Sam Witwer Defends Return of the Jedi as Brilliant 

James Earl Jones said, he always imaged that Vader was shedding tears as he watched Luke get electrocuted by Sidious. That when Vader realized he was crying, that he loved his son and son loved him. Anakin returned in that moment and slayed Vader forever. That look of Vader going from Luke to Sidious was Anakin realizing what was going on. Anakin being Anakin, he did the craziest most dangerous thing possible, grab Palpatine and throw him over the nearest railing.

I honestly can't believe it even needs defending.

SAM FUCKING GETS IT! OH MY GOD HE GETS IT! "Luke's gonna reject his elders...Luke's a man now. They're telling him to go kill his father...and that's the only way to win. And Luke is gonna refuse to do that." Dude. I talk about this very thing all the time.

“ ‘We’re gunna have him prove that he’s the one true Jedi by having him not kill his father’ They wouldn’t do that in hollywood nowadays...” Rise of skywalker: *Rey proves she’s the “one” true Jedi by simply killing grandPaPalpatine* Yep... Sam was right about all of it.

Dear Disney, PLEASE PUT HIM IN A STAR WARS MOVIE, he would be so good in them.

I've only noticed this now, but Sam is absolutely right: everyone and their mother wanted Luke to kill his father, be they Jedi or Sith.

Wow. This has given me so much insight into this movie and has made me enjoy it so much more. I already absolutely love it and it's inching closer to my favorite. I do think Lucas also unintentionally, possibly highly intentionally, made this movie exponentially better through the prequels with some lines of dialogue, specifically the last words said to Anakin. In the prequels all the important characters anakin loved (His mother, Padme, and Obi-Wan) leave him and all their last lines of dialogue to him are: Shmi- I...I love (dies), Padme-I love you (then in a sense leaves him) and Obi-Wan- I loved you (literally leaves him). All of these people who said they loved him left him which is what Anakin tried so desperately to prevent but then in RotJ when he is about to die the last words ever said to him from his own son are not I love you but I Won't Leave You. Finally to end the tragedy, or perhaps to cement it, he no longer has to worry about loss; his son won't leave him. If that's not heart wrenching I don't know what is.

I want to be stuck in a room with Dave Filoni, Jon Faveruou, Sam Witwer, George Lucas and the force ghost of Joseph Campbell

Sam Witwer's impressions are funny as hell. He does the voice of Emperor Palpatine for 'Star Wars Battlefront'.

This is the perfect explanation on why Return of the Jedi is the perfect ending and that Rise of Skywalker does everything Sam says Hollywood would typically do.

I think Sam would have made a great Kylo Ren, when I look at him I see a little Leia and Han. Plus he really know his Star Wars stuff.

And this is another reason why Sam Witwer is awesome!

Great analysis and very true, he's not making shit up out of thin air to make the story fit.

The George Impression is damn good!

I'm so glad Sam cleared everything up about Vader's characterizations actually being in Jedi. I think people just assume all his character stuff happened in Empire because it's considered a better movie overall. The only thing we saw more of in Empire was him choking more officers. Sure, there's the father reveal, but that doesn't reveal anything new about his character, it's just something they dropped on the audience 10 minutes before the credits rolled. The actual characterization happened in Jedi.

Anyone else think it's funny that you can find this guy PUNTING EWOKS in the force unleashed 2 dlc?

Everything Sam is saying is stuff I basically got from the movie, and made me wonder why people didn't like this movie. It's a phenomenal film to the original trilogy.

Couldn't agree more. ROTJ is my personal favourite because after all the talk/mentions of Jabba and the Emperor in Episode 4 & 5, this is the one that you finally see them 'in the flesh'. It ties up the plot nicely. The humour is great. The Emperor is fantastic, I mean, beyond excellent. I'm not the biggest Ewok fan, but I don't really mind them, and as you said it makes the dark elements of the plot more poignant due to the juxtaposition. At any rate, I think it's difficult to argue that the bad outweighs the good in this film, as some people do. Even if you assume the Ewoks as 100% crap and unwatchable, you still have the Luke/Vader/Emperor scenes at the same time while that amazing space battle by the Death Star is happening. But I still hold the opinion that if ANY of the Original Trilogy is your favourite, you can't be wrong. 4, 5, 6 - all have merits to be the favourites, and to be rightly classed as the best. TL;DR: Star Wars fucking rules either way.

