Looking back on Star Wars, part 8: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

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Even so, Revenge of the Sith is at its strongest when it does focuses on Anakin, particularly his relationship with Palpatine. In Lucas’ original script, he reveals that Anakin conception was the result of Palpatine manipulating the midichlorians around Shmi Skywalker, thus technically making him Anakin’s father. This ended up being cut, but hints of Anakin’s true parentage remains within Palpatine’s recount of “Darth Plagueis the Wise” during the excellent opera scene. Moreover, this familial-like bond between Anakin and Palpatine gives a whole new context to scenes between Darth Vader and the Emperor from Return of the Jedi.

What’s just as fascinating is how Lucas paints the Jedi Order as being indirectly responsible for Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side. When going to Yoda for help about his visions, Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) gives him Zen-like platitudes. Most of the Jedi Council, particularly Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) are openly distrustful towards him even before his fall to the Dark Side. And while Obi-Wan (who McGregor plays with such perfection that he even sounds like Alec Guinness) considers his former padawan like his younger brother, what Anakin really wanted was somebody he could call a father.

…an uncredited Steven Spielberg helped Lucas direct the Mustafar scene, particularly when it came to the visuals and, according to Brian Jay Jones’ George Lucas: A Life, adding sweat to Anakin and Obi-Wan.

Of course, none of this could have worked as well as it does without McDiarmid’s fantastic performance, who once again shows off his knack for chewing scenery with absolute sincerity. Even when he finally turns into a full-blown cackling Sith Lord–complete with his over-the-top cry of “Unlimited Power!”–it still feels right. Just his role in this movie alone makes a convincing case that Palpatine, not Darth Vader, is the greatest Star Wars villain.

What’s really surprising, however, is the noticeable improvement from Hayden Christensen. Compared to Attack of the Clones, he’s far more confident and relaxed, and (most of the time) doesn’t say his lines with all the emotion of an Amazon Alexa. It also helps that, in preparation for reprising his role, Christensen went into an intense exercise program, which included workouts lasting for “five to six hours” and eating “six [high-protein] meals a day.” In just three months, he gained twenty-four pounds, all of it muscle.

Part of this regimen included more sword training from Nick Gillard. Christensen and McGregor spent two months rehearsing the climactic fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan alone. In addition, an uncredited Steven Spielberg helped Lucas direct the Mustafar scene, particularly when it came to the visuals and according to Brian Jay Jones’ George Lucas: A Life, adding sweat to Anakin and Obi-Wan. There are no stunt doubles during this sequence and, with the exception of a few frame removals, both actors are genuinely moving as fast as they are shown on-screen. The volcanic explosions in the background? Those are real, too, taken from footage of a real volcanic eruption in Italy. The only real flaw in the final duel is that goes on for too long.

Spielberg also helped Lucas with segments of Obi-Wan’s pursuit of General Grievous which ultimately weren’t used in the theatrical cut. But the continuous shot of the space battle over the planet Coruscant which follows the opening text crawl? That breathtaking scene is all Lucas and Industrial Light and Magic. Likewise, the scene of a conflicted Anakin looking out across the planet’s cityscape from the Jedi temple, with frequent match cuts of Padmé doing the same from their apartment. The moment where Anakin is fitted into the iconic Darth Vader armor is all Lucas, too, inspired by The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) and with Christensen himself in the Vader suit (Though perhaps it could’ve done without James Earl Jones’ “No!”).

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Even if Revenge of the Sith doesn’t quite reach the level of the original Star Wars trilogy, it certainly feels more connected to the original trilogy than The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones ever did. Perhaps this is partially why, unlike Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith was a box office hit, becoming the second highest-grossing film of 2005. Then again, fans had plenty of preparation to see it. After all, it’s no coincidence that Lucasfilm released the DVD box set of the original trilogy the year before Revenge of the Sith’s release, which included Hayden Christensen replacing Sebastian Shaw as Anakin’s force ghost.

One also can tell from watching Revenge of the Sith that Lucas put his heart and soul into it. It’s as if he not only knew this would be the last Star Wars movie (or so he thought) but also the last movie he would ever direct. In keeping with this, much of the marketing behind Revenge of the Sith strongly suggested that the “Skywalker Saga” was now complete. Now that Episodes I, II, and III had been made, Lucas claimed that Star Wars had really been about the rise, fall, and redemption of Darth Vader all along. Vader, not Luke Skywalker, was the real protagonist of the six-part epic.

Next. Looking back on Star Wars, part 7: Attack of the Clones (2002). dark

Yet as we all know, this wouldn’t be the last word on Star Wars–not by a long shot. No one could expect that, in another ten years, Star Wars would not only return to the big screen but take off into potentially controversial directions. Although if Revenge of the Sith had remained the last Star Wars movie, it’s a still decent enough note to end on and a fitting complement to Episodes IV through VI.

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