So, in defense of the Jabba sequence - it DOES serve an important purpose, even if it's not in the movie as a self-contained entity. I could just say 'Lucas was making fun films', but that's a cop-out. The ACTUAL important function it serves is wrapping up the Jabba the Hutt arc that the trilogy has been building up. Jabba, directly or indirectly, has had just as much of an impact on the main cast as the Empire in all practical terms - and those two plotlines intersect in Empire Strikes Back when Boba Fett teams up with Vader to take Han. Yes, this portion of the film could be done better or framed better, on that I agree. But I disagree strongly that it could just be cut out without consequence - because if it was cut out, we would never have a resolution to the Bounty on Solo's Head arc, and the trilogy would end with the looming threat of more bounty hunters coming for him in an endless stream. That ends with Jabba's death, and it's necessary conclusion to an arc-wide story.
I think you’re making too much of the “Jabba arc” in terms of overall importance to the story. And what was really advanced anyway? BF was pointlessly killed off, Han got rescued as we all knew he would and Jabba is killed off. Whilst not totally unnecessary I agree, it could have been resolved much quicker. It’s way padded out like GL did not even have a story outside his final act.
I’d be inclined to agree with this actually. This video misses the point of needing to resolve an overarching side plot related to Jabba the Hut and Han Solo’s overall development as a character from scoundrel smuggler to the General Hero of the Rebels. It’s an important thread to follow up on because the Empire Strikes Back ends on a cliffhanger note with the heroes basically losing the day and Han Solo kidnapped. The video says there isn’t a point to the first act of the movie, saying there isn’t a macguffin, when in fact Han Solo “is” the macguffin. It’s also critical for character development as a side plot because it also displays that the heroes must take risk and partake in subterfuge to resolve a conflict, gaining the upper hand to rescue their friend, rather than take it on heads on and risk losing the only ace card they had in their hand: the element of surprise. The first act also ties the movie back to the plot of the first movie by having it take place in Tattooine as a setting. George Lucas has always said he intended for the saga to be cyclical and rhythmic like a poem, so the first act of the movie serves its purpose in this way by having it be a rescue sequence that both begins and resolves in the same way as A New Hope, in so many different ways (i.e for example, the heroes getting into disguise to rescue the princess, except in this case instead of stormtroopers it is bounty hunters and scoundrels, and instead of Leia it is Han Solo.) It is an important part of the movie in terms of character development not really for Han Solo but for Lando Calrissian and Leia, giving them a chance to be highlighted and a chance to be redeemed, show of strength, evolve, etc. I think the first part of this video misses those points entirely.
The first act where they rescue Han and kill Jabba is the conclusion to Han's subplot that is first established in the first film and is built on massively in ESB. The first act wraps up that thread before the rest of the film wraps up the main story.
I'd also argue it's important in regards to the fact it shows Luke's character development since Empire: He appears much more level-headed and calm, his grasp of the Force is much greater, and he comes across more like a Jedi than the impatient heroics of the final arc of Empire that made him out to be far less patient and far more reckless. His presence and demeanor in Return is like a completely different person to the Luke we knew from Empire. Which in turn sets him up for the audience for the following two acts. From an impatient Apprentice, to a thoughtful Knight.
The reason Luke believes there is good in Vader is because he wants to, imagine finding out that your father who you have been idolizing your entire life has turned into a ruthless killer because he was tempted by the dark side of the force. This is explained by Obi Wan in Empire Strikes Back. Even though Yoda says that once a person has been tempted by. it they are no longer able to be saved when it's your father in the question you would naturally go against what everyone is saying and try to bring him back. It may be extremely hard but it's either that or killing your own father, which Luke has confirmed he can not and will not do, so Luke wanting to save Vader makes perfect sense to me. Also Merry Christmas
Luke can feel the good in Vader through the Force, he says it himself several times throughout the movie. This signifies to us that Luke is not only highly attuned to the Force, perhaps even more so than Yoda and Obi-wan in being able to sense something they cannot, but also that Vader is still holding onto something good. As we learn at the end of the movie, that would be the love for his son.
15:00 Rewriting the rescue of Han to be because the Rebellion needs his pilot skills, totally undermines his friends doing it because they love him. Where's your heart Gold Man!!?
Return of the Jedi was my favorite Star Wars movie when I was a kid, and now still is, but for different reasons. As a kid, I loved Luke being a badass at the Sarlacc scene, seeing the lightsaber kick up and the score getting upbeat was a great moment and the ground battle on Endor was very exciting. Now it's my favorite because of the whole arc with Luke and Vader, also with the prequels, the funeral pyre scene became more emotional than when I was a kid and the prequels weren't a thing yet.
This video is absolutely perfect to watch on Christmas morning! I always have and always will associate Christmas with Star Wars. I remember always receiving Star Wars action figures on Christmas day between '78 & '83. Very, very special memories right there.
I prefer Return over Revenge. Revenge is typically associated with bad guys because Revenge is a personal vendetta. This is why it fitted with Episode 3 with the Sith getting revenge.
The first act and the third act are killer. It's that middle section of the film that strangely moves without purpose. No one seems in a rush despite the fact the entire rebel fleet is relying on the Endor squad.
I agree on the middle act, there is a complete lack of urgency with our heroes! Where does Leia get her new outfit from and why didn’t the Emperor have a second back up shield generator ha
When "Return of the Jedi" was first released, only two theaters in America (one in NYC; the other in LA) had a sound system capable of playing back the newly developed THX soundtrack. So I slept overnight on the Wilshire Boulevard sidewalk so I could be one of the first to see/hear the film. (Note: the sidewalk sleeping crowd was so large, the theater ran the first showing of the movie 3 hours before it was officially scheduled.)
@@thegoldman25 Yes. The sound was spectacular (unmatched for the time), and the crowd was the most enthusiastic audience I've ever experienced in a movie theater.
Some say this is the most kid friendly star wars cuz of the Ewoks, but Luke's brief fall to the dark side before throwing his lightsaber away is dark and heavy and it's my favorite moment in the original trilogy
Space battle of Endor is still looks like the best space battle in star wars. Yes, revenge of the sith had massive siege sequence, but amount of work, editing and modeling in pre-digital era film... also, it's so weird that in different reaction videos space sequence barely gets any credit
It aint perfect, but this is my personal favorite Star Wars movie- probably my favorite movie period, to be honest. It was extremely formative for me, seeing Luke having come all the way into his own as a hero. It was a very different film for me as a kid, less action packed and taking its time with its characters a lot more. As often as that pacing gets criticized I honestly think it's important. It helps show Luke's I guess, non-traditional hero status, for the era the OT was coming out in especially. He's less gunghoe than in movies prior, more subdued, like the pacing itself. He was my first personal experience where a hero really fealt like they didn't do what they did for fun, with recklessness in their heart, like it'd be so easy for child-me to do in his spot. This film was personal for him, an emotional matter of both blood family and found family. But he always maintained control of himself and when- as is only human- he does lose control, he centers himself. Peacefully. As a kid I had a bit of an anger problem, so I reaaally looked up to that discipline. I still do, to be totally honest. I'm struggling to explain precisely why I feel how I do about the movie without going on forEVER, but hopefully you can kind of hear me.
