Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005) | Sci-Fi Saturdays

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Oh Ani, you turned and you fell to the Dark Side.

This movie was a long time coming. Fans had wondered for decades how Anakin Skywalker actually became Darth Vader. Revenge of the Sith tells that tale, and more, as well as setting the stage for events of the Classic Trilogy.

First Impressions

This trailer teases things that fans have been waiting over 25 years to find out including the birth of Darth Vader and the fall of the Jedi. As with any Star Wars film, there will be aliens, space battles, and lightsaber fights, but also a lava planet, Anakin’s corruption by Chancellor Palpatine, and his turn to the Dark Side. It’s the film that bridges the gap between the Prequel Era and the Classic Trilogy. Finally, it’s the Revenge of the Sith.

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

The Fiction of The Film

Three years after the events of Attack of the Clones, war engulfs the galaxy. As a last-ditch effort to win the Clone Wars, the Separatist General Grievous (voice of Matt Wood) has kidnapped the Chancellor of the Republic, Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) board the General’s flagship and encounter Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) guarding the Chancellor. Obi-Wan is injured during the battle so Anakin fights Dooku on his own, again. This time he gains the upper hand and, under the urging of Palpatine, kills the Separatist leader. Anakin rescues Obi-Wan and Palpatine, helping pilot the damaged flagship back to the city-planet of Coruscant.

Anakin steps away from the accolades of his accomplishment to spend a few moments with his secret wife, Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman). She informs him that she is pregnant, which sets off a series of premonitions where he sees Padmé die in childbirth–which makes him anxious. Anakin continues his meetings with Palpatine, who has befriended the young man since the Battle of Naboo. The Chancellor lets the Jedi Knight know that he has gained a position for him on the Jedi Council, which excites Anakin. The Jedi allow this request, but fail to grant Anakin the rank of Master–irritating the “chosen one.”

Anakin meets the Chancellor at a space ballet where the elder man tells the youth the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise–a Sith that was able to master the ability to preserve others’ lives. This intrigues Anakin who would very much like to protect Padmé from the premonitions he has. The Jedi continue to lead the clone troopers on the battlefront as Generals in the waning days of the war, as Yoda oversees a battle against Separatist forces on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. Obi-Wan departs with his clone squad for Utapau to follow up on a report of Grievous in hiding. Anakin believes he should be the one to go on the mission, but he wishes his friend the best nevertheless.

Anakin relates to Padmé that he believes the Jedi Council and Obi-Wan don’t trust him, and that Palpatine is the only one that understands his frustrations. She thinks that Anakin is overreacting, and promises she won’t die giving birth. Obi-Wan discovers Grievous and a droid army hiding on the sinkhole planet, eventually cornering the droid General and killing him with a blaster. Palpatine comes clean to Anakin and admits that he is a Sith Lord who can help Anakin with his fears. Anakin is torn by his duty to the Jedi, and his desire to save his wife. He informs Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) of Palpatine’s true nature, but when the Jedi go to arrest the Chancellor he pulls out his lightsaber and kills all but Windu.

Anakin arrives as Master Windu is about to strike down Palpatine–now injured by his Force Lightning attack that was reflected back upon him. He begs Anakin to help him. Anakin disarms (literally) Mace and Palpatine flings him out the broken window. He grants Anakin the title of Darth Vader and claims the youth is the only one he can trust–being that he is the only Jedi not plotting to destroy him and the Senate. Anakin’s first task is to wipe out all the Jedi at the Temple–including the younglings. Palpatine enables his end-game strategy which is known as Order 66. This code, when delivered to the clone troopers, causes them to turn on their Jedi Generals, killing many of the sect.

Palpatine takes final control in the Senate and announces the formation of the Galactic Empire, which Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) and Padmé (and others) find distressing. Yoda and Obi-Wan return to Coruscant barely surviving the attacks by their clone troops. Obi-Wan stows away with Padmé as she goes to find Anakin on the lava planet of Mustafar, while Yoda attempts to kill Palpatine, now fully embracing his Sith title of Lord Sidious.

