “I want you to be the eyes and ears of the Republic in the Jedi Council.”

The Jedi put Anakin Skywalker on the council but refuse to grant him the rank of Jedi Master, this infuriates Anakin. Who is also told that he should keep an eye on Palpatine, and report to them if he ever does anything suspicious.

Anakin is torn between his loyalty to Palpatine and his loyalty to the Jedi.

Meanwhile there are reports that Separatist forces are going to attempt to attack Kashyyyk, a key planet, key ally and strategic beachhead in the fight against the Separatists. There are further reports that General Grievous could be hiding in the Utapau system.

Yoda leaves with an attack force to provide reinforcements for Kashyyyk while Obi Wan leaves to try to find Grievous in the Utapau system.

Palpatine reveals to Anakin the story of Darth Plagueis, the first force manipulator in history to have the power to prevent people from dying.

“Can I learn this power?” Anakin says.

“Not from a Jedi…” Palpatine replies.

Yoda, with the help of the indigenous Wookies destroys the attacking droid forces. And Obi Wan finds General Grievous.

Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) tells Anakin when General Grievous is destroyed the Jedi will make sure that Chancellor Palpatine lays down the wide reaching emergency powers the Senate voted to him during the crisis that started the Clone Wars back in Episode II.

Obi Wan kills General Grievous, but Palpatine refuses to lay down his near dictatorial powers. A group of Jedi led by Mace Windu lands at the Chancellor’s office to arrest him.

Meanwhile Anakin hears Palpatine’s voice say “If I am dead how will you save Padme?”

Anakin rushes to the Chancellor’s office where Palpatine has killed all of the Jedi except for Mace Windu.

Mace Windu disarms Palpatine of his lightsaber and is about to kill that fallen Sith Lord, when Anakin stops and kills Mace.

Palpatine bestows the title of Darth Vader on Anakin Skywalker, and his first orders to Vader are to destroy the Jedi.

Palpatine executes “Order 66” and suddenly, across the galaxy Clone Soldiers start killing Jedi. Only Obi Wan and Yoda manage to escape.

Anakin massacres everyone at the Jedi temple including the children in training. When he is done Palpatine sends Anakin to the planet Mustafar, a world of black rock and lava, to kill the assembled leadership of the Separatists.

When Bail Organa watches a young Jedi being killed by clone soldiers, he contacts Yoda and Obi Wan.

Yoda meets with Obi Wan, Senator Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) and Padme Amidala.

Bail Organa goes to the Galactic Capital to attend an emergency session of the Senate.

At the session Chancellor Palpatine, with offers of peace and security gets himself named Emperor of the first Galactic Empire.

Meanwhile Obi Wan and Yoda infiltrate the Jedi Temple, where a review of the surveillance recordings reveals that Anakin Skywalker killed many Jedi, including children.

Obi Wan asks that Yoda not send him to take down Anakin because it would be too painful a task to kill his best friend and only disciple. But Yoda tells Obi Wan that he must face his apprentice.

They part ways and Yoda heads to personally confront the Emperor Palpatine.

Bail Organa sends out a message to all remaining Jedi, warning them not to return to the Galactic Capital.

Yoda fights Palpatine.

Palpatine nearly kills Yoda, but Yoda escapes.

Obi Wan and Padme travel to Mustafar to face Anakin.

Anakin accuses Padme of betraying him to Obi Wan and chokes her.

Anakin and Obi Wan fight.

At a certain point Obi Wan has a decisive and obvious advantage. He warns Anakin not to attack, but Anakin attacks anyway, and is dismembered, his body which is close to the lava shore, is badly burned.

“You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to bring balance the force,” Obi Wan says. “but instead, you have only brought darkness.” and with those words Obi Wan leaves.

Emperor Palpatine finds Anakin, burned and disfigured and takes him to a hospital at the capital to save his life.

Obi Wan takes Padme to a secret base on an asteroid. Where she delivers her twins Luke and Leia.

The burned and dismembered Anakin is given cybernetic arms and limbs, and a life sustaining all black samurai-like suit of armor.