I felt that the rescue plan was complex and risky at first. Now as an adult I see it as Luke covering multiple outcomes. He doen't want a Jedi to force the outcome, so I think he opts to try at the lowest amount of force. plan A was to send in Lando and see if he could get Han. If not, then recon. plan B, send in the droids. If Jabba releases Han or R2 can get to Han, problem solved. Plan C, send in Leia and Chewie. Now he has Lando and a Wookie on the inside. If Leia can get Han out, done. That doesn't work, so escalate to plan D, Luke goes in and tries to get Han. he's going t use the Force, but no unleash everything. Think conventional vs nuclear. That doen't work so Plan E, Wait till the right moment and unleash everything you've got.
Ohhhhh wait hold up, this is ofc retroactive as RotS hadnt been written yet; but what if in the scene where Obi Wan tells Luke about Leia, Luke asks Obiwan if theres any good left in Vader. Obi-Wan then replies "For the longest time, I believed my old friend to be lost. But in your eyes... I see your mother, and I'm sure your father does too. She never lost hope in him even as she took her last breath, and now Vader knows that a piece of her remains within you... " I think that would add a bunch to Vader's redemption, it also shows how deep the connection between Obi-Wan and Vader goes and ofc gives much more weight to the scene where Padme tells him that there's still good in Anakin Would love someone else's perspective though, so if you're reading this please do share your thoughts! I dont *think* that dialogue is outside of the realm of what a force ghost can tell a living person, but I might be wrong
I love this movie. Thank you Harrison for coming back and thank you George for keeping him alive. I needed a happy ending in this original trilogy and I absolutely love it. Cheers 🍻
I understand what you mean when talking about the issues with Return of the Jedi. It’s still a good movie, it just has more problems than the first two. After listening to you talking about Luke returning to Dagobah following Han’s rescue, I was thinking the movie could reintroduced the audience to Luke continuing his training with Yoda and we see how much Luke has improved in terms of his skills. Then he receives a call from Leia telling him to return to the fleet and Luke needs to finish his training early like he did before. Then the part with Luke going back to continue his training only for Yoda to be on his death bed can play out the same way.
@thegoldman25 thanks for the agreement. Also I have to agree with you hating the Special Edition change where Vader says no before picking up the emperor. It’s just so stupid and in a lot of ways, it’s even worse than Vader saying no in Revenge of the Sith. The lack of words coming out of Vader’s mouth and just his body language as he’s watching his son being electrocuted by Palpatine is a more subtle and better way of showing how conflicted he is. Just the way he looks back and forth between seeing his son being tortured and seeing Palpatine zapping Luke out of rage of refusing to turn to the dark side is really all the audience needed to see. As for the change where Luke takes off Vader’s helmet and we see Anakin’s face, I personally prefer Anakin not having eyebrows because it does tie into revenge of the Sith a little more because of the part where Anakin gets burned. The lack of eyebrows does show the damage done to Anakin a little better than the original did.
I like it. But it's not what I would've done. The original story had no Death Star, and the climactic battle was to take place on coruscant. Han Solo was rescued from Jabba the hut, but was later killed when the rebels attacked coruscant.
I don’t know if this was Lucas’ intention or not, but I think Luke just knowing Leia is his sister, and that Vader has good in him was made to show just how great Luke was with the force, to the point that nothing could escape him, he can see through ppl’s facades and intentions. Still, this can be seen as a bit of a stretch
As kids growing up before ROTJ, we all thought we'd see more of Luke's return to training. I remember it seeming really odd that Yoda just died like he did. I was definitely disappointed. It
Merry Christmas Gold Man! The duel between Luke and Vader in the emperor's throne room is awesome!! And I'm happy that Disney brought back Boba Fett through how they explained in during TBoBF! It makes so much sense!
I think Luke's plan and Leia's plan to save Han might've been separate. Leia's plan was their "plan A", which ended up failing: get Han and let Lando bust Chewie out after. Luke's plan was always "kill everyone and walk out with my friend+the droids" except he ended up having to save everyone instead of just Han
Leia didn't use the force in Empire Strikes Back -- that was Luke reaching out to her, unless I'm remembering it wrong. 24:23 "Palpatine's manipulation of Luke was perfectly written." Palp, just as Luke is succumbing to the dark side: "Yes! YES!!! Give in to your anger and you will be MIIIIINE!" Luke: "Oh, right. I guess I shouldn't do that, then." Stops. Repeat While I pretty much think that Luke's arc here is BY FAR the best thing about RotJ, that seems a poor bit of manipulation to me... I think it is because he didn't trust his audience enough to understand (and part of that is undoubtedly from him focusing more on the young child audience).
you seemed to have missed something in ESB with vader. after the emporor revealed he had a son that was alive, he immiidately mved to protect him by askign to join them and turn him instead of killing him. , also, after the confrontation and after the guys messing up, the commander was shocked that vader didn't kill him , just turned around and walked away. it was already starting
At the time, which younger people obv won’t know about unless they checked, Solo was a huge character, and after the ESB ending we fans were very invested in his story. So I strongly disagree regarding the rescue plot. Also, it’s a great way to establish Luke’s progress.
You're right LET'S NOT!!! We love the movie just the way it is. Simple stuff: Han Solo became part of the Rebels, so he needed to be rescued FROM JABBA by his good friends (Luke, Leia, Lando, etc, who ARE NOW ALL REBELS TOO, fighting the EMPIRE!!!) Once the Han is freed, all the Rebel forces HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE MENACING EMPIRE which is building a MORE powerful Death Star. The Rebels win. Boom: HAPPY ENDING. Don't care if it's not a Three-act script. Some want SO MUCH--they should go kiss a Wookie!!!
@@thegoldman25 I saw it there too, but I wasn't counting that. If I have to account ALL the times I went to the movies, I saw it 3 times in '97 for the Special Edition. I meant 1983 only
I remember being a kid and speculating with the other kids about how Han would be rescued. And that went on for three years. Lucas knew he couldn't just breeze over that part. The fans would've been furious. It had to be it's own little chapter of the story.
It should have tied into the moving plot of the overall film though, and IMO the Empire should have been there to spring a trap. The whole of TESB is driven by DV hunting Luke, then one movie later it’s like he couldn’t care less about Luke.
I like this, but it is definitely the most uneven of the OT. The Jabba stuff goes on for so long, but it basically has no relevance to the rest of the story once it’s over. The second act kind of drags a bit. But the throne room scene and the space battle over Endor are FANTASTIC!! And sorry, you cannot make me buy that the same Luke who refuses to give up on Vader, would give up on his own nephew.
But Luke did kind of give in and up. He chopped Vader’s hand off then gives up and lets Sidious all but kill him. DV saved his life. And Luke didn’t give up on Ben. Ben lost the plot and killed all the students.
@thegoldman25 I'm just going to point out you heavily criticized the scenes saving Han Solo for being unnecessary but praised the Vader redemption scenes on the Death Star. Despite this, you could easily remove all of Vader and Luke's scenes on the Death Star, and the movie would have proceeded. The audience would have assumed both the emperor and Vader died in the Death Star explosion. The duel between Vader/emperor/Luke is entirely emotional, the real battle in space and on Endor. Let's say Vader doesn't save Luke; all three men still die because the Death Star was Destroyed. The scenes on Tatooine wrap up plot lines left over from the previous film, so it serves a purpose.
