Moday the 16th of May, also known as Star Wars Celebration Day, was one of the greatest days of my life. And to think I almost missed out on a ticket! I had to get up at five am to catch the train to Leicester Square . I arrived in time to see a parade of storm troopers outside the Empire cinema, and I got my picture taken with one. After sampling the atmosphere for a while (there was a replica X-Wing and tons of people in costume) I went into the cinema for the 7am start of Episode IV: A New Hope. I got a free goodie bag and collected the stamp for my passport to prove I had watched the first film and then took my seat. My row was as far back as you can possibly get, but luckily it had stadium seating and the screen was huge. I started chatting with the people around me. Star Wars fans are always very friendly, and it was actually pretty cool to be surrounded by 1300 other geeks. The film was introduced by an annoying local DJ who got everyone to hum the Imperial March for his show. When he announced the title of each film they all got cheers, except Episode I, which was booed! After that the film started and the audience reaction was amazing right from the start. They waved their lightsabers, cheered the opening scroll and applauded nearly every big moment or character introduction. I've never seen the original trilogy with a fan audience before, so it was quite an experience. It was the 97 special editions of the films, but the prints looked brand new. Even though I've seen all the films countless times, I still spotted new things.

I missed the first five minutes of The Empire Strikes Back because the lines for the toilet were ridiculous. It's the first time I've seen a longer queue for the gents than the ladies. I guess it's true what they say about sci-fi geeks being mostly male. Anyway, ESB was even better received than ANH. Vader's revelation to Luke was still chilling, especially as we were only hours away from seeing exactly how his transformation came about.

After another short break we were treated to Return of the Jedi. The audience reaction was quite amusing. There where wolf-whistles when Leia appeared in that costume, and laughs when the Emperor said it was strange that he had not felt Luke. There were also cheers for the Ewoks, which surprised me. The ending felt even more emotional to me than the previous times I've watched it. The prequels have really made Anakin's redemption and the Emperor's demise much more powerful.

We had a longer break after ROTJ ended and before the prequels began, so I decided to check out what was happening outside. I heard the last few minutes of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performing John Williams' music, which was pretty awesome. After that, they had a live Q&A in the square with several stars from the films, including Christopher Lee! I decided to skip the beginning of The Phantom Menace, since I already had my stamp, and stay to watch the stars on stage. Lee was amazing, and also very witty. A little girl asked him if he was scary in real life, which was funny. They also talked to Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett). It started to rain, but I stuck around until the interviews had finished. Then I rushed back in to the cinema to catch the best part of TPM - the duel! I spoke to another guy after the film and apparently I missed some big boos for Jar Jar's introduction.

Attack of the Clones started soon after. This episode got both the best and worst reaction from the audience. The love story got laughs pretty much all the way through. Maybe other people have a dirtier mind than me, but they laughed at stuff that it never even occurred to me had a double meaning. Like Padme telling Anakin, "My goodness you've grown." However, once the final battles started the reaction was much more positive. Yoda with his lightsaber brought the house down, of course. It was the perfect way to get pumped up for the final episode.

There was an hour break between Episode II and III, but I decided not to go out and get drenched again, even though the official premiere was happening outside. Luckily they had live video of the red carpet on the big screen, so I got a better view than I would have done anyway. I saw Lucas, Hayden and Ewan being interviewed and signing autographs. After the stars had all gone inside they started playing some Star Wars music videos (including a spoiler one for Episode III, which people weren't happy about!). Everyone was dying for Episode III to start, and people began drumming their feet when the scheduled time arrived. Finally, to thunderous applause, the parade of stormtroopers entered the cinema. But this was just the start of the special guests there to introduce the film. Producer Rick McCallum took to the stage, and was quickly followed by Hayden Christensen and Ian McDiarmid. Then, just when I thought things couldn't get any more exciting, George Lucas himself was introduced. The noise of the audience was deafening. Finally they quietened down so Lucas could speak. He said we were the first people to watch the saga back to back, although he suggested it should be done over 6 weeks instead of in one day! Someone shouted out a request to make Episodes VII-IX and Lucas responded that the story was over. There were some other amusing shout outs, like someone saying "We forgive you for Jar Jar, George!" Then Lucas and the cast left to more thunderous applause. I only wish I'd been closer or had a video camera with a zoom, as I couldn't really see much from where I was. Then, finally, the curtains opened and the film we'd all come there to see began, to the biggest applause yet.

STAR WARS EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH

NON-SPOILER REVIEW:

It fucking rocks! Go see it!