Yoda goes into exile. The wealthy Senator Bail Organa adopts Leia while Obi Wan Kenobi gives Luke to the poor Lars family on Tatooine, while maintaining a residence nearby to be a last line of defense to protect Luke in case anything happens.

The Lars family, holding Luke in their arms, look out into the sunset and into their future…

COMMENT:

The design and composition aspect (of what the class textbook wordily calls the “mise en scene”) in Revenge of the Sith is breathtaking. Our breaths are taken away as soon as the opening text rolls away. The film was released almost ten years ago, but as far as space adventures are concerned nothing has yet to surpass it for beauty and excitement.

The space dogfight above the Planet-Sized city Coruscant has only been matched by the previous Star Wars films.

After the opening text scrolls away, John Williams (the composer for all six currently existing Star Wars films) opens the film with a percussive crescendo which corresponds to the visuals as the camera starts on an overhead shot of a Republic Destroyer (a predecessor to the original trilogy’s Star Destroyers), and the identity of the pilots of two small space fighters which zoom through the frame and are dwarfed by the massive destroyer is instantly revealed, not through a close-up but by musical themes, played throughout the previous five films, which tell us that the fighters are being flown by Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi.

These musical leitmotif technique which Williams uses (a technique that links particular melodies to particular characters or situations) was inspired by the composer Wagner, and is in large part responsible for the emotional resonance of even the weakest installments of the Star Wars series. Williams’ score is as brilliant as, and sometimes even surpasses, the brilliance of the visuals. He is a versatile artist capable of manipulating our emotions ranging from intimate moments all the way to the grandest of all space battles.

George Lucas shoots the opening battle sequence with impressive flair, a screen full of battling spaceships which bleeds out of frame, implying an even more massive battle off-screen.

This whole sequence reminds us of the space battle which Lucas and Richard Marquand put into the end of Return of the Jedi (the last episode of the original series and chronologically the final film of the existing Star Wars story).

The compositing in this scene of the live action shots of Anakin and Obi, and the cgi shots of everything is seamless. By his sixth Star Wars movie (even the two movies in the series he did not direct were strongly influenced by Lucas’ creative presence), George Lucas has really mastered blue screen technology and special effects.

There is a lot going on in this sequence, but it is not a headache because Lucas uses shots which are long enough to allow us to enjoy his space battle eye-candy effects which can all be appreciated to great degree on the blu ray edition of the film.

The quality of the movement or kinesis in the film is rarely attained, even in the most expensive of blockbusters, because it is not enough simply to use the most advanced technology, but what makes a special effects shot timeless is when it is created and captured by the camera with an artistic eye.

That’s one reason why, for example, a film like Jurassic Park stands the test of time while a film like the American Godzilla remake released a few years later (in 1998) and created with more advanced technology, doesn’t.

There are certain plot points in Revenge of the Sith that echo the installments in the original trilogy. For example, Anakin Skywalker undergoes the same temptations that Luke Skywalker went through in the original trilogy, but instead of overcoming these temptations, in Revenge of the Sith, Anakin succumbs to them. Luke and Anakin are foils of each other, both are round, three dimensional characters (in some way Anakin is even more so when the series is seen as ONE six part film), similar in the situations they are placed in, different in their reactions to these situations. For example when tempted to kill the incapacitated Darth Vader in cold blood, Luke does not. But when tempted to kill the incapacitated Darth Tyranus in cold blood, Anakin does. But there is “still good in him” as his conscience continues to function as he regrets his actions, even after taking them.

One aspect of the story of the Star Wars movies brought to full fruition in Revenge of the Sith is the loose, but unmistakable retelling of the Christian prophecies of end times events. In the bible, as in Revenge of the Sith, you have a political leader, in the bible called the Anti-Christ, and in Revenge of the Sith Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who deceives the world (in the case of the bible) or the universe (in the case of Revenge of the Sith), as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, promising and delivering a temporary peace, but only interested in attaining absolute power. Also like in the bible, you have a dark prophet (in the Bible the Prophet of the Anti-Christ) and in Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker who becomes Darth Vader and uses his power to point people to worship and execute the will of a mortal “god-Emperor” an idol of flesh and blood (Palpatine).

