A huge disappointment!

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 1999)

Let me say at the outset (and the onset of TPM), that I am a devoted cinephile and a fan of Star Wars, so much so that even now I am waiting in line for May 19 tickets to the Ziegfeld Theater in NYC! Nevertheless, my being a fan of the series does not blind me (as others have been)to the fact that Return of the Jedi simply is not a very good movie at all.
What the majority of ROTJ apologists in this posting do not take into account is that ROTJ is a film first and foremost and must be judged as such. Plot, character, color, and pacing all have something to do with it. The only thing that carried this film (and the only thing that we all can agree upon) were the special effects. The acting, dialogue, and plot were weak in the extreme, IF you could manage to look past the Star Wars gloss. I lay the majority of the blame at Lucas' door; he was the executive producer and had total control of the proceedings. Marquand's directing, however, did not help. The sad part is that Lucas betrayed his own myth and his own enterprise by producing such a clunker. Events in the Star Wars universe were building to a fever pitch in the vastly superior Empire Strikes Back, and then all the air was let out with ROTJ. If good taste and the fabled Lucas genius had been working during the production, rather than greed and the fabled Lucas business sense, it would have been a much better movie and actually worth all the kudos it has received.
As if anyone needed proof of the elements that undermined this disappointing movie, I'll list some: The Ewoks. The awful dialogue. The upstaging of Darth Vader by the Emperor. The habitual stupidity and consistent blundering by the Imperial forces (it really makes you wonder how they ever consolidated their Empire, doesn't it?) The unbelievable destruction of the Executor. The well-nigh cynical tone in the Luke/Leia/Han exchanges. The under-development of every single character in the movie. And the number one reason why this was a kid's movie, instead of an adult one, was the lack of sacrifice required of the Rebels to win this war. Let me get this straight: the Rebels lose two ships, some fighters, Yoda, and an Ewok or two, and the Empire is obliterated totally? Well, that makes sense! And now we have a Disney ending! After all, there are sales quotas to be met.
The few good points? Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor--absolutely the only reason to see ROTJ; he's fantastic even though the repetitive and shallow dialogue lets him down. Yes, the special effects: the speeder chase, the destruction of Death Star II, the space battle. The costume design. The set design. And the only scenes that moved me in the slightest were the Luke/Yoda farewell and the re-uniting of Han and Chewbacca.
The outrage here is that if Lucas, Marquand, and their collaborators had given their audience any credit for brains at all, this would have been a much better movie. And it could have been so easy, since Lucas had set up the last movie so well. It was a no-brainer, and they blew it. Oh, don't get me wrong: of course the movie made a pile of money (and thus could be considered a success), and was a hit with the less-than-discerning general public, the kids (to whom it was marketed), and the die-hard, see-no-evil Star Wars fans. Was the movie fun? Yes. Was it a dramatic work of art? Why even ask?
Of course, this is a culture where Titanic wins Oscars, and fluff is substituted for substance, but it does make me think that I AM on a different planet when the IMDb user comments for ROTJ discuss the "emotional father/son lightsabre battle," "beautiful direction by Marquand," "brilliant editing," and "Hamill's thespian talents." I am as anxious as anyone else to see TPM, but after reading comments like these I get the uneasy feeling that even if the new movie is of the same quality or worse than ROTJ, no one will care and any critical faculties will be left outside the theater. And that, like ROTJ's artistic failure, is really too bad.