Padmé pleads with Anakin to stop this madness, but the Jedi becomes incensed when he sees Obi-Wan on the gangplank of her ship. He Force chokes his wife, believing her now in league with the “evil” Jedi. Obi-Wan and Anakin fight an intense lightsaber battle over the lava fields before Kenobi manages to cut off Anakin’s legs and remaining arm–leaving him to die on the shore of a lava river. Palpatine retrieves the body and encases Anakin in a black armor and life support system. Padmé, injured by Anakin’s attack, is taken to a safe place and gives birth to twins–Luke and Leia. Yoda and Obi-Wan go into hiding, choosing to separate the children in hopes that Anakin will not hunt for them. In the end, Palpatine and Darth Vader look out the window of their ship at a spherical space station now under construction.

“This is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.” – Padmé Amidala

History in the Making

Saying that Revenge of the Sith was an eagerly anticipated story, is like saying its predecessor, Star Wars, was a moderate success. This was the end of George Lucas’s six-part experiment in mythic storytelling within a science-fiction (although really a science-fantasy) environment. And it had been quite a trip. It was begun 30 years prior, in the early 70s, when Lucas sketched out his idea for his interpretation of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth The roots of Revenge of the Sith existed even at that time. As I spoke of in the article on The Phantom Menace, the novelization of Star Wars included a prologue that summarized the Prequel Trilogy. None of the original material detailed the elements that would arise in this film, but the broad strokes of a fall and redemption were in place.

There are elements in this film that fans might recognize from stories or behind-the-scenes accounts of earlier films. In the late 70s and early 80s, during the pre-production for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (which was originally titled Revenge of the Jedi; an element of foreshadowing) ideas arose that would not see the light of day until this film. Concept artist Ralph McQuarrie had designed a castle on a lava planet while working on Empire, which obviously went unused. He would again return to the designs during the pre-production for Jedi depicting a lava cave deep underground where the Emperor would have his lair, and Vader and Luke would duel. At the time, this planet was known as Had Abbadon, but that idea went away after the original drafts of the script. However, the novelization for Return of the Jedi would have a brief description of the duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin, where Anakin falls into a molten pool and has to claw his way back out, becoming Vader in the process–irredeemably dark and scarred. The idea for the lava planet respawned at some point during the Prequel Trilogy, with Lucas choosing to use the idea finally as the planet Mustafar. The concept art for the castle would eventually return as well, becoming Vader’s fortress depicted in the 2015 run of the Darth Vader comics and in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

The road to this finale of the Anakin Skywalker story was long and strange. It began when Star Wars was re-released in 1978 with the subtitle “Episode IV: A New Hope,” and audiences realized that they were in the middle of a film saga. When Lucas conceived of the original idea for his story, it was too grand to make on the budget he was going to be required to adhere to. So he split the story apart and decided to work on the second half–the more exciting half. This eventually was broken apart into three tales, each relegated to its own film. And so audiences got Episodes IV, V, and VI of the serialization. Once word came in the mid-90s that Lucas had started working on more films, fans realized that by starting at Episode I there was only one possible conclusion–Episode III. Not only was it a prequel, which meant that certain characterizations and histories must be adhered to, but it was the keystone piece of the Saga. A story that was a sequel to Attack of the Clones but also the story that set characters up for the opening moments of A New Hope. No easy feat.

So fans celebrated what was to be the final Star Wars film. A complete Saga had been told and tied everything up neatly. Well mostly. Books and comics were still being created that detailed other moments in the Galaxy Far, Far Away. Like what happened during the Clone Wars between Episodes II and III. This was canonized in a series of cartoons, called The Clone Wars, continuing through the recently aired The Bad Batch, which told the various battles and stories that deepened the character of Anakin Skywalker, making his fall to the Dark Side in this film even more traumatic. Of course, that still was not the end of the films. In 2012 the Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm and started a new wave of films that were released between 2015 and 2019. These included three more “core” Skywalker films–The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker, plus two standalone films carrying the “A Star Wars Story” tag–Rogue One and Solo. There are rumors of even further films on the horizon, while Disney rethinks its strategy after (pardon the pun) a lukewarm reception of the final films. For now, the future continues with a number of television shows on Disney+, which include Obi-Wan Kenobi which occurs years after Episode III, but prior to Episode IV, and has Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen return to play the characters they created twenty years ago.

