This movie ended on a high note and with the expectation that Luke will ascend to master and restart the Jedi Order. Instead we got the opposite...a regression of character and a hermit.
After his academy is destroyed and students are murdered by his most gifted apprentice, the most powerful Jedi alive runs off to isolation and reluctantly decides to train a kid that shows up on his doorstep.
Who then returns and faces down Kylo Ren, allowing the Resistance to escape, sparking hope in the galaxy. And all while Force projecting himself from Act-too, ending his life in the most Jedi way with actually fighting, but allowing the fight for a peaceful life to continue. Then, he returns as a Force ghost, having gotten over his depression to encourage Rey to carry on.
I ditched school and waited four hours in line with my friends to see Jedi. The whole theater sat in silence as we watched all the credits, then burst out in cheers and applause. The trilogy is my childhood!
My two older brothers did ditch school to see the movie. They claim they saw one of their teachers at the late mornings show and they just nodded at one another and pretended like they didn't see each other. Truly a magical time to be young
Me too! I was 17, and I skipped school with six of my friends to stand in line for hours on opening day. We sat down front where the forest chase scene filled my field of vision. We would shift and duck in our seats as that great scene played out.
I always loved back in '83, Jabba's Palace Band or (Sy Snootles and Max Rebo Band) having "Lapti Nek" as a music video on Mtv. It was about 3min long. The YT channel "Hoth Iceplanet" posted the original Mtv vid.
I maintain that the lightsaber battle between Vader and Luke is the single best lightsaber fight in the Star Wars saga. It does not have the most dynamic choreography but it feels the most intense and the most "real". Additionally, when you look at how it relates to ep. 4 and 5, you fully see Lukes growth. He goes from barely being able to block the training droid blasts on the Falcon and watching Ben get killed by Vader, to facing Vader personally and getting his butt whupped, to finally meeting and beating him in battle. A great culmination of character growth.
Kasdan also came up with a darker ending for this film in which Luke kills his father, puts his mask on, and says, "Now I am Darth Vader." In short, Kasdan wanted Luke to turn, but Lucas rejected it, and I agree with him. As you said, Luke is trying to save his father, not kill him.
@@chichiboypumpi You mean they humanized Luke by having him tempted by the dark side? To show he was just as fallible? Thus reaching the realization that the dogmatic views of the Jedi and Sith were untenable? The Force simply is, being neither light nor dark. Those who use it are light and dark in nature. It's symbiotic, feeding on the energy of those sensitive to its influence. The galaxy was in an uneasy peace. Remnants of the Empire were still out there doing their Imperial thing. He had the weight of an entire Order on his shoulders. Fear got the better of him. Flawed Luke with the power of introspection is a better character by a country mile than OP, god-tier, infallible Luke.
I may be biased as a former music teacher, but it's John Williams that has been the glue for ALL of the Star Wars Cinematic Universe! Pure genius. When this man passes, it'll hurt more than any celebrity death has in my lifetime.
I wasn't questioning your knowledge sir and I liked your comment. I was only emphazing how much his other scores moved me and made a lot of my childhood movies what they were!
To play devils advocate, if that were true then his music would have made the prequels masterpieces, which they are not. Yes his music is amazing but it is the entire ensemble; story, actors, cinematography AND music which makes for lightening in a bottle. Any weak link brings the whole movie down, to attribute success to any one component is a furphy.
@@zbdot73 I think you missed my point... perhaps if I had said, "he is the main 'constant' in all of the films" it might have been more accurate. I'm very aware of all the "moving parts" of a movie, of course. But John Williams' music is, regardless, sheer genius. Nothing (including others' opinions) takes away from that.
The simple scene of Luke's father on the funeral pyre with Luke watching is really powerful. I always loved that scene as the true ending of the Vader character.
Saw this film a million times since the 80s.What was really unique was that this film had 3 major action sequences and climatic stories going on at the same time.Luke fighting Vader,Han and Leia on Endor and Lando destroying the DeathStar the second time.
Did ya know: according to the lore of Star Wars, Boba Fett actually bets Jabba that Luke will defeat the rancor. (Boba having had engaged in battle against Luke prior to that moment.) Of course, Jabba takes the bet which adds to the gangster's fury when he loses the bet.
