STAR WARS EPISODE 3: THE REVENGE OF THE SITH

[crazyralph]

I just saw the new trailer for E 3 and it looks quite incredible. it looks like there is a fiht between Yod aand the emperror, and and the emperror seems to fightr windu as well. I am excited 2 more months.

[Nation]

just seen the trailer as well.....oh my fucking god! it really looks like the shit has hit the fan in this episode. i think i damn near came in my pants when i saw it and i think that this one is gonna get close to the aceness that is empire. all the ingrediants are there, the mix just needs to be right but if the clips and hints of the emperor/palpatine/darth sidious are anything to go by, he is going to kick 19 shades of jedi ass. the last shot of the trailer (i won't ruin it) is a classic already.

[brockandsable]

Palpatine will definitely be the man in this film.

I'm looking forward to when Mace and posse go to arrest him and he pops out the lightsaber hilt he's got hidden up his sleeve.

Plus Yoda and Sidious going at it in the senate chamber. This is the one all the fans have been waiting for. E3 will make up for the disasters that were Epiosdes I and II.

[Nation]

but i guess that was always going to be the case. the whole reason for the new trilogy has been this one film. the other 2 films were just filler. something to set the stage for this momentous ending. this is what we've all been waiting for and this is what ultimately george lucas will be judged on.

[McKenna]

Okay, Ive seen the long trailer....


*wipes off white sticky stuff on curtain*


yep, that ought to do it!!!!

[stocko]

oh yeah

tickets booked for 8pm showing of episode 3 on may 19th, me, dickie and dickies bitch rule! ;D

[Cactus]

I hate first nights as you get all the rowdy geeks there and I end up punching people and getting thrown out

[Darth Peccatus]

Cactus said:

you get all the rowdy geeks there

Did I mention I'm going on the first night? ;D

Seriously, however; I'm getting even more hyped than I really should be. And I'm an SW fanboy, so that's rather difficult. But like, Hayden Christensen was quoted as saying that he "actually has human dialogue this time", which is definitely good, and they've reconstructed the Tantive IV set, and C3P0 gets the last line in Ep3 (since he got the first line in Ep4, it makes poetic sense in some ways)...ack, spoilers!

[Nation]

and that line is......."oh dear!" or something to that effect.

not fucking happy! picked up a booked titled "the making of revenge of the sith" so the geek in me went "ooooooh!" so i picked it up and flicked through it and it only had the fucking script in it!!! i tried to prise my eyes away but couldn't. i was standing in the middle of hmv with my eyes closed tight holding the open book at arm's length and turning my head away from it. in the end i read the last few pages.

holy fucking shit!!!! all i'm going to say is that drunken conversation me and micko had a few weeks ago, well i'm right and micko owes me £20. fucking jar jar binks a sith! you drunken tool!

[Nation]

okay kids, here's something for you. below is a review of revenge of the sith by none other than kevin "clerks" smith. it appeared on the view askew site and i've copied and pasted it in full. basically lucas invited all the top film makers in the world to the lucas ranch to check out new ways and techniques of filming and new special effect techniques as well and to prove his point, from a technical point of view, or just to plain show off he showed the assembled bunch revenge of the sith in it's entirity. this is what kevin smith had to say. BE WARNED! THERE ARE SPOILERS, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW NOW THEN DON'T READ! NO SERIOUSLY!











"SITH" SPOILERS

You've been warned...

- "Revenge of the Sith" is, quite simply, fucking awesome. This is the "Star Wars" prequel the haters have been bitching for since "Menace" came out, and if they don't cop to that when they finally see it, they're lying. As dark as "Empire" was, this movie goes a thousand times darker - from the triggering of Order 66 (which has all the Shock Troopers turning on the Jedi Knights they've been fighting beside throughout the Clone Wars and gunning them down), to the jaw-dropping Anakin/Obi Wan fight on Mustafar (where - after cutting his legs and arm off, Ben leaves Skywalker burning alive on the shores of a lava river, with Anakin spitting venomous sentiments at his departing mentor), this flick is so satisfyingly tragic, you'll think you're watching "Othello" or "Hamlet".

I saw a gorgeous digitally projected version of the flick, and lemme tell ya': this is a beautiful looking film. The opening space battle sequence is the best in any of the six "Star Wars" movies. Grievous and Kenobi's lightsaber duel is bad-ass, with Grievous rocking four sabers. The Clone Wars end rather early in the flick (about the halfway point), leaving the rest of the film to concentrate on Anakin's turn to the Dark Side, and the resulting slaughter of the Jedi.

Perfect example of how dark shit gets: remember the Younglings - the kid Jedis in training from "Clones"? As a result of Order 66, when Anakin invades the Jedi Temple with an army of Clone Troopers, he enters the Council room to find a gaggle of said younglings hiding behind the seats. They see Anakin and emerge, asking "What should we do, Master Anakin?" The query's met with a stone-cold Anakin firing up his lightsaber. The next time you see the kids, Yoda's sifting through their corpses on the floor.

Yes, it's just that dark - and rightfully so. This is the birth of Darth Vader we're talking about. The only comic moments in the flick are given to R2D2, and while good, they're all pretty few and far between; the order of the day is dark, dark, dark.

