Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is the third episode of the Star Wars film series (but the sixth film to be produced). It was released on Thursday, May 19, 2005, and premiered (out of competition) on the 2005 Cannes Festival May 15th. It was rated PG-13 for American audiences and 12A for UK audiences, and George Lucas expects an FSK-12 for German audiences, translating to a PG-12 for Japanese audiences, an M for Australian audiences, or a 13 for Argentine audiences.

Opening crawl

 * War! The Republic is crumbling
 * under attacks by the ruthless
 * Sith Lord, Count Dooku.
 * There are heroes on both sides.
 * Evil is everywhere.


 * In a stunning move, the
 * fiendish droid leader, General
 * Grievous, has swept into the
 * Republic capital and kidnapped
 * Chancellor Palpatine, leader of
 * the Galactic Senate.


 * As the Separatist Droid Army
 * attempts to flee the besieged
 * capital with their valuable
 * hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a
 * desperate mission to rescue the
 * captive Chancellor....

Plot summary
The Galactic Republic is crumbling in the midst of an epic war with the Confederacy of Independent Systems under the leadership of the Sith Lord, Count Dooku. The Confederate cybernetic military-leader General Grievous of the Confederate Droid-Military has infiltrated Coruscant and captured Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Senate.

As the droid army attempts to escape Coruscant, a massive space battle erupts with Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who are leading a mission to rescue the Chancellor. The Jedi fight through the Separatist armada. In the process, Obi-Wan's ship is damaged by buzz droids, and the two Jedi crash land into the hangar of the Trade Federation Cruiser Invisible Hand, Grievous' flagship.

Anakin and Obi-Wan make their way through the Federation Cruiser, fighting through an army of droids. Meanwhile, R2-D2 aids Obi-Wan and Anakin from the hangar bay while simultaneously fending off a pair of super battle droids. The Jedi reach the room where Count Dooku is holding Chancellor Palpatine captive. A lightsaber battle ensues, with the two Jedi teaming up against Dooku. During the battle, Obi-Wan is rendered unconscious when Dooku chokes him, then hurls him against a wall. Anakin continues the battle, gaining the upper hand by cutting off Dooku's arms and taking the Sith Lord's weapon. With Dooku on his knees, Anakin scissors the lightsabers to Dooku's neck, and, with much encouragement from Palpatine, beheads the helpless Count.

An explosion occurs deep in the ship, brought on by the attack of a Venator-class Star Destroyer, causing the Invisible Hand to begin an uncontrolled descent into Coruscant. Anakin carries the unconscious Obi-Wan on his back, and maneuvers through the ship with Palpatine. Obi-Wan later regains consciousness.

After Grievous has the bridge regain control of his flagship by firing emergency booster engines, he makes certain the two Jedi and Supreme Chancellor are captured. The three are brought to the bridge under custody, but Artoo successfully creates a distraction, allowing the Jedi to retrieve their lightsabers and break free. Even so, Grievous manages to escape, in the process releasing all of the remaining escape pods. Once again, the ship begins to descend in a free-fall into Coruscant, but Anakin takes the controls and pilots the ship into a hard landing.

On Coruscant, Anakin is praised for his heroics. He meets secretly with Padmé Skywalker, and they share kisses in the shadows, keeping their love secret. She reveals to him that she is pregnant with their child. Anakin says that it is the happiest day of his life. Later, Anakin awakens in a panic, covered in sweat. He reveals to Padmé that he has been dreaming about her dying in childbirth, and he vows not to let this dream come true.

Chancellor Palpatine requests Anakin's presence, and they meet in the Chancellor's Coruscant apartment. The Senate has granted the Chancellor further emergency war powers, giving him direct control of the Jedi Council. Palpatine confides to Anakin his fear, distrust, and contempt of the Jedi. He appoints Anakin to be his personal representative on the Jedi Council.

The Jedi Council accepts Anakin's appointment, but does not grant him the rank of Master. Anakin reacts angrily, insisting he is more powerful than anyone else on the council. The council goes on to discuss matters concerning the war. It is decided that Anakin will be assigned to protect the Chancellor, and Yoda will take a battalion of clones to reinforce the Wookiees on Kashyyyk. Anakin is angry and disappointed.

