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“Sith” begins where the animated “Clone Wars” ends with Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin (Hayden Christensen) coming to the rescue of Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) who is being held hostage by a leader of the Separatist Army, General Grievous (voiced by ILM sound editor Matthew Wood), a half-alien and half-robotic villain with a chronic cough (the result of a force crush by Mace Windu in the Clone Wars). After what has got to be the most spectacular space battle ever staged in a Star Wars film, Obi-Wan and Anakin do battle one last time with Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) and the result is one moment of many that warrant this episode a PG-13 rating, the first Star Wars film to have it. Haunted by nightmares of his now pregnant wife Padme (Natalie Portman) dying in agony, Anakin vows to find a way to save her and not experience another loss of a loved one after the painful death of his mother. Palpatine, alias Darth Sidious a.k.a. The Emperor, is quite aware of Anakin’s pain and proceeds to work away at his weakness by promising him the ability to cheat death by learning the disciplines of a lost Force-manipulation technique that is decidedly un-Jedi like. When Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) and other Jedis in tow come to arrest Palpatine after finally realizing that he is the mother of all Sith Lords, we learn that ole Palp is quite proficient with a light sabre himself and proceeds to dispatch all the Jedis leaving himself and Mace in a dual to the death. When Mace has all but assured the death of Palpatine, Anakin, unable to bear the loss of the one person who he believes holds the secret of saving his wife, commits the ultimate betrayal to all his Jedi teachings and decides to become an apprentice of The Dark Side. This inevitably leads to the climactic light sabre dual between former comrades Obi-Wan and Anakin; the most exciting dual of the entire series and answers the questions of why Anakin needs the black suit and helmet to survive and how Obi-Wan comes to have in his possession the light sabre that he will pass on to Luke Skywalker in episode IV. With this trilogy now complete, Lucas has, in effect, transformed the character of Darth Vader from dreaded villain to tragic figure; a man who turns to evil not necessarily because of evil intent only to be redeemed at the end by his son. The saga of Star Wars has become therefore not about Luke Skywalker but that of his father, Anakin Skywalker. The acting in “Sith” is also leagues better than the previous two episodes; here, the actors finally get to do some emoting and not just be cardboard cutouts going through the motions. Ian McDiarmid is especially slimy as Darth Sidious and Ewan McGregor is ever more heroic as he proves to be the best Jedi warrior, along side Yoda of course, and in the most heart-breaking scene painfully leaves his once padawan learner to burn up from the fiery heat of the lava planet. Even Hayden Christensen shows improvement as his character finally lets loose the evil that is brewing inside him.

So this is how it all ends...the movies that captivated us in our youth have now come to a close as we enter middle-age. With this and the apparent end of the Star Trek franchise as well, what will geeks and nerds around the world have to look forward to now? Lucas has stated that he plans to re-release all six films in 3-D; is planning a Star Wars TV series based on different characters that take place between episodes III and IV; and is not at all finished tinkering with the movies as a subsequent version of episode I promises a new CG version of Yoda to replace the original puppet one. At least it’s something; but for now, this DVD is a must-own for all Star Wars and home theater enthusiasts alike. Packaged like the previous two episodes, “Sith” is a 2-disc release that again raises the benchmark of what a reference quality DVD should be. Those who purchase the DVD at Walmart will get as an added bonus (while supplies last), a third DVD called “The Story of Star Wars” which basically is aimed at the kiddies with the only two characters who appeared in all six movies, the droids C3PO and R2D2 narrating a full-screen rehash of the saga leading up to episode III with clips from the first five movies; interestingly, we get to see the un-altered versions of the Emperor from episode V and of Anakin at the end of episode VI.

Picture Quality:

This DVD deserves a place with previous reference quality DVD’s; the transfer is no less than astounding. Benefitting from being shot with digital cameras and then transferred to DVD directly from the digital source; this picture is as good as it gets (for DVD). We’ll have to wait and see how much of an improvement high-def DVD will be, but until then relish this gem to your heart’s content. Knowing that this entry to the saga would probably be the last, the visual effects team pulled out all the stops and have created environments and planetary landscapes the likes of which truly provide the most extensive use of the color palette to date; from southern China, with its thousands of hills landscape subbing for the Wookie planet to Mount Etna in Italy providing the volcanic fury for the lava planet. Black levels are solid providing good contrasting and shadows; scenes are richly detailed or soft when they need to be. There is not a single moment when this movie is not pleasing to the eye.

Audio Quality:

As with previous releases of the Star Wars films, no DTS track is available; but this DVD provides a Dolby Digital 5.1 EX track that easily rivals any DTS track. The surround sound field is totally immersing with all speakers amped up in total discreteness. From space battles, laser blasters, light sabres, to ambient environmental sounds, this movie provides an amazing audio experience while John Williams’ now legendary score serves up the Shakespearean tragedy with dark orchestral and choral music that befits this entry to the Star Wars pantheon that we all knew would not have a happy ending.

Scenes For Demonstration Purposes:

1. (1:50) - Battle above Courascant; 2. ( 49:20) - The Wookie Planet; 3. (65:21) - Obi-Wan Vs. General Grievous; 4. (70:48) - Mace Windu Vs. Darth Sidious; 5. (107:30) - Obi-Wan Vs. Anakin and Yoda Vs. Darth Sidious. These are highlights; the whole movie is a demonstration piece.

