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Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 science fiction film written and directed by George Lucas. It was the sixth film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology.
The film takes place three years after the onset of the Clone Wars; the noble Jedi Knights are spread out across the galaxy leading a massive clone army in the war against the Separatists. After Chancellor Palpatine is kidnapped, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his former apprentice, now Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, are dispatched to eliminate the evil General Grievous.
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Quotations
All who gain power are afraid to lose it, even the Jedi.
Anakin Skywalker, I was expecting somone with you reputation to be a little...older.
Anakin, let's be fair. Today, you are the hero, and you deserve your glorious day with the politicians.
At an end your rule is, and not short enough it was.
Back away! I will deal with this Jedi slime myself!
Because the Counsel did not trust you, my young apprentice, I believe you are the only Jedi with no knowledge of this plot.
Encyclopedia
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 science fiction film written and directed by George Lucas. It was the sixth film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology.
The film takes place three years after the onset of the Clone Wars; the noble Jedi Knights are spread out across the galaxy leading a massive clone army in the war against the Separatists. After Chancellor Palpatine is kidnapped, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his former apprentice, now Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, are dispatched to eliminate the evil General Grievous. Meanwhile, Anakin's friendship with the Chancellor arouses suspicion in the Jedi Order and proves dangerous to the Jedi Knight himself.
The film was released in theatres on May 19, 2005, and received generally positive reviews from critics, especially in contrast to the previous two prequels. It broke several box office records during its opening week, and went on to earn over $848 million worldwide, making it the second highest grossing film in the Star Wars franchise (not adjusting for inflation). It was the highest grossing film of 2005 in the U.S., the second highest grossing film of 2005 worldwide behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It is also the first and only Star Wars film to be rated PG-13 in the United States, and 12a in the United Kingdom.
Plot
The Galactic Republic is on the verge of collapse as a result of the Clone Wars, which have been waged between the Republic and the Separatists for three years. In a surprise move, General Grievous, commander of the Separatist Droid Army, kidnaps Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and attempts to escape. Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker lead a mission to rescue the Chancellor, who is being held captive on Grievous' flagship. There they confront Count Dooku, who is killed by Anakin in a lightsaber duel. The Jedi free the Chancellor and attempt to escape the battle-torn flagship, but Grievous traps them inside and escapes. Fortunately, the Jedi are able to manage an otherwise soft crash landing on Coruscant. Shortly after returning, Anakin reunites with his wife, Padmé Amidala, who reveals that she is pregnant. Anakin is overjoyed with this news until he begins having recurring nightmares of Padmé dying in childbirth, similar to the visions he had of his mother before she died. Anakin resolves to prevent these visions from coming true.
Meanwhile, the Jedi Council has begun to suspect Palpatine of being corrupt and orders Anakin to spy on him, an order Anakin resents since he has grown rather close to Palpatine. Under Palpatine's influence, Anakin begins to grow distrustful of his fellow Jedi, and is intrigued when Palpatine mentions an ability to prevent death. Obi-Wan is sent to the planet Utapau where he engages and kills General Grievous. Back on Coruscant, Palpatine reveals himself to Anakin as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who has been controlling both sides of the war. Anakin exposes Palpatine to Jedi Master Mace Windu, who engages and subdues Sidious in a lightsaber duel. Believing that Sidious is his only hope to save Padmé, Anakin intervenes and disarms Windu before he can execute Sidious, allowing the Sith Lord to kill Windu. Anakin submits to the dark side of the Force and becomes Sidious' new apprentice, Darth Vader.
Darth Sidious initiates a pre-programmed directive within all clone troopers to kill their Jedi generals, while Anakin kills all the Jedi within the Jedi Temple. Obi-Wan and Yoda are among the few Jedi to survive the extermination and meet up with Senator Bail Organa, who brings them to the Jedi Temple while Sidious, as Palpatine, publicly denounces the Jedi for attempting to overthrow the Republic before reorganizing it into a Galactic Empire with himself as Emperor. Anakin, meanwhile, heads to the volcanic planet of Mustafar where he slaughters the remaining Separatist leaders. Within the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan witnesses footage of Anakin's massacre as Darth Vader. Yoda tells him to confront and kill Vader, as the good man who was Anakin is no more.
