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You've been warned...

- "Revenge of the Sith" is, quite simply, fucking awesome. This is the "Star Wars" prequel the haters have been bitching for since "Menace" came out, and if they don't cop to that when they finally see it, they're lying. As dark as "Empire" was, this movie goes a thousand times darker - from the triggering of Order 66 (which has all the Shock Troopers turning on the Jedi Knights they've been fighting beside throughout the Clone Wars and gunning them down), to the jaw-dropping Anakin/Obi Wan fight on Mustafar (where - after cutting his legs and arm off, Ben leaves Skywalker burning alive on the shores of a lava river, with Anakin spitting venomous sentiments at his departing mentor), this flick is so satisfyingly tragic, you'll think you're watching "Othello" or "Hamlet".

I saw a gorgeous digitally projected version of the flick, and lemme tell ya': this is a beautiful looking film. The opening space battle sequence is the best in any of the six "Star Wars" movies. Grievous and Kenobi's lightsaber duel is bad-ass, with Grievous rocking four sabers. The Clone Wars end rather early in the flick (about the halfway point), leaving the rest of the film to concentrate on Anakin's turn to the Dark Side, and the resulting slaughter of the Jedi.

Perfect example of how dark shit gets: remember the Younglings - the kid Jedis in training from "Clones"? As a result of Order 66, when Anakin invades the Jedi Temple with an army of Clone Troopers, he enters the Council room to find a gaggle of said younglings hiding behind the seats. They see Anakin and emerge, asking "What should we do, Master Anakin?" The query's met with a stone-cold Anakin firing up his lightsaber. The next time you see the kids, Yoda's sifting through their corpses on the floor.

Yes, it's just that dark - and rightfully so. This is the birth of Darth Vader we're talking about. The only comic moments in the flick are given to R2D2, and while good, they're all pretty few and far between; the order of the day is dark, dark, dark.

Ian McDiarmid and Ewan McGregor steal the show, but Hayden Christensen silences any naysayers who wrote him off as too whiney in "Clones". This is the flick that feels closest to Episodes 4, 5, and 6, because - for the first time since "Return of the Jedi" - there is a clear villain. And for all the shadow-play Palpatine has been upto in the last two flicks, his treachery is about as subtle as John Williams' score in "Sith." Whether he's slowly drawing Anakin toward the Dark Side during an opera/performance art piece with his promise of the Sith's power of life over death, or he's engaged in a balls-to-the-wall lightsaber duel in the Senate with Yoda, his "Little, green friend" (his words, not mine - which I kinda dug, because, interestingly, I think it's the first time anyone's acknowledged that Yoda is green in any of the "Star Wars" flicks), this is the Emperor's movie.

The last fifteen minutes dovetail nicely into Episode 4 (or just plain "Star Wars" for you non-geeks), and the movie is full of link-up moments as well.

- At flick's end, Threepio and Artoo are given to Captain Antilles (with the caveat that the Protocol's memory be wiped).

- The twins, natch, are split up. Leia heads to Alderann with Bail Organa, and Obi Wan hands Luke over to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru (indeed, the closing shot is Owen holding Luke while looking out over the setting suns of Tatooine - mimicking the shot of the adult Luke doing the same in "Star Wars", complete with callback cue from Williams).

- After he succumbs to the Dark Side, Anakin tries to convine Padme that he can overthrow Palpatine, and together, he and Padme can rule the galaxy as husband and wife.

- Vader and the Emperor stand beside a younger Grand Moff Tarkin on the bridge of a Star Destroyer, overlooking the earliest construction stage of the Death Star.

- Yoda telling Obi Wan that, as he heads to Tatooine to hand over Luke and go into exile, that he should spend his time learning to commune with those who've crossed over to the next stage of life, as Yoda maintains he's been doing with Qui Gon (and Ben will later do with both Luke and Yoda, in "Empire" and "Jedi").

- And, hands-down, the best link-up to "Star Wars" moment that I enjoyed the most: Bail Organa and Yoda stepping into the hallway of the Rebel Blockade Runner that opened "Star Wars". Unlike all the high-tech CGI wizardry of the rest of the prequel Trilogy, this is a low-tech looking set, right out of circa '77, and for some reason, it really captured my imagination. I mean, this is the same exact hallway in which we got our first look at Vader, oh so many years ago, and I appreciated the hell out of Mr. Lucas including it - because it really felt like a nod to the hardcores.

