Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi

Release Date: May 25, 1983

Watch Date: June 18, 2024

“Experience the triumph of the Force in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. In the epic conclusion of the saga, the Empire prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, while the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.”

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   I’m kind of sad to see Anakin Skywalker’s story drawn to a conclusion. Which is weird. Because, he’s a pretty dry character, he always seems so strained – mostly because he’s trying to repress pretty intense emotions. I didn’t really like him during the prequels, mostly preferring Obi-Wan. And then, he’s Darth Vader in these films, and his main job is to stand around looking intimidating.

   But here’s the thing, I think, getting much more into the franchise this time around, and having Bob fill me in on little details, and watching his character in ‘The Clone Wars’, I feel his arc a little better. I get the tragedy of it. I, like Luke, see the good in him. And I’m sad to see him go.

   Actually, I’m sad to see Obi-Wan go too. For some reason I didn’t remember that he had a role in every one of the original trilogy films, even if it was quite small. I’m glad there’s a show about him. I’m looking forward to getting to that point. I’m not quite ready to let him go yet.

   This film definitely feels like the climactic final moment of the franchise, and I can see why an additional trilogy might have come out of nowhere for some people. This is it, it’s final. This allows fans, and authors, to write their own stories, to come with their own endings to the characters – which I understand they were doing quite well before Disney took over but I have no time to invest in two canon lines, so Disney it is. As much as we hate to say goodbye to good characters, I think we hate more when our head canon is invalidated. No ending for Luke, Leia, and Han was ever going to be as good as people had dreamed it up.

   But I’m talking too much about the future, and not enough about this.

   There’s call backs to both the previous films, starting off on Tatooine and then going to Dagobah, which I liked. A little stroll down memory lane. I don’t know how they got Lando involved in the cause, but I have to say that I’m happy they did. I hope he was willing to part with the Millennium Falcon after getting back in the pilot’s seat. I love the Ewoks, though I did confess to Bob that as a kid I assumed they were just baby Wookies, which hardly feels like my fault – don’t make two of your characters look like teddy bears.

   All in all, I think it was worth the build up, and having now completed two trilogies, I definitely think that this was the stronger set. So far, if you had to only watch one, I think I’d stick with the original – newer isn’t always better.