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intereact!Actors: Ahmed Best, David Bowers (II), Silas Carson, Keisha Castle-Hughes, and Hayden Christensen
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Retail Price (not our price): $19.98
Release Date: 2005-11-01
Theatrical Release Date: 2005-05-19
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 140 minutes
Format: Array
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Discs: 2
Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
1) Amazon.com
Ending the most popular film epic in history, Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith is an exciting, uneven, but ultimately satisfying journey. Picking up the action from Episode II, Attack of the Clones as well as the animated Clone Wars series, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), pursue General Grievous into space after the droid kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). The Star Wars Family Tree (click for larger image) It's just the latest maneuver in the ongoing Clone Wars between the Republic and the Separatist forces led by former Jedi turned Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). On another front, Master Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) leads the Republic's clone troops against a droid attack on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. All this is in the first half of Episode III, which feels a lot like Episodes I and II. That means spectacular scenery, dazzling dogfights in space, a new fearsome villain (the CGI-created Grievous can't match up to either Darth Maul or the original Darth Vader, though), lightsaber duels, groan-worthy romantic dialogue, goofy humor (but at least it's left to the droids instead of Jar-Jar Binks), and hordes of faceless clone troopers fighting hordes of faceless battle droids. But then it all changes.Star Wars Time Line (click for larger image) After setting up characters and situations for the first two and a half movies, Episode III finally comes to life. The Sith Lord in hiding unleashes his long-simmering plot to take over the Republic, and an integral part of that plan is to turn Anakin away from the Jedi and toward the Dark Side of the Force. Unless you've been living under a rock the last 10 years, you know that Anakin will transform into the dreaded Darth Vader and face an ultimate showdown with his mentor, but that doesn't matter. In fact, a great part of the fun is knowing where things will wind up but finding out how they'll get there. The end of this prequel trilogy also should inspire fans to want to see the original movies again, but this time not out of frustration at the new ones. Rather, because Episode III is a beginning as well as an end, it will trigger fond memories as it ties up threads to the originals in tidy little ways. But best of all, it seems like for the first time we actually care about what happens and who it happens to. Episode III is easily the best of the new trilogy--OK, so that's not saying much, but it might even jockey for third place among the six Star Wars films. It's also the first one to be rated PG-13 for the intense battles and darker plot. It was probably impossible to live up to the decades' worth of pent-up hype George Lucas faced for the Star Wars prequel trilogy (and he tried to lower it with the first two movies), but Episode III makes us once again glad to be "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." --David HoriuchiDVD features Say what you will about the new Star Wars films--and plenty has been said already--but the DVDs continue to set the standard for technical excellence. From the opening of the first scene, the Dolby 5.1 EX sound is thrilling, and the picture, transferred directly from the digital source, is fantastic. A commentary track is again provided by a combination of people, including George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, animation director Rob Coleman, and ILM visual effects supervisors John Knoll and Roger Guyett. Lucas admits that the film is political and that he was influenced by Vietnam, but makes no mention of the Bush administration, as is widely speculated. The main documentary on the second disc is probably the most granular DVD feature ever. "Within a Minute: The Making of Episode III" takes 67 minutes to deconstruct one minute of the film, an excerpt of the duel on Mustafar. The idea is to cover all the aspects that go into creating that minute, from writing to set construction to accounting. Fortunately, many of the concepts such as costumes apply to the movie as a whole, but having producer Rick McCallum tell us the importance of food seems a bit overkill. Two other featurettes are "It's All for Real: The Stunts of Episode III," an 11-minute discussion focusing mainly on the lightsaber duels, and "The Chosen One," a 14-minute examination of Darth Vader's evolution over the six films. The six deleted scenes were no great loss from the film but are all worth watching. Natalie Portman in particular gets some much-needed screen time as one of the co-plotters of an anti-Palpatine movement, and an early action scene ties in to the Clone Wars animated series. There's also a 15-part series of 5 to 7 minute Web documentaries on topics such as the creation of General Grievous and Ewan McGregor, and an Xbox sampler of Battlefront II (if you're lucky, you can play as Obi-Wan Kenobi cutting through an army of droids) among other supplements. --David HoriuchiThe Complete Star Wars SagaEpisodes 4-6 Trilogy (widescreen)Episode I: The Phantom MenaceEpisde II: Attack of the ClonesStar Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 1Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 2The Star Wars StoreStills from Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (click for larger images) Anakin turning to the dark side When Wookiees attack Yoda, Jedi master Mr. and Mrs. Vader Saber training with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen The cast2) Description
The Star Wars saga is now complete on DVD with Episode III REVENGE OF THE SITH. Torn between loyalty to his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the seductive powers of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker ultimately turns his back on the Jedi, thus completing his journey to the dark side and his transformation into Darth Vader. Experience the breathtaking scope of the final chapter in spectacular clarity and relive all the epic battles including the final climactic lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan.
Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5
1) Fast shipping [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I trialed the fast shipping option for 30 days and it worked out great for me. Kids love these movies.2) Could have been so much better! [Rating: 3 out of 5]
But then, all three of the prequels were average at best. As you can tell, I'm one of the group that was underwhelmed by the lastest Star Wars trilogy. The first two (Star Wars - Episode I, The Phantom Menace (Widescreen Edition) & Star Wars - Episode II, Attack of the Clones (Widescreen Edition)) had to be endured in the hope that the "The Revenge of the Sith" matches up with the standard set by the first Star Wars trilogy (Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Edition with Bonus Disc). Although better that epidodes 1 & 2, and more intense, it doesn't. The film still leaves you wanting more substance.The Amazon review states "Episode III is easily the best of the new trilogy--OK, so that's not saying much, but it might even jockey for third place among the six Star Wars films." No, sorry. Easily ranks fourth. And to be honest I wasn't a huge fan of episode 6, Star Wars Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983 & 2004 Versions, 2-Disc Widescreen Edition). I felt it had too much of a "muppet" feel to it. But Episode 3 suffers the same issues as 1 & 2, too much dependence on special effects. Way too much. In this type of film do we want great special effects? Absolutely! And Episode 3 succeeds wonderfully. But we don't want the effects to overshadow the main plot or the characters. This is where the movie fails. Time and time again I found myself concentrating on the effects and not paying that much attention to what the characters were doing. But, I guess overall we have to have the series. It wasn't a dud, and therefore a good purchase, if only to round out your Star Wars Collection. When George Lucas originally wrote the plots for Star Wars he actually wrote 9 episodes, and has said time-&-time again that he is not interested to filming episodes 7 - 9. Based on episodes 1 - 3, I think that is a good idea. But if he does eventually choose to do so, let us hope that he will retain only the Executive Producer role and pass the actual film making duties to better directors. People who can take his vision and turn it back into the exciting and wonderful films that the original trilogy was.3) Lucas reminds us.. and himself... that he IS a filmmaker first and foremost [Rating: 4 out of 5]
by dane youssefIt's all over. The saga is complete. Lucas has come full-circle and so has the universe and it's inhabitants. After "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones," Lucas had been accused to selling out on his creation and one of the greatest serial-movies of all time. He had lost the way. Lost his voice. He had become the worst thing an artist can be... a businessman. With all the technology and control in the world... he had become lazy. Unmotivated. Even unimaginative.Being branded just another "businessman" is the worst thing that can happen to an artist. At times, the movie feels unnatural and at times, I would call this one of the best thing Lucas has ever done. But this is truly a movie not to be missed. Ever since I was a little boy, when I first saw Darth Vader, I asked myself, "Is he supposed to be a robot? An alien? Why does he wear that strange suit? It's probably just to make him look scary." For those who've all wondered the same, Episode III answers that and a lot of others. And you will never look at "Star Wars" the same way again. George Lucas seems to be trying to make amends for his later and lesser films, and I for one, think he succeeds wholly here.Lucas totally the gamut totally here and shows the world (just like he did in THX 1138 and American Graffiti) that he is a force to reckoned with, even feared. The force is not merely with him, he is controlling it here.Of course, throughout his whole career and even now, poor Georgie boy has never been able to write so much as a line of realistic dialouge.But I forgive him. Don't we all? When it comes to the creative writing process, there are two schools of thought and different ways to go. those who conjure up great, thrilling worlds (like Mr. Roald Dahl) and those who capture the sparkiling art of conversation (Kevin Smith). The two just don't ordinarily mesh together very well. They just mix like oil and vomit. And Lucas is a dreamer, so we can understand him wanting to do it his way.I don't like to give things away in movies, but really, what's to give away? EVERYONE who has seen "Star Wars" and anyone who's seen any of the first three released chapters knows EVERYTHING COMING. We know that Anikan will convert to the dark side and become Darth Vader. We know that the traitor in the midst is Chancellor Palpatine, who will become the Emperor. And that Padme will bore Luke and Leia. Even in Episode IV, Darth Vader tells us