‘Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith’ Is Getting a Theatrical Re-Release for Its 20th Anniversary
While it may not seem to have been such a long time ago that Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith debuted in theaters here in our galaxy, writer/director George Lucas’ third installment of the prequel trilogy to his Star Wars space opera franchise did open all the way back on May 19, 2005.
That means the film will be marking its 20th anniversary in 2025, believe it or not. To commemorate the occasion, as it has done in recent years for other Star Wars titles, Lucasfilm is giving Revenge of the Sith a very brief — one week only — theatrical re-release.
Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith will return to theaters for one week in U.S. and select international territories beginning Friday, April 25, 2025, for its 20th anniversary.
Lucasfilm says that the film will be available in several formats, including, for the first time, 4DX, which features high-tech motion chairs that sync with over 21 effects to complement the movie’s narrative.
You’ll probably be able to find theater locations and ticket availability at places like Fandango or your local theater’s website as we get closer to April 25; we’re a bit out as of this writing, so I was not able to find it in my area just yet.
Still, it’s worth being ready to get those tickets when you can, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan. Adding to the excitement and anticipation is this cool-looking Revenge of the Sith 20th anniversary re-release poster designed by graphic artist Matt Ferguson:
© 2025 Lucasfilm Ltd™ All Rights Reserved.
ROTS is my favorite among the Star Wars prequels, and I’m guessing many others feel that way, primarily because it was the one that finally gave us things we’d been waiting for ever since the prequels were announced.
In some cases, they were also things some of us had been waiting to see ever since talking about and imagining scenarios during the theatrical releases of the original trilogy in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s — especially how Darth Vader came to be, and his initial clash with Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi.
I remember in the early ‘80s a classmate of mine pretty confidently saying that Darth Vader ended up wearing his helmet, respirator, etc., because he was burned up while dueling with Kenobi in a volcano or something.
I’m not sure where he got that from; I’m guessing there must have been some books that went into that at the time, but he turned out to be fairly accurate. I thought back to him upon my first theatrical viewing of ROTS, which culminated with a lightsaber clash between Anakin Skywalker/Vader (Hayden Christensen) and his former Jedi master, Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor). Their battle was not in a volcano but on the fiery, lava-filled planet Mustafar, but my old classmate was close enough.
(Anyone else think that Obi-Wan might have shown Anakin a bit of mercy, and staved off a lot of future problems, if he had put his former apprentice out of his misery as he lay there after the battle, fried to a crisp and obviously in agonizing pain?)
Another highlight of the film prior to that epic battle is Anakin’s crossing over to the dark side of the Force and his transformation into the sinister Sith Lord that we first encountered in 1977. All the brutality that Vader demonstrated in that first movie is on hand here, as he remorselessly slaughters Jedi “younglings” and wipes out the Separatist leaders hiding out on Mustafar. Hearing the strains of John Williams’ classic “Imperial March” as Vader uses the Force to trap his victims is actually a chilling moment, both in terms of the story and nostalgia.
Revenge of the Sith also has some other cool lightsaber battles. There is this one, where Obi-Wan ends up causing grievous bodily harm to cool-looking new villain General Grievous:
And this classic, which pits Yoda (voice of Frank Oz) against the newly appointed (by himself!) Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid):
The film also let us visit the world of Kashyyyk, home to Chewbacca and his fellow Wookiees. ROTS gave it a much better treatment than what was seen in the infamously bad 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special.
Industrial Light & Magic/™ & © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved/Courtesy Everett Collection
All of these kick-ass scenes and others are, of course, enhanced by John Williams’ musical score, which you can always count on to greatly improve even the lamest Star Wars scene or make a great scene soar even higher. Here’s a little taste of his score for Revenge of the Sith:
Speaking of lame Star Wars scenes, the first two prequel movies, Episode I — The Phantom Menace and Episode II — Attack of the Clones, each had plenty, ranging from a whiny Anakin and cringe-inducing romantic talk between he and Padme (Natalie Portman), to Jar-Jar Binks, to all of the initial tariff/trade war proceedings that kicked everything off (though looking at what’s happening in our current real-world climate, perhaps Lucas had the last laugh by incorporating those elements).
Revenge of the Sith has far fewer of those moments to slow things down, for me, anyway. Over the years since the initial theatrical viewing, it’s been this prequel entry that I’ve found myself stopping on most often if I’ve happened upon it on television.
Remind Sith, like the first two prequel films, is also enjoyable because Lucas again imbued it with elements of the old “space opera” serials that had been present in the franchise ever since the original trilogy and were part of what made them all so fun for me. Story elements, character types and cliffhanger scenarios akin to what you might have seen in a good old-fashioned 1930s-’50s Saturday matinee production like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers are on hand here, as are technical elements often seen in those old classics, like wipes to transition from one scene to another.
There’s even a character named Commander Cody (one of the Clone troopers portrayed by Temuera Morrison), Lucas’ nod to Commando Cody, the hero of a couple of Republic Pictures serial classics: Radar Men From the Moon (1952) and Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953).
That’s not to say that Revenge of the Sith is totally without its flaws; given that Lucas was the writer and director, there are still a couple of things here and there that might make you cringe, or even shout:
