Underrated

Rating: 9/10 (3 May 2005)

* Spoilers * 'Empire' may be the best of the three movies in the original Star Wars trilogy artistically, but ROTJ, in my mind, is and always was unsurpassed by the other two movies in terms of action and sheer scale. There's just so much happening in this movie as Lucas tries to wrap up the trilogy; there's the rescue of Han and ensuing capture and escape from Tatooine, then the resumption and conclusion of Luke's training, the planning for the assault on the second Death Star, the landing of the infiltration party on Endor, and finally the interleaved 3-way finale between the battle on the surface of Endor, the battle in space, and the final confrontation between Luke, Vader, and the Emperor. I think one of the main reasons this film is so overlooked in the trilogy is simply because of the Ewoks, which is a shame. That, in my mind, is something that can be overlooked. Yes, they are corny in some scenes, but the rest of the movie more than makes up for it. And the ending is a very satisfying conclusion to the trilogy - more so than most other sci-fi trilogies these days seem to be able to manage (i.e. Terminator, the Matrix). Who can forget that scene, with Darth Vader dying in Luke's arms..."you were right about me Luke...you were right..." It's just brilliant, and at the same time, a sad ending to a great epic story of finding one's purpose, not giving up, redemption, and the ultimate triumph of humanity and love over evil. Too bad Lucas hasn't been able to recreate the magic in the new trilogy, though (mainly because the characters suck, in my opinion). ROTJ gets a 9/10 in my book.