Obi-Wan meets with Padmé, who refuses to believe that Anakin has fallen to the dark side. She travels to Mustafar to be with Anakin, with Obi-Wan secretly stowing aboard. Noticing Anakin's new behavior, Padmé realizes that Obi-Wan was telling the truth. Spotting Obi-Wan within her ship, Anakin accuses Padmé of betraying him and uses the Force to strangle her into a coma. Obi-Wan and Anakin engage in a vicious lightsaber duel across the volcanic facility and over a river of lava. Finally, Obi-Wan gains the upper hand and, acting upon an ill-judged attack by Anakin, swiftly dismembers his former comrade. Anakin slides down a bank of volcanic ash and goes up in flames, while Obi-Wan collects his lightsaber and leaves him to die. Obi-Wan escorts the injured Padmé to the asteroid Polis Massa where he regroups with Senator Organa and Yoda, the latter of whom has gone into self-imposed exile after dueling Darth Sidious to a stalemate, while Sidious finds his apprentice barely alive and takes him away to revive him.
Padmé gives birth to twins, a boy named Luke and a girl named Leia, and dies, but not before insisting to Obi-Wan that there is still good in Anakin. Meanwhile, Sidious has Darth Vader rebuilt in a cybernetic body armor and respirator suit to keep him alive. Vader lets out a scream of agony when he is told by Sidious that he himself killed his wife. With Anakin's children the last hope for the galaxy, Obi-Wan, Yoda and Organa agree that they should be hidden and separate from one another. Leia is taken to Alderaan to be raised by Organa, while Obi-Wan takes Luke to Tatooine to live with his in-law relatives.
Cast
- Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi: Obi-Wan is a General for the Galactic Republic and is a Jedi Master who sits on the Jedi Council. He often travels and performs missions with his best friend and former Padawan, Anakin.
- Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader: Anakin has been recently promoted as the youngest ever Jedi Knight to join the council, but was denied the title of 'Master'. However, upon learning of his wife's pregnancy, he begins to have recurring visions of her dying in childbirth. Because similar visions accurately foretold the death of his mother, he swears to himself and his wife to do whatever it takes to stop this.
- Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala: Padmé is Anakin's wife-in-secret; she has recently become pregnant with twins. As Senator of Naboo, she has taken a cautious look at the growing amount of power that is being given to the Supreme Chancellor and her husband's increasingly dark behavior.
- Ian McDiarmid as Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious: As the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Palpatine enacted the start of the Clone Wars against the Separatists. As a result, the Senate has voted him emergency powers and has recently been voting more and more to him. The Jedi Council oppose this, and begin to distrust him. The feeling is mutual for Palpatine, who only confides in Anakin Skywalker, in addition to being an unofficial mentor. In reality, Palpatine is the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious, who finally steps from the shadows to exact the revenge of the Sith using the powers he has accumulated as the Supreme Chancellor to destroy the Jedi Order and the Republic it serves and lure Anakin to his side.
- Frank Oz voices Yoda: The wise old leader of the Jedi Council. He is a friend and mentor to many Jedi. He plays a major role in the Battle of Kashyyyk.
- Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu: Windu is a Jedi Master who sits on the Jedi Council and is also a Jedi General in the Clone Wars.
- Matthew Wood voices General Grievous: Grievous is a fearsome, bad-tempered cyborg and General of the Separatists' droid army. He is the individual responsible for kidnapping Palpatine at the beginning, and he has skill in lightsabre combat, thanks to training from Count Dooku.
- Jimmy Smits as Senator Bail Organa: Organa is a Senator in the Galactic Republic and friend to the Jedi, who grows concerned at the growing power of the Chancellor.
- Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: C-3PO is Padmé Amidala's personal protocol droid created by Anakin Skywalker.
- Kenny Baker as R2-D2: R2-D2 is Anakin Skywalker's astro-droid and good friend and C-3PO's counterpart.
- Silas Carson as Nute Gunray and Ki-Adi-Mundi: Gunray is the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, who is at odds with Grievous and dares to question his leadership. Ki-Adi-Mundi is an old Jedi Knight who sits at the Jedi Council.
