Psico (Edição Comemorativa 2 Discos)

Info About (Probably) The Best Hitchcock Movie:

Psycho is a 1960 American suspense horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Janet Leigh. The screenplay is by Joseph Stefano, based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch loosely inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin murderer and grave robber Ed Gein.^[1]
The film centers on the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Leigh), who ends up at a secluded motel after embezzling money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner-manager, Norman Bates (Perkins), and its aftermath.^[2] When originally made, the film was seen as a departure from Hitchcock's previous film North by Northwest, having been filmed on a low budget, with a television crew and in black and white. Psycho initially received mixed reviews, but outstanding box office returns prompted reconsideration which led to overwhelming critical acclaim and four Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Leigh and Best Director for Hitchcock.
It is now considered one of Hitchcock's best films^[3] and praised as a work of cinematic art by international film critics and film scholars. Ranked among the greatest films of all time, it set a new level of acceptability for violence, deviant behavior and sexuality in American films.^[4] After Hitchcock's death in 1980, Universal Studios began producing follow-ups: three sequels, a remake, a television movie spin-off, and a TV series.
In 1992, the US Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Plot

Marion Crane and her boyfriend meet for a secret romantic rendezvous during lunch hour at a hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. They then talk about how they can barely afford to get married. Upon Marion's return to work at a realtor's office, a client comes in with $40,000 in cash to purchase a house for his daughter. The money is entrusted to Marion, who decides to steal it and skip town.
On the road, she pulls over to sleep and is awaken by a policeman who can tell something is wrong. The policeman lets her go, but upon arriving in another town, Marion pulls into a used car dealership and hastily exchanges her car for another one. Driving during a rainy night, Marion pulls up to the Bates Motel, a remote lodging that has recently lost business due to a diversion of the main highway. The proprietor, youthful but nervous Norman Bates, invites her to a light dinner in the parlor. Norman discloses that his mother is mentally ill, but he becomes irate and bristles when Marion suggests that she should be institutionalized. The conversation induces Marion to decide to return to Phoenix and return the stolen money. Marion later takes a shower in her room, during which a shadowy figure comes and stabs her to death. Norman bursts into the bathroom and discovers Marion's dead body. He wraps the body in the shower curtain and cleans up the bathroom. He puts Marion's body in the trunk of her car and sinks it in a nearby swamp.
In Phoenix, Marion's sister Lila and boyfriend Sam Loomis are concerned about her disappearance. A detective named Arbogast confirms Marion is suspected of having stolen $40,000 from her employer. Arbogast eventually finds the Bates Motel, where Norman's evasiveness and stammering arouse his suspicions. Arbogast later enters the Bates' residence, looking for Norman's mother. A figure emerges from her room and murders Arbogast.
Fearing something has happened to Arbogast, Sam and Lila go to the town of Fairvale and talk with the local sheriff. He is puzzled by the detective's claim that he was planning to talk to Norman's mother, stating that Mrs. Bates died years ago, along with her lover, in a murder-suicide. Norman, seen from above, carries his mother down to the cellar of their house as she verbally protests the arrangement.
Sam and Lila rent a room at the Bates Motel and search the cabin that Marion stayed in. Lila finds a scrap of paper with "$40,000" written on it while Sam notes that the bathtub has no shower curtain. Sam distracts Norman while Lila sneaks into the house, looking for Mrs. Bates. Norman subdues Sam and chases Lila. Seeing Norman approaching, Lila hides in the cellar and discovers Mrs. Bates sitting in a rocking chair. The chair rotates to reveal a desiccated corpse, the preserved body of Mrs. Bates. A figure enters the basement, wearing a dress and wig while wielding a large knife, revealing Norman to be the murderer all along. Sam enters and saves Lila.
After Norman's arrest, a psychiatrist who interviewed Norman reveals that Norman had murdered his mother and her lover years ago, and later developed a split personality to erase the crime from his memory. At times, he is able to function as Norman, but other times the mother personality completely dominates him. Norman is now locked into his mother's identity permanently. Mrs. Bates, in a voice-over, talks about how harmless she is, and how it was really Norman, not her, who committed the murders. The final scene shows Marion's car being recovered from the swamp.

Cast

• Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates
• Janet Leigh as Marion Crane
• Vera Miles as Lila Crane (Marion's sister)
• John Gavin as Sam Loomis (Marion's boyfriend)
• Martin Balsam as Milton Arbogast (private detective)
• John McIntire as Al Chambers (police sheriff)
• Simon Oakland as Dr. Fred Richmond (police psychologist)
• Frank Albertson as Tom Cassidy (the client with $40,000)
• Pat Hitchcock as Caroline (Marion's co-worker)
• Vaughn Taylor as George Lowery (Marion's boss)
• Lurene Tuttle as Mrs. Chambers (Al Chambers wife)
• John Anderson as California Charlie (car dealer)
• Mort Mills as Highway Patrol Officer
• Virginia Gregg, Jeanette Nolan, and Paul Jasmin (uncredited) as voice of Norma Bates (Norman's mother)
• Ted Knight (uncredited) as a policeman guarding Norman Bates

The success of Psycho jump-started Perkins' career, but he soon began to suffer from typecasting.^[5] However, when Perkins was asked whether he would have still taken the role knowing that he would be typecast afterwards, he replied with a definite "yes".^[6]
Until her death, Leigh continued to receive strange and sometimes threatening calls, letters, and even tapes detailing what they would like to do to Marion Crane. One letter was so "grotesque" that she passed it along to the FBI, two of whose agents visited Leigh and told her the culprits had been located and that she should notify the FBI if she received any more letters of that type.^[7]
Norman's mother was voiced by Virginia Gregg, Paul Jasmin, and Jeanette Nolan, who also provided some screams for Lila's discovery of the mother's corpse. The three voices were thoroughly mixed, except for the last speech, which is all Gregg's.^[8]
Anne Dore was chosen by Hitchcock to double for Perkins in the shower sequence in Psycho, since he did not want any of Perkins's physicality to betray his identity at that point in the film. Dore wore the mother's costume and did all the stabbing actions.

