Lucasfilm Ltd. photos C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) looks on as Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) embrace in Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. Click photo for larger image. "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" Rating: PG-13 for sci-fi violence and some intense images Starring: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman Director: George Lucas "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" Web site Family Film Guide review of "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" Rated: PG-13. Suitable for: In an ideal world, where money and time were no object, parents would see this first and then decide how appropriate it is for their offspring. But we don't live in an ideal world, so we suggest it's probably most suitable for those 10 and older, depending on your child and his familiarity with the other George Lucas movies. What you should know: Don't be fooled by all the kiddie tie-ins, from Pop-Tarts to Burger King toys. The movie is long (2 hours and 20 minutes), the darkest of the recent films and most mature of the six installments. It's the first "Star Wars" movie to be rated PG-13, and you should take that seriously. "Revenge of the Sith" has disturbing themes and scenes and should not be your child's introduction to the space operas. At the very least, the movie assumes knowledge of the other prequels and sequels. Language: None. Sexual situations/nudity: None, although childbirth is dramatized, with a measure of discretion. Violence/scary situations: (Warning, contains spoilers.) For starters, Anakin Skywalker makes a pact with the devil. Characters lose their lives or extremities. Although we don't see them getting killed, the lifeless bodies of children are shown. The battle scenes are more exhilarating than scary but the light-saber contests are intense. Some of the creatures, namely General Grievous, are potentially frightening, and when they've gone to the Dark Side, characters' eyes glow red. The most disturbing scene, however, involves a character who loses limbs and is severely burned. Alcohol and drug use: None.

Just imagine the pitch: six movies, released over a 28-year period. But instead of the story being told sequentially, the fourth, fifth and sixth installments will come first, and then we'll fire up the Wayback Machine and make the first, second and third.

And, to make things really interesting, there will be a 16-year gap between the second and first trilogies. Enough to make a studio executive mumble, "I have a bad feeling about this."

No one knew back in 1977 that "Star Wars" would prove so joyous and resoundingly popular that it would launch a franchise and George Lucas would create sequels and prequels.

Today at midnight (or a minute after), the circle will be complete, if you don't count the two TV series in the wings. Signature lines and musical themes return, events are foreshadowed and most of the dots connected.

It is the first "Star Wars" installment to be rated PG-13 and it is not, as Lucas has cautioned, a movie for children 5 or 6 years old. Lives and limbs are lost, and one of the most disturbing scenes shows a character suffering grievous burns.

"Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" shows us how the sweet-faced boy named Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), the "chosen one" who fell in love with Padme (Natalie Portman), becomes Darth Vader.

As we know from the other films, Vader is the embodiment of evil, a man whose ruined body has been replaced by robotics and implants and topped by a sinister-looking black helmet. Even his exaggerated breathing and sonorous voice no longer sound human.

In a misguided effort to safeguard the ones he loves, Anakin makes a pact with the devil, descending into the fiery circles of hell, almost literally. It's no coincidence that a fateful battle takes place on a volcanic planet with rivers of red-hot lava.

"Revenge of the Sith" opens, as the other five films have, with "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ..." scrolling off into space, set to the majestic music of John Williams. The Republic is crumbling under attacks by Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), and a droid leader named General Grievous has kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), leader of the Galactic Senate.

Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) race to the rescue, dodging enemy fire along the way, in what seems like a video game come to life. Anakin, demonstrating all the exuberance and invulnerability of youth, says, "This is where the fun begins," while the older, wiser Jedi Master worries, "Anakin, you're going to get us both killed."

They locate the kidnapped chancellor along with Dooku, who is reminded that Anakin is no longer a headstrong teen. His powers have doubled since they last met, and it's Anakin who triumphs, but at a price.

Like the snake in the Garden of Eden, the chancellor coos, "You did well," even as Anakin acknowledges he has departed from the Jedi way. When the chancellor orders Anakin to leave the wounded Obi-Wan, however, he refuses to obey and slings his body over his shoulder.

That leads to a confrontation with General Grievous, an alien inside a droid with a face like a giant, metallic anteater and the cough of a longtime smoker. After more derring-do and lightsaber battles, the Jedi knights return home, where Padme awaits and Anakin's descent to the Dark Side continues.

Darth Vader in "Star Wars: Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back." Click photo for larger image. Previous articles: "Star Wars" spawned a galaxy of technologies The moviegoers' guide to the 'Star Wars' Galaxy

"Revenge of the Sith" has all the hallmarks of its predecessors -- simplistic, comic-book dialogue, pithy wisdom from Yoda (who has never looked more lifelike), characters whose evil is evident in their deformed faces and nearly flawless special effects -- plus some mature moral quandaries. The story asks, can you ever do the wrong thing for the right reasons?

The lightsaber battles are sensational, but some of the action moves so quickly that it's hard to absorb it, even from a seat in the balcony. You rarely doubt the authenticity of a world that, at one time, existed only in the minds of Lucas and his production team. However, scenes set atop lava betray the fact that they were married with separate shots of the actors, who float above the fiery fluid and do not instantly melt.

Lucas has called "Revenge of the Sith" a tearjerker, and while you may not reach for the tissues, you might find yourself choked up at its tragic turns. When Padme tells Ani, as she calls the man she secretly wed three years earlier, "You're breaking my heart," you believe her.

Much is being made of some dialogue or scenarios that seem aimed at the Bush administration. Anakin lashes out by saying, "If you're not with me, then you're my enemy," and when an empire builder emerges in the Senate, a stunned observer says, "So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause."

	Hayden Christensen portrays troubled young Jedi Anakin Skywalker. Click photo for larger image.

You could hardly blame Lucas, who saw President Reagan appropriate the original movie title for a defense system, but this film is about one thing, and that is how and why Anakin embraces evil.

Christensen, known for perfecting petulance in the previous movie, tempers that quality with confusion, pride, dread, blinding anger and pain at what he considers the ultimate betrayal. He can seem awfully contemporary, but he allows his eyes to go cold and dark in a way that signals a blackening heart.

And when he bows to the devil, we know that he hasn't just sold his soul but the very way of life he was trying to protect. He may not realize what awaits him, but we do, courtesy of that scrambled and unintentional six-picture plan.

Turned out to be genius, after all.