Revisiting RETURN OF THE JEDI...

Earlier today, I went to AMC theaters to watch the third film in the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi.

Also known as Episode VI, Return of the Jedi was back on the big screen to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its original theatrical debut in 1983...even though the version that's now being shown at the multiplexes is the 1997 Special Edition (which I saw on the big screen when was a junior in high school at that time).

While it was a thrill to see Jedi at the theater—with such awesome action sequences as Luke Skywalker freeing his friends from Jabba the Hutt's sail barge near the Sarlacc Pit on Tatooine, the thrilling speeder bike chase between Luke, Princess Leia and the scout troopers through the Endor forest, the Battle of Endor between the Rebel Alliance and the Imperial fleet, and Luke's final showdown with Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine back on the big screen—revisiting this movie after multiple Star Wars films and TV shows were released since 1997 made me realize how flawed this flick really was!

Up until the much-maligned Star Wars prequels were released between 1999 and 2005 (and The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker premiered in 2017 and 2019, respectively), Jedi was considered the worst film in the Star Wars saga...and I can see why.

On the big screen, the scenes at Jabba's palace in the first act of the movie were boring as heck, even with the updated visual effects for the Rancor and new shots added of the Max Rebo Band and Boba Fett. Princess Leia was incapable of silently sneaking through the palace in the middle of the night as she sought to free Han Solo from carbonite, and the dialect she used when Leia was disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh was as laughable as the way Groot talked in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, and I don't mean that in a good way for Boushh.

The scene where Luke, Han, C-3PO, R2-D2 and Chewbacca were caught in that Ewok trap on Endor was edited in a haphazard way...with R2 taking less than 5 seconds to cut a hole wide enough for all five characters to fit through as they fell from the net. Basically, I couldn't wait till Luke finally told Leia that they were related (which makes one wonder what the heck were George Lucas and Irvin Kershner thinking when they had Leia give Luke a wet kiss at the Rebel base on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back), because it's after this that Luke departed from the Ewok village to confront Vader...and the best parts of Return of the Jedi were about to be shown on the silver screen!

Despite the flaws in Episode VI, this movie had some of the best Star Wars musical themes by legendary composer John Williams—ranging from Approaching the Death Star, Sail Barge Assault, the Luke and Leia theme, Into the Trap, The Ewok Battle and The Dark Side Beckons to The Emperor's Death. Oh, and I emphatically prefer the Victory Celebration track in the Special Edition over the Yub Nub song in the 1983 version!

Return of the Jedi isn't perfect, but it was still a classic way of ending a science-fantasy trilogy that revolutionized cinema. It's depressing that the happy ending that Luke, Han and Leia enjoyed at the end of Episode VI was spoiled three decades later by the events of The Force Awakens, but it's also awesome to see how the galaxy fared in the post-Palpatine era through Disney+ shows like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and this August's Ahsoka.

I'm wondering if all three movies in the original trilogy will simultaneously hit the big screen again like they did in 1997! Until then, I'll just watch them over and over on my DVD player.

May the Force be with you!