http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121766/business

Budget
$113,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend
$108,435,841 (USA) (22 May 2005) (3,661 Screens)
£14,361,469 (UK) (22 May 2005) (490 Screens)
AUD 13,359,734 (Australia) (22 May 2005)
€1,121,514 (Netherlands) (22 May 2005) (115 Screens)
PHP 69,203,267 (Philippines) (23 May 2005) (155 Screens)
RUR 88,702,688 (Russia) (22 May 2005)

Gross
$380,262,555 (USA) (16 October 2005) (sub-total)
$380,237,988 (USA) (9 October 2005)
$380,209,351 (USA) (2 October 2005)
$380,176,196 (USA) (25 September 2005)
$380,101,660 (USA) (18 September 2005)
$379,972,309 (USA) (11 September 2005)
$379,807,894 (USA) (4 September 2005)
$379,392,611 (USA) (28 August 2005)
$378,977,117 (USA) (21 August 2005)
$378,461,703 (USA) (14 August 2005)
$377,864,535 (USA) (7 August 2005)
$377,080,716 (USA) (31 July 2005)
$375,876,648 (USA) (24 July 2005)
$373,926,219 (USA) (17 July 2005)
$370,819,889 (USA) (10 July 2005)
$366,502,577 (USA) (4 July 2005)
$358,469,219 (USA) (26 June 2005)
$348,140,685 (USA) (19 June 2005)
$332,109,171 (USA) (12 June 2005)
$307,892,961 (USA) (5 June 2005)
$158,449,700 (USA) (22 May 2005)

$414,318,300 (Non-USA) (20 July 2005) (sub-total)
$360,600,000 (Non-USA) (12 June 2005)

Weekend Gross
$12,961 (USA) (16 October 2005) (27 Screens)
$20,159 (USA) (9 October 2005) (38 Screens)
$21,109 (USA) (2 October 2005) (49 Screens)
$45,204 (USA) (25 September 2005) (99 Screens)
$88,357 (USA) (18 September 2005) (166 Screens)
$118,798 (USA) (11 September 2005) (213 Screens)
$309,245 (USA) (4 September 2005) (281 Screens)
$248,124 (USA) (28 August 2005) (268 Screens)
$327,011 (USA) (21 August 2005) (307 Screens)
$331,226 (USA) (14 August 2005) (300 Screens)
$423,249 (USA) (7 August 2005) (359 Screens)
$573,122 (USA) (31 July 2005) (429 Screens)
$1,046,982 (USA) (24 July 2005) (667 Screens)
$1,703,393 (USA) (17 July 2005)
$2,600,800 (USA) (10 July 2005) (1,355 Screens)
$5,031,463 (USA) (4 July 2005) (1,759 Screens)
$6,113,071 (USA) (26 June 2005) (2,371 Screens)
$10,038,498 (USA) (19 June 2005) (2,923 Screens)
$14,851,474 (USA) (12 June 2005) (3,322 Screens)
$25,088,336 (USA) (5 June 2005) (3,650 Screens)
$108,435,841 (USA) (22 May 2005) (3,661 Screens)

$303,200,000 (Worldwide) (22 May 2005)

Admissions
229,059 (Czech Republic) (30 June 2005)
6,783,155 (France) (28 June 2005)
6,250,158 (France) (14 June 2005)
5,671,407 (France) (7 June 2005)
4,727,420 (France) (31 May 2005)
3,303,005 (France) (24 May 2005)
5,574,673 (Germany) (31 July 2005)
5,551,479 (Germany) (24 July 2005)
5,522,458 (Germany) (17 July 2005)
5,486,257 (Germany) (10 July 2005)
5,402,275 (Germany) (3 July 2005)
5,301,244 (Germany) (26 June 2005)
5,179,802 (Germany) (19 June 2005)
4,939,912 (Germany) (12 June 2005)
4,369,351 (Germany) (5 June 2005)
3,417,788 (Germany) (26 May 2005)
1,964,960 (Germany) (19 May 2005)
318,240 (Norway) (9 August 2005)
305,059 (Norway) (30 June 2005)
269,439 (Norway) (11 June 2005)
250,936 (Norway) (5 June 2005)
193,922 (Norway) (29 May 2005)
123,000 (Norway) (23 May 2005)
114,868 (Norway) (22 May 2005)
37,463 (Norway) (19 May 2005)
289,629 (Portugal) (29 June 2005)
258,363 (Portugal) (22 June 2005)
250,560 (Portugal) (15 June 2005)
232,109 (Portugal) (8 June 2005)
136,541 (Portugal) (25 May 2005)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_III:_Revenge_of_the_Sith_(novel)

Narrative style

Stover makes frequent use of second-person narrative when describing a character's inner emotions ("The first light in your universe brings pain") and often introduces and describes characters with simple declarative statements ("This is Obi-Wan Kenobi," "This is what it feels like to be Anakin Skywalker," etc.) These literary devices are repeated at key points in the story.

There is also heavy use of metaphor as a means of foreshadowing; for example, Anakin's eventual fall from grace is set up by extensive descriptions of his fear as a dragon, one he thinks he can conquer by embracing the dark side. Also, the narration makes far greater use of events in the previous films to describe him as a character, particularly his past as a slave.

Darth Vader's reaction to Padme's death

The novel is far more explicit than the film in describing Anakin's emotional transformation after learning of Padmé's death. It reveals that Vader blames himself, and subconsciously realizes that Darth Vader — the fearless warrior he imagined himself to be — does not really exist, and that only Anakin Skywalker is responsible for his fall from grace. Stover also describes in detail how it feels to be Vader; robbed of much of his former power and in constant agony from his injuries, he now feels like "a painter gone blind, a composer gone deaf."

[edit] 

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Episode-III-Revenge/dp/0345428838

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Based on George Lucas's original screenplay and story, Stover's smart, efficient novelization isn't as humorous as the last of the Star Wars films, but it's packed full of stunning fight scenes
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808406061/details
 
The galaxy is weary after three long years of war. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi have become legendary heroes in their campaigns against the droid forces of the evil General Grievous. Anakin and his secret wife, Padme Amidala, have been separated for months, and he finally reunites with her to learn that she is pregnant. He is plagued by visions of her dying in childbirth, haunting images of a possible future. Anakin is determined to stop her from dying--no matter the cost. This leads Anakin down a dark path to commit terrible deeds. Obi-Wan Kenobi must face his former apprentice in a ferocious lightsaber duel on the fiery world of Mustafar. 

Also Known As: 	
Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode 3
Production Status: 	Released
Genres: 	Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Sequel
Running Time: 	2 hrs. 22 min.
Release Date: 	May 19th, 2005
MPAA Rating: 	PG-13 for sci-fi violence and some intense images.
Distributors: 	
20th Century Fox
Production Co.: 	
JAK Productions, Lucasfilm, Ltd.
U.S. Box Office: 	$380,262,555
Filming Locations: 	
Sydney, Australia
Guilin, China
Mt Etna, Italy
Grindelwald, Switzerland
Phuket, Thailand
Tozeur, Tunisia
England
Produced in: 	United States

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808406061/critic

Critics Reviews  	Average Grade:   	B+
Source 	Brief Review 	Grade*
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie 	"Bluntly put, Sith's the best Star Wars movie since the best of them all, 1980's The Empire Strikes Back." more... 	A-
Boston Globe
Ty Burr 	"...often awkward but nonetheless terrifically compelling high-stakes human drama." more... 	A-
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert 	"...a return to the classic space opera style that launched the series." more... 	A-
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington 	"...exhilarating." more... 	A  
E! Online 	"Restore your faith in the Force, this will." more... 	B+
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman 	"The trouble with Revenge of the Sith is that we're never really shown what we're told about endlessly: Anakin succumbing to the temptations of power." more... 	B-
filmcritic.com
Christopher Null 	"...Episode III is easily the best of the prequels and it's considerably better than the bloated and nonsensical Attack of the Clones." more... 	B+
Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt 	"A rousing finale for the Star Wars saga that smoothly brings us back to where it all began." more... 	A-
New York Post 	"...true believers probably won't complain." more... 	B  
New York Times
A.O. Scott 	"...it's better than (the original) Star Wars." more... 	A  
ReelViews
James Berardinelli 	"It's a rousing and tragic sendoff to a beloved franchise, and the best installment in the Star Wars series since 1980's The Empire Strikes Back." more... 	A-
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers 	"In this heretic's opinion, Sith is a stiff, brought down by that special knack Lucas has of turning flesh-and-blood actors into cardboard cutouts." more... 	C  
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle 	"The picture is laden with plot and difficult to follow, even for someone who has seen every Star Wars installment." more... 	C+
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold 	"In sum, Revenge of the Sith is darn good, easily the best of the prequels, and perhaps even a rival to The Empire Strikes Back..." more... 	A  
USA Today
Claudia Puig 	"It's the darkest of the six-film opus, but it just may be the best of the lot." more... 	A-

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/6140458/star_wars_episode_iii__revenge_of_the_sith

Drink the Kool-Aid. Wear blinders. Cover your ears. Because that's the only way you can totally enjoy Revenge of the Sith -- the final and most futile attempt from skilled producer, clumsy director and tin-eared writer George Lucas to create a prequel trilogy to match the myth-making spirit of the original Star Wars saga he unleashed twenty-eight years ago. Fan boys, of course, have convinced themselves otherwise. So have several critics, if you go by early reviews.

Heralded for its savagery (my God, it's rated PG-13), the film follows Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen -- to merely call him wooden is an affront to puppets everywhere) as he loses his limbs and his conscience and takes on the evil mantle of Darth Vader. But thematic darkness is no excuse for dimness in all other departments, except the visual.

In this heretic's opinion, Sith is a stiff, brought down by that special knack Lucas has of turning flesh-and-blood actors into cardboard cutouts. To hear Anakin and his pregnant wife, Senator Padme (the vivacious Natalie Portman rendered vacant), discuss their marriage -- a secret that could get Anakin defrocked as a Jedi -- is to redefine stilted for a new millennium. The minute any character -- human or droid -- opens a mouth to speak, your eyes glaze over.

I kept thinking how much better Sith would play as a silent film, with only Chewbacca allowed to do his Wookiee growl and John Williams to trumpet his recycled score. And yet, Revenge of the Sith is the movie that will do more business (my guess is $400 million-plus), sell more popcorn and brainwash more audiences than any blockbuster this summer. There are reasons: Sith is the last time Lucas will ever skywalk with the Skywalkers on the big screen (talk persists of a TV spinoff). There is enormous goodwill built up by the original series Lucas began in 1977 with Star Wars: A New Hope, continued in 1980 with The Empire Strikes Back and ended in 1983 with Return of the Jedi. All three of those movies belong in my personal time capsule, despite the Ewok blight on the last one. That's why you, me and everyone we know lined up for 1999's juvenile The Phantom Menace and 2002's atrocious Attack of the Clones. We watched with stifled yawns as Anakin grew from a snot-nosed kid (Jake Lloyd) to a whiny teen lover boy and wanna-be Jedi (Christensen). We justified the thudding lifelessness (a pox on those Jedi councils) by praising Lucas' digital artistry and nurturing the hope that Revenge of the Sith would spin our heads around with the dark magic of Darth Vader.

Not even close. Until the last half-hour, when Lucas actually does establish a emotional connection between the landmark he created in 1977 and the prequel investment portfolio he laid out in 1999, the movie is one spectacularly designed letdown after another. Chief culprit? The script. Even with a reported polish by -- say it isn't so -- British playwright Tom Stoppard, the words are leaden, faux literate, mock-Shakespearean and devoid of humor. The late critic Pauline Kael once dismissed Star Wars as "an epic without a dream." I disagree. Lucas' dream is a grand one: to build a mythic futuristic fantasy out of the influences of his youth -- the Bible, the Bard, H.G. Wells, Jack London, John Ford westerns, Flash Gordon serials and long afternoons at the movies. If only for the original Star Wars, Lucas deserves a place in film history. He transformed pop culture into Pop Art. Lucas' major error was believing he could do it all alone. With Empire -- now officially the best of the Star Wars six -- Lucas had the invaluable help of screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Leigh Brackett (The Big Sleep), and director Irvin Kershner, who knew how to loosen up actors. For those who wrongly criticized Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford back when, all I can say is, look and weep.

As Mace Windu, even the lively Samuel L. Jackson looks embalmed. Ewan McGregor fares better as Obi-Wan Kenobi, if only because mischief is embedded in his DNA. Best of all is Ian McDiarmid as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the true badass of the piece. As Palpatine draws Anakin into his web and away from the Jedi code, the film is briefly enlivened by the thrill of temptation. McDiarmid paints an insidious, seductive portrait of evil. It's too bad that playing the grotesque Darth Sideous, Palpatine's Sith lord alter ego, drives the actor into horror-show hamboning.

As for the good stuff, none of it involves human speech. There's Obi-Wan taking on the droid general, Grievous, whose metal arms can swing four light-sabers. There's the massacre of the Jedi when Palpatine calls for Order 66. There's Palpatine taking on Yoda (again voiced by Frank Oz), whom he contemptuously calls my "little green friend."

As for the much-touted opening aerial dogfight with Anakin and Obi-Wan firing on the clones in a cluttered digital landscape, the effect is pure video game and purely without threat. Lucas fills Sith with so much computerized wizardry that it barely jibes with the low-tech original, taking place decades later, which shows the touch of human hands and plays all the better for it. But as cop-outs go, you can't beat the reasons that turn Anakin bad. Suffering nightmares about his wife dying while giving birth, he joins the Sith, who claim power over death, to save the woman he loves. If it means the killing of Jedi younglings, so be it. If it means letting his hubris run amok like any yuppie exec, so be it. It's like hearing that the young Hannibal Lecter was weaned on food instead of live flesh.

Lucas almost pulls the plot out of the fire in the film's final section, showing Obi-Wan hacking away at Anakin with his light-saber on the lava planet of Mustafar. Lucas even drops a hint that Anakin thinks Padme and Obi-Wan may have been getting it on. As we watch Anakin nearly melt in the lava, only to be put together, Frankenstein style, in a lab while Lucas intercuts scenes of Padme giving birth to the twins Luke and Leia, a link to genuine feeling is established at last. It's too little and too late. To hail Revenge of the Sith as a satisfying bridge to a classic is not just playing a game of the Emperor's New Clothes, it's an insult to what the original accomplished. To paraphrase Padme: This is how truth dies -- to thunderous applause.

PETER TRAVERS

(Posted: May 13, 2005)

http://movies2.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/movies/16star.html?ex=1184472000&en=8f83b14a353917ab&ei=5070

ANNES, France, May 15 - With "Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," the "Star Wars" cycle at last comes to an end - or rather to a middle, since the second trilogy, of which this is the final installment, comes before the first in faraway-galaxy history even though it comes later in the history of American popular culture. Like many others whose idea of movies was formed by (and to some extent against) the galactically later, terrestrially earlier "Star Wars" trilogy, I was disappointed by "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones." So I approached the recent press screening of "Episode III" in New York warily, and perhaps a little wearily, though to balance my own trepidation I brought along two fans whose enthusiasm in 2005 easily matched my own in 1977, when I was a little older than they are now and when "Star Wars" - oh, all right, "Episode IV - A New Hope" - landed in my hometown.

I was anticipating, at least, a measure of relief: finally, this extravagant, ambitious enterprise, a dominant fact of our collective cultural life for nearly 30 years, would be over. But I was hoping, a little anxiously, for more. Would George Lucas at last restore some of the old grandeur and excitement to his up-to-the-minute Industrial Light and Magic? Would my grown-up longing for a return to the wide-eyed enthusiasm of my own moviegoing boyhood - and my undiminished hunger for entertainment with sweep and power as well as noise and dazzle - be satisfied by "Revenge of the Sith"?

The answer is yeth.

