Revenge of the Sith.

Okay, I've seen Episode III twice so far. After a 26-hour camp-out at the AMC, I saw the midnight show there. Then Rie and I went to see it again at the Edwards IMAX in Irvine today at 3:00pm. I thought I should share my thoughts on it.

So, where do I start? I have a hard time writing about the movie, as I'm still in shock about it. This is probably the darkest movie I've ever seen. It makes Empire Strikes Back look like a Shirley Temple movie. I was listening to the Michael Medved show while waiting in line on Wednesday, and the guest host said that no one under 10 years of age should see this movie. My reaction to that was "Oh come on, how bad can it be? It's a Star Wars movie!" I ended up eating my words about 12 hours later, as we all saw just how dark it could be.

I don't want to give anything away, but there was one particularly dark scene that sent everyone in the theater into shock. For a moment, you suspect what might be about to happen but think, no there's no way it could go that far. Then it does. You could hear the collective gasp from the audience, then a thud as everyone's jaw hit the floor in disbelief. Audra and Christine were sitting a couple seats down from me, and I could hear them both start to cry, sort of a muffled whimper. Everyone, and I mean everyone, left the theater with teary eyes. Even Jimmy, one of the toughest, most macho guys I know, said he had misty eyes towards the end. One of Rie's friends from the Orange County Star Wars Society, a middle-aged gentleman, said that he needed a hug afterwards.

But after all that, this is still probably the best Star Wars movie ever, IMHO. The opening action sequence puts the Battle of Endor from Return of the Jedi to shame. The climactic saber battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan makes it look like Darth Maul was playing patty-cake with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, by comparison. I thought the acting was much better in this film, especially the scenes between Anakin and Padmé (but then again, what do I know? I liked Episode II). And Lucas obviously listened to the fans, as Jar-Jar has maybe 10 seconds of screen time, and not a single spoken line. It is a spectacularly good film.

But despite that, I do have to urge extreme caution before viewing it. It is the only Star Wars movie to earn a PG-13, and it's for a very good reason. If you are at all sensitive to violence (Mom), you may not like it. But you should still see it anyways, as it's extraordinarily good, and wraps up the Star Wars saga once and for all. They even tie up every loose thread: where Obi-Wan gets Anakin's saber to give to Luke; why C-3PO doesn't remember plot-critical details, and others.

This last time I watched it, I was remarking just how Tolkien-esque the movie is. The Silmarillion is filled with tales of tragic love, and the romance between Anakin and Padmé could just as easily be between two elves of the Noldorin race. In particular (spoiler alert, but it's not like we didn't know they were coming; highlight to read), Padmé's funeral scene, in the procession, her body is holding the trinket Anaking made for her in Episode I. When I saw that, I thought it could have been taken right out of Tolkien. And indeed, even the way Padmé dies, from pure grief, is the way Tinuviel the elf died, after her love, Beren, was mortally wounded. Additionally, the whole romance reminds me of Maeglin's forbidden love of his cousin, Idril, which eventually led to his downfall and the doom of Gondolin (the last hold-out of the Elves of Beleriand).

You may have heard that Episode III is an anti-Bush movie. They were saying such on the Michael Medved show, and in some newspaper articles I read. This is complete hogwash. While George Lucas has indicated, without naming names, that the movie can be compared to present times, the comparison of Bush to the Emperor is so ludicrous as to be laughable. The two lines that seemed to cause the most offense, Padmé saying "So this is how Liberty dies: to thunderous applause", and when Obi-Wan responds to Anakin's line "You are either with me or you are my enemy", by saying "Only a Sith would think in absolutes" fit in so well with the story and what's going on in the movie that they in no way led me to believe they're talking about current events. I would never have even thought it was supposed to be a stab at Bush but for the fact that Lucas hinted at it.

There was a site that tracked the severed limbs of Star Wars. They essentially rated each movie based off of how many hands got cut off. Empire was the best, with an arm and a hand (Wampa's arm, Luke's hand), and Phantom Menace was the worst, with no lost hands (only a body cut in half). By that reckoning, this is the best movie, with no fewer than four severed hands two severed legs, and a severed head, although I think might have spied two more heads the second time I saw it.

As with the previous two chapters, I listened to the soundtrack before seeing the movie. I always like to do this, because without having seen the movie, the music stands on its own. You have no images attached to particular cues or motiffs, so you're free to let your imagination run wild to fit the music. When I listened to this soundtrack, as with Episode II, I was slightly disappointed. It felt like Williams had "phoned it in", so to speak. Whereas with Episode I, there was a plethora of new and exciting action music, for Episode II, Williams re-used much of the action music from Episode I. The entire final battle, from where the Jedi arrive at the arena, is cut entirely to the final battle music from Episode I. I don't think they even bothered recording a different orchestration or arrangement of it. Episode III is the same way. Except for the absolutely spectacular "Battle of the Heroes" track (which makes Duel of the Fates sound like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star), the rest of the soundtrack has little in the way of new, exciting action music. But watching the film, it's entirely different. The portions of the Episode I soundtrack they did use fit extremely well. During the climax, Duel of the Fates and Battle of the Heroes are cut together seamlessly and highlight the cuts between Anakin vs. Obi-Wan and Yoda vs. Darth Sidious. Also, the end credits track on the soundtrack was taken almost note-for-note from the finale of Episode IV. I felt a little cheated when I heard this, as each movie as yet had its own distinct end credit music that set it apart. Also, when listening to the music before seeing the movie, I thought it was too upbeat and should be darker considering how I thought the film would end. But after seeing the movie, I can see why the upbeat music was used. You need to be reminded that it all has a happy ending. In fact, the only way I could keep from despairing after walking out of the theater was by reminding myself that it all comes out right in the end: Anakin will redeem himself, and the Emperor will be destroyed.

