Return of the Jedi

So, just watched this one and overall I enjoyed it but it's kind of uneven. So, all the Rebels had to do was team up with cute cuddly Ewoks to win the day in the end? I felt like it should have been Han leading troops into battle against the remaining Empire forces. That would have completed his arc in a nice way developing from someone being a coward and running away to being a great fighter. Yeah...too much Ewoks. But they are cute. Plus, they blow up the Death Star...again? That cheapens the heroic moment a little from ANH. I felt the confession scene between Leia/Luke was weak. She just accepts that Vader is her father? No anger? resentment or surprise? Plus Luke has no memories of mama Padme but Leia has fuzzy memories and feels mom's warmth. Please. The Vader/Luke scenes are excellent and I found myself moved by Anakin/Vaders sacrifice in the end. I kind of wished he'd survived. It would be an interesting story to see what Anakin's place might be in a post Empire galaxy. Nice development for Lando too, redeeming himself with the Rebels after turning on Han in ESB. I did enjoy the victory celebration at the end. Nice little victory score from John Williams. I thought the Hayden Christensen insert would be distracting but it was fine. Still nice to see Anakin Obi-Wan and Yoda reunited again. I saw Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas collaborated on the screenplay but it felt more Lucas than Kasdan.

There's actually some cool concept art out there for a redeemed Darth Vader

The Ewoks beating up the Stormtroopers was stupid. And Leia's reaction was a little weak. Frankly, the whole Luke-Leia twist seemed awkward to me. As for Vader, after everything he's done I don't think he could totally be redeemed, so him dying was probably the best option. The repeat Death Star was also a bit uninspired

On the plus side, Palpatine was cool, and it was great seeing Jedi Luke and how he fought against Vader in a different way than ESB. The fight at the sail barge was also cool, as was Lando's redemption, although I though he already redeemed himself at the end of ESB

[QUOTE=CTTT;5545482]...I felt like it should have been Han leading troops into battle against the remaining Empire forces. That would have completed his arc in a nice way developing from someone being a coward and running away to being a great fighter. Yeah...too much Ewoks. But they are cute...Plus Luke has no memories of mama Padme but Leia has fuzzy memories and feels mom's warmth. Please...[/QUOTE]

Han was never a coward and was always a great fighter. It's just the Han we met in ANH was far more self-interested, so in many ways, his arc was settled in ANH, and if not, certainly so in ESB.

Ewoks. Yeah, not a fan either, but they do have some ardent supporters. I have a friend that hypothesizes that how you feel about them depends on whether you encountered them as a child. As far as I can tell, his notion holds up pretty well.

Leia but not Luke remembering Padme: not too much a thing for me. I'd imagine she and Luke have somewhat different gifts.

As for Leia not being freaked out about Vader being her dad, she didn't grow up idolizing a missing father, and didn't have a surrogate father telling her Vader murdered her idealized father. I can see it being a bit harder for Luke to swallow, especially whilst cradling a freshly-dehanded arm, stumped during a death duel with the guy claiming to be his father. Leia was in a state of calm, and more readily able to accept what her feelings (and, I presume, the force) were telling her to be true.

[QUOTE=CTTT;5545482]So, just watched this one and overall I enjoyed it but it's kind of uneven. So, all the Rebels had to do was team up with cute cuddly Ewoks to win the day in the end? I felt like it should have been Han leading troops into battle against the remaining Empire forces. That would have completed his arc in a nice way developing from someone being a coward and running away to being a great fighter. .[/QUOTE]

Han's Cowardice? There is a lot I can accuse Han of but this isn't one of them. Payment, Leia and eventually Luke were mostly what interested him more than the Rebellion.

Yeah, the whole twins thing feels so out of place and unnecessary.

Never had a problem with the Ewoks. It was to amuse and please a younger audience and know what? It freaking worked on me and all the others kids i knew lol.

It also gave Luke a couple of occasions to show that he was wiser and more mature now. Maybe ANH Luke would have responded to the Ewoks trap with impatience or violence. But not RotJ Luke.

