One of the most satisfying conclusions in any trilogy

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2012)

Unfortunately, this movie has a bad reputation because of the Ewoks. The fans need to let that go. Sure it wasn't the best idea, but it certainly wasn't the worst idea. I'm probably letting nostalgia get in the way, but the Ewoks never bothered me. I can see why people don't like them, and I know that the idea of teddy bears using bolas and sticks to defeat highly trained soldiers is ridiculous. But hey, at least it wasn't Jar Jar and I'll take the Ewoks over Jar-Jar any day of the week. All in all, I love Return of the Jedi just like I love the other two films in the trilogy.
Story: After rescuing Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, Luke Skywalker and Leia rejoin the Rebel Alliance to destroy the 2nd Death Star while Luke prepares for his final challenge to confront his father, Darth Vader and the Emperor.
What makes this movie great? Like I said in my review of the first Star Wars movie: the characters and the story are the main focus and not the spectacle. The acting once again delivers 100% with Mark Hamill giving in my opinion probably his best performance as Luke Skywalker in the entire trilogy. Luke has matured at this point in the trilogy, more patient and the scene where he first uses his new green light saber at the Sarlaac pit is so awesome. Harrison Ford once again is great as Han Solo with the character being more mature in this one than the first two outings. Carrie Fisher once again is great, and I remember the first time I was watching this and the revelation of Leia being Luke's sister really surprised me. Billy Dee Williams once again brings his own charm as Lando, and Ian McDiarmid is really great at playing Emperor Palpatine.
There are so many other things that work in this movie: the Sarlaac Pit sequence, Yoda telling Luke there is another Skywalker which Luke learns through the spirit of Obi Wan that it's Leia, the speeder bike chase on Endor and the space battle where Lando destroys the 2nd Death Star. But most of all the final confrontation between Luke and Darth Vader with the Emperor relentlessly taunting Luke with lines such as "Use your aggressive feelings boy! Let the hate flow through you!" Luke of course has learned to use the discipline that he learned from Yoda and Obi Wan and not give in, and tries to get Darth Vader to come back from the dark side. But Luke nearly falls into the dark side when Darth Vader threatens to turn Leia to the dark side and Luke loses it and cuts off Vader's hand. Luke stops himself and refuses to give into the dark side, and the Emperor responds by shooting lighting out of his hands at Luke. Then comes in probably my favorite scene in the entire movie: while the Emperor is electrocuting Luke, the camera pans up to Darth Vader's mask showing Vader looking back to the Emperor and back to Luke, and all of a sudden he lifts the Emperor and throws him down the reactor pit and the Emperor dies. The reason why I love this part so much is that the way the camera focuses on Darth Vader with the music playing in the background, the audience gets the impression that Vader's conflicted and then without saying a word, he decides that he will not let Palpatine kill his son, and is redeemed (Whatever you say, don't even get me started about the change George Lucas made in this scene). I have to admit, the scene where Luke removes Vader's mask gets me a bit emotional, especially when Vader says "You were right about me".
Watching this again recently made me realize how great and underrated this movie is despite the common complaint about the Ewoks. Again, the Ewoks don't really bother me and the Yub Nub song (the one before came another change I'd rather not talk about) makes me feel like a little kid again. This film works terrifically as the final chapter in the original trilogy with the character arcs ending on a positive note for the main characters and all is right with the galaxy. "Return of the Jedi", along with the other two will always have a special place in my heart. This set of movies shaped my life in so many ways and gave me so many great experiences with my friends who also loved Star Wars, and my Dad who saw them in theaters back in the 70's and 80's and even my Mom (though she isn't really into Star Wars, even after she watched them with me. But it was worth a try).
Regardless of how much hate George Lucas gets these days because of the prequels and "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", people need to watch this and the other two original films again to be reminded of how great a saga George Lucas gave to the world. This is in my opinion one of the best conclusions in any trilogy, and like I said about the Ewoks, the fans need to let that go. In light of the recent news of Episode 7 currently in the works, let's hope whoever decides to direct the new trilogy in the future can bring back the spirit of Star Wars that was missing from the prequel trilogy.