Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Ah, the final phase of the Star Wars nostalgia/homesick trilogy viewing: Return of the Jedi. And as usual, it's pretty great, though filled with some unnecessary silliness. Luke, Leia, and Lando (mmm alliteration) hatch a brilliant (?) plan to set Han free from his carbonite prison within Jabba the Hutt's lair. First C-3P0 and R2-D2 are hired by the giant slug as servants. Leia dons the golden slave costume and is chained to Jabba after freeing a temporarily blind Han from containment. When Luke tries to be all mysterious and Jedi-mind-tricky, he's forced to battle a gruesome creature in the rocky cells beneath the main floor. Soon they're all being sent to their deaths in the Sarlacc's Pit! But don't worry, Luke actually did have a plan, despite appearances, and with Lando's and R2's help they manage to escape, with Leia choking Jabba to death (it's like, remember how badass she can be?) and Boba Fett plunging into the pit (did he really die?!?! we'll leave the fan fiction writers to determine). Luke goes back to finish his training with Yoda, who's about to die and spends most of the scene ambiguously telling Luke secrets about his family between coughing fits.

Meanwhile, the Rebel Alliance has been working on destroying the new Death Star currently under construction, planning to disable its shield generator positioned on the small woodland moon Endor. Han leads a small force (including, of course, Chewie, Leia, Luke, and the 'bots) there while Lando commands a squad of pilots ready to blast through the space station when the shield is down. Vader sends lots of Storm Troopers and Chicken-Walkers, so a battle and fierce speeder bike chase ensue. Leia is separated from the group and ends up in the camp of Ewoks, small teddy-bear-esque creatures with a primitive and childlike culture. Eventually the whole gang teams up with the Ewoks to fight against the infinitely better-equipped and strategically-experienced Storm Troopers. Luke is taken to the Death Star to meet the Emperor, in hopes he can be converted to the Dark Side, but he instead fights to make his father good again. A lot of intense things happen and for a while it seems no happy ending can be achieved, but come on, the good guys have to win, don't they?

A lot of my favorite Star Warsy things happen in this movie: the infiltration of Jabba the Hutt's base and his collection of different alien servants, Leia ruthlessly choking him with a chain, Luke finally coming into his abilities to be awesome, the speeder bike chase, the appearance of another female character in a position of authority (even another female character with lines is a plus) in the form of Mon Mothma, the Emperor putting his electricity powers to good use, and the great reverse "I love you" "I know" moment on Endor. Lots of things to like here.

Unfortunately there is also a good chunk of the film populated with Ewoks, creatures far too twee and cuddly to fit comfortably into a potentially deathly and thrilling battle with Storm Troopers. Yet somehow Lucas thought it was a good idea? And there's a drawn-out segment involving the gang being taken captive by Ewoks, who make C-3P0 their god, later decide to be friends with everyone, and listen gleefully to the robot's stories (he speaks their dialect). I'm all for giving our heroes a little downtime after such a slew of harrowing experiences, but chilling in a tree house with unintelligible teddy bears while Vader and the Emperor are hatching an evil scheme is really not the best use of time. Which reminds me of my other big issue (spoiler alert here): the Emperor is defeated way to easily. Vader just lifts him up and throws him into a pit. Kind of anti-climactic.

Otherwise though, it's a rather swell film. The final showdown between Luke, Vader, and Emperor is pretty neat, and they gave Leia a lot more stuff to do, which I appreciate. You can really see the full development of the three core characters, and everything rounds out nicely. It's an epic and slightly bittersweet ending, with the feeling that while the big fight is over, there's still a lot more story to tell.

4.5/5 (though I hope it's obvious that the trilogy as a whole gets 5/5?)

And here is a hilarious retelling of all three films by a girl who's never seen any Star Wars movie.

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.