Genre-fication

Any deep dive into the Star Wars films, at least the original six, reveals a series of parallels, motifs, and echoes of scenes, tone, and dialogue. Lucas has often stated that he intended these films to work as poetry, with rhyming elements, or like a symphonic movement where melodies would be repeated by various instruments in different cadences. The fact that he chose to direct the Prequel Trilogy allowed him to cut out the preferences any other director might bring to the film. Structurally Revenge of the Sith works a lot like Return of the Jedi, each being the third film in their trilogy. But while Jedi resolves the overall Saga and ends on a high note, Sith goes low and dark. Each film starts with a rescue mission (one for Palpatine, the other for Han Solo) of which Artoo is an integral part. The characters split up for their individual missions as Anakin seeks out his destiny with Palpatine like Luke having to seek out Vader. For fans who watch the movies in Episode order, many would have to wonder if Luke would befall the same fate as his father. For fans seeing them in release order, the parallels to Vader and Luke’s fight in the showdown with Mace Windu, and to some degree in the Mustafar battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan, are chilling.

The film teases a lot of the mystery behind Anakin’s conception, as the previous films had done. Lucas chose not to come outright and say that Palpatine was the impetus behind Shmi’s pregnancy. But he basically confirms it in this film. Palpatine’s tale of Darth Plagueis and his ability to influence the midichlorians to create life is as clear an indicator of how Anakin came to be as one can get. For fans needing more, a 2012 novel by James Luceno, aptly titled Darth Plagueis details the history of both this ultimate Sith Lord, as well as his apprentice–one Sheev Palpatine from Naboo. There were many other elements of the Prequels that Lucas chose not to delve into–perhaps choosing to leave them for ancillary works in comics or novels, or perhaps running out of time. The mystery of Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, from Episode II springs to mind. He ordered the clone army from the Kaminoans but wasn’t given any canonical reference until an episode in the sixth season of The Clone Wars, years later.

Elements from the other films were definitely in need of being addressed by SIth. Specifically, how it sets the stage for all the characters seen in A New Hope. And for that, Lucas did his due diligence. The movement of characters within the final act of Revenge of the Sith is a chess tournament, and Lucas is the grandmaster. This was no easy task. Anakin must fall to the Dark Side and succumb to injuries forcing him to live out his days in the black armor of Darth Vader. Luke and Leia needed to be born–a surprise to the fans watching this episode before Star Wars, Padmé was pregnant with twins! Both Yoda and Obi-Wan needed to go into exile, with Obi-Wan taking watch over young Luke, who also needed to be in the care of his aunt and uncle. Also, the Death Star should probably be under construction (although it takes almost twenty years to get this battle station in working order, yet Death Star II is up and operational within less than three). Finally, provide some fun nods to the fans with an appearance by Chewbacca (chronologically appearing next in Solo), Grand Moff Tarkin (next in Rogue One), and Captain Antilles, who is reminded to wipe Threepio’s memory so that he doesn’t remember any of the excitement or drama of these films. Everything lines up nicely and neatly for viewers picking up A New Hope next.

Societal Commentary

Once again Revenge of the Sith, as the other prequels before it, relies heavily on the politics of the Republic to fuel the subtext. The overarching theme of the Prequels is the rise of evil and a fascist dictatorship. The films all present an understandable way that evil is allowed to flourish, somewhere between apathy and avarice. Palpatine’s machinations, which are so beautifully orchestrated, seem obvious in hindsight, but blind even those closest to him–or the Jedi whose mandate is to root out the evil of the Sith. Padmé watches as the entire government she dedicated much of her adult life comes crashing down around her. She sees the weak and the fearful, overcome by the greedy and manipulative as liberty dies with, as she puts it, thunderous applause. Lucas’s warnings of smiling deceitful politicians were not based on anything from his imagination. History taught him these lessons, whether it was from the 1940s or the 1970s, the same patterns emerge over and over again–yet many people seem to be blinded to the warning signs. Or perhaps they are too caught up in the emotion of belonging to a group of like-minded people that they miss the obvious signposts that signal history repeating itself for the worse.

