According to the opening-text crawl that begins Episode 3, the Clone Wars continue to rage between the Old Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems (The Separatists). The opening-text crawl also reveals that the enemy Separatists have taken Supreme Chancellor Palpatine hostage. Next, we see an epic space battle (the largest space battle ever seen in a Star Wars film) taking place over Coruscant between the Republic military forces and the Separatist's military forces. General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and other Jedi Knights enter the battle with clone troopers in star ships.

Obi-Wan is now a Jedi Master and Anakin is a full-fledged Jedi Knight. During the battle, the Jedi use a new version of the Jedi star fighters, which have been augmented for battle. Obi-Wan and Anakin make it their primary objective to free Palpatine from the Separatists. Palpatine is being held prisoner in the flag ship of the Separatist armada. This just happens to be the biggest and most heavily fortified star ship in the Separatist's fleet.

After much excitement, Obi-Wan and Anakin pilot their ships inside the Separatist ship holding Palpatine. Soon after landing, General Grievous (the half-man and half-machine leader of the droid armies) comes after Obi-Wan and Anakin. The two Jedi manage to flee from Grievous and his battalion by using giant tubes. Obi-Wan and Anakin then proceed to an elevator and eventually run into Count Dooku. A tremendous light-saber duel erupts between Obi-Wan and Anakin vs. Dooku. Grievous enters the fight and manages to hurt Obi-Wan.

However, realizing that he might be captured or killed, Grievous leaves the Separatist flag ship as the ship gets pounded by laser fire from the Republic star ships. Next, Anakin duels with Dooku alone as Obi-Wan is sidelined with his injury. Palpatine watches this duel while being imprisoned in a chair. Palpatine also speaks during this dramatic duel. Anakin manages to slice off one or both of Dooku's arms. Anakin then pauses to give Dooku a chance to beg for his life. Next, Anakin uses two light sabers to cut off Dooku's head. Palpatine lets out an evil cackling laugh after watching Anakin destroy Dooku. To avoid destruction, Anakin races to the control area of the Separatists star ship so that he can safely land the heavily damaged ship. Anakin successfully lands the ship on the surface of Coruscant and emergency vessels arrive to quench the fire that is overtaking the ship.

Mas Amedda and Palpatine's royal guards arrive and take Palpatine to the Galactic Senate. As Palpatine disembarks the ship that carried him to the Senate, Palpatine is greeted by a group of Senators and Jedi Knights. Palpatine enters the Senate and Padme Amidala is waiting for Palpatine. Padme is wearing clothes that hide her pregnancy. Her marriage to Anakin remains a complete secret. Before the Senate, Palpatine announces that the Separatist leader (Count Dooku) is now dead and that the Separatists are in disarray. Palpatine advises that the Republic must strike against the Separatists while the Separatists are in chaos.

For Obi-Wan's next mission, the Jedi Council orders Obi-Wan to hunt down General Grievous. Anakin is upset that the Jedi Council does not adequately acknowledge the fact that Anakin destroyed Dooku all be himself. With great cleverness, Palpatine feels Anakin's great anger and uses this to Palaptine's benefit. Palpatine asks the Jedi Council to allow Anakin to be his bodyguard. Anakin is eager to serve Palpatine because Palpatine has long been a great supporter of Anakin's career.

Meanwhile, Bail Organa is seen at a meeting in Padme's residence. The focus of this meeting is to have Palpatine relinquish his emergency powers. Powers which Palpatine promised to relinquish at the end of the Clone Wars. In other parts of the galaxy, the Jedi and clone trooper forces continue to battle the Separatist military in various star systems. On Kashyyyk (the Wookiee home world), Yoda oversees clone troopers during an important battle. Meanwhile, back on Coruscant, Mace Windu manages to piece together the Sith conspiracy and comes to the conclusion that Palpatine is evil.

Windu arrives at Palpatine's office to air his suspicions directly to Palpatine. Anakin is present with Palpatine as Windu asserts his belief that Palpatine is up to no good. With massive hate, Palpatine unleashes a strong current of dark side lightning at Windu. With great skill, Windu deflects this lightning with his light saber. Here and now, Anakin is left with the most important decision of his life. Will Anakin save Windu from Palpatine or will Anakin strike down Windu and save Palpatine?

Palpatine claims that the Jedi are corrupt and deceitful. Furthermore, Palpatine states that the Jedi themselves have always sought to undermine Anakin's destiny. The choice is clear for Anakin. Anakin and Mace Windu engage in a very dramatic duel. Palpatine helps Anakin during the duel. Anakin finally slays Windu.

Next, Palpatine finally reveals to Anakin that Palpatine is indeed a Sith Lord. Palpatine cleverly convinces Anakin that the powers of the dark side will bring Anakin's great promise to fruition. On a new planet never before seen in a Star Wars movie, Obi-Wan (with his contingent of clone troopers) finds General Grievous. A spectacular battle erupts between Obi-Wan and his forces vs. Grievous and Grievous' battle droids. The battle is waged on a high cliff top with a breathtaking view around them. What follows next is a chase sequence, whereby Obi-Wan (riding a computer-animated lizard-like creature) chases after Grievous, who is riding a device that looks similar to a Hailfire droid.

The chase comes to an end and Obi-Wan and Grievous launch into a light-saber battle. During this battle, Grievous' arms split in two and Grievous is suddenly wielding four light sabers against Obi-Wan. Eventually, Obi-Wan finishes Grievous off with blaster fire from a gun. While dying, Grievous' eyes are ejected from their sockets. Back on Coruscant, there are demands that Palpatine must surrender his emergency powers since the Clone Wars appear to be at an end. Palpatine states that he will not give up his emergency powers. Palpatine now claims that he must keep his emergency powers to battle the threat posed by the Jedi Knights.

Palpatine claims that the Jedi are traitors to the Republic and that the Jedi were actually conspiring with Count Dooku to defeat the Grand Old Republic. Palpatine insists that the Jedi are to blame for the millions of deaths and the destruction of many star systems during the Clone Wars. Also, Palpatine relates the story of how a Jedi Master tried to assassinate him. Luckily, Anakin was there to save Palpatine from this would-be Jedi assassin. Palpatine retains his tyrannical powers and announces the creation of his Empire.

Next, Palpatine orders the Republic military to find the Jedi and destroy them all. Those opposed to Palpatine (Padme, Bail Organa and Mon Mothma of Chandrila) hold a meeting to discuss what has just transpired regarding Palpatine's extreme power grab. They decide to take no action at the moment and to see how things will develop. An assassination attempt is made on Bail Organa's life. Bail makes his way to a landing platform where his red speeder is waiting for him. To avoid laser fire, Bail hides behind his speeder. Bail successfully escapes from Coruscant.

After this attack, Padme leaves Coruscant for Naboo for her own safety. Now the clone troopers receive their orders to hunt down the Jedi. Obi-Wan has to kill a clone trooper, who had become Obi-Wan's friend during the Clone Wars. The decimation of the Jedi by the clone troopers is seen occurring in several star systems across the galaxy. The Jedi are vastly outnumbered by the clone troopers and have no chance to save their lives. With many clone troopers at Anakin's side, Anakin attacks the Jedi Temple and kills all the Jedi younglings and any Jedi who tries to protect the younglings. Palpatine dispatches Anakin to the planet called Mustafar (which is a lava planet) to destroy the remaining Separatist leaders. Then, Anakin heads to Naboo to speak with Padme.

Anakin tells Padme that he is headed to Mustafar to destroy the Separatist leaders. Also, Anakin tells Padme that the Republic is coming to an end, that Palpatine will turn the Republic into an Empire and that Anakin has already killed some Jedi Knights. Moreover, Anakin claims that the Jedi are traitors and very corrupt. The Jedi can no longer be trusted. Padme believes everything that Anakin tells her and she supports Anakin 100 percent. Anakin continues to dearly loves Padme and still believes he can trust her and only her.

Meanwhile, Yoda happens to be on Kashyyyk when the clone troopers turn on him. Chewbacca and other Wookiees save Yoda from the clone trooper betrayal. While on Kashyyyk, Yoda finds an ancient Sith manuscript. Yoda believes he must go to the Jedi Temple and meditates on future events. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan hides on a new world. The leader of this world graciously welcomes Obi-Wan and promises to help Obi-Wan's plight. On this world, Obi-Wan finds out about Anakin turning against the Jedi. Obi-Wan decides to head for Naboo.

On Naboo, Obi-Wan finds Padme at her villa. At first, Padme does not trust Obi-Wan and refuses to tell Obi-Wan anything. However, eventually, Padme tells Obi-Wan that she is pregnant with Anakin's child. Padme tells Obi-Wan of Anakin's future plans and that there still remains some good in Anakin. Obi-Wan plans to leave Naboo without Padme, but Padme is able to hide on Obi-Wan's star ship without Obi-Wan realizing this. Obi-Wan tracks Anakin's star ship to Mustafar.

During his meditations, Yoda comes to the conclusion that if he can destroy the Sith Master, then the Sith Apprentice will automatically be destroyed. Sidious confronts Yoda at the Jedi Temple. Yoda engages in a terribly violent fight with Sidious. Yoda ends up losing this battle. Next, Obi-Wan arrives on Mustafar, but Anakin has already eliminated all the Separatist leaders. Obi-Wan and Anakin begin to argue. Suddenly, Padme appears believing she can help them both. Anakin is upset with Padme because she led Obi-Wan right to him. Anakin feels betrayed. As a result, Anakin becomes very angry, loses self control and ends up putting the Force choke on Padme. Padme hits her head when she falls to the ground. Obi-Wan ignites his light saber. The legendary duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin has begun and it begins amongst the dead bodies of the Separatist leaders.

This duel is very epic in nature. It takes place in several locations. Volcanoes erupt and the ground shakes. One location is a mechanical room. In another location, they hang from cables and finally end up at a volcano crater. Obi-Wan manages to cut off Anakin's other real arm. Amazingly, Anakin continues to duel Obi-Wan using his mechanical arm. Later on during the duel, Obi-Wan cuts off one of Anakin's legs (perhaps even both of Anakin's legs are severed). Anakin slips on the slope of the volcano and plummets into molten lava. Next, Obi-Wan leaves the area and takes care of Padme, who was badly hurt by Anakin's Force choke. Clone troopers arrive and rescue Anakin. These clone troopers then board a star ship with Anakin and take off.

After the Obi-Wan vs. Anakin conflict, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Bail Organa and Padme are traveling on the Tantive 4: Blockade Runner for Alderaan. However, an emergency stop on a new world has to be made when Padme becomes gravely ill. The Skywalker twins are removed from Padme. Subsequently, Padme does die after giving birth to the Skywalker twins. Elsewhere, Anakin heals inside mechanical armor. Anakin regains consciousness, awakens in his black Darth Vader armor and is told that he is responsible for Padme's death. Anakin is so distraught that he destroys the room he is in with the Force. Anakin is also upset at finding out that he has become more machine than man as a result of his duel with Obi-Wan. In his anger, Anakin Force chokes many people and uses the Force to throw droids around the room. Next, Palpatine gives Anakin the moniker of Lord Darth Vader.

A funeral is held in Padme's honor. Some of her handmaidens and Sio Bibble attend the ceremony. From the afterlife, Qui-Gon Jinn communicates with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan (with Bail Organa and Yoda's input) decides to hide the Skywalker twins on Tatooine with Owen and Beru Lars. It is Bail Organa in his Tantive 4: Blockade Runner that carry Obi-Wan and the Skywalker twins toward Tatooine. Yoda arrives on Dagobah via an escape pod from the Tantive 4 as the remaining Jedi Knights scatter all across the galaxy trying to escape the Imperial onslaught. Yoda plans to wait patiently until it is time for Yoda to do his part in bringing down the Sith. However, Bail's star ship comes under fire from Palpatine's forces. Bail's ship is boarded by Palpatine's minions. Obi-Wan and young Luke escape aboard an escape pod headed towards Tatooine. Bail Organa claims young Leia to be his own child. Also, Bail Organa makes certain that C-3PO's memory will be erased. On the bridge of a star destroyer Palpatine, Vader and Tarkin are seen standing and looking out into space. They are watching the death star being constructed.
After arriving on Tatooine, Obi-Wan requests that Owen and Beru Lars take care of young Luke. Obi-Wan tells Owen and Beru that Anakin died fighting in the Clone Wars. Understandably, Owen blames the Jedi for Anakin's fate stating that the Jedi never should have taken Anakin from Tatooine in the first place. Owen and Beru decide to raise young Luke as their own child and seek to never see Obi-Wan again. Obi-Wan now goes by the name Ben and stays close by to watch Luke grow up. Fade to black. Roll end credits.

from what you have wrote there,its ganna be a classic,cant wait to see it, not out till may 2005 in u.k

Sounds good to me.

Is this your treatment, or is it from somewhere official? At any rate, I only read up to ObiWan's and Anakin's fight, which sounds mouthwatering to say the least.

Mick

This summary was taken from the site below - I wish I was this creative!

http://www.movietome.com/movietome/servlet/MovieMain/movieid-26702/Star_Wars_Episode_III/

Assuming this summary is true, then it ties all the ends up very nicely. Especially the death of Palpatine. Yoda discovered in the Sith manuscript that by killing the master Sith, you also destroy the apprenctice. Since Yoda could not defeat Palpaltine, the only one who could was Vader. So when Vader tossed Palpatine to his death to save Luke, Vader also cancels himself. But he redeems himself in the process and thus earns a place among the dead Jedi as a part of the Force.

If you follow the book series or the SW web site, you will see that Palpatine actually cloned himself before his death, so he does reappear later. The follow-on series is quite expansive - Hans and Leia have a set of twins, Luke establishes a new Jedi order and marries one of Palpatine's 'reformed' apprentices. In short, Lucas has enough copyrighted material for future movies to ensure his estate for the next 25 years - at least. He is also modifying some of the old releases so that Episodes 1 -6 are in synch. People don't like revisionist, but hey - it's his movie series.

And of course, Lucas could also extend the series - Skywalker versus the Predator - naw - even he is not that cheesy. But if The Godfather Returns makes any money, then who knows? ;-)

Post Script - the trailer starts today on selected web sites:

Star Wars Episode 3
Revenge of the Sith Trailer
Trailer Summary
00 minutes :07 seconds - 20th Century Fox Logo
00:09 - Lucasfilm Logo
00:14 - "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."
00:19 - Luke Skywalker in A New Hope (ANH) walks out to view the binary sunset on Tatooine.
00:23 - Obi-Wan Kenobi in ANH speaks to Luke about the Jedi.
00:26 - Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace (TPM) brandishes his light saber before the final duel with Darth Maul.
00:27 - Shot from Attack of the Clones (AOTC) of the clone troopers walking into the transport star ships.
00:29 - Shot from AOTC of the clone troopers at the end of the movie with transports lifting off in the background.
00:23 - First Revenge of the Sith shot of Obi-Wan and Anakin with their backs toward the camera, walking up to a window during the day.
00:36 - AOTC shot of Anakin looking evil just before the Tusken slaughter.
00:38 - AOTC shot of Anakin riding the swoop bike on Tatooine.
00:41 - ANH Obi-Wan continues his voice-over.
00:42 - Second Revenge of the Sith shot. A hooded Anakin turns to the camera with red and yellow eyes much like Darth Maul's.
00:50 - Shot of erupting volcanoes on Mustafar.
00:56 - Geonosians ride giant beetles in a Mustafar lava field.
00:58 - Black screen with Darth Sidious saying: "Lord Vader?" followed by Vader saying: "Yes Master?" and Sidious reply: "Rise."
01 minute :04 seconds - Darth Vader, strapped to a table, begins to rise.
01:05 - A hooded Obi-Wan looks up. He is in a darkly lit area with sunlight seen in the background. This is possibly a location on Utapau.
01:06 - Palpatine turns to look at the camera.
01:07 - Vader continues to rise.
01:08 - R2-D2 on the Tantive IV.
01:08 - C-3PO on the Tantive IV.
01:09 - Padme turns to look at Obi-Wan with a terrified look on her face.
01:09 - Mace Windu raises his light saber above his head. This shot is inside Palpatine's office.
01:10 - Vader continues to rise.
01:11 - Chewbacca and Tarfful the Wookiee.
01:12 - Yoda, in Palpatine's doorway, opens his cloak to reveal his light saber.
01:13 - Vader finishes his rise and locks into frame.
01:17 - Two star fighters speed past the camera during the Battle of Coruscant.
01:18 - Anakin kisses Padme.
01:19 - Yoda, in Palpatine's office, pulls out his ignited light saber and points with it.
01:19 - A star fighter in the Battle of Coruscant speeds along the hull of a capitol ship towards the camera.
01:20 - Mace Windu fights against a red-bladed light saber in Palpatine's office.
01:20 - A large Wookiee army cheers on the Kashyyyk beach. Republic walkers and troop transports can be seen in the background.
01:21 - Tion Meddon (Bruce Spence) snarls at Obi-Wan.
01:22 - Flaming capitol ship heads into Coruscant with a fire ship spraying water on it.
01:22 - A very angry Anakin does an overhead slash with his light saber.
01:23 - R2-D2 in a grimy area.
01:24 - Padme, with a ANH Leia haircut, hugs Anakin.
01:24 - A small Naboo cruiser flies away from Mustafar.
01:25 - Obi-Wan and Anakin, both with blue-bladed sabers, fight on Mustafar as lava erupts around them.
01:26 - Capitol ships fire on each other above Coruscant.
01:27 - Anakin grabs Obi-Wan's neck with his robotic arm.
01:27 - A tri-fighter flies toward the camera during the Battle of Coruscant.
01:28 - Obi-Wan held near the ground by Anakin.
01:29 - Anakin holds Obi-Wan's light-saber arm as he continues to force him to the ground.
01:30 - A star ship hanger door slams shut.
01:30 - A very angry Darth Sidious swings his red-bladed light saber at something possibly small and close to the ground.
01:31 - A large explosion on a capitol ship above Coruscant.
01:36 - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith logo.

Okay...I'm excited.

But this is a bit too obsessive for me.

Why didn't Yoda feel that palpatine was evil?
I guess to answer my own question there wouldn't be a movie then.

An update: Here is the detailed plot by Lucas - this is an excellent story! It takes about 15 minutes to read, but you will be glad that you did. It answers all of the major questions and ties all of the pieces together nicely.

Enjoy!

http://www.supershadow.com/starwars/episode3/revenge_of_the_sith/plot_script.html

From what the Star Wars database says, Darth Sidious will not be in part 3. Will we ever know who he is?

Yep - he is there. He is the emperor. He is revealed during his fight with Mace Windu; he helps Anakin kill Mace.

The problem is that Lucas says episodes 7-9 (or beyond?) will never be made, that EpiIII is the last. I would love to see new episodes, especially since most (if not all) of the main cast that would need to return is still alive: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fischer, Harrison Ford, et al.

But I wouldn't want to see a Palpatine clone, I think that would be rather pointless. If they ever did make a new series, I think (as I've stated before) it should revolve around Luke and the new Jedi Council and base itself on the Jedi Outcast series.