[QUOTE=Starter Set;5547732]Yeah, the whole twins thing feels so out of place and unnecessary.

Never had a problem with the Ewoks. It was to amuse and please a younger audience and know what? It freaking worked on me and all the others kids i knew lol.

It also gave Luke a couple of occasions to show that he was wiser and more mature now. Maybe ANH Luke would have responded to the Ewoks trap with impatience or violence. But not RotJ Luke.[/QUOTE]

Yeah Luke was a badass in ROJ. Just as good as his dad, Obi-Wan and Yoda. What was moving about his scenes with Vader is how patient and dare I say...loving to his dad? It was also funny to me how Boba Fett in ESB was introduced as this bounty hunter who's menacing and hard to fight and yet he gets dispatched and thrown into the pit with the monster in two seconds in ROJ, lol.

[QUOTE=CTTT;5547898]Yeah Luke was a badass in ROJ. Just as good as his dad, Obi-Wan and Yoda. What was moving about his scenes with Vader is how patient and dare I say...loving to his dad? It was also funny to me how Boba Fett in ESB was introduced as this bounty hunter who's menacing and hard to fight and yet he gets dispatched and thrown into the pit with the monster in two seconds in ROJ, lol.[/QUOTE]

What happened to Boba Fett was stupid. At least Mandalorian fixed that.

The Ewoks are kind of the relics of some of the earlier drafts of Star Wars, where Wookies would help with the final battle. Lucas decided to reuse the concept, but since he had shown Wookies were technologically knowledgeable with Chewie, he sort of altered the concept and made a more primitive but similar species. We did kind of get a short version of a Wookie battle in ROTS though, although with far more advanced weaponry and tech than the Ewoks (The helicopters, bowcasters etc.).


It was basically a metaphor, a less technically advanced civilization on their home turf outwitting a well-trained, technological invading one, which has happened a few times in history.

[QUOTE=Starter Set;5547732]Yeah, the whole twins thing feels so out of place and unnecessary.

Never had a problem with the Ewoks. It was to amuse and please a younger audience and know what? It freaking worked on me and all the others kids i knew lol.

It also gave Luke a couple of occasions to show that he was wiser and more mature now. Maybe ANH Luke would have responded to the Ewoks trap with impatience or violence. But not RotJ Luke.[/QUOTE]

Luke did seem kind of annoyed in the trap itself, but of course when he meets them he's not only amused of course but quickly figures out that the Ewoks view Han and Chewie's weapons as a threat.

[QUOTE=CTTT;5547898]Yeah Luke was a badass in ROJ. Just as good as his dad, Obi-Wan and Yoda. What was moving about his scenes with Vader is how patient and dare I say...loving to his dad? It was also funny to me how Boba Fett in ESB was introduced as this bounty hunter who's menacing and hard to fight and yet he gets dispatched and thrown into the pit with the monster in two seconds in ROJ, lol.[/QUOTE]

The reason for that was as it turns out hilariously accidental. Basically the build up to Boba Fett was huge. The fallout of the original Star Wars was big, like this was [I]the[/I] movie. And as a result when they'd been showing off the character early on in public events people really took notice. He'd end up in the infamous Holiday special prior to ESB (this is where Din Jarin's rifle comes from) and while the special isn't great he is considered the highlight of it barring high Carrie Fisher. He'd be among the Kenner toyline which in this particular case you'd have to send away for. Couple that with his role in ESB and for a side villain he kind of hit all the right notes. Everyone was kind of into Star Wars and liked the design, kids liked the toys, and from what people saw of him thought he was kind of neat.

Yeah George Lucas didn't really know any of that.
He basically was just wrapping things up and had Boba offed because he was just one of the bad guys to him. He had no idea the kind of popularity he had and since he has admitted that had he known that he'd have given him a more dignified death or kept him around. It really is in this case the EU correcting what was a mistake ultimately by bringing him back and giving him more to do.

I think he kind of aknowledged Boba's popularity with AOTC as well, giving him a prominent role in the origin of the Empire.