Look, this is a movie I was genetically predisposed to love. I remember being eight years old, and reading in "Starlog" that Darth Vader became the half-man/half-machine he was following a duel with Ben Kenobi that climaxed with Vader falling into molten lava. Now, twenty six years later, I finally got to see that long-promised battled - and it lived up to any expectation I still held. I was sad to see the flick end, but happy to know it's not the end of the "Star Wars" universe entirely (I've read stuff about a TV show...).

"Sith" doesn't happen; "Sith" rules.

Nice review. Does anyone have an account there? I'd like to know if Qui-Gon's voice is heard.

I´d like to know if those ships at the end were Venators, Imperials or something else....

*drools*

I can't wait to see this movie........

Noice!

yeah no doubt it's gonna kick ass, but surely, he must've had a few gripes about it

i can't wait to hear what the critics will harp on about it

"I've read stuff about a TV show..."

Guys, Kevin Smith is one of us.... If he loves it we're going to also.

Nice!
Wookie Dance Party!!!

Exactly. He's a SW geek to the tenth power, but he's not afraid to criticize either. If he liked it that much, I have a good feeling about it.

very good review, and frakly I believe Mr Smith's words cause hes a fan of the moviews too, even though in his Clerks animated series, he kills Phantom Menace in that mock trial of Dante by puttinj Lucas on the stand and askin for the money back, so hes gonna be honest in his opinion

and after this review, I tell you now, this bodes well for us, and all them whinning little bitches who was basically cryin their homolicious eyes out over how bad Menace and Clones, can finally SHUT...THE...FUCK... UP!!!!!!!

Mass slaughter is more like it.

Well, somebody's gonna call it out, so it might as well be me:

Zero criticisms. Zero.

Kevin tends not to pull his punches, but... it felt political to me, focusing on the positive elements; apparently it's a perfect film - without actually saying so.

Kevin's rumored to be involved with the TV series. This just makes it next to be impossible to be objective, even if you weren't "genetically disposed" to like a film.

The first drop in the bucket of reviews - can't wait to read more!

_Mike

lets keep in mind kevin smith is a huge star wars fan. so this means we'll all love it. it doesnt necessarily mean everyone else will, and im really hoping that this will be the movie that will make people outside our world talk about star wars

He may start mentioning things he didn't like about it as he has time to reflect on it more & sees it again, but the fact that he was so positive right after seeing it is, in my mind, a great sign.

But then for both Ep1 & Ep2 I was pretty happy walking out the first time too, although not gushing, and the annoyances with certain aspects of the films set in with later viewings & reflection.

He should be able to answer if Qui Gon has his voice over. Based on his review and what he mentions about that I'm going to say it's not in the movie. A slight disappointment.

I'm going to be skeptical until I see some more reviews. I don't think he is objective enough to write an honest review. Anyway, it wasn't an actual review so much as a bunch of (old) spoilers slapped together.

It is really nice to see one of my favorite directors talking about how ROTS is great even after a day earlier reading aout him giving the same bitches we fans have been saying about the prequals.This sheds away all doubt.ROTS will be great!

hell yeah!

The review is fucking awesome and Kevin Smith browses here every now then (at least once lol).


http://www.millenniumfalcon.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=3810

http://www.viewaskew.com/theboard/viewtopic.php?t=28741
(It appears you have to be logged in today probably due to the ROTS review.)

And what is more disturbing about this scene, is the younglings come out thinking that Anakin is going to help them but he slaughters them. How evil is that?

I love it!

Granted, He's probably not as likely to be critical as the media.

I'm curious to see what his thoughts are on suited Vader being "born", Mace's death, Dooku's beading, etc.

I'm glad to see Smith likes it, being that he is one of *us.*

Lucas is very smart to let Kevin see the film before most others. He knows Kevin will get on the internet and spread the good word.

Man, you can almost hear him splooging all the keyboard as he wrote that review.

He was being sarcastic, since he's involved, hence the ...

I thought Ebert actually give TPM a pretty positive review, aside from the knock about dialogue.

Does anyone have an account on his message board? I'm curious to see if he made any more comments.

Ebert is not the Ebert he once was. And he's got a real bug up his butt about digital projection, which he hates. I miss Siskel.

Kevin Smith is my hero.

Absolutely. Well said, Hipnotik.

It appears from the review that it has indeed been cut but that the Yoda & Obi-Wan WTF my old master scene has been left in.

There is no such thing as an objective critic. They don't exist. Even if there were critics who judged a movie purely on technical, directorial, and dramatic merit (and I have yet to see that happen fully), they would still have their own standards as to what constitutes good special effects, what good acting looks and sounds like, and what good direction consists of.

No matter how "professional" someone is, they can never be 100% objective because movies are ultimately a subjective art form - just like music, literature, plays, etc. etc. You may hate a song, but that doesn't mean the song sucks. It just means it's not for you. Others may think it's brilliant, and, afterall, it must have meant something to whoever wrote it (unless of course it was a carefully market driven creation designed to cater to specific demographics and make a much money as possible. In which case it may not have mattered to anyone, ever - but even then the original writer of the song usually manages to put something of themselves into it, before it ends up being sold to the highest bidders and commercialized and sung by a half naked female vocalist who, likewise, just wants to make money).

There are going to be people who love it and people who hate it. There are even ardent Star Wars fans who will utterly hate the entire PT (including ROTS) for, ultimately, no other reason than that they don't "get" what Lucas is trying to do, or because they occlude that with their own expectations based on the OT. That's fine. Opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one. Opinions aren't facts though.

The nice thing about reviews like these is that they sometimes let slip with some otherwise unknown information. Apart from those tidbits, the only review that should have any impact on your experience with the movie is your own.

c'mon... I think Kevin deserves a tad bit more respect than Harry Knowles!

I think calling Roger Ebert the most respected film critic is going a bit far. He's got the most media attention, perhaps, but that isn't prestige, per se. It's more of an argument from authority fallacy. Take a film class at your local university: they aren't discussing Ebert's thoughts on a particular subject to help determine it's general merit. They're reading academic publications - those are the ones most respected. Check the New York Review of Books or the New York Times, I believe they write reviews for them sometimes. But hell, I've found the NYT, and especially the Wall Street Journal, tend to hate everything. So what the hell.

Granted, Kevin Smith wrote a rave review of TPM, but so did a lot of people at the time. He's since become more pragmatic about them - check the Empire interview he did in another thread. He's bitching about Star Wars like anyone else! The difference here, in this review, is that he has hindsight. He's formed opinions having seen the previous two, and fessed up to their (perceived) weaknesses. And yet he still seems to have loved ROTS. I think this bodes well for the movie, and it shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

But this is just my opinion.

If it really has been cut, that sucks.

I never understood why reviews are important, esp when it comes to SW.

I dont understand why people are getting paid to fart out their opinions on something thats an artform. Its like music reviews. I mean i have never ever NOT seen a movie because of a review. Either the trailer looks already bad and my own instinct tells me to avoid that particular flick but reviews?

even if there are 100 bad ROTS reviews i will still see the movie.

Too bad i cant find that site which had original ANH and ESB reviews from back then. They are hilarious and show that paid reviewers are just trolls...

- Kevin Smith is reportedly going to work on one of the SW TV series, so his objectivity is in question.

- Kevin Smith gave glowing reviews to TPM and AOTC, so keep that in mind when reading his ROTS review.

However, I think Smith's review is a credible one, not because of what I read in the review, but what he posted afterwards on his messageboards. He says that he likes ROTS much, much more than TPM or AOTC. There is no reason for him to make this comment, unless he truly believes it. If he is trying to stay on Lucas's good side, he would either say that ROTS is as good as the first two prequels, or he would dodge a comparison to the first two films.



The reviews for ROTS will be more important to this SW film, than any other SW film before it.

The first two prequels put a bad taste into the mouth of most non-SW fans. There is a huge swelling of anticipation by SW-fans for ROTS, but there is definite trepidation towards this film with non-SW fans. They are in a wait and see mode. Reviews will have a big effect on getting the non-SW fans to the cinema, as will good word-of-mouth.

Rotten Tomatoes will be a fun site to watch this summer. I am guessing ROTS will average 70 to 75% freshness at Rotten Tomatoes

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/

My post was nuked, but like I said before, his objectivity is certainly in question. He may very well be genuine, and this may very well be a high quality flick, but one has to consider the source. Having any connection to a possible Star Wars TV series brands his review immediately suspect in my mind. The bottom line is that the only review that matters is your own, but I would trust a review from some of you here far more than I would trust this review -- and I think it would be more objective as well.