Went to see this at Cinema when I was 9. Always thought the space battle at the end was Epic! Especially the special effects at the time that StarWars seemed to stand out from everything else at the time.
IMO Endor is the most epic space fleet battle I've seen in a movie. Scariff wass good but not as good as Endor. Epsiode III really dropped the ball for Coruscant but not having any major characters who stayed in the space fighting once Anakin Obiwan and R2 landed for the rescue. The fleets in episode IX were IMO much more fitting for the scale of the battle but the battle itself wasn't as fun as Endor. Episode Ix's fleets were more on the scale of the Return of the Jedi novelization then what we out on screen and I always wished they would have expanded the fleets and battle for one of the special editions.
Jedi's finale is brilliant as you have three significant types of battles occurring all at once: the ground battle on the surface of Endor, the ship-to-ship battle above Endor, and the lightsaber battle inside the Death Star. Of course, this kind of thing would happen again in later films, but Jedi did it first.
Me and my little bro and sis watched Jedi on VHS in the 80’s and 90’s till the tape wore out. That space battle was the dogs bollocks! Nothing came close until the BSG remake in the mid 2000’s, watching the Galactica and its Viper mk2’s slug it out with those Base Stars and Raiders made me think, yeah! They’ve finally did it!
Yeah I don't think I've ever seen a space fleet battle in a live action movie I thought was better then Endor. On TV I think some of Babylon 5's fleet battles were close though and some of the Galactica reboot's battles
That battle in the end, being juxtaposed by being pov'd by Luke on the D' star, the ground action on the "Sanctuary Moon below" Ewok-land and the biggest space battle in Star Wars made with mostly models. The fact that EChenry can still pick through all the ktbashed ships of the rebel AND imperial fleet and dig through for info and even make modern recreations of them today is testament to that craft at the time. Even if half the models were repurposed apollo saturn rocket kits and off shelf starwars model toy kits lol. I know it was great because even when there was episode one on tape I often watched Return of the Jedi than the rest as a younger lad! Also not because of the twilek dancer Oola although that 'may' have been a part.
The fight between Luke and Vader gives me goosebumps, I feel the emotion from Luke after Vader threaten to turn Leia. Not to mention the space battle was amazing given the technology at that time.
Yeah the emotion in the fight scene where Vader says he will turn his sister,it does give me goosebumps every time and can even bring a tear to my eye, Jedi has always been my favorite of the original trilogy also revenge of the sith is my favorite of the prequel trilogy,last but not least episode 7 is the high light of the sequel trilogy, episode 8and9 though...... wow! Have the mighty fallen
Thats why saying a Jedi has zero attachments is ridiculous. Thats why Luke cared! Thats why Vader turned back. I hate how they changed the Jedi to be ..well supposed to be devoid of emotion or attachments. Love is the thing that causes them to protect and fight. Lame.
For the time??? I defy you to tell me what movie/TV show has equaled the space battle in ROTJ???(scaling issues aside)...lmao. and my sister held my hand back in 83 when we saw jedi at the long gone mall theater. I was afraid luke and the rebels were going to all die. It was one of the greatest emotional rides ever.
I really enjoyed the novels written by Timothy Zahn that take place after the original trilogy. Heir to the Empire and the ones that followed. They were good closure to the story as a whole.
The ewok fight never really bothered me. History has many instances of technologically inferior groups beating down superior forces thru cunning and home field advantage.
Mussolini trying to conquer Ethiopia is good example, the tribes killed off the Italians until he started begging Hitler for help. Sadly once the Germans were involved, they were destroyed because the Germans had the best military on earth at that time
Even the current Ukraine Russia war is a decent example too. What should've been a swift victory for Russia has turned into an unbelievably heroic fight where the far weaker Ukraine is somehow unable to be defeated and is arguably winning....if there really could be any winner all in this
I love this one like the previous 2. Rest in peace Carrie Fisher, David Prowess, Peter Mayhew,Alex Guinness and Kenny Baker. If I forgot anyone please remind me.