Special Features:

Disc One has a feature commentary with Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, animation director Rob Coleman and Visual Effects supervisors John Knoll and Roger Guyett. We learn everything from character motivations, script alterations, why scenes were left in or deleted, and of course, how a particular special effects shot was done. Most interesting is that the sound of General Grievous’s cough is none other than Lucas himself when he was having a bout with bronchitis. We get to see a new THX logo which is preceeding current theatrical releases but , in my opinion, doesn’t hold a candle to the one alluding to the liquid metal from the Terminator movies. To locate a hidden Easter Egg, go to the options menu and input the numbers 11, 3, then 8. You will then be subjected to a one minute bit with Yoda dancing to hip hop music; oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Disc Two contains the bulk of the extras, with “Within A Minute: The Making of Episode III” running at 78 minutes; split into thirty-three segments, it basically discusses what went into the big climax on the lava planet. In the Art section, Lucas discusses his original ideas, we get to see them go through plenty of concept art and hear how he changed the script as the artwork took shape. Pre-Visualization looks at the transition from storyboard to computer animatics, the Production Office and Catering segments are largely filler, Production Design looks at the set designs, explaining the transition from concept into real-world, Construction looks at the actual building of the sets and the Props, Hair & Makeup and Costumes segments speak for themselves. We get a couple of minutes devoted to the actors in the climax (which offers up some green-screen footage of the fight and interviews with both Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen), then a couple of minutes on the stunt work and stunt doubles used for this sequence. We look at Lucas himself (in the Director segment), the Cinematography of the scene, the Sound Recording and the Editing. The ILM section is devoted to the visual effects (every single scene utilized effects in this movie), we meet the VFX supervisors, look at the 3D effects work, the Animation department, the Digital Environment Group and the Lighting department. There’s information on the CG models, the real models, Motion Control, Rotoscoping and Compositing, although not really enough to fully explain any of the more complicated techniques. We look at all aspects of the soundtrack with Sound Design, Score and Sound Mixing segments and finally close with a Final Screening moment. This documentary narrated by producer Rick McCallum does a very nice job at showing the multitudes of personnel required to produce just 49 seconds of film.

“It’s All For Real: The Stunts of Episode III” is an eleven minute look at the stunt work (which was almost all done in front of a green screen). We get comments from the stunt coordinators (and sword masters), namely Nick Gillard, who discuss the difficulties that they face with both the actors and the sets, along with plenty of footage of them rehearsing. Lucas himself pops up to talk about the merits of practicing and how he uses the test footage of the fight (again, we are largely looking at the final fight sequence, although there is a bit on the Mace Windu fight as well) to develop his own draft script.

“The Chosen One” spends fourteen minutes dissecting Anakin’s transition to the Dark Side. We get clips from all six movies, looking at the development of Anakin and the corresponding turning of Vader in the subsequent movies. Lucas discusses how he wanted to have everything fit into place and we even get to see him giving directions to Hayden on how to act, hmmm. Most notably, we get a glimpse of the new digital Yoda that will replace the puppet Yoda in episode I.

There are six deleted scenes, each with optional introductions by George Lucas and Rick McCallum. They talk about how scenes are normally deleted because movies are too long - and how this film is no exception. First up we get “Grievous Slaughters a Jedi: Escape from the General”. This shows Grievous at his most evil as he dispatches a Jedi that is a prominent figure in The Clone Wars. We get unfinished footage of Obi-Wan and Anakin in the sewers of the General’s ship. “A Stirring in the Senate”, “Seeds of Rebellion”, and “Confronting the Chancellor” all show a political subplot that was removed entirely from the movie. It details the birth of the rebellion; a young Mon Mothma from “Return of the Jedi”; and, unfortunately for Natalie Portman, shows Padme in a stronger more proactive role in the movie; something that is missing from her footage that was left in. “A Plot to Destroy the Jedi?” is a scene with Yoda, Obi-Wan and Mace Windu, discussing the looming disaster that they seek to avoid. For the final scene, “Exiled to Dagobah”, Lucas and McCallum explain why it was one of the most painful sequences to cut out. It shows Yoda taking refuge on the swamp planet where he will ultimately train Luke in the ways of the Force. It was rumored that this scene would be included in DLP projected presentations during the theatrical release, but that was not the case.

We get fifteen web mini-documentaries that were available to paying Hyperspace members on the Star Wars website. They are: “Two Worlds, One Movie”, “One World, Two Movies”, “We Still Do A Little Bit”, “Creating General Grievous”, “This Weapon Is Your Life”, “Video Village”, “Epic Designs For An Expanding Universe”, “C-3PO: His Moment To Shine”, “Pick-ups and Re-shoots”, “Becoming Obi-Wan”, “The Wookies Are Back”, “B-107: The Life Of An HD Tape”, “The Creatures Of Episode III”, “Endlessly Compelling: The Music of Episode III”, and finally, “Becoming Sidious”. All offer interesting information to the devout Star Wars fan during the shooting of this epic.

We get a nice teaser trailer (the one with Alec Guiness), an “Epic Trailer” which debuted at the tail end of an “O.C.” TV show on the Fox network, and the music video “A Hero Falls”. There is also a myriad of TV spots. Lastly, there is an Xbox demo for Star Wars Battlefront II, along with its trailer and a trailer for Star Wars Empire At War. Finally, we get several photo galleries with stills split into various categories, with 105 Exclusive Production Photos (which cover the deleted scenes and have interesting little text explanations for each shot), an Outdoor Print Campaign (including some pretty nice shots of the central characters - and the option to press down on your control and see different versions of each) and 17 One-Sheet Posters.

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Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith