In today's episode, we’re ranking perhaps the most epic of them all: Revenge of the Sith. It’s safe to say the DotR gang loves this prequel. Though for Charley, it’s more of a love-hate relationship. Don’t worry, he will answer for that! We get into Padme’s pregnancy timeline, Palpatine’s lightsaber, Mace Windu’s terrible attitude, and share a few solid rewrites of our own. Buckle up, and make sure you have the high ground.
“It’s the most perfect space opera out there.” - Brody
It’s the best prequel, hands down. I remember the marketing tagline for this movie was “The saga is complete.” With scenes like Palpatine’s teachings of Darth Plagueis, Anakin and Obi-Wan’s epic duel, Order 66, and the raiding of the Jedi temple, we’re held up in this grand summation of George Lucas’ vision because of the awesome score by John Williams. Brody mentions how brilliant the music for the two duels (Anakin vs. Obi-Wan & Sidious vs. Yoda) really is. The Battle of the Heroes and Duel of the Fates at the same time is a privilege to witness. Amanda and I love the song Padme’s Ruminations as she’s looking on to the Jedi temple and Anikan is looking out to her; they’re both in tears because of what’s about to happen. Charley said it best, “It rips my soul out.”
“I hate this movie just because of the sheer emotional toll that it brings.” - Charley
Charley differs the most from us and a lot of the Star Wars community in terms of enjoying this film. He doesn’t like seeing Anakin’s selfishness, and how big of a cry baby he seemed. He really hates the feeling he gets while watching RotS. Though he did enjoy that it features more R2D2 screams than the other movies; he thinks it’s the best sound in all of the Star Wars universe. He also had to give the technical aspects a 5/5 like everyone else! The practical effects for Palpatine’s deformed face make him so ugly, yet they’re so good. Despite all of his feelings, he said it himself: “It’s a perfect fit” and he ranked it “higher than I want to give it.” Seems like he and Anakin both experience a conflict within. Search your feelings Charley, you’ll come around to loving this film as well.
“Commander Cody is trash.” - Amanda.
Hot Takes
Biggest flaw is the timeline of Padme’s pregnancy.
Padme should’ve had more screen time than Anakin.
Palpatine should’ve taken one of the lightsabers from Mace Windu’s suicide squad.
This is the best Star Wars movie.
Amanda raises a valid point, questioning the timeline of events in line with Padme’s pregnancy. The events of this movie happen too fast for a full-term pregnancy. Or do the midi-chlorians of a Skywalker spawn have something accelerating their growth? This could’ve been solved with a rewrite or epilogue…letting time pass by. Charley also stokes a great hot take by explaining why Padme should’ve had more screen time. Flip the script to understand her more as a hero and Anakin more as the villain. As you get attached to Padme (and allow for a full-term pregnancy), you end up making Anakin more of a true enemy of the audience. And yes, we know Palpatine has two lightsabers from the Clone Wars, but we didn’t have that luxury at the time of this movie, so it didn’t make sense where he got this second red lightsaber to fight Yoda with. I say have him kill Kit Fisto (in a cooler way) and take his lightsaber for some green-on-green action. Or even better, Amanda suggested force grabbing it, igniting, and then turning it red as he holds it! Mind blown. Look at us solving problems with awesome rewrites! Finally, Brody lays a good case for why Revenge of the Sith is the greatest. You should just listen to that part…the stakes are highest.
“You can leave in the younglings getting murdered. It’s fine.” - Charley
individual Rankings
Brody: 24
Christian: 24
Amanda: 22.5
Charley: 21
Overall Score = 91.5
Sure, there were little things that bothered us, but they were just that: little. Brody wasn’t fond of the beginning chase scene with General Grievous. He compared it to The Clone Wars series and the plethora of better intros they rolled out. The banter between Grievous and Anakin was awkward, which made it unintentionally funny. R2D2 spitting oil onto the battle droids didn’t feel right, and we all agreed on the romance again. With lines like “I’m so in love with you” and “so love has blinded you?” it screams “cringe” again. Amanda has it out for Yoda, saying he’s the biggest loser of them all, but we kind of agree. He wasn’t asking the questions he should’ve been asking, and he lost big time. You know who else lost big time? Kit Fisto! Amanda said it best, “they did him so wrong.” She also doesn’t like that every clone trooper was CGI’d, and she thinks team Mace Windu sucks, but we can explain. Mace is an abrasive guy in this film, specifically towards Anakin. He’s a jerk in this movie, but you’ve got to hand it to him; he’s very perceptive. He told Anakin not to come with him for the arrest of Palpatine because he was confused, and look what happened.
“I love Obi-Wan” - Christian
I could write forever on what we all love about this movie, but here are some honorable mentions. Charley appreciates the similarity between Palpatine and Smeagol from Lord of the Rings. In their masks of duality, they both share snide and similar remarks, “watch, soon they’ll ask you to do something questionable.” I like that Lucas made a believable story. It made sense for Anakin to buy into this lie of the dark side (killing younglings). He saw the flaws of the Jedi council making him spy and do shady things. They didn’t grant him the rank of master, which fueled his selfish and relatable lust for power to save the one he loves. Brody loves the meme potential of this movie; it’s so rich! The death of Padme, Boga, wookies on Kashyyyk, Grievous’ four lightsabers, Yoda and Obi-Wan parting ways, all play very well into expanding the lore of this film, which isn’t it’s sole purpose. It even gave us Sidious and his lightsaber for the first time! And we all agree, Ewan McGregor is the MVP of this movie, perhaps even of the prequel trilogy. Even though this movie is highly digitized, it still looks awesome. It’s more fast-paced and entertaining, making every minute worth it.
“Never before, in any of the movies, has the term space opera felt more appropriate than in this movie.” - Brody
It’s hard to look at Revenge of the Sith without the previous two films, as well as the original trilogy. It’s great on its own, but even better as the linchpin for the saga (as Charley said). It encapsulates everything Lucas wanted. It’s like he used this movie as the excuse for making all of its predecessors. Amanda recommends viewing it as a Shakespearean play, rooted in drama. Brody mentions Anakin & Obi-wan’s Battle of the Heros is truly a special moment, further signifying it completely fits the space opera genre. I think it’s the most epic, grande feeling of all the movies. We truly witnessed the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker. That’s why we love Star Wars.
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