Got to meet David Prowse once and he was not shy about saying how unhappy he was that he did not get to be in the suit when Luke takes the helmet off. They never told him that they had hired another actor for the role. Lucas also blamed Prowse for leaking the plot twist in Empire where it was revealed that Vader is Luke's father, which caused a huge rift between the two. Prowse insisted that he was not the leak, but Lucas didn't believe him. It turned out that it was someone else who leaked it to the press.
I once read he had a chip on his shoulder from the very beginning when Lucas dubbed his voice using James Earl Jones (a truly masterful decision… especially if you’ve ever heard Prowse’s voice).
@@Primus54 I've read that also. When they were filming Empire Prowse was supposed to say the Vader lines, even though they were going to dub them later, but instead he would sometimes start speaking gibberish and it would throw the other actors off. My feeling is that they should have just put him in the suit at the end of Jedi.
He did bring Vader to life onscreen, though if he was the body of Vader, James Earl Jones was the blood running through the veins. I feel Lucas should have let him be in the suit. He earned that.
@@adrianchannelle8651 The least Lucas should have done was tell Prowse face to face early on. According to Prowse, he didn't find out until very late in the filming.
I've been a fan of yours Minty since forever. Your videos have gotten me through some tough and dark times. When I haven't had many people to talk to, I've always had you to listen to. If you manage to read this comment amongst all the others it would mean the world to me.Thanks for all the great content over the years 😀
@@schadenfreude6274 🌈 I applaud your bravery. 🌈 But why announce your sexuality to the world, in the comment section of a video about a STAR WARS film? 🌈
I'm an fx artist and Ive loved this guy for awhile. He blows my mind cause he knows things that I didn't even know. Much respect to Mr. Bishop and his.... sponsers? Lol
I'm cool with lightsabers being different colors. We already have seen in the prequel trilogy that lightsabers have different colors since those movies and the original trilogy are canon.
Another deleated scene that I remember, there's also a still from the scene in my RotJ picture storybook. In the scene when Luke visits Jabba, you see him go through the floor in to the Rancor pit. In the deleted scene, you see the Rancor come in and eats the "Piggy-guard." After witnessing this, Luke uses the Force and springs up above the Rancor, and grabs hold of the railings, of the floor he fell through. At this point, the Courtiers that are peering down into the pit, to watch Luke get eaten. Start stamping on Lukes fingers, coursing him to move his hands several times, to stop them stamping on his hand/fingers. This doesn't work, and eventually he drops down into the Rancor, and as he rolls away, to escape it's cluches. This is where the movie shows Luke coming up with the bone, to jam into the Rancor's mouth The stil image in the book shows Luke hanging under the bars, from waist up. And the text says something like, he "lept up, grabbing the bars above him. Seeing this the Courtiers stamped of his fingers, causing him to drip into the eye of the Rancour Monster, which screamed with pain..." I've never seen that clip since I saw it at the Cinema when I was 11.
Disney knew what they were doing, make buy Star Wars and make an unofficial reboot and call it a continuation of the story and millions will pay to see it and buy everything else that has to do with star wars, like merch… sadly people won’t ever change. Lol
My favorite detail in RotJ is that the final duel in the movie is not mainly a fight between Luke and Vader, because he senses what's left of Anakin in him, thus he does NOT want to fight him, but rather a metal battle between Luke and Palpatine. The emperor is constantly reminding him of the "imminent attack on the rebel fleet", the "end of the Rebellion", and trying to turn Luke to the dark side, while Luke refuses time and again. Even when he gives in a little to the dark side in the final phase of his duel with Vader, he still declines on Palpatine's proposal. And in the end, Luke wins this mental battle, with Vader turning back to the light and defeating Palpatine. The sheer determination Luke has is an inspiration to Star Wars fans everywhere.
