Episode III Revenge of the Sith Opening night 5/18/2005 - The Grove: Hollywood, California Instead of Grauman's Chinese, Revenge of the Sith opened at neighboring theaters. We chose The Grove in Hollywood. Our group of friends was the second to arrive at the theater, about 14 hours before the movie opened. The theater would not allow a line to form until 9pm so we had a lot of time on our hands. mmm lunch at the Cheesecake factory. The burger is taller than my thumbs up. 40 minutes after the official line started by the theater. This caused a real mess, as at the front of the line a huge bulge had formed from all the people waiting for the line to start. Our group was pretty large so we managed to snag a good spot near the front of the line that eventually wound around the entire mall. One of the more exciting moments was the taking down a movie sign to make room... For tonight's feature! Steady, steady! Finally seated and ready to go. The good news was even though the line was huge, EPIII was playing on 5 screens so the theater was not packed. The bad news was the one massive line for all 5 screens. Lightsabers battles and beachballs kept the crowd going while waiting for the start of the movie. And finally, just after midnight! After avoiding all those spoilers. After the movie, getting out of the parking structure was made more painful by the fact it was 3 am. Only 6 more levels down. Some people who dressed up got a bag with free stuff including: water, M&M's, fruit loops cereal, and a lightsaber spoon. Also in the bag: a Star Wars beachball, coupons, and a coin. Overall it was a fun night however it was nothing like the Episode 2 premiere last time at Grauman's Chinese Theater, a casualty in the corporate side of the film distrobution. Yes the film did open in nearby theaters like the Arclight (of which the dome sold out in 3 minutes, leaving the majority of fans in the cold) but the sheer capacity and history of Star Wars at the Chinese Theater was important to the fans. The film itself itself was about what I expected and my expectations were pretty low. The love story and the fall of Anakin Skywalker seemed unnatural and the dialogue, story, and directing lacked the innovative spirit of the original trilogy. Despite these things, I still had a good time just hanging out with friends and those who share a common love.