I have come to the conclusion that Revenge of the Sith is a movie that gets better every single time you see it! This is especially true if you're a sound person like me. I've been going over in my head some of the cooler sound elements in the film.

First off, I'm in love with the sounds made by Anakin and Obi-Wan's Jedi Starfighters! I love the unique quality they produce. They are unlike any other ship sound design created for Star Wars before. Theres almost a musical tonal quality to them. I'm very curious to find out exactly what the different sound elements are that went into making the starfighters become the starring sound effect for the first two minutes of the movie. I absolutely appreciate that there is no dialog for the opening minute or two of Episode III. It really lets the sound steal the spotlight. Sound people are told from the beginning that the typical human ear can only concentrate effectively on two sounds at the same time. Now, I know that this doesn't seem like the case. After all, a battle sequence can contain dialog, laser blasts, explosions, foley effects, and music. But, the typical human being can only concentrate on only two of things. You can hear them all, but only two of them gets your attention. Try it sometime and see for yourself. The great thing about the opening space battle is that you have many sound elements making up the battle. But with the abscence of dialog, you can really focus on the sound of the Star Fighters and the musical score of the master of cinema music, John WIlliams. You hear all the sound elements that go into the opening space battle, but you are listening intently on Anakin and Obo-Wan's ships. I love their sound!

Another great sound is the noise of the Magna Guards Electrostaffs. The sound is the electrical arcing produced by staffs to make General Grievous' secret weapon. A weapon which is invulnerable to the supreme power of a Lightsaber blade. The blades give off a noise that sounds like electricity, but with a high pitched buzzing which is really what gives this sound it's unique touch. The only somewhat negative thing about this sound is trying to distinguish it from the noise created by the Magna Guards themselves. This is only an issue for the first few seconds then you get a feel for what the two different sounds are connected to. The Magna guards are your typical droid sound effect with electrical motor sounds with servo like effects. This does help you to get your bearings though to distinguish the electrostaffs shortly. They are a great sound which I think will become memorable enough to be a reason to include the sound effect if they ever make a toy of the electrostaffs. The staffs by themselves would be a really cool Master Replicas prop.

I also really liked the entire sequence on the Wookie planet Kashyyyk. The battle is filled with interesting sounds like the helicopter-like ship flown by the Wookies. The whole battle will have to be watched a few more times so that I can pick apart some more phenomenal recording and mixing.

This is truly the best job Ben Burtt and Everyone at Skywalker Sound who worked on this masterpiece have ever done.

Did I miss something? Contact me with your favorite sounds!