Sith Happens

Like most folks who grew up going nuts for The original Star Wars trilogy, from 1977-1983, as first presented by creator George Lucas before he decided to make all those changes not once but twice, I have been quite critical of the prequels. The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones may have been a technical feast for the eyes, but for me those two films in the series, were missing the magic of the the earlier films. Jar Jar Binks anyone? And while I do have a few issues with the way the six part saga wrapped up, Revenge Of The Sith, still satisfies in ways that the other two prequels did not.

As the film opens, three years have passed, the Repulic still finds itself in the grips of the Clone War. Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his aprentice Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) are assigned to rescue Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiamiad) from the evil Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). Upon their successful return to the capital, Palpatine begins to convince Anakin to turn to the dark side of the force and betray the Jedi, in an effort to prevent his beloved Padme (Natale Portman) from dying in childbirth as foretold in his dreams. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan must confront the cyborg General Grievous (Matthew Wood), to stop the war, while Yoda (Frank Oz) aids the Wookies of Kashyyyk.

While some of the problems that plagued Episodes I and II exist here: Groan inducing dialogue, particularly between lovers Padme and Anakin, "I love you","No I love you more", that type stuff. Some of the other dialogue is hampered by stiff direction from Lucas. And there is a few sequences that get weighed down by too much Jedi-candy (Sorry for that). It's thanks to strong performances by Mc Gregor McDiamiad, and Oz, that once again stand out. The way that Anakin becomes Darth Vader is a compelling journey, despite the fact that, we in the audience already know the ultimate outcome of the entire saga. I could totally "geek out" and nit-pick over the continuity goofs , existing between the two trilogies now, but I will not go that far. Suffice to say...any well trained Jedi knows they are there and what they are.

The DVD extras on the this 2 disc set are quite comprehensive, just as they were for every other film in the series, and include the following:

The audio commentary with writer-director George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, animation director Rob Coleman, and ILM visual effects supervisors John Knoll and Roger Guyett is pretty solid and not as tech sounding as you might think. Having someone from the cast join the track would have made it even better. The "exclusive deleted scenes" with introductions by Lucas and McCallum are nice to see, as many involve the formation of the rebellion, but were wisely cut. "Within a Minute" is a 75 minute documentary tracing how every department came together to create the Mustafar battle. "The Chosen One" featurette has Lucas and others exploring the journey of Darth Vader through episodes 1-6. Another featurette called "It's All for Real looks at the stunts of Episode III--wow how cool is that! The set also includes a set of mini-documentaries first presented on the web. Look for a Star Wars Battlefront II trailer and Xbox game demo, as well as the Star Wars Empire at War PC game trailer, composer John Williams "A Hero Falls" music video, poster and print campaign concepts, the prerequisite trailers and TV spots, and a never-before-seen production photo gallery with some really nice pics. The package tops off with DVD-ROM content that includes a free trial of Hyperspace, the ultimate online Star Wars experience. "Easter Egg" hunters should find some hidden content among the menus.

All in all, not a bad way to wrap up the saga of a "galaxy far, far away".