Thank you, Minty! As much as I love the first two _Star Wars_ films, I’ve personally always felt that _Return of the Jedi_ gets way more shit than it deserves: 1.) Because, to a lot of people, it wasn’t as good as _The EmpireStrikes Back,_ and 2.) The Ewoks. Personally I agree with what Warwick Davis (Wicket, of course) said years later in one of the DVD Featurettes: That the Ewoks were admirable, as a race of primitive creatures, for helping the Rebellion take on the much more technologically advanced Empire on their home Planet of Endor. By the time _Jedi_ hit theaters, I was nine and my Brother was ten. Being much older than our three and four year old selves when _A New Hope_ premiered in 1977, we were naturally able to go see _Episode VI_ more frequently than its predecessors. Did that sway my opinion slightly? Probably. But I don’t care! I’ll always love _Jedi_ just as much as I love _Empire!_
Empire will always be my favorite Star Wars film but the Luke and Vader duel in Jedi is my favorite lightsaber duel. Just such an emotional battle. Also the scene where Luke throws his lightsaber away and declares himself a Jedi to Palpatine is probably my favorite moment in all of Star Wars.
Saw the movie on it's release when I was 10 years old. It was such a huge moment in popular culture, even the release of Avengers:Endgame could'nt top it.
David Lynch, David Cronenberg and Steven Spielberg were considered for Directing the film but they all turned it down, And Lynch's version would have been weird am surreal.
I'm sure the Cronenberg version would have been pretty weird as well but yeah just imagine dune the following year made as a star wars movie. I can see it though, Cronenberg not so much, I mean they both have desert themes and locations.
I never saw any of the newer cuts of the movie even though everybody, at the time, was ranting and raving about them. I'll always prefer the originals as they were intended to be.
With me, when I think of Return of the Jedi, I think of when I was a little girl watching it on dad's old VHS tape, something happened that would forever shape who I am today. Let's just say, the gold bikini made me realize that I liked other women in a different sort of way. 😉 Anyways, thank you, Minty.
My 1st "new" star wars movie was episode 1. I will never forget going, opening day, right after school, with a group of friends. We stood in a crazy long line. Now I wasn't into it as much as I am now, but seeing the scroll at the beginning and hearing the music gave me chills.
I was there for the theatrical release of all three originals, 9 years old in 1978. By Return of the Jedi I was hyped to no end. I had purchased the soundtrack (in vinyl of course) weeks before the premiere, and would listen to it over and over, eyes closed, imagining what that grand adventure was going to be. By premiere day, I knew it by heart and that day I could recognise many of the soundtrack pieces during the movie. The images finally completed the picture I had in my head, and it was beyond all I had dreamt of. It doesn't get any more magical.
Lynch didn't pass because he wasn't interested, he told Lucas to direct it himself because only he could fully realise his vision for the trilogy. Lynch was also busy with Dune at the time, so not exactly a Sci-Fi phobe 😂
wonder where you got this idea. Lynch himself in his OWN book said he was not into sci fi and if so it needs to be done with other genres mixed up. He in his own book said He had next door to Zero interest into producing the film . I never once heard him say he told Lucas to "produce it himself"
Buddy, type David Lynch meets George Lucas into RU-vid and you can see Lynch say he had no interest in doing the 3rd Star Wars film and what Lucas showed him gave him a headache!
Ok, somebody help me out here, stupid question...What is the difference between a Director and a producer? I know the director does just that, but who has more influence in a movie (pace)? Thank you.
Most people are ignorant to the fact that Hamill actually did pretty well for himself after Star Wars. They think that just because he didn’t become a movie star like Harrison Ford did, that he vanished afterwards. Not true, he had a decent career as a voice actor. The voice of the Joker in the Batman animated series is what he’s best known for aside from the Luke Skywalker character. Plus he got some small roles in movies here and there. Carrie Fisher was the only 1 who got the shit end of it after Star Wars
@ImOnIt4272 absolutely… the only 1 of the sequels I saw was Force Awakens and I didn’t care for it. I know that the prequel trilogy was hated by most people, but I’d honestly rather watch the prequels than the sequels. In my opinion, the only 1 of the prequels that sucked was Episode 2 Attack of the Clones. Phantom Menace wasn’t bad at all, jar jar binks was the only thing bad about it. He pretty much ruined the movie. Had he not been in it it would’ve been alot better. But Revenge of the Sith was the best of the prequel trilogy to me
I agree Minty, ROTJ should get an equal amount of praise as the first 2 movies. The 1997 special edition of this film is only one in the trilogy I didn't care for.