How lomg is this movie going to be?

I can't wait to see this movie!!! I always feel like such a dork for liking Star Wars movies. They're so good though Interesting how Darth Vader was created. Makes sense, why he became like a machine. I hope Yoda is in it alot, I love Yoda.


BTW...who is Darth Sidious? Is that like, Palapatine's master?

This looks pretty good on paper, I'll probably check it out even though after watching Episode II I said I was done with Star Wars.

Episode II was just so bad.

The biggest problem that I have is how can anybody survive molten lava.

144 minutes

Supposedly (from some fans at the Star Wars site), Anakin is kept alive by 'force rage' - a level of hatred so deep that it prevents death. The book version has Anakin shouting 'I hate you' to Obi-Won; OB1 has just severed his remaining real limbs and Anakin's remaining torso is sliding into the lava. So because he reaches a pure level of hatred, the dark side of the force rewards him by shielding him from death.

Darth Sidious is Palaptine's Sith name - they are the same person. Each Sith is named Darth something - each a name associated with evil (SIDIOUSness, TYRANny, MAULingl and an inVADER).

Link all of the godfathers are DON something, all of the Siths are Darth something.

Might be an interesting thread - What would you call GF characters if they went over to the dark side of the force (like Darth Corleone) or what names would you give the star wars characters if they were in a Mafia gang war - personally, I'd like to hear Yoda do is predicate/subject speaking with an Italian accent (It-faggedabout; sleep with the fishes, you will)

I'm watching the original first three (IV, V, and VI) right now in anticipation. Believe it or not, that trilogy was what the wife wanted for Mother's Day! The only way I could've been happier was if she'd have wanted a new hunting rifle or some porn DVDs!

Ive heard that scene lasts up to 12 minutes-the longest fight scene in history

Actually, if I recall a Lucas interview (might be on the OT bonus disk), "Darth Vader" derives from the German words for "Dark Father."

I'm one of those who never saw Star Wars, but I heard on our local news this morning that people have been literally camping out by Mann's Theater in Hollywood. Every Star Wars opening was there and there have been people there for weeks (I think). Anyway, it turns out it's premiering at another theater. Wow!! Can you imagine?

TIS

From what I hear, the local cops are having quite a bit of fun with the guys out there camping, making funny noises and whatnot over their intercoms and loudspeakers.

I'd go opening night, but I don't want to be harassed by a 35 year old bearded geek with a lightsaber complex (dammit, Partagas, stay away!). :p

All the hoopla reminds me of the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's bit on Conan O'Brien when he made fun of the star wars geeks camping out for Episode 2.

Have any of you seen it?

Funniest. Thing. Ever.

You can find a link to it (you need some sort of media player) here.

Oh yes, quite a classic slamming by the puppet. I always prefered his trip to Quebec, but hey, both are hilarious.

For those who are truly Star Wars fans, please see the following links:

1. The complete history of the Jedi and Sith http://www.jedipurge.com/ -> This makes sense of how Palpatine came into being - he mastered the Dark Side of the Force to a level where he was very difficult to kill.

2. Episode 7 Plot Summary http://www.starwarssequeltrilogy.com/

3. Episode 8 Plot Summary http://www.supershadow.com/starwars/episode8/plot.html

4. Episode 9 Plot Summary http://www.supershadow.com/starwars/episode9/plot.html -> This is the true end of the series because Luke, his son Ben and his nephew Anakin destroy the Dark Side of the Force. What is really cool is that Luke has mastered the Force to the point where he can get absorbed by the Force, vanish and reappear behind the enemy.

Lucas is a genious - this is a great example of planning and strategic thinking. He has enough material to keep his family wealthy for several generations.

This thred has made me want to go and watch Episode 2 now incase we happen to go and see Episode 3 next weekend...

Don't watch Episode II. It's a terrible, terrible movie that will shake your confidence in mankind.

You actually mean EPISODE I. EPISODE 2 was just mediocre, but what do I know?