Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 11 May 2005
• an extract from the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) decision about classification.

Overall comments and recommendations

This movie is considerably stronger than the previous movies in the Star Wars series and definitely warrants its M rating.

Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith is a science fiction movie about war, drama, space travel, hero/anti-hero, good versus evil. It is tailored more to older adolescent and adult viewing. In terms of adult viewing, this movie takes Star Wars to a completely new level of entertainment both visually and thematically. The special effects are far beyond any other Star Wars film, and the vividness of the colours and the reality of the visual and sound effects are superb. Veteran actors such as Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Ian McDiarmid and Jimmy Smits add a touch of class to the film, while Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) add a touch of nostalgia.

However, its content of dismemberment, destruction and carnage of both the body and soul, violent, brutal acts, disturbing visual images and adult themes make Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith unsuitable for children. The whole theme of crossing to the dark side is very morally complex and not suitable for children.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

In the last days of the Clone Wars in the upper atmosphere of the planet Coruscant, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) fly their Jedi Fighters into battle against the droid army of the Separatist forces. The two Jedi Knights are attempting to rescue Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who is being held prisoner aboard a Star Ship by the evil Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). After fighting several battles and destroying numerous droid warriors the pair finally reach the captive Chancellor Palpatine and confront Count Dooku. After a fierce lightsabre duel Anakin manages to defeat the Count severing both of the Count's hands and decapitates the Count with his lightsabre.

Following Palpatine's rescue, Anakin is reunited with his wife Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), who is now pregnant. Anakin soon begins to have nightmares in which Padme dies during childbirth. At the same time Anakin finds himself torn between his loyalties to the Jedi Council and his loyalties to Palpatine, as both want Anakin to spy on the other. Eventually Anakin tells Palpatine of his nightmares and his fear for Padme. Palpatine suggests that salvation lies in the dark side of the force; if Anakin learns the dark side of the force he can bring Padme back from the dead. Anakin realises that Palpatine is the Sith Lord the Jedi Council have been hunting for, and renounces Palpatine to the Jedi Master Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson). Mace with several other Jedi Knights approach Palpatine with the intent to arrest him, but Palpatine slaughters all Jedi but Mace in seconds. Mace and Palpatine continue a fierce battle with Mace eventually gaining the upper hand, but before Mace is able to deliver the fatal blow, Anakin arrives and begs the Jedi Master to spare Palpatine's life. Palpatine pleads that Anakin's wife will die unless he survives to teach Anakin the ways of the dark side, and Anakin turns on Mace killing the Jedi Master. Anakin now subverted by the dark side of the force submits fully to the will of Palpatine, who is now fully revealed as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious.

Darth Sidious convinces Anakin that all Jedi are enemies of the Republic and need to be destroyed. Anakin attacks the Jedi in their temple slaughtering all Jedi including the Jedi Council and the Jedi children. Simultaneously, Darth Sidious orders all clone warriors to turn on their Jedi masters and kill them. Jedi throughout the Galaxy are slaughtered to the point of extinction with only two surviving the genocide, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Now utterly consumed by the dark side of the force, Anakin kneels and swears allegiance to Darth Sidious, who claims Anakin for his apprentice and anoints him as Darth Vader.

Darth Sidious, no longer in need of his Separatist allies sends Anakin/Vader to the volcano planet Mustafar to eliminate the Separatist leaders. Padme, unable to believe Anakin has turned to the dark side, follows Anakin to Mustafar to confront him. As Padme's Star Ship lifts off, Obi-Wan slips aboard. Padme arrives on Mustafar and confronts Anakin, horrified by the darkness that has consumed him—she no longer recognises the man standing in front of her as Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan steps forward to confront Anakin, but unable to reason, Anakin believes Padme had betrayed his love for her, and in jealous fit of rage uses the force to strangle Padme to unconsciousness. Anakin and Obi-Wan attack each other mercilessly, the fight continuing across the volcanic surface of Mustafar until finally Obi-Wan gains the upper hand defeating Anakin. Anakin is ruined loosing both his legs and an arm. As Obi-Wan looks down upon what was once Anakin Skywalker lava washes over the ruined remains and Anakin is consumed by fire. Simultaneously Darth Sidious and Yoda fight out their own battle. Yoda is unable to defeat Darth Sidious and Yoda and Obi-Wan are forced into exile.

As the film draws to its conclusion, Obi-Wan takes Padme to the planet Alderaan where Padme gives birth to twins, who she names Luke and Leia. Shortly after the twin's birth and without the will to live, Padme dies. On the planet Mustafar, Darth Sidious retrieves the burnt, ruined and barely alive body of Anakin/Vader. The ruined body is rebuilt and Anakin makes his final transformation into the cyborg Darth Vader. The birth of Darth Vader see the birth of the Empire.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

In terms of violence, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith is best described as a blood bath of dismemberment, destruction and carnage. There are explicit images of violent and brutal acts throughout the course of the film.