This is by far the best film in the more recent trilogy, and also the best of the four episodes Mr. Lucas has directed. That's right (and my inner 11-year-old shudders as I type this): it's better than "Star Wars."

To be sure, some of the shortcomings of "Phantom Menace" (1999) and "Attack of the Clones" (2002) are still in evidence, and Mr. Lucas's indifference to two fairly important aspects of moviemaking - acting and writing - is remarkable. Hayden Christensen plays Anakin Skywalker's descent into evil as a series of petulant bad moods. Natalie Portman, as Senator (formerly Queen) Padmé Amidala, to whom Anakin is secretly married, does not have the range to reconcile the complicated and conflicting demands of love and political leadership. Even the more assured performers - Samuel L. Jackson as the Jedi master Mace Windu, Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jimmy Smits as Senator Bail Organa (note the surname) - are constrained by their obligation to speechify. Mr. Lucas, who wrote the script (reportedly with the uncredited assistance of Tom Stoppard), is not one to imply a theme if he can stuff it into a character's mouth. Ian McDiarmid, as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who transforms from a rancid political hack into a ruthless totalitarian before our eyes, gives the most powerful performance; Yoda, the spry green Jedi master voiced by Frank Oz, some of his finest work in this film does. (R2-D2 is also in fine form).

Anyway, nobody ever went to a "Star Wars" picture for the acting. Even as he has pushed back into the Jedi past, Mr. Lucas has been inventing the cinematic future, and the sheer beauty, energy and visual coherence of "Revenge of the Sith" is nothing short of breathtaking. The light-saber battles and flight sequences, from an initial Jedi assault on a separatist stronghold to a fierce duel in the chambers of the Senate, are executed with a swashbuckling flair that makes you forget what a daunting technical accomplishment they represent. Some of the most arresting moments are among the quietest - an evening at home with the Skywalkers, for example, as they brood and argue in their spacious penthouse overlooking a city skyline set aglow by the rays of the setting sun, or a descent into the steep, terraced jungle landscape of the Wookiee planet. The integration of computer-generated imagery with captured reality (in other words, what we used to call movies) is seamless; Mr. Lucas has surpassed Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg in his exploitation of the new technology's aesthetic potential. Even the single instance where the effects don't quite work - a climactic battle superimposed on a filmed eruption of Mount Etna - suggests not a failure of vision but a willingness to try what may not yet quite be possible.

But every picture, however ravishing, needs a story, and the best way to appreciate how well this one succeeds is to consider the obstacles it must surmount in winning over its audience. First of all, though there are a few surprises tucked into the narrative (which I won't give away), everybody knows the big revelation of the end, since it was also the big revelation at the end of the previous trilogy: Darth Vader is Luke's father. We also know, for the most part, which of the major figures are going to survive the various perils they face. So an element of suspense is missing from the outset.

More than that, the trajectory of the narrative cuts sharply against the optimistic grain of blockbuster Hollywood, in that we are witnessing a flawed hero devolving into a cruel and terrifying villain. It is a measure of the film's accomplishment that this process is genuinely upsetting, even if we are reminded that a measure of redemption lies over the horizon in "Return of the Jedi." And while Mr. Christensen's acting falls short of portraying the full psychological texture of this transformation, Mr. Lucas nonetheless grounds it in a cogent and (for the first time) comprehensible political context.

"This is how liberty dies - to thunderous applause," Padmé observes as senators, their fears and dreams of glory deftly manipulated by Palpatine, vote to give him sweeping new powers. "Revenge of the Sith" is about how a republic dismantles its own democratic principles, about how politics becomes militarized, about how a Manichaean ideology undermines the rational exercise of power. Mr. Lucas is clearly jabbing his light saber in the direction of some real-world political leaders. At one point, Darth Vader, already deep in the thrall of the dark side and echoing the words of George W. Bush, hisses at Obi-Wan, "If you're not with me, you're my enemy." Obi-Wan's response is likely to surface as a bumper sticker during the next election campaign: "Only a Sith thinks in absolutes." You may applaud this editorializing, or you may find it overwrought, but give Mr. Lucas his due. For decades he has been blamed (unjustly) for helping to lead American movies away from their early-70's engagement with political matters, and he deserves credit for trying to bring them back.

But of course the rise of the Empire and the perdition of Anakin Skywalker are not the end of the story, and the inverted chronology turns out to be the most profound thing about the "Star Wars" epic. Taken together, and watched in the order they were made, the films reveal the cyclical nature of history, which seems to repeat itself even as it moves forward. Democracies swell into empires, empires are toppled by revolutions, fathers abandon their sons and sons find their fathers. Movies end. Life goes on.

"Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" is rated PG-13. Some of its violent scenes are more intense and upsetting than those in previous episodes.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/movies/224635_starwars18q.html

'Star Wars' goes out with a bang

By WILLIAM ARNOLD
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER MOVIE CRITIC

Unless you happen to live on the planet Tatooine or some other backwater of the outer galaxy, you likely know by now that the consensus of advance opinion is that George Lucas has pulled off the near impossible with his "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith."

 		 MOVIE REVIEW

STAR WARS: EPISODE III -- REVENGE OF THE SITH

DIRECTOR: George Lucas

CAST: Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Christopher Lee

RUNNING TIME: 140 minutes

RATING: PG-13 for sci-fi violence and intense images

GRADE: A

Seen the movie? Share your thoughts with others.

LINKS/TRAILERS
· Official site

PHOTO GALLERY

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After disappointing critics and hard-core fans (if not the mass audience) with the first two installments of his trilogy of "Star Wars" prequels -- "Episode I" (1999) and "II" (2002) -- Lucas has exonerated himself with lean, mean and irresistible "Episode III."

True, this final "Star Wars" -- ending the series that began an unbelievable 28 years ago -- contains little or no narrative suspense: We know exactly where it's heading. And it contains no real surprises: Most fans easily will have figured out its one plot-zinger from the earlier episodes.

But that doesn't seem to matter. The movie grabs us from its heart-pounding opening sequence and pulls us inexorably along its trajectory with the grip of the last gruesome act of a Greek tragedy. Its fascination is not what happens but HOW it happens.

It's also true that, perhaps more than any movie sequel or prequel ever made, this one requires our familiarity with what's gone before and after. If you haven't watched the other five episodes -- and refreshed your memory fairly recently -- you could be lost.

But this is the reality of the DVD era: Series filmmakers like Lucas and Peter Jackson simply assume that viewers will go into their films with all the earlier exposition firmly in mind, and waste no precious screen time with clumsy recaps.

Thus the movie hurls us three years into the Clone Wars and a critical situation in which Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) are trying to rescue the kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) from the clutches of Count Dooku (Christopher Lee).

From here, the movie whisks us to the city world of Coruscant, where the increasing threat of the Separatist druid army inspires the war-weary Senate to hand over its power to a dictator, and a coup is in the works that will transform the Republic into the evil Galactic Empire.

And the key to this event, as we've known since 1980's "Episode V," is the seduction of Anakin, a Jedi knight of immense power and prophetic destiny, by the Dark Side of the Force -- not, we now learn, from lust of power but as a misguided act of love.

When Obi-Wan realizes that his young apprentice is defecting, he has to stop him and it all boils down to an epic lightsaber battle on the volcanic planet of Mustafar that will end, of course, with the creation of the most popular of all movie villains, Darth Vader.

Why is all this so much more riveting and exhilarating than "Episode I" and "Episode II"? Lucas claims it's because those two earlier outings contain 80 percent of the character exposition -- necessary but exacting -- while "Episode III" is all fast-paced story.

You can believe that or not (and others may cite I and II's wooden acting, dull characters and way-too-much repetitious and purposeless action), but there's no doubt that this series finale is structurally tight, dramatically taut and deliciously dark.

How dark? Well, it's the only "Star Wars" with a PG-13 rating and, visually and conceptually, it's certainly the most gothic of them: Like "Macbeth," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and "The Godfather" cycle -- it's the story of a likable character sinking into pure evil.

Lucas himself says he doesn't think it's suitable for preteens. But perhaps too much has been made of this. Except for one horrific scene (hinted at but not shown) -- and perhaps one ghastly maiming sequence -- the mayhem has not been drastically upped.

On the other hand, a small child surely will have difficulty following what is the most political of the "Star Wars" plotlines, working toward a coup sequence worthy of a Costa-Gavras thriller, and containing some biting parallels to our own post-9/11 state of siege.

It's also the most Shakespearean of the prequel episodes, a character drama that hinges the fate of its fantasy world on one man's difficult moral decision, and a movie designed to work much more off its performances than its action scenes.

Toward this end, the cast is surprisingly solid. Christensen embodies Anakin's unique blend of strength and weakness with style and charisma, McDiarmid is just magnificently diabolical, Natalie Portman manages two very effective scenes and even Ewan McGregor finally suggests that he could grow up to be Alec Guinness.

Technically, it's the usual showcase of digital arts, with loads of new creatures (and old ones, a whole army of Wookiees), some 2,200 visual effects and scenes mixing life-size sets, virtual sets, computer-animated actors and stuntmen wearing digital masks of the stars.

But there's none of the grandstanding that marred I and II: those endless battle sequences designed to show off Lucas' computers. "Episode III" is full of aerial dogfights and lightsaber duels, but they serve the story, and the technology is -- as it should be -- barely noticeable.

Beyond all this, the real feat of "Episode III" is that it bridges the prequels to the original trilogy in small, subtle ways -- such as using numerous musical references to the 1977 score -- and in the larger way of reconnecting us with the series' New Age spirituality.

The real power of the original "Star Wars" trilogy was its concise, uncluttered vision of a universe governed by a Force that can never be understood by logic or controlled by religious dogma but CAN be experienced by adherence to individual common-sense morality.

This Taoist-like underpinning somehow got lost in the mindless action and charmless characters of "Episode I" and "Episode II," but the final tragedy of Anakin -- and the bridge created to his later redemption -- returns us to the ethic of "Star Wars" with awe and satisfaction.

In sum, "Revenge of the Sith" is darn good, easily the best of the prequels, and perhaps even a rival to "The Empire Strikes Back" as the apogee of the three-decade-long "Star Wars" saga. As such, it's going to create a big problem for Hollywood come Oscar time.

Because Lucas long has thrust his middle finger at Hollywood and its moviemaking culture, bad-mouthed the studio establishment and refused to campaign for Academy Awards, he's always been (except in the special-effects categories) snubbed by the Oscars.

But the traditional excuse -- they don't give the important Oscars to big action/fantasy movies -- no longer applies: Two years ago, they handed best-picture and best-director Oscars to "Return of the King," honoring the entire "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

And if they give an Oscar to Jackson for using a technology and sensibility he admits stealing from Lucas to adapt a trilogy he didn't originate, how can they NOT give a similar set of Oscars to Lucas for creating -- and seeing to an artistically happy end -- the most successful, most influential series in all of movie history?
P-I movie critic William Arnold can be reached at 206-448-8185 or williamarnold@seattlepi.com.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808406061/user

SITH HAPPENS!.....(Episode III)
by idolsmasher_99 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
1181 of 1397 people found this review helpful
Speaking as a Gen X'er who grew up watching all three of the original series (Now known as Eps #4,5,6) when they first hit the theater and the fact I... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	B+
Story: 	A
Acting: 	C+
Direction: 	B
Visuals: 	A+
Is that the final answer?
by asparry2 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
1080 of 1422 people found this review helpful
We, the fans of Star Wars past, have longed many years for the answers to the nagging questions that, replacing recalcitrant sugarplums, constantly filled our adolescent heads at bedtime -... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	A
Story: 	A
Acting: 	A-
Direction: 	A
Visuals: 	A+
"Sith" worthy of the "Star Wars" name
by currahee1983 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
1088 of 1237 people found this review helpful
It is amazing. From the compelling opening to the emotional ending, this film is simply amazing. George Lucas has finally given us an installment in the saga that is worthy... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	A-
Story: 	A-
Acting: 	B+
Direction: 	A
Visuals: 	A+
Lucas Has Captured The Magic Of The Originals
by bigdaddygamer14 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
927 of 1148 people found this review helpful
After seeing Episode I, and since I have gotten older, I have realized that that movie was simply okay. I didn't like Episode II at all, I felt that there... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	A-
Story: 	A-
Acting: 	B+
Direction: 	A
Visuals: 	A+
Bringing in the Millions!
by aeroriddle (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
391 of 562 people found this review helpful
Just got back from the midnight showing and I have to say that this movie was as expected. Very entertaining and great visual effects...It truly shows the fuel for the... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	C+
Story: 	A
Acting: 	C-
Direction: 	B-
Visuals: 	B+
Ah well, it's over....
by atomantsmasher (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
458 of 816 people found this review helpful
Just got home from the 12:10am showing, and I have to say it was just okay. I am 33 years old, and saw the originals back in the day... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	A+
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Behold the Power of the Dark Side!
by anystroem (movies profile) (May 20, 2005)
219 of 272 people found this review helpful
After battles on sunny grassfields, a child blasting half a space fleet to pieces, and an annoying battle scene with a bunch of flies in a stadium, Lucas taps the... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	A-
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Marathon at the AMC...Farewell, Childhood
by slycupid1 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
131 of 169 people found this review helpful
Standing in line at 7 pm, a filthy-sad haze of cigarette smoke brooding over the crowd, I counted the hours until 12:01 in the morning, when an entire generation of... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	A-
Story: 	A
Acting: 	B
Direction: 	B
Visuals: 	A+
Bravo
by usuallyniceguy (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
146 of 221 people found this review helpful
About 28 minutes ago I walked out of the final Star Wars epsiode, "Revenge of the Sith," finishing a journey that began about 28 years with the phenomina that was... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	A
Story: 	A
Acting: 	B
Direction: 	B
Visuals: 	A+

http://movies.yahoo.com/mvc/drv?mid=1808406061&s=rt_a

can anyone act here?
by omega44m (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
23 of 136 people found this review helpful
even capt kirk cound not save this trash .. just eye poping candy and more toys in the store lame lame lamelame lame  
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Are you guys high?
by tychoryan (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
138 of 538 people found this review helpful
come on! i was furious after leaving the theater! I paid to be tortured by this trash! Okay, so we all knew he was going to be Darth Vader, right? no... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
HORRIBLE!!!
by flyer_al (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
39 of 166 people found this review helpful
i grew up on Star Wars, the first movie came out when i was in 1st grade just before my birth day. i defined a large part of my childhood... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Darth Vader
by sackskin (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
5 of 49 people found this review helpful
They should have gotter a better actor to play him. It made the movie bad. They could have done a better job on the fighhs as well, they didnt think... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Not a diehard fan? Then Don't See This Movie.
by slmtjensen (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
71 of 254 people found this review helpful
Now I like star wars. I liked the originals. I liked Episode I, and thought Episode II was decent enough. But if you're not a diehard fan, then don't see... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
A ROTTEN MOVIE
by arakis6662003 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
206 of 615 people found this review helpful
Why? Simply because there were no EMOTIONS involved. We all know Anakin's destiny - but missing was the crucial turning point element. Here we have Anakin at one point willing... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Down with Ebert and the SF Chronicle!
by magedin76 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
41 of 128 people found this review helpful
Ok, so we knew this would be bad. Even with a little help with the script, Lucas is incapable of directing anyone to play anything more than an animate... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Lucas should have done 3
by cbfunhm (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
22 of 76 people found this review helpful
George Lucas should have stopped after the first Three films. When the first ones came out they were frsh and special effects were in their early stages. Now effects are... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Horrific!! What a waste of time.
by dvsbfjd (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
31 of 98 people found this review helpful
I came in with such high hopes for a movie that should have lived up to all the hype. No matter how much I try I can't seem to get... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
I miss Harrison Ford
by conworldus (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
21 of 78 people found this review helpful
Christenson is a garbage actor freaking teen loverboy who doesn't know a thing about acting and he puts some of the most idiot show ever. Portman's acting gets worse and worse.... Full Review 

Thank god this is the LAST ONE~!!!
by pclee13 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
11 of 37 people found this review helpful
after the all the hype and media build up, and after waiting inside the theater for 3 and 1/2 hours, and after enduring the whole 2 1/2 hour, all for... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Garbage
by bronscott (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
7 of 34 people found this review helpful
This movie should have been rated R, and people under 17 should not be taken to it. This movie relies on violence and cheap emotional thrills that deaden the mind.... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
really bad and boring
by rodneyskate (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
6 of 28 people found this review helpful
this movie had no motive or general message. all they do is play with light sabers. darth vader always wears a black cape. what does that represent? hugh. yeah and... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Ruined the franchise
by rpan00 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
13 of 43 people found this review helpful
Yup, it's not official. George Lucas has officially ruined his own franchise. This entire movie was supposed to be about Anakin slowly being seduced by the dark side. Instead that happens... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Big WASTE of money, wait for DVD version
by elvisprty (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
4 of 27 people found this review helpful
Don't waste your money on this lousy flick. * acting terrible. * special effects, SUCKED. * poor sound. Don't waste your hard earned money on this pile of COW DUNG, just wait for the... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Tons of stuff on screen- nothing really happens
by danightman (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
12 of 35 people found this review helpful
Don't let the hype machines fool you. Its another bad movie from lucas. The only reason its better than the last 2 is that the actors don't get to talk... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Lacking and...thin, needs tweeking.
by midnight_demon2502 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
27 of 73 people found this review helpful
The movie lacked a lot of important things. 1. The love scenese were horrible, looked very unindearing and fake. Natalie Portman barely did a better job in those scenes, Hayden... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
READ THIS AND IT MIGHT HELP YOU!
by aznkpride2005 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
7 of 30 people found this review helpful
what was that all about? the movie sucked so much i fell asleep for 1 hour!!! Lucas finally killed the whole series!! I love the 1,2,4,5,6 then Lucas finally killed... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Reasons Samuel L Jackson should have been darth
by jasonjrk2002 (movies profile) (May 19, 2005)
9 of 47 people found this review helpful
There are many reasons not to go see the new Star Wars movie but #1 is that stupid guy playing Annakin Skywalker kills Mace Windu (Samuel L Jackson) I think... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A

	
 User Reviews
	
Average User Grade:   	B+ 
(14162 user reviews / 139425 user ratings)
	Write your own review
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Overall Grade: 	F
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Lacks Humantiy
by corriefeldspar (movies profile) (May 20, 2005)
23 of 55 people found this review helpful
Of course the visuals were acceptable. But everything else was horrifying. With the exception of the roles of Obi Wan and the Emperor, the acting was hollow and the script... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
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Wow, talk about fawking suck!
by philnrita (movies profile) (May 20, 2005)
2 of 11 people found this review helpful
O.k. let me just say whoopi about the effects. If I wanted to watch just effects I'd goto Kazaa and download stupid human trix all day. This movie... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
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It was a disgrace to the star wars empire
by thorne36 (movies profile) (May 20, 2005)
7 of 19 people found this review helpful
After playing every star wars video game as well as watching the original series countless times. I was ready to walk out.Shrek or Bill Cosby weren't even in it,... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
WTF???!!!?!?!! [Where's The Force]
by bushmaster228 (movies profile) (May 20, 2005)
13 of 35 people found this review helpful
To be honest, the first two movies prepared for Anakin's final fall to the Dark Side very well. Episode I: The loss of a supportive father figure in Qui-Gon.... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
As soon as I get my money back for the abomination
by crimson_crab (movies profile) (May 20, 2005)
2 of 10 people found this review helpful
that preceeded the Sith film I'll think about a positive review. Actually, in the preview, Samuel L Jackson provides perhaps the WORST line reading in the history of cinema. Thank... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
waste of time
by joselvergaraluisvergara (movies profile) (May 20, 2005)
1 of 11 people found this review helpful
this movie is only for all those nerds who have no life. I suggest that is beeter to go see a porno movie that this peace of crap. this movie... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
If the Acting and the story were better!
by kjoseph7777 (movies profile) (May 20, 2005)
After a long line and a fun crowed, the movie has begun... 20 minutes into the movie almost half the people where already asleep, even someone behind me was snoring...... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
STAR WARS EPISODE III
by r8drmark2003 (movies profile) (May 20, 2005)
THE WORST MOVIE OF ALL TIME...I CANT BELEIVE I WASTED MY TIME LAST NIGHT...THANK GOD IT IS THE LAST ONE, NOW I WONT HAVE TO HEAR ANYMORE NON-SENSE...IF YOU HAVENT... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
Horrible
by grown_ass_man444 (movies profile) (May 20, 2005)
2 of 9 people found this review helpful
I was so upset....this was suppose to be the last movie of the series...what the bloody F@$% Hell. It was horrible. I couldn't believe what I was watching...give... Full Review
Overall Grade: 	F
Story: 	N/A
Acting: 	N/A
Direction: 	N/A
Visuals: 	N/A
hated it
by chicajack (movies profile) (May 20, 2005)
2 of 7 people found this review helpful
save your money - wait for DVD release Glad this is the last of the Star Wars Even Rocky knew when it was time to quit  

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121766/
User Comments:  It's OK to be a STAR WARS fan again

Revenge of the Sith (USA) (short title)
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (USA) (DVD box title)
Star Wars: Episode III (USA) (working title)
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (USA) (promotional title) 

MPAA:  Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and some intense images.

Plot Keywords: Computer  / Monster As Victim  / Death Star  / Melodrama  / Funeral Procession

Genre:
Action / Adventure / Fantasy / Sci-Fi more

Cast overview, first billed only
Ewan McGregor	 ... 	Obi-Wan Kenobi

	Natalie Portman	... 	Padmé

	Hayden Christensen	... 	Anakin Skywalker

	Ian McDiarmid	... 	Supreme Chancellor Palpatine

	Samuel L. Jackson	... 	Mace Windu

	Jimmy Smits	... 	Senator Bail Organa

	Frank Oz	... 	Yoda (voice)
	Anthony Daniels	... 	C-3PO

	Christopher Lee	... 	Count Dooku

	Keisha Castle-Hughes	... 	Queen of Naboo
	Silas Carson	... 	Ki-Adi-Mundi & Nute Gunray

	Jay Laga'aia	... 	Captain Typho
	Bruce Spence	... 	Tion Medon
	Wayne Pygram	... 	Governor Tarkin

	Temuera Morrison	... 	Commander Cody

User Rating: 7.9/10 (115,362 votes)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121766/ratings

115,362 'IMDb users' have given a weighted average vote of 7.9 / 10

Demographic breakdowns are shown below.
Votes	 Percentage	 Rating
39,393	 34.1%	10
21,681	 18.8%	9
20,398	 17.7%	8
13,143	 11.4%	7
6,648	 5.8%	6
3,797	 3.3%	5
2,315	 2.0%	4
1,935	 1.7%	3
1,228	 1.1%	2
4,824	 4.2%	1

Arithmetic mean = 8.0.  Median = 9

This page is updated daily.

See user ratings report for:
	Votes 	Average
Males 	 87,438	 7.9
Females 	 12,219	 7.9
Aged under 18 	 6,520	 8.5
Males under 18 	 5,090	 8.5
Females under 18 	 1,419	 8.4
Aged 18-29 	 64,476	 8.0
Males aged 18-29 	 56,610	 8.0
Females aged 18-29 	 7,494	 8.1
Aged 30-44 	 24,289	 7.8
Males aged 30-44 	 21,559	 7.8
Females aged 30-44 	 2,477	 7.5
Aged 45+ 	 4,204	 7.2
Males aged 45+ 	 3,451	 7.2
Females aged 45+ 	 694	 7.2
IMDb staff 	 21	 7.3
Top 1000 voters 	 613	 6.6
US users 	 44,114	 8.0
Non-US users 	 55,515	 7.9
 
All votes 	 115,362	 7.9

http://www.imdb.com/Reviews/397/39717

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (SW:RotS)
Reviewed by Lewis Butler
a pdf of this review is available at

<http://2blog.kreme.com/blog/2974/Come_back_George_all_is_forgiven>

Summary

Before Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (SW:AotC) opened I, along with most Star Wars fans, hoped for a movie that simply put, didn't suck. Our hopes were dashed with Lucas's delivery of the weak and wooden sequel to the worst of the six Star Wars films. True, SW:AotC was better than The

Phantom Menace (SW:TPM), but that is damning with faint praise.

This time around, Lucas has delivered. SW:RotS (unfortunate acronym) doesn't suck.

I would put this film third on the list of quality in the six Star Wars films, ahead of the previosu three films. On a scale from -4 to +4 (0 being an average film) I'd rate this a weak +2, despite some of the problems I had with it.

Review There are many nit-picking things I can say about this movie, and I will get to some of them a little later, but first I want to take the time examine what Lucas gets right in this, the 'final' installment of his Star Wars saga.

First, and most important, is the atmosphere. This is partly due to the excellent scoring of the soundtrack. The movie begins on somewhat of a high- note with a daring rescue, but even then, the tension is clear. Sure, everyone in the audience knows exactly where the story is going to end up, but Lucas manages to create that sense of tension anyway.

Second, as always, is the effects sequences. Needless to say they are good, but more than that, they don't feel like the movie was written around the special effects, as was certainly the case with the interminable pod-racer scene in SW:TPM, which at least one of my friends beleives was so long simply as an advertisment for the Pod Racer computer game. I can't argue with him. Here the effects are there just the same, but the sequences are all very much a part of the story.

Third, the sword fights in this film are quite possibly the best ever filmed, and that is saying quite a lot. Errol Flynn and Todd Armstrong have got nothing on this film. In fact, the various fights, with the exception of the first, even exceed the excellent Darth Maul sequence in TPM

And finally, the characters are finally able to bring some emotion and range to their various roles. Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) is still not a particularly convincing actor, but with the help of effective shadows he is able to mostly pull off the conflicted angst that envelopes his slide to the Dark Side.

Ewan McGregor (Obi Wan Kenobi) is excellent, and manages to play about ten years older than he is, making up for one of the main problems I had with the 20 year break between this film and the events in 1977's Star Wars (later renamed Star Wars: A New Hope (SW:ANH) ). Obi Wan looks like he's pushing 45 in this film, which makes his age in SW:ANH much more believable.

Natalie Portman (Padme) gets to play with more emotion in this film that any character in any previous movie. Yes, she's pregnant and watching her husband transforming into-well, we know were he's going, don't we?-but she does it well.

Jimmy Smits (Bail Organa) is underused, and Samuel L Jackson (Mace Windoo) has some plot issues. Christopher Lee (Count Dooku) is, well, Christopher Lee, and Ian McDiarmid (Supreme Chancellor Palpatine) is just what he needs to be, a sneaky manipulative bastard.

People will likely complain about the lack of depth to the characters, but Star Wars has never been about complicated characters. Look back at SW:ANH or even Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (SW:ESB) and you will not find a lot of depth there either.

Minor Spoilers Follow

There are two scenes that I would like to point out as being especially good.

The first is a no-dialog scene in which Padme looks out over the city toward the Jedi Temple and Anakin sits in the Jedi Council Chamber look- ing out across the city toward Padm 'e. They are miles apart, and yet the connection is obvious. Lucas manages to linger on this scene for just long enough.

The second is the application of the Darth Vader headpiece to Anakin's face. Lucas uses a very tight close up on the mask descending, then shows us Darth in profile, again, very tight. The final piece (the cowl) is applied and there is a pause, and then the signature respirator sound we know and love so well. Personally, I would have preferred the camera hold for a second breath, but the scene works.

There are a few lines I liked from the film as well:

So this is how Liberty dies, with thunderous applause.

     You're either with me or you're my enemy.

I think Anakin stole that second quote from either George Bush or Tony Blair, but I can't find the reference.

Now, for the problems, and there are a lot of them. Yes, they are all nit-picking, but they add up to certain carelessness that really detracts from the overall movie.

- Anakin leaves on a mission, Obi Wan follows him a day later, at least, and yet Anakin is still there, despite his mission having taken less than 10 minutes to complete.

- Anakin builds C-3PO and uses him as his house-bot for a considerable period of time, yet doesn't recognize him in SW:ESB 's carbonite scence.

- At one point, late in the film, Anakin refers to his loyalty to the Republic, then seconds later refers to 'my Empire.' Anakin doesn't even know that there is an Empire at this point. This is the most glaring example, but this happens all over the last act of the film, where Republic and Empire are interchanged seemingly at random.

- Mace Windoo. Need I say more? Ok, I will. Mace goes completely off the deep end there at the end. Anakin, being the voice of reason, is sticking to his Jedi training and Mace is practically foaming at the mouth in his desire to kill Palpatine. Did I get a different Jedi Manual[1] than Mace did? Since when do Jedis kill 'defenseless' prisoners? Even if they may not be all that defenseless, this whole scene just struck me as wrong.

- In SW:ESB Obi Wan's ghost says to Yoda, "That boy was our last hope." to which Yoda replies, "No, there is another." This would certainly imply that Obi Wan did not know about Leia.

- "The children must be hidden away where the Sith cannot find them." "We'll send the boy to his family on Tatooine." [2] Excuse me? Seems to me that might be the first place someone might look, no?

- Why was Chewbacca in this movie? I mean, seeing a bunch of crazed wookies fighting was quite cool, don't get me wrong, but really, why specifically Chewbacca? And by name, even? This felt like a forced connection for no particular reason other than breaking out the Chewbacca molds over at Hasbro.

- The whole reference to Qui-Gon Jinn felt very forced as well. If he was able to 'reach out' as Obi Wan was later able to do, why didn't they just show him. Was Liam Neeson too busy, or too ashamed of SW:TPM ?

[1] Metaphorically speaking [2] These two quotes are from memory, may not be exactly right

-- rec-arts-movies-reviews@robomod.net mailing list http://www.robomod.net/mailman/listinfo/rec-arts-movies-reviews

http://www.millenniumfalcon.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=4404
Official "I've seen it and I want to unload" Thread

Biggs
Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 6:07 am
This is the moment I was talking about earlier....Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith will be remembered for THIS one moment, this is what will make your gut wrench....The scenes of the Jedi-Purge across the Galaxy. Absolutely, heart wrenching. Breathtaking CGI and FANTASTIC SCORE from John Williams, as the music is turned up loud...and Anakin Marches towards the Jedi Temple, we have scenes from across the galaxy from various worlds...as many high-profile Jedi meet their doom at the hands of the now order-66 controlled Stormtroopers...it's heartbreaking. It really is.

Anakin walks into the Jedi Council as a cute-as-buttons little Jedi walks up and asks "Master Anakin" what to do...Anakin ignites his lightsaber....the Female Audience in my screening literally went "oh fuck" loudly...and we cut to Yoda...who drops his walking stick and we have the first ever star-wars moment, where Yoda deserves an Academy Award for the look on his face.

Just....Amazing.

Back to Vader, who now is almost completed - we get another spine-chilling moment as the Iconic mask is lowered on his face, and for the FIRST time, we get an idea of what Vader's world looks like through HIS eyes, as the masks eyes (from the inside) flicker to life...and it's nothing but red colored and all computer-like (hence the, "See you, with my OWN eyes" line in Episode VI)

We cut back to Padme, now on her Funeral Bed on Naboo....in a Parade full of people, we cut back to Vader rising on his Frankenstein operating table, and asks the Emperor "What happened to Padme" - Palpatine informs Vader that HE killed him, and we get a "No...it's not true" from Vader (all deep voiced) Palpatine smiles, says nothing...then we get unintentionally funny moment number 3, as Vader Rips his arms out of the operating table, stumbles forward Frankenstein-like, begins to force-crush everything in the room...and screams an all James-Earl-Jones-voiced "Noooooooooooooo" all while Palpatine smiles evilly next to him.

It's kinda cheesy, it won't be the "Birth of Vader" moment SOME were hoping for, but there's NO other way to do a scene like that, so it's not all bad....just good....not great. 

The End of Star Wars.

My final thoughts - If you BUY into Anakin’s reasoning for choosing Palpatine over the Jedi, (His love for Padme, and his one focus that everything he does, no matter what...he had to save her) then you'll enjoy this movie....some audience members I spoke to afterwards, just didn't buy it. So they were lost from the start.

bacta wrote:
obi-wan turns his back on anakin who is burning alive? holy shit, I'm crying already. this is gonna be hard to watch.

Yeah, honestly....it's almost offensive! Anakin's basically burning alive, and Obi-Wan just turns and walks away. He's gone and you see Anakin just lying, crawling for his life burning away.

It's pretty graphic...

Quote:
thanks for the review, but you were off on a few lines and names lol.

I know, I'm sorry...I'm an awful speller, and I don't know the StarWars universe as well as I should. So really, many apologies. But hopefully it gives you a grounded base of what the movie was doing.

Seriously, those Jedi Purge scenes will blow you away.... 

Nice review, I got chills by just reading it. Imagine how I must shudder during the movie 

No Mon Mothma? So there the scene with Padme in her quarters with fellow senators was cut completely?
Is there any mention of a rebellion possibily forming against the empire?

http://winterson.com/2005/06/episode-iii-backstroke-of-west.html

http://nuar.lunarpages.com/video/SW_mirrors.htm

You have found the original home of the unofficial
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
trailer with added subtitles for the 133t among us!
________________________________________________

Notice: As of 4/25/05 Lucasfilm Ltd. has requested
that all potentially copyrighted materials and
links be removed from this site. I have complied
and have taken down all content in question.

If you are a good lawyer (an oxymoron, I know) and think that I
should be allowed to blatantly disregard copyright laws, e-mail me!
Or drop me a line if you miss the trailer or just want to say hi!
-Marc (S3@nuar.net)

Original
Cease and Desist e-mail
from Lucasfilms
	
133t translated
Cease and Desist e-mail
from Lucasfilms
From: Lucasfilm Ltd.
To: Marc
Re: Unauthorized Use of STAR WARS Copyrights and Trademarks on website: http://nuar.lunarpages.com/video/SW_mirrors.htm

Gentlemen:

Lucasfilm Ltd. and its affiliated and related entities (collectively "Lucasfilm") are the exclusive owners of all rights in and to the Star Wars films, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and the forthcoming motion picture Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Those motion pictures and the characters and unique elements which appear therein (the "STAR WARS Copyrights and Trademarks") are protected by the copyright and trademark laws of the United States and other nations.

We note that STAR WARS Copyrights and Trademarks are being posted and distributed on the above website without Lucasfilm's authorization ("Unauthorized Items"). This unauthorized use of STAR WARS Copyrights and Trademarks constitutes copyright infringement, trademark infringement and unfair competition. By this letter, we request that you immediately suspend and/or disable the account of the above website and/or that you immediately remove the Unauthorized Items from the above website.

We further request written assurance that you will comply with this demand. Lucasfilm is the exclusive owner of all relevant rights in and to the Star Wars Films. Pursuant to the DMCA, we have a good faith belief that any items falling into the categories identified above infringe Lucasfilm's copyrights and other intellectual property rights, and are not authorized by Lucasfilm or its agents. I am authorized to act on Lucasfilm's behalf regarding these matters. The information provided in this communication is accurate to the best of my knowledge and is provided under penalty of perjury.

Thank you for your cooperation. Nothing in this letter shall be construed as a waiver or relinquishment of any right or remedy possessed by Lucasfilm or any other affected party, all of which are expressly reserved.

Sincerely,

Lucasfilm Ltd., (Antipiracy)
Business Affairs

	From: Clan Luc@ss
To: m4r(
Re: Stop haXXing our trailer or we will tell the mods on you!

n00bz:

Clan Luc@ss and krew (aka. “Griefers”) are so ubAr 133t that we even made Star Warz, The Empire Respawns, and The Jedi Go PvP. We also made some crap about some fag named Jar-Jar, but that was totally teh SUXXOR!!!1!!11! (oops. our bad) But we still totally pwn those flix. Those movies are mega ph4t lewt and we even found some sploitz that let us re-release them and make MAD BANK!

Even tho the 133t trailR was TOTALLY THE WINxorz, we f’in PWNt you! You are a dam dirty pirate-haxor-n00b and you can’t join our clan. You duped our items and somehow (must be h4x) stacked buffs on them. You best do what we say or we’ll petition the GMs and they will B4N your account! Oh noes!

If you want us to stop spawn camping your happy a$$, send a /tell admitting that you got spanked! Read the EULA and RTFM, ho! Our clan is #1 and we will make sure that everyone TKs you whenever you log on if you don’t STFU. We shoot straight!

U SUK!!!I1!!!! We still pwn Star Warz, j00 and Jar-Jar. (srry bout that. really)

All your base are belong to us!

Clan Luc@ss, (Stat whores)
Griefer Affairs

Even though the l33t trailer is no longer on my
site I'm sure you can find it somewhere online
since it was downloaded over 500,000 times! I'm
still accepting donations to help pay for bandwidth
from March when I was still hosting the file.. Lets
just hope I don't have to ask for help with legal fees!

One of the best industrial/EBM bands in
the US. They rock! Check out some music
on their site. You heard it here first!

www.encoredancing.com www.nolatheatre.com 

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=9&threadid=2913&STARTPAGE=2

 I've been reading through these subs and they are a riot! Anakin is always referred to as "Allah Gold," the Sith are " the West," and the Jedi Council is, of course, the "Presbyterian Church." Can't wait to actually watch the film with these. 

 As explained, these subs are guaranteed to be off on any other bootleg or official version of ROTS because the video on this version kept skipping and replaying parts twice.

You would have to use a program like Subtitle Workshop (google it) to resync the subs at those particular points. To add to an already authored DVD, you'd have to unpack the VOBs, add the subs, then re-author it. 

 Mon January 09, 2006 1:01 AM  	

I think the Backstroke titles are so absurd and obnoxious that you don't need to say anything else. 'Star War Episode III: Backstroke of the West' is perfect just as it is. The original Chinese sub writer is the star here. The mere existence of these subs is nerdy enough; don't spoil a relatively little-known insider thing with lots of added 'humour'. Anything added will just erode what was insanely funny about this in the first place.

I wish Lucasfilm had stuck the 'Backstroke' subs on as an Easter Egg. Woulda beat the bootleggers at their own game (no point whatsoever to get the boot, if the subs are on the retail version), given Uncle George or one of his many minions a chance to explain and laugh off (and gain some street cred from) the pathetic job of subbing, and have been subtle enough that only uber-nerds like us would care about finding them and playing the whole movie with them.

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=9&threadid=4861&highlight_key=y&keyword1=backstroke

Thread Title: Backstroke of the West with retail DVD quality FINISHED & FULLY WORKING!! DOWNLOAD HERE!

 Tue March 14, 2006 10:50 AM

I have created a DVD with the backstroke of the West subtitles. It has four subtitle options: 1. Original. 2. backstroke V1 (F word) 3. backstroke V2 (no F words). 4. a surprise track. There are menus with scene selections and one more surprise. It is a kit and you will have to supply the NTSC R1 SWIII WS DVD. Others may work, but are untested. Included are full step by step instructions and everything you need in the 57mb zip file in the link at the bottom of this post.

What you'll need to supply:
Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith official NTSC Region 1 DVD (WS or FS: FS not tested)
Program such as SmartRipper or PGCdemux to rip the video and audio from the DVD
A Windows compatible PC with probably a version of Windows XP and an NTFS file system (duh)
About 12gb free of HD space

optional:
DVD Shrink program if you need to compress the movie to fit onto a single layer DVD-R.
PowerDVD or similar program to watch/ preview the movie on your computer.
DVD burning program and blank DVD if you want to actually make a DVD of this. (duh again)

Here it is: backstroke of the West kit

You are also gonna need this! Fixed IFO files.

This fixes the size problem, the movie is now 2hrs 10 min or whatever it's supposed to be, not 10 hrs! The menus are now 16x9 and most importantly it is recognized by Clone DVD and DVD shrink so we can all shrink this puppy down to fit a DVD-5.

To use this fix, simply do everything the same as in the BSotW Kit above. When that's finished, simply replace the 2 files in the VIDEO_TS folder with the ones in this fixed VIDEO_TS folder. Everything should work exactly as I intended now. Let me know how this turns out for everyone and if problems persist.

I suggest to rip the DVD, use SmartRippper.

If ypu have the DVD in your DVD-Rom drive, it will try to read it. It may say something about files being locked. If so, use PowerDVD (or whatever software player you have) to play the movie or a few seconds first. What I usually do is just play it and then skip around a few chapters and stuff. Smartripper should automatically find the main movie on the disc. If not, it's Title 7, program chain 1. Click on "Stream processing". Click on "none" to deselect all files on the next screen. Click the check box next to "VIDEO NTSC" and change the little selector to "demux to extra file". Do the same thing for the second audio track (English AC3 2ch). Change the target folder to your demuxed folder. Click on Start. (Start will not appear if you don't have enough HD space.)

You should end up with an ac3 audio file and and m2v video file, as well as some blank vob files and stuff. Use these m2v and ac3 files and then use the instructions provided in the download "kit". 

 What about someone (I don't know how to) making an actual crawl for "Star War: The Third Gathers: The backstroke of the West"

It will have three subtitle tracks, one of which replaces the f word with "poop", and of course the retail subs. (I guess in Chinese the f word and the word for "do" are similar.)

    Just out of curiosity, I wonder how you clean up "R2! Do you is fcuking!"?

Sucking, thucking, mucking, thumping, bumping. Thucking is just funny to me because the HS rules would not allow you to say the f word (we were performing Python's Dead Parrot Sketch on stage) but I could get away with "thucking".

    ALL I GOT WAS THE MENU WHEN I DOWNLOADED IT. THE FILE WAS ONLY RIGHT AT 58mb.

A few reasons for this: #1 most important- this PM zion sent me

"marioxb,

Your new project sounds great, and I much look forward to you finishing the subs.

However, I must caution you on your intentions to release this as a DVD. If all you are going to do is add subs to the ROTS DVD and possibly a new or modified sub menu, this is not enough to call this a fan edit. And thus, I would caution you about announcing or speaking about releasing a DVD version of this on the boards.

Rather, I would advise you to either revise your thread to say you are just working on the subs, or release this as part of a ROTS fan edit. If you don't have any intention of doing a fan edit yourself, you could try teaming with someone else who has done/is doing a fan edit, like Hal9000 or ADigitalMan. Collaborating on a project isn't anything new. Dark_Jedi and segaflip have teamed up for releases, as well as Digitalfreak-NYC and Baby Hum.

Jay has tried to re-clarify the rules so that the site doesn't look like a hub for obtaining bootleg DVD-rips. I hope you understand, and best of luck to you on your project."

Doing it this way makes sure everyone owns the actual DVD and isn't just out to get something for nothing. #2: It makes the download time much, much less.

As for ThatArtGuy and anyone else having problems rippping, why not use SmartRippper? It will give you one video file and one audio file if you do it properly.

I could give out the srt file, but then ypu wouldn't get my nifty menus. What do you guys think of them by the way?

Anyone else having any problems, other than with DVD Shrink? Yeah, same error I got. An older version of DVD shrink said I didn't have enough memory availiable.

As for Windows XP- that's just what I have and I haven't tried anything else. You need NTFS because FAT won't hold a file larger than a gig or so- I found out when I had Windows ME.

Oh, the button on the subtitle menu is to resume the movie, so it'll play whatever you played last. Speaking of which, anyone notice what the hidden features were? Besides the songs on the menus, there are two other unlisted extras.

 First off, let me say THANK YOU for making this. I'm finally able to enjoy Star Wars in Engrish!

http://www.millenniumfalcon.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=133435
subtitles from Chinese bootleg ROTS DVD

Apparantly in Chinese, Revenge of the Sith translates as "Backstroke of the West."

wtf is this shit. Is this for real?

http://boards.theforce.net/fanforce_greece/b10346/21171113/p1/

That was incredible!THhose guys are really to laugh at!

http://www.millenniumfalcon.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=4404&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=200

I will say the main article Life After Darth was very good.. hell, the interview is good too. That's all I'll say for now... until I see the film and agree with your "parallels" view that:

Jedi Counci Building = WTC
Palpatine = Bush
Obi-Wan = John Kerry
Order 66 = Patriot Act
General Greivous = Karl Rove
Bail Organa = Al Franken
Baby Luke = Hilary Clinton
Ric Olie = Tom Delay 

"The only thing worse than Star Wars-related political discussions are non-Star Wars-related political discussions. - Oscar Wilde

I wish we could just put ideolog conservatives and ideolog liberals in a room and let them cancel each other out. 

To bring this political stuff back on track, if people don't think Lucas puts in political overtones intentionally -- LISTEN TO THE MAN -- on the DVD commentaries, interviews, etc. He specifically says that there are subtle political notions behind the effects and hidden within the context of the stories. He's mentionad several times that the Ewoks were supposed to represent Vietnam, a backward low-tech nation fighting and beating a stronger industrial nation -- the USA.

Whether or not the same kind of overtones in the prequels represent Bush or 9/11 are open to debate, but Lucas has clearly, emphatically, and without worry of rebuke, stated that there are social and political issues interwoven within the starwars narrative. Hell, just look up the word WAR which is in the damn title. War is the ultimate expression of politics, both domestically and abroad. Political hand-wringing and machinations are usually the root cause of every war, whether it be a prime minister spilling coffee on his rival's leg during a PR trip, an ambassador being assassinated, or a Hitler-wannabe who gets power hungry and starts playing global chess and gobbling up nation states to increase the wealth and prestige of his own land -- usually to cement his own power and to avoid being toppled by his competitors.

Palpatine may not be a ghostly mirror of Bush, but he certainly represents anyone who goes into public office with higher ambitions than just to serve the public good. Power corrupts and for any of us to assume that everyone in Washington (or any governmant) has clean hands is fooling himself and building castles in the air with self delusion. These people make careers out of lying! That's what PR is! That's what debates are about now. It's no longer about making your case, standing behind your values, and defending those ideas, even if you're alone in doing so. Getting elected now is the same thing as joining the mob or some other secret society. You may go in with a crusader's agenda, but by the time you leave, the lobbyists have swept the isles with your idealism. Politics is no longer the arena for crusaders and idealists, though it should be. It is the arena of cloak-and-dagger scheming and 'let's see how much money and power I can acquire before my voters kick my ass out of office.'

And that is truth, and that is a perfect reality for the aspiring Palaptines of the world. And that is what Lucas is trying to warn us about, even if he has to shade it with cartoony action and robotic fun set in a galaxy far, far away.

Hopefully this won't get caught in the middle of a heated political debate. I ask again: What are the Clone Wars planets like? I'd like to know what Saleucami is like especially. Much appreciated.

No, it won't.

[sarcasm] Tatooine looks like Iraq, Geonosis looks like Afghanistan, Corsucant looks like New York, Cato Neimoidia looks like Washington D.C., Utapau looks like Somalia, Naboo looks like Colombia, Yavin 4 looks like Nicaragua, Endor looks like Vietnam, Kashyyyk looks like South Korea, Mustafar looks like Hiroshima, Saleucami looks like Nagasaki, Mygeeto looks like Dresden, Hoth looks like the Ardennes in WW II, Dagobah looks like Flanders in WW I, Felucia looks like the Philippines in 1899... [/sarcasm] 

Miles ahead of episodes 1 and 2. . . fantastic, despite obvious flaws that are found in damn near every film. Lucas is a visual director and terrible at dialogue. He's about emotions, story, and visuals. If you can get past some clunkiness in direction, the film is truly emotional. It's in no way the greatest film ever (Star Wars is entertainment afterall, not really a cinematic opus) but it was damn good.

has anyone found any differences between the digital version and the film version?

Now I'm wondering...will the next DVD release get things right or will we be watching funky versions of the OT for the rest of our lives? Really kinda bugs...sorta off topic I guess.

I didn't expect to see bitching about the OT DVDs in a topic about Episode III.

Wow, that has to be one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen. I do think it was a good film, but not as great as I thought it would be. It is def the best of the PT, but I'm not sure if it's better than any of the OT. I will have to view the film many more times in order to determine it's place. The movie went by so fast I didn't get a chance to breathe.

I loved it and can't wait to see it again. 
In short........IT ROCKED!!

Actually, I went in WATCHING the movie...and as I have pointed out, Anakin's turn is not quite believable on screen, and I was with four other, unspoiled people who all thought the same thing.

At the end of the day, this isn't a bad movie, but those claiming it is; perfection, the best, academy award material...are seriously deluded.

Hey Tern... just wanted to back your take on the Anakin motivation flaws. I saw the film with 2 women who didn't know the story and a friend of mine who did. We briefed the girls about the basic plot, but that's it. In the end, they were quick to point out, as we were, that Anakin's dark side motivation, as clearly defined in the movie, is to save Padme from dying. (In case you were to miss it, I think Anakin says that 6000 times or so.)

But as soon as he decides that Padme is worth saving enough to chop off Mace's hand and Mace gets thrown through the window, then Palpatine admits it was bullshit.

So then Anakin says, WHAT?! I just KILLED a leading member of the council for nothing?! And now you want me to go hack up some children? And even THEN I won't be able to save Padme, because you were full of shit the whole time? Fuck you! And then there's this great battle between the Emperor and Anakin, and Anakin wins but has a lot of explaining to do.

Oh, wait...

No, that's not right. Here it is: Once he realizes that his one last hope for saving Padme is gone, he figures he better find something else to do, and why not get in some sword practice. It'll help him take his mind off how utterly fucked his wife is, and how fucked he is for helping kill Mace, and how generally fucked up his whole existence is since now he's blown everything. So he just goes ape-shit and kills everyone The End.

This movie was very confusing. There was some sort of conflict Anakin was having when he walked in on Mace and the Emperor, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I was afraid I was going to go to my grave not knowing, but then fortunately the Emperor shouted, "YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE!" I didn't know what he meant. But then the Goodyear Blimp floated by the window with the big sign on the side saying, HE HAS TO CHOOSE... and I was like, Huh? But then when the big subtitle came up on screen saying THIS IS AN IMPORTANT MOMENT. ANAKIN HAS TO CHOOSE BETWEEN HELPING MACE (GOOD) OR HELPING THE EMPEROR (BAD), I was like.. WHOA...That is some good storytelling.

And when the Emperor said Order 666. That was so amazing. It was like, they were Betrayed. They were totally Betrayed, like when Dad wouldn't let me take out the car that one time. You can't imagine how powerful that was. I was totally crying. My Dad totally doesn't understand me. Just like Anakin.. nobody understands him, you know? He's like.. totally conflicted. And Alone. He hurts, and nobody understands him. It's so powerful and deep. Ohmygod this is the most powerful movie they ever did made. Oh Shit mom says I have to get off the computerLOL

Wrong. Anakin's motivation to turn to the dark side was to gain enough power to do whatever he felt was necessary, and to have whatever he felt he deserved. He was never truly interested in helping Mace, Palpatine, OR Padme -- only himself. I guess for all your insight, you still missed this.

Anakins love for Padmé is narcissistic and vain. He's a brat without patience and without insight. His inability to hold a consistant moral stance is his downfall.

Actually, I don't think he's really in love with Padmé. He's in love with the thought being able to love her. He's in love with his capabilities to attract this lovely woman but he can't handle the pragmatics. He's this childish fool who thinks he's everything for everyone, yet he's realizing he cannot commit even to his wife, or the jedi counsel, or something else requiring responsibility. He acted like he just shit his pants when he found out she was pregnant.

Anakin is trying to escape 'cause he can't deal with reality. He's overestimating his powers and integrating them with his overstimulated sense of self. Saving Padmé is an unconcious way of acting out these egoistic feelings and it is a way not to save her wife - but as Ayatollah says - to save himself from all things bothering him. Isolation – on top of the world – is a romantic dream which I guess all power hungry maniacs strive for, like all dictators goal is. It is the perfect way to dissconnnect all social bondings – which are annoying and meaningless – and still being able to controll everyone.

In that way he IS a fullfledged psychopath. He's twisted cause his perception of reality is twisted. Psychopaths elevate themself above all, and blame all consequences on other people, mainly due to the extreme conflict they feel when dealing with pragmatic, everyday issues.

http://www.millenniumfalcon.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=4866
Torrent site busted for leaking SITH workprint.

Props to the FBI, Homeland Security, the MPAA and all that...but I'm sorry to say that I've never even heard of Elite Torrents before today.

(And when the fuck did online movie piracy become an issue of national security?)

Shit, no wonder ROTS did so badly at the box office :P

http://www.millenniumfalcon.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=5935
Sith Pirates charged for leaking Workprints & Screeners

From The Associated Press:

8 Charged in Illegal Release of 'Star Wars'

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Eight Californians were charged Tuesday with involvement in the illegal release of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" before the movie appeared in theaters.

Court documents allege the piracy began with a "screener" copy of the film at a post-production facility where one of the defendants worked and ended with the movie being released online the day before its worldwide release. "Screeners" are copies of films made available for such purposes as reviewing or for use by voters in industry awards programs.

The case is the latest attempt to crack down on movie piracy by law enforcement and the film industry.

All are accused of misdemeanor copyright infringement charges that carry up to one year in prison. One of the defendants also faces a felony count of uploading the movie onto the Internet, which carries a sentence as long as three years in prison if convicted. 

Star Wars 'Sith' p2p uploader

p2p news / p2pnet: When Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith arrived on the p2p networks, "There is no better example of how theft dims the magic of the movies for everyone than this report today regarding BitTorrent providing users with illegal copies of Revenge of the Sith," raved MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) boss Dan 'Jedi' Glickman (right).

Oh, those evil, wicked kids with their Sony camcorders.

But, "The illegal distribution of 'Sith' started during the week before its May 19 release, when Albert Valente, 28, of Lakewood took a DVD copy of the film from a post-production facility where he worked," says the Los Angeles Daily News.

"The firm was hired by the studio for the post-production work," the story has US assistant attorney Brian Hoffstadt saying.

After Valente (no relation to ex-MPAA boss Jack Valenti) gave copies to, "Jessie Lumada, 28, of Long Beach, who gave it to another friend, Ramon Valdez, 30, also of Long Beach," says continues the LA Daily News. "Valdez took 'Sith' to the cable company where he worked and allowed co-worker Michael Fousse, 42, of Monrovia to upload it onto the company's internal network.

"Dwight Wayne Sityar, 27, of La Crescenta, who also worked at the cable company, then burned the movie onto three CDs and gave them to co-worker Stephani Gima, 25, of Los Angeles. Gima gave the movie to her brother-in-law, Joel De Sagun Dimaano, 33, of Los Angeles, who brought it to his work at MGM Studios and lent it to Hoaglin, his co-worker.

"Hoaglin uploaded the movie onto the Internet."

Does that mean Valente and friends could land in jail for up to 17 years or perhaps be fined $250,000, as advocated by Hollywood friend, and chairman of House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, Lamar Smith?

That was what Curtis Salisbury was looking at after allegedly camcording The Perfect Man and Bewitched, "and then distributed them through illicit computer networks that specialize in piracy".

But No. That fate doesn't, apparently, await the Hollywood insiders and their friends.

Despite, "going over to the dark side by getting their hands on copies of 'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith' before its theatrical release" and pleading guilty to federal piracy charges, the seven are getting off with misdemeanor charges.

"If they'd done it for financial gain or profit, then that could have become a felony, but ... that wasn't the case for these folks," said Hoffstadt.

But what about Hoaglin who uploaded the movie, causing such grief for Glickman and his employers at the MPAA? Jail and a heavy fine?

Nope. Since he pleaded guilty, "prosecutors are recommending home confinement instead," says the LA Daily News.

OK, then. But that's because Hoaglin's theft was an isolated incident, surely? Nope.

An AT&T Labs report said a total of 285 movies its researchers sampled on the p2p networks, 77% were leaked by industry 'insiders'; actor and studio owner Mel Gibson sued a Hollywood post-production house for the online appearance of his Passion movie; and, Russell Sprague got 130 movies from Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences member Carmine Caridi, who was ordered to pay Warner Bros a paltry $300,000 for providing Sprague, who died in an LA jail cell, with the copies."

Meanwhile, "Any competition 'Sith' faced from the online version did not keep it from earning $50 million at the box office its opening day," adds the LA Daily Times.

"The box-office take set the record for the biggest opening day of any movie, and it was also the biggest single-day gross ever."

http://www.millenniumfalcon.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=115176

Torrent Sites Busted For Episode III Leak: Homeland Security vs Dudes in their Underwear

That's what the RIAA did by going after downloaders and it gave them a lot of headaches and bad press. Easier to go after a dozen admins and mods than to go after several thousand people at once. Heck, about 10,000 people downloaded Ep III from ET by itself. Can you imagine the FBI filing 10,000 supoenas? And the news getting on their case for tying up resources expecially since Homland Security is involved?

The appearance online of Revenge of the Sith before its official release raises some interesting questions, particularly in light of yesterday’s take-down of the Elite Torrent BitTorrent indexing site.

Was the leak in fact a honey trap set up by the MPAA to give bounty hunters a clear shot at nailing torrent users?

I have to say I was not in my underwear when I downloaded it.

Well, that's a relief.

Owning a copy of the goddamn movie on a hard drive isn't going to keep anyone from pruchasing legit copies of the movie later when it comes out.
t.

it certainly didn't prevent me. I have had the OT on my hard drive for many years, yet when the box set came out on DVD I bought it immediately and erased the old ones from my computer. Like has been said I just wanted them to watch before they came out on DVD. Now that I have ep 3 I will still absolutely buy it on DVD, and probably will buy it again like a dumbass when it is released in the super 6+ dvd box set of the entire saga

I must be the only person on this planet that hasn't downloaded it.

After seeing it in the movies, I can't bear to watch it like that. You just loose all the detail which makes it simply amazing.

Still.. The whole MPAA argument is ridiculous, if they don't state that they loose money, regardless of whether they really do or not, then they don't have the reason nor backing to keep fighting it.

I mean, can you imagine what would happen if people found out that they didn't loose money from people pirating the movie? As most people have stated, the movie is awesome and no one here has a problem with buying it.. Why on early you'd prefer a shit copy to the ultra-fine digital version is beyond me.. but .. according to the MPAA.. thats how everyone thinks. Go guys.

What about the people that HIRE the movie and copy it? or Hire it and DivX it? There is a lost sale. Go after who you can realistically reach and make sure everyone see's that your doing it so its justifyable.

Unfortunately its 'big corporate business' vs internet user, so until some independant auditing entity comes in and verifies the MPAA's claims (and I have no idea how they're going to do that unless they POLL everyone) then the MPAA are going to be allowed to continue their version of the Spanish Inquisition. 

http://www.millenniumfalcon.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=119750

EPISODE III

A New Bootleg

It is a period of mediocre movies.
Pirate hackers, working from within
LucasFilm, have won a great victory
against the evil Hollywood FILM INDUSTRY.

Before its release date, movie pirates managed
to steal a secret workprint to the FILM INDUSTRY'S
ultimate movie, EPISODE III, a special effects
blockbuster with enough power to make .
EJACULATE across the entire internet.

Pursued by the FILM INDUSTRY's sinister lawyers, savvy
pirate editors argue over how to create a better bootleg on
their message forum, custodian of the movie's BIT TORRENT urls
that can save people money from movie tickets and expensive popcorn
throughout the planet....

http://www.vcdquality.com/index.php?page=nfo&id=52264

VISA
Star.Wars.Episode.3.Revenge.of.the.Sith.WP.DVDR-ViSA
RarName: sw3.scr-visa

This is indeed legit.

Should have been released as S/VCD, but too late now...

Two big ass counters across the top (as stated in .nfo), but if you really want an early look, then it isn't that big a deal.

Quality is watchable, audio is very good and video is a little... whats the word... 'not quite right'. The AR is slightly off as well, but again, not too bad if you just want to be 'the first' to say you've seen it.

Won't bother rating, but it is watchable and quite legit. Enjoy.

^^ those jpgs make it look better than it really is...

either way its still worth going to see in theatre! which i plan on w/ in the next week.

i wonder whats missing in the WP..

 Good release.. kinda

Okay, yeah, definite AR problems. I'm not sure why this release was dumped to such a crappy format, especially for widescreen material. And the constant bitrate just kills it, especially on a DVD. There's just plain no reason for CBR encoding to be used on a DVD, period.

As far as the nuke reasons....

Bad AR: Well duh. Definitely bad AR. If the workprint was a low-resolution workprint it could have been exported at Half-D1 A.K.A. CVD resolution using letterboxing and still been a DVD-R. Hell, with VBR encoding and 192kbps AC3 audio chances are it would have fit on a Mini-DVD. (P.S. The proper AR is 2.35:1, for any of you who are going to recode it before watching)

Wrong Format: *buzzer* Sorry, try again. Allow me to enlighten some of y'all on DVD specs, because apparently a bunch of you fell asleep when they discussed this: 352x240 MPEG-1 Video A.K.A. VCD resolution is in fact a valid DVD resolution. True, it's a really crappy resolution, but it's valid all the same. This is still technically a standard DVD, as the audio and video are both in spec.

Video: 7 - it's a decent transfer, but the choice of the VCD format with CBR encoding kills it. Try again at 352x480 MPEG-2 with letterboxing, guys; that'll look fine.

Audio: 8 - 224kbps mp2 audio... nothing special here. Unfortunately the equalization seems to be a little off, as certain high range noises make my ears itch. (literally)

Movie: ? - Haven't watched it all the way through yet. I feel the urge to convert it to something with the proper AR first.

http://www.vcdquality.com/index.php?page=nfo&id=52313&show=text

       _|    |____|    | ______                           .
         .........\_    _    |    |/  ___/___................,,......:.. .
         :         |    |    _    |  __/    /                        :
         :         |____|____|____|__________\         T H E         :
     _____ ___ _______ _______ ______ _______                        :
    /    //   \\_    //_     //  ___//_     /  U N D E R G R O U N D :
    \    \      /   /  /    /   __/  _/    /                         :
     \_________/____\______/_________\______\      N E T W O R K     :
         :          ______ _______ _______ _____ ____ ________ _______
         :          \  __//_     //   _   \\    \\    \_     //_     /
         : cDr/SAC /   \_  /    //    /    \\    /     /    /  /    /:
         :         \_______\_____\_________//________//_____\______/ :
         :   ________ ______ ______ __.:____ _______ _______ ___: _____
         ____\_     //  ___/_    _/   ||   //   _   \\_    //   |/    /
         \    /    /   __/  |    |    ||        /    _/   /    _/    /
 :_     /____/_____\________|____|____/\_____________\_________\_____\     _:
 |(                                                                        )|
 |//\_.                                                                ._/\\|
 |____|________________________________________________________________|____|
 |                                                                          |
-o-   PRESENTS: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)        -o-
 |__________________________________________________________________________|
 |    |                                                                |    |
 ||   | Supplied by.: Underground      Rls.Date...: 22/05/2005         |    |
 ||   | Source......: TELECINE         IMDB.Rate..: 8.3/10             |    |
 ||   | Genre.......: Sci-Fi/Adventure IMDB.Votes.: 15,821 votes       |    |
 |:   | Format......: SVCD             Size.......: 168x15mb (3CDs)    |    |
 |o   | Subtitles...: None             Files......: tun-sith*          |    |
 |    |_Widescreen..: [X]              Limited....: [ ]               _|    |
 |   _ /______________________________________________________________\ _   |
 |   \//                                                              \\/   |
 |    | RELEASE NOTES:                                                 |    |               
 |    |                                                                |    |
 |    | Guess what??? Star Wars: Episode III is HERE!! YAY!!!! :D      |    |
 |    |                                                                |    |
 |    | Now enjoy this wonderful movie and dont forget to go watch it  |    | 
 |    | in the THEATERS when it get`s less crowded! That`s the least   |    | 
 |    | we can appeal to by doing this fantastic movie that deserves   |    |
 |    | a watch on the BIGSCREEN. With all respect to Lucas & Crew, we |    |
 |    | are proud to bring you the last STAR WARS movie of the series. |    |
 |    |                                                                |    |
 |    | That was all lads.. WE hope you will ENJOY the release!        |    |  
 |    |                                                                |    |
 |    | Regards...                                                     |    |
 |    | Team TUN.                         

http://forum.vcdq.com/showthread.php?threadid=63036#newpost

Judging from the sample:

This release is a little better than the VISA DVDR release. The picture has a little too much red in it and is a little dark, but it definitely is not as pixelated as the workprint. Audio is crystal clear.

