A Strangely Small Finale

Return of the Jedi is clearly the weakest of the original trilogy, barring the throne room scene, and as such I probably have the least to say about this movie. Although as a child I loved it.

I’m not even going to comment on the most egregious changes Lucas made to the film.

I think the films biggest problem is shifting tones and the glue at the seems of scenes. To be specific, the opening sequence at Jabba’s Palace feels like a separate episode of TV, a prologue to the film - although maybe this is a situation they were stuck with coming off Empire. After that, the film diverges into parallel tonal tracks: on the one hand we have Yoda, Luke, and his conflict with the Emperor over Vader. And on the other hand, we have the ludicrous adventures of Han and Leia with the Ewoks. Shunted between these is one of the greatest space battles ever committed to film.

That’s really the extent of my thoughts on the film, unfortunately. Although I loved the introduction of the Emperor, and seeing it anew in the context of the prequels raises the question of which version is better: the Emperor as a mysterious, protean figure of darkness, or Palpatine as an upjumped politician with delusions of magnificence. I’m honestly not sure which I prefer.

I’ll also note that the Empire allows itself to be destroyed out of hubris, sheer unwarranted overconfidence.

The one choice that this film makes that I really love is that the stakes of the conflict between Luke and the Emperor are entirely personal - it’s just over Vader’s soul. The battle for the fate of the galaxy is won by the rebels without Luke. Tightening the stakes for the hero to just the personal and letting others win the war is a choice many other blockbusters are sadly averse to.