So- I didn't find out people didn't like Return of the Jedi until I hit adulthood. Which surprised the hell outta me because it's still my favourite.

Holy crap. His Lucas impersonation is so spot-on. The really simple words he uses and the pauses he takes. Wow.

I have such a greater appreciation for Return of the Jedi after this most insightful commentary. Sam brought to my attention things I've never considered. Goes to show you, although George may not be a strong director or screenwriter, he's no doubt one heck of a storyteller!

FINALLY! Someone who actually understands what Star Wars is all about, including the Prequels. Much respect to you Sam

I met Sam Witwer at a local comic con a few years ago and he was totally awesome. Following him on Twitter and seeing him compete on Collider's Schmoedown Movie Trivia just makes me a bigger fan of his than I was before. He's a legit beast when it comes to Star Wars trivia. I know a lot of shit about the movies but he's got some scary knowledge of all of the films. Big fan of Tiffany and John as well.

My favorite Star Wars voice actor is defending my favorite star wars film.....HOLY CRAP I LOVE THIS

I’ve seen Return of the Jedi several times, and I never realized that about Luke when he’s on Endor. What I love about the movie are the slower moments, characters are taking in what’s going on around them, it’s thoughtful and deep. Yeah the opening runs a bit long, and yes there are Ewoks, but it’s got some of the best moments of Star Wars in all the movies

Return of the Jedi is my favorite film of the Luke trilogy. It has the best space battle of both trilogies. It was trumped by the space battle in Rogue One. The movie worked for me. I have no complaints.

Couldn't agree more. This is a wonderful film and great concluding chapter to this landmark series.

The scenes with the emperor are so good

I never understood the distaste for ROTJ. It’s honestly my favorite of the entire 6 films. Sam did a great job here, you can always tell he’s a Star Wars fan!

I think the only thing that hurts this film is that George didn't go with his initial idea of putting the Deathstar's construction over Kashyyyk instead of Endor. That would have been so cool to emotionally involve Chewie (and Han) in that way. I think the SW Christmas special may have been a pothole he didn't want to step in. But it would have been cool at this point to have gone to that planet in the prequels and then again here.

Return of the Jedi is my favorite Star Wars movie :) . I am a huge Star Warsfan and Sam Witwer is awesome too :)

Sam Witwer's and Dave Filoni's grasp on the star wars universe is refreshing and enlightening. They articulate what I knew was good about certain films, but couldn't bring it to words like they could.

I love Return of the Jedi. The ending with Vader’s funeral always makes me cry and really makes me feel the trilogy has come to a bitter sweet ending point.

Well said Starkiller!!!

The force brought me here.

I love how down to earth this guy is. you. an hear the humbleness in his language. like a breath of fresh air today

I totally agree with Mr. Witwer.

Top 3 movies for me go 1. V 2. III 3. Tie between IV/VI

I personally love Return of the Jedi, while it had it’s flaws, I cannot imagine a more perfect ending to the original trilogy.

Sam Witwer, I love you dude! There are many ways people try to explain why the prequels didn't quite land with audiences, and without even knowing it you just gave the most basic and fundamental reason that they feel wrong. Taking away any problems a fan may have on a technical, scripting or Jar Jar level, it's all about Vader. Return of the Jedi built the concept of Vader being a conflicted character. Without any firm details of his back-story we are introduced too and accept his internal struggle. We know he was a good guy turned bad, we've seen him be a bad guy, but there are scenes planted to show that it it isn't that cut and dry for him. He made his choices and thinks he made the right ones until RIGHT NOW when he is faced with his own son and made to see him as a mirror for himself in those moments. He sees his son given (as far as we know when Jedi was made) the same choices and conflicts but choose the opposite path. Luke says NO and is going to die for that choice and Vader in that moment realises he can't allow his son to die for making the RIGHT choice. Then we get the prequels that supposedly show how Anakin becomes Vader and all of that journey is taken away. Now Anakin was ALWAYS a whiny, ungrateful, impulsive, disrespectful, arrogant, dumbass who wouldn't listen to anyone but the only guy who was very clearly manipulating him for his own gains. But in the new version he says 'Nooooo!' when he throws the Emperor of the catwalk, so clearly that is better character development than he originally had. Blah, blah, blah... Thank's Sam!