The whole plan to rescue Han relied entirely on chance events that Luke could never have expected, like Jabba assigning R2 to his barge as a waiter. And what if something was put on his head that blocked the hatch hiding the sabre? Luke would've been totally screwed. He also wouldn't have expected Jabba to execute them over the Sarlacc. If anything went differently to how it happened in the movie, then the "plan" would've failed. Now let me guess, prediction of everyone's actions is another convenient Jedi power? BS. It's just Lucas forcing events in order to give all the members of the "gang" something to do, no matter how ridiculous and unnecessary it might be. It's like putting the droids into the movie. Far from being needed, rather than being important to any conceivable plan, they'd actually put it in danger of failing. Same with Chewbacca. What use is he in any rescue attempt? Maybe Lando could act as a scout, just as we saw in the movie, but all any plan would really need is Luke, with Lando to back him up from inside, like maybe to open the palace's main doors when everyone's not looking. Every other character's a deadweight and a potential risk. And if Han is such an important member of the Rebellion that they saw fit to immediately make him a general without years of service, then they could've sent a force in there to rescue Han. Speaking of which, NEVER in the history of the military has someone been promoted straight to general from nothing. Even people with strong connections to powerful people in society have to go to officer school and start as a lieutenant, then take years to prove themselves in that military. Lando said he was made a general because of one unconnected battle? In reality it would take many battles or decades of service before you could become a general, even if you could pull strings. Han was a "captain" of his ship, not a military captain. In the movie he's made an army general, and even if him being a "captain" of his ship counted as a rank, that's not the same as an army captain. An army captain is equivalent of a 1st lieutenant in the navy, whilst a navy full captain is the equivalent of a colonel in the army. Neither are generals nor admirals. But what does Lucas know about the military? In ESB, Vader specifically said he wanted Luke as an ally, not because he had some sort of soft spot, but because he wanted to destroy the Emperor, and for the two of them to rule the galaxy as father and son. The whole plot of ESB was about Vader's ambitions to become the top dog in the galaxy, NOT because he wanted to become a good guy again. That change, along with him becoming an unquestioning stooge of Palpatine in ROTJ, was a retcon. As you said, it totally conflicts with how he was acting in ESB, as a ruthless megalomaniac tyrant. Leia was NOT using the Force at the end of ESB, Luke was. He was using his telepathic powers to contact the only person left who could save him. Luke: "LEIA, hear me." He specifically called out to her and no one else. She didn't just hear him by accident. All of "Leia used the Force to hear him" is just excuses made by Lucas gushers in order to suggest that it was all planned from the start. It WASN'T. Just as Vader becoming Luke's father was only decided late in writing ESB, Leia becoming Luke's sister was only decided late in development of ROTJ. During the writing of ESB, "The Other" was always planned to be a totally new character who we'd eventually see in the then planned ST. Ironically considering everyone hates her, I believe from what I've read about the original ST, is that "Rey" was taken from the original concept for "The Other", hence why she has Force powers for apparently no good reason. In the originally planned ST, "Rey" would've been Luke's long lost sister called "Nellith", who'd be in secret training in a hidden part of the galaxy. In the battle on Endor we see loads of conveniently placed traps waiting for the right Imperial to pass at the exact right time. Not only that, but how did they prepare them all over night in heavily defended territory without being detected? What, were they using magical powers as well? Anakin died old and redeemed at the end of ROTJ, so he should've become the Sebastian Shaw ghost, not as the young Hayden Christensen ghost. Lucas' excuses don't hold water, because he did die good in ROTJ. It's more like yet another excuse for Lucas to connect the PT with the OT. Saying all this, ROTJ could've been far, far worse. During scripting of the movie he wanted both Obi-Wan and Yoda to reincarnate to confront the Emperor! In other words, in Lucas' mind all heroes are immune to death!
Definitely not mad at your points but personally I think that narratively there is a reason for them to save Han even if he isn’t necessary for the rest of the movie. They care about him, so to follow up the story of last movie, Luke, Leia, Lando, Chewbacca and the droids (all Han’s friends) would go to rescue him based on their characters. They wouldn’t need the rebellions approval. I think if u got to the end of Empire strikes back, the next reasonable course of action that the hero’s would think of is to save Han the same way Luke had to go to cloud city to save his friends
Regarding r2 having the lightsaber, i think it was kinda like a test for Luke to not rely on his weapon. Also i think luke was training with Yoda of screen as well but did not ask Yoda. Kinda like you learn something about your parents and you ask them after a lot of time
I admit, Luke/Vader/Emperor is why I love this movie so much. Everything else was kind of clutter to me as a kid and still are. I do not like the special edition changes in this movie at all. All except for Victory Celebration. I will kind of defend the Hayden Christensen Force Ghost. Either way, it give people something to think about when it comes to Anakin. As an old man we can see he found renewed peace and this is what he looks like untouched by the Dark Side. As a young man we see the tragedy that he died young and didn't pass on until years later. I prefer the original but I do like how I can think deeply about the new edit. Which I can't say for the rest. Happy Holidays!
Technically speaking, Vader yelling 'Noooo', nor the addition of Hayden Christiansen were not in the 1997 Special Edition, but rather in a later version of the film, I think the 2004 DVD edition.
I have to say that I really disagree with almost every point you made. I actually like that everything in the movie isn't connected. Sometimes movies seem too coincidental. Han's rescue was fine without Han having a story arc (although I do agree that the rescue plan makes little sense). You were also saying that Luke being able to train himself negates Yoda insisting he stay in Empire Strikes Back. I don't think it was the fact that Luke couldn't develop further without Yoda that was the issue-the issue was that he shouldn't have rushed into Vader's trap! Also, why do you have to use foul language? I love watching/listening to analysis of my favourite films, but there is NO REASON to curse-especially when reviewing a movie with no curses (almost-there were a few in the '77 Star Wars-they said "d--" a couple times)
I think the Jabba’s Palace sequence is there to show Luke’s maturity as a person and Jedi. It’s there to show Luke is now much more proficient with the force. Also, it’s not Han saving Luke, like in the first two films; now it’s Luke saving Han. See, there is an arc there if you look.
I realize this is not going to be a popular comment but I must tell everybody here that this movie was very difficult for me to watch in 1983 at the age of 11. I was 5 in 1977 and 8 in 1980 and for three years after watching Empire my neighborhood friends wondered if Darth Vader was in fact Luke's father. We went back and forth and never came to agree on anything because Vader was a ruthless badass in Empire, heck he killed several of his own officers like it was an avergge Tuesday morning at work. He had one liners and was the best. In Return, he was completely neutered. He didn't kill anybody, he was worthless. But my heart broke when my favorite Star Wars character, whom I thought for the previous 3 years was the greatest badass bounty hunter in all the galaxy turned out to actually be a punk ass little completely worthless bitch. I was squirming in my seat in the theater looking around wondering if anybody else was watching the same trainwreck that I was. This movie was made for children and I was trying to grow up, George wanted me back in preschool trying to color within the lines with my crayons. The first two movies were serious (though had amazing comic relief) and were for everybody. Not this one. Then we got the salt poured onto my open wounds when I found out the girl that kissed Luke in the first movie and made out with him in the second movie was actually his twin sister. OMG the storytelling just fell of a cliff. I'm with Denis Villeneuve and Robert Meyer Burnett, this movie ruined Star Wars. But as if that wasn't enough George has to re-edit these first three and have Greedo shoot Han first fundamentlly ruining Han as a character. Don't even get me started on the Prequels. Jesus Fucking Christ what a shit show. There has only been THREE good Star Wars movies. 1. Star Wars (not episode IV, the one I saw in the theater in 1977 that just said "Star Wars" in the openeing crawl, 2. Empire and 3. Rogue One. everything else sucks. THANK GOD DISNEY BOUGHT THIS ROTTEN IP and made Andor, EASILY the best Star Wars since 1980. THANK FUCKING GOD. Nerds and geeks everywhere thinking Disney is or has ruined Star Wars. Shits been fucked for almost 45 FUCKING years. At least now we are getting SOMETHING to heal the wounds this movie Return of the Jedi (shoulda been called Revenge, but Jedi's are pussies now, right George?) had cause many of us ORIGINAL GANGSTER fans from back in the day. What a fucked IP.