Vader's reaction when The Emperor is trying to kill Luke is given more meaning when you take into Anakin stepping in when Mace Windu is deflecting the force lightning. The added "No" does make sense at this point.
I think its why fans where so hungry for the Luke that we all know and love after the Disney sequels. To see Master Jedi Luke destroying Android Dark Troopers was so epic in season 2 of The Mandalorian. Crying is for Star Wars Fans.
The "Blue Harvest" working title was also used in Arizona, USA for the Tatooine scenes. They were prepared with a cover story that the plot centered around forests being reduced to desert, the "harvest" if you will, in case people had seen the Blue Harvest "crew" around both States; the public was told that both the Arizona desert and the California Redwood Forest represented the same fictional location, before and after. We didn't have internet, but Telex was used by many computer nerds of the era. You know us Yanks and guns....well the Endor filming location also saw them having to hire armed security to create a perimeter around the cast, Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) in particular. Mayhew/Chewie had to be protected from Bigfoot hunters because obviously Chewie is Space Sasquatch. The Redwood Forest in the USA is home to many Bigfoot/Sasquatch sightings, basically the North American Yeti, which the Native "Indian" Americans had legends of long before they ever saw a European. The United States, home of Bigfoot and lots and lots of guns.
Back in the day, there was a newspaper article w/ a picture of Jabba's sail barge and enough info on how to find the filming location. A couple intrepid fans went and since it was just the few, they got a semi-royal treatment/access. Look for candid ROTJ photos.
RotJ is my favourite in the series. Luke was my hero growing up & the scene where Vader baits Luke and Luke rushes him in anger and realising the path he was about to go down having defeated Vader, then throwing his light Saber away declaring himself a Jedi; that's my favourite scene in all of SW or in any movie ever.
Honestly, this lightsaber is my favorite one in Star Wars lore. It blew my mind when Luke first activated it. I was expecting a blue one but I ended up yelling "holy shit it's green" at eleven years old.
I can remember skipping school to go see this movie. A local news team was there reporting about how many people showed up. Well, the principal at my school saw this and recognized a bunch of kids who's parents called them in sick at the theater. We all got in trouble the next day when we showed up for class.
I still want to know how Bib Fortuna survived the sail barge explosion. He is clearly shown on board (unlike other characters from Jabba's Palace who appeared later) yet in Book of Boba Fett, Bib Fortuna is shown to be alive and well
I think somehow during the chaos fight over the sarlacc pit, he knew things were not going well with a Jedi appearing with his lightsaber. He escaped using a smaller barge. lol By the way, I saw SW '77 on it's opening day, May 25. 1977 when I was 10 for $2.50 in a "walk in" theater. lol I wish I still had that ticket!! lol The opening title did not say Episode IV on it, either. That happened much later after it became this huge success.
Disney doesn't pay too much attention to pertinent details, except when they cherry pick them to suit their mediocre stories. Another case is at the end of ROJ, when Luke cremates Vader in his armor - so how did Kylo Ren end up with his helmet? It makes no sense.
@@Magneticlaw apparently kylo Ren makes regular trips to endor. he must have a cabin there, or a treehouse or something. at some point he went and retrieved the Vader helmet (we can assume Anakin's body disappeared since he had been redeemed to the light side so hopefully he didn't take the head also) maybe slaughtered a few ewoks for target practice. then of course went back again to dance around on the remains of the death Star with Rey and who knows how many other trips he made to enjoy the view and rummage around ruins of obliterated space stations and the dead body parts strewn about. It's all so stupid , thanks Disney
The trilogy ends beautifully. I find it hard to believe they brought the cast back for 3 more, utterly shite, films. In my opinion that timeline doesn’t exist.
When you were talking about Warwick Davis, I was hoping you would mention that Warwick has appeared in many of the other Star Wars films too! Mostly just as a background character or in a crowd scene, but if you look closely you can catch him!
I remember on Family Guy where they made a movie called Blue Harvest. Weird, right? And Family Guy ended up making 3 Star Wars type movies. I love all those movies and all the first 3 Star War Films!