SPOILERS REVIEW:

War, war, war! In contrast to the last two episodes, Episode III begins with adventure right from the start that doesn't let up for about twenty minutes. Anakin and Obi-Wan fly into action in their Jedi starfighters in a desperate bid to rescue Chancellor Palpatine from the clutches of the evil cyborg General Grievous (this is all helpfully explained in the opening scroll in case you missed these events in the Clone Wars cartoon). The extended opening shot is incredible, and the space battle that follows is epic and fast-paced with almost too much to take in. When the action switches to the Jedi battling their way inside the Trade Federation ship, things are equally exciting. R2D2 in particular gets to display more heroics than perhaps ever before. The only thing that may put off some people is that the battle droid voices are even sillier than usual. This segment of the film is not only tremendous old school fun and visually stunning, it finally shows Anakin's amazing starpilot skills and his good friendship with Obi-Wan. It's a little sad in retrospect watching this light-hearted adventure before the darkness and despair that comes later.
Next comes the rematch with Count Dooku (nicely mirroring the Luke vs. Vader duel in ROTJ). Unlike his son, Anakin gives in to his anger and Palpatine's goading, resulting in a grisly end for the Count. Some Christopher Lee fans might feel short-changed by his quick end, but his performance is still excellent in the small but pivotal role. The action doesn't stop there, as there's also the introduction of Grievous and a superb crash-landing on Coruscant.

The film slows down for a while after that, but never becomes boring as some critics have claimed. Anakin and Padme are reunited (thankfully, the romance is less cringe-making than in AOTC) and we learn that she is pregnant. This leads to Anakin having nightmares about her dying in childbirth. At the same time, the Jedi Council are becoming increasingly suspicious of Chancellor Palpatine. Anakin won't hear anything bad said about the Chancellor, though, who is more of a mentor to him than Obi-Wan in some ways. There are some great character scenes during this segment (in a Lucas film? Who'd have thought?). One of my favourites is a discussion between Anakin and Palpatine about a Sith Lord named Darth Plagues who learned to control the midi-chlorians (Lucas redeems the seemingly arbitrary inclusion of these microscopic lifeforms in Episode I) to both create life and stop people from dying. Aside from giving Anakin a reason to turn to the dark side (to save his wife) the dialogue raises some fascinating story issues, such as the fact that Palpatine undoubtedly murdered his own master, and Anakin's "virgin birth" may well have been engineered by the Sith. Another great "quiet" scene comes later when Anakin and Padme unknowingly stare silently at each other across the vast cityscape of Coruscant as he makes his fateful decision to aid Palpatine. It says more than any of their dialogue can.

Anakin's final descent into darkness is aided by the absence of Yoda and Obi-Wan, who are involved in climatic battles on other worlds. Yoda visits the Wookiee home world and kicks some ass with the help of Chewie and friends. This sequence may just be Lucas pandering to the fans, but it's still great fun to see an army of Wookiees in action. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, tracks down General Grievous and has a very cool fight with him. Perhaps sensing the danger of audience fatigue (there are five huge lightsaber duels in the movie, after all) Lucas comes up with a crowd-pleasing way for Obi-Wan to dispatch Grievous without using his sword.

Back on Coruscant, Mace Windu and the other Jedi finally confront Palpatine, who reveals himself as Sidious. I was actually rooting for Mace to destroy the Sith Lord, even though I knew that couldn't happen. Mace would have got away with it, too, if it hadn't been for that pesky Skywalker kid! The start of the Jedi purge and Anakin accepting Sidious as his master and taking the name Darth Vader all happen in this one breath-taking scene. Some may complain that Anakin's turn to the dark side happens too quickly, but it's really been built up over three movies. Aside from his loyalty to Palpatine and his love of order, it is mainly his fear of loss that leads him to reject the Jedi and embrace the Sith as the only way of saving those he loves. I was surprised that Anakin actually tries to do the right thing when he learns Palpatine is the Sith Lord they've been looking for, but tragically goes about it in completely the wrong way. We also learn the gruesome reason why Sidious looks so much older and deformed when we see him again in ROTJ. To be honest, this is the most OTT scene in the film, with McDiarmid at his campiest and some bizarre sound effects added to his dialogue, which may rub some viewers the wrong way.

From then on the story pulls no punches in depicting the extermination of the Jedi and Anakin's descent into hell. Sidious gives order 66, which results in all the clonetroopers around the galaxy turning on their former Jedi allies. Lucas uses cross-cutting here masterfully to show all the Jedi we have to come to recognise from the prequels meet their sad fates. John Williams's music helped make this one of the most emotional scenes in a Star Wars film for me. At the same time Anakin leads an attack by the troopers on the Jedi Temple where no one is spared, not even the younglings. It's a brave move for Lucas to show the extent of Anakin's evil and not try and soften his turn.

