Return Of The Jedi

Well, here it is. The last of the original Star Wars trilogy. After this we get to look at the prequels...yeah, not really looking forward to that for the most part, but anyway Return Of The Jedi!




So Return Of The Jedi is set a few months after the events of the last movie. The Empire has constructed a new Death Star much more powerful than the first, Luke has finished his Jedi training, and Han Solo is still trapped in carbonite. So first things first, Luke has to go rescue his friend from the clutches of the grotesque Jabba The Hutt on his home planet Tatooine. Now a few things to cover before we carry on with the story, now in past movies we keep hearing about this Jabba The Hutt and that he's bad news, but they don't really tell you what he looks like so you're mind is thinking of all kinds of things of how he looks and he's pretty gross basically a giant slug. Just, eck! Second, Luke Skywalker is a Jedi now. He is so different from when we saw him in The Empire Strikes Back, he's no longer whining about his training, he has complete faith in himself and his abilities, and he has mastered the Force because before he like really had to concentrate to use the Force, now it's instantaneous! Oh, and he's got a brand new cool lightsaber! So back to the story, they save Han and Luke debarks back to the Dagobah system one last time to finish his training. And sadly, master Yoda is dying of old age and reveals to Luke several things, he has to confront Vader to truly become a Jedi, after Yoda dies Luke is the only Jedi left in the galaxy, and there is another member of the Skywalker family. And yes, I do get misty-eyed when Yoda dies, it's depressing. Meanwhile on the second Death Star, The Emperor himself, Darth Vader's master arrives to corrupt young Skywalker to the dark side. And The Emperor is just magnificent played to sinister perfection by Ian McDiarmid. If Darth Vader made me love villains, The Emperor makes me want to be them more than anything. Soon the Rebels learn of the new Death Star and have to of course, take it out. But there's a hitch, it has a shield surrounding it and the only way to deactivate the shield is to destroy the shield generator before their fleet arrives to begin their assault on the Death Star. And this is where our Rebel friends meet the Ewoks, and this is either the second most hated life form in Star Wars history next to Jar Jar Binks, or is the most cute and adorable thing ever introduced into Star Wars. I am shocked at how divided people are to these little teddy bear looking things, I thought they were cute and harmless even though they make a mockery of my beloved Empire. So anyway, Luke confronts Vader on Endor and Vader takes him to The Emperor. So now we have a three way battle in this film, the fight to take out the shield generator, the fight to take out the Death Star, and the fight to defeat Darth Vader and The Emperor. And all the fights are really well done, but of course the final duel between Luke and Vader is the showstopper, there is so much emotion in this fight, more so than I think in any Star Wars movie. True, the duel between Luke and Vader in Cloud City is the best of the original trilogy, but this has serious emotions charging this fight, I mean there is a point where Luke just snaps. He is coming at Vader with all of his resolve and all of his anger, and this is not one of those carefully choreographed fight scenes you see in the prequels, Luke is swinging his lightsaber like a bat just hitting everything and really catching Vader off guard to the point where he cuts Vader's right hand off to reveal he has a robot hand just like Luke. So he defeats Darth Vader and The Emperor is just taunting Luke to kill him and Luke just won't do that. So he throws his lightsaber down, saying he will never turn to the dark side and he is a Jedi like his father before him. So The Emperor decides if he will not join us he will die, and then he proceeds to shoot lightning out of his fingers!! The Jedi can go screw themselves for all I care, this was the final moment that made me fully embrace the Empire and the dark side! I'd love to see the Jedi try that. So The Emperor is just torturing Luke, surging his body with electricity as he is begging Darth Vader to save him, and this is a great moment. You see the camera zoom in on Darth Vader's face and you can tell he's really conflicted and he still has the mask on and everything. So he looks to Luke and back to his master, picks The Emperor up over his head and throws him over a railing into the reactor where he disintegrates. Meanwhile the Rebels destroy the shield generator and they send in the fighters to destroy the Death Star, so Luke has to get out of there and he takes Darth Vader with him, and he asks Luke to take his mask off because he is dying and he wants to see his son with his own eyes. I'm sorry! I spoiled the surprise, but it's very difficult to talk about this movie without giving that away! So Luke obeys his father and slowly takes his mask off to reveal the scarred face of Anakin Skywalker, who tells Luke he saved him and to leave him, but Luke refuses and watches his father die and escapes the Death Star before it is blown up. At the celebration on Endor, Luke creates a funeral pyre for his father and burns his body. Later he sees the spirits of Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Yoda watching over him.



This concludes the original Star Wars trilogy. Thank you so much for joining me for this and tomorrow we will review the movie that disappointed and enraged millions of Star Wars fans.