In 2005, one of the darkest, most tortured (and beloved!) installments of the Skywalker Saga was released in theaters: Revenge of the Sith, a painful film in which Anakin definitively falls to the dark side of the Force. A temporary epilogue to the franchise started by George Lucas with Star Wars in 1977, this third installment in chronological order of the story reveals Palpatine's evil hold on the young hero, and his tragic transformation into Darth Vader.
For the film's twentieth anniversary, Disney is organizing special screenings in France on the weekend of April 25, from Friday to Sunday, in Pathé, UGC, CGR cinemas... If you haven't reserved your place yet, we advise you to go for it! And until then, we invite you to dive back into Revenge of the Sith with a few fascinating anecdotes and details.
#1 A Family Story
Two of George Lucas's children, Amanda and Katie, appear briefly in Revenge of the Sith as Senators Terr Taneel and Chi Eekway, while Palpatine talks with Mace Windu. In the opera scene, the director also makes a cameo as Baron Papanoida with his daughters.
#2 A Silent Finale
The final minutes of Revenge of the Sith contain no dialogue: driven by John Williams's intense score, the film's final shots exude Darth Vader's heartache, loneliness, anger, and distress. George Lucas offers a tragic epilogue, yet one that carries a tiny glimmer of hope foreshadowing the events of the sequel, and the opening to the dawn of Tatooine in Star Wars. Silent, and magical!
#3 The Funeral March
After the fight between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar, the young man does not die, but he is in a bad state... Recovered half-dead by Darth Sidious, he is repatriated to his ship to be saved. We then hear the funeral theme of Qui-Gon Jinn, played for the first time in The Phantom Menace in 1999. The echoing of this music now announces Anakin's death.
#4 Darth Vader, Sum of His Former Enemies
Throughout the prequel trilogy, Anakin Skywalker will confront more or less directly three main enemies: Darth Maul, Count Dooku, and General Grievous. When he himself falls to the dark side of the Force in Revenge of the Sith, he becomes a kind of synthesis of these antagonistic figures. Darth Maul represents the thirst for revenge, Count Dooku the fallen Jedi, and General Grievous (about whom you can learn more right here) the thirst for power that made him more of a machine than a man.
#5 Darth Vader "kills" Anakin
During the infamous scene in the Jedi Temple, in which Anakin, knighted by Palpatine, massacres the Padawans following the implementation of Order 66, Obi-Wan Kenobi's former protégé murders a young boy. This is none other than his "reflection": to illustrate the "death" of Anakin Skywalker, George Lucas chose an actor resembling Jake Lloyd in The Phantom Menace (blond, short hair, white skin, light-colored clothes). There is no coincidence...
#6 Artistic wink
Cinema often makes reference to painting, and Star Wars is no exception. The shot above, where Anakin, in close-up, watches his adversary with a rage-drunk eye, echoes Alexandre Cabanel's Fallen Angel, painted in 1847 when the artist was only 24 years old. It depicts Lucifer, expelled from heaven by God because of his pride, tears flowing from his reddened eyes. Both characters share a thirst for power, regret for their earlier crimes, and a sense of injustice at the lack of recognition from "higher authority." They also share a similar physique.
#7 Too stylish
In ‘Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith’ (2005), you can see one B1 battle droid in the background tell his friend to watch Grievous activate his lightsaberspic.twitter.com/VAa6k8T81n
— Star Wars Facts (@sw_tweets) March 8, 2024
During Obi-wan Kenobi's fight against General Grievous, in the background of the scene, a B1 battle droid can be seen nudging his friend to watch General Grievous activate his lightsabers. The kind of little meta winks that make the droids of Star Wars more human and sympathetic than the Stormtroopers.
#8 Padmé's Hairstyle
During that famous scene where Palpatine announces the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Galactic Empire during a forceful tirade delivered to the Senate, Padmé can't help but notice:
This is how freedom dies....with thunderous applause.
Her hairstyle refers to the symbol of the Rebel Alliance, which will fight Darth Sidious and his legions of Stormtroopers in the future: a premonitory iconography of this protest movement of which her daughter will be the spearhead. With George Lucas, everything is always connected.
#9 A destiny linked to the Death Star
After killing Count Dooku, Anakin refuses to leave the unconscious and injured Obi-Wan, to which Palpatine orders him to abandon him, otherwise they will never succeed in accomplishing their goals. However, the young man replies that their destiny will be the same as his: a declaration that will come true in the future, since Darth Vader, his former Master and friend and Darth Sidious will all be killed on the Death Star. A rather subtle premonition of their shared fate.
#10 An Epic Battle
Between The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith, the work of special effects artists has increased exponentially, and the lightsaber battle between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi on Mustafar is only the tip of the iceberg! From 400 to 2,200 VFX shots, the amount of work exploded for the digital technicians. The film pushed the boundaries of digital, building a "miniature" set of the lava planet, measuring 18 feet wide (almost 6 meters), 33 feet long (10 meters), and seven feet high (2 meters) as a filming base. Lucasfilm and ILM paved the way for the future of cinema by combining practical effects and computer-generated images, pioneers as always...
Hoping to have inspired you to rewatch the film, feel free to share your favorite details about Revenge of the Sith in the comments!
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