Ian McDiarmid and Ewan McGregor steal the show, but Hayden Christensen silences any naysayers who wrote him off as too whiney in "Clones". This is the flick that feels closest to Episodes 4, 5, and 6, because - for the first time since "Return of the Jedi" - there is a clear villain. And for all the shadow-play Palpatine has been upto in the last two flicks, his treachery is about as subtle as John Williams' score in "Sith." Whether he's slowly drawing Anakin toward the Dark Side during an opera/performance art piece with his promise of the Sith's power of life over death, or he's engaged in a balls-to-the-wall lightsaber duel in the Senate with Yoda, his "Little, green friend" (his words, not mine - which I kinda dug, because, interestingly, I think it's the first time anyone's acknowledged that Yoda is green in any of the "Star Wars" flicks), this is the Emperor's movie.

The last fifteen minutes dovetail nicely into Episode 4 (or just plain "Star Wars" for you non-geeks), and the movie is full of link-up moments as well.

- At flick's end, Threepio and Artoo are given to Captain Antilles (with the caveat that the Protocol's memory be wiped).

- The twins, natch, are split up. Leia heads to Alderann with Bail Organa, and Obi Wan hands Luke over to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru (indeed, the closing shot is Owen holding Luke while looking out over the setting suns of Tatooine - mimicking the shot of the adult Luke doing the same in "Star Wars", complete with callback cue from Williams).

- After he succumbs to the Dark Side, Anakin tries to convine Padme that he can overthrow Palpatine, and together, he and Padme can rule the galaxy as husband and wife.

- Vader and the Emperor stand beside a younger Grand Moff Tarkin on the bridge of a Star Destroyer, overlooking the earliest construction stage of the Death Star.

- Yoda telling Obi Wan that, as he heads to Tatooine to hand over Luke and go into exile, that he should spend his time learning to commune with those who've crossed over to the next stage of life, as Yoda maintains he's been doing with Qui Gon (and Ben will later do with both Luke and Yoda, in "Empire" and "Jedi").

- And, hands-down, the best link-up to "Star Wars" moment that I enjoyed the most: Bail Organa and Yoda stepping into the hallway of the Rebel Blockade Runner that opened "Star Wars". Unlike all the high-tech CGI wizardry of the rest of the prequel Trilogy, this is a low-tech looking set, right out of circa '77, and for some reason, it really captured my imagination. I mean, this is the same exact hallway in which we got our first look at Vader, oh so many years ago, and I appreciated the hell out of Mr. Lucas including it - because it really felt like a nod to the hardcores.

Look, this is a movie I was genetically predisposed to love. I remember being eight years old, and reading in "Starlog" that Darth Vader became the half-man/half-machine he was following a duel with Ben Kenobi that climaxed with Vader falling into molten lava. Now, twenty six years later, I finally got to see that long-promised battled - and it lived up to any expectation I still held. I was sad to see the flick end, but happy to know it's not the end of the "Star Wars" universe entirely (I've read stuff about a TV show...).

"Sith" doesn't happen; "Sith" rules.

[brockandsable]

Read the novel, it's full of spoilers.

[Aladdin]

Is there actually a book which is based upon Anakin turning to the darkside?

[brockandsable]

Yeah, it's called Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith the novel.

[Aladdin]

My bad. I didn't know they released the book yet, coz then we would all know what happens, even though we already do, anyway.

[lockjaw]

*bump*

[Aladdin]

Booked tickets for next friday. So excited.

[brockandsable]

One week and counting over here; although I'm afraid I've been a little too spoiled by the novel and the online script.

[Aladdin]

Yeah i've already read the spoilers.

[stocko]

i have heard a few things, but i dont think it will spoil anything!

its gonna be off the hook!

[Nation]

After over twenty years of waiting, I finally got to see the movie that I've been waiting to see ever since I fell in love with movies. The fabled Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith.

The cinema was full of people who seemed to be of the same opinion. Everyone cheered and whooped and had a real good time. This may not seem as special to everyone in the states, but as Nigel from the t.v. show Vids once said "Bloody American audiences...Always clap like fuck!" Over here, it never happens. But everyone was really up for it, before the movie everyone was doing Yoda grunts the way everyone "Wooooo"s at a WWE show. There was a guy who came dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Normally I'd be muttering "fucking geek!" under my breath but this time I couldn't help smiling. When he pulled out a lightsaber, he got a round of applause. Though when he tried to get past me to sit down and I said "These aren't the seats you're looking for." very loudly and everyone laughed, much to his annoyance.

There were no trailers. Just one advert reminding everyone to switch their phones off blah blah blah. The 12a certificate came up and everyone cheered like a bastard. "12a this film is!" came from the Yoda soundalike behind me. Then came the music for 20th Century Fox and everyone amped the cheering up a couple of notches. And then we were into it.

Right, I'll try not to write what happens, I'm just going to try and keep this as basic as possible without ruining it for anyone but I will make mention of a couple of good and bad things that made me go "Whoa!" or made me want to go "GAAAAAAAHHH!".

