It’s hard to believe that Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is 20 years old.
To celebrate the anniversary, the film has made its way back to theaters recently complete with a mid-40s Hayden Christensen introduction.
I made my way to my local theater recently to see the movie and had several thoughts about this conclusion to the recently beloved Prequel Trilogy. To me, it’s always stood out as the best of that trilogy and that remains true upon this viewing.
As I watched, I had several thoughts about the film and where it stands in a world 20 years older.
In short, it does so very well.
The Internet has enhanced parts of the film
Since I went to Revenge of the Sith on a Friday night, I found myself in a theater with many high schoolers and college students. Their reactions to certain parts really reflected an interesting trend.
Star Wars, the Prequels in particular, have become a sort of meme factory. The Internet loves taking certain parts of these films and turning them into social media content.
That fact was obvious when their source material appeared on the big screen.
It seemed odd to me that fans would cheer when a recently corrupted Anakin drew his lightsaber to kill the younglings. This has always been heartbreaking to me, but the younger audience laughed.
My suspicion is the memes that have risen from this scene have caused this reaction. This wasn’t the only one. There were many other moments that drew crowd pops solely, I suspect, because of their meme status.
In this day and age, if something isn’t made into a meme, it hasn’t connected with the audience. Revenge of the Sith became that long after its debut, and seeing it in theaters reminded me of that.
Emotion Makes Episode III Stand Out
The Prequels have always had a hate-hate relationship with the audience until the past few years. There was a lot wrong with these movies, but Revenge of the Sith, to me, always stood out.
I didn’t know why initially because I was 14 when it came out. I’ve seen it plenty of times but it wasn’t until seeing it in theaters again when I learned why.
It relies a lot more on an appeal to emotions (pathos) than the other prequels do.
It takes its time getting there as it’s not until Anakin’s heel turn that the emotional strength of this movie hits. Prior to that, it felt like standard prequel Star Wars.
The Phantom of Menace and Attack of the Clones always felt stiff. There were plenty of cool moments but not enough, in my opinion, to redeem them completely from their cringey dialogue or over reliance on special effects.
Revenge of the Sith starts that way but once the clone troopers begin annihilating the Jedi, the mood shifts. The movie does a great job at making you feel the helplessness of the situation. There is hope, but man is it fleeting.
Even if the emotion is just half a move, it’s enough to make Revenge of the Sith stand out among the trilogy and feel close to the original three.
The impact of additional Star Wars content
In 2005, there wasn’t nearly as much visual Star Wars content as we have now. Regardless of where you stand on if that’s a good or bad thing, its impact can’t be denied.
For one, The Clones Wars animated series makes Revenge of the Sith even more powerful. I think that’s why the emotion felt so much stronger this time around.
In that series, you learn about many of the Jedi masters killed in Order 66. It makes their deaths more heartbreaking than before because you know who they are.
Imagine if Obi-Wan or Yoda bit the dust. How emotionally impactful would that be? It’s this idea that Clone Wars gave to us.
And not just the Jedi, but the clones as well. The animated series did a fantastic job at fleshing them out so it makes it even harder to watch them kill their friends the Jedi.
It’s not just Clone Wars. Even The Mandalorian has added depth with how Grogu escaped from the Jedi Temple during the purge.
No matter how you view recent Star Wars shows and movies, it’s hard to deny they haven’t impacted the earlier movies. I found my mind wandering to several different types of movies or shows as I watched Episode III.
To me, it made for a much more enjoyable viewing experience.
The political themes remain relevant
Don’t worry, I won’t launch into any political lectures. We have way too much of that these days.
That said, Revenge of the Sith is absolutely a product of its time. In 2005, the U.S. was heavily involved in wars both in Iraq and Afghanistan. Furthermore, President George W. Bush had just been reelected, but there were questions about his administration’s efforts in the wake of 9/11.
These seem to be some of the parallels in Revenge of the Sith as the galaxy was locked in a war and many had concerns about the Chancellor Palpatine’s extended tenure as a result.
It’s easy for these connections to be lost on a modern audience as times have changed. Still, 20 years later, there still are some similarities.
Again, this is less about making a political statement and more about how media connects with society.
There are many who have concerns of growing executive power especially amid ongoing wars in Ukraine and Israel. Certainly these concerns are held by many in the U.S., but these fears extend worldwide.
Upon this viewing, it was interesting to watch this movie with the backdrop of the world today. It was fascinating how those political themes remained relevant and poignant to this day.
It’s a fascinating case of how strong the link between mass media and society can actually be.
Special effects still hold up 20 years later
Despite its over reliance on special effects, Revenge of the Sith‘s movie magic still looks pretty good to this day.
I’m not sure if that’s praise for what producers accomplished 20 years ago or if that’s an indictment of modern efforts. Regardless, I was blown away at how it did not feel like I was watching a 20-year-old movie.
That doesn’t mean it was perfect. There still were moments that showed their age, but overall, it all looked good.
Specifically, the lightsaber battles were always a visual treat. I did find it funny that the solution to cooler lightsaber battles was to just add more.
Darth Maul had a double-sided blade in Phantom Menace; Anakin wielded two in Attack of the Clones; and General Grevious used four in this one. That didn’t take away from how great they looked.
I absolutely loved watching Anakin and Obi-Wan’s battle on Mustafar on the big screen. It looked great and was just as gripping as 20 years ago.
And then there was the double sunset to end the movie. Absolutely stunning and gorgeous don’t even begin to describe how that ending shot looked.
I found it an absolute joy to return to theaters to see Revenge of the Sith. I wish more movies did this, especially as Batman Begins is nearing its 20-year anniversary.
Love it or hate it, the movie still holds up as the best of the prequel trilogy and, in my opinion, the closest films have gotten to the original trilogy. That’s not to say it’s perfect because it’s not.
Still, it’s worth the trip to your local theater to see it again on the big screen, an experience that may not happen again for another 20 years.
Featured Image: Lucasfilm (via eBay)
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