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*Contains Spoilers*

In my review for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace I wrote how the light and bright Phantom reflected the time in which it was released. 1999 was the dawn of the new Millennium and hope and freshness abounded during what was something of a short golden age for Western Society. If The Phantom Menace was a movie for its time, then 2005's dark and desperate Revenge of the Sith was also a movie of its time and for today. As the world stands on the edge of global despression and we continue with uncertain wars and the face the prospect of ever more sophisticated and outrageous terrorism many of us are feeling a sense of despair - Revenge of the Sith reflects that sense of despair and unease really quite profoundly. This film transends the Star Wars myth and becomes tome for today.

The story of "Revenge" is basically Anakin Skywalker turning to the dark side and embracing his destiny - Darth Vader. However, this film actually belongs to The Emperor, aka Darth Sidious, aka Palpatine. Its Ian Mcdiarmids outstanding performance of Palpatine that is the glue that holds the film together. As Paplatines plot finally falls into place and we understand at last just who The Phantom Menace is, Mcdiarmid totally eats up the screen. From the early scenes where Palpatine subtlely sucks the unsuspecting Anakin into his dastardly plot (look out for a particularly stunning scene between Anakin and Palpatine early in the movie, where Palpatine relays the legend of the tragedy of "Darth Plagueis The Wise" to Anakin. This is possibly the best acted scene in ANY of the six movie Saga) through to the hackling, insane and unbelievably evil Emperor literally trashing democracy itself as he battles Yoda in The Senate, this is Mcdiarmids movie and does he rise to the occasion! This is surely the best Star Wars performance since Guiness in Star Wars and Ford in Empire Strikes Back.
However, ALL the acting performances are better in this film. Natalie Portman, Hayden Christenson and Sam Jackson deliver much more solid work than they did in Attack of the Clones. Ewan Mcgregor, if not quite as good as in Clones, is still excellent. The actors clearly relish have more dramatic material to work with, and aside from the occasional poor line here and dodgy acting there, everyones work rises to a better standard in this film.

The film starts with an epic space battle as The Clone Wars reaches its final cresendo. Palpatine has set up his kidnapping and Anakin (now a Jedi Knight) and Obi-Wan Kenobi stage a desperate bid to rescue him from the clutches of Darth Tyrannus (Christopher Lee) and new villain General Grevious. The first twenty minutes is non stop, classic Star Wars action. Look out for the shocking moment when Tyrannus is executed at the hands of Anakin. - This is the first indication of just how dark Revenge of the Sith is.

The film for me really picks up after the opening action when Anakin returns to Coruscant and is reunited with his wife Padme. He finds out he is to be a father and its at this point he begins to have visions of Padmes death - Which takes us back to his mothers death in Attack of the Clones. This sets Anakin on a journey to stop Padme from dying as his mother did. A journey that sees him selling his soul to the devil and desending litterally into hell. For the knowlage to save Padme Anakin must betray his Jedi comrades and become Sith Lord Darth Vader.

The middle of the film, where Anakin makes his choice to turn to the dark side, is where Revenge of the Sith lifts from just being a good Star Wars film to being a great film in its own right. A slient moment of rumination between Anakin and Padme offers one of the most haunting moments in Star Wars history. As Anakin and Padme connect silently across the bustling cityscape on Coruscant, a silent voice wails in pain. The sun sets on the galaxy and on our doomed lovers and Anakin makes his decision.

The rest of the film sees the destruction of the Jedi and Anakins appalling betrayal. A pivitol scene between Anakin, Palpatine (now transformed into the warped Emperor we knew from Return of the Jedi) and Mace Windu is really the key scene to understanding just how deep Anakins betrayal was and that he was given the chance to do the right thing, but made the wrong choice - Leading to the quite shocking death of Mace.

The final part of the movie is where all the loose ends are tied up. From Palpatine becoming Emperor of the Galactic Empire through to the end of the Clone Wars, through to the mythic and long awaited lightsaber fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan against the volcanic, hellish backdrop of Mustafar, through to the birth of Padmes children, Luke and Leia and the death/birth of Padme/Anakin/Darth Vader, Revenge of the Sith delivers in spades.
The shocking irony of Anakin himself making his nightmares come true and lashing out at the woman he turned to the dark side to save takes "Revenge" to the level of greek tragedy. Christenson and Portman are stunning in this scene. The way their relationship just disintergrates before our eyes is so well done and seeing Anakins rage and anger is really quite disturbing.
The tragedy continues with Anakins downfall at the hands of his former friend and mentor Obi-Wan. The force with which Ewan Mcgregor delivers his parting words to Anakin are just fantastic and you'll find the immolation of Anakin, even if you know its coming, both shocking and moving. Even though at this point Anakin is throughly evil, you'll still feel, through the music and Mcgregors performance, a great sense of compassion for Anakin plight.