The film glamourises the violent acts of both the heroes and anti-heroes. The Jedi are portrayed as superior beings, they are the saviours and protectors of the people, and their use of violence is always seen as just and right and is always successful. Anakin, both hero and anti-hero, is represented as young, handsome and powerful, a type of super Jedi, who is completely unbeatable in battle, and able to wield violence with even greater success than a normal Jedi. At the start of the film Anakin adheres to a set of Jedi values and beliefs, which justifies his use of violence and prevents him from using unrestrained violence. But as he is consumed by the dark side, his hold on Jedi values disintegrates until he no longer adheres to any moral restraint murdering and inflicting violence on all who cross his path including his wife.

The film portrays the real life consequences of violent acts in terms of pain death and suffering. Wounds inflicted by lightsabres and lazar blasts where portrayed as painful and fatal. When Mace Windu had his hand severed by Anakin's lightsabre he screams in agony, while Palpatine was left horribly maimed and disfigured as a result of the violent conflict. The film also portrays, to a lesser degree, emotional pain and suffering resulting from acts of violence. Obi-Wan, Padme, Yoda display despair, shock and horror at the atrocities committed by Anakin/Vader.

Some examples of violence include:

• In the opening battle between a Republican army and an army of droids there are many violent images: ships exploding, pilots tumbling through space, pilots consumed by cockpit fire, dozens of droids consumed by an oil fire, buildings in the air destroyed by explosion, bodies hurled against walls, Obi-Wan pinned unconscious underneath a section of wall.
• Count Dooku's hands are severed and he kneels in front of Anakin, holding the stumps of his wrists in the air (minimal blood and gore).
• Anakin holds two lightsabres at Count Dooku's throat, and Chancellor Palpatine entices him to kill the Count. Anakin decapitates the Count and there is an ecstatic look on Palpatine's face. (Actual images of the decapitation are not shown. Dooku's body falls to the ground and his head is seen rolling away in the background.)
• Obi-Wan battles the leader of the droid army, General Grievous. At one point, Grievous tosses Obi-Wan around like a rag doll. Later Obi-Wan rips open Grievous's chest to reveal a beating heart, and then shoots Grievous with a lazar gun. Flames erupt from his chest cavity and eye sockets.
• The scene where Mace Windu and the Jedi attempt to arrest Palpatine is dark and brutal. Palpatine resembles a rabid animal as he leaps from his chair, attacking the Jedi with his lightsabre. He impales one Jedi, and slices another through the chest (minimal display of blood and gore). Later in the scene, Palpatine's body is consumed by bolts of electricity, his face distorts taking on a horrifying, desiccated, pitiful, mummy like appearance as the electrical current consumes his body. Palpatine pitifully pleads for Anakin to save his life. Anakin responds by severing Mace Windu's lightsabre hand. Palpatine then hurls bolts of electricity at Mace hurling his body out of the window to disappear from sight His body is shown sailing past the buildings below.
• Anakin/Vader uses his lightsabre to mercilessly slaughter numerous Jedi, including images of a temple floor strewn with Jedi bodies.
• There is a scene where Anakin (implicitly) kills numerous defenseless Jedi children. Anakin stands in front of a room full of young children with his lightsabre blazing and a very dark and possessed look in his eyes. A boy of about five years if age, who seems worried, asks Anakin what's going on. Anakin's response is to fire up his light saber. It is obvious that he is going to kill the child. This scene is potentially very distressing to a child. There are later images of the same room littered with the bodies of dead children.
• There are numerous scenes of clone warriors murdering their Jedi masters; images are shown of Jedi men and women, and a young Jedi boy of about twelve years of age, being ruthlessly shot with multiple laser fire.
• Anakin/Vader ruthlessly slaughters several Separatist leaders. The scene is particularly brutal, with Anakin/Vader portrayed as completely void of all remorse. One Separatist begs Anakin/Vader to spare his life, but Anakin cold bloodedly looks at him taking his time to draw out the scene before he commits the murder.
• Anakin uses The Force to strangle Padme into unconsciousness. Anakin stares at Padme with a very dark and hateful look in his eyes, then raises his hand as though pinching the air. Padme grabs her throat gasping for breath, and several seconds later she collapses to the floor.
• The final lightsabre battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan is brutal and vicious, with images of Anakin/Vader strangling Obi-Wan, Anakin and Obi-Wan punching and kicking each other in the face and body, both striking blows at each other with their lightsabres. The fight takes place over a huge river of molten lava, and there is a strong sense of threat or menace, including very dramatic music. The scene goes on for quite a while and the final image is of Anakin/Vader somersaulting over the top of Obi-Wan, as Obi-Wan wields his lightsabre and Anakin falls to the ground in a heap.
• At the same time as this fight is going on, Palpatine and Yoda are also fighting with lightsabres. The fight is carried out quite high up in the Senate chamber with the threat of a long fall.
• The next image is of Anakin/Vader lying on the ground at the edge of the river of lava. Both of his legs have been severed and one of his arms. As Anakin uses his one remaining arm to crawl up the bank, the remains of his ruined torso catch fire; the fire starts at the bottom and works its way up until his ruined body is engulfed. Finally a wave of lava washes over his burning torso. The last image is of a completely ruined body with the flesh left raw, burnt and smouldering; the image is explicit.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Most of the violence, as described above, could possibly disturb children under the age of eight, in particular the more brutal and gruesome images such as:

• hands being severed
• decapitations
• lightsabres slicing through torsos
• a person engulfed and savaged by bolts of lightening
• nightmarish images of Padme in agony
• implicit images of Jedi children being murdered
• explicit images of a twelve year old Jedi boy being murdered (shot dead by repeated laser blasts)
• Anakin/Vader using The Force to strangle Padme
• explicit images of Anakin/Vader's ruined body being consumed by flames and lava with flesh being burnt off and the torso left black, burnt and smouldering.

In addition to the film's portrayal of violent acts, many of the loud explosions, gunfire and sounds or raging battle are capable of scaring young children. Viewing the film in a cinema greatly increases both the volume and the realism of the sound effects. Also, some images and scenes could scare or even traumatise children under the age of eight, including:

• many alien creatures
• the leader of the droid army, General Grievous, is a metal skeletonised droid with four arms and human internal organs. He resembles a giant humanoid insect and transforms from a human like posture to that of a spider. Grievous has wheezing raspy breathing and a horrible hacking cough, both of which tend to humanise him. His overall appearance is repulsive, threatening and scary. Grievous is given considerable screen time providing children with greater exposure to the images.
• the humanoid Tion Medon has sharp pointy teeth, a very high forehead, and ornately colourful skin with an overall appearance that resembles something like an alien vampire.
• a monstrous creature resembling a giant dragon / frill neck lizard, which Obi-Wan rides like a horse. Rather than being fierce, the creature resembles a friendly dog, however, the creature may still be worrying to younger children.
• very disturbing visual images of Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious. At one point, after being defeated by Mace Windu, Palpatine crawls away from Mace in a very unnatural, crazed, frenzied manner that resembles a rabid animal. These images are very, very creepy, and leave a disturbing after-impression. Also of concern is the transformation of Palpatine's face, which at one point begins to rapidly age taking on a shrivelled up, burnt, grotesque, toothless, mummified appearance. Palpatine's face is left permanently, grotesquely disfigured; the face of Darth Sidious.
• Padme's death following childbirth. Darth Vader is clearly heartbroken when he learns that Padme has died. This paradox could be very confusing for children.
• Young children may find the visual images of Anakin transformation to Darth Vader scary and disturbing. Anakin's growing addiction to the dark side is not dissimilar to a narcotic addiction. As the dark side consumes Anakin, his appearance becomes more sinister, evil and darker. He skin becomes shadowed, he wears darker clothing with his head covered by a cloak, his eyes become darker until eventually they take on a demon like appearance.
• the images of Anakin's ruined body being transformed in to the cyborg Darth Vader are frightening and disturbing. After the fight, Anakin is carried on a stretcher and then operated on. The lighting in this scene is very light and bright and his appearance quite revolting. The room in which the transformation occurs closely resembles a futuristic torture chamber. Anakin is in agony as robotic arms reach out and rip pieces of burnt clothing and flesh from his torso; the ruined image of Anakin's face is gruesome.

Aged eight to fifteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

All of the scenes and images discussed above are capable of scaring or disturbing children between the ages of eight to fifteen years. However, older children within this age range may be more capable of coping with the images of vampire looking aliens and monstrous creatures.

Scenes of particular concern to children and adolescents within this age range, include:

•  Anakin's transformation to the dark side, from hero to anti-hero. Anakin begins to suffer from constant internal turmoil as his values and beliefs are corrupted by the influence of the dark side. His personality changes as he slowly looses control over life and his ability to reason. The images could resemble an adolescent male suffering from a personality disorder. This theme could be particularly confusing for young boys who have idolised the character of Anakin in Star Wars Episodes I and II.

