Star Wars - Episode III: Dark Force Rising

In his desperation to save Padmé, where he failed to save his mother, Anakin trusts the only friend he thinks he has, Palpatine. Like so many heroes before him, Anakin brings his own worst nightmares upon himself.

The brilliant reinsertion of Padmé as one of founders of the rebellion, adds a greater depth to her character, as well as her relationship with Anakin. It is only natural, given the previous two films, that Padmé would have doubts about the Republic. Anakin now not only fears Padmé’s death, but also her betrayal.

The Finale is no longer Jedi against Sith, but friend against friend. Obi-wan's goal is not to kill Anakin, but to save him. Obi-wan’s love for Anakin is an erie contrast to Anakin’s hate. The battle is personal, paralleling well with their final duel in A New Hope.

Kerr’s Dark Force Rising takes a good movie and makes it great. It is quick and fast paced, effectively removing or altering much of the unneeded dialogue. My only real complaint–it's a great movie that ends too soon.

DVD was great quality. Editing was smooth but some of the audio felt unbalanced at times. It could have been my 2.0 setup, sometimes the sound would drop down dramatically and then back up like as if the music was cut from the front channels abruptly but kept in the rear.

This was a pretty excellent Episode 3 edit. Only complaint I have is that the first half felt off narratively, it’s mainly a problem of the source movie though.

Emperor reveal was remarkable. That scene is now canon for me. I have officially forgotten how it happened in the theatrical.

A/V Quality - 9
Editing - 10 visual, 8 audio
Narrative - 9
Enjoyment - 9 (original is 6)

Recommended drink: Irish Coffee

Review by BladeRunner391 — May 29, 2012 @ 7:56 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

Review by MHBroly — September 19, 2011 @ 8:43 pm

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

Review by darthscourge — October 8, 2011 @ 3:52 pm

Just finished it…and, man this was amazing. Everything worked so much better than the original, the deleted scenes insertions are well-timed and make a better story. The Yoda/Palpatine duel is not missed, yet I thought it would be. The agonizing decision that Anakin makes is tense and far more believable, and extremely emotional. It starts out in an upbeat way and ends on the darkest note possible, with just a glimmer of (A New) hope in those twin suns.

The shortened run time is perfect – now it plays more like an extended episode of The Clone Wars, which works so well. IMHO The Clone Wars series’ far outclass all of the original prequels anyway.

An excellent way to prelude Adywan’s ANH:R! Snaps and much respect to Kerr and all the other editors who directly or indirectly contributed. In the three or so years I’ve been a member here, I haven’t watched any of the others, so I cannot make any comparisons. But, man, this effing rocks! 9.5 lightsabers, just want a Hi-def fully-sick 5.1 version now for that extra .5!