Production

The shower scene

The shadowy mother figure from the famous shower scene.

The murder of Janet Leigh's character in the shower is the film's pivotal scene and one of the best-known in all of cinema. As such, it spawned numerous myths and legends. It was shot from December 17 to December 23, 1959, and features 77 different camera angles.^[58] The scene "runs 3 minutes and includes 50 cuts."^[59] Most of the shots are extreme close-ups, except for medium shots in the shower directly before and directly after the murder. The combination of the close shots with their short duration makes the sequence feel more subjective than it would have been if the images were presented alone or in a wider angle, an example of the technique Hitchcock described as "transferring the menace from the screen into the mind of the audience".^[60]

In order to capture the straight-on shot of the shower head, the camera had to be equipped with a long lens. The inner holes on the shower head were blocked and the camera placed a sufficient distance away so that the water, while appearing to be aimed directly at the lens, actually went around and past it.^[61]
The soundtrack of screeching violins, violas and cellos was an original all-strings piece by composer Bernard Herrmann titled "The Murder". Hitchcock originally intended to have no music for the sequence (and all motel scenes),^[62] but Herrmann insisted he try his composition. Afterward, Hitchcock agreed it vastly intensified the scene, and nearly doubled Herrmann's salary.^[63][64][65] The blood in the scene is reputed to have been Bosco chocolate syrup,^[66] which shows up better on black-and-white film, and has more realistic density than stage blood.^[1] The sound of the knife entering flesh was created by plunging a knife into a casaba melon.^[67][68]
There are varying accounts whether Leigh was in the shower the entire time or a body double was used for some parts of the murder sequence and its aftermath. In an interview with Roger Ebert and in the book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, Leigh stated she was in the scene the entire time and Hitchcock only used a stand-in for the sequence in which Norman wraps Marion's body in a shower curtain and places it in the trunk of her car.^[69] The 2010 book The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower by Robert Graysmith contradicts this, identifying Marli Renfro as Leigh's body double for some of the shower scene's shots.^[70]
A popular myth emerged that in order for Leigh's scream in the shower to sound realistic ice-cold water was used. Leigh denied this on numerous occasions, saying the crew was very accommodating supplying hot water throughout the week-long shoot.^[71] All of the screams are Leigh's.^[8]
Another concerns Saul Bass, the graphic designer who created many of the title sequences of Hitchcock's films and storyboarded some of Psycho's scenes, claiming he had directed the shower scene. This was refuted by several figures associated with the film, including Leigh, who stated: "absolutely not! I have emphatically said this in any interview I've ever given. I've said it to his face in front of other people... I was in that shower for seven days, and, believe me, Alfred Hitchcock was right next to his camera for every one of those seventy-odd shots."^[72] Hilton Green, the assistant director, also refutes Bass' claim: "There is not a shot in that movie that I didn't roll the camera for. And I can tell you I never rolled the camera for Mr. Bass."^[72] Roger Ebert, a longtime admirer of Hitchcock's work, summarily dismissed the rumor, stating, "It seems unlikely that a perfectionist with an ego like Hitchcock's would let someone else direct such a scene."^[73]
However, commentators such as Stephen Rebello and Bill Krohn have argued in favor of Bass' contribution to the scene in his capacity as visual consultant and storyboard artist.^[74] Along with designing the opening credits, Bass is termed "Pictorial Consultant" in the credits. When interviewing Hitchcock in 1967, François Truffaut asked about the extent of Bass' contribution, to which Hitchcock replied that in addition to the titles, Bass had provided storyboards for the Arbogast murder (which he claimed to have rejected), but made no mention of Bass providing storyboards for the shower scene.^[75] According to Bill Krohn's Hitchcock At Work, Bass' first claim to have directed the scene was in 1970, when he provided a magazine with 48 drawings used as storyboards as proof of his contribution.^[76]
Krohn's analysis of the production of Psycho in his book Hitchcock at Work, while refuting Bass' claims for directing the scene, notes that these storyboards did introduce key aspects of the final scene—most notably, the fact that the killer appears as a silhouette, and details such as the close-ups of the slashing knife, Leigh's desperate outstretched arm, the shower curtain being torn down, and the transition from the hole of the drainage pipe to Marion Crane's dead eyes. Krohn notes that this final transition is highly reminiscent of the iris titles that Bass created for Vertigo.^[76]
Krohn's research also notes that Hitchcock shot the scene with two cameras: one a BNC Mitchell, the other a handheld camera called an Éclair which Orson Welles had used in Touch of Evil (1958). In order to create an ideal montage for the greatest emotional impact on the audience, Hitchcock shot a lot of footage of this scene which he trimmed down in the editing room. He even brought a Moviola on the set to gauge the footage required. The final sequence, which his editor George Tomasini worked on with Hitchcock's advice, however did not go far beyond the basic structural elements set up by Bass' storyboards.^[76]
According to Donald Spoto in The Dark Side of Genius, Hitchcock's wife, Alma Reville, spotted a blooper in one of the last screenings of Psycho before its official release: after Marion was supposedly dead, one could see her blink. According to Patricia Hitchcock, talking in Laurent Bouzereau's "making of" documentary, Alma spotted that Leigh's character appeared to take a breath. In either case, the postmortem activity was edited out and was never seen by audiences.^[16] Although Marion's eyes should be dilated after her death, the contact lenses necessary for this effect would have required six weeks of acclimatization to wear them, so Hitchcock decided to forgo them.^[77]
It is often claimed that, despite its graphic nature, the "shower scene" never once shows a knife puncturing flesh.^[78][79][80] However, a frame by frame analysis of the sequence shows one shot in which the knife appears to penetrate Leigh's abdomen, but the effect may have been created by lighting and reverse motion.^[81] Leigh herself was so affected by this scene when she saw it, that she no longer took showers unless she absolutely had to; she would lock all the doors and windows and would leave the bathroom and shower door open.^[82] She never realized until she first watched the film "how vulnerable and defenseless one is".^[16]
Leigh and Hitchcock fully discussed what the scene meant:

Marion had decided to go back to Phoenix, come clean, and take the consequence, so when she stepped into the bathtub it was as if she were stepping into the baptismal waters. The spray beating down on her was purifying the corruption from her mind, purging the evil from her soul. She was like a virgin again, tranquil, at peace.^[72]

Film theorist Robin Wood also discusses how the shower washes "away her guilt". He comments upon the "alienation effect" of killing off the "apparent center of the film" with which spectators had identified.^[83]
In April 2013, the scene was voted the best bathroom scene of any film in history, with scenes from Trainspotting and There's Something About Mary coming second and third.^[84]

Soundtrack

Score

Hitchcock insisted that Bernard Herrmann write the score for Psycho despite the composer's refusal to accept a reduced fee for the film's lower budget.^[85] The resulting score, according to Christopher Palmer in The Composer in Hollywood (1990) is "perhaps Herrmann's most spectacular Hitchcock achievement."^[86] Hitchcock was pleased with the tension and drama the score added to the film,^[87] later remarking "33% of the effect of Psycho was due to the music."^[88] The singular contribution of Herrmann's score may be inferred from the film's credit roll, where the composer's name precedes only the director's own, a distinction unprecedented in the annals of commercial cinematic music.
Herrmann used the lowered music budget to his advantage by writing for a string orchestra rather than a full symphonic ensemble,^[85] contrary to Hitchcock's request for a jazz score.^[89] He thought of the single tone color of the all-string soundtrack as a way of reflecting the black-and-white cinematography of the film.^[90] Hollywood composer Fred Steiner, in an analysis of the score to Psycho, points out that string instruments gave Herrmann access to a wider range in tone, dynamics, and instrumental special effects than any other single instrumental group would have.^[91]
The main title music, a tense, hurtling piece, sets the tone of impending violence, and returns three times on the soundtrack.^[92][93] Though nothing shocking occurs during the first 15–20 minutes of the film, the title music remains in the audience's mind, lending tension to these early scenes.^[92] Herrmann also maintains tension through the slower moments in the film through the use of ostinato.^[88]
There were rumors that Herrmann had used electronic means, including amplified bird screeches to achieve the shocking effect of the music in the shower scene. The effect was achieved, however, only with violins in a "screeching, stabbing sound-motion of extraordinary viciousness."^[94] The only electronic amplification employed was in the placing of the microphones close to the instruments, to get a harsher sound.^[94] Besides the emotional impact, the shower scene cue ties the soundtrack to birds.^[94] The association of the shower scene music with birds also telegraphs to the audience that it is Norman, the stuffed-bird collector, who is the murderer rather than his mother.^[94]
Herrmann biographer Steven C. Smith writes that the music for the shower scene is "probably the most famous (and most imitated) cue in film music,"^[90] but Hitchcock was originally opposed to having music in this scene.^[94] When Herrmann played the shower scene cue for Hitchcock, the director approved its use in the film. Herrmann reminded Hitchcock of his instructions not to score this scene, to which Hitchcock replied, "Improper suggestion, my boy, improper suggestion."^[95] This was one of two important disagreements Hitchcock had with Herrmann, in which Herrmann ignored Hitchcock's instructions. The second one, over the score for Torn Curtain (1966), resulted in the end of their professional collaboration.^[96] A survey conducted by PRS for Music, in 2009, showed that the British public consider the score from 'the shower scene' to be the scariest theme from any film.^[97]
To honor the 50th anniversary of Psycho, in July 2010, the San Francisco Symphony^[98] obtained a print of the film with the soundtrack removed, and projected it on a large screen in Davies Symphony Hall while the orchestra performed the score live. This was previously mounted by the Seattle Symphony in October 2009 as well, performing at the Benaroya Hall for two consecutive evenings. These performances are part of John Goberman's offering of films with great music performed by live orchestras: A Symphonic Night at the Movies, These special events range from "Alexander Nevsky" to "Singin in the Rain" to "Hitchcock!".

