PT Episode III. The best of the prequels or a great entry in the saga?.

ROTS is a great entry, but so are the other two prequel films, imo.

I just recently noticed how ROTS seems to consist of many different and rather independent "blocks". There is the very obvious opening and beginning of the film, which is quite detached from the rest. Secondly, there is the little episode of Anakin "consulting" and somehow re-introducing many of the main players: first Padmé, then Yoda, followed by Obi-Wan and finally Palpatine, who'll also be his "final destination". Then there is the whole Order66/JediPurge sequence being a bit of its own "mini-movie" - much like the Ruminations scene. The very late Birth/Death/Rebirth sequence is another "block" that's strangely familiar to Lucas cinematic origins, if you'd ask me.

The movie, probably more than any of other of the five, appears to be mainly a child of the editing process.

 

It's the best of prequels certainly.

I'm a big fan of the opening rescue of Palpatine (and to think it had a lot of footage cut too). The interplay between palpatine and anakin I really like, but Ive always held the belief that anakins fall happens too quickly, yet that should be the most important part of the whole PT, yet I feel they rushed it because of the pacing and age of anakin in the previous 2 films. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy ROTS as it stands, but I think it could have been even better had it featured more of vader in the suit with anakins fall being better played out and established.

 

I don't think it is the best of the prequels. If you cut out Jar Jar, TPM is probably the best of the prequels. It's certainly the most cinematic.The others including ROTS are like plays basically. The characters just sit on couches and talk to each other the whole movie unless they are spinning around in choreographed fights.

 

It's one of my absolute favorite Star Wars movies, second only to Empire Strikes Back in my book. The story reminds me a bit of Oedipus Rex. By trying to prevent his vision of Padme's death, Anakin ends up causing that very future via the very path he took in attempt to change it. It also reminds me of the psychological term self-fulfilling prophecy. By treating Anakin as someone who cannot be trusted, Mace Windu (and the majority of the Jedi Order) alienates Skywalker. Using this to his advantage, Palpatine sows seeds of doubt about the Jedi when he talks to Anakin. Furthermore, the movie had 5 lightsaber duels, the last of which was one of the best overall duels in the series. The climatic fight of Anakin vs. Obi-Wan had approximately the same pathos that the OT battles had.

I could go on, but yes, Revenge of the Sith is the best prequel and of the best Star Wars movies IMO.

 

Good range of opinions here. Will add more comments later.

 

Both. Actually, IMHO it's the best of all six

 

Certainly the best of the Prequels; nearly the equal to Empire.

In fact, I recommend that everyone watch Sith and Empire back-to-back , sometime. Makes for an interesting experience. In this isolation, they exist as a fairly intimate family tragedy, wherein the children are scarred by the sins and failures of their misguided parents. (And no, I'm not implying this is the proper lens through which to view the Saga.)

 

I like ROTS. I have a few issues with it, particularly regarding Anakin's turn. But overall I like it. The only SW film that I just don't really care for is AOTC.

 

You really need to get off the RLM.

 

Ah! In fairness to -- ugh -- "Prequel_Rubbish", theirs is one of several comments I was going to pick up on shortly and weave into a larger post. I might as well just say what I was planning to say, then, now.

ROTS being "like a play" is one of the the things I like about it. The scenes between Anakin and Palpatine, pre-turn, are almost like a chamber drama. Lucas understates his camera work, makes his remarkable mise-en-scene almost fluidly "part of the background", and lets his actors really act. I think those scenes are brilliant. I equally like the rather chilled-out, slightly languorous quality of the scenes between Anakin and Padme: the authentic sense of subtle things driving the lovers to doom, emotions and possibilities in decay. There is something you can't quite put your finger on about their scenes (no-one say "bad acting" -- at least not until I've finished my post).

And AOTC, while it only contains the one scene between Anakin and Palpatine, is pretty rich in its illustration of the bonds between Anakin and his mentor, and Anakin and his tragic bride. I like the sparse direction: nothing is imposed. The derided fireplace scene, for example, I find very controlled, very lush in a "zen"-like, "uncarved block" sort of way. The cinematography, to me, is nothing short of beautiful in that scene, with the actors' faces lit by the amber flicker of the fire, the sound of the flames softly billowing. And I like how nothing flashy is done with the score there: just some mellow woodwind when Anakin gets up and practically retreats from Padme, burned by her staunch pragmatism, at the end. And then, I just like how idyllic that whole room is with the night-time setting, personally: a soft, delicate eroticism.

