Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: May 19, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
11
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
All the "Star Wars" movies will continue to entertain us for many years to come. They were grand fun, and this last one's a corker. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
A pop masterpiece. Read full review
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The movie grabs us from its heart-pounding opening sequence and pulls us inexorably along its trajectory with the grip of the last gruesome act of a Greek tragedy. Its fascination is not what happens but HOW it happens. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The darkest, most operatic, and technologically richest "Star Wars" movie to date, "Sith" is grim, stirring entertainment and a nearly complete vindication of everything its creator has been saying for six years about where the series was heading and what its final shape would be. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The final episode of George Lucas' cinematic epic "Star Wars" ends the six-movie series on such a high note that one feels like yelling out, "Rewind!" Yes, rewind through more than 13 hours of bravery, treachery, new worlds, odd creatures and human frailty. Read full review
90
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Emerges as the best in the overall series since "The Empire Strikes Back." Read full review
90
The New York TimesDana Stevens
This is by far the best film in the more recent trilogy, and also the best of the four episodes Mr. Lucas has directed. That's right (and my inner 11-year-old shudders as I type this): it's better than "Star Wars." Read full review
90
Washington PostStephen Hunter
For my generation, Revenge of the Sith is a brilliant consummation to a promise made a long time ago, far, far away, in a galaxy called 1977. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Lucas is a major figure, and Revenge of the Sith may be some kind of historic achievement -- the first movie in which it is fully impossible to tell where flesh ends and digital paint begins. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Only now can we truly step back and admire the full tapestry that it has taken George Lucas and his ILM wizards nearly three decades to weave. Read full review
88
PremiereGlenn Kenny
Once Palpatine's machinations set the cogs in motion for the creation of Vader, and the Clone Wars start getting bloody, Sith commences to cook in a way that no Star Wars movie has since "Empire." Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Even for non-fans, Revenge of the Sith is engrossing, and fans of the series will likely be over the moon -- and into another galaxy -- with this film. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Episode III has more action per square minute, I'd guess, than any of the previous five movies, and it is spectacular. The special effects are more sophisticated than in the earlier movies, of course, but not necessarily more effective. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The real deal, an often awkward but nonetheless terrifically compelling high-stakes human drama. Read full review
80
EmpireColin Kennedy
Star Wars really does begin here. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Lucas manages to turn the audience's familiarity to his advantage: like a jigsaw puzzle whose final form has always been known, the fun is in discovering how the last pieces fit. Read full review
80
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Far and away the best of the Star Wars prequels (tough chore, that) and also holds its own with the hallowed films of the original trilogy. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Arguably the darkest episode in the entire series (and the first to carry a PG-13 rating) the visually stunning "Sith" is also the fastest-paced and most accessible. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
For all its doom and gloom, Revenge of the Sith turns out to have a happy ending after all, giving Star Wars the send-off it deserves. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
On the action-adventure level it's a sure-fire delight for fans, a punchy entertainment for average sci-fi buffs, and a colorful rocket-ride for moviegoers who just want a good time on Saturday night. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The most energetic of the prequels, the only one at all worth watching. But that doesn't mean it is without the weaknesses that scuttled its pair of predecessors. Quite the contrary. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The battle sequences and lightsaber battles are gripping, and for every scene that doesn't deliver the goods, there's another that hums with surprising intensity. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Though Sith finally finds some life in the old saga, was it worth it in the end? Did we have to go through all that to get back where we began? Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Two prequels' worth of scene setting pays off in the politically resonant Revenge of the Sith. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The one figure in Revenge of the Sith who taps the true spirit of Star Wars is Ewan McGregor: With his beautiful light, clipped delivery, he plays Alec Guinness' playfulness, making Obi-Wan a marvel of benevolent moxie. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
A vast improvement over the previous two outings, but still and all, it's no "Star Wars." Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
And still the dialogue is astonishingly feeble, the acting unforgivably wooden. To paraphrase Yoda, the only creature with ­truly human dimensions ever since Harrison Ford's cowboy-mechanic Han Solo departed the galaxy: Bored I am. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Though it starts slowly, it lumbers toward greatness in the last third and restores him [Lucas] briefly to the top of his class. Read full review
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
What a shock when George Lucas finds his footing and the saga once again takes hold. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The scenery, effects and balletic, iconic combats are perfectly wonderful, but there's an emotional black hole where the hero should be.
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Until the last half-hour, when Lucas actually does establish a emotional connection between the landmark he created in 1977 and the prequel investment portfolio he laid out in 1999, the movie is one spectacularly designed letdown after another. Read full review
50
Village VoiceEd Halter
Even setting aside the clumsy inconsistency of its interior logic, Sith is an underachievement of escapist entertainment. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Ken Tucker
Lucas is a brilliant technician but a poor philosopher, and his lurchingly thought-out rendering of futuristic politics prevents the entire series from achieving the greatness to which it aspires. (You don’t make anything this big, for this long, without aiming for the planet Masterpiece.) Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
For the casual viewer who feels like maybe all the Sith hoopla is worth checking out, well, it's like tuning in to the season finale of "24" without having watched a minute of its lead-up episodes. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The movie drags. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The greatest story ever has finally been told. Or, if you prefer, the damn thing has come to its merciful end. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Is it enough to make us like a thing we used to love? For most, that rekindling of an old flame will be good enough. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Revenge was supposed to be the one that really socked it to us, about Anakin's almost biblical fall from grace. But the movie never rises to its powerful occasion. Read full review
40
SalonStephanie Zacharek
I suspect this picture is pretty close to what fans were hoping for, and for their sake, I'm glad it's markedly better than the two that preceded it. But Revenge of the Sith is still crap. Read full review
10
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
The general opinion of Revenge of the Sith seems to be that it marks a distinct improvement on the last two episodes, "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones." True, but only in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion. Read full review
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