So what about the technical aspects of this film? Firstly Lucas's direction is superb. If he was rusty for Phantom and going somewhat through the motions with Clones, then with Sith he definatly rises to the occasion. This is the film he made the Prequels in order to make. This is the tale he's been waiting 30 years to tell. The how and why Star Wars happened.
Like Lucas and all the actors, John Williams delivers his best Prequel work on this film. Many of his pices of music are by turns operatic and tragic. The music that accompanys Anakin and Padmes silent ruminations, the fall of the Jedi, the disturbing "Godfatheresque" moment of Palpatines triumph as Anakin wipes out the remaining Sepratist leaders and the music that accompanys the battle of Anakin/Obi-Wan and Sidious/Yoda are all notable musical highlights. Listen out at the end of the film and during the credits for pieces of music from "Star Wars" itself - Hinting at the hope to come and taking the movie full circle.

The special effects, sound effects and costumes are outstanding as ever. Its easy to take ILM's fabulous special effects for granted, but the fact is they produce jaw dropping scene after jaw scene. How/why they never won an Oscare for the Prequels is totally beyond me!
The editing from Roger Barton and Ben Burtt is much improved on Burtts solo edit for Attack of the Clones.

Also greatly improved is the digital camera. Where Attack of the Clones had a some how false and shiny look to it, Revenge of the Sith looks much more gritty and realistic. If you didn't know, you would definatly think this movie has been shot using regular "film" cameras, rather than groundbreaking digital cameras.

Revenge of the Sith is a fantastic contrast to The Phantom Menace. If the colour of Phantom is all greens and blues, this film is all blacks and reds. Where Phantom was light, this film is dark. Where Phantom was goofy, this film is mature. There is, very much a sense of despair and desperation about this film and this contrast actually makes The Phantom Menace more interesting, in my opinion. It doesn't negate all the many problems Menace has, but it at least justifys through contrast, the tone that Lucas chose for Epsiode I. Aside from brief chinks of hope with the arrival and splitting up of the twins right at the end of the film, Revenge of the Sith is unremittingly dark. Some scenes, such as the creation of Darth Vader are actually quite disturbing - Hence the 12 certificate.

As far as extras go, Revenge of the Sith is unfortunatly somewhat lacking compared to Menace and Clones. The main documentery "Within A Minute" is very poor compared to Menaces "The Beginning." Aside from that the extras contain the usual film maker commentery, deleated scenes, trailers, web-docs (which are excellent) and music video. But with this DVD its the film that speaks for itself not the extras. So even though the extras are *** affairs, the movie itself is a brilliant *****

Along with The Empire Strikes Back, Revenge of the Sith is my personal favourite Star Wars movie. The visual poetry of the final scenes (first dealing with the mother, then the father, then the daughter and finally the son) is just beautiful. As we arrive at the final scene where baby Luke is delivered by Obi-Wan to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru and the twin suns set over Tatooine, we come full circle and you'll have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the sheer beauty, opera and poetry of it all.

It may not have been a smooth ride, but this film made the Prequels a worthwhile project.

Thank you George Lucas for the wonderful ride that is the Star Wars Saga.

From my 7 year old boy right up to my 77 year old dad, we found this really wonderful. I didn't think we would learn so many new things that are so important to our basic understanding of our world. EVERY SCHOOL should show this dvd to the kids and more than once so that it can be fully absorbed. It is about the core of our existence!

"The Fast Show" is great. This box set is 'brilliant'!

But it is not "Ultimate" inasmuch the live shows are missing. You have to buy the "Fast Show Live and Farewell Tour Live double pack" seperately to get "The Fast Show" complete.

Or will there be a "The Fast Show : Complete Collection (8 Disc BBC Box Set)" some day?

We all know we love Eric and Ern, but what you really want to know is what's on the bloomin' discs, right?

Here is Disc One of the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Specials which covers the 1969, 1970 and 1971 shows. I'll add discs Two and Three as soon as I watch them.

The 1969 Show:

Ernie being groovy
Ernie in the bath (Eric takes a photo)
Monks feeding the ducks
Eric's giant X-Mas tree
Song: Nina
Eric's giant ventriloquist dummy
Song: Sascha Distel
Monks pull a pint
Getting Fenella Fielding in the play
Song: Frankie Vaughn
Nelson Sketch
Song: Bring me sunshine

The 1970 Show:

Exchanging gifts
French Foreign Legion in the loo
Fuel saving Car
Peter Cushing (cut in half)
Song: Kenny Ball
Ann Hamilton over for Christmas dinner
Eric Porter
Song: Nina
Edward Woodward
Song: Edward Woodward
William Franklin
The 3 Musketeers Sketch

The 1971 Show:

Santa stealing gifts
Eric and Ernie get awards (with Dick Emery)
Monks
At the chicken farm
Song: Los Zafiros
Glenda Jackson song with guests Cliff Michelmore, Frank Bough, Eddie Waring, Patrick Moore, Michael Parkinson and Robert Dougall
Andre 'Preview' and the Piano Concerto
Shirley Bassey funny 'Smoke gets in your eyes'
Song: Shirley Bassey
Piano and water sketch
Francis Matthews
Robin Hood Sketch

