Top Five Revenge of the Sith Moments!
Let's continue our marathon of Star Wars moments with a look at the final film of the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith. Almost every fan considers this to be the best film of the prequels, myself included. While a lot of people debate whether this film is legitimately good, not too many fans will say this film is as bad as Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace. That being said, onward to my favorite moments.
5. Yoda vs Sidious
This film has 5, count em, five lightsaber duels. So, naturally, one of the five would be on the list. While many people thought it was humorous, yet out of character for Yoda to have a lightsaber duel in Attack of the Clones, I think most fans are more willing to accept his duel in this film. It's the ultimate good vs. evil battle. The ultimate embodiment of the light and the dark side of the force respectively. While it's shorter than most would have liked it to be, this duel shows the true power that both force wielders have.
4. Order 66
George Lucas, for good reason, has been criticized for his writing and lack of emotion in the prequels, though there are a few scenes that are an exception. The Order 66 scene was one of those scenes. Granted, all of the Jedi killed at the time were just simply side or background characters, but it still creates a great feeling of sadness and hopelessness as you see these mighty and powerful warriors fall just like that. The moment when Yoda realizes what's going on and decapitates both troops is great, and the sequence where Senator Organa sees a young padawan get killed right in front of him is both dark and powerful. Also, because I know people will bring this up, I'm not the biggest fan of Anakin's implied "youngling killing," but everything else about this scene is great to me.
3. The Battle of Coruscant
If you look back on the prequels, there weren't a lot of space battles. There was the brief space battle in the Phantom Menace over the control ship and the asteroid chase in Attack of the Clones. Therefore, it's fitting the beginning of the film is giant space battle that's one of the most important battles of the Clone Wars. I love this battle. The visuals are a major improvement over the previous films, the actions are great, and I like the dynamic between Obi-Wan, Anakin, and R2-D2. This space battle is one of the best in the saga and a fun introduction to the film.
2. Anakin and Obi-Wan vs Dooku (Round 2)
I really like this duel. It's honestly one of my favorite duels in the saga. I like the setting, I like the fighting, I like the foreshadowing it has to the fate of Anakin falling to the dark side. I just like this duel period. I like the saddened and betrayed look on Dooku's face when he realizes Sidious has been using him this entire time and I like the pure anger and ferocity Anakin uses during the duel. Plus, you have one of many of Sidious's lines in the film that has become a meme...DO IT!
Honorable Mentions
As always, before the number one moment, here are some honorable mentions. The first is the opera scene with Palpatine and Anakin. "Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?" The next is the ending of the film. Like the final shots of the film. I love the sad somber of Padme's funeral, the ominous moment of Vader and Sidious overseeing the construction of the Death Star and the final shots of the Skywalker twins going to Alderaan and Tatooine respectively. I also like the Obi-Wan vs Grevious duel. Finally, I like the scene where Grevious arrives on Utapau, mainly for the awesome music.
Also, one dishonorable mention for the infamous "NOOOOO" scene by Vader.
1. Obi-Wan vs Anakin (Darth Vader)
I know a lot of people think this duel goes on for too long and is too choreographed, and I can see where people are coming from. But, in all honesty, it doesn't bother me at all. I love everything about this duel. I love the setting, music, drama, emotion, fighting, set-pieces, and conclusion. It's, as of October 2017, my favorite duel in Star Wars, both live-action and animated. The thing is too, I thought this duel was emotional before. However, the duel really gets more emotional after you watch the Clone Wars and see the bond and connection between the two of them in the show. In fact, a lot of aspects of the film gets a lot better or clearer by watching Clone Wars, such as Anakin's distrust of the council.
Overall, while it's nowhere near a great film, the romance scenes are still terrible, I would still confidently say this film is good, or at least decent. Is it as good as the original trilogy, no, but a lot of moments and scenes stand out as some of the best. It's subjectively one of my favorite films and a lot of fans have been growing more of a fondness for it in recent years and I can see why.