Still my favorite of the original trilogy, I've been curious for years about the alternate version with the love triangle and Luke going off to find his sister at the end with the next movie/trilogy about Luke tracking down and finding his sister!... And the worst special edition change is absolutely not "no... No... NOOOOOO!" It's jedi rocks, of all the Original trilogy changes over the years the ones people bitch about the most like the rock in front of artoo, Vaders audible turn back to the light side and now mcluncky are relatively minor changes and something you may not even notice as a change!... "mcluncky" just plain makes no sense to add into the movie, literally the only explanation is some kind of rights loophole that Disney had to fix or something!
Lucas should've kept the imperial capital. Throughout history so many Empire's collapsed because their capital was sacked. Rome for the Western Roman Empire, Berlin for Nazi Germany, Richmond for the Confederacy, Constantinople for the Byzantine Empire, etc The fall of Had Abbadon would've made way more sense for the collapse of the galactic empire. Hell even in LOTR the Last Alliance invades Mordor.
Dont understand why George chose Hayden for Anakin. Anakin / Vader were British / European. That guy telling Luke he's saved him is not even close to the same guy in the prequels.
Luke’s make it up as you go along plan was very much in line with Anakin’s reckless nature during the clone wars… it’s a Skywalker thing. They’re reckless 😂
This was the first movie I ever saw in the movie theater (that I can remember). I never had a problem with the Ewoks (it’s a kids movie) and I thought the movie was nearly perfect my entire life. I’m sure that a lot of that had to do with the age I watched it. It wasn’t until social media that I realized that everyone hated the little fur balls. Hating the Ewoks wasn’t a thing in the 1980s. Maybe if you saw ROTJ as a 45 year old grown man, or as an elite critic from a national newspaper. But the general audience that this movie was made for had no issue with them. We had no issue with anything. And by the voice of the narrator of this video, he wasn’t even around when it came out. So his opinion holds little weight.
the multiple plans to rescue han and the droids was to show how advanced Luke's connection to the force got, Throught the force, things you will see, teh future the past. Can i see the future? always in motion is the future. he sw throught the force probably 4-5 multiple things and outcomes and some failed so he kept working at them until the infal one worked
I don't fully understand why you think the start of RotJ is unneccesary. Han Solo is one of the main characters of the trilogy, and one of the ongoing plots throughout the films involving Han is that he has a debt to Jabba, who then puts a bounty on his head which results in him getting caught and frozen by a certain famous bounty hunter and the Empire, and sold back to Jabba. The fact that such an important and loved character got frozen in a cliffhanger-moment already warranted a proper and thorough resolving. Imagine them actually going the way you suggested; with him just casually throwing the "they resqued me" line. I would've felt cheated.
I think the point being made is that it goes on too long and is lazily written such that it does not tie into or drive the rest of the story. They could have recused Han AND have that rescue drive the ongoing story like having say DV turn up or Han acquiring some knowledge that then helped the Rebels win. All we have left on screen is 40 minutes of Han being rescued in stand alone unrelated story. It doesn’t even cut away to the Empire at any point to remind you there’s a wider story at large.
Another great vid Gold Man. Even tho, ROTJ is my least favorite of the original trilogy it has some of my favorite moments within Star Wars. Also, Merry Christmas! 🎁🌲
My understanding, like you’ve said, is that GL abandoned plans for 6 or 9 films and so decided to resolve all loose ends in ROTJ. He then had to hastily write the rescue Han scenes and tack it into the first third of the movie. As you say the events have no other bearing or relevance to the rest of the film. And have the Empire forgotten all about Luke? Why did they not lay a trap at Jabba’s palace or even just leave a small force in case? A real missed opportunity IMO.
Why didn’t the Emperor simply build a second back up shield generator? He gives the rebels the plans to succeed but doesn’t plan for what if they did manage to destroy the shield generator, Movie villains are dumb
A solid ending to a great franchise. The prequels have aged well enough and provide a decent backstory to the og trilogy. If only Disney hadn’t been stupid and just left well enough alone or adapt the sequel books stories to the big screen. Still waiting for the Vong
So, in defense of the Jabba sequence - it DOES serve an important purpose, even if it's not in the movie as a self-contained entity. I could just say 'Lucas was making fun films', but that's a cop-out. The ACTUAL important function it serves is wrapping up the Jabba the Hutt arc that the trilogy has been building up. Jabba, directly or indirectly, has had just as much of an impact on the main cast as the Empire in all practical terms - and those two plotlines intersect in Empire Strikes Back when Boba Fett teams up with Vader to take Han. Yes, this portion of the film could be done better or framed better, on that I agree. But I disagree strongly that it could just be cut out without consequence - because if it was cut out, we would never have a resolution to the Bounty on Solo's Head arc, and the trilogy would end with the looming threat of more bounty hunters coming for him in an endless stream. That ends with Jabba's death, and it's necessary conclusion to an arc-wide story.
There are actually a ton of thematic threads that tie the first act to the rest of the film that most people miss.
@@ultranova05but where on earth are the Empire?
I think you’re making too much of the “Jabba arc” in terms of overall importance to the story. And what was really advanced anyway? BF was pointlessly killed off, Han got rescued as we all knew he would and Jabba is killed off.
Whilst not totally unnecessary I agree, it could have been resolved much quicker. It’s way padded out like GL did not even have a story outside his final act.
I’d be inclined to agree with this actually. This video misses the point of needing to resolve an overarching side plot related to Jabba the Hut and Han Solo’s overall development as a character from scoundrel smuggler to the General Hero of the Rebels.
It’s an important thread to follow up on because the Empire Strikes Back ends on a cliffhanger note with the heroes basically losing the day and Han Solo kidnapped.
The video says there isn’t a point to the first act of the movie, saying there isn’t a macguffin, when in fact Han Solo “is” the macguffin. It’s also critical for character development as a side plot because it also displays that the heroes must take risk and partake in subterfuge to resolve a conflict, gaining the upper hand to rescue their friend, rather than take it on heads on and risk losing the only ace card they had in their hand: the element of surprise.
The first act also ties the movie back to the plot of the first movie by having it take place in Tattooine as a setting. George Lucas has always said he intended for the saga to be cyclical and rhythmic like a poem, so the first act of the movie serves its purpose in this way by having it be a rescue sequence that both begins and resolves in the same way as A New Hope, in so many different ways (i.e for example, the heroes getting into disguise to rescue the princess, except in this case instead of stormtroopers it is bounty hunters and scoundrels, and instead of Leia it is Han Solo.)
It is an important part of the movie in terms of character development not really for Han Solo but for Lando Calrissian and Leia, giving them a chance to be highlighted and a chance to be redeemed, show of strength, evolve, etc.
I think the first part of this video misses those points entirely.
The first act where they rescue Han and kill Jabba is the conclusion to Han's subplot that is first established in the first film and is built on massively in ESB. The first act wraps up that thread before the rest of the film wraps up the main story.
I'd also argue it's important in regards to the fact it shows Luke's character development since Empire: He appears much more level-headed and calm, his grasp of the Force is much greater, and he comes across more like a Jedi than the impatient heroics of the final arc of Empire that made him out to be far less patient and far more reckless. His presence and demeanor in Return is like a completely different person to the Luke we knew from Empire. Which in turn sets him up for the audience for the following two acts.
