PT Revenge of the Sith Turns 20!

Heading out to theater in a few hours!! Had my Kelllogs Frosted Flakes with ROTS Yoda on front and Anakin &Obi on back (it was actually new Flakes) , 2025 ROTS popcorn bucket and 2005 cup!
And wearing my Revenge of the Brick t-shirt.

I remember helping my former neighbor kid get into SW before ROTS was released. I gave him some figures and borrow the movies. Then one day driving (in my work van) home from work I pulled onto my street and seen him outside his house swinging a double bladed saber on his front lawn lol. His parents must love me lol. It seemed all the neighbor kids got into then and later they all piled into my work van and I took them to see the movie! They all loved it and I hope those memories are cherished with them now 20 years later.

I also remember being at SW Celebration Anaheim 2015 and waiting hours in line to see ROTS and not getting in! So here's my chance to enjoy it again!

 

https://x.com/starwars/status/1915989578546061439

 

Coming back for a brief bit to enjoy vindication. I saw it again, and my father for some reason begged to tag along. To my surprise he was wide awake for the whole thing. He felt it aged very well, and the historical parallels from now and then are certainly helping to keep the lessons from the PT relevant. I am very happy to see the sheer love and happiness from the fans coming to see these films in theaters once more, and it has been a gift to see the toxicity for these films recede. I am no longer a die-hard fan of Star Wars after the Disney acquisition, but it was good to sit in that theater and soak it all in again.

The film will also pass $400 million domestically, so another feather in its cap. Hope you all have a great time in the theaters.

 

Saw it at noon today. Enjoyed it greatly. It's difficult to believe it's been 20 years since I saw it on the big screen the first time. I noticed some parallels to The Phantom Menace that somehow escaped my notice before. Also, a few of the digital human characters looked a little cartoonish at times but the effects hold up well for such an old film. I can't wait to see it again on the 25th anniversary.

 

Spoiler

Anakin Skywalker is the worst baby sitter

 

It was great to get to see it on the big screen again! It's crazy that it's been 20 years! I had a great time, and my wife probably enjoyed the big screen experience even more than I did. Story, plotting, character, and theme make a movie, but still nothing beats seeing a great film on the big screen with incredible picture and sound.

I'm really glad I saw it when I did - Thursday afternoon. I don't like an overcrowded theater, and I especially don't want to hear somebody chomping away on popcorn or talking right next to me. So distracting. Now, however, every weekend showing at the closest theater is 95% sold out, even the smallest screens. So those large crowds are best for ROTS, and my half-filled screening was best for me.

I think all the main actors gave their best performances in this one, especially MacDiarmid. It's great to watch his subtle facial expressions as Chancellor Palpatine as he's playing his mind games with Anakin, and then to see him totally let loose once he's switched to his Darth Sidious persona.

I think the criticism of Hayden's performance is really a holdover from ATOC. I don't think he was great there, and maybe he didn't get the best direction from GL. But he's much better here. There's a slight sense of foreboding or a hint of "menace" that underlies a lot of his scenes, even when he hasn't become angry Anakin. He does have a slightly usual way of talking, sort of like Andrew Garfield. Maybe that rubs some people the wrong way.

I was surprised how well the CGI and practical effects hold up. It really looks better than most films today. (And btw either the LOTR trilogy or this film has the most sophisticated practical effects ever put on film, and with the growing reliance on CGI, that'll likely never change).

What you're getting with this re-release is also higher image quality than the 2005 release. That was 1080, and this has been upscaled to 4K. I don't think that they manually tinkered with the CGI, but even your regular blu-ray player has pretty good technology for upscaling a DVD for blu-ray images. (Upscaling is a computer guided process that fills in the extra pixels so that the new more detailed image doesn't look weird but instead matches the original image, only with better image quality.) When a studio upscales a film from 1080 to 4K they use a far more advanced "AI" program to form the new images, almost always guaranteeing that the 4K image looks better and more detailed than its 1080 antecedent.

Seeing all those extra 4K details on a big Imax-sized screen was great. Also, I think the process improved some of the CGI shots (though for the most part they were really good in the 1st place), like Obi-Wan's Eopi always looked a little wonky to me, and so did his ride on the veradactyl, the leader of the banking clan, and Commander Cody's head inside of his CGI clone trooper suit. Those all looked very realistic to me in this version. The upscaling of the close-ups on Yoda actually maybe hurt it a little. He's a 800 year old green frog dude, and I guess the AI didn't know what exactly to do with that, but the other shots of him are amazingly photorealistic.

I wasn't sure about going. I was kind of thinking -- "what's the point? I've seen this maybe twenty times" -- but I'm really glad I did. And I also hope GL learns just how well his film -- which was so maligned in some corners of the internet (but certainly not here!) -- packed the houses with a new generation of Star Wars fans. "You were right, George. You were right. Tell, Disney, you were right." Star Wars never needed anyone else to save it! You ended it on a high note.

