Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

HaloZero writes "The title was publicly revealed today in a special presentation to a packed audience of Star Wars fans at Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. The title wasn't the only surprise for those in attendance at the presentation. Click here for news about even more Star Wars DVDs in 2004 and 2005, surprise celebrity guests, new planets in Episode III, and more."

Damn it, damn it, damn it

[Anonymous Coward]

I promised myself I wasn't going to get excited by Episode III, but that's a really good, appropriate title! Here's the AICN story [aintitcoolnews.com] with the logo, and here's the mirrored text:

Aside from the long-awaited revelation of the title of Episode III, fans had lots of Star Wars news to absorb and be excited about at the Star Wars Spectacular presentation at Comic-Con. Steve Sansweet, Head of Fan Relations for Lucasfilm, hosted the two-hour long panel, full of exclusive video clips and a number of surprise guests.

Much of the news centered around three simple letters: DVD. 2004 is the year to substantially expand your Star Wars DVD collection. While the Star Wars Trilogy is the biggest news for Force-fan videophiles, Sansweet announced the fall debut of Ewoks and Droids adventures on DVD. 20th Century Fox Home Video will release these animated adventures as well as the pair of made-for-television Ewok live action movies (The Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor) this November and December.

September 21, of course, is the release date for the Star Wars Trilogy on DVD. The presentation included clips of some of the bonus material found in the boxed set, as well as a first look at the animated menus that organize the wealth of information and options within. Jim Ward, Vice President of Marketing for Lucasfilm and Executive Producer of the DVDs spoke about the upcoming release, and announced that the epic feature-length documentary, Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, would appear as a special edited-for-television edition on the A&E network this fall.

In other DVD news, Sansweet confirmed a projected release date for the much-asked-about Star Wars: Clone Wars DVDs. The incredibly successful 20 chapters of the Cartoon Network animated shorts will be making their home video debut next spring, around the same time as the airdate for the final batch of Clone Wars shorts from Genndy Tartakovsky and Paul Rudish.

But before that, an essential George Lucas film will make its DVD debut. Sansweet took the opportunity to screen the theatrical trailer to THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut , as well as premiere an all-new trailer to the Comic-Con audience. This video will soon make its way to the official THX 1138 website, which will soon be posting a theater list for the select cities that will be exhibiting the film prior to its DVD release.

On the Episode III front, the biggest news was the confirmation of the Episode III title, and the availability of a shirt with said title at StarWarsShop.com. Sansweet also welcomed two very special Revenge of the Sith guests: Producer Rick McCallum, and the Chosen One himself, Hayden Christensen.

[ Comic-Con International 2004 ]Fans in attendance also got a first look at Hasbro's forthcoming packaging design for Episode III product. The stylized visage of Darth Vader looms large over a chaotic field of molten lava.

Star Wars Spectacular debuted an advance look at two pieces of Episode III-related video that will be found as bonus material in the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set. "Episode III: Making the Game" went behind-the-scenes on LucasArts' forthcoming tie-in video game. An edited version of "The Return of Darth Vader" revealed the gleaming Darth Vader armor from Episode III and showed Christensen donning the armor for the Dark Lord's debut.

For an in-depth account of the presentation, including exclusive imagery and select video, check out the expanded coverage available only to members of Hyperspace: The Official Star Wars Fan Club.

One has to wonder

[Savet Hegar]

how much more continuity Lucas is going to flush down the toilet with this film. He gives the book writers creative license but makes them follow a pre-determined origin and fate with the characters, and then totally pisses on them with the movies. Boba Fett is a prime example. In the books, he was Jaster Mareel before he was Boba Fett. His ship was custom made, not a stolen prison ship. The ship part was taken from the Bounty Hunter video game. It was a good game, but still didn't do a good job of repairing the Bobba/Jango/Jaster thing. LOL....I guess this post proves I have no life.

Re:I know it's trendy to mock Lucas's titles latel

[Ralph Wiggam]

It's even a better mirror when you consider that the original title of Jedi was "Revenge of the Jedi" (good nerds have drooled over the poster).

-B

he just had to have revenge

[geekoid]

in the title.
He wanted 'Revenge of the Jedi' but people prtested that Jedis do not seek revenge.

So now they have 'Revenge od the Sith'. Fine Sith is all about revenge, but what is it a revenge of? did a Jedi knock up palpatines sister and Now he wnats to get even? Did Obi-One park in the 'Sith of the months' parking spot?

Unfortuantly I have high hopes for this movie, becasue I know how he cold fit it all together...everything.
He won't.

Best case scenerio: He does fot it all together, and it is different than how I see it can come together...at they get someone who can act to play Anakin.

Interesting, the actor that play anakin can't act..and the actor who play's his son also can't act. hmmmmm

The Old "Making of..." Documentaries

[GuyMannDude]

Jim Ward, Vice President of Marketing for Lucasfilm and Executive Producer of the DVDs spoke about the upcoming release, and announced that the epic feature-length documentary, Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, would appear as a special edited-for-television edition on the A&E network this fall.

Okay, so this question isn't exactly about Episode III. Bear with me, please.

Does anyone know if this 'Empire of Dreams' documentary is going to include all the stuff from the "Making of..." specials they showed on TV in the 80s? Even though I was a kid at the time, I thought those things were fascinating. And I think today, after being innundated with all those "Making of..." featurettes on DVD which just feature some pasty-faced geek typing away at a computer, watching how spfx were done before computers would really be exciting to see again.

Does anyone know if that stuff is going to be included? Or is this new documentary just going to be a bunch of interviews with cast and crew, reminiscing about the good old days? Something tells me that Lucas would be hard-pressed to let people see the "archaic" (read: non-computer) means they used for spfx in the original trilogy.

GMD

Re:he just had to have revenge

[sg3000]

> At no point have we seen any motivation for why the Sith are
> the way they are

My understanding is that Star Wars canon says that the Jedi wiped out the Sith 1000 years before TPM. There may have been something later than that, but Darth Maul did say in TPM, "At last we'll reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we'll have our revenge." Too bad for Darth Maul the actual revenge didn't happen until Episode III when Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader kills almost all the Jedi (presumably). Thus the "Revenge of the Sith" title. Good job to Lucas on the title, BTW.

Re:he just had to have revenge

[bckrispi]

The novelization of TPM explains it. The sith used to number in the thousands. Because of the corrupting nature of the Dark Side, infighting was common. This division of their forces allowed the Jedi to wipe the Sith threat from the galaxy. Only one Sith, Darth Bane, survived. Learning from the mistakes of the past, he enacted the doctorine of only two sith at a time - Master and Apprentice. Yes, the film could have delved into this, but I think any reasonable viewer, after hearing Darth Maul say "At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge!", could easily draw the conclusion that there is hella bad blood between the Jedi & the Sith.

W.R.T your comments on the TPM lightsaber battle, I can't help but disagree. What Lucas lacks in ability to pen effective dialog, he *more* than makes up for in visuals. At the point when the three were seperated by the laser fields, you were able to gain great insight into each of the character's motives. You're right, Maul was pacing "like a caged animal". There's no better way to describe this. His whole purpose in Palpatine's plan is to be an assassin and enforcer. At this point, his entire focus was on his blind hatred of the Jedi. Qui-gon, knowing he was overmatched, took a moment to meditate. The simple act of him closing his eyes at this moment gives the most revealing insight into his character: He has total trust in the Force. Even when faced with the most fearsome opponent of his life, and every instinct in his human nature should be telling him not to take his eyes off of Maul, he is able to resist, control his fear, and put his total faith in the Force guiding his actions. Obi-wan, seperated from his master is torn between the two, unsure of what his next move should be. His inexperience and immature knowledge of the force are now painfully obvious. In one shot, he looks at the barrier as though he is trying to will it open, but to no avail. This scene was brilliant, and to add dialog to it would have ruined the moment.

And as far as your White Hat/Black hat western comment. Well, sorry, that's what you're gonna get. If you look at the OT, it doesn't get any more good guys vs. bad guys than the Rebels vs. the Empire, and that aspect isn't gonna change. Lucas has said since the 70's that this was his goal: to make a "space western" in the flavor of the saturday sci-fi serials that he grew up with.

Re:One has to wonder

[shokk]

Who's to say Jaster isn't a cover he has to pick up somewhere along the way to go into hiding for committed as a youthful indiscretion. Besides, since Boba won't be more than 10 in this movie, his younger days can still be left up to the writers.

Has anyone noticed?

[Savet Hegar]

The new first 2 movies follow the general flow of the original first two?

Episode 1 & 4:

They are being chased/hunted, making several escapes, narrowly escaping defeat. Each movie ends with a very clear ending and a large ceremony celebrating the victory.

Episode 2 & 5:

This episode tells a story with family ties. In the 5th episode, we find out that Vader is really Anakin. In the 2nd episode, we see anakin falling in love with Padme. Both episodes end in a continuation type ending, leaving more questions than answers, with no real closure.

Episode 3 & 6? Will 3 follow the layout of episode 6?

Does it seem like Lucas is using the cookie cutter approach?

if ($works_first_time)
{
$do_again = 1;
}

Re:Indiana Jones?

[TheShadowHawk]

Sounds a little like the plot for Bubba-Hotep.

Why not both?

[IcEMaN252]

Am I the only one who doesn't really see the difference in special effects between the original and the SEs? DVDs don't make it that hard to have multiple chapter sequences. There aren't that many differences between the two, so I'm sure one DVD could hold both versions with just a little extra video.

Re:Why not "Rise of the Sith"?

[kfx]

The Sith were a race, but died out/intermingled with exiled dark Jedi thousands of years ago. At this point in the story though, the last remnants Sith bloodlines have been long since terminated--the "sith" are now just dark Jedi who follow of the Sith ideals. Sepcies-wise, Darth Maul was a Zabrak, not a Sith.

For all the Geeked out haters

[ITR81]

SW's will keep going on and on with or without all of your snide comments.

If everything followed the novels then everything would be too predictable in my opinion. If I recall Spiderman nor LOTR followed everything that happened in the comics or novels. But did this make the films less enjoyable? No, they didn't.

When Peter Jackson makes another sequel and it doesn't match up(which he will) will you be little him as well.

Atleast GL makes entertaining films for all ages not just SW fans which I give him credit for. Unlike LOTR most kids won't stay the 3 hrs to watch it. But they will for SW. Sometimes I think most forget that SW was designed more for kids and teenagers not some old adult. Remember critics and adults back in the late 70's said the orig. SW wouldn't make any money but it did, because it was written for the kids not the adults in mind.

You know your Geek when you complain about movie franchise continuity over the net

I got this last November

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's what I can tell you about Episode 3.

As you know, primary filming is complete.

Definitely dead before the end of the film are Dooku, Mace Windu and Padme. Dooku gets killed by Anakin, perhaps with Palpatine watching; Mace may die in a duel with Palpatine or with Palpatine and Anakin [this may be when Anakin falls to the dark side]; Padme... well, stay tuned. What else may happen is that Yoda and Palpatine will have a fight.

So what everyone wants to know about is the final duel. Since this will be (supposedly) the last lightsabre duel Lucas ever films, he wanted to go all out on it. Sadly, the Ep I duel will probably go down as the most spectacular one, while the one in Ep 4 is the best one technically.

It begins with Padme (very pregnant) coming to visit Anakin. At this point, Anakin has already allied himself with Palpatine and is even more resentful of Obi-Wan than in Ep 2. Padme has brought Obi-Wan with her - the Jedi Temple on Coruscant has been attacked and many Jedi have been slaughtered. Anakin sees Obi-Wan and accuses Padme of betraying both his location and their marriage.

(Trivia: the line "Luke, *I* am your father." in Empire was originally, "Luke, Obi-Wan *was* your father." It was overdubbed in post.)

Anakin then draws his saber (the one Luke will inherit in Ep 4) and...

(Apparently, "Duel of the Fates" is not going to be used here, surprisingly enough, given its appearance in Ep2 during the desert chase sequence: perhaps it was used earlier during whatever went on with Mace Windu and now that Anakin has fallen, there is no more Duel of the Fates; the Darkness has won. If they can come up with something better, I'll be duly impressed.)

Here there were at least two different versions, and both or parts of both might have been made into the final version. I'll try to show both versions as coherently as I can:

1 Anakin attacks Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan defends himself. This probably looks a lot like
1 the Vader/Luke duel in 5 - Obi-Wan is not really trying to hurt Anakin. Padme
1 calls to Anakin to stop, he looks over to her - and in that moment of distraction,
1 Obi-Wan pulls Anakin's sabre out of his hands and it clatters away.

Both Enraged by Padme's seeming betrayal, Anakin Force-chokes or -throws her. She crumples,
Both severely injured, as...

(I think it's more likely here that he uses the force-throw; it's been suggested (see http://www.theforce.net/swtc/injuries.html ) that Vader's frequent use of the choke was a result of "[his] own helplessness under his permanent" breathing difficulties. Also, (different source) "Vader never was powerful enough in the Sith so as to use the Sith lightning, just as he was never powerful enough to regenerate his wounds. Indeed, he could never fully renounce the Light, because he had known love, first for his mother, then for Obi-Wan, then for Padme.")

2 Obi-Wan lights his sabre and the duel begins.

1 Anakin pulls out a second sabre - the Vader one - and lights it. Red blade. Obi-Wan's
1 shoulders slump, understanding. "You have betrayed us. You have betrayed us all."
1 "The Jedi betrayed me!" And the duel continues.

Both The duel covers several areas. Possibly, Anakin loses an arm (and continues to fight
Both one-handed) and/or loses a leg (and floats in midair by the power of the Force)
Both but Obi-Wan is better (and less wild) and drives him back to the edge of a volcano
Both or a lava pit.

2 Obi-Wan disarms Anakin (perhaps by slicing off his hand), deactivates his sabre,
2 and extends his hand. Anakin sneers and *steps backward off of the edge*, falling
2 into the lava. (Again, resonating very strongly with the scene at the end of Empire
2 with Vader/Luke)

1 Obi-Wan drives Anakin back into the lava, either by forcing Anakin back with his sabre
1 or Forcing him back with a force-push.

Both Obi-Wan briefly looks after Anakin (we hear

Poll Troll Toll

[PollTroll]

honestly... is it that hard to put it in a real poll?

Pick from the following and reply to this post with your favorite:

Star Wars Episode III: Dawn of the Empire [calcgames.org]
Star Wars Episode III: Final Strike [calcgames.org]
Star Wars Episode III: The Fallen Jedi [calcgames.org]
Star Wars Episode III: The Lost Prophecy [calcgames.org]
Star Wars Episode III: The Deception [calcgames.org]
Star Wars Episode III: Hope Lost [calcgames.org]
Star Wars Episode III: The Lost one [calcgames.org]
Star Wars Episode III: Sex with a mare [calcgames.org]

Great.

[SomeGuyFromCA]

Lucas has finally realized that a) he can't write dialogue and b) fight scenes require no dialogue*. Also c) sabrefights are flashy and expensive and people like them. Therefore d) look for lots of sabrefights.

He's also realized that e) the great majority of his audience were fans of the originals and f) repeating yourself requries no creativity therefore g) he'll throw in as many references to the originals as possible. (Tatooine, the bots, Jabba, Chewbacca...)

(*: however, the right dialogue can greatly improve a fight scene, especially a duel. See "I want my father back, you son of a bitch! ")

I have to say this

[Soothh]

I know alot of people thought EP2 sucked, I, personally liked it, yea it had some weak points, and true to the whole series, the main "actor" isnt much of an actor, BUT, I also read the EP2 book before the movie came out, and the book is killer, there are many things left out of the movie i think should have made it, and vice versa. But check out the books, its worth while even if you didnt care for the movies.

Re:dark side versus evil

[nine-times]

We are never really presented with the perspective of the dark side that can be rationalized. There's innuendo to some sort of quicker gratification through the dark side of the force, that it is more seductive, but we never see why people who fall to the dark side are bound to it.

I don't even want to talk about the new movies. If they did try to 'explore' the dark side, it would probably be explained that "the Sith have Meta bad ians". Oh, if only Joseph Campell were alive to tell Lucas how to write movies again.

But as to how people are lured to the Dark side, we're tol in the movie, for one, that it's easier. Like- you want to be a bad-ass with a lightsaber? Well, to be a Jedi is hard. It requires training and discipline. Join the Sith, and you can start kicking butt right away. You want to fight battles and be a glorious hero? You want to be king of the universe, or at least the king's general? Be a Sith. Jedis live like monks. Which sounds more seductive to you?

Of course, there's more. There are a number of metaphors floating around in the original 3. But asking why people are seduced by the dark side is (literally) asking why people do "bad things".

Re:Damn it, damn it, damn it

[crucini]

I agree. As 12 year old, I wanted to be Vader and to kill Luke. But Han Solo was pretty cool.

Vader is a well-done incarnation of the Jungian "evil father" archetype. The ideas flowed from Jung through Joseph Campbell to Lucas.

Watching the movie again ("ep 4") I'm annoyed that Vader's voice is not as deep as I remembered.

Re:A REPORTER GUESSED THIS OVER A MONTH AGO!

[the_2nd_coming]

how about

Rise of the Sith

at least it sounds better than the lame meaningless [mockingly creepy voice] Revenge of the Sith!!! [/mockingly creepy voice]

I mean really, what are they getting revenge for?

Question to Star Wars geeks

[LuSiDe]

If Sidious is Palpetine (which i assumed from PM) then who is the Dark Jedi Master who Yoda killed on Dagobah who's force is still present on the Dagobah cave as seen in ep 5 and which force made Yoda's presence unsensable?

