Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Review

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Review

We’re in week #3 of my Star Wars review series, that means we’ve reached the end of the original trilogy. Today I’m reviewing Return of the Jedi. This is an interesting movie within the Star Wars franchise because there’s a lot of people that’ll say that this was the last great Star Wars movie. Do I agree? Only time will tell. 

The Good

To me, I think Return of the Jedi is a very solid and satisfying finale to the original trilogy. Where it concludes the character arcs and the themes established in A New Hope so well. You get the completion of Luke’s character arc in the film, when you watch the three films you really understand how much he’s grown. He’s gone from this farm boy from Tatooine, a pretty boring planet in A New Hope. The Empire Strikes Back is really Luke’s origin story where he meets Yoda and starts training. When we meet Luke in this film he’s a Jedi, he’s not training anymore, he’s a fully established Jedi. Luke’s character arc is a perfect example of the classic hero’s journey going from a farm boy to this Jedi that helps save the universe. We get the resolution for the romance between Han and Leia. Once again, when you see where they started in A New Hope and where they’re at, at the end of this movie you see the journey. I think Return of the Jedi is BY FAR the most satisfying conclusion to a Star Wars trilogy. It’s the film that has the biggest payoff in terms of the emotional weight and the action set pieces. I think the disappointment and the fumbled nature of The Rise of Skywalker is why the sequel trilogy isn’t looked upon super fondly because they fumbled the ending. I’ll say this, this is my least favorite or the original trilogy but it’s still fantastic. This “weakest” film is still better than so many other best films of trilogies. 

The other thing about this movie is that it moves at a really nice pace and it’s never boring. The film starts off very exciting at Jabba’s palace and then we head off on our adventure on Endor and then we’re in the finale with space battles and lightsaber duels with Darth Vader and the Emperor. There’s not actually that many big set pieces in the movie. Jabba’s Palace, Endor, and the Death Star are really the only big three locations we go to. But we spend so much time at each of those locations and every location is exciting and thrilling in its own way. This is the longest film in the original trilogy but it doesn’t feel that way. It feels much shorter because it moves so quickly and you’re already to the finale before you know it. Watching through this original trilogy made me sad in a sense because of how different blockbusters are in 2026 compared to 1983. The day I’m writing this is days after I saw Avatar: Fire and Ash and one of my big issues with that movie was that it felt too long. With this movie we’re quickly introducing our characters and getting off on the adventure. Every single sequence is long and exciting. I forgot how much I like the Endor sequence, the speeder chase with Luke and Leia is exciting. 

While the film is very exciting and thrilling, the film is able to evoke big emotions as well. Especially as you move into the third act and you get the confrontation between Luke and Vader that the entire trilogy has been building towards you feel these big emotions as Vader’s character arc is complete and you see him turn into the hero and save his son by the end of it. I kind of forgot just how emotional the third act can be because the character work is so strong. What’s great about Vader’s arc in the original trilogy is that it’s very straight forward and simple. It really only happened starting at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. You watch A New Hope and it’s not hinted at all that Vader has any connection to Luke. But you get the big twist in The Empire Strikes Back and Vader’s arc starts. That’s the power of great storytelling and great characters that such simple character arcs can be so simple. Even Vader’s final moments of him taking the mask off and seeing Luke hints at all of the right notes that it’s supposed to. This is why I think the original trilogy is so special in terms of blockbusters and movies because they’re films that are able to be exciting and thrilling but also have moments that can evoke big emotions. MCU movies can balance the tone of being fun while being heartfelt, but there’s something about the way that blockbusters were done back in the day that makes them feel different. They’re not overly complex with a bunch of subplots or whatever. Because the story and the characters were so simple, they could build off of that. 

The other thing that I thought was interesting about this movie was it feels different from A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. It’s easy to forget that all three of the films in the original trilogy were directed by a different person, but the film is still able to have the same tone and vibe of the previous two films. George Lucas directed A New Hope, Irvin Kershner directed The Empire Strikes Back, and Richard Marquand directed this film. The direction of the movie and the way it plays out feels different from what came before but also feels different. I feel like Marquand is able to put his stamp on the movie and craft a film that’s a great mix of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. What I mean by that is I think A New Hope is a very fast paced enjoyable film. It starts off with this action sequence and it never lets up until the credits roll. However, I think The Empire Strikes Back is the best directed Star Wars movie that we’ve gotten, and I think Return of the Jedi is a fact paced film that’s better directed than A New Hope. The sequences that I’ve talked about in the past are incredible and so fast paced. But the direction and I think because Lucas isn’t directing the film that’s why it feels better directed. Watching this film after watching A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back made me realize that. 

Finally, the practical work in this movie is very good and reminds you how good it was back in the day before we got CGI. The big note for this is the big space battle in the third act. This is probably the best space battle in the Star Wars franchise where it’s shot so well and staged so well. What makes it great and so impressive is that it’s all practical and set yet they were able to stage an incredible space battle. Even the Ewoks aren’t CGI there were people in small suits that were walking and doing all of that stuff. That’s what’s so impressive about rewatching the original trilogy is you have a trilogy that has CGI and computer graphics in there but they had to use practical elements to make the sequences work and make them exciting. It shows how different filmmaking has become from the early 80s to 2026. I wish that we had more filmmakers like Christopher Nolan that would do practical effects in order to make it more immersive. 

The Bad

The big thing here is that while the sequence at Jabba’s place is very cool and exciting, it feels odd as the first act to this film. I believe it’s the only action sequence in this entire trilogy where the Empire isn’t involved in some way. But the plot of the movie is about the Rebels defeating the Empire. The sequence acts as a prologue to the story but doesn’t really set anything up for what the plot of the movie is. I wish they found a way to add in the Empire, or have an Imperial Spy involved in the sequence in some way. So you can feel the threat and danger of the Empire while also doing this fun sequence at Jabba’s palace. I don’t have a pitch for what it should look like, I just wish and think there was a way to add the Empire into the sequence in some way. Beyond that, in the sequence there’s a lot of ridiculous stuff with the singing aliens that feels out of place. It’s an odd thing that George Lucas wanted to add in the special editions that add no value to the sequence whatsoever. It’s more of a distraction and feels out of place from the rest of the movie and the trilogy in terms of the tone. 

Also, this is a small thing but I think this is easily John Williams’ weakest score in the original trilogy. To be clear, I think John Williams is a legend and the best film composer of all time. Even when I say his score for Return of the Jedi isn’t great, it’s still really good. It has all of the right themes and pieces of music that play at the right moments. But what I think Return of the Jedi lacks are the iconic melodies that A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back have. I don’t think there’s anything as iconic in this movie as is in this movie. Maybe it’s a bit unfair to compare this movie’s score to two of the best film scores of all time. But when something that’s expected in a Star Wars movie is a great score and this one doesn’t reach that level, I think it means it’s disappointing. 

Final Thoughts: Return of the Jedi is probably the weakest film of the original trilogy but it’s still fantastic. The fact that this is the weakest film shows how good the trilogy is and if this movie was in other trilogies it’ll probably be the best of the bunch. This is a great blockbuster that does the best job of closing out a Star Wars trilogy. There’s so much in this movie that I love and I think it’s one of the best Star Wars movies. I get why some people might not care for this movie but of the Ewoks and other choices but I love it. 

The Score: 9.2/10 (A-)