Obi-Wan later tells Anakin that the Jedi Council wants Anakin to report on all the Chancellor's dealings, essentially spying on him. Anakin is outraged, but accepts the mission.

At the Galaxies Opera House in Coruscant, Anakin joins Palpatine in watching the Mon Calamari Ballet performing "Squid Lake." Palpatine continues to seduce Anakin to the dark side, making him mistrust the Jedi by telling him that the Order wishes to overthrow the Republic. He also tells him of Darth Plagueis, a Sith Lord that used the Force to save people from death, who was killed by his apprentice in his sleep. Palpatine says the ability to save people from death is not something that can be learned from a Jedi.

The Jedi Council receives word from Palpatine that General Grievous is on the planet of Utapau. They decide to send Obi-Wan to Utapau. Anakin is upset that he was not chosen instead.

Obi-Wan arrives on Utapau and searches for General Grievous, riding a lizard-like creature called a varactyl. He finds Grievous and the two erupt in battle, with Grievous using four lightsabers at once. Obi-Wan quickly cuts off two of the General's hands, helping to even out the odds. Grievous attempts to flee on a Wheel Bike, and Obi-Wan pursues with Boga. During the chase, Obi-Wan drops his lightsaber, which Commander Cody recollects during the battle,and later returns to Obi-wan.

On Coruscant, Anakin tells Palpatine that General Grievous has been found on Utapau. Anakin insists he should be on Utapau as well. Their conversation shifts to Palpatine's knowledge of the force, and it is revealed that he is the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious. Upon realizing this, Anakin ignites his lightsaber and threatens to kill Palpatine, but then decides to expose him to the Jedi Council.

Obi-Wan continues to chase General Grievous on Utapau. He catches up with the general, and the two engage in melee combat. Obi-Wan manages to grab and rip off General Grievous' loose stomach armor-plate, exposing the guts in his chest. Obi-Wan retrieves the droid's blaster. Obi-Wan shoots the general in the chest, causing his internal organs to melt and explode from the inside-out, killing him.

Anakin tells Mace Windu that Chancellor Palpatine is the Sith Lord they had been looking for. Anakin offers to help in Palpatine's arrest, but Windu urges him to stay out of it. Masters Windu, Fisto, Kolar, and Tiin board a gunship and head to Palpatine's office.

Sitting in the Council Chambers, remembering Palpatine's promise of stopping death and the dreams of Padmé dying in childbirth, Anakin rushes to Palpatine.

Mace Windu and the three other Jedi Masters arrive at Chancellor Palpatine's office to have the Chancellor arrested. Palpatine pulls a lightsaber out of his sleeve and lunges, quickly striking down Kolar, Tiin, and Fisto. Palpatine and Mace continue to fight up to the window ledge. Meanwhile, Anakin arrives at the scene and watches the duel. During the duel, the Sith Lord's Force lightning is deflected back onto him by Mace Windu, distorting Palpatine's face. Just as Mace is about to finish Palpatine, Palpatine continues to confuse Anakin into help him by holding out promises of teaching him how to use his powers to save Padmé. As Mace moves to strike the fatal blow against Palpatine, Anakin cuts off Mace's hand. Mace is caught off guard and hit by the full blast of Palpatine's Force lightning. He is flung out the window and falls hundreds of stories to his death.

Anakin is distraught with what he has done, and confides in Palpatine. Palpatine takes Anakin as his Sith apprentice. Anakin kneels before Palpatine, and Palpatine bestows him with the Sith name "Darth Vader". Darth Sidious then gives the order to Anakin/Vader and all the Clone troopers of the Army of the Republic around the galaxy to execute "Order 66" - the Great Jedi Purge, the start of the Galactic Civil War. At night, Anakin marches to the Jedi Temple with a battalion of 501st Legion Clone Stormtroopers. Anakin moves through the temple, striking down any and all of the Jedi he comes across, including the younglings. Bail Organa arrives at the temple to witness the slaughter of a young padawan by a squad of the troopers and manages to escape from the Clone troopers. He leaves Coruscant in the Tantive IV in an attempt to make contact with any surviving Jedi.