It's true, Ebert is kind of a clown, but he is more objective (in my eyes) than anyone with a potential financial connection to Lucas. That's just common sense. Whether you agree with the man or not is your prerogative, but there will be much more objective reviews available in the coming days.

I thought that was debunked a long time ago.


And thought differently eventually, yet still says this is heaps better.

So you want the dialogue to be OT-ish? You mean you STILL want it to be bad?

Go watch the OT through your "prequel eyes" and tell me it's not "horrible" in that respect.

It is essentially a fact that the average critic literally doesn't know shit about film and their opinion has no more weight than the average fan. I thought Ebert was the same as any reviewer until when working on a paper for class I came across a review he wrote of Murnau's the Last Laugh in which I found out he actually does know his shit.

But by and large, most critics don't know shit, and base their reviews on the same superficial criteria the average viewer does, aka, is the acting "good". If the acting is decided to be good, then the critic also decides the director is good. Actors and Directors. All that matters to anyone. Meanwhile, DoPs, art designers, screenwriters, etc., etc. all get shafted despite having equally as large roles in deciding the quality of the film.

Everyone is a critic... I've never understood why people regard published critics' opinions so highly...

They are just people with opinions. I never take critics' (ie anyone's) opinion seriously... I form my own opinion when I see the film.

Though, as was said, it is a good thing that Kevin liked this film, rather than hated it... and I do value his opinion because, from what I know of him, we seem to have similar tastes in film.

Very well said (better than I could), and your avatar is hot. Bonus points all around.

I have read the ROTS screenplay. I understand why Smith didnt mention the dialogue. The dialogue in ROTS is just like the dialogue from TPM and AOTC. IMO, the dialogue from the OT is quite different (and better) than the dialogue from the PT. Alot of people around here dont agree with that sentiment, ands thats ok.

I dont expect OT quality dialogue in ROTS. George Lucas simply doesnt have the energy, nor passion to write another great screenplay. However, I do think that ROTS will be the best of the prequels. The movie will inherently have more intensity, the conflicts between the major characters will finally come to a head, and the special effects, because of constantly advancing technology, will be better than any of the other SW movies.

Think of ROTS as you would AOTC, but without the silly love scenes, and add more violent/intense action.

Remember; Kevin Smith may soon be on the Lucasfilm payroll.

Ebert knows his shit and is one of the greatest reviewers of film I've come across. And I don't mean that about his tastes, but his writing--it's flippin' top notch.

However, it still all comes down to opinion with movies. While I've agreed very strongly on some of his raves (we're both major Dawn of the Dead lovers), I've been just as opposed as well (take for instance, Anaconda). As someone said before, you're your own best critic. Read reviews if you want, but take them ALL with a grain of salt.

Go with Ebert. I think he gave Episode 1 3, or 3 and a half I'm not sure. Pretty sure he gave Episode 2 two stars.

Ebert is my go-to guy.

the backlash begins. i dont trust anyone's review but my own. but for a sw fan like smith to say this it gives me hope.

Was Ebert your go-to guy when he gushed on TPM and had a whole show dedicated to how much the movie ruled? Or did he become your go-to guy when his biggest criticism of AOTC was that it was fuzzy on his extra large screen?

Kevin Smith is my go-to guy. I need no one elses opinion. He is a fan like most of us.

Oh yeah, that was his big complaint.

"But as someone who admired the freshness and energy of the earlier films, I was amazed, at the end of "Episode II," to realize that I had not heard one line of quotable, memorable dialogue. And the images, however magnificently conceived, did not have the impact they deserved."

In the end, no critics opinion is going to matter to us. We're all here because of our love for Star Wars. The fact that all of us click on this site and read these topics day in and day out says it doesn't matter. This is the end. For as much as we've been spoiled here, we all know it's a great movie. I'll stand by Kevin's review.

As much as I hate the critics and love hating the critics, I'll be the first to admit that I wish it didn't get critical backlash. Despite how little I give a shit what the critics think, I can't help but wish that as a collective body that they did not set such a negative tone for the response to the prequels.

Does anyone have any doubt that there would be a hugely smaller number of bashers if only the critics weren't so harsh to the prequels? They supply ammo for those ready to nitpick.

I really do want EIII to be well-received w/ the very critics I despise, I can't lie.