- Temuera Morrison as Commander Cody and Clone troopers: Cody and the clone troopers are part of the army for the Republic. As seen in Attack of the Clones, they are the clones of the bounty hunter Jango Fett.
- Christopher Lee as Count Dooku / Darth Tyranus: He is a Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious, Leader of the Separatists, and Grievous' superior, and together they kidnap Palpatine.
- Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca: Chewbacca is a Wookiee who is friends with Yoda, and fights alongside him in the Battle of Kashyyyk.
It was announced in 2004 that Gary Oldman had been approached to provide the voice of General Grievous, however, complications arose during contract negotiations after Oldman learned the film was to be made outside of the Screen Actors Guild, of which he is a member. He backed out of the role rather than violate the union's rules. Matthew Wood, who ultimately voiced Grievous, disputed this story at Celebration III, held in Indianapolis. According to him, Oldman is a friend of Rick McCallum, producer of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and recorded an audition as a favor to him, that was never chosen. Wood, who was also the supervising sound editor, was in charge of the auditions and submitted his audition anonymously in the midst of 30 others, under the initials "A.S." for Alan Smithee. Days later he received a phone call asking for the full name to the initials "A.S." An internet hoax said John Rhys Davies was considered for the role.
Cameo appearances
Lucas makes an appearance at the Coruscant Opera House as a blue faced being named Baron Papanoida who can be seen outside Palpatine's box. It marks Lucas' only appearance in any of the Star Wars films. His three children also appear in cameos: his son, Jett, as a young Jedi-in-training called Zett Jukassa who is killed defending the Jedi Temple against clone troopers; his daughter, Amanda, as a character called Terr Taneel, seen in the security hologram; and daughter Katie as a blue-skinned alien named Chi Eekway, visible when Palpatine arrives at the Senate after being saved by the Jedi, and talking to Baron Papanoida at the Opera House. When Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Palpatine arrive via shuttle to the Senate docks after crash landing on Coruscant, the Millennium Falcon can be seen landing on one of the lower platforms as the shuttle approaches. And while not a direct cameo, it was confirmed in the Revenge of the Sith online text commentary that a growl of Tarfull's in the scene of Yoda's departure from Kashyyyk is actually Itchy's growl from The Star Wars Holiday Special.
Much of the crew also make cameos in the film. Nick Gillard, the stunt coordinator, plays a Jedi named Cin Drallig (his name spelled backward, without the k). Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in the original trilogy), appeared in a speaking role as Captain Colton, the pilot of the Rebel Blockade Runner Tantive IV.
Production
In 1973, Lucas claimed to have written 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 began working on Episode III even before Attack of the Clones was released, offering concept artists that the film would open with a montage of seven Clone War battles. As he reviewed the storyline that summer, however, he says he radically re-organized the plot. Michael Kaminski, in The Secret History of Star Wars, offers evidence that issues in Anakin's fall to the dark side prompted Lucas to make massive story changes, first revising the opening sequence to have Palpatine kidnapped and Dooku killed by Anakin as the first act in the latter's turn towards the dark side. After principal photography was complete in 2003, Lucas made even more massive changes in Anakin's character, re-writing his entire turn to the dark side — he would now turn primarily in a quest to save Padmé from death, rather than the previous version in which that reason was one of several, including that he genuinely believed that the Jedi were evil and plotting to take over the Republic. This fundamental re-write was accomplished both through editing the principal footage, and new and revised scenes filmed during pick-ups in 2004. During production, a large number of fans speculated online about the film's subtitle; rumored titles included Rise of the Empire, The Creeping Fear (which was also named as the film's title on the official website on April Fool's 2004), and Birth of the Empire. Eventually, Revenge of the Sith also became a "guessed title" that George Lucas would later announce to be true. The title is a reference to Revenge of the Jedi, the original title of Return of the Jedi; Lucas changed the title scant weeks before the premiere of ROTJ, declaring that Jedi do not seek revenge.
