The end is here, on DVD. With the release of Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on DVD, the saga of the Skywalker family comes to an end. This also marks the first time Star Wars fans will be able to own all the Star Wars movies on DVD.
Revenge of the Sith is the final movie in the mythology known as Star Wars. In this episode, audiences see the downfall of both Anakin and everything that basically surrounds him. Enclosed with conflicting emotions and dreams about his love, Padm, dying Anakin tries to find a way to deal with his unsettling emotions. Instead, he finds the dark side. In turn Anakin falls from grace and ends up in an astounding light saber duel with his friend and mentor, Obi-Wan.
The movie is one Star Wars fans have been waiting for, regardless for what anyone thinks of the “new trilogy.” The audiences, new to the Star Wars saga and old, finally see what drove Anakin to the edge and finally over to the dark side.
But, can the DVD deliver; besides the movie can George Lucas produce a good DVD? The answer is yes.
Like the special editions of the “original trilogy” and the two previous Star Wars movies before it, Revenge of the Sith, a two-disc DVD, is jam packed with special features.
Disc two is where all the special features come from and the highlight of this DVD is the documentary titled “Within A Minute.”
The subtitle, according to the DVD, is “The Making of Episode III,” but rest assured, this is misleading. While the documentary is a making of, it isn’t necessarily of Episode III. It is, however, an in-depth look at a 60-second frame of the Anakin/Obi-Wan light saber battle. This is a mind blowing feature; especially for those who have no idea how much actually goes into just one scene.
Running at an hour and 18 minutes, the audience member follows the Episode III crew from pre-production to script writing to production design and even to the catering of the crew for that scene. It also shows the final product in running time. To me, this is really the highlight of the DVD.
Also on the second disc are six never before seen deleted scenes. Along with the deleted scenes is an option to view the deleted scenes with an introduction from director George Lucas and producer Rick McCallum. Most of the deleted scenes give a back story to Natalie Portman’s character, Padm. The good thing about the introduction is that it gives the viewers a look at why scenes are deleted and the good and bad it does to the movie.
There was, however, an odd occurrence that happened while I was watching the deleted scenes. McCallum had made the comment, “. hoping one day as [Lucas is] tinkering the revised version .” This begs the question, is Lucas going to do what he did with the “original trilogy?” Will somewhere down the road, there be a special edition to the “new trilogy”? Who knows, maybe or maybe not.
“The Chosen One” is a documentary that chronicles Anakin’s life and his fall from grace. It also shows Anakin’s transformation from the little slave boy who was innocent to the malicious, wicked and evil Darth Vader.
The final documentary is a look at the stunts of Episode III and how they used technology to digitally take the face of the actor and put it on the stunt double. Rounding out the special features are the following: the teaser and theatrical trailers (titled “epic” and “Nostalgia”); the music video “A Hero Fallen”; 15 TV spots that promote the movie; posters of Revenge of the Sith from all over the world; a 15-part web documentary which looks at the making of Episode III (this my be old for some as this was posted on the Star Wars web site while the film was still being made); never before seen photos from production; and finally a look at the upcoming Star Wars video games.
Best of all, there is a commentary track featuring Lucas, McCallum and others.
The only bad thing about this DVD was and still is my problem with the other DVDs, no commentary track from the actors. Other than that, the year’s No. 1 movie shows promise to also be the year’s No. 1 DVD.
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