No doubt, this could have been a very fine documentary. The tribes presented are among the least known and most fascinating on the planet. Therefore, footage of any kind concerning their life is valuable. The problem is that, watching the series, you get the feeling that it is mostly focused on Bruce Parry himself, and how he manages to survive under impossible circumstances. In almost every single scene we see Parry trying to show us how well adapted he has become within the tribe: eating beetles and rats, building his hut, climbing trees, taking hallucinogenic drugs, urinating among the reindeer, or simply having a good time with the local people. I do not underestimate his accomplishments, but, after all, the point of such a documentary series is not to prove how tough, brave and resilient the expedition leader is. It is to present with some detail the daily life, culture, and spiritual beliefs of these vanishing people. This is attempted in a very shallow and superficial way. It is almost as watching Parry's personal video with his exotic adventures. If most of each film was not devoted to the doings of Bruce Parry (who, after all, is NOT an anthropologist) there would definitely be more time and space for presenting and interpreting the complex world of the tribes.

I was not even born when the first installment of Godfather came out in the theatres. But I always heard about it from all my elder family members, who had the chance to see the movie in the seventies. They always admired about it and its sequel that went into theaters in 1974. This June, when the Godfather trilogy box set came out, all the stories which I used to hear from other people came across my mind, and I immediately bought the Godfather trilogy box set, containing all three movies and two bonus discs covering the special features.
When I started watching the trilogy from part 1, it gripped me right from the beginning till the end. Director, Francis Ford Coppola dealt so many characters, beautifully, without hampering the pace of the movie. Apart from the main leads in the movie such as the actors who played the roles of Corleone family, each and very character was handled, with full devotion. Watching the first movie is like reading a history of Corleone family. In fact the movie illustrates transfer of powers from father to son, who finally becomes the Don Corleone, the man responsible for all the decision of Corleone family. The characters of both Vito and Michael Corleone were beautifully played by Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. First half of the movie depicts the powers of Vito Corleone, while the second half is about transition of powers from Vito to Michael Corleone. Entire movie is based on the events from mid 40s to mid 50s.
The second movie is the continuation of activities of the Corleone family and the problems faced by them in their casino business. More than about hour of the movie is devoted to the flashbacks of Vito Corleone's earlier life, which started in Cicely, Italy. These flashbacks also provide some questions which remained unanswered in the first movie. The movie is longer than the first one and also requires more attention, as many events in the movie are based on earlier conversations of Michael Corleone with his associates, regarding their enemies within the family. The movie finally ends by eliminating all the enemies of Michael Corleone. The movie depicts a shorter time span (up to 1959) than in the first movie.
Third movie is based on the attempts of the Michael Corleone to shift from his casino business to get hold of the banks in Rome. The movie also shows the behaviors of Michael's son and daughter, and some other characters, which were in the previous two movies.
Two bonus discs are full of special features, which depict the making of the movie and the problems faced by the producers in making a masterpiece like this. Furthermore, the re mastering of the first two films are excellent, it does not let you feel at any time that you are watching a movie that was made in the seventies.
For fans of classic movies this is a MUST BUY. Furthermore, it comes in a steel box and occupies space of only one DVD pack, so there is not much extra space required for this Steel Box. Each time you watch these movies, it tells you something more that you missed last time.

When I got this DVD, I thought it'd be one of those overdone American sitcoms, with canned laughter, bad charactorisation and plots that went for laughs over a good moral. Kinda like the worst aspects of friends and Happy Days - glib eye candy.

But, oh boy, how wrong was I! It turns out that the comedy is far more understated and subtle, and that it is balanced by its natural dark twin tragedy. The storylines do not back away from sometimes having a sad moral, with the season ending being a wonderful example of this.

Oh, and, best of all, there is no canned laughter! Nope - not one single snigger - a joke is a joke, whether you notice it or not, and it is not your gullible duty to laugh at it...

And there are also the charactors. From the extremely witty Dr Cox, to the brainy bimbo Elliot, there is depth and insight into the charactors, and they are not all Zack Braff - esque, which makes the interplay surprising and interesting. There are also well-cast cameos in the form of the Janitor's dad as the drill sergeant from 'Full Metal Jacket', among others.

So, overall, Scrubs is definitely worth a watch and, considering it has 25 episodes in the series, it is a bargain as well.
Trouble is of course, if the Americans have learnt the art of Irony, Drama and consistently good writing, what place is there now for British Sitcoms? As the cliche goes, I will leave you that thought to take away...

I work outside the UK and do not see very much British TV. I saw Omid on an in-flight entertainment channel and decided to track down more of his material.
This is really entertaining DVD, and Omid himself is brilliant. Great material, delivery style, and his accents, impressions and observations on people are just superb.
I rarely laugh out loud - but omid had me rolling!

BUY IT!

Jeff Dunham is huge in the States but not very well known in the UK. I advise any fan of standup comedy/ventriliquism to buy this DVD. Top Notch!!!

The sooner we get him on tour in this country, the better!