'EPISODE III' AT TWENTY: TO DUEL A SITH LORD!

Lucas watches the new choreography between Ian McDiarmid and Samuel L. Jackson, hastily supervised by Nick Gillard.

With the Sith enemy finally revealed as none other than the Supreme Chancellor himself, Mace Windu finds himself in single, brutal lightsaber combat with Darth Sidious and thankfully seems to overpower his nemesis. But when Anakin Skywalker arrives on the scene playing out within the Chancellor's office, and sees Windu readying to kill the evil energy scarred Sith, the young Jedi has no choice but to intervene, so as to save the life of Padme. And so comes a shocking end to the respected Jedi Master, but a man who had nonetheless been wary of Anakin since his introduction to Yoda and the Jedi Council in Episode I.

"I suppose it's easy to play, I think, a hypercritical politician with a smiling face. It's also quite gratifying. Most difficult, certainly for me, were the all action sequences. The sequence fighting Sam (Jackson) and persuading Hayden (Christensen) to send him through the window. But you'll see from the DVD we had our problems that day. They weren't big ones and were easily surmountable."

"I'd learned some stuff and I worked with Nick Gillard, and when George saw it on the set it wasn't what he needed. And interestingly enough what he needed was more of me. I'd rather thought they'd want less of me. But he wanted not just my facial expressions, which would have been obvious and he was not terribly interested in replacing faces unless it was absolutely necessary, he wanted my energy."

Ian McDiarmid - Episode III DVD press launch - 2005

Locking sabers: Darth Sidious and Mace Windu.

Lucas goes through planned moves on set.

Lucas watches Ian McDiarmid with his double, Michael Byrne, as Sam Jackson and Nick Gillard wait to see what is improvised in the duel.

McDiarmid gets some intriguing new duelling moves in the sequence that are far different from any Jedi's attack/defense.

Filming the duel sequence near the what will be a CGI-smashed observation window.

The sparks are flying!

Anakin arrives to see the fallen Palpatine, as seen in this visual script page from Nick Gillard.

Holding two lightsabers (one presumably being Sidious's) in an unseen moment, Mace resists the dark side energies against him, watched by a troubled Anakin.

Onscreen, with just one saber taking on the powers of Palpatine.

Windu, with just his own saber, holds firm against the Sith's evil energies, but Anakin's surprise action leads to his demise at Sidious's hands - 'unlimited power'!

Mace is propelled out the window in the scene shot at the FOX Studios, Australia.

Jackson enjoys his 'death' alongside Nick Gillard.

"Yeah, it was hard work, a lot harder than before. You get what you ask for sometimes, and it's... damn! So, I ended up in Australia, and then I guess I had to rehearse for 8 days before I actually shot it, learned a 137-move saber fight. It was crazy."

Samuel L. Jackson - Tiscali Internet interview - 2005

"All of the stuff that I shot is in the movie. Nothing is on the floor, and George kept calling me back. We filmed Revenge of the Sith two and a half, almost three years ago, and I went back six times to do re-shoots, enhancement shots or whatever. We kept adding more and more, and all my material is in the picture. I even had to go back and sort of redo my death scene because George didn't think it was long enough. Well, I was kind of there like, "Ahhh," and then out of the window, George was like, "No. No. Stay in there." My death is cool. Actually, I could have ended the saga. I'm still a bad mother, but I had Sidious. I had him!" 

Samuel L. Jackson - Starlog magazine issue 337 - August 2005

Sam Jackson celebrates the 20th Anniversary landmark. Image: Facebook.

AGE OF THE SITH! CELEBRATING TWENTY YEARS OF 'EPISODE III'

Art by Mike Mayhew for Marvel Comics.

It was the finale to the Prequel Trilogy that had to deliver the dramatic/action-packed goods to worldwide audiences eager to see the bridging between the worlds of darkness encapsulating both once Jedi hero Anakin Skywalker and his alter-ego Darth Vader. And for the most part, creator George Lucas delivered the epic goods in ways that we sometimes never expected, amidst a sea of CGI spectacle and lightsaber duels. Revenge of the Sith, now celebrating its iconic Twentieth Anniversary this May 19th, 2025, with its strong tone, fast pace and overall fine performances, has aged well in comparison to this current era of mostly disappointing superhero/sci-fi blockbusters being made, and a packed story continuing to inspire fans who love its doom-laden essence of tragedy seen-in with the rise of the evil Emperor Palpatine, as the fearsome Sith finally achieve their brutal aims against the Republic and their Jedi enemies.

But A New Hope is certain...

It was great to see how well the film did in its Anniversary re-release last month (April 2025), taking its box office final tally to nearly one billion whilst beating out modern films (like The Accountant 2) to a point that was astounding. Another incredible testament to the talent and imagination of George Lucas and his filmmaking team back in 2003.

Wookiee Basketball, Kid Han Solo, and a Kenobi Dummy: 20 Fun Facts about Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith | StarWars.com

Sam Jackson and Hayden Christensen at the El Capitan cinema launch night screening.