After the earliest draft of the screenplay was submitted, the art department began designing the various ways that each element could appear on screen. For the Kashyyyk environment, the art department turned to The Star Wars Holiday Special for inspiration. 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, McGregor and Christensen performed their own lightsaber fighting scenes without the use of stunt doubles. The speed at which Anakin and Obi-Wan engage in their duel is mostly the speed at which it was filmed, although there are instances where single frames were removed to increase the velocity of particular strikes. An example of this occurs as Obi-Wan strikes down on Anakin after applying an armlock in the first half of the duel.
Although the first scene filmed was the final scene to appear in the film (shot during the filming of Star Wars Episode II: 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, although practical environments were shot as background footage later to be composited into the film. These included the limestone mountains depicting Kashyyyk, which were filmed in Phuket, Thailand (they were later damaged by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami). The production company was also fortunate enough to be shooting at the same time that Mount Etna erupted in Italy. Camera crews were sent to the location to shoot several angles of the volcano that were later spliced into the background of the animatics and the final film version of the Mustafar planet.
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 Christensen recounted, it was originally intended to simply have a "tall guy" in the Darth Vader costume. But after "begging and pleading" with 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 tall) to look through the mouthpiece of the helmet.
While shooting key scenes, Lucas would often use an "A camera" and "B camera," or the "V technique," a process that involves shooting with two or more cameras at the same time in order to gain several angles of the same performance. Using the HD technology developed for the film, the filmmakers were able to send footage to the editors the same day it was shot, a process that would require a full 24 hours had it been shot on film. Footage featuring the planet Mustafar was given to editor Roger Barton, who was on location in Sydney, Australia cutting the climactic duel. All other footage was forwarded to lead editor Ben Burtt at Skywalker Ranch in California.
The post-production department began work during filming and continued until weeks before the film was released in 2005. Special effects were created using almost all formats, including model work, CGI and practical effects. The same department later composited all such work into the filmed scenes—both processes taking nearly two years to complete. Revenge of the Sith has 2,151 shots that use special effects, a world record.
As the DVD featurette Within a Minute illustrates, the film required 910 artists and 70,441 man-hours to create 49 seconds of footage for the Mustafar duel alone. Members of Hyperspace, the Official Star Wars Fan Club, received a special look into the production. Benefits included not only special articles, but they also received access to a webcam that transmitted a new image every 20 seconds during the time it was operating in Fox Studios Australia. Many times the stars, and Lucas himself, were spotted on the webcam.
Releases
Revenge of the Sith premiered at the Cannes Film Festival (out of competition) on May 15, 2005. Its theatrical release in most other countries took place on May 19 — the same day and month as the release of 1999's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1977's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and 1983's Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi were also released on the same day and month, six years apart). The global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas claimed one week before the premiere that it may have cost the US economy approximately US$627 million in lost productivity because of employees who took a day off or reported in sick. Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a traditional venue for the Star Wars films, did not show it. However, a line of people stood there for more than a month hoping to convince someone to change this. Most of them took advantage of an offer to see the film at a nearby cinema, ArcLight Cinemas (formerly the "Cinerama Dome").
A copy of the movie leaked into peer-to-peer file sharing networks just hours after opening in theaters. The movie was a time-stamped workprint, suggesting it may have come from within the industry rather than from someone who videotaped an advance screening. Eight people were later charged with copyright infringement and distributing material illegally. Documents filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney allege that a copy of the film was taken from an unnamed Californian post-production office by an employee, who later pled guilty to his charges. The illegal copy was passed among seven people until reaching an eighth party, who also pleaded guilty to uploading to an un-named P2P network.
Shortly after the above-mentioned print was leaked, it was released in Shanghai as a bootleg DVD with Chinese subtitles. The unknown producer of this DVD, for unexplained reasons, also elected to include English subtitles, which were in fact translated back into English from the Chinese translation, rather than using the original English script. This translation was particularly inept, translating many characters literally and losing the meaning of words, leading to unintentional humor; the title of the movie, for example, was given as Star War — The third gathers — Backstroke of the West. One error in translation that recurs several times in the film is that the phrase "it seems" was rendered as "good elephant". The mis-translation also caused the vulgar word "fuck" (a mis-translation of "work") to appear three times in the subtitles, and rendered Darth Vader's cry of "Noooooooo" as "Do not want." This last translation error would later be popularized as an internet meme.