8.5/9/10

Good release. It's much clearer and less pixelated than the workprint. However, it's really really dark which is a shame. The opening scroll is in Russian which is amusing

Sound is perfect.

Can't wait for the DVD-R

7/9/9

06/18/2005 	DVD SCR 	Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith 	  		  		aAF 	8.2/6.8/9.0 	36 posts [view]
06/08/2005 	DVDRIP 	Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith INTERNAL NTSC DVDR 					aAF 	7.1/6.4/7.4 	64 posts [view]
06/04/2005 	DVDRIP 	Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith INTERNAL DVDRip XviD 					aAF 	9.0/8.5/8.5 	112 posts [view]
05/29/2005 	TELECINE 	Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith 	  				METEOR 	7.9/8.2/8.6 	10 posts [view]
05/28/2005 	TELECINE 	Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith *XviD* 					MoF 	8.6/8.2/8.4 	38 posts [view]
05/26/2005 	TELECINE 	Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith *SVCD* *RERIP* 					TUN 	7.4/7.1/8.4 	60 posts [view]
05/23/2005 	DVDRIP 	Star Wars Episode III Revenge Of The Sith OST A Musical Journey *MDVDR* 	  		  		MoM 	9.0/9.0/10.0 	0 posts [view]
05/22/2005 	TELECINE 	Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith 					TUN 	7.8/7.8/8.7 	115 posts [view]
05/20/2005 	WORKPRINT 	Star Wars Ep3 Revenge Of The Sith *SVCD* *iNTERNAL* 					POT 	5.5/5.6/8.2 	34 posts [view]
05/19/2005 	WORKPRINT 	Star Wars 3: Revenge Of The Sith *VCD* 					MoBsTeRs 	6.9/7.2/8.8 	39 posts [view]
05/18/2005 	WORKPRINT 	Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith 					ViSA 	7.6/8.3/8.2 	91 posts [view]

http://www.millenniumfalcon.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=119750

I just watched the workprint (Original DVD-ISO File). Besides the Aspect Ratio Issues that can easily be fixed there are audio issues, starting exactly with Title-Track 2 of the 5 avaiable Titles on the DVD-ISO.

It seems like the first Title (33min) is fully Dolby Surround encoded, but the 2nd title is not Dolby Surround encoded at all. I even fear, that the sound is upmixed from a mono-source. Or the Release-Group has screwed up the audio-signal somehow (only Title 2-5).

You can test (hear) it by yourself, if you listen to the repeated segment of the "Yoda & Anakin" Scene, where they talk about Anakins dream. The repeated lines are "Yourself you speak of or someone you know? Someone. Close to you? ..." Be sure to set your setup to Dolby Surround and just play. The first time (end of Title 1) you can cleary hear the background music in the surround channel. The second time (beginning of Title 2), the surround channel stays almost silent.

You can also spot a clear difference in the Front Left Channel, when in Dolby Surround Mode.

This is no way of complaining, I just wanted to inform everyone, that until november the best way is watching Title 2-5 in stereo-mode, while watching Title 1 in Dolby Surround Mode.

Can anybody check the Telecine-Release, if it has the same audio issues?
And is this AC3.5.1 Release fake or is it real? 

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Digital_Episode_3_Different_to_Film_Version_90742.asp

The May issue of Empire Magazine has a quote from Rick McCallum on the digital version of 'Revenge of the Sith' (Pg 78):

"The digital version of the movie will be different from the version that goes out on film. That has to be locked down so much earlier, whereas the digital can go right up to a week-and-a-half before the film comes out"

The digital version of 'Attack of the Clones' was also different to the version that came out on film, the most notable difference being Padme holding Anakin's mechanical hand during the wedding scene.

But will this digital version of 'Revenge of the Sith' be longer than the version on film, perhaps as a reward to theaters that have upgraded to digital projecters, and fans who choose to see the movie in a digital theater. Time will tell. Thanks to Rich for the alert.

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Hayden_Talks_Revenge_of_the_Sith_90537.asp

The Sydney Morning Herald features an interview with Hayden Christensen, who is in Australia to promote 'Revenge of the Sith'. Here's a clip of the article.

The early phases of a long promotional effort before the movie reaches theatres in May had the 23-year-old actor launching a cinema trailer, meeting fans and leaving his handprints in a new Star Walk at Fox Studios last night.

So what was it like donning the famous helmet for the first time?

"It was just one of those ecstatic moments," he said before the trailer screening. "Just the sensation of having it on was very empowering and just really cool."

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Revenge_of_the_Sith_Titanic_in_Space_90474.asp

Director George Lucas had a message for fans as he previewed a glimpse of the final tale in the billion dollar "Star Wars" film franchise: leave the lightsabers at home, but don't forget the tissues.

"It's not like the first one. It's more emotional," said the director of space adventure, "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," which arrives in theaters May 19.

"I describe it as a 'Titanic' in space. It's a real tearjerker, and it will be received in a way that none of us can expect,"

Lucas said he was not concerned at how fans would react to the final film.

"I feel that I've made the movie the best I can and it turned out the way I wanted it to be, so I'm happy."

"I never try to anticipate what the world's going to think or even worry about whether they're going to like it or not," Lucas told the convention of cinema owners.

"That's not my job, to make people like my movies. They either like them or they don't. That's completely out of my hands."

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Star_Wars_Goes_To_Hell_90217.asp

Star Wars' goes to hell in its final episode, and the trip may cost it the PG rating that the previous five films have earned, says the series' creator, George Lucas.

Speaking to Correspondent Lesley Stahl, the filmmaker provides a peek at the much anticipated movie for a report to be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, March 13, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

"I don't think I would take a 5- or a 6-year-old to this," says Lucas of "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith." "It's way too strong."

"[The film] is much more dark...more emotional. It's much more of a tragedy. My feeling is that it will probably be a PG-13, so it will be the first 'Star Wars' that's a PG-13."

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Revenge_of_the_Sith_UK_Rating_90343.asp

In the US, a PG-13 rating means parents are strongly cautioned that some of the material is unsuitable for those under 13. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has given the film’s trailer a PG rating. However, they have yet to be sent the full work, and violent scenes make it possible that it could receive a 12A or 15 rating.

Sue Clark, of the BBFC, said: "You cannot say from the trailer rating what the film will get. It is not unheard of for a film that gets a PG-13 rating in the US to get a 15 rating here. We do not consider the US rating before classifying it ourselves. But if it got a 12A rating, that would not stop young fans seeing it, provided that they were accompanied by an adult."

Mark Brownrigg, a lecturer in film and media studies at the University of Stirling, felt the classification the film gets would have no effect on its box-office sales. "It will stand or fall in terms of the quality and not the rating," he said. "The key is getting people to watch it more than once at the cinema. If that happens, Mr Lucas will have a massive hit on his hands.

"There was a mixed reception from fans to the last two episodes. Now he may well have reckoned that the core of his fan base has grown up, and so has decided to target the adult market."

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/New_York_Line_Up_Officially_Begins_91836.asp

New York Line Up Officially Begins!

Posted By Spell on April 30, 2005

Now it's the east coasts turn to get in line.

New Yorkers officially kicked off the beginning of their 19 wait for Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith. The event is a "Stand-a-thon" which helps raise money and awareness for their charity, The Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation.

If you would like to register for the the line or need more information, please visit NYLine.org.

http://www.nyline.org/

Almost there...

Serving the greater New York "Star Wars" community since 1999, NYLine celebrates the release of the prequel trilogy films as a benefit for the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation. Join us as we fulfill our destinies with a last-of-its-kind sidewalk line party counting down to the premiere of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith"!

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Lucas_Talks_Star_War_3D_Digital_TV_91809.asp

Lucas Talks Star War 3D, Digital & TV

Posted By Britany on April 29, 2005

Hollywood.com features an interview with George Lucas. Here are a few of the questions he answered:

Are you ready for all the attention and hoopla for Episode III?
George Lucas: "No."

Are you ever ready?
Lucas: "No." [laughs]

http://viewaskew.com/news/sith/

"SITH" SPOILERS

You've been warned...

- "Revenge of the Sith" is, quite simply, fucking awesome. This is the "Star Wars" prequel the haters have been bitching for since "Menace" came out, and if they don't cop to that when they finally see it, they're lying. As dark as "Empire" was, this movie goes a thousand times darker - from the triggering of Order 66 (which has all the Shock Troopers turning on the Jedi Knights they've been fighting beside throughout the Clone Wars and gunning them down), to the jaw-dropping Anakin/Obi Wan fight on Mustafar (where - after cutting his legs and arm off, Ben leaves Skywalker burning alive on the shores of a lava river, with Anakin spitting venomous sentiments at his departing mentor), this flick is so satisfyingly tragic, you'll think you're watching "Othello" or "Hamlet".

I saw a gorgeous digitally projected version of the flick, and lemme tell ya': this is a beautiful looking film. The opening space battle sequence is the best in any of the six "Star Wars" movies. Grievous and Kenobi's lightsaber duel is bad-ass, with Grievous rocking four sabers. The Clone Wars end rather early in the flick (about the halfway point), leaving the rest of the film to concentrate on Anakin's turn to the Dark Side, and the resulting slaughter of the Jedi.

Perfect example of how dark shit gets: remember the Younglings - the kid Jedis in training from "Clones"? As a result of Order 66, when Anakin invades the Jedi Temple with an army of Clone Troopers, he enters the Council room to find a gaggle of said younglings hiding behind the seats. They see Anakin and emerge, asking "What should we do, Master Anakin?" The query's met with a stone-cold Anakin firing up his lightsaber. The next time you see the kids, Yoda's sifting through their corpses on the floor.

Yes, it's just that dark - and rightfully so. This is the birth of Darth Vader we're talking about. The only comic moments in the flick are given to R2D2, and while good, they're all pretty few and far between; the order of the day is dark, dark, dark.

Ian McDiarmid and Ewan McGregor steal the show, but Hayden Christensen silences any naysayers who wrote him off as too whiney in "Clones". This is the flick that feels closest to Episodes 4, 5, and 6, because - for the first time since "Return of the Jedi" - there is a clear villain. And for all the shadow-play Palpatine has been upto in the last two flicks, his treachery is about as subtle as John Williams' score in "Sith." Whether he's slowly drawing Anakin toward the Dark Side during an opera/performance art piece with his promise of the Sith's power of life over death, or he's engaged in a balls-to-the-wall lightsaber duel in the Senate with Yoda, his "Little, green friend" (his words, not mine - which I kinda dug, because, interestingly, I think it's the first time anyone's acknowledged that Yoda is green in any of the "Star Wars" flicks), this is the Emperor's movie.

The last fifteen minutes dovetail nicely into Episode 4 (or just plain "Star Wars" for you non-geeks), and the movie is full of link-up moments as well.

- At flick's end, Threepio and Artoo are given to Captain Antilles (with the caveat that the Protocol's memory be wiped).

- The twins, natch, are split up. Leia heads to Alderann with Bail Organa, and Obi Wan hands Luke over to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru (indeed, the closing shot is Owen holding Luke while looking out over the setting suns of Tatooine - mimicking the shot of the adult Luke doing the same in "Star Wars", complete with callback cue from Williams).

- After he succumbs to the Dark Side, Anakin tries to convince Padme that he can overthrow Palpatine, and together, he and Padme can rule the galaxy as husband and wife.

- Vader and the Emperor stand beside a younger Grand Moff Tarkin on the bridge of a Star Destroyer, overlooking the earliest construction stage of the Death Star.

- Yoda telling Obi Wan that, as he heads to Tatooine to hand over Luke and go into exile, that he should spend his time learning to commune with those who've crossed over to the next stage of life, as Yoda maintains he's been doing with Qui Gon (and Ben will later do with both Luke and Yoda, in "Empire" and "Jedi").

- And, hands-down, the best link-up to "Star Wars" moment that I enjoyed the most: Bail Organa and Yoda stepping into the hallway of the Rebel Blockade Runner that opened "Star Wars". Unlike all the high-tech CGI wizardry of the rest of the prequel Trilogy, this is a low-tech looking set, right out of circa '77, and for some reason, it really captured my imagination. I mean, this is the same exact hallway in which we got our first look at Vader, oh so many years ago, and I appreciated the hell out of Mr. Lucas including it - because it really felt like a nod to the hardcores.

Look, this is a movie I was genetically predisposed to love. I remember being eight years old, and reading in "Starlog" that Darth Vader became the half-man/half-machine he was following a duel with Ben Kenobi that climaxed with Vader falling into molten lava. Now, twenty six years later, I finally got to see that long-promised battled - and it lived up to any expectation I still held. I was sad to see the flick end, but happy to know it's not the end of the "Star Wars" universe entirely (I've read stuff about a TV show...).

"Sith" doesn't happen; "Sith" rules.

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/E3_NYC_Ziegfeld_Premiere_Sold_Out_91685.asp

E3: NYC Ziegfeld Premiere Sold Out!

Posted By Spell on April 27, 2005

This weeks update from the NYLine...

The NYLine, New York's charity line-up benefiting the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation starts this Saturday, April 30th!

Although tickets to the midnight premiere of ROTS at the historic Ziegfeld Theatre in Manhattan sold out to the general public in a matter of hours, NYLine still has spaces open for fans to earn a ticket to the 12:01 showing. Members wait in shifts that they choose, and can reserve their ticket by waiting for as little as 12 hours over the course of the 19 day line-up. Each NYLine member will receive a gift bag of fun Star Wars items, several donated by offical Lucasfilm licencees, and the chance to take part in wizard events and get great prizes for raising money for our beloved charity!

http://www.nyline.org/article.asp?id=318

The Line Starts With Them!

Posted By Steve on 5/15/2005 6:01:40 PM EST
NUMBER OF PEOPLE CURRENTLY IN LINE: 30

As outlined in this story, NYLine members will be let into the Ziegfeld based on their point totals - one point for each dollar raised for the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation, with that number added to the number of shift points earned throughout the line. Using figures entered into our tracking system as of Saturday, our top 10 point totals stand at:

    * 1028
    * 825
    * 672
    * 600
    * 585 (3 members)
    * 583
    * 490
    * 485
    * 443
    * 380

Our top 5 shift point earners stand at:

    * 878
    * 525
    * 433
    * 365
    * 350

And our top 5 fundraisers have turned in:

    * $507
    * $500
    * $460 (2 members)
    * $450

The top shift point earners and fundraisers also will be awarded prizes opening night. It's not too late to increase your totals and move yourself closer to the front of the line - you have approximately 48 more hours to collect money from Stand-A-Thon sponsors or to come on down to 54th Street and spend some more time on the line!