Controversy

Psycho is a prime example of the type of film that appeared in the United States during the 1960s after the erosion of the Production Code. It was unprecedented in its depiction of sexuality and violence, right from the opening scene in which Sam and Marion are shown as lovers sharing the same bed, with Marion in a bra.^[101] In the Production Code standards of that time, unmarried couples shown in the same bed would be taboo.^[102]
According to the book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, the censors in charge of enforcing the Production Code wrangled with Hitchcock because some of them insisted they could see one of Leigh's breasts. Hitchcock held onto the print for several days, left it untouched, and resubmitted it for approval. Each of the censors reversed their positions: those who had previously seen the breast now did not, and those who had not, now did. They passed the film after the director removed one shot that showed the buttocks of Leigh's stand-in.^[103] The board was also upset by the racy opening, so Hitchcock said that if they let him keep the shower scene he would re-shoot the opening with them on the set. Since they did not show up for the re-shoot, the opening stayed.^[103]
Another cause of concern for the censors was that Marion was shown flushing a toilet, with its contents (torn-up note paper) fully visible. No flushing toilet had appeared in mainstream film and television in the U.S. at that time.^{[104][105][106]}
Internationally, Hitchcock was forced to make minor changes to the film, mostly to the shower scene. In Britain and New Zealand the shot of Norman washing blood from his hands was objected to and in Singapore, though the shower scene was left untouched, the murder of Arbogast and a shot of Mother's corpse were removed.^[107]
The most controversial move was Hitchcock's "no late admission" policy for the film, which was unusual for the time. It was not entirely original as Clouzot had done the same in France for Les Diaboliques.^[108] Hitchcock thought that if people entered the theater late and never saw the star actress Janet Leigh, they would feel cheated.^[30] At first theater owners opposed the idea, claiming that they would lose business. However, after the first day, the owners enjoyed long lines of people waiting to see the film.^[30]

Promotion

Hitchcock did most of the promotion on his own, forbidding Leigh and Perkins to make the usual television, radio, and print interviews for fear of their revealing the plot.^[109] Even critics were not given private screenings but rather had to see the film with the general public, which, despite possibly affecting their reviews,^[107] certainly preserved the secret.
The film's original trailer features a jovial Hitchcock taking the viewer on a tour of the set, and almost giving away plot details before stopping himself. It is "tracked" with Bernard Herrmann's Psycho theme, but also jovial music from Hitchcock's comedy The Trouble with Harry; most of Hitchcock's dialogue is post-synchronized. The trailer was made after completion of the film, and since Janet Leigh was no longer available for filming, Hitchcock had Vera Miles don a blonde wig and scream loudly as he pulled the shower curtain back in the bathroom sequence of the preview. Since the title, "Psycho," instantly covers most of the screen, the switch went unnoticed by audiences for years. However, a freeze-frame analysis clearly reveals that it is Vera Miles and not Janet Leigh in the shower during the trailer.^[30]
The film was so successful that it was reissued to theaters in 1965. A year later, CBS purchased the television rights for $450,000. CBS planned to televise the film on September 23, 1966, but three days earlier, Valerie Percy, daughter of Illinois senate candidate Charles H. Percy, was murdered. As her parents slept mere feet away, she was stabbed a dozen times with a double-edged knife. In light of the murder, CBS agreed to postpone the screening, but as a result of the Apollo pad fire of January 27, 1967, the network washed its hands of Psycho,^[110] and shortly afterward Paramount included the film in its first syndicated package of post-1950 movies, "Portfolio I". WABC-TV in New York City was the first station in the country to air Psycho (with some scenes significantly edited), on its late-night movie series, The Best of Broadway, on June 24, 1967.^[111] Following another successful theatrical reissue in 1969, the film finally made its way to general television airing in one of Universal's syndicated programming packages for local stations in 1970. Psycho was aired for twenty years in this format, then leased to cable for two years before returning to syndication as part of the "List of a Lifetime" package.^[110]

Reception

Initial reviews of the film were thoroughly mixed.^[124] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote, "There is not an abundance of subtlety or the lately familiar Hitchcock bent toward significant and colorful scenery in this obviously low-budget job." Crowther called the "slow buildups to sudden shocks" reliably melodramatic but contested Hitchcock's psychological points, reminiscent of Krafft-Ebing's studies, as less effective. While the film did not conclude satisfactorily for the critic, he commended the cast's performances as "fair".^[125] British critic C. A. Lejeune was so offended that she not only walked out before the end but permanently resigned her post as film critic for The Observer.^[126] Other negative reviews stated, "a blot on an honorable career", "plainly a gimmick movie", and "merely one of those television shows padded out to two hours."^[124][127] Positive reviews stated, "Anthony Perkins' performance is the best of his career... Janet Leigh has never been better", "played out beautifully", and "first American movie since Touch of Evil to stand in the same creative rank as the great European films."^[124][128] A good example of the mix is the New York Herald Tribune's review, which stated, "...rather difficult to be amused at the forms insanity may take... keeps your attention like a snake-charmer."^[124]
The public loved the film, with lines stretching outside of theatres as people had to wait for the next showing. It broke box-office records in Japan and the rest of Asia, France, Britain, South America, the United States and Canada, and was a moderate success in Australia for a brief period.^[124] It was the most profitable black-and-white sound film ever made, and Hitchcock personally realized well in excess of $15 million. He then swapped his rights to Psycho and his TV anthology for 150,000 shares of MCA, making him the third largest shareholder in MCA Inc. and his own boss at Universal, in theory. But that didn't stop them from interfering with him badly.^[129][130] Psycho was, by a large margin, the most profitable film of Hitchcock's career, earning over $12 million for the studio on release, and $15 million by the end of the year. Hitchcock's second most profitable was Family Plot ($7,541,000), and third place was a tie between Torn Curtain (1966) and Frenzy (1972), each earning $6,500,000.
In the United Kingdom, the film shattered attendance records at the London Plaza Cinema, but nearly all British critics panned it, questioning Hitchcock's taste and judgment. Reasons cited for this were the critics' late screenings, forcing them to rush their reviews, their dislike of the gimmicky promotion, and Hitchcock's expatriate status.^[131] Perhaps thanks to the public's response and Hitchcock's efforts at promoting it, the critics did a re-review, and the film was praised. TIME switched its opinion from "Hitchcock bears down too heavily in this one" to "superlative" and "masterly", and Bosley Crowther put it on his Top Ten list of 1960.^[131]
Psycho was initially criticized for making other filmmakers more willing to show gore; three years later, Blood Feast, considered to be the first "splatter film", was released.^[132] Psycho's success financially and critically had others trying to ride its coattails. Inspired by Psycho, Hammer Film Productions launched a series of mystery thrillers including The Nanny^[133] (1965) starring Bette Davis and William Castle's Homicidal (1961) was followed by a slew of more than 13 other splatter films.^[132]


