(Harmy’s Despecialized Edition)

“I know. Somehow … I’ve always known.” Yeah sure you did, we all believe you.

Despite having the most flaws and being just slightly the weakest in the original trilogy in my opinion, Return of the Jedi still perfectly lands the plane and is a perfect conclusion to this three movie journey. There are so many goosebump-inducing scenes here, and the way it ends all of these characters' arcs is just perfect, even if the ride was a little bit bumpier than the previous two movies. The tone of this film is definitely a bit of a mix of both of the previous films. Just as fun as the original, but has more serious moments like Empire does.

So this kicks off one year after the events of The Empire Strikes Back, which in itself is definitely a bit weird because the rescue mission at the very beginning of Return of the Jedi was pretty much teased at the very end of Empire, but I get that they had to wait one year so that Luke could you know, become more powerful and all. One criticism that gets thrown at this movie a lot is that Luke’s rescue plan doesn’t make any sense, and that is certainly valid. It’s almost a bit funny because it’s really just a series of a bunch of different characters coming in, putting themselves in danger, and trying to do a rescue.

However, I couldn’t care less that it doesn’t make sense on paper, because the entire first act is such a blast. Especially with watching the original versions of these films that didn’t include Jabba in Episode IV, seeing him and his palace for the first time would definitely be jarring to say the least for a first time viewer. I don’t want to say much more about the first act, but it has epic character entrances (one in particular obviously), cool action scenes and set pieces, and awesome reveals that again, would be really cool to see as a first time viewer.

The middle act is definitely what makes this a bit weaker than the first two. There’s an interesting follow up with Luke to the previous movie that ends up being pretty emotionally impactful and ends with a pretty shocking but cool reveal. Although after that, the pacing is kind of off and on and the film’s focus definitely meanders at times. The Rebels’ plan is very clear, but once they arrive on Endor (or the Forest Moon of Endor), it feels like the story stalls a little bit just to keep things reserved for the third act. There are tons of action scenes and it’s a lot of fun, but it doesn’t really progress the plot all that much. The Ewoks are hated on obviously, but I’ve never really minded them to be honest. Sure, the scenes with them definitely have a bit of slower pacing, but those slower paced scenes don’t take up enough run time of the movie for me to hate them or anything.

The only other criticism I have, and the one that personally bothers me the most is Han Solo’s role in this film. Obviously it doesn’t bother me that much, I still love this movie and have seen it countless times just like the others, but there’s definitely wasted potential with his character here. His arc really did kind of end in the previous movie. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he is just here in this movie for the sake of it, but he sort of is. I’m not saying that they should have or needed to do to his character what Harrison Ford originally wanted, but he could have been used in a much more meaningful way than he was.

Now, everything I’m going to talk about from now on will be completely on the positive end. I’ve already said multiple times that I love this movie, and there are so many reasons why. First off, Luke is such an epic character. His introduction alone makes it clear he isn’t the same Luke we’ve known from the last two movies. He’s so imposing, like everything he does, he does in the coolest way possible. It’s just top tier writing man, seeing him progress across these three movies and everything. I hate to touch on the toxic part of the Star Wars fan community, but let’s be honest it really is inevitable - they kind of let down Luke in the sequels and this film is the most clear example of that case.

And … then there’s the third act. I really do go back and forth on whether or not this or Empire has a better third act. Everything is concluded in the most epic, compelling, and satisfying way possible. Everyone always mentions the space battle as being the best in Star Wars, and it really is just plain awesome, even if there isn’t a whole lot of it. The special effects during it are probably the best in the entire trilogy, and it honestly gets really complex for all the effects being practical. The Endor stuff definitely is the least interesting out of the three things going on, but it’s still a lot of fun. The main third act showdown is where everything built up previously comes to fruition. There was so much pressure to get it right, and it completely delivered. I won’t say anymore about the showdown itself, because there’s so much character development that occurs that makes it hard to describe it without giving away details, but again - goosebumps.

On the very ending specifically, after watching both the original and special edition (current edition) versions of this movie, I definitely would say I prefer the original version better. It’s a lot more simple and focused on our main characters rather than the widescope of the entire galaxy, and it’s just a lot more compelling this way. I get why they changed it after the prequels, but I just don’t like it as much. On the music change for the ending, I definitely have to say I don’t really have a preference if I’m being honest. Both work well.

Now a music change I do definitely have a preference on would absolutely have to be that one scene in Jabba’s palace. Not a fan of “Jedi Rocks.”