It is almost 30 years since George Lucas came to Elstree Studios with a bunch of largely unknown actors dressed in bizarre costumes and made cinematic history.

As our film history columnist Paul Welsh said: "Back in that hot summer of 1976, I remember a publicist on a film being shot at Elstree Studios telling me that it involved a talking robot, a giant furry creature, virtually unknown youngsters in the lead roles and a lot of special effects, which was to relaunch the genre of sci-fi. I must admit the sets were impressive, but it all sounded unlikely to be a box office success."

Star Wars, released in 1977, became the highest-grossing film of all time, relaunched the sci-fi genre and spawned two hugely popular sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, both filmed at Elstree Studios.

In 1980, audiences were confused when the second movie appeared on the screen entitled Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Later prints of the first film called it Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

It was reported that Lucas was planning three trilogies nine Star Wars movies in all, and that Lucas had started in the middle.

In 1999, he finally went on the record to say that the third trilogy (Episodes VII to IX) was never going to happen and were never likely to — but that the plots for the first three episodes had existed for 20 years.

When Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, it was disappointing for fans and critics alike, yet still made $1billion at the worldwide box office. After a disappointing follow-up Episode II: Attack of the Clones — thoughts turned to the third prequel, the last ever Star Wars movie.

Lucas came back to Elstree Studios to finish shooting on Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, filming the last shots with Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman on January 31 this year.

Any Star Wars fan will tell you that this was always going to be the prequel they were most interested in — the final explanation of why Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader and came to rule over the evil Empire — eventually to fight his son Luke for the destiny of the galaxy.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith gets its worldwide release on May 19, and fans in Hollywood have already started queueing to see it.

Yet this is a film where everybody knows what is going to happen.

Herein lies the beauty of Revenge of the Sith — it is the journey that is of interest, not the destination.

The film starts in an orgy of laser-beam space action, as Anakin (Christensen) and his Jedi master Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) attempt to rescue the leader of the Republic, Chancellor Palpatine, who has been kidnapped by the enemy.

A few fast lightsaber battles later, the audience barely has a chance to calm down before the plot thickens.

Anakin has a premonition that his wife Padme (Portman) dies in childbirth and vows not to let it happen. Then when the Jedi Council asks him to spy on his friend Palpatine for them, testing Anakin's loyalties, Anakin really begins to wrestle with his inner demons.

It is here that the movie comes to life in a more rich and complex manner than any of its predecessors. It is where the Star Wars saga grows up and comes of age. Star Wars started as a fairytale — of a princess being rescued by a blue-eyed Prince Charming character and a fight against an evil masked warlord and ends as something of a violent philosophical debate about the essence of good and evil, human nature, politics and fate.

Lucas also seems to have drawn parallels between the Star Wars universe and our world — there are similarities between the rise of Vader's Empire and Hitler's Nazis, and there also seems to be a veiled critique of President George W Bush.

Yet this does not mean the movie is boring for one moment. Aside from a few clunky lines of dialogue, and a few computer-generated moments — 84-year-old Christopher Lee in a somersault-filled lightsaber duel occasionally looks a little odd — it is hard to find fault with this movie. The actors do well despite the limitations of the script, the film looks amazing with spectacular action and scenery.

Like the best of the Star Wars films, this is a movie you will want to see again and again. It breathes new life into the series and makes you want to watch Star Wars Episode IV and the rest of the saga again — even the first two prequels.

Time will tell, but it seems that Lucas has exceeded all expectations and come up with a cinematic event that compares favourably with the original three movies.