There's something quite sophisticated and unflappable about Lucas which shows up in his richer character scenes, in my opinion. He doesn't over-power the camera or try and overwhelm a viewer with gross theatrics or silly embellishments. On the contrary, he seems to engineer scenes in a way that suggests he is attempting to "get out of the way" of his actors, of his characters, and that he is merely studying them, and asking you to study them, like a surgeon with a steady eye. Plus, a further way to read all these moments of "walking and talking" is to reckon that these characters are trapped behind rules and etiquette, and are on a hiding to nothing. Their supposed decorum and sensible manners are not enough to hold back the birth of the Empire; indeed, their strange rituals kind of get in the way and bring it about -- a mass social delusion. We see this happening visually. The prequel trilogy is a meditation.

Now, lightsaber choreography? Shoot, I'd much rather watch balletic samurai psionics than all those dopey sword-slashing scenes in LOTR. There's an elegance, a grace to these men and women with glowing sticks -- their combat is art unto itself.

And blimey, if couch scenes and forced choreography are all you see, you might want to check your prequel DVDs don't have ringworm.

 

My personal fav is ROTS! I'm kind of hoping that changes this year. !!!!!!

 

I just have to laugh when people on here desperately search for some contrived genius behind the way the prequels were shot that the rest of us seemingly missed! It's utterly ridiculous. These long, convoluted musings on the hidden genius of the lighting and so forth blah blah. Save it, ok, and do yourself a favour. It'll never wash and you're only deluding yourselves.

 

Yes, but we can all do better than snide invective, can't we?

This is a discussion board. Things get discussed.

If a topic isn't for you, might I suggest you simply pass over it?

I'm not apologizing for my posts. I love to ramble a bit.

Anyway, I really like the cinematography of all the Star Wars movies, and I also find that the cinematography and intercutting of the prequel movies are horribly underrated.

 

No one should have to apologize for difference in perception. However, snideness doesn't help anyone's position. Those that don't see all the intricacy aren't blind or dumb. Those that do aren't hopeless deluded dreamers. We're simply different. It is okay.

 

well said.

i think most of us focus on some intricacies so we may miss something someone else has seen. I think that can make discussion fun

 

This was very much my first assessment of it when leaving the cinema and it never really felt like a true movie to me for precisely this reason....more a collection of almost disjointed scenes (some admittedly cool though)

To be fair to it there were a lot of things which needed to be included to round off the end of the prequel trilogy while tying it into the start of the original trilogy so it was a tall order to craft a true narrative that weaved it all together seamlessly but it was disappointing for me non the less and my least favourite of all the movies.

This is reflected in my viewing habits. Until the other day I never watched it as a whole since its first dvd release. I'll pick a segment or a scene over the full movie whereas Phantom Menace I'll sit through from start to finish and same with AOTC (Though I normally pick it up somewhere around when they arrive at Tatooine).

After season 6 of Clone Wars I think the fleshing out that the series did made me enjoy and appreciate it much more. Whereas it used to bother me it never felt like a whole, now it felt like watching 6 good episodes of clone wars.

 

Agreed. They all bring something to the table that contribute to the ultimate saga. Could they have been done better? Of course, but what movie couldn't. What's beautiful about SW is you can watch both trilogies seperately and they'll make sense, or you can watch them altogether as a Saga and get a great, impact filled story. ROTS is the best of the prequels without a doubt, but every PT movie contributes to the story.

 

But you can't, you judge what is there and Jar Jar is part of the movie, you can't just exclude him when comparing another movie as a whole. Not to mention that there's tons more wrong than Jar Jar, little Ani in particular being bigger offender. As annoying as Jar Jar is, he is suppoused to be comic relief/goofy character like C-3PO was also created as. Jar Jar just didn't work out so well. But it's not the main character the entire saga is about.

 

My favorite, or the least worst, its TPM. ROTS has to many things that really bothers me. One of this things its the bad acting of Hayden, Nathalie, Samuel and Ian (some parts). There are a lot of other things that i dislike and just i few that i enjoy.

 

I agree at the moment its the best.

 

It is my favorite of the prequels and a fine SW film.

 

The only problem I have with Revenge of the Sith is that the novel is sssooo much better!

 

They can just go into more finer details.

 

No there were some scenes that I think had they been in the movie they would have made the movie go from good to great.

 

Can you name them to me and tell me what happened in them.