Rating
Revenge of the Sith is the only Star Wars film to receive a PG-13 (12A in the UK) rating from the MPAA, officially for "sci-fi violence and some intense images," namely for the scene in which Darth Vader is set aflame. Some critics, including Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper, later responded that the film could be handled by children as long as they had parental guidance, hence a "PG rating". At the same time, Lucas had stated months before the MPAA's decision that he felt the film should receive a PG-13 rating, because of Anakin's final moments and the content of the film being the darkest and most emotional of all six films. All previously released films in the series were rated PG. The PG-13 rating had not existed when the films in the original trilogy were released; however, the films in the original trilogy were later re-submitted to the MPAA due to changes in the re-released versions and once again received PG ratings. When Revenge of the Sith was released in Canada, it was given a PG rating in most provinces, excluding Quebec, where it was rated G. In Great Britain it received a "12A" rating (equivalent to the American "PG-13" rating). In Australia the film was rated M for mature audiences (similar to PG13).
DVD and VHS release
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released on DVD on November 1, 2005 in the United States and Canada, on October 31, 2005 in the United Kingdom and on November 3, 2005 in Australia. It was also released in most major territories on or near the same day. The DVD was a two-disc set, with picture and sound mastered from the original digital source material. Unlike any other films directed by Lucas, Revenge of the Sith was released on DVD without any noticeable alterations from the film's original theatrical cut. The only alteration made was the change of a scene transition near the end, which involved the change from a wipe to a straight cut.
The DVD included a number of documentaries including a new full-length documentary as well as two featurettes, one which explores the prophecy of Anakin Skywalker as the Chosen One, the other looking at the movie's stunts and a of web-documentaries from the Official Website. Like the other DVD releases, included is an audio commentary track featuring Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, animation director Rob Coleman, and ILM visual effects supervisors John Knoll and Roger Guyett. were included with introductions from Lucas and McCallum. An Xbox game demo for Star Wars: Battlefront II along with a trailer for the Star Wars: Empire at War PC game was featured on the second disc.
Also, a special 2-pack exclusive, that was only sold at Wal-Mart stores, included another bonus DVD, The Story of Star Wars.
This release is notable because, due to marketing issues, it was the first Star Wars film never to be released on VHS in the United States. However, the film was released on VHS in Australia, the United Kingdom and other countries in the world.
The DVD was re-released in a prequel trilogy box set on November 4, 2008.
Reaction
Unlike its predecessors, which received mixed reviews, critical reaction towards the film was much more positive, especially in comparison to the first two prequels. Film review site Rotten Tomatoes calculated an approval rating of 79% based on 251 reviews, making it the highest rated out of the prequel trilogy with 63% and 66% received by The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones respectively. The film received a 7.9/10 average rating on the Internet Movie Database out of 145,640 votes (as of August 2008). Some critics considered it the best of the prequels, while other reviewers judged it to be the best Star Wars film since Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. A. O. Scott of The New York Times concluded that it was "the best of the four episodes Mr. Lucas has directed," and equal to The Empire Strikes Back as "the richest and most challenging movie in the cycle". In a 2007 summary of the on Rotten Tomatoes, Revenge of the Sith was placed 51 out of 100, making it the only prequel film in the Star Wars series to earn a ranking.
Much of the criticism for the film was directed towards the dialogue, particularly the film's romantic scenes. Critics and fans alike were quick to jump on such lines as "Hold me, Ani. Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo...where there was nothing but our love..." Critics have claimed this demonstrated Lucas' weakness as a writer of dialogue, a subject with which Lucas openly agreed when receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.
Though many critics and fans saw it as one of the best of the series, or at least, the strongest of the three prequels, some saw it as more or less on par with The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.
Some American neoconservatives criticized the film, claiming it has a liberal bias and is a "weak" commentary on the George W. Bush administration and the Iraq War. Some websites went so far as to propose a boycott of the film. Lucas defended the film, stating that the film's storyline was written during the Vietnam War and was influenced by that conflict rather than the war in Iraq. Lucas did note, however, that "The parallels between Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable".
