Anniversary XL: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was supposed to be the final (chronological) chapter. Ever since its release exactly 34 years ago today, George Lucas maintained that the story was over, and if he made any more Star Wars films, they would be prequels. Obviously this changed in 2012, but since I'm no expert in that era of Star Wars, Return of the Jedi is still, in my mind, the final chapter. How does it hold up long after its 1983 release?

Return of the Jedi is the Star Wars film that I've had the hardest relationship with. After I had seen all six episodes, I decided Return of the Jedi was my fifth favorite of the six. Later it became fourth, and it became sixth even later. While my favorites ranking of the other five in relation to each other has always been the same, Return of the Jedi has jumped around the board a lot. Now, however, I can solidly say that it's my fifth favorite of the six episodes that I've seen, exactly where it was in my initial assessment.

From a filmmaking and directing standpoint, however, Return of the Jedi is easily the weakest of the saga in my book. I still think it's good, don't get me wrong, but the pressure that Lucas felt to make this the final chapter (which was not his original plan) is really evident here, much more so than in the other "final chapter", Revenge of the Sith. For those of you who don't know, Lucas did originally plan to make a total of nine episodes, and that was still his plan after The Empire Strikes Back was released. However, when he got around to starting the third Star Wars film, he was just... done. Gary Kurtz, his producer for A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, left after disagreements about how the story should continue, and Lucas's wife divorced him in 1983 because of how much time he was spending on this silly space opera. At this point in time, Star Wars had drained George Lucas, but he needed to make at least one more film, given the cliffhanger that The Empire Strikes Back ended on.

I'm inclined to believe Lucas when he says that the overall themes and general story of the Star Wars saga were part of his original plan when he was drafting what eventually became A New Hope. Filmmaking evidence, however, points to the more specific details being added as the movies were written and filmed. Return of the Jedi is the only Star Wars film where this really shows, namely because of the revelation that Luke and Leia are brother and sister. When the ghost of Obi-Wan tells Luke that he has a sister, Luke very quickly realizes that it's Leia, without any hints. That feels really rushed to me, but it's Leia's reaction to the news that I really have a problem with. Luke tells Leia that they're twins, and Leia's response? "I know. Somehow... I've always known."

If that's true, then I highly doubt she would have kissed Luke on the lips in The Empire Strikes Back. I don't have a problem with her kissing him on the cheek on multiple occasions throughout the trilogy. I mean, I'm a heterosexual male, and I've kissed my brother on the cheek a few times. It's a very natural family kind of kiss. But Leia displaying zero type of a shock reaction to this revelation just feels like a major cop-out.

This is one of the reasons why for a time, Return of the Jedi was my least favorite Star Wars film. I went without watching it once for two years, not because I didn't like it, but because I was a lot more excited about finally owning Revenge of the Sith on DVD. It was only when I bought the Blu-Ray set of the complete saga in 2011 that I watched Return of the Jedi for the first time in more than two years... and was reminded of how much there is to love in it.

The opening sequence where the gang rescues Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt is still really fun to watch. The Jabba puppet is wonderfully grotesque, and the battle over the Sarlacc Pit is a well sequenced action scene. Even the added song "Jedi Rocks", which is admittedly quite silly, isn't enough to take away the rest of this very well done sequence. The death of Yoda is emotional and tragic, and the speeder bike chase on Endor is pretty darn groovy.

Then, of course, we have the Ewoks. I'm not their biggest fan, by any means, but I love what their presence represents: nature overcoming the unnatural (the Imperial invaders). They're cute, but very smart and resourceful, especially when they use multiple fun methods to take down AT-STs. The Ewoks may not be my favorite Star Wars creatures, but I've got nothing against them.

My favorite moments in Return of the Jedi, however, are the sequences of the final battle focusing on Luke, Darth Vader, and Darth Sidious. While my favorite Sidious moments are in the second half of Revenge of the Sith, he has some very well-delivered and chilling lines in this film also. The way he just gradually pushes Luke's buttons until things get physical is masterful, and Luke's fight against Vader is definitely one of my favorite lightsaber battles in the saga, because of how much weight is behind it. After seeing all the previous five chapters, one really gets the sense that it all comes down to this.

The payoff is great. Luke defeats Vader, but then has that moment of silence where he realizes that hate is not the answer, and he's able to back off from the dark side. From a certain point of view, this adds more meaning to Sidious's line from Revenge of the Sith: "If one is to understand the great mystery, one must study all its aspects, not just the dogmatic narrow view of the Jedi." And when Luke gives up the fight and lets Sidious torture him, he finally reaches his father through love, the very love that drove Anakin mad because he lacked proper guidance on how to deal with it. The silent shots of Vader watching Luke get electrocuted add some nice tension, and especially after watching all five previous episodes, it's so satisfying to watch Anakin Skywalker return and finally defeat that shadow that has haunted him since he was nine years old. Even in the Blu-Ray edition of the film, which adds Vader saying "No!" twice while killing Sidious, the silent moments aren't taken away, and it's tactfully added. I really don't think it makes the film any worse, and it's a nice callback to Anakin saying the same word in Revenge of the Sith, when he stops Mace Windu from killing Sidious out of anger.

Anakin's final words out of the mask are positively touching, and when I watched the film last night, I said "Be at peace, Chosen One" when he died. After that, the film (and saga, in my eyes) ends on a very satisfying note as Lando Calrissian blows up the second Death Star, the galaxy is shown celebrating its freedom, and the surviving Rebels have their celebration on Endor, ready to return the galaxy to its glory days. As a side note, like George Lucas, I'm in favor of having Anakin's ghost reappear as Hayden Christensen. Lucas himself said it was done to signify that Anakin returned and overthrew the Vader persona that took over him when he swore himself to the dark side, which makes sense to me.

While its mishandling of the Luke and Leia relationship makes Return of the Jedi the weakest Star Wars episode in terms of filmmaking and directing, it does what every good final chapter should do: gives the story a climactic and very satisfying ending. It's only my fifth favorite, simply because aside from the ending, there are moments in the other four films that I like more, but it's still a very worthy Star Wars movie and a great conclusion to an epic saga.

That's all my Anniversary XL reviews, right in time for the official 40th anniversary of Star Wars. Special thanks to my parents for introducing me to half of the story, my grandparents for introducing me to the second half, and a very special thanks to George Lucas for, you know... everything.