From an impatient Apprentice, to a thoughtful Knight.
Yes it does to that, but did it really need to take 30-40 minutes?
@@apathyisdeath2977 100% agree!
The reason Luke believes there is good in Vader is because he wants to, imagine finding out that your father who you have been idolizing your entire life has turned into a ruthless killer because he was tempted by the dark side of the force. This is explained by Obi Wan in Empire Strikes Back. Even though Yoda says that once a person has been tempted by. it they are no longer able to be saved when it's your father in the question you would naturally go against what everyone is saying and try to bring him back. It may be extremely hard but it's either that or killing your own father, which Luke has confirmed he can not and will not do, so Luke wanting to save Vader makes perfect sense to me. Also Merry Christmas
fair!
Luke can feel the good in Vader through the Force, he says it himself several times throughout the movie. This signifies to us that Luke is not only highly attuned to the Force, perhaps even more so than Yoda and Obi-wan in being able to sense something they cannot, but also that Vader is still holding onto something good. As we learn at the end of the movie, that would be the love for his son.
15:00 Rewriting the rescue of Han to be because the Rebellion needs his pilot skills, totally undermines his friends doing it because they love him. Where's your heart Gold Man!!?
both can be true, they can rescue him cuz they love him and because he's usefull
Return of the Jedi was my favorite Star Wars movie when I was a kid, and now still is, but for different reasons. As a kid, I loved Luke being a badass at the Sarlacc scene, seeing the lightsaber kick up and the score getting upbeat was a great moment and the ground battle on Endor was very exciting. Now it's my favorite because of the whole arc with Luke and Vader, also with the prequels, the funeral pyre scene became more emotional than when I was a kid and the prequels weren't a thing yet.
This video is absolutely perfect to watch on Christmas morning! I always have and always will associate Christmas with Star Wars. I remember always receiving Star Wars action figures on Christmas day between '78 & '83. Very, very special memories right there.
Merry Christmas!
@thegoldman25 Thank you and Merry Christmas to you, also. MTFBWY!!
Perfect video for Christmas morning.
Merry Christmas!
15 seconds ago is actually insane lmao Merry Christmas my dudes ❤️
Merry Christmas dude! Hope it's fun!!
Merry Christmas!
MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄
ROTJ is my favorite SW film out of the entire franchise. It’s so deep, deeper than most fans know or will ever realize.
I prefer Return over Revenge. Revenge is typically associated with bad guys because Revenge is a personal vendetta. This is why it fitted with Episode 3 with the Sith getting revenge.
I agree
The first act and the third act are killer. It's that middle section of the film that strangely moves without purpose. No one seems in a rush despite the fact the entire rebel fleet is relying on the Endor squad.
I agree on the middle act, there is a complete lack of urgency with our heroes! Where does Leia get her new outfit from and why didn’t the Emperor have a second back up shield generator ha
If anything, Darth Vader saving Luke makes ROTJ worth watching for me even with all the problems.
Merry Christmas Goldman 🎁🎄
Merry Christmas!
Definitely! ROTJ is a great example of how a very mixed movie can be saved by a strong ending and a solid emotional core.
Merry Christmas 🎄
When "Return of the Jedi" was first released, only two theaters in America (one in NYC; the other in LA) had a sound system capable of playing back the newly developed THX soundtrack. So I slept overnight on the Wilshire Boulevard sidewalk so I could be one of the first to see/hear the film. (Note: the sidewalk sleeping crowd was so large, the theater ran the first showing of the movie 3 hours before it was officially scheduled.)
Was it worth the wait?
@@thegoldman25 Yes. The sound was spectacular (unmatched for the time), and the crowd was the most enthusiastic audience I've ever experienced in a movie theater.
No better gift on Christmas morning than a new gold man video. Love you man! ❤
Merry Christmas bro!!
Merry Christmas!
Some say this is the most kid friendly star wars cuz of the Ewoks, but Luke's brief fall to the dark side before throwing his lightsaber away is dark and heavy and it's my favorite moment in the original trilogy
that was a great scene
Who woulda thought Mark Hamill would turn out to be such a nice guy in his elder years.
he's alright
Merry Christmas Star Wars community
Merry Christmas!!!
Merry Christmas
Thanks and Merry Christmas to you, too! MTFBWY all!
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas!
The sequence where Lando and Wedge destroy the core and escape the death star just in time is still my favorite moment in all of Star Wars.
Space battle of Endor is still looks like the best space battle in star wars. Yes, revenge of the sith had massive siege sequence, but amount of work, editing and modeling in pre-digital era film... also, it's so weird that in different reaction videos space sequence barely gets any credit
Thank you for dropping this today!
You're very welcome!
Goldman I’ve been loving these Star Wars videos, what a great Christmas gift. Happy holidays to you and all viewers!
Merry Christmas!
It aint perfect, but this is my personal favorite Star Wars movie- probably my favorite movie period, to be honest.
It was extremely formative for me, seeing Luke having come all the way into his own as a hero. It was a very different film for me as a kid, less action packed and taking its time with its characters a lot more. As often as that pacing gets criticized I honestly think it's important. It helps show Luke's I guess, non-traditional hero status, for the era the OT was coming out in especially. He's less gunghoe than in movies prior, more subdued, like the pacing itself. He was my first personal experience where a hero really fealt like they didn't do what they did for fun, with recklessness in their heart, like it'd be so easy for child-me to do in his spot.
This film was personal for him, an emotional matter of both blood family and found family. But he always maintained control of himself and when- as is only human- he does lose control, he centers himself. Peacefully. As a kid I had a bit of an anger problem, so I reaaally looked up to that discipline. I still do, to be totally honest.
I'm struggling to explain precisely why I feel how I do about the movie without going on forEVER, but hopefully you can kind of hear me.
this feels like an extra christmas gift this morning
It makes me smile reading this!
A Star Wars directed by Spielberg, been thinking about that for over two decades.
I felt that the rescue plan was complex and risky at first. Now as an adult I see it as Luke covering multiple outcomes. He doen't want a Jedi to force the outcome, so I think he opts to try at the lowest amount of force. plan A was to send in Lando and see if he could get Han. If not, then recon. plan B, send in the droids. If Jabba releases Han or R2 can get to Han, problem solved. Plan C, send in Leia and Chewie. Now he has Lando and a Wookie on the inside. If Leia can get Han out, done. That doesn't work, so escalate to plan D, Luke goes in and tries to get Han. he's going t use the Force, but no unleash everything. Think conventional vs nuclear. That doen't work so Plan E, Wait till the right moment and unleash everything you've got.
Ohhhhh wait hold up, this is ofc retroactive as RotS hadnt been written yet; but what if in the scene where Obi Wan tells Luke about Leia, Luke asks Obiwan if theres any good left in Vader. Obi-Wan then replies "For the longest time, I believed my old friend to be lost. But in your eyes... I see your mother, and I'm sure your father does too. She never lost hope in him even as she took her last breath, and now Vader knows that a piece of her remains within you... "
I think that would add a bunch to Vader's redemption, it also shows how deep the connection between Obi-Wan and Vader goes and ofc gives much more weight to the scene where Padme tells him that there's still good in Anakin
Would love someone else's perspective though, so if you're reading this please do share your thoughts!
