It’s hard to believe, but it has been twenty years since the release of “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”. To celebrate Lucasfilm and Disney are re-releasing the movie in theaters across the country and the projected turnout has been amazing. It’s well deserved as “Episode III” is not only the best film from the prequel trilogy, but it’s one of the very best Star Wars movies made.

When it comes to the prequels, Star Wars mastermind George Lucas certainly saved his best for last. “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” is a fabulous final chapter in the prequel trilogy and a movie that stands firm on its own individual merits. Rewatching it again, I was again reminded of how much I’ve loved it, not only during its initial release, but during every subsequent viewing.

“Episode III” begins three years into the Clone Wars with an eye-popping opening rescue attempt sequence in the atmosphere above Coruscant. Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) has been captured by General Grievous, the commander of the Separatist droid army. Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) eventually succeed in rescuing the Chancellor but fail to capture Grievous. It’s an exhilarating start to the film, full of action, stunning visuals, and some meaningful story nuggets. It also adds some welcomed levity before the inevitable darker turn.

Lucas moves things along at a faster pace than in the previous two films mainly because he has a lot of ground to cover. Obi-Wan sets out to track down Grievous with hopes that his capture would end the war. Palpatine continues his quest for power through the manipulation of politics and the war. But the Chancellor’s biggest target is Anakin who he secretly works to sway to the dark side. Meanwhile Anakin and Padme (Natalie Portman) continue to hide their marriage which proves tougher after Padme reveals she is pregnant.

The sheer number of dangling story threads is pretty daunting, but Lucas ties them up nicely and his management of both narrative and tone is superb. He keeps a sharp focus and doesn’t wander off into needless side-stories. The movie stays centered on Anakin and those closest to him – Padme and Obi-Wan on one side; Palpatine on the other. Of course we know Anakin becomes Darth Vader and Lucas chronicles His turn in a powerful and often heart-breaking way.

That doesn’t mean other key characters and plot points are overlooked. Yoda (again perfectly voiced by the great Frank Oz) gets some big moments as does Samuel L. Jackson’s Mace Windu. Lucas answers questions concerning the Jedi Order, the Trade Federation, and of course a few bigger ones that directly connect to “Episode IV”. As a long time fan of the original three Star Wars pictures, it’s pretty amazing to watch these two trilogies connect in such a satisfying way.

Several things take a step up from the previous film, most importantly the performances from Christensen and Portman. Christensen makes the bigger leap which is impressive considering he’s given much trickier material to work with. The range of emotions and the level of character transformation was challenging but he does a nice job. Sure, you’ll wince at a couple of line deliveries, but as a whole its a solid performance. Same with Portman who just feels more comfortable with her character. McGregor is outstanding as is the conniving McDiarmid.

Even visually “Episode III” seems more focused. We get none of those shallow sequences that are little more than CGI showcases. Here everything serves the story, the characters, the environments, and the atmosphere. And of course you have the musical genius of John Williams who has over 50 Academy Award nominations to his credit. Over the decades his music has played crucial roles in Star Wars storytelling and “Episode III” features some of his best work, especially during the film’s darker second half.

As you can probably tell I still love “Revenge of the Sith” and that enthusiasm was only strengthened with this 20th Anniversary rewatch. It remains a fantastic conclusion to the prequels and a satisfying segue to the classic original films. It all wipes away most concerns for the previous episodes, especially when watching them in succession and as one 415-minute whole. Best yet, they maintain a firm place in Star Wars canon and opened the door to a host of exciting content that’s still playing out today.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

There is perhaps no better monument to geekdom than the Star Wars franchise. George Lucas’ sprawling epic and personal cash cow has leapt outside the bounds of movies and into television, novels, comic book series, and more. That doesn’t even count the loads of money brought in through toys and other merchandise. So Star Wars certainly has it’s fan base and it always will. But you don’t have to be a Star Wars fan to appreciated the monumental accomplishment that “Star Wars” was when it hit theaters in 1977. It was a ground-breaking film in regards to its visual style and special effects. The film spawned two sequels, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “The Return of the Jedi”, both of which were immensely popular with the fans.

