Revenge - The Final Verdict

Revenge of the Sith - 00:31, Thursday 19th May 2005, UCI Cinemas, Swansea.

Point of order - its tricky to take a photo with a PDA in a dark cinema when your hands are shaking with excitement. By this stage, our bladders couldn't be any more drained.

Then the music blairs, and you can't help but lean forward in the chair, barely able to breathe with anticipation. And does Revenge deliver all that was promised, and all the hype we have attributed to it? YES!!

It is without doubt the greatest film I have ever seen at the cinema (if you exclude Empire SE). In fact it almost overtook Empire in being the best Star Wars film, but had to settle for second best. Despite that, there wasn't a single moment I'd change.

I did have to watch it a second time (at 10:15 the next morning) to satisfy myself over a few scenes, but the second time around they worked perfectly. Even Anakin/Vader's "NOOOOOOO" hissy fit is great for bridging the Anakin/Vader gap - and when we see vader 18 years later it all fits together brilliantly.

What was so different about this film, and so unexpected, was the level of emotional involvement from the audience, not just on the "good" side, but on Anakin's side, as he hovered over the dark side, Palpatine twisting his mind with promises of saving Padme from an intagible threat (Anakin himself, as it turns out), and of ultimate power. Hayden Christiansen acted brilliantly throughout, as did all the cast, and his exit and reemergence as Vader was awesomely conveyed, scripted and scored. In fact the score in this film probably hit perfection, if it wasn't there in the original trilogy!

Obi-Wan also came to the fore, and the other 2 films clicked into place for him, and then when you watch ANH, Alec Guinness's past is played out perfectly on his face, and it meshes seamlessly with Ewan MacGregor's acting.

The execution of order 66 is the nearest I've ever been to getting emotional in a film (Star Wars or otherwise), again supported by John Williams' masterpiece, but seeing the execution of heroes we have known for the last 6 years at the hands of Clones and Anakin really tugged at the heart strings. The battles raging throughout the galaxy, instead of breaking the film up too much, brought everything together in a galactic size crescendo, which built up perfectly to the immense lightsaber battles and the fate of Padme and Anakin in their guise as star-cross'd lovers.

The lightsaber fights, flicking between the battles of master and former apprentice, and the ultimate symbols of light and dark, Yoda and Sideous, are truly spectacular. Palpatine is played perfectly by McDiarmid and we really get to see more of the characters of both the Emperor and Yoda (which we now understand his reactions and sense of helplessness he has on Dagobah). Yoda is given the depth which he as deserved all along, as 800 years of battling the Sith are ended by Sideous (who has resumably waited 800 years for that to happen!).

The Anakin/Obi-Wan fight has to be seen to be believed, so I won't even start! Needless to say its just how I'd imagined it and then some! Particularly the 'ignition point'!

All in all it is the masterpiece Lucas has been searching for since the completion of Empire in 1980. There are so many other bits to look at that its impossible to write about all of them - just go and see it! And if you find it dull or boring then you obviously haven't seen it enough times!

And yes it would have been nice to see Mon Mothma, but it was hardly vital to the plot, and she'll be on the DVD extras anyway!

PS - the Guardian is a newspaper for Sun readers - one star my ass!