Lmao he’s so right at the end. Hearing The “Soon I’ll be dead...and you with me.” Line as a kid I was like “wait? What did he just say??” As the emperor starts laughing Lmao. What a sicko.

Holy shit Sam witwer just changed my mind on this movie... fuck

Return of the Jedi is a masterpiece. I'll never understand why anybody could dislike it.

Starkiller knows his stuff

Ive never said a bad thing about Return of the Jedi. Its my favorite movie.

A Jedis fury and the emperor theme are so frigging good

Hollywood would have him go fight and win. Listening to this after episode 9 is very interesting 🤣

The 4 pillars of star wars (living): George Lucas, Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, Sam Witwer. You get all 4 of these guys together wherein they come up with ideas and look at each other as equals, and you may very well get the greatest star wars content in world history

When I was a kid, RotJ was my favourite (it still is) but I could never explain why it was, beyond that Luke and Vader were my favourite characters. There was something that I found very powerful even then about the revelation that under his armour the most feared man in the galaxy (after the Emperor) was a vulnerable old man, and it always made sense to me that Luke would save him, because Luke was the hero and saving people is what heroes do. It's only as I've gotten older that I've been able to analyse this and work out why this hits me at such a deep level. I think it's fair to say many of us have conflict with our father to some degree when growing up. Sons throughout time have wrestled with their father's expectations of them just as fathers have tried from time immemorial to fashion a legacy through their sons and preserve the bloodline, which is why it's the father's name that is handed down in most cultures. It must be remembered that Luke grew up as an orphan, raised by his adoptive parents but never felt like he belonged. When he discovered his father's legacy as a Jedi warrior he suddenly realised who he was - a Skywalker - and what that meant to him. Yet, that idealised image he had of his father was almost completely destroyed when he discovered who the monster he had been fighting and obsessing over really was. Yet Luke always clung to his idea of who his father should be because if he could not believe that there was still good in his father, then he was doomed to become a monster himself. The Luke Skywalker story is the story of a boy becoming a man. It is only when the son becomes the father, metaphorically, having made his mistakes and learned through his errors and suffering just as his forebear had, that he becomes a man. Then the father is no longer needed, his purpose having been served. This is why Anakin has to die once he is redeemed - his story is now complete and it is time for the next saga to begin. As they say, Star Wars is about family and what is more intrinsic to the notion of family than the older generation bringing up the younger generation to take their place? Beyond the coming of age aspect, this journey highlights something important about human nature. When we see Anakin Skywalker under that helmet it's not a scarred and deformed monster like we all thought, just a pale, sad and weak old man filled with regrets and with only one joy left, which was the realisation that in his son is a legacy not of evil but of goodness. Just as with the flap on Luke's tunic hinting at the lightness within, Anakin's ashen skin suggests the lightness within Vader. It is Anakin Skywalker's legacy, not Darth Vader's, that matters, but Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were still two sides of the same coin. In everyone there is darkness and light and all that stops us from falling from the light to the dark is hope. Darth Vader is devoid of hope ("It is too late for me," he says when Luke tells him he senses the good in him), while it is hope that gives Luke the strength to exercise restraint and stand up to the Emperor. I think that's the underlying message in all of this: never give up hope. If even a man who has lost everything and dedicated his life to spreading his pain across the galaxy can be redeemed, then surely there's hope for all of us to find out way back out of our darkest hour.

Honestly imo empire and Jedi are the absolute best of all the Star Wars films

Return of the jedi is actually my favourite star wars movie, dont know why it gets hate i love it.

I'm just here to hear Sam Witwer's voice.

I love Sam Witwer, who'd have thought Darth Maul would be the guy for explaining what makes Ewoks great?

Sam Witwer is *the* brain.

I adore ROTJ. Not only is it my sentimental favourite in the saga (the only of the original trilogy i saw in the cinema when it came out in 83') but it more than stands up in its own right with some of the best scenes and dialogue (emperor's throne room!!!) Sam is bang on with his analysis and it made me appreciate this masterpiece even more!

