Lucas in trouble with parents over violence in ”Sith”

“Star Wars” creator George Lucas admits he’s in trouble with parents for putting so much violence in “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” that the movie is rated PG-13.

Even cute, cuddly Jedi master Yoda takes his lumps: electroshock treatment dished out by the saga’s puppetmaster, the evil emperor.

“We’re getting a lot of flak from parents, a lot of people saying, ‘How can you do this? My children love these movies. Why can you not let them go see it?’ ” Lucas says.

The final episode in the “Star Wars” saga, which opens May 18, was screened for reporters last week.

Observers said the PG-13 rating – “for sci-fi violence and some intense images” – is well-deserved. The action is relentless and includes sequences darker and more disturbing than anything previously seen.

“I think children, young children especially, should be warned that this is not your average Star Wars,” Lucas told Vanity Fair. “It’s brutal in places and they should be aware of that.”

“But I have to tell a story,” he added last week. “I’m not making these, oddly enough, to be giant, successful blockbusters. I’m making them because I’m telling a story, and I have to tell the story I intended.

“Who should be allowed to see them should be left up to the parents, but at least they’re warned that it’s pretty intense. And obviously, that’s not a good business move.”

In the movie, young Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) completes his transformation into blackhearted villain Darth Vader with a bloodbath against old allies. The body count includes a corridor of “youngling” corpses – Jedi children cut down by his light saber.

Anakin is left gruesomely mutilated in a death duel with former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). His surgical reclamation as the part-flesh, part-machine Vader is chillingly juxtaposed against the bleak childbirth scene of his wife, Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), whose twins grow up to be the “Star Wars” heroes Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.

Cynics would suggest that all these warnings by master marketer Lucas will make ‘tweens even more interested in seeing the last chapter in a 28-year-old franchise – and will force parents to see it, if only to judge the violence for themselves.

The previous five “Star Wars” flicks – which have drawn more than $1.5 billion at the box office – all were rated PG, which carry the mild warning “parental guidance suggested” and that some scenes might be unsuitable for children.

The PG-13 rating “strongly cautions” parents that some material could be inappropriate for those under 13, but does not prohibit them from seeing the film without an adult.