TravelingbeebryantRN & Flicks_withNick

May the Force be with you! With May 4th approaching, the next review from Flickswith_Nick is the 1983 masterpiece Star Wars; Return of the Jedi. The sixth episode in the franchise stars Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, and Billy Dee Williams as Lando Carissian. Most people might not realize, but George Lucas is not the director of the movie. He is still credited as the writer, producer, and visionary of the movie, but Richard Marquand directed the movie. The movie currently stands at an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and an audience score of 94%.

I know the movie is 41 years old, but I still have to say it SPOILER ALERT FROM NOW ON!

After the traumatic events of the end of Empire Strikes back where Han was frozen in Carbonite, and Luke had his hand chopped off by his own father, the movie starts with C-3P0 and R2-D2 on the planet Tatooine. They are going to Jabba’s Palace to deliver a message from Luke to Jabba. We learn that the entire gang has infiltrated the Palace with the hopes of rescuing Han, who’s been resorted to an art decoration.

While in the palace, we see aliens singing to amuse Jabba the Hutt. If anyone knows, this is an added scene that Lucas put in during 1997 remakes. I think this scene is annoying, and WOOF! computer graphics have aged poorly. They look worse than the original 1983 special effects scenes.

 One of my favorite scenes happens in the palace. When Luke takes down the Rancor, you see a guy running and crying, as he looks over the deceased Rancor. Like did you think of him as a pet, or are you upset that the Jedi survived? My favorite character in the entire movie is Salacious B. Crumb. If you have no idea who or what that is, do yourself a favor and look him up on Wookieepedia. He’s the annoying little creature that hangs with Jabba, and eats the eye of C-3PO. I showed a picture to my wife, and she said “you look just like him”. So hilarious (eye roll.)

They all take down Jabba, and his friends near the Sarlacc pit. I was always disappointed by how Boba Fett met his demise. He was a mysterious figure in the previous two movies, and we knew very little of him. All we knew was that he was a badass bounty hunter. He goes out by getting bumped accidently by a blind Han Solo, and falls into the Sarlacc Pit. I understand we later learned he survived, but watching it as a kid, we didn’t know that.

 The gang spilt up after leaving Tatooine, and Luke heads back to the planet of Dagobah. He made a promise to Yoda he would return to complete his training. The scene between Yoda and Luke does move the plot along, but I always found this scene the only boring part of the movie. Maybe an old dying little green creature lost my interest. This scene was very important though, as the force ghost of Obi Wan confirms that Princess Leia is Luke’s twin sister. I know most people say “HE KISSED HIS SISTER IN THE LAST MOVIE!” Yeah that was definitely a mishap.

The Rebellions are back together, and planning their final attack against the Empire. We learn that Lando will lead the space attack, while Han and the rest of the gang will land on the Forest Moon of Endor. Their plan is to turn off the deflection shield on the Moon, so then Lando will take the space fight and destroy the death star.

While on Endor, the gang encounter Storm Troopers, and chase them down on Speed Bikes. I love the chase between Luke & Leia, and the storm troopers. The cut scenes between the first person view, and the overview of the bikes. The sound effects are amazing, how it changes noises with the gears going up and down. The fast pace of the cameras almost make you feel like you’re on a ride with them. They sped up the frames while filming to give the illusion they were going fast. Awesome how something simple, turns into a great scene. 

Of course when the speed chase is over, we meet a native to this moon, an Ewok. I’ve loved them since I was a little kid, always thought they were adorable. If you ever watched How I met Your Mother, Barney has a theory if you like Ewoks or not, depending what year you were born. I think now it’s how old were you when you saw the movie. The older you are, the less likely. 

All scenes prior lead to the epic third act of the film. The flim splits between three different scenes. 

The first scene is Lando and crew with their space attack, to take out the Death Star and cruise destroyers. The next scene is Han and Leia with the surface attack on the moon, to turn off the reflector shields. The final scene is arguably the best scene. The Throne room with Darth Vader, The Emperor, and Luke Skywalker.

Everyone remembers the infamous line after hearing they have enemy ships from Sector 27,  from the talented Admiral Ackbar “IT’S A TRAP! He definitely steals the show during the dog fights in space. I did feel some of these scenes were a retread, where they have to go inside the death star to take one shot to blow it up, and we get a closing shot of a huge boom as the Death Star blows up. It feels like a repeat of A New Hope. 

It was really cool to see how the Ewoks along with the surface crew took down the storm troopers.  The Ewoks had primitive weapons, but managed to take down multiple AT-AT’s. It always makes me a little sad when one gets shot down, while the other Ewok is lingering over to see if they are alive, only to find out they died. The rest of this scene is full of funny puns from Han, a rehash of the infamous exchange of “I love you” and “I know”, and C-3PO still being annoying as usual lol.

The last and final scene, to me, is the best of any of the Star Wars movies, the Throne scene. This also has my favorite dialogue in this scene as well. “Your overconfidence is your weakness”, can anyone finish it “Your Faith in your friends is yours.”  I love the back and forth of the conflict of Luke wanting to be good, but is persuaded by the Emperor. The guilty laugh from the Emperor when Luke finally gives in, and grabs his lightsaber to fight Darth Vader, always gets a fist bump from me. Does anyone else like this scene like me? What is your favorite scene in the Star Wars franchise?

I know  the biggest debate in the franchise is Empire or Jedi? It honestly flips back and forth for me! I usually lean towards Empire, but the final third act in Jedi is hard to turn down. Today I will say Jedi is the best. Everyone loves a happy ending right? What is your favorite movie in the Franchise?

As you can tell I’m kinda a Star Wars nerd, and love the original trilogy. I Love all the different set pieces of the movie, and how the characters gather together to take down the Empire. I wonder how the original cut of the movie pans out. Like does the special effects still hold up? I hope someday they will release the original cut for everyone to see 

How Do do I  get my wife to watch the original trilogy? Any suggestions? She’s definitely missing out!

I give this movie a 4.6 out of 5. 

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