Box office performance
Revenge of the Sith was released in 115 countries. Worldwide gross for the film eventually reached nearly $850 million — ranking the film second worldwide in 2005, behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The film earned an estimated $16.5 million from 2,900 midnight screenings in North America upon its release. In total, it earned a record $50 million on its opening day. It was surpassed the following year by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest which earned $55.5 million on its opening day.
With only the May 19 earnings, the film broke four box office records: midnight screenings gross (previously held by The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, $8 million), opening day gross (Spider-Man 2, with $40.4 million), single day gross (Shrek 2 with $44.8 million) and Thursday gross (The Matrix Reloaded with $37.5 million). Its single day gross record and opening day gross record were later surpassed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on July 7, 2006, when that movie grossed $55.5 million on its opening day, and midnight screening gross was broken by The Dark Knight on July 18, 2008 with $18.5 million. It still retains its record for Thursday gross, however.
According to box office analysis sites, Revenge of the Sith set American records for highest gross in a given number of days for each of its first 12 days of release except for the seventh and eighth, where the record is narrowly held by Spider-Man 2. On its fifth day it became the highest grossing movie of 2005, surpassing Hitch ($177.6 million). The film earned $158.5 million in its first four-day period, surpassing the previous four-day record held by The Matrix Reloaded ($134.3 million), and joining Spider-Man, The Matrix Reloaded and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as the only movies to make $100 million in three days. In eight days, it reached the $200 million mark (record tied with Spider-Man 2) and by its 17th day, Sith had passed $300 million (surpassing the record of 18 days of Shrek 2). It was eventually the third fastest film (after Shrek 2 and Spider-Man) to reach $350 million.
The film ended its run in American theaters on October 20, 2005, finishing with a total gross of $380,270,577. It ranks 9th in all-time domestic grosses and is the highest-grossing movie of 2005 in the U.S., outgrossing second-place The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by nearly $90 million.
Awards and nominations
Despite being the best reviewed and received film in the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith received fewer award nominations than the previous films. It became the only Star Wars film not to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects; however, it was nominated for Best Makeup (Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley), losing to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It also won "Best Picture" awards at the People's Choice Awards (Dramatic Picture), Saturn Awards (Sci-Fi Film), Empire Awards (Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film), and the Teen Choice Awards (Action/Adventure Movie).
The film did however receive the fewest pre-planned Golden Raspberry Awards nominations: only one, for Christensen as Worst Supporting Actor, which he won. (The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones received seven nominations each, with one and two wins, respectively.) It is the only Star Wars prequel not to receive a Razzie nomination for "Worst Picture". Christensen did, however, win the "Best Villain" award at the MTV Movie Awards.
Deleted roles
Scenes of a group of Senators (including Padmé) planning on organizing an alliance to prevent the Chancellor from receiving any more emergency powers were cut; they featured a young Mon Mothma. They were discarded to achieve more focus on the story of Anakin. Lucas wrote early drafts of the script in which a 10-year-old Han Solo appeared on Kashyyyk, but the role was never cast or shot. The scene where Yoda arrives on Dagobah to begin his self-imposed exile was also cut, but is featured in a deleted scene in the DVD release, though McCallum has stated that he hopes Lucas may add it to the theatrical release when and if he releases a six-episode DVD box set.
Many scenes concerning Jedi deaths during the execution of Order 66 were cut. The deaths of Barriss Offee and Luminara Unduli were either cut from the film or never filmed in the first place. The death scene of Shaak Ti aboard the Invisible Hand (which can be viewed in the DVD deleted scenes section) is considered non-canon, as she was later confirmed to be alive.
Bai Ling filmed minor scenes for the film playing a senator, but her role was cut during editing. She claimed this was because she posed for the June 2005 issue of Playboy magazine, whose appearance on newsstands coincided with the movie's May release. Lucas denied this, stating that the cut had been made more than a year earlier, and that he had cut his own daughter's scenes as well.
