My choice for #8 on the SW/Indy list is:
REVENGE OF THE SITH (2005).
I saw this five times in the theater, and I know many fans are not crazy about the prequels, but I have to say that I enjoy this movie a lot.
The first 23 minutes is an outstanding dose of SW goodness with spaceship battles, lightsaber dueling, and fun interaction between Anakin and Obi-Wan.
I love the scene at the theater when we hear the story of “Darth Plagueis the Wise” and we finally see what will hook Anakin to the dark side – the tempting thought of having the power to stop people from dying.
There is tons of exciting and highly entertaining action throughout.
Seeing the fall of the Republic and the birth of the Empire is such a huge event.
Order 66 – so brutal!
I absolutely love having the Emperor back in action as the Emperor we know from RETURN OF THE JEDI.
And the Obi-Wan vs. Anakin duel is super great!
But yes, it’s not a perfect movie.
As stated above, I love the first 20+ minutes, but the next 20 minutes are a drag with Anakin whining about not being promoted to Jedi Master and having to spy on Palpatine.
Anakin and Padme’s conversations are still painful to watch, but fortunately there’s not nearly as much of this as in ATTACK OF THE CLONES.
There’s other issues, but the biggest problem is that Anakin’s transition to the dark side feels forced and not very believable. The transition from being willing to cut off Mace’s hand to stop him from killing Palpatine to suddenly being willing to murder younglings is too abrupt.
SITH has more severe flaws than ROGUE ONE or SOLO, so why do I like it better?
It’s hard to say. I guess the things I love about REVENGE OF THE SITH are greater in my mind than the things I love about ROGUE or SOLO.
So for me SITH is a strong addition to Star Wars, though I acknowledge that some of it is a bit clunky.
Grade: B
Too dark, too Evil. Too much Bad acting. Vader is the Glue to the entire series, and all we get is a badly acted, forced transition from Anikin to Vader. #14
#14? Harsh! I love seeing the Emperor again too much to rate it that low.
The emperor and Yoda fight! Awesome! The first look at Darth Vader! Awesome! The fight between Anikin and Obi Won was painful. The loss of the Princess. Sad. This was a mixed bag for me.