I dont *think* that dialogue is outside of the realm of what a force ghost can tell a living person, but I might be wrong
I love this movie. Thank you Harrison for coming back and thank you George for keeping him alive. I needed a happy ending in this original trilogy and I absolutely love it. Cheers 🍻
I am definitely happy Harrison came back
I understand what you mean when talking about the issues with Return of the Jedi. It’s still a good movie, it just has more problems than the first two. After listening to you talking about Luke returning to Dagobah following Han’s rescue, I was thinking the movie could reintroduced the audience to Luke continuing his training with Yoda and we see how much Luke has improved in terms of his skills. Then he receives a call from Leia telling him to return to the fleet and Luke needs to finish his training early like he did before. Then the part with Luke going back to continue his training only for Yoda to be on his death bed can play out the same way.
I agree, the movie could have been more concise
@thegoldman25 thanks for the agreement. Also I have to agree with you hating the Special Edition change where Vader says no before picking up the emperor. It’s just so stupid and in a lot of ways, it’s even worse than Vader saying no in Revenge of the Sith. The lack of words coming out of Vader’s mouth and just his body language as he’s watching his son being electrocuted by Palpatine is a more subtle and better way of showing how conflicted he is. Just the way he looks back and forth between seeing his son being tortured and seeing Palpatine zapping Luke out of rage of refusing to turn to the dark side is really all the audience needed to see. As for the change where Luke takes off Vader’s helmet and we see Anakin’s face, I personally prefer Anakin not having eyebrows because it does tie into revenge of the Sith a little more because of the part where Anakin gets burned. The lack of eyebrows does show the damage done to Anakin a little better than the original did.
@@seanrogers9129 yeah the part where Vader says no is really stupid.
I like it. But it's not what I would've done. The original story had no Death Star, and the climactic battle was to take place on coruscant. Han Solo was rescued from Jabba the hut, but was later killed when the rebels attacked coruscant.
And Lucas really wanted to show off Jabba the Hutt ever since A New Hope. 30 minutes of fun, but the material was mostly there to showcase toys.
Awesome video!👏🏻👍🏻 merry Christmas Gold Man🎅🏻🎄
Merry Christmas!!!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
I don’t know if this was Lucas’ intention or not, but I think Luke just knowing Leia is his sister, and that Vader has good in him was made to show just how great Luke was with the force, to the point that nothing could escape him, he can see through ppl’s facades and intentions. Still, this can be seen as a bit of a stretch
I love Return of The Jedi it's my favorite.
As kids growing up before ROTJ, we all thought we'd see more of Luke's return to training. I remember it seeming really odd that Yoda just died like he did. I was definitely disappointed. It
Merry Christmas Gold Man! The duel between Luke and Vader in the emperor's throne room is awesome!! And I'm happy that Disney brought back Boba Fett through how they explained in during TBoBF! It makes so much sense!
Merry Christmas!
I think Luke's plan and Leia's plan to save Han might've been separate. Leia's plan was their "plan A", which ended up failing: get Han and let Lando bust Chewie out after. Luke's plan was always "kill everyone and walk out with my friend+the droids" except he ended up having to save everyone instead of just Han
Merry Christmas Gold man!!!
Leia didn't use the force in Empire Strikes Back -- that was Luke reaching out to her, unless I'm remembering it wrong.
24:23 "Palpatine's manipulation of Luke was perfectly written."
Palp, just as Luke is succumbing to the dark side: "Yes! YES!!! Give in to your anger and you will be MIIIIINE!"
Luke: "Oh, right. I guess I shouldn't do that, then." Stops.
Repeat
While I pretty much think that Luke's arc here is BY FAR the best thing about RotJ, that seems a poor bit of manipulation to me... I think it is because he didn't trust his audience enough to understand (and part of that is undoubtedly from him focusing more on the young child audience).
Best Christmas gift!
Thanks! Enjoy!
you seemed to have missed something in ESB with vader. after the emporor revealed he had a son that was alive, he immiidately mved to protect him by askign to join them and turn him instead of killing him. , also, after the confrontation and after the guys messing up, the commander was shocked that vader didn't kill him , just turned around and walked away. it was already starting
I'll be honest with you, this is my favourite Star Wars movie, I know it has some problems but for me they are minor
That's okay!
At the time, which younger people obv won’t know about unless they checked, Solo was a huge character, and after the ESB ending we fans were very invested in his story. So I strongly disagree regarding the rescue plot.
Also, it’s a great way to establish Luke’s progress.
Merry Christmas!!
Merry Christmas!
‘Let’s do a mini re-write’.
Let’s not.
why not?
You're right LET'S NOT!!! We love the movie just the way it is. Simple stuff: Han Solo became part of the Rebels, so he needed to be rescued FROM JABBA by his good friends (Luke, Leia, Lando, etc, who ARE NOW ALL REBELS TOO, fighting the EMPIRE!!!) Once the Han is freed, all the Rebel forces HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE MENACING EMPIRE which is building a MORE powerful Death Star. The Rebels win. Boom: HAPPY ENDING. Don't care if it's not a Three-act script. Some want SO MUCH--they should go kiss a Wookie!!!
Official petition for The Platinum Man. A secondary channel where video games are covered in the same format
That would be awesome! I don't know much about the logistics of video games, but I have had that idea before. I wouldn't name it the platinum man tho
Return of the Jedi is my favorite Star Wars movie, has been since I was 6.
It's a fun movie!
Maybe it would have worked better if they had accidentally stumbled upon the information about the Death Star and the Emperor while rescuing Han.
Not a bad idea. Maybe Jabba would be helping fund it or something
But the universe would have appeared as small
maybe
Me: The Gold Man just posted a video
Great Grandpa George: will one of you kids show me how to get that video on this big screen tv?
I remember seeing this in the movies! It might be the first movie I saw more than once in the theatre
I saw it in theaters last year for the 40th anniversary
@@thegoldman25 I saw it there too, but I wasn't counting that. If I have to account ALL the times I went to the movies, I saw it 3 times in '97 for the Special Edition. I meant 1983 only
Great vid
blessed for christmas been waiting for this one
Merry Christmas!
@@thegoldman25 keep up the great videos HOPE to make videos at your level someday! Thanks for the great content
Quite the Christmas gift
Enjoy!
Merry Christmas 🎄
Merry Christmas!
I remember being a kid and speculating with the other kids about how Han would be rescued. And that went on for three years. Lucas knew he couldn't just breeze over that part. The fans would've been furious. It had to be it's own little chapter of the story.
It should have tied into the moving plot of the overall film though, and IMO the Empire should have been there to spring a trap. The whole of TESB is driven by DV hunting Luke, then one movie later it’s like he couldn’t care less about Luke.
I like this, but it is definitely the most uneven of the OT. The Jabba stuff goes on for so long, but it basically has no relevance to the rest of the story once it’s over.
The second act kind of drags a bit.
But the throne room scene and the space battle over Endor are FANTASTIC!!
And sorry, you cannot make me buy that the same Luke who refuses to give up on Vader, would give up on his own nephew.
But Luke did kind of give in and up. He chopped Vader’s hand off then gives up and lets Sidious all but kill him. DV saved his life.
And Luke didn’t give up on Ben. Ben lost the plot and killed all the students.
This is my favorite star wars movie
I hope you enjoyed this video!
@thegoldman25 I'm just going to point out you heavily criticized the scenes saving Han Solo for being unnecessary but praised the Vader redemption scenes on the Death Star. Despite this, you could easily remove all of Vader and Luke's scenes on the Death Star, and the movie would have proceeded. The audience would have assumed both the emperor and Vader died in the Death Star explosion. The duel between Vader/emperor/Luke is entirely emotional, the real battle in space and on Endor. Let's say Vader doesn't save Luke; all three men still die because the Death Star was Destroyed. The scenes on Tatooine wrap up plot lines left over from the previous film, so it serves a purpose.
