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'Star Wars': 'Episode III' chock-full of visual details

INSIDE SKYWALKER RANCH — And George said the third shall be last. And it shall cast a dark shadow across the galaxy.

"Revenge of the Sith," the final installment in George Lucas' massive, multibillion dollar-generating "Star Wars" saga, has a single word as its opening scroll salvo — "War!"

While the past two films — "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" — were slowed by too much character yakety-yak, "Sith" immediately ups the action from the get-go with a huge battle above Coruscant involving countless numbers of spaceships, explosions, laser beams and new-style droids.

The movie, which opens in theaters worldwide May 19, is as dark and sinister as "The Empire Strikes Back," a favorite among many die-hard "Star Wars" fans. Before "Sith" ends, there are also plenty of visual connections to the original 1977 "Star Wars," including landscapes of Tatooine and a rather startling look into the interior of the first film's first transport — the all-white rebel spaceship.

This is "Episode III" and, as fans know, it means Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) becomes fully engulfed by the dark side of the Force, attacks his friends and becomes Darth Vader.

Time and again, Lucas simply pulls the trigger, letting evil engulf his film. He's created a time in space when even little Jedi kids can't survive. This film is also slightly more violent than previous installments. There is one bloodless beheading.

"Sith" was screened for several dozen of the nation's film critics and movie reporters earlier this week at Lucas' private compound about 25 miles north of San Francisco. Producer Rick McCallum said Lucas completed the film last week with final insertions involving sound effects and music.

Here's what fans most likely will be talking about once "Sith" debuts:

• General Grievous. Lucas' evil — and fully computer-generated — military leader with the hacking cough is sort of a cross between a vicious skeleton and the deadly alien from "Predator." He's not an easy bad guy to catch and, as Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) learns, he's a formidable lightsaber opponent.

• Anakin and Padmé. The onscreen chemistry burns brighter between Christensen and Natalie Portman (an Oscar nominee this year for "Closer"). Both actors have matured since "Clones," and their scenes together seem more involving. In an early scene, Portman sports those trademark Princess Leia hair buns.

• Supreme Chancellor Pal- patine. Ian McDiarmid finally gets to chew a lot of scenery as the power of the Sith begins to emerge — and he bites hard.

• The visual details. There are 2,151 visual-effects shots in "Sith" (there were but 360 in the original 1977 "Star Wars"); many are packed with fine details — from large planets to tiny creatures — that draw the eye. In one striking battle scene, a space fighter falls apart after being hit by a laser, and the pilot is glimpsed rolling off into the abyss of space.

• The lightsaber battles. They grow in intensity and involve almost every main character, including Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson), Anakin, Obi-Wan, Chancellor Palpatine and, of course, Yoda.