THX original stood for "Tomlinson Holman's Crossover" after the guy who designed the speaker crossover network while working for Lucasfilm. The coincidence with Lucas's film title made it a good choice.
My mom took me to see this in the theater when it came out. I was six and she brought me cookies and Capri Suns. That day made me the nerd fanboy I am today. Edit: Also in the theatrical release there were more scenes of the B-Wing fighter including shots of its rotating cockpit which made its way into the toy. By the time it was released on VHS and shown on television, Lucas had cut out some of those scenes. I used to think I was going crazy because what I saw on television was not what I clearly remember seeing in the theater. It was years later I realized I wasn't the crazy one. It was Lucas continuously changing the final film. I would love to see that original uncut and unaltered version again.
Honestly, I don't know what's with George that he feels the need to keep tinkering and can't leave well enough alone. Maybe some form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. I felt the original films were perfect as they were.
For my childhood this film was beyond important… it was my world. It was so brilliant and by far my favourite Star Wars movie, in the same way that Temple of Doom was my favourite Indiana Jones movie when I was little. But as you mature and watch more films you come to realise how Empire Strikes Back is the best of the original Star Wars trilogy. It’s just on another level. And the same with Raiders of the Lost Ark, it’s a film that eclipses temple of doom in many ways. I will always love return of the Jedi though, that nostalgia in my heart will never go away.
I'll say this: The Last Crusade is & always has been my favorite Indy movie. I think the character stuff is strongest & it boasts one of the best movie endings ever (IMO). Raiders is cool, though. And yes, Empire Strikes Back is on another level. EVERYTHING felt more refined & I think it has the best score of the entire Star Wars saga.
@@Batman88878 Same, I love Indy Trilogy and I think The Last Crusade is my favorite, I love Indy's entire journey to search for the Holy Grail when the important thing this time was not to recuparete (or if anything steal) an historical artifact or keeping with the girl (who turned out to be bad at the middle of the movie), but to reconcile with his father, having Sean Connery as Indy's father is just ideal, the father of the most famous archaeologist adventurer is the world's most famous spy, R. I. P to the first 007.
You forgot that Jappa Hutt was actually originally portrayed as a human... There are even videos on Y.T showing the scene where Han talks to Jabba where the M.Falcon is parked while Boba-Fett is supervising.
24:39 -- Agreed, but for me, I think Rogue One did a good job leading into Episode IV. My only gripe being the CGI Tarkin and Leia. They should have just cast Charles Dance in the role of Tarkin and Billie Lourd (Fisher's daughter) as Leia. Dance can act anything, and having Billie play Leia in the final scene would have been a lovely send up to Carry. Yeah, she doesn't look exactly like her mum, but that's okay -- it's all of two seconds. Personally, had they done that, I would have crying like a baby at the end seeing Carry's daughter carry the torch. :)
There still hasn't been a space battle as epic in Stars Wars like the Battle of Endor! That and as you say "Luke's dilemma" make this a very enjoyable movie.
I agree. No other space battle I've seen in film has the same combination of direction, editing, music, and high-stakes setup and emotional payoff. Amazed that nothing has really seemed to come close to it in the forty years since its release.
Fully agree with you, Minty! The original SW Trilogy is one of what I consider to be the two best fantasy/adventure trilogies ever put on film. Just in case you’re curious…#2 in my list is Peter Jackson’s LOTR Trilogy. Much love and respect to you and my fellow Mintites!
People loved Jedi back then, but it was seen as the weakest, in comparison. Oliver Stone used to call insincere acting, 'mark hamill moments', which I always thought was unfair. Mark's simple honesty was best for the farmboy who becomes a knight. I concur with you, the series ended in 1983 (I do like Caravan of Courage), but what came after...well, it's not for me. There are three films from my childhood that I love, and will always love.
Hmm interesting. I bet that stinky idea of having luke a defeated lone sad Jedi walking off in the sunset was KK idea no one liked. But when she was bossing Ep. 7 The Farse A-W0kens, she did just that, made Luke a grumpy defeated detronized middleage white man. And she also definitively greenlit killing of Han Solo in the most insulting scene ever.