Above Extracts Taken From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(1960_film)

More Info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/ - http://www.filmsite.org/psyc.html

Star Wars: Episódio III - A Vingança dos Sith (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith)

Info About The Final Episode Of The First Trilogy:

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology.
The film takes place three years after the onset of the Clone Wars. The Jedi Knights are spread out across the galaxy leading a massive clone army in the war against the Separatists. The Jedi Council dispatches Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to eliminate the evil General Grievous, leader of the Separatist Army. Meanwhile, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, separated from Kenobi, his former master, grows close to Palpatine, the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and, unbeknownst to the public, a Sith Lord. Their deepening friendship proves dangerous for the Jedi Order, The Republic, and Anakin himself who inevitably succumbs to the Dark Side of the Force and becomes Darth Vader, changing the fate of the galaxy forever.
Lucas began writing the script before production of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones began. Filming took place in Australia with additional locations in Thailand and Italy, and lasted over three months. The film was released in theatres on May 19, 2005, and received generally positive reviews from critics, especially in contrast to the previous two prequels.
It broke several box office records during its opening week and went on to earn over $848 million worldwide,^[1] making it the second-highest-grossing film in the Star Wars franchise (not adjusting for inflation). It was the highest grossing film of 2005 in the US, and the second highest-grossing film of 2005 worldwide behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.^[1]

Plot

As the Clone Wars rage on, the Galactic Republic has suffered major setbacks against the Separatists. Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi infiltrate the flagship of Separatist commander General Grievous to rescue the abducted Chancellor Palpatine. However, they are confronted by Count Dooku, who engages the Jedi in a lightsaber duel. After Dooku knocks Obi-Wan unconscious, Anakin fights and kills Dooku at Palpatine's urging. After a skirmish with Grievous, who then flees, the Jedi crash-land the ship that has split in half on the planet Coruscant. There, Anakin reunites with his wife, Padmé Amidala, who reveals she is pregnant. Anakin is happy at first, but he then begins to have disturbing premonitions of Padmé dying in childbirth.
Palpatine places Anakin on the Jedi Council as his representative, but Anakin is denied the rank of Jedi Master and ordered to secretly monitor the Chancellor. Frustrated at being excluded from the Council, Anakin begins to lose faith in the Jedi and becomes more attached to Palpatine, who tells him that the dark side of the Force holds the power to prevent death. On the planet Utapau, Obi-Wan engages and kills Grievous. When Palpatine reveals himself as the Sith lord Darth Sidious, Anakin reports his treachery to Jedi Master Mace Windu. In the ensuing lightsaber duel, Windu subdues Palpatine by deflecting his opponent's Force Lightning back at him. Just then, Anakin rushes in and intervenes on Palpatine's behalf, severing Windu's hand; Palpatine then kills Windu. Desperate to save Padmé, Anakin becomes Palpatine's apprentice and is rechristened Darth Vader.
Palpatine issues Order 66 across the galaxy to have the Clone Troopers turn on their Jedi Masters, and sends Vader with a legion of clone troopers to the Jedi Temple to kill everyone there. Vader then travels to the volcanic planet Mustafar to kill the Separatist leaders hiding there. Palpatine addresses the Senate and reforms the Republic into the Galactic Empire, declaring himself Emperor.
Obi-Wan and Jedi Master Yoda discover Anakin's treachery, and split up to confront Vader and Sidious. Unable to convince Padmé of Anakin's turn to the dark side, Obi-Wan stows away on her ship when she travels to Mustafar. When Padmé discovers what Vader has done, she tries to take him back, but Vader accuses her of betraying him and uses the Force to choke her into unconsciousness. Vader and Obi-Wan engage in a fierce duel, taking them across the entire volcano, and eventually Obi-Wan severs Vader's legs and left arm and Vader falls down to the edge of the volcanic river. Soon after, Vader's clothing ignites, and Vader is horribly maimed by the fire. Obi-Wan takes his former apprentice's lightsaber to help Padmé. Meanwhile, Yoda confronts the Emperor, but is forced to retreat when their duel reaches a stalemate.
In a medical facility on Polis Massa, Padmé dies after giving birth to twins Luke and Leia. Meanwhile, Palpatine finds Vader barely alive on Mustafar and brings him back to Coruscant, rebuilding his apprentice's ruined body with cybernetic limbs and a respirator. Tormented by the discovery of Padmé's death at his own hands, Vader screams, the last vestige of humanity now driven from him. Vader begins overseeing the construction of the Death Star at Palpatine's side. A funeral is held for Padmé, her body dressed to continue the illusion of pregnancy. Knowing that the twins must remain hidden from the Empire, Senator Bail Organa adopts Leia and takes her to Alderaan, while Luke is to be taken to his stepfamily on Tatooine. Organa allows the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 to remain aboard the Tantive IV and has C-3PO's memory erased. Yoda teaches Obi-Wan how to commune with the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn before going into exile on Dagobah. Obi-Wan takes the infant Luke to Tatooine, where he intends to watch over him until the time is right to challenge the Empire.

