PT Why is Revenge of the Sith widely considered the best of the Prequels?

Question above. Why is Episode III widely considered the best of the Prequels and heads and shoulders above Episodes I and II by a good majority of people?

Now please don't take this post the wrong way, I'm not saying Revenge of the Sith is a bad movie (far from it), nor am I trying to take away anyone's love of the film. I still greatly enjoy the film and still think it's a satisfying conclusion to the Prequels and George Lucas' Star Wars Saga. I just don't understand how can like this film but not like the first two Prequels at all, nor do I think Episodes I and II were in anyway a letdown and that this film somehow "saved it" when it didn't need saving to begin with.

For one thing, Revenge of the Sith is not even my favorite film of the Prequels and I consider it to be the weakest film of the PT and arguably the weakest film in George Lucas' Star Wars Saga for real legitimate reasons. And one of those reasons is because I feel Anakin's turn to the Dark Side was rushed and not fleshed out enough. I also think feel the film went a little too far with the action and special effects and that it lacked any truly memorable and iconic witty and quotable lines while the first two Episodes had tons of them and the humor was silly in it as (and not in a good way). I've also never been a big Darth Sidious fan, so I thought Ian McDiarmid really hammed it up when he finally became the Emperor. For me, ROTS was like the Spider-Man 3 of the trilogy in that it had way too much story to cover in one film and relies too much on spectacle to sell it self, whereas the first two Prequels are more like Spider-Man 1 and 2, with Attack of the Clones being Spider-Man 2.

 

I think Revenge of the Sith was so popular, it's because it shows how Anakin became Darth Vader. The first two films simply show him growing up. The third film however answers the big question.

 

ROTS has a lot of great drama that is deserving of its praise amongst fans. Having said that my favorite prequel film is TPM.

 

I've always suspected RotS is liked more out of the prequels because it's the most similar in imagery and tone to the OT. But maybe people like it more because it's better in an absolute way. Personally, I like TPM more, but I've heard the acting and special effects in RotS are better. I can't say. But most everybody agrees RotS has a lot to offer. I still think it's easily the most emotionally gripping Star Wars movie, and that might be the reason why it's the highest rated of the prequels too.

 

Not that this matters to me about whether or not the PT is like the OT, but how in the world is Episode III the Prequel that feels the most like the Originals (ignoring the fact that Chewbecca and army of wookies are in it, we get to see Darth Vader at the end and see Luke and Leia as babies, etc.)? If anything, Revenge of the Sith was the film that felt the least like the Originals and absolutely no similarites whatsoever in the filmaking styles that they were made.

 

I love ROTS but I too have to admit (as I have in the past) to having a bit more affection for TPM and AOTC simply for being more or less their own thing, whereas with ROTS Lucas had more narrative obligations to the OT. But even apart from that, as great a film as ROTS still is, I too can't understand why it's commonly seen as being head and shoulders above the other two, when it's far more like them than it is different. And I actually prefer Christensen's performance in AOTC.

 

Exactly the way I see it. ROTS is probably considered the "best" because it's the dramatic climax of the prequels. From a filmmaking perspective however AOTC is at least equal, if not the better movie, which I personally tend to think. And I also think that Hayden's perfomance in AOTC is pretty good. He gets to play a guy on his way from being good to evil, which must have been pretty difficult for an actor. But this often gets overlooked, and he gets all the criticism for being "wooden" or a "moody teen" or whatever. But I can't honestly think of an actor who could have played the role better.

 

I think this is partly what makes it considered the best prequel.

The writing also feels more comfortable in its storytelling IMO.

 

I disagree. I think the writing was much more comfortable with where it was at in it's storytelling in TPM and AOTC than ROTS. As The_Phantom_Calamari stated earlier, ROTS was the Prequel that Lucas felt the most obligated to make and it showed in the final product.

 

Well I remember it being said for example that the droid factory stuff in AOTC was added later to add more action or something like that? I can't remember. But either way I feel like certain mistakes in the previous films or at least what worked and what didn't were taken into consideration when he wrote ROTS and so a lot of it feels more comfortable.

George found the right balance of what the film needed by 3 IMO.