But we love Star Wars for the emotional scenes. The tatooine sequence is all action (good action), but there’s no emotional moments
A Christmas present from The Gold Man!!!!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everybody!
Merry Christmas!
@ or in the words of NYSNC “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays”. Can’t wait to celebrate by watching the Star Wars Holiday Special! (I’m kidding)
@@sandpup8288 Merry Christmas!!!
Marry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!!!!
16:31 Like every single Jedi plan, they wander into danger and “see how it goes.” Evidently the Force just makes things go ok.
you're not wrong
The whole plan to rescue Han relied entirely on chance events that Luke could never have expected, like Jabba assigning R2 to his barge as a waiter. And what if something was put on his head that blocked the hatch hiding the sabre? Luke would've been totally screwed. He also wouldn't have expected Jabba to execute them over the Sarlacc. If anything went differently to how it happened in the movie, then the "plan" would've failed. Now let me guess, prediction of everyone's actions is another convenient Jedi power? BS. It's just Lucas forcing events in order to give all the members of the "gang" something to do, no matter how ridiculous and unnecessary it might be. It's like putting the droids into the movie. Far from being needed, rather than being important to any conceivable plan, they'd actually put it in danger of failing. Same with Chewbacca. What use is he in any rescue attempt? Maybe Lando could act as a scout, just as we saw in the movie, but all any plan would really need is Luke, with Lando to back him up from inside, like maybe to open the palace's main doors when everyone's not looking. Every other character's a deadweight and a potential risk. And if Han is such an important member of the Rebellion that they saw fit to immediately make him a general without years of service, then they could've sent a force in there to rescue Han.
Speaking of which, NEVER in the history of the military has someone been promoted straight to general from nothing. Even people with strong connections to powerful people in society have to go to officer school and start as a lieutenant, then take years to prove themselves in that military. Lando said he was made a general because of one unconnected battle? In reality it would take many battles or decades of service before you could become a general, even if you could pull strings. Han was a "captain" of his ship, not a military captain. In the movie he's made an army general, and even if him being a "captain" of his ship counted as a rank, that's not the same as an army captain. An army captain is equivalent of a 1st lieutenant in the navy, whilst a navy full captain is the equivalent of a colonel in the army. Neither are generals nor admirals. But what does Lucas know about the military?
In ESB, Vader specifically said he wanted Luke as an ally, not because he had some sort of soft spot, but because he wanted to destroy the Emperor, and for the two of them to rule the galaxy as father and son. The whole plot of ESB was about Vader's ambitions to become the top dog in the galaxy, NOT because he wanted to become a good guy again. That change, along with him becoming an unquestioning stooge of Palpatine in ROTJ, was a retcon. As you said, it totally conflicts with how he was acting in ESB, as a ruthless megalomaniac tyrant.
Leia was NOT using the Force at the end of ESB, Luke was. He was using his telepathic powers to contact the only person left who could save him.
Luke: "LEIA, hear me."
He specifically called out to her and no one else. She didn't just hear him by accident. All of "Leia used the Force to hear him" is just excuses made by Lucas gushers in order to suggest that it was all planned from the start. It WASN'T. Just as Vader becoming Luke's father was only decided late in writing ESB, Leia becoming Luke's sister was only decided late in development of ROTJ. During the writing of ESB, "The Other" was always planned to be a totally new character who we'd eventually see in the then planned ST. Ironically considering everyone hates her, I believe from what I've read about the original ST, is that "Rey" was taken from the original concept for "The Other", hence why she has Force powers for apparently no good reason. In the originally planned ST, "Rey" would've been Luke's long lost sister called "Nellith", who'd be in secret training in a hidden part of the galaxy.
In the battle on Endor we see loads of conveniently placed traps waiting for the right Imperial to pass at the exact right time. Not only that, but how did they prepare them all over night in heavily defended territory without being detected? What, were they using magical powers as well?
Anakin died old and redeemed at the end of ROTJ, so he should've become the Sebastian Shaw ghost, not as the young Hayden Christensen ghost. Lucas' excuses don't hold water, because he did die good in ROTJ. It's more like yet another excuse for Lucas to connect the PT with the OT.
Saying all this, ROTJ could've been far, far worse. During scripting of the movie he wanted both Obi-Wan and Yoda to reincarnate to confront the Emperor! In other words, in Lucas' mind all heroes are immune to death!
Omg best Christmas gift my fav Star Wars movie
Enjoy!
Always felt like ROTJ was a good movie for Christmas time. Might just be the red and green sabers lol
i feel that vibe
I'm convinced Lucas wrote in the Gold Bikini stuff to stick it to the people who said this was for kids and kids only
But it was GL himself who said and still says SW is for kids.
Definitely not mad at your points but personally I think that narratively there is a reason for them to save Han even if he isn’t necessary for the rest of the movie. They care about him, so to follow up the story of last movie, Luke, Leia, Lando, Chewbacca and the droids (all Han’s friends) would go to rescue him based on their characters. They wouldn’t need the rebellions approval. I think if u got to the end of Empire strikes back, the next reasonable course of action that the hero’s would think of is to save Han the same way Luke had to go to cloud city to save his friends
Your colts piss me off btw
Regarding r2 having the lightsaber, i think it was kinda like a test for Luke to not rely on his weapon.
Also i think luke was training with Yoda of screen as well but did not ask Yoda. Kinda like you learn something about your parents and you ask them after a lot of time
interesting perspective
I admit, Luke/Vader/Emperor is why I love this movie so much. Everything else was kind of clutter to me as a kid and still are.
I do not like the special edition changes in this movie at all. All except for Victory Celebration.
I will kind of defend the Hayden Christensen Force Ghost. Either way, it give people something to think about when it comes to Anakin. As an old man we can see he found renewed peace and this is what he looks like untouched by the Dark Side. As a young man we see the tragedy that he died young and didn't pass on until years later. I prefer the original but I do like how I can think deeply about the new edit. Which I can't say for the rest.
Happy Holidays!
All fair points! Have a great holiday
Technically speaking, Vader yelling 'Noooo', nor the addition of Hayden Christiansen were not in the 1997 Special Edition, but rather in a later version of the film, I think the 2004 DVD edition.
I have to say that I really disagree with almost every point you made. I actually like that everything in the movie isn't connected. Sometimes movies seem too coincidental. Han's rescue was fine without Han having a story arc (although I do agree that the rescue plan makes little sense). You were also saying that Luke being able to train himself negates Yoda insisting he stay in Empire Strikes Back. I don't think it was the fact that Luke couldn't develop further without Yoda that was the issue-the issue was that he shouldn't have rushed into Vader's trap! Also, why do you have to use foul language? I love watching/listening to analysis of my favourite films, but there is NO REASON to curse-especially when reviewing a movie with no curses (almost-there were a few in the '77 Star Wars-they said "d--" a couple times)
This one has always been the best of the OT for me
it's a fun movie!
I think the Jabba’s Palace sequence is there to show Luke’s maturity as a person and Jedi. It’s there to show Luke is now much more proficient with the force. Also, it’s not Han saving Luke, like in the first two films; now it’s Luke saving Han. See, there is an arc there if you look.