The plot moves beautifully in this last act of the film. All the pieces fall into place with chilling ease. The tragedy of the film is that we know what is coming long before it happens, but I still wished that the Jedi would find some way to stop it. Yoda and Obi-Wan return to Coruscant to discover what has happened and they decide to take on one of the Sith Lords each. Although the Anakin vs.Obi-Wan duel is the one we've been waiting for, the Yoda vs. Sidious duel is equally exciting (the CGI Yoda feels more real than ever before), and Lucas cuts effortlessly between them. Anakin and Obi-Wan's duel on the volcano planet is as visually stunning as the other lightsaber battles we've seen in the prequels, but this times there's a lot more emotion and drama. My only small complaint is that sometimes the scenery distracts from the actual duel, especially in the last part. The ending, when it comes, is even nastier than I imagined, and it's hard not to feel sympathy for Anakin's horrifying fate, even after all the evil acts he's committed.

Yoda is forced into exile after his failure to defeat Sidious, and Obi-Wan looks after Padme, who is dying even as she is about to give birth. The birth of the twins is brilliantly intercut with the birth of Darth Vader (and the brief return of James Earl Jones wonderful voice). It's impossible not to get chills watching these scenes unfold. The only unfortunate part is a "Noooo!" scream from Vader where he learns of Padme's death that sounds like Mr. Burns! After an amusing explanation of the reason C-3PO doesn't remember the events of the prequels, the films ends with sadness and menace, but also a new hope - the Skywalker twins being delivered to their new homes.

Before the end credits had even finished, Lucas and co. came back out. They received a standing ovation, and Lucas joked that tomorrow we could watch them all again in Episode I to VI order. Some people booed Hayden, but I think it was more a reaction to his character's evil than a critique of his performance. They all left to deafening applause. I felt totally exhausted. Not just by the emotional rollercoaster of Episode III, but by the whole day. It was almost midnight by the time I finally fought my way through the crowds to get out of the cinema and catch the last train home. I didn't get back until 1 am , but it was worth it. It will be a day long remembered. The saga is finally complete.

So, some final thoughts on Revenge of the Sith. It's not a perfect film, but I think it's the closest Lucas will ever come to directing a masterpiece. He gets better performances from nearly every cast member in this episode. The much-maligned Christensen does a good job of portraying both Anakin's heroics at the beginning and his subsequent conflict and ultimate betrayal. Ewan McGregor again has a lot of fun with his role, and brings his performance even closer to Alec Guiness's. Natalie Portman isn't given much to do this time (action scenes aren't that easy when your character is heavily pregnant) but she effortlessly portrays the "very beautiful, kind but sad" woman that Leia later remembers even though she only knew her briefly as an infant. It's just a shame to see her character change from the proactive woman in the first two episodes to the reactive one here. Samuel L. Jackson relishes the chance to go out in a blaze of glory, and Jimmy Smits gets to reveal a more heroic side of Leia's adoptive father, Bail Organa. Anthony Daniels plays a more serious 3PO then we've come to expect. Frank Oz is as loveable as ever as the voice of Yoda, even if his backwards talk becomes increasingly overused. The little green Jedi is awesomely cool in Sith, whether he's jumping up on Chewie's back or taking out the Emperor's guards with a wave of his hands. General Grievous is another impressive CGI character, though his constant coughing confused me until I remembered his chest was force-crushed by Windu in the Clone Wars cartoon.
However, the real star of the show is Ian McDiarmid. The Emperor finally comes centre stage here and his performance is electrifying (literally). McDiarmid relishes both his early subtle manipulation and later OTT dialogue ("Every single Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic!") He presents the dark side far more seductively than ever before, and when he finally unleashes his full evil, it's both scary and oddly humorous. In fact, as an examination of the nature of evil, the film is both more graphic and deeper than anyone would expect from what has always been seen as a light-hearted space fantasy. Even Sidious, the ultimate villain, is shown to have respect and fondness for Anakin, such as when he cradles him after his unfortunate encounter with some lava. Some will draw parallels with the current political climate (as Padme says, "So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.") but the story of how a democracy becomes a dictatorship through war is more universal than that.

John Williams's score is perhaps less original than his others, but it skillfully weaves in classic music from the Original Trilogy. Battle of the Heroes is an impressive new theme, though. All across the board, the technical work is as brilliant as we've come to expect from the prequels. Aside from a few shots where Temuera Morrison's head seems poorly pasted onto the clonetrooper's bodies (why Lucas didn't just put him in a suit I'm not sure) the effects are nearly flawless. I hope Sith at least wins the visual effects Oscar next year, since there's no Matrix or Lord of the Rings films to compete with this time.

My only real problems with the film, other than a few poorly written or delivered lines, were a few lingering plot threads, such as Qui-Gon's spirit being referred to but never seen (although I hear this scene was cut out). Overall, it had nearly everything I hoped for, and ties up the whole saga almost perfectly. It adds depth to both the films that come before and after it, and is a gripping movie in its own right. I'm sad that it's finally over, but it's been an amazing journey.

Arran McDermott 2005

All images property of Lucasfilm