 

But that's part of it. That's what I meant by "imagery." It's all superficial of course, but star destroyers, Death Stars, Darth Vader, Luke and Leia, Wookiees--that's apparenly the important part of Star Wars to a large segment of fans who grew up with the originals. I don't agree with them, but I've heard it before. And the dearth of any of that in TPM, even for as much as a tiny bit of fan service, is also probably why TPM remains so low in ratings to this day.

Well what prequel felt the most like the originals to you? I can see an argument for AotC too, but certainly not TPM. GL was pretty consistent in his editing and cinematography in all six movies, IMO.

 

I this ROTS felt the most mainstream of the 3 prequel films. It was very emotional in the context of the story and yet felt strangely toned down. It felt like Lucas was trying to play it safe where as TPM he was at his most creative and daring self. TPM took a lot of risks while ROTS almost felt somewhat of an appeasement film to the fans. There are many fans that prefer safe and appeasing Lucas, especially when it comes to Jar Jar. I still like TPM the most though.

 

I understand that and that's all well and okay, but that's why I feel and still feel people let the all the familar imagery in ROTS and the fact that it was the Prequel that would be covering the most important and must see checkpoints of the Saga distract them from judging with a more critical eye and seeing it in real overall quality. This also plays a big part in why TPM and AOTC were never watched by these fans with the right mind and were never and still haven't been given a real fair chance as films because these people already had their minds made up on how these episodes should play out instead of just watching and accepting these films for what they are instead.

While I agree The Phantom Menace isn't anything like the OT, at the same time, I still consider it to be most OT-like film of the PT because it was still shot on real film and not digitial greenscreen and it rely much more on practical effects than the next two Prequels did. I also think it definitely without the most groundbreaking and innovative film of the trilogy and is easily just as big of a landmark film as all the films in the OT were (if that makes sense?).

 

In a way the playing it safe thing probably helped Lucas streamline the story.

I mean for TPM there wasn't much humor there beyond Jar Jar and then when george was presumably pressured to push jar jar out the picture abit he had to find another way to put humor into the movie and made Obi Wan and anakins relationship abit more humorous because of that.

 

I want to echo some of what was already said. ROTS delivered on the promise of the overall prequel trilogy, cementing anakin's turn into darth vader. And it was accomplished chillingly well in dramatic and heartbreaking fashion.

My only critique was that I think George held back a bit with some of his editing cuts. There were shades of Othello, but he didn't go there only hinting at it.

 

What I love about Episode III is aesthetically, it's the most beautiful SW to me. The 1960s trappings within the color pallete (giving a colorful psychedelic look to me) is more appealing than the 1950s aesthetics of AOTC or the 1940s aesthetics of TPM. It's so visually pleasing in terms of that, locations, and CGI work. Plus, I'd say it's one of the most ambitious as its the only SW to fully embrace digital technology (minus TCW movie).

But I also love the character designs, the pace, the drama, and the gut punching feel I get everytime from watching it. If George decided to tie it completely into the OT meaning Anakin falls and the Empire rises within the first half hour and TIE fighters, stormtroopers, rebels, etc. became the focus, then Episode III would be nothing more than an OT extended edition film for me. I'm glad Lucas focused more on the CIS as the villains and made the movie mostly a PT Era film instead of an OT film within the PT. Even by the time the Empire rises in the last hour or so, it's still just coming out of the Republic, so it still isn't the same Empire we see in the OT and I appreciate that.

 

For the simplest of reasons. It's THE prequel to the OT while TPM is a prologue to the prequel and AOTC is the prelude to the prequel.

The actual Star Wars don't start until the end of AOTC. TPM and AOTC really aren't about being Star Wars as such. That is why for some they are impatient to get to where 60 to 80 percent (depending how you look at it) of the story that is most relevant to the OT exists.

TPM and AOTC didn't give a section of people what they thought was the story because Anakin, the Jedi, the Clone Wars and on and on were as they expected.

Now for those like myself who love all the character and story build within the trilogy of the PT in itself that then culminates in ROTS which leads to the OT it's great but others would rather have essentially packed TPM and AOTC into one movie, has ROTS as the second then have Vader hunting down Jedi and another confrontation with Obi-Wan for the third.

