Use The Force: Ranking The Films In The Star Wars Cinematic Universe

6) Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

Directed by: George Lucas
Written By: George Lucas
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz, Ian McDiarmid, Temuera Morrison, Jimmy Smits, Ahmed Best, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker

Of the entire Prequel Trilogy, Revenge Of The Sith is by far the most rewarding, since it includes the triple pay-off of the creation of Darth Vader, the birth of Luke and Leia, and the Empire revealing its true self in all its insidious, horrific glory. After two franchise instalments that had us feeling somewhat adrift in a sea of sour-faced characters and intangible scenarios, Revenge Of The Sith brings us back into familiar territory – which helps counteract the cold, mechanical quality that runs through the rest of the endeavour.

The film embraces the sense of inevitability that accompanies such a prequel. We know that Anakin will become Darth Vader – but Revenge Of The Sith is paced in such a way that we can immerse ourselves in the detail of that transformation without losing the overall momentum. As Anakin sinks further into the waiting arms of the Dark Side, the political wranglings of the Senate are revealed to be the result of the manipulations of Senator Palpatine – who takes the opportunity to declare the Republic his Empire. Meanwhile, Anakin’s tortured mind eventually snaps under the weight of visions of the pregnant Padme dying in childbirth – and the battle between the Jedi and the forces of the Empire gets brutal and bloody.

As great as the action of Revenge Of The Sith is, the glaring plot holes are quite distracting. Most notably, the fact that Anakin can fall into a lava field and be saved by advanced medical science, but Padme can get all the way to childbirth without ever seeing a doctor, or knowing she is having twins, is poor storytelling, to say the least. Likewise, his survival of full-body burns, but her death due to a ‘loss of the will to live’ requires more than a suspension of disbelief – not least because it implies that this planetary leader would not be motivated by the existence of her own offspring.