Cast

• Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi: Obi-Wan is a General for the Galactic Republic and is a Jedi Master who sits on the Jedi Council. He often travels and performs missions with his best friend and former Padawan, Anakin.
• Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader: Anakin is a recently-knighted Jedi and hero of the Clone Wars. Upon learning of his wife's pregnancy, he begins to have recurring visions of her dying in childbirth. Because similar visions accurately foretold the death of his mother, he swears that he will do whatever it takes to save her, and in his determination, he falls to the Dark Side of the Force and becomes the evil Darth Vader. While many assume that James Earl Jones is the uncredited, briefly heard voice of Darth Vader at the film's conclusion, Jones, when specifically asked if he had supplied the voice, either newly or from a previous recording, told Newsday, "You'd have to ask Lucas about that. I don't know".^[2] However, the commentary on the DVD release states that, while the voice will always be uncredited, any true Star Wars fan "should know the answer".^[3]
• Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala: Padmé is Anakin's secret wife; she has recently become pregnant with twins. As Senator of Naboo, she is deeply concerned about Palpatine's growing power, and her husband's increasingly disturbing behavior.

• Ian McDiarmid as Darth Sidious / Chancellor Palpatine: As the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Palpatine enacted the start of the Clone Wars against the Separatists. As a result, the Senate has voted him vast emergency powers, effectively turning him into a dictator. By this time, he becomes a sort of mentor to Anakin, manipulating him into distrusting the Jedi. In reality, Palpatine is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who finally steps from the shadows to destroy the Jedi Order and the Republic it serves, and lure Anakin to his side.
• Frank Oz voices Yoda: The wise old leader of the Jedi Council. He is a friend and mentor to many Jedi. He plays a major role in the Battle of Kashyyyk.
• Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu: Windu is a Jedi Master who sits on the Jedi Council and is also a Jedi General in the Clone Wars.
• Matthew Wood voices General Grievous: Grievous is a fearsome cyborg and General of the Separatists' droid army. He is responsible for kidnapping Palpatine at the beginning. He is also skilled in lightsaber combat, having been trained by Count Dooku, wielding two green and two blue lightsabers taken from Jedi he has killed.
• Jimmy Smits as Senator Bail Organa: Bail Organa is a Senator in the Galactic Republic and friend to the Jedi, who grows concerned at Palpatine's growing power.
• Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: C-3PO is Padmé Amidala's personal protocol droid, created by Anakin Skywalker.
• Kenny Baker as R2-D2: R2-D2 is Anakin Skywalker's former astro-droid and C-3PO's counterpart.
• Silas Carson as Nute Gunray and Ki-Adi-Mundi: Gunray is the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, who distrusts Grievous and dares to question his leadership. Ki-Adi-Mundi is a Jedi Master who sits at the Jedi Council and General in the Clone Wars.
• Temuera Morrison as Commander Cody and Clone Troopers: Cody and the clone troopers are part of the army for the Republic. As seen in Attack of the Clones, they are the clones of the bounty hunter Jango Fett.
• Christopher Lee as Count Dooku / Darth Tyranus: He is a Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious, Leader of the Separatists, and Grievous' superior.
• Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca: Chewbacca is a Wookiee who is friendly with Yoda, and fights alongside him in the Battle of Kashyyyk.

It was announced in 2004 that Gary Oldman had been approached to provide the voice of General Grievous,^[4] however, complications arose during contract negotiations after Oldman learned the film was to be made outside of the Screen Actors Guild, of which he is a member. He backed out of the role rather than violate the union's rules.^[5] Matthew Wood, who ultimately voiced Grievous, disputed this story at Celebration III, held in Indianapolis. According to him, Oldman is a friend of Rick McCallum, producer of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and recorded an audition as a favor to him, but was not chosen.^[6] Wood, who was also the supervising sound editor, was in charge of the auditions and submitted his audition anonymously in the midst of 30 others, under the initials "A.S." for Alan Smithee.^[7] Days later he received a phone call asking for the full name to the initials "A.S."^[8] An internet hoax said John Rhys-Davies was considered for the role.^[9]

Cameo appearances

Lucas makes an appearance at the Coruscant Opera House as a blue-faced being named Baron Papanoida; he can be seen outside Palpatine's box. It marks Lucas' only appearance in any of the Star Wars films. His three children also appear in cameos: his son, Jett, as a young Jedi-in-training named Zett Jukassa who is killed defending the Jedi Temple against clone troopers; his daughter, Amanda, as a character called Terr Taneel, seen in the security hologram; and daughter Katie as a blue-skinned Pantoran named Chi Eekway, visible when Palpatine arrives at the Senate after being saved by the Jedi, and talking to Baron Papanoida at the Opera House (she also has a brief speaking role in one of the deleted scenes where Padmé is meeting in secret with other senators). When Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Palpatine arrive via shuttle to the Senate docks after crash landing on Coruscant, the Millennium Falcon can be seen landing on one of the lower platforms as the shuttle approaches.^[10] While not a direct cameo, it was confirmed in the Revenge of the Sith online text commentary that Tarfull's growl in the scene of Yoda's departure from Kashyyyk is actually Itchy's growl from The Star Wars Holiday Special.^[11]
New Zealand actress Keisha Castle-Hughes appeared as Queen Apailana of Naboo. She is seen during the funeral scene.
Much of the crew also make cameos in the film. Nick Gillard, the stunt coordinator, plays a Jedi named Cin Drallig (his name spelled backward, without the k).^[12] Jeremy Bulloch (who played Boba Fett in the original trilogy), appeared in a speaking role as Captain Colton, the pilot of the Rebel Blockade Runner Tantive IV.^[13]