Across the Galaxy, the Clone Troopers turn against their Jedi masters. Obi-Wan on Utapau and Yoda on Kashyyyk barely manage to escape and are picked up by Senator Organa's Tantive IV. Obi-Wan and Yoda decide to return to Coruscant to deactivate a signal emanating from the Jedi Temple calling for all Jedi to return to Coruscant.

Later, Anakin goes to Padmé, who sees the smoke rising from the Jedi Temple but does not know what is happening. He tells her the Jedi have tried to take over the Republic, and there are traitors in the Senate. He tells her that he will go to the Mustafar system, where the remaining Separatists have gathered, and he will end the war.

The Senate holds a special session where Palpatine tells them of the "plot of the Jedi to overthrow the Senate". Amidst thunderous applause, he announces that the Republic will be reorganized as the first Galactic Empire. Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa are not fooled, however.

In the meantime, Obi-Wan and Yoda go to the Jedi Temple, slaying Clone Troopers and walking in disbelief through the carnage. They recalibrate the Temple's signal to warn all Jedi to keep away from the temple. At the temple&#8217;s control center, Obi-Wan looks into the security recordings. In disbelief, he sees Anakin slaughtering the Jedi. Yoda says they have no choice but to destroy the Sith - and Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan begs Yoda to let him take the Emperor, however, Yoda refuses stating that Obi-Wan cannot win that fight--that Obi-Wan must fight his former apprentice, his "brother".

On Mustafar, Anakin slaughters the Confederate Separatist leaders in cold blood.

Obi-Wan goes to Padmé's apartment, looking for Anakin. He meets Padmé and tells her that Anakin has turned to the dark side and killed the younglings in the Jedi Temple. But Padmé will not reveal where Anakin has gone, as he is the father of her child, a fact Obi-Wan reveals his knowledge of before he leaves.

Later, Padmé leaves Coruscant in her Naboo Skiff, departing to Mustafar to see Anakin. Unknown to her, Obi-Wan secretly boarded the ship just before it took off.

The Naboo Skiff lands on Mustafar. Anakin and Padmé embrace. Anakin tells Padmé that he has brought peace to the Republic, and he can overthrow Palpatine so he and Padmé can rule the galaxy together. Padmé tells him he is going down a path she cannot follow.

Anakin sees Obi-Wan emerge from the Naboo Skiff. Enraged, he Force chokes Padmé, thinking she led him to her. She loses consciousness and Anakin releases his grip on her. Obi-Wan and Anakin break out into a ferocious, lengthy lightsaber duel.

In the Senate building, Yoda confronts Darth Sidious. They engage in an intense battle using their Force abilities. The duel brings them to the deserted main area of the Senate chamber. Sidious hurls senate pods at Yoda, knocking him to the floor. With Bail Organa's help, Yoda manages to escape.

The epic duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin brings them to many locations on Mustafar. Eventually, Obi-Wan gains the upper-hand and in the blink of an eye he cuts of both of Anakin's legs at the knees, as well as Anakin's left arm. Anakin tumbles down the embankment and rolls to the stop at the edge of the lava. as Anakin's eyes turn yellow from so much hate and rage,he yells out, "I hate you!" Obi-Wan looks at him for a moment, and then says "You were the chosen one!", "You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them!". While Anakin tries in vain to pull what is left of himself up the embankment with his mechanical hand he then gets hits by the lava barely touching his clothes and bursts into flames, burning off most, if not all of his skin. Obi-Wan stares for a moment then takes Anakin's lightsaber and leaves with the badly injured Padmé and the droids on the Naboo Skiff.

Darth Sidious arrives at Mustafar with a battalion of Clone Stormtroopers. They rescue Anakin Skywalker from the edge of death using a stasis-pod and sith medicines that sidious has with him.

On the isolated asteroid world of Polis Massa, Yoda meditates and hears the spirit voice of Qui-Gon Jinn. The voice tells him that there is a way to merge with the Force and retain consciousness after death. In order to learn this power, Yoda declares himself an apprentice of the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn. 1

Obi-Wan arrives at Polis Massa and Padmé is brought to medical assistance. She is dying, she has lost the will to live, but they work to save her babies - she has twins. A boy and a girl are born. In her last few dying breaths, Padmé gives them the names "Luke Skywalker" and "Leia Skywalker".

