Chief Chirpa

Rating: 7/10 (8 October 2002)

So its now been confirmed that ROTJ is the final Star Wars film (although im willing to bet the studios wont be able to resist trying to squeeze a few more golden eggs from the Star Wars Goose. With or without GL's consent). So what do we think of the end of the worlds greatest saga?

Well, the first thing that struck me was that Darth Vader is actually a bit of a pussy. One of the most dangerous men in the galaxy gets bested in a dual, has his hand cut off by a part time Jedi (two training sessions with yoda? Wow!) and dies after taking Sith lightning for half the time the said part time Jedi did. Although, he is Â‘More machine than man' so the lightning probably would have blown a fuse or two, so I can forgive him for that.

Seriously though, I think ROTJ will stand the test of time. Yes the cloying Ewoks are insanely irritating (it is quite funny when they get blown up. Beechawawa!) but the battle of Endor is good and the speeder bikes are cool. The whole Jabbas palace bit is very good. Everyone tricks their way in and gets caught out and the sarlaac pit monster sequence is great. Some of the dialogue is a bit clunky, but on the whole it is a slick and fast paced film which is never anything but thoroughly enjoyable. Looking at it now as a definite bookend, it is a little disappointing, but hey, what you gonna do?