'ATTACK' AT 20: DEFEATING JANGO FETT!

The end of the line for Jango Fett!

Separated in battle from Obi-Wan (who has now dispatched the Acklay beast and numerous intimidated Battle Droids), Mace Windu finds himself back in the target sites of bounty hunter Jango Fett, who propels himself into the arena for final conflict against the Jedi, though the primal Reek has a grudge to settle first against any humanoid in its riotous path, notably injuring Fett and disabling his jet pack before the bounty hunter ultimately kills it. No longer a threat to Mace Windu, the supreme Jedi fighter makes the graceful killing moves that lead to his separating Jango's head from his body, watched from a distance by a shocked Boba!

Mace and Obi-Wan hip-deep in battle.

The rampant Reek attacks anything in its way, first separating Obi-Wan and Mace, then going for Jango Fett with thunderous skill.

With his rocket backpack damaged, Jango Fett is stuck in the arena...

... whilst Mace retrieves his lightsaber in an alternate take.

"My fight with Jango is a combination of him trying to escape and me trying to stop him. so there are a few elements, of him flying around, shooting projectiles at me, me defending myself and then going on the offensive. And once that happens he's pretty much toast."

Samuel L. Jackson - Lucasfilm promotional interview for EPISODE II - 2001

“Mace’s style (of fighting) is quite economic. If he gets within range, there’s no question-you’re dead.” 

Nick Gillard - Dreamwatch magazine - June 2002

 “George was like, “Hmm, well, there are only two colours. Bad guys have red and good guys have blue. Let me think about it. Then we went back to do some shots in London, he said, “hey, take a look at this.” He pulled up some footage and my lightsaber comes up purple. I was like “Is this just for this or is it going to be like that in the movie?” He goes, “No, you got it.” Purple is my favourite colour, and it has regal overtones, it’s a powerful colour. And then when I’m in big battles scenes off in the distance, I can always say, “Look! There I am, over there.” ” 

 Samuel L. Jackson - Empire magazine - June 2002 

“Mace is not the calmest of Jedis. He’d just as soon saber you in the back.” 

Samuel L. Jackson - Empire magazine - June 2002

Jango takes out the renegade Reek and will rapidly turn his attentions to the approaching Mace. But too late - Jango is soon going...

going...

.... gone!

And a boy will ultimately take on his father's legacy.

BEHIND THE SCENES VARIOUS

Awaiting the cue to 'Action!'

Mace Windu, now arrived in the arena and with his smoky cloak (prior set alight by Jango Fett) soon abandoned.

Mace fighting back in a deflection stance not seen in the movie.

Another unseen moment of Mace using his skills in the arena, or before he retrieves his fallen lightsaber?

Going through some unseen killer lightsaber moves with stunt coordinator supremo Nick Gillard.

Cooling off between takes on the set floor.

Jango stunt double Scott Mclean prepares for action.

An unseen moment of a mid-air Jango firing double blasters. Perhaps at Mace Windu?

Mace takes out Jango.

Lucas goes through the decapitation aftermath with a colleague on set.

Close-up shot of the lone helmet, its insides having been deposited somewhere else in the arena.

'ATTACK' AT 20: MACE WINDU TO THE RESCUE!

"This party's over!"

The arrival of supreme Jedi Master Mace Windu, bringing with him nearly two hundred diverse human/alien Jedi, to the Geonosian arena sees-in an intriguing sense of pause then stalemate between the sides of good and evil. But as hostile Super Battle Droids quickly appear on the scene, battle between the Jedi and Count Dooku's en masse droid armies is quickly in place as the death arena is plunged into chaos amidst a swarm of retreating Geonosian insects. 

Meanwhile, bounty hunter Jango Fett is determined to kill Windu for his threatening actions...

Keeping a bounty hunter at bay.

Mace confronts Dooku. Has the Separatist leader the might to defeat the Jedi?

Droids incoming from the darkness behind.

Mace is outgunned but soon leaps into the arena below.

As Jango Fett discharges his flame thrower and catches Windu's cape.

Unused shot of Jango Fett firing double blasters, presumably at the now descending Windu.

“Facing off against Samuel Jackson? Seriously, you try eyeballing the guy when all you can think about is Pulp Fiction. Don’t even go there.” 

Temuera Morrison - Empire magazine - June 2002

Lucas has fun with the young Daniel Logan during filming set-ups.

Sam Jackson shows us who's the boss on set at the FOX Studios, Australia in 2000.

CLASSIC IMAGE: THAT HOODED STARE!

Icon coolly continuing to reign supreme as that bad-ass hero Jedi with an edge, Mace Windu, during the critical events leading to and within The Clone Wars, Samuel L. Jackson was truly one of the best things to happen to the STAR WARS Prequels, where his brave but intimidating screen presence and supreme lightsaber-wielding abilities soon wowed audiences and fans of all ages worldwide.