Sith uses the personal story of Anakin as a focal point for the one person who is at the fulcrum of the entire galaxy. His personal downfall ends up affecting billions of people, thrusting the Republic into a twenty-plus year-long fall into an Empire. In The Phantom Menace, Yoda warned a young Anakin that, “fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering.” Each of the prequel films took an element of this diatribe as a thematic mandate. Here, Anakin’s hate does lead to suffering. Not just his suffering; alone and miserable in his metal suit, without the woman he loves. But the suffering of the galaxy as the iron fist of Darth Vader, with Palpatine machinating behind him, crushes freedom and opposition from the citizenry.

The Science in The Fiction

Fans of Darth Vader were probably surprised for multiple reasons with this film. Firstly, the character was named while he still looked human. Most people probably equate Vader’s look and his name as coming together. But here we finally learn that Anakin becomes Vader when he had no more than a couple of scars (and a previous robotic arm). His full transformation elicits all the ideas and theories about how he actually became, “more machine than man.” Anakin’s hubris at thinking he could beat his Master quickly became a sobering reality as he lay on the edge of a Mustafar river, burning. In what may be Palpatine’s only act of compassion–in a lifetime of heartlessness–he puts the burned and amputated Skywalker into a med pod and takes the time to transport him back to Coruscant for a series of life-augmenting changes. Audiences witness the pain that Anakin goes through as his mechanical limbs are attached. His hate is the only thing that keeps him alive. And when finally the iconic mask is placed over his face, the transformation from human to cybernetic Sith is complete. At long last the scars that were only glimpsed in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, are given center stage.

This birth of Vader occurs at the same time as the birth of his children. Padmé, injured from Anakin’s force choke, cries as she fights to deliver her children into the world. She is more distressed by the realization that the good person that Anakin was is now gone. It’s as if the galaxy needed to achieve its own balance, as Luke and Leia arrive just as their parents are both dying. Some fans find absurdity in the medical droid’s assessment that Padmé dies of a broken heart. Maybe it’s easier to look at if you realize that the droid actually has no understanding of the emotions being experienced, and is doing its best to explain what it can experience. Her passing does seem to happen too quickly, but the film was already over two hours, and she was a character that was not allowed to survive the final scene. The sequence holds a lot of emotional weight, but still, this moment might have been handled a bit better.

The Final Frontier

It may not seem as big a deal in the 2020s, but the fact that Revenge of the Sith was the first Star Wars film rated PG-13 was a turning point in film. To date, all the Star Wars films had been PG. They were considered family-friendly fare. But the fall of Anakin Skywalker demanded a certain level of darkness to it. Who can forget the shock and twitch of the young Jedi student when Anakin ignites his lightsaber? That’s not something that might have been in a previous Star Wars movie. The on-screen death of numerous familiar Jedi characters and the off-screen death toll in the thousands create the devastation necessary to birth the Empire that would create a weapon that would eventually destroy an entire planet. There was no way that this film could have been rated anything less. But the film’s fans also demanded a greater level of authenticity to the battles and characters. By the time this film was released, many of the film’s core audience was in their 30s or 40s and did not want to revisit the childlike quality of The Phantom Menace. They wanted The Matrix and The Bourne Identity, and luckily this story was able to provide something…darker.

It’s hard to believe that Revenge of the Sith will be celebrating its twentieth anniversary next year. It’s a film that holds high esteem with many fans of the Saga, even those who felt missteps with the previous Prequel films. Surprisingly it still holds up, even more so, with its messages about politicians and demagoguery seeming very fresh indeed. Getting a chance to revisit these characters in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series two years ago was a treat. Ewan really took his portrayal of Alec Guiness’s character to a new level in that series and this film, and Hayden redeemed himself over some of the ham-handed line reading he gave in Attack of the Clones. Arguably the greatest moment in Revenge of the Sith is the birth of Darth Vader, a cinematic legend–who is equated with Frankestein’s monster, with a small (an awkward) homage by Lucas. Who would have imagined that the arrival of one of the greatest villains of all time would be accompanied by such sorrow, pity, and tears? Not just on screen, but audiences worldwide.

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