Be sure to check that we have tallied all of your points correctly by logging into the NYLine Members area.  If you feel that there is some discrepancy, email us at contact@nyline.org.

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Newsweek_Talks_Star_Wars_Fans_Lining_Up_91309.asp

Newsweek Talks Star Wars Fans Lining Up

Posted By Britany on April 14, 2005

Newsweek features an article on fans lining up for 'Revenge of the Sith'.

There's coverage on the Chinese Theater Line-Up (read more about that here and here), but they also talk to Jeff Tweitan, the Star Wars fan lining up in Seattle. Here's a clip:

Perhaps the first person in the country to begin waiting for "Episode III," Tweitan set up camp with a powder blue couch (and, of course, a blog) on a Seattle sidewalk on Jan. 1. He was forced to move after an extraordinarily unpopular move by Mayor Greg Nickels later that month and has since relocated to a private sidewalk in front of an IMAX theater across town. He has been treated to a private performance by the Seattle Supersonics cheerleaders, who fed him grapes, and has been the subject of a surprising amount of local newspaper copy. "I [got in line] early as a statement to America saying we need to sit back relax and enjoy life, to wait with anticipation for things we enjoy," he tells NEWSWEEK over the phone from his new perch. And if the new movie is, well, not worth the wait? "I'd voice my complaints pretty loud to Lucas, then I'd probably drink heavily," he says. "Then I'd backpedal a bit and not talk about the movie, shift it away from the movie and make it more about the human experience."

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Francis_Ford_Coppola_Talks_Episode_III_91270.asp

Francis Ford Coppola Talks Episode III

Posted By Britany on April 13, 2005

MP3P0 sends in the following news:

On AMC's Sunday Morning Shootout, George Lucas mentor Francis Ford Coppola was talking, among other topics, about sequels which he said in general simply involved making the original movie over again. However, he added at the end of his comments he thought Star Wars was different and that Episode III would be one of the best of the series.

Sunday Morning Shootout comes on AMC at 11 am on Sunday morning. Part 2 of Coppola's interview airs in
2 weeks (April 24th).

Will adds:

He stated directly that sequels should not be made and that they are only the same movie made over and over again. Coppola then switched gears completely and interjected that he didn't think that was true of the new Star Wars film (Ep. III) and that he thought it was going to be quite good.

http://www.pringles.com/_starwars/

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Ebert_Defends_Star_Wars_Review_92984.asp

Ebert Defends Star Wars Review

Posted By Joshua on May 29, 2005

RogerEbert.com has some great answers to questions about his review of Episode III. Head there for the rest, here's one of them:

Q. How you can give the new "Star Wars" movie 3.5 stars when you write, "The dialogue throughout the movie is once again its weakest point: The characters talk in what sounds like Basic English, without color, wit or verbal delight, as if they were channeling Berlitz." Doesn't this make it a movie deserving no more than two stars? Just because a fabulously wealthy producer can afford the best in special effects, does that warrant a rating close to perfection?

Robert Cavanaugh, Wheaton

A. I got a lot of messages saying there was a disconnect between my star rating and my review. Perhaps there was. Star ratings are the bane of my existence, because I consider them to be relative and yet by their nature, they seem to be absolute.

"Star Wars: Episode III" returned to the space opera roots of the original film and succeeded on that level, and for that I wanted to honor it, while regretting that it did not succeed at the levels of intelligence and wit as it did on the levels of craftsmanship and entertainment.

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Death_of_the_Superfan_92968.asp

Could any new movie today really spawn the same dedication? Will hordes ever give up their jobs to follow a touring band from coast to coast - parking lot by parking lot?

"Oh, yeah. It goes back into the middle ages," says sociologist Lewis of the age-old practice of fandom. "They had bear-baiting. They'd throw a live bear into a pit of dogs and they were fans of this. It's the same sociological mechanism."

"You and I can't think of anything to become a fan of, but the people who want to become fans may find something," he says. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Revenge_of_the_Sith

Revenge of the Sith premiered at the Cannes Film Festival (out of competition) on May 15, 2005. Its theatrical release in most other countries took place on May 19 — the same day and month as the release of 1999's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1977's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and 1983's Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi were also released on the same day and month, six years apart). The global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas claimed one week before the premiere that it may have cost the US economy approximately US$627 million in lost productivity because of employees who took a day off or reported in sick.[13] Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a traditional venue for the Star Wars films, did not show it. However, a line of people stood there for more than a month hoping to convince someone to change this. Most of them took advantage of an offer to see the film at a nearby cinema, ArcLight Cinemas (formerly the "Cinerama Dome").

A copy of the movie leaked into peer-to-peer file sharing networks just hours after opening in theaters. The movie was a time-stamped workprint, suggesting it may have come from within the industry rather than from someone who videotaped an advance screening.[14] Eight people were later charged with copyright infringement and distributing material illegally. Documents filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney allege that a copy of the film was taken from an unnamed Californian post-production office by an employee, who later pleaded guilty to his charges.[15] The illegal copy was passed among seven people until reaching an eighth party, who also pleaded guilty to uploading to an un-named P2P network.[16]

Shortly after the above-mentioned print was leaked, it was released in Shanghai as a bootleg DVD with Chinese subtitles. The unknown producer of this DVD, for unexplained reasons, also elected to include English subtitles, which were in fact translated back into English from the Chinese translation, rather than using the original English script. This translation was particularly inept, leading to unintentional humor; the title of the movie, for example, was given as "Star War - The third gather - The Backstroke of the West". One error in translation that recurs several times in the film is that the phrase "it seems" was rendered as "good elephant".[17]

An indication of the film's public reception is its rating of 7.9 (as of July 7, 2007) in the Internet Movie Database, whereas its two predecessors, The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, rated 6.3 and 6.9 respectively. For reference, both A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back rated 8.8 (ranked 12 and 8 in Top 250 films respectively), while Return of the Jedi rated 8.2 (ranked 111).

[edit] 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_D-Elite

Operation D-Elite was an operation by agents of the FBI and U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement against leading members of EliteTorrents, a BitTorrent tracker site, resulting in five months of prison, five months of home arrest, and a $3,000 fine against Grant T. Stanley on October 17, 2006.[1] Another administrator of the site, Scott McCausland, received the same sentence on December 19, 2006.[2]

On May 25, 2005, authorities executed ten search warrants across the United States and seized the EliteTorrents domain. Like previous actions against BitTorrent sites such as LokiTorrent, the authorities obtained server logs of people who had been downloading and uploading through the site's BitTorrent tracker. As of January 15, 2007, there has been no action taken against the vast majority of normal members on LokiTorrent or EliteTorrents.

EliteTorrents was singled out among the large number of Bittorrent sites because EliteTorrents released a Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith workprint approximately six hours prior to the movie's theatrical release. This attracted the attention of the MPAA, which monitors BitTorrent sites. The MPAA began collecting information and pressuring the Federal Bureau of Investigation to take some form of action.

In addition to the Star Wars workprint, the owner of the EliteTorrents domain name lived in the United States, which made the site an easier target for US authorities. However, the site's server was located in the Netherlands, and the other BitTorrent trackers located on that server continued to operate.

When the site was first taken down, people who tried to access it were confronted by an unprofessional-looking notice, apparently created in Microsoft Word, which led the owners to announce that the site had been a victim of a DDoS attack or some other type of hoax. However, in the early hours of May 25, the United States Department of Justice and FBI announced that they had taken down the website.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vaw/press_releases/stanley_17oct2006.html

NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
John L. Brownlee
United States Attorney
Heidi Coy
Public Affairs Specialist
	
BB&T Building
310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906
Roanoke, Virginia 24011
(540) 857-2250
FAX (540) 857-2180

October 17, 2006

WISE, VIRGINIA MAN SENTENCED IN PEER-TO-PEER PIRACY CRACKDOWN

United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that GRANT T. STANLEY, age 23, of Wise, VA, was sentenced to five months in prison to be followed by five months of home detention for his role in a BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P2P) network previously known as Elite Torrents.

United States District Court Judge James P. Jones also sentenced STANLEY to a $3,000 fine and three years supervised release. The defendant had previously pleaded guilty to a two count felony information charging conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and criminal copyright infringement in violation of the Family Entertainment Copyright Act.

“This is the first criminal enforcement action against copyright infringement on a P2P network using BitTorrent technology,” said United States Attorney John Brownlee. “We hope this case sends the message that cyberspace will not provide a shield of anonymity for those who choose to break our copyright laws.”

Stanley is one of three defendants convicted to date as a result of Operation D-Elite, a federal crackdown against the first providers (or suppliers) of pirated works to the technologically-sophisticated P2P network known as Elite Torrents. At its prime, the Elite Torrents network attracted more than 133,000 members and facilitated the illegal distribution of more than 2 million copies of movies, software, music, and games. On May 25, 2005, federal agents shut down the Elite Torrents network by seizing its main server and replacing its log-in web page with the following notice: “This Site Has Been Permanently Shut Down by the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).” Within the first week alone, this message was viewed over half a million times.

The Elite Torrents P2P network offered a virtually unlimited content selection, including illegal copies of copyrighted works before their availability in retail stores or movie theatres. Operation D-Elite is a joint investigation by ICE and the FBI as part of the Computer and Technology Crime High-Tech Response Team (CATCH), a San Diego task force of specially trained prosecutors and law enforcement officers focused on high-tech crime. Federal and state member agencies of CATCH include ICE, the FBI, the Department of Justice, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, San Diego Police Department, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, and San Diego County Probation.

Andrea Sharrin, Senior Counsel for the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and S. Randall Ramseyer, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, prosecuted this case on behalf of the government. The Motion Picture Association of America also provided substantial assistance to this investigation. 

http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/mcCauslandSent.htm

December 19, 2006
MARY BETH BUCHANAN
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Federal Courthouse
Room A330
17 South Park Row
Erie, PA 16501-1158
(814) 452-2906
Defendant Sentenced in Online Piracy Crackdown

United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced today, December 19, 2006, that Scott R. McCausland, a resident of Erie, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court in Erie to five months in jail, to be followed by five months of home confinement, on his conviction of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and copyright infringement.

United States District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin imposed the sentence on McCausland, age 24.

According to information presented to the court by Andrea Sharrin, Senior Counsel for the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold, McCausland is one of three defendants convicted to date as a result of Operation D-Elite, a federal crackdown against the first providers (or suppliers) of pirated works to the technologically-sophisticated P2P computer network known as Elite Torrents. At its height, the Elite Torrents network attracted more than 133,000 members and facilitated the illegal distribution of more than 2 million copies of movies, software, music, and games. On May 25, 2005, federal agents shut down the Elite Torrents network by seizing its main server and replacing its log-in web page with the following notice: "This Site Has Been Permanently Shut Down by the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)." Within the first week alone, this message was viewed over half a million times.

The Elite Torrents P2P network offered a virtually unlimited content selection, including illegal copies of copyrighted works before their availability in retail stores or movie theaters. For example, the defendant supplied the network with the final entry in the Star Wars series,"Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," more than six hours before it was first shown in theaters. In the next 24 hours, it was downloaded from the Elite Torrents network more than 10,000 times.

Prior to imposing sentence, Judge McLaughlin stated that those engaged in online piracy of copyrighted material "are not modern day Robin Hood’s, but rather common thieves motivated solely by the desire to get something for nothing."

Ms. Buchanan commended the various law enforcement agencies who conducted Operation D-Elite, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the FBI, the Department of Justice, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, and San Diego County Probation, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of McCausland.

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Episode_III_Box_Office_in_China_92800.asp

Episode III Box Office in China

Posted By Britany on May 23, 2005

Xinhua Online reports:

A Warner cinema in Guangzhou is expected to pocket the highest box office income ever as the "StarWars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" is drawing a large audience in the south China metropolis.

"It is expected that box office receipts will total 2 million yuan (240,000 US dollars), a record high since the cinema was opened early this year," Monday's China Daily quoted Ye Xueying, deputy general manager of Guangzhou-based Warner Jinyi International Cinema, as saying.

At Shiyigong Cinema, one of the city's oldest, an audience of nearly 1,500 watched the premiere, and tickets were selling for 20yuan (2.4 US dollars) each.

By Sunday, tickets valued at 1.6 million yuan (181,000 US dollars) had been sold, China Daily quoted sources with the Guangzhou Zhujiang Cinema Circuits.

An industry insider told Xinhua last week the movie was predicted to take in between 80 million and 100 million yuan in China (9.6 million to 12 million dollars).

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Star_Wars_UK_Marathon_Report_Summary_92778.asp

"This is ******* Awesome!" - Rick McCallum

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Masked_Vader_Robs_Theater_92771.asp

Masked Vader Robs Theater

Posted By Joshua on May 22, 2005

WisTV is reporting a Star Wars-related crime at a theater in the Midwest this weekend. We trust an isolated incident like this won't prevent fans that like to attend the movies in costume to be stopped at the door:

It appears Darth Vader delivered an unwelcome show of force at an Illinois movie theater this weekend.

Police in Springfield, Illinois say a man wearing a Darth Vader mask walked into a movie theater, shoved an employee out of the way and grabbed a bunch of cash.

Investigators say the robber fled the theater and ran into a nearby wooded area. Police have no suspects.

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/05/19/star_wars_iii_online.html

Thursday, May 19, 2005
Star Wars III online, all studio countermeasures futile, Lucas still rich

There's a workprint of Star Wars Episode III on the Internet already. It's got some timecode and watermarks, but judging from the 19 second XVID sample that Waxy has posted, it seems like it's eminently watchable.

Workprints leak from studios. The studios are trying to lock down what customers do with DVDs and cable TV and PCs, but they can't even keep their own house in order. They've got laws that allow them to get your name from your ISP and to sue you into bankruptcy for file-sharing. They've got laws to criminalize the math to defeat DRM. They're after laws to let them design TVs and camcorders.

None of those laws, measures or policies will stop files like this from circulating on the Internet. Don't take my word for it, read what Microsoft's leading DRM engineers have to say about it.

But that's OK, because Star Wars III will make a metric crapload of money, no matter how many copies are downloaded from the Internet. Hell, the licensing deals alone have already recouped the cost of production, before the first ticket was sold.

The studios don't have a problem with downloading. There's plenty of downloading, but there's no problem. But even if there is a problem, none of the costly measures the studios have asked for will solve it.

Putting the shouting, petulant babies from the studios in charge of technology is plain nuts. They are too blinded by greed and hubris to be trusted. Link 

http://www.waxy.org/archive/2005/05/19/star_war.shtml

 Though the original rumors of screener copies of Star Wars Episode III spreading via BitTorrent turned out to be fakes, a new workprint of the film was leaked online yesterday. Watermarked with timecodes on every frame, the workprint was made available as a DVD-R by a pirate group named VISA by Wednesday afternoon.

To get an idea of the quality of this workprint, the video below is a 19 second sample excerpt, posted along with the complete film to Usenet newsgroups. (Thanks for mirroring, Leonard.)

Download: starwars_ep3_leaked_workprint_sample.avi (7.3 MB, XViD)
Mirror #1: starwars_ep3_leaked_workprint_sample.avi

(Note: I don't have the movie and have no plans to download it, so please don't ask me how to download it. Also, please don't post torrent links in the comments.)

Update: This entry is linked in a new Reuters article and many media outlets that use the Reuters feeds, like CNN Money, News.com, and ZDNet. The story is also on the front page of Yahoo right now. In the blog world, it was linked by Boing Boing, Fark (indirectly), and Kottke, among others.