Lucas had previously promised to explain the mystery behind the erasure of the planet Kamino from the Jedi Archives setup in Attack of the Clones. This may be viewed as a plot hole; however, Lucas did this in order to focus more on Anakin's story in the film. As a compromise, Lucas permitted author James Luceno to explain the mystery of Kamino's erasure and the origins of the Clone army in his novel Labyrinth of Evil.
Cinematic and literary allusions
Throughout Revenge of the Sith Lucas refers to a wide range of films and other sources drawing on political, military and mythological motifs to enhance the impact of his story. Perhaps the most media coverage was given to a particular exchange between Anakin and Obi-Wan, which led to the aforementioned controversy: "If you're not with me, you're my enemy," Anakin declares. Despite Lucas' insistence to the contrary, The Seattle Times concluded, "Without naming [President George W.] Bush or the Patriot Act, it's all unmistakable no matter what your own politics may be."
Following the march on the Jedi Temple sequence (itself a direct tribute to Sergei Eisenstein's "Potemkin Stairs" montage in The Battleship Potemkin), Lucas' editing schemes during Order 66, the slaughter of the Separatists and the declaration of the Galactic Empire are reminiscent of the montage of massacres during the christening scene of The Godfather, a film directed by friend Francis Ford Coppola.
McDiarmid, Lucas, and others have also called Anakin's journey to the dark side Faustian in the sense of making a "pact with the devil" for short-term gain. Midway in the film, Lucas intercuts between Anakin and Padmé by themselves, thinking about one another in the Jedi Temple and their apartment, respectively during sunset, in a sequence without dialog and complemented by a moody, synthesized soundtrack. Lucas' coverage of the exterior cityscapes, skylines and interior isolation in the so-called "Ruminations" sequence is similar to the cinematography and mise-en-scene of Rosemary's Baby, a film in which a husband makes a literal pact with the devil.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to the film was released by Sony Classical on May 3, 2005, more than two weeks before the release of the film. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices. John Williams was also composer and conductor of the score for the other five films in the Star Wars saga. A music video titled A Hero Falls was created for the film's theme, "Battle of the Heroes," featuring footage from the film and was also available on the DVD.
The soundtrack also came with a collectors' DVD, Star Wars: A Musical Journey, at no additional cost. The DVD, hosted by McDiarmid, features 16 music videos set to remastered selections of music from all six film scores, set chronologically through the saga. This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editors' Picks of 2005 (#83).
Novelization
The novelization of the film was written by Matthew Stover. It includes much more dialogue than the film, including a conversation between Count Dooku and Darth Sidious, where the reader learns Palpatine lied to Dooku about what the Empire would truly be. The novel includes many minor details. For example, during the Battle of Coruscant, Anakin's callsign is Red 5, a reference to Luke's callsign in the climactic battle of A New Hope, and one of the Republic capital ships is commanded by Lieutenant Commander Lorth Needa, who becomes Captain Needa in The Empire Strikes Back. There are also references to the Star Wars: Republic comic book series, such as the Battle of Jabiim (Volume 3). In addition to this, the siege of the Jedi Temple is much more violent and far more graphically explained than the cinematic version.
Some unseen or unheard-of elements to the Revenge of the Sith story were fleshed out in the course of the novel. Such examples include more discussions between Anakin and Palpatine, confirming Palpatine's former master as Darth Plagueis. Not only is Saesee Tiin revealed to be a telepath, but his horn, lost in the Clone Wars, is revealed to have grown back. These are a few examples of many descriptions of characters' feelings and inner narrative. There are even some humorous lines added in, including extra dialogue in the Grievous vs. Obi Wan battle—Grievous explains how he was trained by Count Dooku, and Obi Wan answers, "Ironic; I trained the man who killed him".
Video game
A video game, based on the film, was released on May 5, 2005, two weeks before the film. The game followed the movie's storyline, for the most part, integrating scenes from the movie. However, many sections of the game featured cut scenes from the movie, or entirely new scenes for the game. The style of the game was mostly lightsaber combat and fighting as Obi-Wan or Anakin. It also has a form of multiplayer mode, which includes both "VS" and "Cooperative" mode. In the first mode, two players fight with characters of their choice against each other in a lightsaber duel to the death. In the latter mode, two players team up to combat increasingly difficult waves of enemies.
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