SNMR 3.10: "Star Wars VI - Return of the Jedi"

The final film for this special SNMR weekend is "Star Wars VI - Return of the Jedi" (1983, PG, 136 minutes), starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Billy Dee Williams, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz and Sebastian Shaw. The film was directed by Richard Marquand.

I've watched this film just as many times as the others, as you no doubt have guessed and will watch it many more times in my lifetime, to be sure. I can remember standing in the lobby of the packed Showcase Cinema waiting to see this film on the first weekend of it's release. I'm talking wall to wall people. It wouldn't surprise me if they had this film showing on three or four screens simultaneously to meet the demand of people wanting to see it.

From the DVD's dust case:

In the spectacular final chapter of the Star Wars saga, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia must travel to Tatooine to free Han Solo by infiltrating the wretched stronghold of Jabba the Hutt, the galaxy's most loathsome gangster. Reunited, the rebels team up with tribes of Ewoks to combat the Imperial forces on the forest moon of Endor. Meanwhile, the Emperor and Darth Vader conspire to turn Luke to the dark side, and young Skywalker is determined to rekindle the spirit of the Jedi within his father. The Galactic Civil War culminates in in the ultimate showdown, as the Rebel forces gather to attack the seemingly defenseless and incomplete second Death Star in the battle that will determine the fate of the galaxy.

From Martin and Porter's DVD & Video Guide 2007, p. 1073:

Third film in the [original] Star Wars series centers on the all-out attempt by the Rebel forces - led by Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian - to turn back the tidal wave of interplanetary domination by the evil Galactic Empire and its forces, led by Darth Vader.

This absolutely fantabulous conclusion to the Star Wars saga has always been my favorite of the three original films. Guess I'm a sucker for happy endings. What more can I say that I haven't already said in one of the other two reviews? The story is strong, the performances are memorable and a whole generation of kids left the theater happy. As with Empire, I'm not sure I like the latest special edition cameo of Hayden Christiansen as Anakin during the Endor celebration scene at the end of the film, even though it is the pre-dark side Anakin. Minor complaint aside, it truly can't be stated in definable terms how much of an impact these three films have had on my generation and on the movie industry as a whole. I really don't think George Lucas, in his wildest dreams, could have imagined what kind of legacy this simple little story would have. So it shouldn't surprise you that this film also gets five out of five stars.