Occurring simultaneously with the birth of his children, Anakin completes his transformation into Darth Vader. At the Emperor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center on Coruscant, Anakin is given new legs, a new arm, mechanized lungs, and other "replacement parts". He is dressed in black armor, a facemask is sealed tightly, and his helmet is fitted. Darth Vader begins to breathe. Most, if not the entire surgery is carried out with Anakin wide-awake, and with no apparent anasthetics, making him moan, scream and writhe in excruciating agony.

With Padmé's last breath, she says there is still good in Anakin. Padmé Amidala then dies.

Darth Vader begins to speak. He asks what happened to Padmé. Darth Sidious tells him that she was killed. In Vader's rage he calls upon the Force to destroy everything around him, including Palpatine, though he can no longer touch the Force the way he once did--only droids and equipment implode around him as he cries "No!"

On the Tantive IV cruiser, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Bail Organa sit at a conference table. They agree to keep Padmé appearing pregnant to keep the children safe and hidden. Luke and Leia would be split up in hopes that the Sith would not sense their presence. Leia will be adopted by Bail Organa. Luke would be sent to his family on Tatooine. Obi-Wan and Yoda will watch and wait until the time is ready for the Skywalker children to do their part. Yoda tells Obi-Wan to study the technique Qui-Gon learned to achieve immortality.

Bail Organa leaves R2-D2 and C-3PO in the care of Captain Antilles of the Tantive IV. He orders a memory wipe of the protocol droid.

On Naboo, Padmé's funeral takes place in a solemn ceremony. As her body moves through the precession, she clutches a small pendant made for her years ago by Anakin, who gave it to her when he was a young child.

Yoda heads to Dagobah to begin his self-imposed exile, which he partly owes as penance for his failure to defeat Sidious.1

On Alderaan, the infant Leia is brought by Bail Organa to his wife, the Queen of Alderaan. She takes her and rocks her.

On the bridge of a Venator-class Star Destroyer, the Emperor and Governor Tarkin are joined by Darth Vader, watching the beginning of the frame construction a Death Star. This seen is deliberately ambiguous as to time, thus spanning the time between the first and second trilogy. This could be less than a year after the birth of Luke and Leia. This could be the captured Great Weapon the separatists had under construction when they lost, under imperial study, or the testbed platform the Empire built for proving the concept of a Death Star or it could be the first Death Star.

On Tatooine, Obi-Wan brings Luke Skywalker to his new family: Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Obi-Wan leaves on an eopie, heading to his exile in the Jundland Wastes. Owen, Beru, and Luke look out to the horizon and watch the setting of Tatooine's twin suns.

Endnotes
1This scene not featured in the theatrical release of Episode III, or any video games.

Cast

 * Obi-Wan Kenobi .... Ewan McGregor
 * Padmé Amidala .... Natalie Portman
 * Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader .... Hayden Christensen and James Earl Jones (voice) (uncredited)
 * Supreme Chancellor Palpatine .... Ian McDiarmid
 * Mace Windu .... Samuel L. Jackson
 * Senator Bail Organa .... Jimmy Smits
 * Yoda .... Frank Oz
 * C-3PO .... Anthony Daniels
 * Count Dooku .... Christopher Lee
 * Queen Apailana .... Keisha Castle-Hughes
 * Ki-Adi-Mundi/Nute Gunray .... Silas Carson
 * Captain Typho .... Jay Laga'aia
 * Tion Medon .... Bruce Spence
 * Governor Tarkin .... Wayne Pygram
 * Commander Cody .... Temuera Morrison
 * Mas Amedda .... David Bowers
 * Sio Bibble .... Oliver Ford Davies
 * Jar Jar Binks .... Ahmed Best
 * Captain Antilles .... Rohan Nichol
 * Captain Colton .... Jeremy Bulloch
 * Terr Taneel .... Amanda Lucas
 * R2-D2 .... Kenny Baker
 * Plo Koon .... Matt Sloan
 * Chewbacca .... Peter Mayhew
 * Queen of Alderaan .... Rebecca Jackson Mendoza
 * Owen Lars .... Joel Edgerton
 * Beru Lars .... Bonnie Maree Piesse
 * Zett Jukassa .... Jett Lucas
 * Agen Kolar .... Tux Akindoyeni
 * Senator Orn Free Taa .... Matt Rowan
 * Saesee Tiin .... Kenji Oates
 * Aayla Secura .... Amy Allen
 * Clone Trooper .... Bodie 'Tihoi' Taylor
 * Ruwee Naberrie .... Graeme Blundell
 * Jobal Naberrie .... Trisha Noble
 * Sola Naberrie .... Claudia Karvan
 * Ryoo Naberrie .... Keria Wingate
 * Pooja Naberrie .... Hayley Mooy
 * Sly Moore .... Sandy Finlay
 * Chi Eekway .... Katie Lucas
 * Mon Mothma .... Genevieve O'Reilly
 * Fang Zar .... Warren Owens
 * Malé-Dee .... Kee Chan
 * Nee Alavar .... Rena Owen
 * Giddean Danu .... Christopher Kirby
 * General Grievous .... Matthew Wood (voice)
 * Moteé .... Kristy Wright
 * Whie .... Coinneach Alexander
 * Bene .... Mousy McCallum
 * Wookiees .... Michael Kingma, James Rowland, Axel Dench, David Stiff, Steven Foy, Robert Cope, Julian Khazzouh