Releases

Revenge of the Sith premiered at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival (out of competition) on May 16.^[30] Its theatrical release in most other countries took place on May 19 to coincide with the 1999 release of The Phantom Menace (the 1977 release of A New Hope and the 1983 release of Return of the Jedi were also released on the same day and month, six years apart). The global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas claimed one week before the premiere that it may have cost the US economy approximately US$627 million in lost productivity because of employees who took a day off or reported in sick.^[31] Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a traditional venue for the Star Wars films, did not show it. However, a line of people stood there for more than a month hoping to convince someone to change this.^[32] Most of them took advantage of an offer to see the film at a nearby cinema, ArcLight Cinemas (formerly the "Cinerama Dome").^[33] On May 16, the Empire Cinema in London's Leicester Square hosted a day-long Star Wars marathon showing of all six films; an army of Imperial stormtroopers "guarded" the area, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra gave a free concert of Star Wars music.^[34]

Leaked workprint

A copy of the movie leaked onto peer-to-peer file sharing networks just hours after opening in theaters. The movie was a time-stamped workprint, suggesting it may have come from within the industry rather than from someone who videotaped an advance screening.^[35] Eight people were later charged with copyright infringement and distributing material illegally. Documents filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney allege that a copy of the film was taken from an unnamed Californian post-production office by an employee, who later pleaded guilty to his charges.^[36] The illegal copy was passed among seven people until reaching an eighth party, who also pleaded guilty to uploading to an unnamed P2P network.^[37]
Shortly after the above-mentioned print was leaked, it was released in Shanghai as a bootleg DVD with Chinese subtitles. The unknown producer of this DVD, for unexplained reasons, also elected to include English subtitles, which were in fact translated back into English from the Chinese translation, rather than using the original English script. This translation was particularly inept, translating many characters literally and losing the meaning of words, leading to unintentional humor; the title of the movie, for example, was given as Star War — The third gathers — The Backstroke of the West. One error in translation that recurs several times in the film is that the phrase "it seems" (好象) was rendered as "good elephant". Jedi Council becomes Presbyterian Church. The mis-translation also caused the word "fuck" (a mis-translation of "work") to appear four times in the subtitles, and rendered Darth Vader's cry of "Noooooooo" (不要) as "Do not want."^[38][39] This last translation error would later be popularized as an internet meme.^[40]

Rating

Revenge of the Sith is the only Star Wars film to receive a PG-13 rating from the MPAA, officially for "sci-fi violence and some intense images", namely for the scene in which Darth Vader is set aflame by lava and molten rock. Some critics, including Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper, later responded that children would be able to handle the film as long as they had parental guidance, hence a "PG rating".^[41] At the same time, Lucas had stated months before the MPAA's decision that he felt the film should receive a PG-13 rating, because of Anakin's final moments and the content of the film being the darkest and most intense of all six films.^[42] All previously released films in the series were rated PG. The PG-13 rating had not existed when the films in the original trilogy were released; however, the films in the original trilogy were later re-submitted to the MPAA due to changes in the re-released versions and once again received PG ratings. When Revenge of the Sith was released in Canada, it was given a PG rating in most provinces, excluding Quebec, where it was rated G. In the United Kingdom it received a 12A rating. In Australia the film was rated M for mature audiences (similar to PG-13).

Home video

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released on DVD on October 31, 2005 in the United Kingdom, on November 1, 2005 in the United States and Canada and on November 3, 2005 in Australia. It was also released in most major territories on or near the same day.^[43] The DVD was a two-disc set, with picture and sound mastered from the original digital source material. Unlike any other films directed by Lucas, Revenge of the Sith was released on DVD without any noticeable alterations from the film's original theatrical cut. The only alteration made was the change of a scene transition near the end, which involved the change from a wipe to a straight cut.

The DVD included a number of documentaries including a new full-length documentary as well as two featurettes, one which explores the prophecy of Anakin Skywalker as the Chosen One, the other looking at the movie's stunts and a 15-part collection of web-documentaries from the official web site. Like the other DVD releases, included is an audio commentary track featuring Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, animation director Rob Coleman, and ILM visual effects supervisors John Knoll and Roger Guyett. Six deleted scenes were included with introductions from Lucas and McCallum. An Xbox game demo for Star Wars: Battlefront II along with a trailer for the Star Wars: Empire at War PC game was featured on the second disc.
Also, a special two-pack exclusive, sold only at Wal-Mart stores, included another bonus DVD, The Story of Star Wars.
This release is notable because, due to marketing issues, it was the first Star Wars film never to be released on VHS in the United States.^[44] However, the film was released on VHS in Australia, the United Kingdom and other countries in the world.^[45]
The DVD was re-released in a prequel trilogy box set on November 4, 2008.^[46]
The Star Wars films were released on Blu-ray Disc on September 16, 2011 in three different editions.^[47]