But one of the greatest stirs within the Star Wars community came in 1993 when Lucas announced he would be making a new trilogy, a prequel to the first three films. They would connect directly to the original trilogy and complete Lucas’ vision for the saga. In 1999, “Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace” was released. There has probably never been a movie released that has been under more scrutiny and breakdown that Episode 1 when it arrived in theaters. Fanboys and critics alike looked for chinks and flaws while never being able to keep from comparing it to the original trilogy. This has made judging Episode 1 on its own merits almost impossible. But Episode 1 had a lot on its plate and while I did find it to be the weakest of the six Star Wars pictures, after seeing the re-release, it still grabbed me and brought me back to the universe that I have always loved.

Since Lucas’ intent was to connect the two trilogies into one cohesive saga, I was always curious to see how he would start everything. In Episode 1, Lucas sets everything in motion by focusing on, of all things, politics as the biggest weapon of manipulation used to bring about the tragic events that we all know will unfold. We also get a look at the Jedi in their prime. We spend most of the time with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) as they go from political negotiators to planet liberators. A young Natalie Portman plays a Naboo queen who has a major impact on events. Another key part of the film is the introduction to Anakin Skywalker (played wonderfully by Jake Lloyd), a young child slave on Tatooine who we know later becomes Darth Vader. Lucas’ focus on Anakin in the first three films ends up reshaping the actual focus of the overall saga, and for my money in a good way.

As a whole, the structure of “The Phantom Menace” is pretty impressive. It was a daunting task to make three films that could connect directly to the previous trilogy and do so in a way that’s both cohesive and that survives the mythological scrutiny it faced from fanboys. Episode 1 does a nice job of putting the key characters in place while only occasionally getting bogged down in the almost mandatory setup scenes needed to launch the story. It’s nicely written and with the exception of a few hiccups, I found myself still pulled right back into the saga even after all these years.

Several new characters are introduced. Some of them work really well while others, not so much. The hatred for the Jar Jar Binks character was well documented and understandable. For me the problem wasn’t so much with the character, but with Lucas’ overkill in using him as “comic relief”. Lucas overplayed his hand and the result was an annoying and distracting character. On the flip side is the sinister Darth Maul physically played by Ray Park (his voice was done by Peter Serafinowicz). Not only was he one of the coolest looking Star Wars characters of all but his lightsaber fight with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon still blows me away.

There’s no doubt that Lucas wants to show off the benefits of the new technology available to him in “The Phantom Menace”. In many ways it’s a good thing but in other ways it works against the film. I felt in some instances the movie becomes a barrage of “watch this” CGI moments. There are several scenes that could have easily been left out and the film would have been better for it. But there are also many scenes where the special effects present Star Wars in a new, more jaw-dropping light. The pod races on Tatooine is breath-taking and the space scenes are amazing. Most of the CGI characters move and fit flawlessly into the scenes with human actors. John Williams is back with an incredible score that gives us tiny tastes of the music from the original trilogy. Williams also creates new music that feels as though it want to interconnect with the original music as the story progresses. It works beautifully.

The one significant change for the re-release of Episode 1 is that the film is in 3D. The only problem is that it didn’t feel that significant at all. There are a few scenes where the 3 D works well, the pod races and space battles come to mind. There are also other instances where more depth is given to the scenes. But as a whole, the 3D isn’t particularly impressive. In fact, the 3D trailer that I saw earlier doesn’t reflect what you get from the full film. Now I’ll be honest, the 3D wasn’t the main draw for me. I mainly wanted to go and experience Star Wars on the big screen with my son. But if you’re going expecting a fantastic 3D experience you’ll probably be disappointed.

At the end of the day, “Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace” brought me right back into this magical universe that I’ve always loved. Again, Episode 1 is probably the weakest of the six films but I have a hard time railing on it as many others tend to do. It has it’s share of flaws but it also has it’s share of excitement and grandeur. But most importantly, it looks, sounds, and feels like a Star Wars picture and it sets the table for the rest of this glorious saga.