War! The Republic is
crumbling underattacks
by the ruthless Sith Lord, Count Dooku.There
are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere. In a stunning move,
the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the
Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the
Galactic Senate.As
the Separatist Droid Army attempts to flee the besieged capital with
their valuable hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a desperate mission to
rescue the captive Chancellor...
STAR WARS EPISODE III
- REVENGE
OF THE SITH
Star
Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 science fantasy film
written and directed by George Lucas. It was the sixth and final film
released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of internal chronology.
After a fierce battle in
which Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin (Hayden Christensen) join
Republic forces to help free Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid)
from the evil Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) and his minions, Anakin
is drawn into Palpatine's confidence. Palpatine has designs on
expanding his rule, and with this in mind he plants seeds of doubt in
Anakin's mind about the strength and wisdom of the Jedis. Anakin is
already in a quandary about how to reveal to others the news of his
secret marriage to Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) now that
she is pregnant, and visions which foretell her death in childbirth
weigh heavy on his mind.
As Anakin finds himself
used by both the Jedis and the Republic for their own purposes,
particularly after Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) expresses his
distrust of the young Jedi, he turns more and more to the Force for
help, but begins to succumb to the temptations of its dark side.
In 1973, George Lucas wrote
the Star Wars saga's fundamental story in the form of a basic plot
outline. He would later profess that at the time of the saga's
conception, he had not fully realized the details—only major
plot points throughout the series. He transformed his notes
concerning Episode III into a screenplay in 2003 and 2004, in
addition to allowing playwright Tom Stoppard to ghost-rewrite it and
polish its dialogue. After the earliest draft of the screenplay was
submitted, the art department began designing the various ways that
each element could appear on screen. Over a period of months, Lucas
would approve hundreds of designs that would eventually appear in the
film. He would later rewrite entire scenes and action sequences to
correspond to certain designs he had chosen. The designs were then
shipped to "pre-visualization" to create moving CGI
versions known as "animatics". Ben Burtt would edit these
scenes with Lucas in order to previsualize what the film would look
like before the scenes were even filmed.
The pre-visualization
footage featured a basic raw CGI environment with equally unprocessed
CGI characters performing a scene (typically an action sequence).
Steven Spielberg was also allowed to assist both the art and
pre-visualization department's designs for several action sequences
in Revenge of the Sith. Later, the pre-visualization and art
department designs were sent to the production department to begin
"bringing the film out of the concept phase" by building
the various sets, props and costumes. To determine the required sets,
Lucas analyzed each scene with the staff to see which moments the
actors would come in most contact with the set, warranting the set to
be constructed.
During
this time, actors Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor rehearsed
extensively with stunt coordinator Nick Gillard to memorize and
perform their climactic lightsaber duel together. In addition to
performing the scenes as actors, they rehearsed each fight scene
together for months on end.
Like the previous two
prequel films, all lightsaber battles featuring Obi-Wan and Anakin
were performed by the actors themselves without the use of stunt
doubles. As a result of months of practice, the speed at which Anakin
and Obi-Wan engage in their duel is the speed at which it was filmed,
and was not digitally accelerated. However, there are instances where
single frames were removed to increase the velocity of particular strikes.
Although the first scene
filmed was the final scene to appear in the film (shot during the
filming of Attack of the Clones in 2000), principal photography on
the film occurred from June 30 to September 17, 2003. The film was
shot entirely on sound stages at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney.
Revenge of the Sith eventually became the first Star Wars film in
which Anakin Skywalker and the suited Darth Vader were played by the
same actor in the same film. As Hayden Christensen recounted, it was
originally intended to simply have a "tall guy" in the
Darth Vader costume. But after "begging and pleading" with
George Lucas, the Vader costume used in the film was created
specifically to fit Christensen. The new costume featured shoe lifts
and a muscle suit. It also required Christensen (who is 6 ft 1 in or
1.85 metres, while David Prowse is 6 ft 7 in or 2 meters) to look
through the mouthpiece of the helmet.
Critical
reaction towards the film was largely enthusiastic, especially in
comparison to the two previous prequels and many critics and fans saw
it as one of the best of the series, or at least, the strongest of
the three prequels. Some neoconservatives criticized the film,
claiming it has a liberal bias and is a "weak" commentary
on the George W. Bush Administration and the U.S./Iraqi war. Some
websites went as far as to propose a boycott of the film. However,
Lucas defended the film, stating that the film's storyline was
written during the Vietnam War, and was influenced by it instead.
Lucas did note however that "The parallels between Vietnam and
what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable." Still, some saw
echoes of Bush in the film. In one scene, Anakin Skywalker/Darth
Vader tells his onetime mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, "If you're not
with me, you're my enemy." The line is seen as a reference to
Bush's post-Sept. 11 threat "Either you are with us, or you are
with the terrorists."
Other noted parallels of
Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith to the Bush
administration include:
• Sith plot: Seeking
to strengthen security during wartime, Chancellor Palpatine persuades
the Senate to give up civil liberties and elect him emperor for life.
"So this is how liberty dies - to thunderous applause,"
Senator Amidala laments.
• Bush plot: Seeking
to strengthen security after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,
President Bush urged legislators to pass the Patriot Act, which
opponents say infringes on civil liberties.
• Sith's war:
Palpatine starts a war to divert attention from his true political motives.
• Bush's war: Bush
persuades Congress to go to war with Iraq based on evidence that has
now been largely dismissed.
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and/or copyrights of Lucasfilm Ltd., or their respective trademark
and copyright holders.
During
this time, actors Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor rehearsed
extensively with stunt coordinator Nick Gillard to memorize and
perform their climactic lightsaber duel together. In addition to
performing the scenes as actors, they rehearsed each fight scene
together for months on end.
Critical
reaction towards the film was largely enthusiastic, especially in
comparison to the two previous prequels and many critics and fans saw
it as one of the best of the series, or at least, the strongest of
the three prequels. Some neoconservatives criticized the film,
claiming it has a liberal bias and is a "weak" commentary
on the George W. Bush Administration and the U.S./Iraqi war. Some
websites went as far as to propose a boycott of the film. However,
Lucas defended the film, stating that the film's storyline was
written during the Vietnam War, and was influenced by it instead.
Lucas did note however that "The parallels between Vietnam and
what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable." Still, some saw
echoes of Bush in the film. In one scene, Anakin Skywalker/Darth
Vader tells his onetime mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, "If you're not
with me, you're my enemy." The line is seen as a reference to
Bush's post-Sept. 11 threat "Either you are with us, or you are
with the terrorists."