I bought tickets for three different showings of Revenge of the Sith before it came out (the midnight on Thursday, the IMAX showing I saw today, and a digital showing on Sunday). Whereas I saw Phantom Menace 12 times in the theaters, I don't know that I'll see this one again after Sunday. It is hard to sit through at times. This movie also clearly illustrates the difference between a great movie and a likable movie. Whenever I'm asked to rate the Star Wars films from best to worst, I always make sure to make a distinction between a good movie and my favorite movie. By the former scale, I'd say I rank the saga, from best to worst, as III, V, VI, II, IV, I, but by the latter, I have to rank them from my most favorite to least favorite as VI, I, II, IV, III, V.

--EDIT--

Now that I've seen it 3 times, it's getting easier to take. When you know you're about to get socked in the jaw, it's less painful than when you don't see it coming.

Anyways, I've talked with Rie and we both agree that this is the best Star Wars movie, and at least for me, I think I've figured out why.

Over the last few years, I've found that my taste in movies has changed somewhat. I find myself thinking, "to make a good movie better, kill off the main character." There's something about heroic self-sacrifice that I find essential to a great, inspirational, and ultimately objectively-valued story. This all comes from 'The Greatest Story Ever Told', that of Our Lord's incarnation, death, and resurrection, through which man was redeemed. For a movie to mimic this great story somehow elevates it to a higher level of inherent value. This is why I love Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, and Ladder 49. I'm even the only person who liked Star Trek: Nemesis and Matrix Revolutions, and that's due largely to the fact that they kill off Data in the former and both Neo and Trinity in the latter. (On a side note, Data's death in ST:Nemesis is particularly moving because through the entire series, he was trying to become 'more human', and in the end, he finally does come as close as a robot can by commiting a noble, selfless act; something that sets man apart from beast (or machine). )

So anyways, the original Star Wars (IV: A New Hope), did have a little bit of the heroic self-sacrifice (Obi-Wan's death), but for the most part it was escapist fantasy. It had a certain Disnified "and they lived happily ever after" feel to it. As Scott Holleran, reviewer at BoxOfficeMojo.com points out, this is perhaps somewhat necessary, given the other movies of the '70s. In an era of depressing cinema (and world news, for that matter), you need an uplifting, optimistic movie to keep your spirits high.

With Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi, the saga is elevated slightly more, with Vader sacrificing himself to save his son, and thus redeeming himself, (and the rest of the galaxy, from a certain point of view). But this never really felt complete (redeeming himself from what?) and as such, I never held the Star Wars Saga on the same level as stories such as Lord of the Rings.

With the prequels, culminating in Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith, the story of fall, sacrifice, and redemption has been completed. We finally see what Anakin is redeeming himself from through his self-sacrifice at the end of the saga. It's so simple. He was destined to save the galaxy from the evil of the Sith, he failed and joins the Sith, but through the help and love of his son, he turns from evil and fulfills his destiny. It's a monumentally great story.

Another thing about ROTS (also another reason I love it), it's a tragedy, in the most classical sense. Think about it: when was the last time you saw a tragedy? I mean, aside from Shakespeare. What was the last good modern tragedy you saw? For me, that would be Citizen Kane (that's recent). They're not frequently made anymore, understandably so. If you're going to spend $100m on a movie, you're not going to want your audience to walk away hating life.

Once a while ago, when I asked Mom about Shakespeare's Othello, she told me that a characteristic of Shakespeare's tragedies is that the main character is always brought down by his own personal faults. He might otherwise be a very good person, save for one character flaw that turns out to be his undoing. In the case of Othello, it's his jealousy. ROTS, is much the same way. Anakin, at the beginning of the movie, is a good, noble Jedi. Gone (for the most part) is the arrogant, brash youth of Attack of the Clones. But his character flaw, his selfish love of Padmé, turns out to be his undoing. He quickly turns dark, because of this flaw, this fear of losing her, but of course ends up losing her because of his fears. So tragic. So heart-breaking. Such a good movie.

Oh, one more thing, I particularly liked the scene where Anakin is talking to Yoda about his dreams and the fear of losing someone he cares about, and essentially Yoda tells him he needs to practice material detachment. One more way the Jedi are like priests (it can be inferred from AOTC that they take vows of poverty, celebacy, and obedience).