Release and box office performance
Revenge of the Sith premiered at the Cannes Film Festival (out of competition) on May 15, 2005. It was released in most other countries on May 19. It is believed the premiere of Revenge of the Sith may cost the US economy approximately $627 million USD because of employees who take a day off or report in sick. 

A copy of the movie leaked into p2p file sharing networks just hours after opening in theaters. The movie was a time-stamped workprint, suggesting it may have come from within the industry rather than from someone who videotaped an advance screening. It is widely spread and available in popular p2p networks. 

The film earned an estimated $16.5 million from 2,900 midnight screenings in North America upon its release. In total, it earned a record $50 million on its opening day. This broke several box office records:
 * Midnight screenings. Previously held by The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, which earned $8 million from 2,100 midnight screenings.
 * Opening day gross. Previously held by Spider-Man 2 with $40.4 million.
 * Single day gross. Previously held by Shrek 2 with $44.8 million.
 * Thursday gross. Previously held by The Matrix Reloaded with $37.5 million.

It added another $35.5 million on the second day from 3,661 theaters. That number in itself is the eighth biggest day ever. The movie, overall, has already grossed $85.5 million in two days. If the estimates are close to the true number, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith would surpass Spider-Man's $83 million as the biggest two-day total ever.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith crossed $100 million and tied Spider-Man and The Matrix Reloaded as the only movies to make $100 million in three days.

It totaled $158.5 million in its first four day period, surpassing the previous four day record held by The Matrix Reloaded ($134.3 million) and making it the second highest grossing movie of 2005 after just four days in release (Hitch, $177.6 million)

In its second week of release in the UK, the film was still incredibly popular, selling more tickets than the next twenty films combined.

International figures have not been released yet. "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" was released in over 100 countries.

Critical reaction
The film garnered mostly positive reviews, especially in comparison to the last two prequels. Many critics have noted that they view it to be the best of the prequels, and some critics have said the same that they said about earlier prequels.


 * Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times recommends the movie because he claims it to be a successful entertainment, with its point being the visuals, imagination, and action. This is contrary to Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, where Roger Ebert claimed the point of the movie to be the dialogue and love scenes, which were said to not be great.
 * Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times hailed it as the best since Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
 * A.O. Scott of the New York Times hailed it as even better than Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

While many critics noted George Lucas' continued weakness with dialogue, Hayden Christensen's depiction of a more mature Anakin Skywalker and his slow descent to the Dark Side was praised. Various critics have made note that they feel that actors did a better job in general; though they, like in earlier prequels, have been displeased with Natalie Portman's performance.

DVD Release
The DVD of Revenge of the Sith is slated for release sometime in November 2005. The DVD may contain scenes originally cut from the film, such as the meeting of senators with future Rebel Alliance founder Mon Mothma, and of Yoda landing on Dagobah. Revenge of the Sith may also be released with either the first two movies of the prequel trilogy, or as a six-movie box set, containing both the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy which might be released somewhere in 2008.

