Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

The conclusion of the saga brings the return not only of the titular Jedi, but also of Lucas’s lack of seriousness, as well as his playfulness and naïveté. Though fans don’t want to admit it, the frolicking with the Ewoks was not a misguided diversion or a departure from the intended development of the style. On the contrary, The Empire Strikes Back is the anomaly in Lucas’s fairy-tale space opera due to director Irvin Kershner’s fanfiction approach. If the fifth (originally second) episode, constructed the pillars of Star Wars fandom, then the sixth (third) inevitably arouses the resentment of fans, as the style reverts back to the naïveté of the first film, as it literally states that it is targeted at children and inadvertently undermines everything that is sacred to the fans – an example illustrating all of this is Boba Fett, who is transformed from a cool badass into a ridiculous fool who suffers a belittling and undramatic demise. The greatest hatred has been borne by the cute Ewoks, who have been bumped out of first place on the fans’ hitlist only by Jar Jar Binks. The Ewoks became the personification of the series’ childishness and thus the embodiment of Lucas’s supposed betrayal of his supposedly adult fans. But as frightful as it sounds, if anyone deserves to admonished, it’s Irvin Kershner, who did the worst thing possible – he showed the potential that the Star Wars saga would have had if it hadn’t been in the hands of George Lucas, who always conceived it as a spectacular sci-fi fairy tale for the whole family. (10/11/2015)

The episode where George Lucas's imagination was perhaps at its best – unfortunately. My impressions are aptly characterized by the well-known story of David Lynch (yes, that David Lynch); he was Lucas's main candidate to direct episode IV, and the two met in person before production began. Lucas started talking excitedly about all the weird SW characters and worlds, and Lynch, who wasn't interested anyway and only met him as a courtesy, told him it would be best if he directed it himself. And so a total unknown Richard Marquand was brought in and the viewer got a bunch of funny elves at the end of the greatest space saga of all time, among whom Harrison Ford, Hollywood's biggest dude, looks a bit like Mr. Bean driving a Ferrari. On the other hand, the storyline around Luke works just fine, the aura of the dark side is very tangible (even if it contrasts with the goofing around with the Ewoks), and the special effects are clearly the best of the trilogy, so we do get an exciting experience. I really wonder what it would have been like with the master of depression Lynch at the helm, but actually, thank goodness for that enthusiasm – without him, Star Wars probably never would have been made, so how else would it have ended? The new millennium will give us an ironic answer. 75% (08/03/2018)

Probably the most fairytale-like episode of the existing series of Star Wars. It almost looks as if George Lucas found himself in the effects which brought us Critters, Gremlins, or the legendary series Dinosaurs. All of those monsters and freaks look just as good. But, I have to say that I don’t mind this deviation. On the contrary, I was happy not only because of them, but because of Chewbacca, who is on stage a lot more than usual. And when he isn’t there, you can still hear those odd sounds of his somewhere in the background. And the finale? That’s literally top-notch. It’s a shame that I will never get to know the feelings the fans back then had to have when they finished the movie and then realized they actually didn’t know how it all began and had to wait for it for almost twenty years. (11/04/2015)

A pretty uneven climax to the most overrated story in the history of cinema. The scenes with the Emperor and Darth Vader are great, the events on the forest moon are unnecessarily ruined by the childish Ewoks, and the opening half hour in Tatooine is almost unbearable. It’s decent fun, but putting Star Wars at the level of other fantasy and science fiction worlds is way too much. (02/21/2009)

When someone says "Star Wars," I usually think of this movie because I feel like I saw it first. As a child, I liked the Ewoks, so I guess they enchanted me. Nowadays, however, this is the weakest part of the original trilogy for me, even though the final battle, where the fate of the entire war is decided, is still impressive and beautiful. No, not the space where weapons are fought, but mainly the one between the three characters, where emotions and the Force are mainly fought. (03/22/2015)