CT 30 Years Of 'Jedi' - The 'Return Of The Jedi' 30th Anniversary

So today marks the 30th anniversary of the sixth and so far last chronological installment of the Star Wars saga (at least until Episode VII) and I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread about this yet on this day.

With it being 30 years since the film first appeared on the big screen (May 25th in the US), share your ROTJ thoughts, memories & such with us others here in this thread.

 

ROTJ has an extremely emotionally powerful ending, especially in light of the PT. It is here, in ROTJ, that the tale of two Skywalkers and an Emperor finally concludes.

 

Return of the Jedi was the very first movie I ever saw in a theater (1987 re-release) I was 4 years old and I remember it vividly. A New Hope was the phenomenon, The Empire Strikes Back was the best, but Return of the Jedi will always be my favorite.

 

Legendary and Iconic close out of the Trilogy. "Return of the Jedi" may be in the shadow of "Star Wars and Empire" but that doesn't mean it's not a Classic itself. The movie was like 3 movies in one with the Battle of Endor, Empire/Vader Vs Luke and the Space Battle going on. Love Luke's near turn to the Darkside. Love the Ewoks cause I'm a 80's baby that grew up on them. Love the last space battle. The whole movie was epic. The "Return of the Jedi" deleted scene with Luke fixing his lightsaber was amazing also. It was the only film of the original trilogy I saw in theaters before the Special Editions in the 90's. I can't believe it's 30 years old. Wow.

 

Happy 30th Anniversary to Return Of The Jedi!

I saw it on Saturday of its opening weekend. While I was waiting in line, some jerk exited the theater from the previous showing and yelled

Spoiler

"Darth Vader kills the Emperor!"

I'm gonna watch it tonight, probably the blu-ray, though I'm considering the O-OT dvd.

 

30 Years of Ian Mcdiarmid as Palpatine!

 

I painted this in honor of the 30th anniversary on my iPad, my favorite part of Jedi!

 

When I first started watching the SW movies about 9-10 years ago ROTJ was my favorite SW movie. This was until ROTS was released. I first saw episode 6 when i was 6 (funny how that works out ) and was completely freaked out when Palpatine was electrocuting Luke with his lightning. Considering i watched it just hours after Id seen ESB for the first time, I was still reeling over Vaders revelation of Being Lukes father and was excited to see how that plotline was gonna be resolved.

 

Just watched it again in Honor of the 30th Anniversary. Still amazing from beginning to end.

 

I just watched most of it. I absolutely love it. It's probably my favorite SW film.

 

Did you beat up the guy when he said that

 

I remember seeing this image in Bantha Tracks, I think (or was it People magazine or something...hard to remember):


I remember thinking "Whoa!! An AT-AT in a FOREST!! Is that LUKE being led to VADER?!?!?"

 

30 years? I feel so old now...

Someone hand me my walking stick, those bloody kids are on the front lawn again

 

Myself, I remember renting the VHS (1995 pre-SE version) from the local video rental shop many times to watch with by brother. The Emperor revealed, Jabba the Hutt and his cronies, speeder bikes, Ewoks, the ultimate Luke vs. Vader showdown (round 2) and the big showdown between the rebels and the empire; ROTJ had it all and was definitely my favorite of the movies and the one I think I've seen the most (I eventually got my hands on the SE VHS box and I was so glad to finally get to see the SE version and it didn't disappoint). Now when I've gotten older, I have to say I like ESB more but I think ROTJ is my second favorite favorite of the saga and it holds as special place in my heart.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance at rewatching this great, great film yesterday but I hope will get to do it soon; it's a must.

 

Time and time again I've watched Return of the Jedi, and it never ceases to amaze me as to how brilliantly it concludes the series, and in my opinion, leaves one wanting to see an Episode 7. Stellar filmmaking, of such a quality that it may truly be unsurpassed still, and rivaled only by the other two originals in the series. The creatures, characters, planets, spaceships, vehicles, etc...it has always left me wanting to see even more. May The Force that guided the original trilogy to perfection, be with future installments.

 

***t man, you've got a talent there, what a superb painting!!!

 

I remember all the Ralph McQuarrie ROTJ paintings appearing in comics and magazines before the movie come out and my little brain going into overdrive imagining what the finale of the Star Wars saga would bring!!! Great days before the internet took away all the excitement to the build up of a movie!!

 

That's too bad. Everytime I hear a "waiting-in-line for an SW movie"-story like that where someone spoils it, I think of this:

 

Still remember my neighbor telling me in the summer '82 that it was called Revenge of the Jedi! I waited all school year (I was in 4th grade) as we debated was Vader lying to Luke? Still remember where I sat in the theater (back left) of a sold out crowd. I was fascinated with Jabba's Palace at that age as that part blew me away! Was totally satisfied at the end when all our heroes were celebrating on Endor. Was totally expecting Episode 7 a few years later, only 30 years late. Better late then never!

 

Happy 30th Anniversary Return of the Jedi!

I love ROTJ, it is one of my all time favorite movies. I'll never understand why the vast majority of Star Wars fans like ROTS better.

 

Here's a post from my blog:
Awww, Quit Pickin’ on the Ewoks…aka How I Am Marking ROTJ’s 30th Anniversary
I was in sixth grade when ROTJ came out. That year, I went to something called “sixth grade camp,” and we were assigned to various groups that we bunked with. Each group was named after a Native American tribe, and the Miwok tribe wanted to re-name themselves the Ewoks. They weren’t officially allowed to, but that’s what they called themselves.

I had chinchillas for pets around that time, too, and when they had a litter of two babies, I wanted to name them Wicket and Teebo. Alas, neither of the babies survived, but then my chinchillas were littermates born to littermates, so it’s not all that surprising.

Incidentally, baby chinchillas are so cute they make baby Ewoks look ugly. Also, I have no problem with the idea of Ewoks overpowering the Imps. They were not only more familiar with the territory than the Imps, but there were a lot more Ewoks than there were Imps. Working as a single organism, they overpowered the Imps much like a swarm of ants overpowers a much larger insect or even something as large as livestock.

As was usually the case, the Imps’ overconfidence was their undoing. No doubt they parked Death Star 2 in Endor’s moon’s orbit precisely because they took one look at the inhabitants and said, “Oh please. A bunch of tiny furballs? We would have to devote minimal manpower to guarding the project.” Again as was usually the case, they underestimated their opponents.

Not to mention…maybe Lucas, as a short guy himself, liked the idea of short critters saving the day. After all, how many times does the teeny-tiny R2-D2 save various characters’ individual and collective tushes, not just in the prequels, but in the entire saga, including the holy, sacred ESB? And let’s not overlook that various heroic human SW characters are vertically challenged: Luke, Leia, Padmé.

 

thank you sir!

 

Seems like only yesterday. The highlight of my summer back in '83.

 

My family was on vacation before we saw the film. I saw and bought the novelization and told myself I would nto read it until after I saw the movie.

Yeah well, that didn't go as planned. Read one page, which lead to one chapter, which lead to the whole book. Wa wa.

I don't regret it one bit, it made me want to see the film even more.

 

Happy Anniversary Jedi. As a kid I loved this film above all others so I'll always have a soft spot for it.