I realize this is not going to be a popular comment but I must tell everybody here that this movie was very difficult for me to watch in 1983 at the age of 11. I was 5 in 1977 and 8 in 1980 and for three years after watching Empire my neighborhood friends wondered if Darth Vader was in fact Luke's father. We went back and forth and never came to agree on anything because Vader was a ruthless badass in Empire, heck he killed several of his own officers like it was an avergge Tuesday morning at work. He had one liners and was the best. In Return, he was completely neutered. He didn't kill anybody, he was worthless. But my heart broke when my favorite Star Wars character, whom I thought for the previous 3 years was the greatest badass bounty hunter in all the galaxy turned out to actually be a punk ass little completely worthless bitch. I was squirming in my seat in the theater looking around wondering if anybody else was watching the same trainwreck that I was. This movie was made for children and I was trying to grow up, George wanted me back in preschool trying to color within the lines with my crayons. The first two movies were serious (though had amazing comic relief) and were for everybody. Not this one. Then we got the salt poured onto my open wounds when I found out the girl that kissed Luke in the first movie and made out with him in the second movie was actually his twin sister. OMG the storytelling just fell of a cliff. I'm with Denis Villeneuve and Robert Meyer Burnett, this movie ruined Star Wars. But as if that wasn't enough George has to re-edit these first three and have Greedo shoot Han first fundamentlly ruining Han as a character. Don't even get me started on the Prequels. Jesus Fucking Christ what a shit show. There has only been THREE good Star Wars movies. 1. Star Wars (not episode IV, the one I saw in the theater in 1977 that just said "Star Wars" in the openeing crawl, 2. Empire and 3. Rogue One. everything else sucks. THANK GOD DISNEY BOUGHT THIS ROTTEN IP and made Andor, EASILY the best Star Wars since 1980. THANK FUCKING GOD. Nerds and geeks everywhere thinking Disney is or has ruined Star Wars. Shits been fucked for almost 45 FUCKING years. At least now we are getting SOMETHING to heal the wounds this movie Return of the Jedi (shoulda been called Revenge, but Jedi's are pussies now, right George?) had cause many of us ORIGINAL GANGSTER fans from back in the day. What a fucked IP.
Still my favorite of the original trilogy, I've been curious for years about the alternate version with the love triangle and Luke going off to find his sister at the end with the next movie/trilogy about Luke tracking down and finding his sister!...
And the worst special edition change is absolutely not
"no... No... NOOOOOO!"
It's jedi rocks, of all the
Original trilogy changes over the years the ones people bitch about the most like the rock in front of artoo, Vaders audible turn back to the light side and now mcluncky are relatively minor changes and something you may not even notice as a change!...
"mcluncky" just plain makes no sense to add into the movie, literally the only explanation is some kind of rights loophole that Disney had to fix or something!
Uploaded just in time for Christmas Day!
Merry Christmas!
Star Wars (ANH) is the second movie I saw but RotJ got me more into Star Wars. Vader's death scene never fails to get me welling up.
Lucas should've kept the imperial capital. Throughout history so many Empire's collapsed because their capital was sacked. Rome for the Western Roman Empire, Berlin for Nazi Germany, Richmond for the Confederacy, Constantinople for the Byzantine Empire, etc The fall of Had Abbadon would've made way more sense for the collapse of the galactic empire.
Hell even in LOTR the Last Alliance invades Mordor.
Dont understand why George chose Hayden for Anakin. Anakin / Vader were British / European. That guy telling Luke he's saved him is not even close to the same guy in the prequels.
idk either
Luke’s make it up as you go along plan was very much in line with Anakin’s reckless nature during the clone wars… it’s a Skywalker thing. They’re reckless 😂
He got pretty lucky
This was the first movie I ever saw in the movie theater (that I can remember). I never had a problem with the Ewoks (it’s a kids movie) and I thought the movie was nearly perfect my entire life. I’m sure that a lot of that had to do with the age I watched it.
It wasn’t until social media that I realized that everyone hated the little fur balls. Hating the Ewoks wasn’t a thing in the 1980s. Maybe if you saw ROTJ as a 45 year old grown man, or as an elite critic from a national newspaper. But the general audience that this movie was made for had no issue with them.
We had no issue with anything.
And by the voice of the narrator of this video, he wasn’t even around when it came out. So his opinion holds little weight.
the multiple plans to rescue han and the droids was to show how advanced Luke's connection to the force got, Throught the force, things you will see, teh future the past. Can i see the future? always in motion is the future. he sw throught the force probably 4-5 multiple things and outcomes and some failed so he kept working at them until the infal one worked
Wait.. most emotional lightsaber fight? Have you not seen episode 3?
I have, I stand by my claim
I don't fully understand why you think the start of RotJ is unneccesary. Han Solo is one of the main characters of the trilogy, and one of the ongoing plots throughout the films involving Han is that he has a debt to Jabba, who then puts a bounty on his head which results in him getting caught and frozen by a certain famous bounty hunter and the Empire, and sold back to Jabba.
The fact that such an important and loved character got frozen in a cliffhanger-moment already warranted a proper and thorough resolving. Imagine them actually going the way you suggested; with him just casually throwing the "they resqued me" line. I would've felt cheated.
I think the point being made is that it goes on too long and is lazily written such that it does not tie into or drive the rest of the story.
They could have recused Han AND have that rescue drive the ongoing story like having say DV turn up or Han acquiring some knowledge that then helped the Rebels win. All we have left on screen is 40 minutes of Han being rescued in stand alone unrelated story. It doesn’t even cut away to the Empire at any point to remind you there’s a wider story at large.
Another great vid Gold Man. Even tho, ROTJ is my least favorite of the original trilogy it has some of my favorite moments within Star Wars. Also, Merry Christmas! 🎁🌲
Merry Christmas!!
Taking out Yub Nub was my least favorite Special Edition change.
im no yub nub hater, but I love victory celebration
@34:00 Last Jedi is NOT a higher rated movie than Jedi.
How is 82 a higher rating than 91?
My favorite of the OT, yes, especially over Empire
I have nostalgia for it
My understanding, like you’ve said, is that GL abandoned plans for 6 or 9 films and so decided to resolve all loose ends in ROTJ. He then had to hastily write the rescue Han scenes and tack it into the first third of the movie. As you say the events have no other bearing or relevance to the rest of the film.
And have the Empire forgotten all about Luke? Why did they not lay a trap at Jabba’s palace or even just leave a small force in case?
A real missed opportunity IMO.
Why didn’t the Emperor simply build a second back up shield generator? He gives the rebels the plans to succeed but doesn’t plan for what if they did manage to destroy the shield generator,
Movie villains are dumb
It’s funny cause as a kid return of the Jedi was my favourite and as an adult, empire is the best obviously
Agreed
I love return of the Jedi ❤
I love it too! (kinda)
Why Vader saying NOO is problem, but Luke saying it in previous two films is not?
It's not the same
@@thegoldman25 same word
🎉🎉 Happy Life Day, everyone! Happy holidays, as always. 🎉🎉
Merry Christmas!
Lando did redeem himself.
he redeemed himself in empire
Return of the Jedi is the best OT movie
I'm glad you love it!
A solid ending to a great franchise. The prequels have aged well enough and provide a decent backstory to the og trilogy.
If only Disney hadn’t been stupid and just left well enough alone or adapt the sequel books stories to the big screen.
Still waiting for the Vong
the vong will come one day
Love this movie.
It's a fun movie!
Luke’s sister being Leia, Ewoks, and Death Star 2.0 hold this film back from being as good as the first 2 SW.
agreed
Can u review legends of korra?
I’ve already covered it! The video is an hour long!! ua-cam.com/video/pue01eugOzc/v-deo.htmlsi=SOjOt_q6rSNd84JD
I wish LucasFilms NEVER got bought by Disney...
Lucas sold it