This is really a film of two halves for me. The first half, mainly because it involved the end of the Clone Wars really just felt like an extention of Attack of the Clones. The space battle at the beginning was amazing. It looked like it had been shot with Lord of the Rings in mind. The way the camera swooped and circled the battlefield. Which isn't a bad thing at all. Star Wars set the standard. Lord of the Rings raised it. This is Lucas trying to get it back. It's a lot more graphic. Ships explode and burning bodies fly off into space. This isn't Phantom Menace. This ain't no film for 8 year olds. There were a few bits in this space battle that I didn't think they needed, for example when Obi-Wan's ship is attacked by drilling droids. I'd rather see more dog-fights. As good as the battle in space looks, and it does look stunning, it doesn't have enough depth to be as good as Return of the Jedi or A New Hope. With those battles there was a sense of importance, this seems to be there to start the film off big.

The lightsaber battles are notched up to 11 throughout. The first battle Obi-Wan/Anakin vs Dooku, what that lacks in action, makes up ten fold in depth. Especially when Dooku realises he's been deceived and used by a watching Palpatine.

Mace Windu vs Palpatine was brutal, nothing fancy just a Jedi Master and Sith Lord fighting hard and stiff (ooh er!) but I did have a feeling throughout that although Mace gives a very good representation of himself, Palpatine was letting him off lightly. But as we all know Palpatine has played everyone like a game of chess. The whole thing from Episode 1 has been one big set up. The standoff at the end reminded me a bit of Reservoir Dogs a bit. Great fight and it now establishes the Jedi as "enemies of the Republic". And this is where the film for me shifts a gear as the shroud of the dark side falls completely.

Obi-Wan vs Grevious, is a nice looking battle but had none of the emotional depth of any lightsaber duel in any of the movies. It does look good but I found myself wishing they would go back to the ever watchable Palpatine. When the saber battle is over and they go at it via transport, Grevious is some sort of disc bike and Obi-Wan on some sort of hybrid of a dog and a dragon, I kind of lost interest a tad. But saying that, a couple of people who I talked about this with really liked this fight. So I guess it's an opinion thing.

By now, Anakin has bowed before Palpatine and took up the name Darth Vader. Palpatine has contacted all the Clone Troopers in the galaxy, fighting the Seperatists alongside the Jedi, and has actioned Order 66. This is where the film gets really fucking dark. The Clone Troopers all turn on the Jedi without the slightest thought let alone remorse and one by one all the Jedi are wiped out and this leave us with the battles involving the two last Jedi and the two remaining Sith.

Obi-Wan vs Anakin. This is the one everyone has wanted to see. Does it disappoint? Well, I only had one problem with it. After seeing Phantom Menace and seeing the duel between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and Darth Maul, I always kind of looked down a bit on Vader/Kenobi's battle in A New Hope. But this battle does two opposing things, it makes their 2nd battle look like a bitter disappointment but at the same time it makes the 2nd battle have more importance and relevance. Confused? This duel needs to be visually great, the story tells itself. And it is fantastic. Their second battle does not need visuals or fancy moves it just tells a story only. And Ep3 duel, while making the Ep4 duel look shabby visually and action wise, increases Ep4's importance. Get me now? Good. Yeah, it's great. At the end it's like fucking Shakespeare as Anakin, although fallen, spits out venom at his former mentor.

Intercut with these epic duel, another duel takes place Yoda/Palpatine. This is more visual and has less importance than Obi-Wan/Anakin's duel but that doesn;t mean that it isn't any good, because its fantastic. A lot of verbal sparring as well as displays of power with the force. Very good and very satisfying.

I've tried to keep it very basic and tried not to ruin anything for you which explains why I've tried to keep it as basic as possible. But this film, and I don't care what anyone says, is not about Darth Vader. He's a product of it. This film is all about Palpatine and ye gods, does he fucking rule?

It's a very sad film, not only because you want Anakin to stop his descent but also because it represents the end of childhood to me. I've grown up with these films and now there are not going to be anymore. And this is why I had an empty feeling when I left the cinema. Is it any good?

[Nation]

Well, I'd break it into 2 halves. The Clone Wars bits I'd give a 7 out of 10. The fall to the dark side half of the film, I'd give a solid 9. Overall, 8.5. Better than Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones by a long shot and beats Return of the Jedi to the 3rd best film of the series.

Well worth checking out and a few niggles aside brings everything together perfectly. It's not the greatest film ever but it more than satisfies and like Empire will probably be a film that you go back to again and again.

[stocko]

8pm tonight my good fellows and i will be in the cnema watching this movie! oh yeah

[eCo]

I was SOOO close to seeing the movie before the release date. What happened was, a few weeks ago this friend of mine who worked in the theaters called me and two other of us up, saying that he could get us to see the movie before it got released, during a test screening. However, he called it off a few days ago, and I really didn't mind. Yeah I had my chance to buy a advance ticket for 12:01 AM today, but unfortunately I couldn't make it . Oh well.

[Aladdin]

12 hours to go for me to watch the film. I'm so damn excited.

[stocko]

stop what ya doing, pull up ya pants, put ya wangs away and go watch this movie!

this rules!