As a kid I had frequent babysitting work where the only good movies to watch after the kids went to sleep was the original trilogy on vhs. Return of the Jedi was always my favourite of the three movies. I saw the 1997 special edition in theatres just to have have the experience of seeing one of my favourite movies in theatres, bad additions and all. Considering how small the rebel fleet was in the film the original ending with just a small celebration made sense. Seeing the 1997 ending with lots of other planets celebrating left me wondering where all those other planets were during the battle to stop the death star II
Both celebrations make sense, victims in war and bystanders who want their country’s dictator hone or the neighbouring country’s dictator gone, but they so nothing to stop them because their scared and or feel they cannot help stop a dictator, so they could have had a galaxy who hated the Empire but was too scared to stop them, plus who wouldn’t be scared of evil Sith like Vader who could choke you with the force from a video conference call lol or in person or kill you with force lightening like The Emperor.
This was the first movie I saw in a theater!! I was 8 at the time and loved it so it holds a very special place in my heart. But I get the criticism and get why it’s bashed. But I unabashedly have watched this Star Wars movie more than any other Star Wars movie! Please do more Star Wars Minty!!
I was the same age, with Jedi coming out right after my birthday. In later years I, too, have levelled a lot of criticism, though mostly towards the unnecessary (and often times stupid) changes in the special editions. I also hate that the rebel soldiers are completely cut from the ground battle on Endor, with it being nothing but inept stormtroopers facing Care Bears on crack. But for all that, Jedi will still forever hold a nostalgic place in my heart. My sister and I had most of the toys, which I wish we still had!
My one and only issue with the STAR WARS story is how fragging stupid Lucas made the Jedi look in the prequels. I mean even recent fans whom have watched Prequels first say that Senator is shady so he must be bad, yet the Jedi never suspect him until the end.
Re: The title change When the title was changed to "Revenge Of The Jedi", they found out that the title of the second Star Trek movie, being shot at the same time, was "The Vengance Of Khan"! Then lawyers on both sides decided that both productions should sue each other over the similarity of the titles! Eventually, Lucasfilm won, and the title of the Star Trek movie was changed to "The WRATH of Khan"! (Which turned out to be a better title, anyway, IMHO!) Then after a tremendous amount of money had been wasted to appease the lawyers, Lucas decided to change the title back to "Return Of The Jedi"! All lawyers must be shot, soon!
The sound and special effects where stunning on its release. I feel that if the ewoks were a bit harder, feral and vicious people would consider this to be a better movie than the 2nd.
Perfect trilogy? Mmmm that's a bit much. Muppets and then teddy bears who take down the MIGHTY Empire with...sticks and stones 😂😂 compared to Disney trilogy it's a masterpiece.
A deleted scene that NO ONE MENTIONS is the fact that Lucas wasn't confident that the Admiral Ackbar suit would work, and he filmed the entire cruiser bridge sequence with General Madine and a human crew if the effects for the Mon Cals didn't look good on film. And another thing is that he had female Rebel pilots filmed (This was cut because if women soldiers died onscreen, the film might possibly receive an "R" rating in the US (there was no PG-13 back then) I guess this isn't well known among fans that aren't old enough to have seen this film in theatres. These two things don't seem to be mentioned much now
Well done Minty! As a child, I always liked Return of the Jedi the most. It seems cliché to be a fan of Empire Striks Back these days. Also, I agree with you about every Star Wars post ROTJ. Aside from Rogue One. I love how that movie leads directly into A New Hope.
Same, I grew up with the original trilogy, and Rogue One is far and away the most Star Wars thing to come out since Jedi, with the Mandalorian coming in a pretty close second.
Couple of notes I wanted to mention: Although the movie made over $475 million at the box office, Lucasfilm to this day still claims that it did not make a profit - of a movie that was made for $32 million! There is a cut scene with Luke and Yoda where Yoda admits that he had instructed Obi-Wan not to tell Luke who his father was. It’s not that he was boldface lied to, but more that he was given a white lie to protect him. One of the production drawings of Jabba the Hutt was eventually reused as the two headed monster (the Ebersisk) in the movie Willow (starring of course, Warwick Davis). This has become a common place thing in the last few years; reusing production drawings for other characters or settings in later projects such as The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett. I really like the idea - - - some of these art pieces are so good that you hate to see them simply wind up in a book on the making of the movie. You actually want to see them utilized.
