Now, some of you out there may have heard rumblings that a small indie flick received a lot of attention at Leicester Square yesterday…

Or, in other words, there’s no reason trying to mince words or be poetic about it. To get right to the point, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (lightsaber) has finally had its world premiere in London. And it was a truly spectacular day for those bold and/or stupid enough (delete if appropriate) to spend all day skiving off work and standing around in the (ahem) ‘glorious sunshine’.

Braving
the dark side of the British weather system, hardcore fans camped out
all day for the final Star Wars movie ever to be made (if George Lucas
has anything to do with it), with some fans camping out from as early as 7am
to secure those oh-so precious places in order to catch a glimpse of their beloved stars and director walk down the sodden red carpet.

Some very
lucky fans managed to blag tickets to see all six episodes back-to-back,climaxing with (you guessed it) the premiere of Sith at the nearby UCI Empire cinema.
While the local security force (comprising the 501^st
UK Imperial Stormtrooper Garrison) kept order throughout the day, the
London Philharmonic Orchestra treated fans to a musical montage of some
of the greatest moments of the saga. Actors Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and
Christopher Lee (Count Dooku) were on hand all day to give interviews
and generally keep the die-hard fans entertained until the rest of the
posse turned up later in the evening.

Director
George Lucas, Producer Rick McCallum and stars Ewan McGregor (DVDs), Hayden
Christensen (DVDs), Ian McDiarmid (DVDs) and everyone’s favourite Wookiee Peter
Mayhew all lapped up the warm reception. Lucas was happy to have the "whole thing finished", whilst McGregor
complemented the director, saying he had "nailed it this time".

Early
word-of-mouth suggests that the movie might actually be quite good,
silencing every naysayer who was "disappointed" with the first two. Or
not. In fact, it was the director himself who summed it up best: "this
will be like all the other movies. Some will love it, some will hate
it".

Still, love it or hate it, anybody who gives a damn about these films will be there – front and centre – when Sith comes out on Thursday. And if not, well, it doesn’t really matter. It’s only a film, after all.

Related stories:

George Lucas: "Two Kinds Of Star Wars Fans"

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith – Review Digest

Star Wars Episode III: An Ultraviolent Baby-Killing Affair

Ewan McGregor Does Not Hate Star Wars   

[story by James Hickey]