By Stephen Pytak 

     I was among the anxious who saw the 12:05 a.m.
screening opening day, Thursday, May 19, 2005.
     When the end credit crawl started at something to 
3, I wasn't tired and ready for bed, but energized 
and couldn't stop talking about it. 
      For the first time since I saw "Empire" back at
The Capitol Theater in Shenandoah in 1980 -- 
jeez, that's 25 years ago -- I was blown away by
a "Star Wars" film.
     While not perfect, "Sith" is a dark space opera,
filled with sinister villains, tragedy and a lot of 
pain.
     I was caught up in the story and some of the
performances really sold it. Hayden Christensen 
reminded me at times of a young Anthony Perkins,
as his character lets his emotions cloud his
conscience. And Ewan McGregor's outpouring at
the conclusion of the lava pit scene had an
authenticity I've never seen in this series before.
     Some of the lines are so-so and deliveries,
wooden -- and my brother reminded me of this as we 
sat watching the final credit roll. But I kind of knew
that going in, after being conditioned to it by Lucas' 
last two "Star Wars" efforts.
     But the characters draw us in this time, make us
believe in them, and give us a reason to believe in
this series one more time.
     By the way, there are some major spoilers here,
for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.
     There's not much I didn't like. The action scenes
were punctuated by crash landings and a light-
saber-twirling cyborg.
     Some of these were kind of choreographed not
only to look cool, but with some thought-provoking
imagery cut in. 
     There's a great battle between The Emperor
and Yoda in the Senate chambers for instance,
which results in those UFO shaped balconies 
being tossed around like Frisbees.
     There are a lot of saber battles. Even though
critic Roger Ebert reminded me that the Jedi are
so good at this they rarely get tagged, I still think
they were done extremely well.
     I liked them all, from Count Dooku's duel with
Anakin at the top of the show, to Mace Windu's
show-stopping encounter with The Emperor, and
Anakin. 
     These fights weren't just fancy light shows,
but window-breaking, head-chopping bouts that
will appeal not only to action fans and the popcorn
munchers caught up in the drama, but fans of
Grand Guignol.
     Speaking of which, Anakin's journey of pain at
the conclusion took this series someplace it's never
really gone before, into the realm of horror.
     It gets a bit rough, as Obi-Wan renders him a
quadriplegic, then watches as Anakin slides down
a rocky shore to a baptism of fire.
     It's not much easier watching the 2-1B medical
droids go to work on what's left of Anakin, and
it doesn't look like they used any anesthetic.
     I'm glad Lucas had the guts to show this stuff.
The story of the creation of what became Darth 
Vader wouldn't really be complete without
the grotesque.
     The story Lucas presents here is also really 
thought provoking. 
     Reflecting on Anakin's troubles, my wife reminded
me of an old saying: "The road to Hell is paved with
good intentions."
     Indeed.
     We also agreed Lucas put a lot of things in here
that connected other chapters in the saga, from
the blockade runner from "Episode IV" to the Tarzan
Wookie yell from "Episode VI." 
     Seeing "Episode III" will make you want to go
home and watch "Episode IV,"  then "Empire"
again.
     It might also make you wish Lucas would
reconsider creating "Episode VII," but only if the
drama between the space battles was this good.