Return of the Jedi has always been my favourite.

He makes a great defence of Return of the Jedi, It was actually my favourite for many years, until I saw Revenge of the Sith.

The Last Jedi was my very first Star Wars movie when I was 8 years old. Dude I had a blast! My eyes were glued to the screen when I saw Luke skywalker fight Vader with his green saber. Plus his black suit is awesome. I loved the Ewoks when I was a kid and I still love them now at the age of 29. I think it’s ridiculous that people were complaining about the Ewoks. Sam Witwer is a cool guy 😎👍🏼

Chewie doing the Tarzan scream was awesome!

I love return of the jedi and hearing Sam defending it makes me spark with joy!

JJ, Rian, and Kathleen should have listened to this one RU-vid clip before starting

Always difficult to follow up a new hope and empire strikes back , but i love ROTJ as a kid and still love it now. Lukes portrayal is so well done. The first 45 mins at jabbas palace is amazing.

After listening in here, I can tell you that my respect level went up by 100%. He's knowledgeable and makes a compelling argument. Good stuff.

That's what I always argue, the ewoks balance the film... the opening is extremely dark with Rancor eating people, Sarlak pit, jabba, naked slave Leia.... the ending is dark, and grimm, and sad... the Ewoks balance all that (like balance of the force) with being happy, cute, kid friendly.... but lets not forget... some of the ewok scenes are dark as well, we see a few of them die, with some of them crying... I think the ewoks are their to give the trilogy a happy ending... if they won in a dark world of desert of tatooine, swamp of dagobah, and didn't go to the nice planet of Endor with the funny, cute ewoks I don't think the ending would feel as happy... it gives the world something worth saving, and all the humans, and ewoks happy at the end makes you feel happy... I don't know I was a kid (born89) when I saw it, and loved it... can't understand why people don't. I never even knew people thought ROTJ was anything other than short of a masterpiece... arguably tied for best SW film ever with Empire Strikes Back for me.

4:35 ‘Hollywood would just have him go fight and win’, well that was oddly prophetic.

During his livestreams you get to hear a LOT of Sam Witwer's behind the scenes commentary on especially Star Wars, but also a great many movies and TV series' as well as music and video games. Not just as an actor, but the creation process from a lot of different perspectives. The guy is awesomely well informed and has a wealth of experience and insight to draw upon. If you haven't, follow him on Twitch and try to catch his streams. Also the voices he does during games are hilarious. Most common/popular requests: Arnold, Darth Maul, the Emperor, Christopher Walken, Randy Savage... Watching him play Skyrim with a Barbarian character that sounds like Conan but has a Walken inner-monologue is just .... there are no words. :P

I remember finding this in Wolf's liked videos. Still holds up.

I never understand why alot of people hate this one I love it I even like the Prequals thank you Sam for seeing the good in Return of the Jedi.

RotJ is my personal favorite. Nothing can ever change that.

What I like most about Sam’s arguments is that, on top of the sincere appreciation he has for the works themselves, he brings *receipts*. He can and does walk through every relevant point to his larger argument, and can properly explain how it all logically ties together instead of referencing and then moving on as so many similarly passionate people do. For him it really is the leaves as much as the forest and it shows.

I could listen to Sam Witwer talk about Star Wars all day

Return of the Jedi is my favorite Star Wars film. Followed closely by Empire Strikes Back.

I love that. So Luke is going to embrace his elders. NO! He’s going to reject them and that’s how he proves he’s the one true Jedi

WOW.. something i hadn't seen before.. now i need to go watch it again! Thanks Neil Perry

5:10 Gotta love how subtly Sam went "Yeah no you're completely wrong, but let's move on."

Return of The Jedi is by far my favourite Star Wars movie. I love the second attack on The Death Star and Luke VS Darth Vader is still my favourite fight in the franchise that and Yoda confirming Leia was Luke's sister much have been mind blowing.

Why does anyone feel the need to defend it? Never mind that it’s a Star Wars film, it’s a great film in its own right. And it’s second best in the original trilogy behind “Empire” and I think it’s better than “Hope”. Just my opinion.