Reception

Critical reception

Critical reaction towards Revenge of the Sith was generally positive. Film review site Rotten Tomatoes calculated an approval rating of 80% based on 253 reviews, making it the highest-rated out of the prequel trilogy and the third highest-rated film of the entire Star Wars saga: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Return of the Jedi are rated 57%, 67%, and 79% respectively, while A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back are rated 94% and 97% respectively. Some critics considered it the best of the prequels,^[49] while other reviewers judged it to be the best Star Wars film since The Empire Strikes Back. A. O. Scott of The New York Times concluded that it was "the best of the four episodes Mr. Lucas has directed," and equal to The Empire Strikes Back as "the richest and most challenging movie in the cycle".^[49] In a 2007 summary of the 100 Best Science-Fiction Films on Rotten Tomatoes, Revenge of the Sith was placed 51 out of 100, making it the only prequel film in the Star Wars series to earn a ranking. Jonathan Rosenbaum, a critic who disliked A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, gave the film a positive review saying that it had a "relatively thoughtful story." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3½ stars out of four, writing "If [Lucas] got bogged down in solemnity and theory in "Episode II: Attack of the Clones", the Force is in a jollier mood this time, and "Revenge of the Sith" is a great entertainment."^[50]
Though many critics and fans saw it as one of the best of the series, or at least, the strongest of the three prequels, some saw it as more or less on par with The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.^[49]
Much of the criticism for the film was directed towards the dialogue, particularly the film's romantic scenes, and for Hayden Christensen's performance (which won him his second Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor). Critics and fans alike were quick to jump on such lines as "Hold me, Ani. Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo...where there was nothing but our love..."^[49] Critics have claimed this demonstrated Lucas' weakness as a writer of dialogue, a subject with which Lucas openly agreed when receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.^[51]
Some American conservatives criticized the film, claiming it has a liberal bias and is a commentary on the George W. Bush administration and the Iraq War. Some websites went so far as to propose a boycott of the film. Lucas defended the film, stating that the film's storyline was written during the Vietnam War and was influenced by that conflict rather than the war in Iraq. Lucas did note, however, that "The parallels between Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable".^[52]

Box office performance

Revenge of the Sith was released in 115 countries. Worldwide gross for the film eventually reached nearly $850 million—ranking making it the top film of 2005,^[53] The film earned an estimated $16.5 million from 2,900 midnight screenings in North America upon its release. In total, it earned a record $50 million on its opening day.^[54] It was surpassed the following year by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which earned $55.5 million on its opening day.^[55]
With only the May 19 earnings, the film broke four box office records: midnight screenings gross (previously held by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, $8 million), opening day gross (Spider-Man 2, with $40.4 million), single day gross (Shrek 2 with $44.8 million) and Thursday gross (The Matrix Reloaded with $37.5 million).^[54] Its single day gross record and opening day gross record were later surpassed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on July 7, 2006, when that movie grossed $55.5 million on its opening day,^[55] and midnight screening gross was broken by The Dark Knight on July 18, 2008 with $18.5 million.^[56] It still retains its record for Thursday gross, however. According to box office analysis sites, Revenge of the Sith set American records for highest gross in a given number of days for each of its first 12 days of release except for the seventh and eighth, where the record is narrowly held by Spider-Man 2. On its fifth day it became the highest-grossing movie of 2005, surpassing Hitch ($177.6 million). The film earned $158.5 million in its first four-day period, surpassing the previous four-day record held by The Matrix Reloaded ($134.3 million), and joining Spider-Man, The Matrix Reloaded and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as the only movies to make $100 million in three days. In eight days, it reached the $200 million mark (record tied with Spider-Man 2) and by its 17th day, Sith had passed $300 million (surpassing the record of 18 days of Shrek 2). It was eventually the third-fastest film (after Shrek 2 and Spider-Man) to reach $350 million.^[1]
The film ended its run in American theaters on October 20, 2005,^[1] finishing with a total gross of $380,270,577. It ranks 16th in all-time domestic grosses and is the highest-grossing movie of 2005 in the U.S., outgrossing second-place The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by nearly $90 million.^[1]
International grosses that exceeded $10 million include Australia ($27.2 million), France and Algeria ($56.9 million), Germany ($47.3 million), Italy ($11.3 million), Japan ($82.7 million), Mexico ($15.3 million), South Korea ($10.3 million), Spain ($23.8 million), and the United Kingdom and Ireland ($72.8 million).^[57]

Awards and nominations

Despite being the best reviewed and received film in the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith received fewer award nominations than the previous films. It became the only Star Wars film not to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects; however, it was nominated for Best Makeup (Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley), losing to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.^[58] It also won "Favorite Motion Picture" and "Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture" awards at the People's Choice Awards,^[59] "Hollywood Movie of the Year" award at the Hollywood Film Festival,^[60] Empire Awards (Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film),^[61] and the Teen Choice Awards (Action/Adventure Movie).^[62] It also was nominated for Best Score Soundtrack Album at the 48th Grammy Awards in 2006.
As every film of the original trilogy, the film won the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film.^[63] Williams also won Best Music. The film was nominated for ten Saturn Awards overall, including Best Director and Best Writing for Lucas, Best Actor for Christensen, Best Actress for Natalie Portman and Best Supporting Actor for Ian McDiarmid
The film did, however, receive the fewest Golden Raspberry Awards nominations: only one, for Christensen as Worst Supporting Actor,^[64] which he won.^[65] (The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones received seven nominations each, with one and two wins, respectively.) It is the only Star Wars prequel not to receive a Razzie nomination for "Worst Picture". Christensen further won the "Best Villain" award at the MTV Movie Awards.^[66]


All Extracts Taken From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_III:_Revenge_of_the_Sith

More Info: http://www.starwars.com/explore/the-movies/episode-iii/ - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121766/