The second best Star Wars film to date!

Rating: 8/10 (31 December 2016)

This film probably had more expectation than Empire did leading off from Star Wars, because sequels were never very good. So when Empire was an even bigger hit than the original film, Return of the Jedi had a lot riding on it to bring a thrilling ending to the trilogy. Did it deliver, in my personal opinion yes and no.
Richard Marquand was a know body before he got himself involved with the film, due to George Lucas quitting the writers and directors guilds of America. This meant that Lucas's potential first choice Steven Spielberg couldn't work on the film, so Marquand jumped straight in and to be fair he did a pretty amazing job. He somehow still adds to the already amazing achievements of the other two films, whether it be fantastic battles or more intimate moments between characters,this film for the majority captures to true essence of Star Wars. If you don't agree, fair enough but he did give us one of the best space battles and lightsaber battles.
The performances are once again fantastic from the three main leads in the film Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford. The three of them have such a good relationship and chemistry on screen that is truly stunning and really enjoyable to watch. From Ford's banter with Hamill to Fisher and Hamill's more intimate moments revealing there true connection. Hamill brings a an even more mature turn to the character now that he is a Jedi and the only lasting one alive, he shows that responsibility. Also edging his way towards the mentor type of character that Obi Wan-Kenobi was in the first film. Ford, brilliant with his charm and wit.He can either uplift the mood with his brilliant one liners or bring a lot more depth and emotion that the character brilliantly but rarely shows. Last but certainly not least out of the three Carrie Fisher, truly brilliant in every way. From that rather revelling metal bikini to the badass that she is killing Jabba the hutt, Fisher shows a broad range of emotions and types of person the character can be. This is a performance that young actresses should look up to emulating, not just this film put all three of them, insane! The final performance of mention should be of the main character across the whole saga, Darth Vader. At the beginning shows the more of the Vader we now, fear and love at the same time. Ruthless and the height of evil is a true wonder on the big screen, he is the definitive bad guy in cinema. However as the film goes on you can sense the conflict that is going on within the character, even though he denies it to Luke. The truth about the character starts to really shine through that actually he is the victim in this whole story, a fantastic portrayal of the character. Finally a fantastic ending to one of cinemas greatest, out of this world.
Another positive of the film is not surprisingly the special effects in the film, which once again are brilliant. More specifically the way they portray a certain character, Yoda and his death. The way that the puppet is controlled and portrayed on screen makes him seems as if he were a human character. This especially hits home hard when the character dies and when he is telling Luke that he'll be the last of the Jedi, truly emotion and heart breaking, amazing from a puppet well done Frank Oz. The space battle above Endor is one of the best battles brought to film, heart pounding and exciting from star to finish. It introduces us to see new pilots whilst still showing some familiar faces. What is more incredible is how those effects were created, not like they are today and still the effects all still hold up today. The other amazing effect in the film is the speeder bike chase on Endor, which is even more incredible how that was achieved. The fact that a couple of cameramen walked through a forest in California for miles then only to speed to film up to show the speed of the bikes. The fact that a real life place was used only makes the tension and the stakes of the character life higher, because the location is plausible and real to the audience.
Now the negatives and yes there are some that probably put people off this film. Firstly the Ewoks....................*sigh*.....................why why why. They are up there with the infamous gungan from the prequels, they are utterly horrible in every way. If they can beat the Empire how on earth did the Empire get anywhere with their domination of the galaxy. It is even more sad to know that the original idea was to have them battle on Kashyyyk and have a battle between the wookies. That would be much more plausible and you could understand them beating the Empire, why on earth that idea was scrapped. A more personal negative and probably not a lot of people have is C3p0, someone just kill him already I'm fed up with is character, i hate him, I hope they kill him off in episode 7..............Oh wait..........*sigh*.
Finally this film is really good and has some of the best moments in Star Wars history and is a fitting ending to the story of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. The directing , performances and effects are all what Star Wars was and is built on and is shown brilliantly in this film, 85% out of 100. Unfortunately the negatives of this film let it down and are encapsulated by the dancing around a fire at the end . However a fitting ending to this trilogy!