how a showdown between him and Obi-Wan turns out.But to see how it all came to be is just plain shocking and even a little disturbing. There is such cruelty and sadness in this chapter. Haven't we all grown up laughing and smiling and looking to "Star Wars" for fun and upbeat cheer? "Star Wars" has always stood for escapist fantasy. His movies are about visual worlds and dreams, not sparkling, chatty conversation. Lucas pretty much does it all here, so he exposes all his talents and faults clearly. But he is truly a dreamer. Perhaps Lucas wanted to do it all so he could see (and the whole world could as well) just how good he truly is and what good he's at.I truly believe that if Lucas wasn't a filmmaker, Lucas would be that older guy sitting around the campfire telling stories. Old, long forgotten legends of ancient lore and spinning some new ones. Lucas is a dreamer, a homage-payer in his movies. The battles are so amazing, we can forgive everything Lucas has done wrong in his career so far. He creates beautiful galaxies and worlds, especially the planet Mustafar. Another moment comes in a showdown between one of the great Jedi masters and the great Sith masters. Perhaps one of the problems was Lucas has all but done away completely with sets. All of his movies since 1999 are filmed in front of green-screens (or are they called "green-rooms"? I forget). You can finally see why Lucas has abandoned real sets and muppets and locations in favor on green-screens. Finally, after all this time... you've never seen a movie like this! The first-class FX are all seamless. I know that this is all a movie... all actors, sets and props... but Lucas made me forget. Christensen and Portman feel more natural here than they did in "Clones." Probably because their lines here are only half as awkward. And the movie doesn't gloss too much over cheap "romance" scenes. Lucas and his team have NEVER excelled there.Well actually, the dynasty between Han and Leia was worth it's weight in gold. Han and Leia. Hell, Luke and Yoda. But Lucas attempts to handle all of the production of this one (and the earlier two) himself. Some artists are talented and blessed enough to be able to just go into a movie and single-handedly make a masterpiece. Some artists do their best as soloists. (Orson Welles, Edward Burns, Woody Allen, Albert Brooks, etc).Others just... need a helping hand.When Padme' tells Anikan she is pregnant from what they've been doing together (see "Episode II." Or rather DON'T), Anikan seems like this'll get in the way of his becoming a true Jedi knight. Lucas has problems directing dramatic scenes and even more writing them. As for love scenes, Good Lord, he sure as hell can't write them. But a moment where Padme' expresses her pain at where Anikan is headed and we see his reaction....The ending is so sad, so heartbreaking. We have to remember that this is only Episode III of VI. The average American household (or any other country in the world) has Episodes IV-VI waiting for them at home. After Episode III, IV would be good to wash away this downbeat feeling. "Star Wars" has always been a hallmark of childhood fantasy, but in this entry, everyone does a lot of growing-up. You'd think all this reality and contemporary sadness would ruin the memory of "Star Wars." But no. It doesn't ruin "Star Wars." As a matter of fact, it deepens it. This is a movie that needs to be seen by every "Star Wars" fan. This is a movie that needs to be seen by every movie fan. This is a movie that needs to be seen by everyone.Why are you even still reading this? See it NOW.4) Revenge of the Sith [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Perhaps the best of the Star Wars movies. Ewan McGregor rises to a strong Obi-Wan while Hayden Christensen sinks into a sinister Darth Vader. Episode 3 links the trilogies. Anakin goes to the dark side by signing a pact with the devil in hell, a planet of volcanoes. He marries Padme (Natalie Portman). Luke and Leia are their kids, making the younger Portman the mother of older Carrie Fisher. Lucas said this was the end.5) Pleasantly surprised [Rating: 3 out of 5]
Honestly, its more like 3.5 stars. I am not a Star Wars fan, but have seen every movie. Well, even I shocked myself when I found myself liking this movie. Yes its a bit long and the dialogue is still somewhat cheesy. However, the acting definitely improved over the last film. Even Hayden Christensen was much better. I liked the darker tones of the film. I actually felt some emotion towards the characters. The last battle between Anakin and Obi-wan was enjoyable and even emotional. I actually felt sadness for them both. When Obi-wan tells Anakin that he was like a brother to him, I totally believed it. It was a rare poignant moment in Star Wars history. I even felt bad for the corrupted Anakin. I thought it ended well too, despite the scene with the scream heard round the world... Out of all the Star Wars, I actually liked this one the best.