Political connotations
Since early viewings, many have stated that there is a critique of President George W. Bush in the film. Examples cited included Darth Vader's line to Obi-Wan Kenobi "If you're not with me, then you're my enemy!", mirroring a quote Bush made about terrorism after the September 11, 2001 attacks (although Vader had a similar line in The Empire Strikes Back). Kenobi's reply is an accusation that "Only a Sith deals in absolutes."

But in interviews, George Lucas said that Bush was no influence in writing the movie. Rather, he wrote the basic story outline in the 1970s during the Vietnam War, thinking of President Richard Nixon. He stated at Cannes, "The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable." Lucas added that in more general terms, his story represents how any democracy can turn into a dictatorship with the consent of the people, like Caesar Augustus and Napoleon I of France. ,  It could also be likened to how democratic freedom can be taken away using fear, much like Adolf Hitler. A line given to Senator Amidala upon Chancellor Palpatine's reorganization of the Republic as the First Galactic Empire reflects Lucas' observation: "So this is how liberty dies - with thunderous applause."

Mirroring from other Star Wars films
As the last theatrical Star Wars film, Revenge of the Sith contains many elements that make reference to the original film trilogy and George Lucas' earlier script treatments.


 * The title is a reprise of Lucas' first considered title 'Revenge of the Jedi' for Episode VI Lucas used this fake title to catch companies making fake t-shirts, toys, etc. who were using the title "Revenge of the Jedi", pointing out the fakers. Lucas believed that true fans would know that the title was fake, because vengence is not a Jedi quality.
 * Revenge of the Sith opens with a space battle between Republic and Confederacy navies, the first time in a Star Wars film since Episode IV.
 * The first line spoken in Episode IV is "Did you hear that?" by C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), on Bail Organa's ship. The last line spoken in Episode III is "Oh no!", also by C-3PO, played by the same actor, also on that ship.
 * Anakin and Obi-Wan fly their fighter craft through tight obstacles in an enemy ship, similar to Episodes I, IV and VI.
 * Anakin and Obi-Wan are sent on a daring rescue mission against an enemy fortress but all is not as it appears (Episode IV).
 * The planet name Utapau was Lucas' original name for Tatooine. Also, in an early draft of Episode I, Utapau was the original name for Naboo
 * In the original Star Wars script treatment, the climatic battle was between Wookiees and Imperial forces as in Revenge of the Sith. This was adapted for Episode VI as the battle on Endor between Ewoks and Imperial Stormtroopers.
 * Anakin/Vader's offer to Padmé to join him and rule the Empire mirrors Vader's offer to Luke in Episode V.
 * Anakin's prophetic vision leads him on a path to the dark side. Luke's vision in Episode V tempts him to take a similar path, though he resists the temptation.
 * Palpatine/Sidious watches in his chamber as his current apprentice (Count Dooku) and his intended new apprentice (Anakin) duel to the death, while behind them can be seen a massive space fleet battle (Episode VI).
 * Anakin is conflicted to choose between Palpatine/Sidious and a fellow Jedi (Episode VI).
 * Anakin says, "From my point of view, the Jedi are evil." In Episode VI, Obi-Wan seems to have taken the idea on board, telling Luke, "You're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
 * Anakin's arm is cut off by Obi-Wan. A character has an arm or a portion of an arm cut off in each of Episodes I, II, IV, V and VI.
 * Obi-Wan and Anakin duel in front of a window with a striking resemblance to the window seen behind Luke and Vader in their duel on Cloud City (Episode V).
 * The final shot of Owen and Beru Lars holding Luke and looking into the Tatooine twin sunset mirrors a similar scene with Luke in Episode IV. The music is also the same in both cases (the Force Theme).
 * The opening scene is in space, and the camera features an Old Republic Star Destroyer, mirroring the openings of the original trilogy, all of which featured Imperial Star Destroyers.
 * When Darth Vader and the Emperor survey what looks like the partially built Death Star, we can see a slightly younger Grand Moff Tarkin. The presence of Grand Moff Tarkin means that this scene is probably about ~10 BBY at the construction of the proving platform for the Death Star or about ~2 BBY during the initial construction of the first Death Star.  Since Grand Moff Tarkin appears about a decade younger than he does in episode three, this is probably the experimental testbed for the concept of Death Stars.
 * The Millennium Falcon is seen just as one of the ships touch down on Coruscant.
 * During the rescue of Palpatine he dangles perilously over a seemingly endless chasm, foreshadowing his death in Episode VI