 

Hayden really was caught in a bad place with Anakin. Now whether or not you want to say it was Lucas's directing. Its also fair to say that you have to see what Lucas wanted Anakin to be vs what people wanted to see a young Vader be. And Hayden has said he wanted to replicate the way Vader talked so you could imagine he was a young Vader. But its also clear Anakin isn't meant to be a Young Vader. He is not meant to be someone ready to snap at anytime. He is a guy struggling to deal with his emotions, which is expressed as whiny. While the expectation was he should be dignified in his turn if he was to become Vader.

If you look at Anakin the way he is and not what you feel he should be. its a much better approach.

Good on Hayden for all the love he is getting lately.

 

Agree completely. I think it’s been the burden placed on all new Star Wars after 1983. Things not living up to their personal expectations.

I just left my 2nd viewing of this release. A younger couple was asking theater worker if it would play after this week. I knew it was not. Even though it’s doing bigger business than anyone expected all theaters are already booked after that. We were nostalgic about seeing it at same theater 20 years ago, I asked the guy if he wanted to see my picture with Hayden and Ian from Celebration 2009. He said he wished the Emperor had killed everyone in Episode 9. Because he found all the characters unlikable. I was thinking to myself that sounds so familiar. That is how a lot of people felt about the Prequels. He said he excited about Mandalorian and Grogu. I said I am curious about what they do. My way of hiding lack of enthusiasm. I do not hate the show. Not sure what more can be explored. Also hard to give much personality to a character where the lead actor can be replaced by a stuntman for a whole episode and it makes no difference. Yes I am going off topic and not trying to get into argument. Shows that the diversity of fan expectations and desires is all over the place.

So happy Hayden is finally getting respect he always deserved. I turned 26 20 years ago and always was a fan of him.

Maybe this unexpected box office get Disney to release Obi-Wan to theaters. The 6 episodes. could be released as a marathon. Or 2 episodes a week.

 

I've been having a discussion about this (in RL). I always argue that Luke is just as whiny, no one wants to admit but in some ways he is worse.

So one could even argue that was also maybe another reason Anakin was "whiny" to show why Luke was that way.

 

When I went to see it someone was laughing at the you going scene

 

Fantastic. Seeing it again in the theater was magic. It was thrilling, moving, and everything Star Wars should be. It took me back to 2005. Except this time, I got to enjoy it with my family.

Now is Disney gonna give us a rerelease of The Force Awakens for its 10th Anniversary?

 

I was reading a new review on Vulture that was complimentary to the movie and Hayden. But I had same thoughts as you - isn’t Luke similar. All these years I have wondered why did Anakin need to be... what is right word... leading man? Charming?... go with me here Harrison Ford???!!! It always rubbed me the wrong way that Anakin’s characterization was said to be “fixed” for the Clone Wars cartoon to have traits of Han Solo. Seems to be so misguided. Not every lead character has to fit in a certain box. Also I think there is anti adolescent, anti teenager , anti young adult tread. In the views of Luke and Anakin. Being young and learning and growing is awkward. Not usually looking cool. We all go through it but too many people do not want to see it in fictional characters.

There was a MacGyver reboot a few years ago, I never watched but the lead expressed frustrations with the producers he shared that I will always remember. On original show MacGyver was 35 a fully grown man. For reboot they intentionally made character early to mid 20s. But as show went on they clearly regretted it. A director even shouted to tuck in his shirt because he looked like a little boy. Seriously! As the actor rightly said than they should have hired a 35 year old man.

Call that a reach in comparison. I do not think so. I will turn 47 this summer. I have seen Star Wars from the perspective from many stages in my life. I think a huge aspect of young male characters being called “whiny” is the expectations that young men can not show feelings and have to be either a ladies man or a badass. Anakin only is considered “cool” when he is killing people. Think about that...

 

Hayden made such an impression in his scenes and really shines in this one. I would say he overachieved with the expectations based on his limited experience.
By this time, the actors were use to the green screen and were more relaxed and not overacting.
Went with wife and my 9 year old son. He was introduced to the PT after the OT and about the same time as the ST. He saw ROTS after the first two PT movies plus I did TCW dragging out the more kid friendly parts of SW before ROTS. He was 6 years old turning 7 when he saw it. He enjoyed a lot more as it was his first time seeing it on big screen. The wife loves to recite all the lines and had a good time. I had no idea AMC had a Vader popcorn bucket plus ROTS cups! We asked for the cup and they had just gave away the last one...then the lady grabbed the display cup and handed it to me just as some guy was asking for a cup. After receiving the cup, I turned to find him to see if he wanted it but he was gone. I picked up the Cinemark ROTS art bucket during the week.
In regards to the film, what I picked up on was how beautiful the open larger shots were. This mainly was the opening battle above Coruscant and at night and also during day. Utapau sinkhole shots, and Mustafar.
I do wish they left in the delegation 2000 scenes with Mothma and Qui Gon speaking to Yoda, but time is always a concern.
Anakin's turn is so well done, I'm glad George took more time extending it out as it helps solidify Anakins character better. I know many wanted him to turn earlier so we can see Vader hunting Jedi but that should've been a movie by itself.

 

I’d love to have one. But December is a busy month. I’d watch it doesn’t even need to be December.

 

Been wondering about that. I doubt they would do more than one a year. I still wish they had not skipped Attack of the Clones. I believe they started these anniversary releases with Empire Strikes Back in 2020. Which still happened even with Covid closures. Than Return of the Jedi in 2023, Phantom Menace In 2024. Now this.

I suspect they do not want to compete with new releases either. Hopefully the big box office will lead to them being more open minded. Empire would have made much more if not released same year as Covid.

I have been lucky beyond national re releases. I have seen Episodes 4, 5, 6, and 7 in Milwaukee, WI with live Orchestra in last decade. My local theater has shown original trilogy films timed to May 4th in recent years. So I will see Return of the Jedi next weekend. Curious what they will do next year. Frustrated Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra has not continued with Last Jedi last two seasons. But they have a lot to pick from. Not just other films but other John Williams films too,

 

Yes they 100% don’t which is why they didn’t release this the weekend of May 4th cause it would go up against the thunderbolts

 

As I posted in the "What was the last movie you've seen" thread, I saw it on Friday night. Still a very powerful movie. And it was nice that there was a good crowd to see it. I figure if it goes well, they might just find room to let it run for another week.

 

Saw it tonight. Just wow….the opening battle of Coruscant is so beautiful, exciting and thrilling. And I was so impressed with how well the film has aged graphically. It feels almost right at home with modern 2020s blockbusters. The practical effects and CGI create such an incredible scope of imaginary environments that SW hasn’t replicated since. The action scenes are still phenomenal. The Anakin Vs. Dooku tracking shot is so perfectly executed, the Anakin vs Obi-Wan duel is peak, and Yoda vs Palpatine is just icing on a cake.

This has some of the strongest performances of the whole saga. Everyone really bought their A game. Hayden’s brooding James Dean-esque deconstruction of Vader is perfect and I am so grateful we got this version instead of a cookie cutter, mostly static characterization like TCW. It’s crazy 10 years ago, Adam Driver was being praised for what Hayden was doing 10 years before that.

Ewan and Ian are fantastic too. Really adding the “heroic” and “villainous” elements from their respective characters. Even with limited screentime, I think Natalie does a great job too (that focused shot of her after landing on Mustafar but before seeing Anakin says a lot without any dialogue).

And there’s so much packed into this film. The rise of Vader and the Empire, Clone Wars-era action, Empire vs proto-Rebellion action, political intrigue, swashbuckling adventure, tragedy. If Empire Strikes Back is peak adventure flick, then Revenge of the Sith is peak sci-fantasy where the mythological, larger than life elements of SW really come into play.

We also had a pretty good crowd with men, women (and the children too) and everyone applauded after the film ended. Just a blast to experience this film for the first time in theaters.

 

I think there are a couple factors that would have to happen to make that possible. Reduced to daily or fewer showings to share screens with other movies. That happens when current movies have long runs toward the very end. Or a huge flop which is pulled faster than expected.

See it as many times as you want this week. That might be it. Probably see it 3rd time tomorrow . Or Tuesday night. My theater chain Marcus has reduced prices on everything on Tuesday. I suspect that will be very crowded night for this.

 

I thought it was great that there was the intro by Hayden

 

I just came back from the cinema. It was pretty wizard. I teared up a little bit but I didn't cry because I was too anxious. Best movie at the cinema this year

 

ROTS has locked in 2nd place in the box office with 25.2 million, per Deadline.

This is nothing short of amazing. I’m ecstatic! I wish I could partake in the theatrical fun, but I’ve been fighting a cold for the past few days.

Between this and the continued embracing of the PT in recent Star Wars media, I can’t help but feel…justified. I spent a lot of my time here and elsewhere arguing to the prequels’ quality. I’ve balked at the idea that the masses hated these movies or the notion that Disney would ignore the PT in the wake of the Lucasfilm purchase.

And here we are: Revenge of the Sith out grossed a new release and is one of the biggest re-releases in history, proving that the public loves these movies.

 

Yes it’s a fantastic feeling! Look at my registration date 2002! I remember all the negativity. I was reading these boards even before that actually. It was an endless drum best of every thing in the prequels was horrible. I am a firm believer in the echo chamber effect of people feeling what they are told to feel. Also that many of us who always liked this stuff just did not bother to fight back and said little.

It’s still out there through. A couple of months ago I was listening to Podcast that was not Star Wars at all. All of a sudden host goes into off topic tangent of when did the internet and social media decide Hayden was ever any good.... I stopped and will never listen to them again. They are becoming fewer and fewer. These numbers are great to see!

 

https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/star-wars-revenge-sith-box-office/

Holy crap! Only 3 days since release and it’s already made $42.2 million globally