I was there!

[Mr. Spleen]

I went to the Comic-Con today for the sole purpose of seeing the Sin City panel... for the sole purpose of seeing Jessica Alba in person. (Hey, can you really blame me? =)

Anyway, the Sin City panel was to take place immediately after the Star Wars thing (in the same hall). So I went in early and sat in on the last half hour of the Star Wars bit. This turned out to be just in time to see them show some preview stuff, and announce the name. Then Hayden came out, and there were questions from the audience. It was a very cool thing to be there for.

On another note, Sin City (based on the graphic novels by Frank Miller) looks as though it is going to be one of THE BEST movies of next year. Director Robert Rodriguez insisted on doing a translation of the stories (instead of an adaptation), and the preview they showed was amazing (it should be released online in about 3 weeks).

And yes, Jessica Alba was unbelievably stunning, drop-dead gorgeous, and every other synonym for beautiful that there is. I don't care what anyone says, she is the most perfect female specimen possible. =D

Mr. Spleen

Re:Who cares?

[solios]

Well, that tears that.

I'm buying either laserdiscs or clean, good quality VHS THX remasters and transferring them to DVD using the hardware I have access to myself.

I don't want the EX Plus Alpha II Special Champion Edition Star Wars. I want Han Shooting first. I want the goddamned seedy bar band, NOT the broadway mupped production number.

And it looks like I'll have to make it myself.

So be it!

Laserdiscs - DVD?

[Udo Schmitz]

I wonder if anyone with access to the the LaserDisc versions of the original trilogy and/or THX 1138 ever bothered to make an MPEG2 release to burn on DVDs? And to release that on any P2P?

Re:I just ebayed the original trilogy on LaserDisc

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not a rumor. The upcoming DVD was leaked and an XViD encode of Return of the Jedi was released by ViTE on 2004-07-23, just two days ago. I personally confirm that Hayden indeed replaces Sebastian Shaw at the end (in the scene with Yoda and Obi-Wan). The helmet removing scene (still at Death Star 2) hasn't been changed, though.

Feel free not to trust an AC, but you'll see it for yourself in September. Or right now, if you know where to look.

WHAT?!?! No Holiday Special DVD?

[Ath]

I cannot even believe they refuse to release this piece of work. Or piece of something.

Nothing says Star Wars like Bea Arthur and Art Carney.

Don't know about the Star Wars Holiday Special? Google for it. You won't be disappointed.

I -HATE- surprise celebrity guests

[88NoSoup4U88]

"surprise celebrity guests"

One of the things that put me off Star Wars : THe phantom menace, was those 'celebrities' playing roles, that totally f*cked over the Universe.

Come on, Samuel L. Jackson as one of the wise guys... Seriously...

Re:Damn it, damn it, damn it

[Anonymous Coward]

It's much worse than that. The prequels have revealed that the Empire was actually an significant improvement over the old republic, and that the Jedi were completely amoral.

Episode 1 has Jedi sending a slave child to fight for his life in an arena. Most of the pilots in the podrace died, like any good colluseum race. Afterwards, they free him because of his genetics (anyone who doesn't match the Jedi genotype is considered worthless.) In the republic, we see slavery is common and death is cheap; under the empire, we know of no slaves, and we know there is upward mobility (Luke, a simple rural farmboy, had the chance at higher education) Jabba went from public death spectacles in the Republic to hiding from the empire. The Republic slaughters primitive natives on Naboo, while the Empire allowed them to live in peace right next to a major military base on Endor.

The only people who speak ill of the Empire are people known to be Rebels; the non-aligned people we see are Owen and Beru, who are strongly anti-rebel. The only major atrocity commited by the Empire is the destructioon of Alderaan- but the only person claiming it's a peaceful planet is Leia, who is very clearly lying throught that scene. Diplomatic Mission, indeed.

The Jedi are trying to train people to be amoral. What sort of person would leave his mother in slavery? What sort of evil guardian would condemn someone for attempting to rescue his own mother from slavery? Evil, Evil people. In some ways it is worse than that, they're teaching that no one without a high mitochondria^Wmidicholorian count is worthwhile.

In fact, the Sith's motives are rather opaque except that they oppose the Republic. Considering how evil the Republic is, no real temptation is needed, Vader may just decide that he doens't want to work for the evil "light" Jedi any more, and work to build a better future under an Empire.

The only problem is that this rather makes the end of RotJ a sad thing- the galaxy is now back to anarchy.