Trivia

 * This is the only Star Wars film to receive a PG-13 rating from the MPAA; all previously released films in the series were rated PG. Interestingly, A New Hope was originally rated G, but its rating was deliberately pushed up in order to attract a broader audience.
 * Famous characters from the original trilogy that make their first chronological appearance in this movie include Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader. Scenes with Mon Mothma and Lorth Needa were deleted.
 * In the scene where Darth Vader and the Emperor are looking out onto what looks like the unfinished first Death Star, Grand Moff Tarkin can be seen.
 * Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Kenny Baker (R2-D2) are the only actors to participate in all six Star Wars films.
 * Playwright Tom Stoppard reportedly did an uncredited re-write or dialogue polish on the script. Hayden Christensen confirmed this in an interview for Playboy magazine.
 * Bai Ling filmed minor scenes for the film playing the role of a senator, but her role was cut during editing. She claimed that this was because she posed for the June 2005 issue of Playboy magazine, whose appearance on newstands coincided with the movie's May release, but George Lucas denied this, stating that the cut had been made more than a year earlier, and that he had cut out his own daughter's scenes as well.
 * Grauman's Chinese Theatre a traditional venue for the Star Wars films is not showing it this year. However, a line of people have stood there for more than a month hoping to convince someone to change this.  So far, this Star Wars Line has been unsuccessful.
 * This is the only time you see two lightsabers of the same color (blue) battle (Anakin and Obi-Wan's). One could also consider the lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and Grievous, the latter wielding green and blue lightsabers.
 * In Episode VI, Princess Leia tells Luke that she remembers her "real" mother being sad when she was very young. In Episode III, Padmé dies almost immediately after childbirth, so either Leia is misremembering her "real" mother (Bail Organa's wife) or as a force-sensitive, she remembers Padmé from the few seconds both were alive at the same time.
 * Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO and R2-D2 are the only characters to appear in all six Star Wars films.
 * Hayden Christensen had to look through the mouth-piece of the Darth Vader costume, not the eyes.
 * When the ship Anakin and Obi-Wan are on at the start begins firing on an enemy ship, there is some footage of explosions and guys being thrown into the air. One of them screams a classic "Wilhelm scream".
 * Gary Oldman was originally supposed to provide the voice of General Grievous, but he backed out after learning the film was to be made outside of the Screen Actor's Guild, of which he is a member.
 * George Lucas confirmed in an interview that Steven Spielberg tinkered with several action sequences in ROTS. This happened when a project of his fell through and he had some spare time. Lucas sent over an animatics artist to assist him. It is rumored that the scenes he worked on included the Yoda/Sidious battle and a part of the Mustafar duel.
 * Count Dooku saved Anakin's life by cutting off his hand in Episode II. If both of Anakin's hands had been organic instead of a mechanic prosthesis, they would have burned away when Anakin fell into the lava on Mustafar, and he would never have been able to drag himself to a safe enough place to survive for the few minutes he had to wait until he was rescued by Palpatine's troops.

Cameo appearances
George Lucas makes a cameo appearance at the Coruscant Opera House. He is the blue faced being, named Baron Papanoida, that can be seen outside Palpatine's box. It marks Lucas' first and only appearance in any of the Star Wars films. His three children also play cameos: Jett as a young Jedi-in-training called Zett Jukassa at the Jedi Temple, his daughter Amanda as a senator called Terr Taneel, and Katie as blue-skinned alien senator called Chi Eekway, visible when Palpatine arrives at the Senate after being saved by the Jedi.

Much of the crew make cameos in the film, for example Nick Gillard, the stunt coordinator, plays a character named Cin Drallig (his name spelled backwards). Also in the movie was Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in the Original Trilogy), who played Captain Colton, the pilot of the Rebel Blockade Runner Tantive IV. This was a speaking role.