I went and saw Episode III again on Saturday afternoon. Upon further review, I think this movie was better the second time I saw it. For one thing, the sound was much better. They must have heard the complaints from the midnight showing. Also, knowing what to expect, I was able to enjoy the movie for what it was, and not be angry about what wasn't there. Also, the seating was somewhat more comfortable.

The space battle at the beginning was much more enjoyable, the parts I liked I really liked this time around. The Great Duel was even better, and the effects even looked better (hard to believe on a film copy of the movie).
The recycled music didn't bother me as much (I loved the fact that the same music playing during the landing of the ruined cruiser was also the music playing as Anakin escapes the TF ship in TPM.), and even Zombie Padme on the balcony wasn't as scary (although the lines she and Anakin say were still too wovey-dovey for me).

If this movie doesn't get ILM an Oscar, nothing could. I thought TPM was robbed by the Matrix, and it could have gone either way between AOTC and LOTR:TTT (although Spiderman should not have been mentioned in the same leauge as those two movies). Also, would it be too much to give Frank Oz and Rob Coleman an Oscar nod for Yoda, who gave a performance as good as and (those afraid of blasphemy be warned) possibly even better than Empire Strikes Back? I know Peter Jackson couldn't get it done for Gollum, but can't the Academy make an exception for cute, lovable Yoda?

My final score: After the second viewing, it gained a whopping .95, to come in at a 9.45, just below Empire Strikes Back. The .05 difference is because I still would have liked to have seen Qui-Gon talking to Yoda.

Oh well, you can't always have what you want.

Until next time...Godspeed!