Wow this dude has fantastic insights. Some new stuff and some old stuff I'm hearing but he layed it out so well.

All true and valid, but also not forgetting... the entire Jabba's palace sequence is probably the best shit in the whole original trilogy. I used to watch that over and over as a kid and still now it incites so much joy and excitement in me. The environment is so dangerous and engrossing, the costumes so sweet and seeing Luke ignite his green sabre for the first time and just take out everyone is never not fun

Disney tried to reboot Star Wars in their own image. It failed.

Golf clap for Sam Witwer!

RotJ is my fav SW movie and I’m glad it’s finally getting recognized

Hans character development was complete in empire when he got frozen for his friends and valued them above himself for once. He only needed to show up for his role in the final fight. Its preference that people wanted more screen time.

fanboy flicks brought me here!

I don't see why people are hating on Return Of The Jedi. The Ewoks? Get over it, they were adorable. The Darth Vader versus Luke thing was completely emotional and struck true. Maybe this is the unpopular opinion, but I'd go as far as to say I don't see why people like the Empire Strikes Back. People seem to like the dark ending and I don't know why. Return Of The Jedi ended the story perfectly.

Look, I thought the Ewoks taking down the “elite squadron of the Empire” might have been a little silly, but I get the point of it and I loved the film! Emperor Palpatine is also a standard, comic book, Shakespearean villain who maniacally laughs as evil and pain. Everyone loves him!

I have always loved The Return Of The Jedi! It’s my number 1 SW movie, then 3, 5 etc. And great to hear this point of view I haven’t thought about Ewoks that much, they never bothered me anyway.

so you're telling me that the whole time when Chloe Dykstra was banging Chris Hardwick, she NEVER watched Star Wars with him?! i find that hard to believe

I’m so grateful that somebody else can articulate how I feel! Thank you for posting this. ROTJ is my favorite of the 3. My friends all argue with me over this haha SEEING LUKE IN FINAL FORM WAS HEAVEN DUDE his performance is genius. I was always so on edge during that final battle of father and son, with that music, Jesus Christ, it’s the climax of the trilogy in my opinion. Even if it was 3am on a shitty school night. The VHS rolling on the repeating VCR, I’d sit up and watch that part. it earns it. it earned my respect. Ewoks rule, I’m not afraid to stick up for the Ewoks. At least they murdered stormtroopers while laughing. I think that’s morbid, I guess new Star Wars fans want more gore. Like Snoke, yea he’s AWESOME BRO 😎 ummmm who is he though ? oh just a turd clone from weekend at PALPIE’S? Ok 👌

I hate the Ewoks, but I understand what Sam is saying. I know Han was added super late, but he could have been put in the Millenium Falcon with Lando, and they should have stayed with the original idea of using Wookies instead of the Ewoks. But that is my cross to bare. But Jabba's Palace is so fun, the final showdown for Luke is the most emotionally compelling scenes in Star Wars, and it was the best way to end the Skywalker Saga.

Very good analysis.

Return of the Jedi is a great movie, a GREAT movie.

As cheesy as it is to say, I can listen to Sam talk about Star Wars for hours. His passion and appreciation for this series, along with the way he is able to carry himself in his explanations is awesome!

I really love the music when Darth Vader fight with Luke such emotions in it and with the emperor

I love that Sam is a massive fan too. Perfect, perfect break down

Always felt this way.

Its amazing how I had an OP characters conversation with Sam years back. Months before TFA would come out as well. He knows his stuff.

I think to Sam’s final point Star Wars just in it of itself is badass You don’t always need to make the extra attempt to make it so I mean I just watched an over 3 hours compilation video detailing some of the most significant and brutal battles during the clone wars The sheer notion of lore and amount of detail and beauty in what they can create, in a universe that doesn’t exist is so badass man Umbara, Mygeeto, Atraken, Doro, such badass stories

Unintentionally this explains why the new trilogy's final act doesn't work

Anyone else kinda wanna see Sam play a live action Thrawne? Might seem like a weird choice but I think he’s pull it off well. And I mean come on... the man just eats, sleeps, and breathes Star Wars... he needs more to do lol