And the Bible further describes wolf-in-sheep’s clothing as those who are “self deceived and deceiving others.” there is an element of deception that Anakin succumbs to being one of said deceived by Star Wars’ Anti-Christ, Palpatine.

As in the bible, in the end (by the end of Return of the Jedi) you have redemption and justice as the Anti-Christ is thrown down into a pit of fire, in Return of the Jedi, Emperor Palpatine is thrown down a fathoms deep pit.

This is not a watertight analogy but it does hold some water well enough.

Also Palpatine scoffs the Jedi worldview as “narrow and dogmatic” while by implication he embraces a broad path “broad is the road and wide is the path that leads to destruction.” the Christian scriptures tell us. The Christian scriptures also imply that the Anti-Christ will have a similar broad view of the world, a political mind which will bring, for a brief time worldwide or universal harmony: “Once more the Sith will rule the galaxy and we… will… have… peace.” According to the Bible the Anti-Christ will also create a false and temporary peace, by which many people will be deceived.

Also the similarities of the plot with the story of the Anti-Christ continue as Palpatine commands the execution of “Order 66″to exterminate the Jedi, the Anti-Christ’s number is famously “6-6-6”.

Once he becomes Darth Vader, Anakin says “From my point of view the Jedi are evil.” There is confusion about what is right and wrong. The bible says “Woe to those who call good evil and evil good.”. And sure enough shortly after Anakin says this woe comes to Anakin in the form of having his legs cut off and being badly burned and disfigured.

Really the only, but occasional weaknesses in the film are the acting and dialogue, and although the acting and dialogue are weak in some parts, there are other times when in those same areas the actors and Lucas exhibit brilliance.

Padme is beautiful, but she does not have the unique imprint of Princess Leia or the intriguing rapport and that Princess Leia had win Han Solo. It feels that Lucas rushed through the creation of her character and that Natalie Portman didn’t put the time in to prepare for the role. Perhaps in a remake of the Star Wars series we will see a better version of Padme, time will tell, certainly the broad strokes are there for a great character and potentially a better dynamic between her and Anakin. Padme does however have her moments in the prequel trilogy I can’t deny that. She has some great action scenes and is also convincing in the scene in which she gives birth.

John Williams, again with his gloriously effective use of the leitmotif technique brings back the Emperor’s music from Return of the Jedi here to goose-bump inducing effect during the moment which we see Chancellor Palpatine’s true colors. We also hear the world famous Vader’s theme/The Imperial March at the moment where the Emperor tells him that hereafter he “shall be known as Darth Vader.”

The movie’s moral philosophy is interesting but not consistent.

At one point we learn that the Sith do not deal in absolutes, remember Palpatine rails against the “narrow, dogmatic view of the Jedi.” implying that to the Sith, a morally relativistic view is preferable.

Obi Wan has a momentary rational lapse and contradicts himself when he says “only a Sith deals in absolutes.” because that statement is itself is an absolute.

But I ask if Anakin killing younglings is not absolutely evil then what is?

As pointed out to me by my friend Dennis Baquero many years ago, there is a parallel structure between the scenes of the birth of Darth Vader as we knew him in the original trilogy and the birth of Padme’s two babies:

Both Anakin and Padme are taken to operating rooms. Anakin gets a city-planet’s best medical care and cybernetic engineering, Padme gets medical care from the spare facilities of an outpost hidden on an asteroid. Anakin is in dire straits medically and so is Padme. Vader’s (The Old Hope’s) operating room is dark, Padme’s (carrying in her womb “A New Hope”) operating room is bright. These contrasts are effective and important because they introduce us to the villain of the next three movies and also to its heroes.

Revenge of the Sith is not a perfect movie by any means, no film is, but it is one of the very best Star Wars movies, and it does have elements of greatness beyond its visuals and special effects and extending to its story and plot.