The results? My bandwidth is going through the roof. Downloads of the sample video are pushing 82 Mb/s. That's pretty insane, and it's a testament to EV1 Servers that the site is still online and speedy.

Comments

What if this is an inside job by the movie industry?

Leak a copy of the film to the internet, let it be snapped up a bit by torrent users, etc. Complain to the media. The media writes a sympathetic story about how a multi hundred million dollar film was stolen by digital pirates. Conveniently timed to correspond with many descisions being made by congress and the courts about file sharing and copyright.
posted by clappstar on May 19, 2005 09:52 AM

Now if only the Star Wars Holiday Special with timecode would be leaked, I'll be happy.
posted by HiMY SYeD on May 19, 2005 06:01 PM

Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #78 - When the going gets tough, the tough change the Rules.
posted by Evil Mike on May 19, 2005 06:58 PM

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/19/2215218

'Sith' Already Found Online
Posted by CowboyNeal on Thu May 19, '05 06:47 PM
from the water-still-wet dept.
ScentCone writes "Of course it was bound to happen, so now it's mostly a matter of discussing why Lucas does or does not deserve to make the proceeds, or whether people would or would not have gone to see it now that the usual path has been carved around the opening weekend box office." I've yet to find a blockbuster movie that isn't readily available on the net after it opens, but somehow this is still news. It's still usually worth shelling out the cash to see a version that isn't fuzzy with garbled sound, though. 

Revenge of the Nerds
CowboyNeal confirms it, this isn't news.

The Star Wars marketing was rather interesting this time around. CNN ran all the usual Star Wars news segments ("look at those wacky fans") and some less-usual ones ("everything you need to know to get up to speed on Star Wars lingo"). Discovery Channel dipped in to the pot with Science of Star Wars and their Animal Planet special on Star Wars fauna and their earthly inspirations.

Me, myself... I got two bags of M&Ms. Jedi Mix and Darth mix. I put them in two seperate bowls. Then I mixed them. Stunning Jedi battles did not ensue

Both sides need to get a grip.

I don't know which is funnier:

    * People claiming BitTorrent is "perfectly legitimate" (funniest example of this was a guy who blurred out the "legitimate" torrents and had torrentspy in a browser window behind the torrent client)....OR...Hollywood claiming BitTorrent/P2p is only used for illegitimate purposes
    * Downloaders claiming that they see/buy everything they download, as does everyone else on p2p....OR...Hollywood, claiming that every download = not just the lost ticket price, but some insane multiplier, when most people don't even bother to "seed" more than half or less of what they download.
    * Downloaders whining about how they'd go see/buy more movies/music, if only it was better, but still download the "crap" and don't go for independently produced stuff...OR...Hollywood claiming that downloaders are hurting them, while ignoring massive Group Think among producers, directors, and writers for churning out crap not worth paying over TEN DOLLARS to see in a theater where you'll be given the opportunity to pay $3.50 for a small bottle of water, your eardrums will get blown out, and your shoes will stick to the floors for a week.

I'm tired of both sides taking absolutely ridiculous, unsupportable positions...

Bothan death toll mounts...

Many Bothans died to bring us this leak.

http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=797

The MPAA has been working vigorously to thwart prerelease movies and online distribution. Recently, President George Bush recently signed the "The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 (FECA)." This Act amends the current copyright law by adding prison time and significant fines for those found guilty of distributing prereleased movies.

Believing such amendments would deter movie pirates, the MPAA had some choice words over the current leakage of Episode III.

“There is no better example of how theft dims the magic of the movies for everyone than this report today regarding BitTorrent providing users with illegal copies of Revenge of the Sith. The unfortunate fact is this type of theft happens on a regular basis on peer to peer networks all over the world," MPAA President and CEO Dan Glickman said in a press release.

As an earlier post on the Slyck forums pointed out, the MPAA blamed BitTorrent as a whole, rather than a specific tracker (or trackers.) BitTorrent trackers act as indexes for the network, since the network itself is not searchable. Once an individual downloads a torrent file from a tracker, the torrent informs the BitTorrent client the necessary information to locate and download the desired media file.

Many feel generalizing BitTorrent in this fashion is unwarranted, as many legitimate uses exist; such as distributing the Linux Operating System.

“Fans have been lined up for days to see Revenge of the Sith. To preserve the quality of movies for fans like these and so many others, we must stop these Internet thieves from illegally trading valuable copyrighted materials on-line."

Or, as General Grievous would say, "Crush them!"

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/The_One_Guy_Who_Hates_Star_Wars_92236.asp

MTV Brings Forth

As you read this, thousands of people are lining up around the world to see "Revenge of the Sith," the sixth (or third, whatever) and final installment in the most beloved film franchise of all time. I, however, will not be joining the queue. Because — spake the heretic — I don't like "Star Wars."

Don't get me wrong. I'm of the Star Wars Generation. I was 12, perhaps the perfect age for fandom, when I saw the first movie (or the fourth — again, whatever) in the summer of '77, and I did love it. I had "Star Wars" action figures and comic books and posters and soundtracks and T-shirts. I waited in line for hours on opening day to see "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi." Friends and I even went so far as to make our own parody tape featuring "Star Wars" characters meeting the crew of the Starship Enterprise (I played Dr. McCoy, Yoda and Darth Vader). "Star Wars" fit right into my geeky lifestyle.

And yet, as time wore on, while I held on to many of the trappings of my youth (comic books, punk rock and stuff that glows in the dark still fit into my life), I found that I completely lost any affection for "Star Wars." I got rid of all the memorabilia; I didn't see the original movies in their re-releases; I never pined for the DVD; I only saw "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" on video (two thumbs way down). I'll eventually see Hayden Christensen slap on the ill-fitting helmet, breaking poor Natalie Portman's heart and disappointing Ewan McGregor and the voice of Frank Oz, a.k.a., Yoda, but probably not until it comes to video or cable. Heck, I already know how it ends.

Nostalgia is a powerful force (no pun intended), but it's usually misleading. Time clouds our judgment, and pieces of pop culture from our youth rarely withstand adult revisitation. In the era of 1,000 cable channels, DVD box sets and digital downloading, most things we remember from our childhoods are available to us again. But caveat emptor: We may have warm memories of "Super Friends," but to watch it in 2005 on DVD (as I did, foolishly) is to realize that the show was just kiddie crap, hacked out by workhorse animators unconcerned with crafting lasting art. They were just earning a paycheck.

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Joshs_Revenge_of_the_Sith_Review_92074.asp

Josh's Revenge of the Sith Review

Posted By Joshua on May 6, 2005

(SPOILER WARNING: review contains many spoilers)

I'm not sure if the tear I shed was because this is the last Star Wars movie, or if it was really that good. And to be honest, I don't really care either way.

For the longest time, people have felt the story of Star Wars was about Luke Skywalker - until now. This is Anakin’s story, hands down. Episode I set up the innocence of a little boy filled with the Force. The story must start there, despite many wanting it to begin further down the road. Innocence is celebrated in this first film, then tested and tried in the second prequel, Attack of the Clones. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is the culmination of that loss of innocence with the complete giving in to the Dark Side. Anakin’s downfall is absolute and he will become Darth Vader.

It is certainly a tall order for the final movie in Star Wars history. The Phantom Menace introduced the dominoes, Attack of the Clones set them up, and now Revenge of the Sith comes in to knock them all down, break them in half and light them on fire.

Earlier today two of my good friends and I got the chance to attend the press screening of Revenge of the Sith at Mann Village here in Los Angeles, California. Several celebrities were there and plenty of people to nearly fill the 1000+ seats in the digital theater.

It is perhaps paced awkwardly in places and has the now infamous cheesy lines now and again, but this is clearly the part of the story Lucas was most anxious to share. Unmistakably this is the meat of the back-story we now get to see it in all of its glory. It is made more powerful by the set up of the earlier films, for many they will find redemption here.

Why You’ll Love This Film
I’ve got a whole checklist of all that has to happen in this film – so this truly is an action movie. Deception, lies and lightsabers fill this story up to the top. Aside from a weak second act, this film delivers non-stop action that will delight fans.

The opening battle was fantastic; visually this film is near perfect. From the opening sequence to the very end, there is precious little that may look off. In fact, with all of the new worlds, characters and vehicles I think it is safe to say ILM has gone next level. This does have a visual effects nomination … and win, written all over it.

The lightsaber battles are second to none, and there are plenty of them to go around. Obi-Wan vs. Grievous was great, even if the droid general did lose his extra hands a bit fast. The Duel is amazing, plenty of action with between former friends and interaction with the environment as well. You’ll finally get to see the Emperor take out Jedi, feign his own weakness to lure Anakin in to help and then fully unleash hell on Yoda. I love.

Ian McDiarmid in this film is incredible. I felt his character was a bit too happy and eager in the opening moments, but it is corrected quickly and he goes the other way especially fast. I have nothing but pure joy over his addition to the saga. He nearly steals the show from Anakin and does an amazing job. Once you get to the Opera scene, prepare yourself to be blown away.

Other notable standouts are from Ewan McGregor - especially in the last half of the film. He truly believes the ways of the Jedi are the right path, and is willing to even take out his apprentice who has betrayed them. After the romantic scenes I began to really dig Hayden Christensen, too. He delivers some powerful emotions later in the film that bring added depth to the character. When he opens the door to the Youngling’s room and they ask for help, you will be moved.

The Clone Wars montage was awesome; it was so great to see some other worlds to show the epic campaign and galactic conquest. All of the visuals here were great, and it is for certain that the Jedi are all alone at this point.

The sound was good but felt a bit too familiar with the exception of the wheel bike and Boga sequence. Quite a risk they took having Obi-Wan ride a lizard after the other mounted sequences in the prequels, but this one is picture perfect. And the cries from that other worldly creature fit flawlessly. I wish that the new Jedi starfighters had more of a Tie fighter sound and that the aliens had voices that had to be translated or subtitled, but it works. Just timid and safe, I think.

The featured score isn’t nearly as memorable as even Across the Stars. I’m glad Duel of the Fates makes a reprise and there are some great ambient tracks at key moments that add to the tension. And let’s not forget about one lengthy scene that has no music at all – very nice. Listen for it and see if you agree. And it's always great to hear elements from the early John Williams' work as well.

Some other favorite moments? I think Obi-Wan standing at the top of the spaceship ramp on Mustafar is commanding. I love Anakin closing the doors on the Separatists then killing them off one by one. Tarkin quickly shuffling off-screen to make way for Vader to survey the Death Star. The dozens of new clonetrooper designs and vehicles. Palpatine’s face … Anakin bursting into flames.

The end of the movie was satisfying, wrapping up many lose ends and bridging the prequel-classic divide nicely. I love Vader crushing stuff and the twins being handed over to their respective surrogates. I do wish Yoda landing on Dagobah was included on the digital print, and the pan to sunset closing shot should have been sans-Lars.

Stuff You May Not Love As Much
Natalie Portman isn’t brilliant in this film. She just can’t seem to pull off her character. I have to say though her funeral scene is done perfectly, and the Jappor snippet actually got to me. C-3PO is basically non-existent, he even gives a “helpless” line and that’s exactly how I felt about his character. Where is Jar Jar? You see him maybe twice, and except for background noise he doesn’t even have a single line.

The Kashyyyk battle is way too short. If you saw all of the trailers and the Episode III footage that Rick McCallum showed at the Celebration then unfortunately you’ve seen much of it. It was so stunning; too bad we didn’t see more of it. And the Jedi swinging on wires with lightsabers? It is a 2 second clip.

The voice acting of the Nemoidians and other aliens is again terribly weak, with the exception of Tion Meddon. Of course, he is relegated to a cameo as well, albeit a cool one. Another oddity was that droids talk so much in the opening few minutes of the movie. And there were just a couple of moments I was disconcerted by the effects work. The clonetroopers without helmets never did look quite right, and in one shot baby Luke in Obi-Wan’s arms looked like it was rotoscoped awkwardly.

A few other interesting moments - the suited Vader says “Padme,” the droid memory wipe felt like an afterthought and the whole Qui-Gon holds the key to the Forcefelt very forced. Anakin choking Padme should have been more over the top and did she really die of a broken heart? Ugh. Anakin’s final move in The Duel makes no sense to me either. Still though, minor squabbles when looked at as a whole.

Overall
This is a great Star Wars film – the best of the prequels without question. In many fans minds this will fall under Empire and A New Hope, and I think that is a fair analysis. A powerful movie that you’ll not want to miss, weakened by one vulnerable act and a few nitpicky problems. I saw it once today, and I’m already anxious to see it again. You will be, too.

May the Force be with you. 

http://theforce.net/episode3/story/Scott_Reviews_Revenge_of_the_Sith_92067.asp

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/opinion/17stephenson.html?ex=1276660800&en=a693ccc4ec008424&ei=5090

By NEAL STEPHENSON
Published: June 17, 2005

Seattle

IN the spring of 1977, some friends and I made a 40-mile pilgrimage to the biggest and fanciest movie theater in Iowa so we could watch a new science fiction movie called "Star Wars." Expecting long lines, we got there early, and found the place deserted.
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Ward Sutton

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Ward Sutton

As we sat on the sidewalk waiting for the box office to open, others like us drifted in from the towns, farms and colleges of central Iowa and queued up behind. When the curtain in front of the big Cinerama screen finally parted, the fanfare sounded and the famous opening crawl appeared against a backdrop of stars, there were still some empty seats. "Star Wars" wasn't famous yet. The only people who had heard about it were what are now called geeks.

Twenty-eight years later, the vast corpus of "Star Wars" movies, novels, games and merchandise still has much to say about geeks - and also about a society that loves them, hates them and depends upon them.

many have been underwhelmed by the performance of Hayden Christensen, who plays Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Only if you've seen the "Clone Wars" cartoons will you understand that Anakin is a seriously damaged veteran, a poster child for post-traumatic stress disorder. But since none of that background is actually supplied by the Episode III script, Mr. Christensen has been given an impossible acting task. He's trying to swim in air.

In sum, very little of the new film makes sense, taken as a freestanding narrative. What's interesting about this is how little it matters. Millions of people are happily spending their money to watch a movie they don't understand. What gives?

Modern English has given us two terms we need to explain this phenomenon: "geeking out" and "vegging out." To geek out on something means to immerse yourself in its details to an extent that is distinctly abnormal - and to have a good time doing it. To veg out, by contrast, means to enter a passive state and allow sounds and images to wash over you without troubling yourself too much about what it all means.

In corporate-speak, there is a related term used when someone has committed the faux pas of geeking out during a meeting. "Let's take this offline," someone will suggest, when the PowerPoint slides grow dark with words. Literally, it means, "I look forward to geeking out on this topic - later." But really it's a polite synonym for "shut up already!"

The first "Star Wars" movie 28 years ago was distinguished by healthy interplay between veg and geek scenes. In the climactic sequence, where rebel fighters attacked the Death Star, we repeatedly cut away from the dogfights and strafing runs - the purest kind of vegging-out material - to hushed command bunkers where people stood around pondering computer displays, geeking out on the strategic progress of the battle.

Scientists and technologists have the same uneasy status in our society as the Jedi in the Galactic Republic. They are scorned by the cultural left and the cultural right, and young people avoid science and math classes in hordes. The tedious particulars of keeping ourselves alive, comfortable and free are being taken offline to countries where people are happy to sweat the details, as long as we have some foreign exchange left to send their way. Nothing is more seductive than to think that we, like the Jedi, could be masters of the most advanced technologies while living simple lives: to have a geek standard of living and spend our copious leisure time vegging out.

If the "Star Wars" movies are remembered a century from now, it'll be because they are such exact parables for this state of affairs. Young people in other countries will watch them in classrooms as an answer to the question: Whatever became of that big rich country that used to buy the stuff we make? The answer: It went the way of the old Republic.