It's telling that for some they simply watch the OT then either watch only ROTS or the various fan edits that basically cut the first two episodes to half an hour each then go to ROTS.

Depends what you mean by later. It was added like 18 months before the movie release not six like some people seem to think.

 

It has just about everything that makes Star Wars what it is, it’s the most emotional, and it is the centerpiece of the saga.
For many young people, it is not just the best prequel, it is the best Star Wars film, period. It resonates with audiences on a massive scale.

 

ROTS is considered the best because it simply had the most potential to be the best and it did what it had to do to fulfill that potential. It contained 60% of the backstory where as each of the previous prequels only contained 20%. It has the best acting of the trilogy and in some areas the best acting of the entire saga. The power struggle and plotting between the Jedi and Palpatine feels far more dramatic than what occurred in the previous two prequels. And the humor in the first reel works better than the humor in the previous two prequels. It feels a bit more reminiscent of the humor in the OT. ROTS in my opinion is the best of the prequels but I actually think TPM is the most polished prequel.

But like the OP I don't understand why it is considered heads and shoulders better than the first two. Just like in the OT I agree that ANH and TESB are better than ROTJ but I don't think they are heads and shoulders better than ROTJ. Oddly ROTS was the prequel that took me the most getting used to. I think its because my expectations were way too high. I was in the 3SA forum here every single day between the release of AOTC and the release of ROTS, not to mention other website forums. There was a guy from the shooting location that was leaking spoilers on the CHUD forum while the movie was still shooting. This was a guy that didnt like the previous prequels all that much but based on the script he was far more optimistic about Episode 3. Even though today I agree ROTS is the best prequel it is the one I would make the most changes to. On my first viewing I thought it felt too rushed (although TFA makes it feel like a slow burn). There is way too much montage in the movie. Way too many planets. And Alderaan should have been featured more prominently in the movie. Maybe have it take the place of Utapaeu (my least favorite planet of the PT). Have General Grevous invade Alderaan. It would have put Bail Organa in a bad position to oppose Palpatine's emergency powers.

I also don't like how the Mustafar duel was edited. They released some footage of it long before the effects were added and there was a bunch of great stuff that got cut out. I really think by far the best lightsaber duel of the saga was shot for episode 3 but because of the way it was edited it is maybe only the 2nd or 3rd best. The cuts are way too short and frequent. I imagine Lucas did this to make it feel way shorter than it actually was, but I think it would have worked a lot better as "40 miles of bad road". Besides, the movie desperately needed to slow down at that point.

 

Preach.

 

Second that. ROTS is the best sw movie for me.

 

Speak for yourself. I'm 23 years old and it's the weakest film of the PT and the original six films for me and I always felt that way deep down even when I was 10 years old.

 

I think ROTS is the most popular of the PT among the fans because it's the red meat of the Trilogy. It has the plot points that people talked about for years (Vader, Obiwan vs Anakin, extinction of the Jedi, The Emperor, Luke/Leia being born, the fate of Padme, etc). It's like going to a concert and the band plays alot of the new songs and good songs in the first and then finish with all of their best songs. It's not to diminish TPM & AOTC, because they need to set everything up or ROTS to succeed, but for most fans the payoff is their favorite part.

 

Well, opinions are opinions, of course. I will say, I don’t see ROTS as “better” than the previous two. Actually, ROTS loses much of its impact without those previous, fantastic chapters of the story to set it up. TPM, in particular, provides amazing contrast to ROTS in its happiness and innocence.

The original six movies are of fairly consistent quality, but ROTS just tells a part of the story that means a lot to a lot of people.

I disagree on memorable lines, I mean, there’s a reason that the majority of the prequel memes come from that film.

 

Memes are freaking stupid. Who cares about memes? And I say when Star Wars memes reference lines from ROTS, they aren't being referenced to celebrate the film's quality-they are being referenced because many people (including me) like to make fun of the film's awful quality, because let's face it-Episode III had some pretty laughably terrible and embarrassing writing and dialogue.