Tag: Revenge of the Sith

Over the course of the late spring and summer of 2005, as “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” hit theaters to conclude George Lucas’ epic six-movie story, Star Wars-mania took hold of me and wouldn’t let go.

This movie, which was to be Star Wars’ swan song (but actually ended up being Lucas’ instead), represented the end of an era and could have realistically been the end of Star Wars in movie theaters … forever.

That thought motivated repeat viewings in a way no other movie had before or since, at least for this writer. Four in-theater viewings remains my record for a single film to this day.*

* This total, high by my standards, but low by some Star Wars fans’, I am comfortable with. I like that this film holds the record … and also that I never got up to five.

Given what we knew at the time, that this movie could be the last of the series, it was a time of great reflection and celebration … but only for those who were still bought in (like me). Many fans had by that point been disillusioned by “The Phantom Menace” or couldn’t recapture the magic through “Attack of the Clones.” And to their point, “Revenge of the Sith” didn’t exactly break the mold of the other prequels. A sudden turnaround on the prequels at large just wouldn’t be engendered by this movie.

Non-fans were more impressed, whether because they wanted to be more charitable coming into it or they simply didn’t feel burned in the same way. Regardless of the reasons, the box office rebounded significantly from Clones, while the Tomato-meter bounced up from 54% to 66% and finally to 80% as the prequels went along.

Many non-fans (and many fans as well) were grateful to have the series go out on a relative high note.

Continue reading Revenge of the Sith retrospective: Gratitude