Rate Revenge of the Sith *SPOILERS*

[Animus]

I just got back from seeing it, and I gave it an 8. I felt like the effects were great, the fighting was great, but the dialogue was just too blah to put it any higher. Still, I thought it was better than Eps. I and II of the prequels (which isn't saying much) and an overall comparison right below Empire as the second best movie in the saga. I felt my time was well spent.

 

[stevelabny]

this is insane. people bash and bash phantom menace. which at the very least has one of the best fight scenes in movie history. they think attack of the clones is ok even though its not. and they love this piece of trash?

yikes.

this is the movie where its all supposed to come together...

and it doesnt.

[sblock] it falls flat on its face. the action sequences are lame.
the characters have no motive for anything. the jedi are all revealed to be incredibly stupid (even more so than we suspectd) and they even get taken out in battle in 6 seconds or less. some, by stormtroopers. [/sblock]

can the original author please put the spoiler tag on this thread now so everyone doesnt have to hide their conversation about the movie?

 

[Ruvion]

Just got back from a midnight showing as well (I got dragged into it by friends, but did not come to regret the decision)

I would say it's a solid 7.5, only because of the pace of the movie seemed so quick compared to the other two trash...err...prequels. I would have to agree with others that the other two movies was a long set up for the finale (ie RotS). Wish George Lucas had made the third movie a three part instead (of making the other two).

Personally, I didn't think there was enough screen time spent on Obiwan and Anakin's relationship throughout the prequels and when the two ended up fighting it didn't have nearly the drama provoked by the Luke and Vader fight (of course nothing beats a good father and son duel, but the teacher vs apprentice bout could have had more depth and drama than a regular wrestling smackdown).

 

[Jdvn1]

Yep, midnight showing. I was pretty disappointed, but it looks like I was one of the few.

 

[Shadowdancer]

I gave it a 7 in the poll, but I rounded up -- score should be a 6.5.

 

[WayneLigon]

Just got back from seeing it at a midnight showing. I give it a 6. It tries, but... doesn't quite pull things together. Things are good up until Palpatine force-lightnings Mace Windu, then... things kind of slowly fall apart. The entire end of the film feels somewhat disjoined and anticlimatic. We're not left with a sense that everything everyone has worked for has gone terribly wrong and is going to stay wrong for a very long time. No, it ends with swelling upbeat hopefull-for-the-future music and golden sunsets and you know things are going to turn out OK.

There are good patches but like the other prequels at the end of the day they're just patches. The opening battle, which takes place minutes after the animated microseries ends, is nice. The ruin of Dooku, the banter between Anakin and Obi-Wan, all of it was pretty darn cool.

The maneuverings of the Council and the Chancellor are cool, as you see the gradual slide towards ruin building and building.

Where things started to lose focus for me was where the Chancellor reveals himself to Anakin as a Sith Lord. I.. don't quite beleive the whole period there. To me, there should have been more manipulation, more of a sense that Palpatine has everything under control and has taken every possible action into account as he maneuvers Anakin to take that one last step into the abyss. The whole bit with Padme just seems hamfisted.

We see far too little of the Wookies.

The end of the Jedi, I didn't find any fault with that. Unprepared, caught by surprise, and few of them are the equal of ours heroes to begin with... yeah, I have no problems with that.

The last fight is good.

We see far too little of Vader after the armor comes on. I don't find the bit with Palpatines little revelation at all convincing.

There are little touches here and there. We see Alderan but far too briefly. We find out how Obi-Wan and Yoda cheat death and do the disappearing thing, but it comes totally the hell out of left feild at the last minute. We find out kinda sorta how the Emperor comes to look the way he does, but that I don't understand at all unless it's Mace Windu's blocking the lightning that causes what we see. I might could buy that. We see the Death Star already (it looks) about half-way done. There could be many, many reasons why it takes them 19 years to complete the other half.

I think all in all it's much like the other prequels, with the same amount of like and dislike. Maybe I'll feel better or worse about the film tomorrow, but that's how I feel now at 3:30 in the morning

 

[John Crichton]

Spoilers Abound!

SPOILERS, PEOPLE!!!

I'm going to have to give it a 10.

Does this mean that it is better than or equal to the quality of A New Hope or Empire Strikes Back? No, it certainly doesn't. It is good for it's own reasons. The only problems that I could have had with it fall in the dialogue area but there are exposititory scenes in ALL the Star Wars movies that I could do without so I cannot hold those moments against this film.

It should also be noted that I am biased. Very biased, in fact because there are some hard core geek-out moments that are so good that they make the film all that much more enjoyable. Will these moments stand the test of time like Eps 4/5, I dunno. But things like seeing Captain Antilles onscreen, Anakin and Obi-wan saying goodbye for the last time, the Sith naming cerimony and things like that are just too cool. If I was a girl, I would have been squealing. As it was I was reduced to a bunch of muttered, "no way" and "holy &%$#" comments.

Palpatine's machinations were brilliant. Every time he was onscreen, especially with Anakin, there was the perfect sense of dread and deception that there needs to be in order for the character and plot to work. I really felt that Anakin was trying to do the right thing for most of the first 1/3 of the movie. But his emotions blinded him, just like they should.

All the backplot that we know about from the original trilogy was played out very nicely. When I saw the Corellian Corvette for the first time I freaked. Then the interior shot. Too cool. Of course, the first real good OT vibe was the "lock S-foils into attack position" line in the first few minutes. Really helped make it feel like Star Wars.

I'd go into more drool moments like the duels, the Jedi Purge (OMG!!!), Yoda in general and other action scenes but it would just be that. I must make mention of the final moment of Obi-wan and Anakin's duel. The fight was over and Anakin, cocky and full of power thinks he can out-power his former master. He leaps and gets his friggin legs hacked off, defeating himself. It's funny, but Obi-wan never really beat him in that fight. He beat himself. I thought that was great and right on-pitch with the characters. Well done.

Okay, enough gushing and on to the parts that didn't sit right with me.

Padme dying. I'm actually ok with it but Leia's line in Jedi about remembering her mother resonates differently now. She is remembering a foster mom at that point and not their shared mother. I guess her death has more dramatic weight but it did irk me a bit. Not enough to ruin or lessen the movie, but it still felt odd.

The senate all clapping upon annoucement that the Rupblic was dead and now an Empire. At the time it made no sense, but upon further reflection it is safe to assume that Palpatine has manipulated enough allies into place to make the senate completely loyal to him. It didn't feel right while watching it but after a conversation afterwards I'm okay with it.

And those were really the only points of the movie that didn't work for me. More may pop up on future viewings and the film may not hold up like the greats of the series but right now I am pumped. Episode 3 was dark, depressing, filled with meaningful action and overall a perfect bow to knot the movies together.

And Lucas was right: The first trilogy was certainly more interesting. Actual war is much more entertaining than a political war. If he started the story with Episode I, the rest of the films wouldn't have happened.

 

[fett527]

My feelings are somewhat in between John Crichton and Wayne Ligon. I gave it an 8 of course.

Most of it worked for me. I loved the battle scenes. I thought Grievous was very cool, I was looking for ward to his appearance after watching the Clone Wars cartoon. Teh emperor's machinations were great. Yoda vs. Emperor set against Obi-Wan vs. Vader was awesome! I really liked Hayden's acting much better this time.

Where it didn't work for me:

Chewbacca and Yoda. It was useless and he shouldn't have been added. Didn't like it all.

The one scene I was looking forward to the most, the revealing of Vader in all his black robed glory, was disappointing. I didn't like the dialogue and, even if it fit, I didn't like seeing Vader stumble around. The force crush was cool, but over all this critical scene was a bust for me. Quite honestly this is what took it down to an 8 for me. I wanted something much different from this scene.

But I will see it a handful more times to make sure of my opinions to be sure!

 

[John Crichton]

The one scene I was looking forward to the most, the revealing of Vader in all his black robed glory, was disappointing. I didn't like the dialogue and, even if it fit, I didn't like seeing Vader stumble around. The force crush was cool, but over all this critical scene was a bust for me. Quite honestly this is what took it down to an 8 for me. I wanted something much different from this scene.

But I will see it a handful more times to make sure of my opinions to be sure!

Interesting that the scene in question didn't work for you. It totally rocked me. The Vader helmet-view and seeing for one quick moment that Anakin was a bit scared and didn't like what he had become was telling. Seeing him stumble, like a newborn animal, showed that he had to grow into his new legs and had become a completely different person: no longer Anakin. The scream was chilling and at the same time sad. I could see that this was the same character who from now on took nothing from no one and lived to further his own causes no matter the cost.

I can see how some could see it at cheezy but it really worked for me. Especially considering the scene before it where we see him burning alive and abandoned. And the next thing he learns is that all he lived for, the purpose for his killing rage and sacrifice of morals was for nothing and he failed. Again, and this time worse than before.

Honestly, I can't get that scene out of my head.

 

[Krug]

I thought it was a missed opportunity in not developing Padme's character further.

SPOILER

Spoiler

I thought having a scene where she confronts the Emperor would have been great and added much more depth to the movie. Unfortunately, she's relegated to being a vessel to pop out the twins and the dutiful, sacrificial wife-mother figure.