•  The progression of Anakin/ Vader's relationship with Padme, including the message that he has been made vulnerable to evil influences by his love for her. His strangling of Padme, her death and Anakin / Vader's subsequent grief are complex issues that could confuse children and young adolescents.

•  Padme is the only female with a speaking part in the movie. Other female characters are all decorative, some showing quite gratuitous amounts of flesh.

•  the animalistic/crazed rabid animal images of Palpatine crawling away from Mace Windu

•  Anakin's ruined body being engulfed by fire and lava, and the torture chamber like scene where the ruined Anakin is transformed into the cyborg Darth Vader.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in this movie.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity or sexual activity in this movie.

Use of substances

There is no use of substances in this movie.

Coarse language

There is no coarse language in this movie.

The movie's message

Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith is a classic battle between the forces of darkness and light, and in this movie the forces of darkness triumph over light. This occurs both on an individual level, as with the transformation of Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader, and a Galactic level, with the overthrow of the Galactic republic to a Galactic empire. It is a story of the seduction and corruption of Anakin Skywalker by the dark side of the force, and Anakin's addiction to the power of the dark side that eventually see him become a monster.

If parents do allow their children to see this movie, they could discuss, particularly with older children and adolescents:

• how and why the dark side of the force corrupted Anakin, turning him into the exact opposite of what he valued and believed to be true
• Anakin's addiction to dark power, and the effects of the addiction on his life and to the people around him
• the internal struggle Anakin suffered as a result of the dark side's influence
• Anakin's use of higher moral reasoning to justify his betrayal of his closest friends and the murder innocent people
• how Anakin was used and manipulated by the dark side and Palpatine

Parents may also wish to discuss how violence was used throughout the film to dominate and solve conflict, and in particular Anakin's use of violence against Padme.

Extract from the OFLC decision

Synopsis

The third episode in the popular Star Wars science fiction saga that follows the battle between good and evil in a distant galaxy. In this film (that bridges the gap between the original Star Wars and Attack of the Clones films) the transition of Anakin from Jedi Knight into the evil Lord Darth Vader is traced against the backdrop of Emperor Palpatine's destruction of the Jedi and takeover of the Republic.

Reasons for the decision

When making decisions the Classification Board (the Board) follows the procedures set out in the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 (the Act). The Board also applies the National Classification Code and the Classification Guidelines, while taking into account the matters set out in Section 11 of the Act.

Majority view

In the Board's majority view this film warrants an M classification as, in accordance with Part 5 of the Films Table of the National Classification Code, it cannot be recommended for viewing by persons who are under 15. The classifiable element is violence that is moderate in viewing impact.

Violence

The film contains moderate violence that is justified within the context of a science fiction action/adventure film. In general the scenes of violence are discreetly implied, consisting of bloodless visuals inflicted by science fiction weaponry, and can be accommodated within a lower classification. The following, however, has a moderate viewing impact in the Board's majority view:

At approximately 119:00 minutes, at the climax of a lengthy 'light sabre' duel, Obi-Wan implicitly slices the lower parts of Darth Vader's legs off as he tries to leap to higher ground. Vader is briefly seen in a long shot, from behind, with the stumps of his legs visible before the two exchange a brief amount of dialogue. As Vader inches up the bank his legs catch fire - followed by his entire body - from the heat emanating from the sea of molten material behind him. There is a brief close-up of his burning head as he screams. The narrative cuts to another location before returning to show Vader crawling to higher ground, including a brief close-up of his head (now red and charred with an open wound on top).

At approx. 124:00 minutes Vader's body is shown being taken away by the Emperor's minions on a futuristic stretcher, his skin red raw and charred. At 125:00 minutes droids move about Vader's body - the stumps where his missing limbs should be visible - as he writhes and groans in agony while undergoing the medical procedures that will rebuild him.

At approx. 84:00 minutes a young child speaks to Anakin/Vader and a light sabre is turned on from off camera (this scene is brief and ambiguous until ten minutes later when its intent becomes clear).

At approx. 94:15 minutes Obi-Wan finds the dead bodies of multiple "younglings" lying on the floor and wonders who could have done it. There is no wound detail as such on the children, who appear to range in age from under ten years old to teenagers.

At approx. 97:15 minutes Obi-Wan briefly watches a hologram of Anakin/Vader implicitly striking down the children. The majority view notes that the film contains themes and other instances of violence that can be accommodated within a lower classification.

Minority View

In a minority view of the Board, the elements and scenes noted above can be accommodated within a PG classification due to their mild impact within a well-known science fiction franchise context.

Conclusion

Pursuant to the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games, this film is classified M as the impact of the classifiable elements is moderate. Material classified M/M(15+) is not recommended for persons under 15 years of age. There are no legal restrictions on access.