What you're not factoring is Lucas sunk all of his money (12 mill) into the movie with a 15-20 mill budget, that wound up costing 2x what it was supposed to... and Lucas was contracted only to receive so much of those profits. The other investors and banks got most of the 400+ mill profits. That's how movies get made. Lucas made his money in toys far more than the movie deals.
If the internet was around in 83,I can only imagine how people would be bitching about Lucas making the big threat another Death Star..”Like can’t u think of something original George?!”.I’m done with SW forever!”
I also can’t stand the Special Editions, Minty. They were unnecessary. I’m glad I got the last DVD release with the old films on side B (2006). As a kid growing up in the mid 70s to mid 80s Star Wars was IT! The best of times…
Nice Video Minty, your video appears to be based for the most part on the original theatrical version of this film. Return of the Jedi is not a bad movie at all, but it did give birth to Lucas's then new THX sound, which became the standard for movies to come. Ford never really was a fan of his Han Solo, preferring his other character Indiana Jones. I have never really liked Lucas constant tinkering with the franchise since the 1997 Special Edition.
Agreed. I was (mostly) okay with what they did to the first two films, but that godawful song and dance number in Jabba's palace is just awful. And the Vader, "Noooo!" was idiotic. It was so much more intense and emotional when he remained silent and acted without saying a word.
@@legionarybooks13 Couldn't agree more. The Nooo! is one of the most cringe-worthy changes I've ever seen, maybe even worse than seeing the Hayden-as-Vader force-ghost.
Ford really didn't like Han Solo. The 'General' who was ordered to blow up Endor was 'Moff Jerjerodd' and one scene that ended up on the cutting room floor (and you briefly show) has Jerjerrodd standing up to Vader, telling Vader he cannot enter a chamber - only for Vader to force choke him and Jerjerodd tells him his orders come directly from the Emperor and Vader backs down and sarcastically apologizes. Jerjerodd then equally sarcastically say's 'Very good' as he turns enters the chamber (his message seemingly being 'Don't think that you alone are privy to the Emperor's plans.') The new Special edition had a couple of changes in Jabba's palace - one scene has Boba Fett skulking through the palace throne room and then tickling one of the hand maidens under the chin. It doesn't keep with the idea of the cold, focused bounty hunter. I agree with the feeling that Return of the Jedi was the weakest of the trilogy. TESB was by far the best. But Starwars holds a special place in my life just for the opening shot of the Star destroyer and in the last few years the scene with a frustrated Luke on Tatooine against the sunset after being told he has to stay for another harvest genuinely pulls on the heartstrings and you can feel the recklessness of youth.
Many people say that Return of the Jedi is the weakest, but I actually say it's the strongest. Why? Cause of Darth Vader's death. You feel sad for Darth Vader when he dies, who is hated in New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. But that's my opinion, and opinions are like assholes, everyone has them and they all stink.
Should’ve been the final episode of the original story. 7, 8, & 9 were a huge mistake. The word “Return” makes no sense now that the sequel trilogy exists, too. 1, 2, & 3 were ok.
I was an 80s kid . Return is the weakest of the trilogy David Prowse was a decorated body builder - he trained Christopher Reeve for superman . He did the voice over in Star Wars which was later overdubbed and pissed prowes off. His autographed pictures of Vader were all signed “ David Prowse is Darth Vader”
"You'll never get a blue ray of the star wars that you used to know!" That parody was amazing, and so on point - the old Star Wars are gone unless you have a VHS original...
Special effects added to the cloud city in ESB were a big improvement in my opinion. Transparency issues for speeders in hoth battle removed were welcome as well. ROTJ was probably the one needing less fixing. When it was released I remember everyone talking about the amazing speeder bike scenes, and when I had the VHS copy, I remember watching the space battle at the end over and over and being amazed at how good it was.