CT Happy 32nd birthday to Return of the Jedi!

Point all your things here...not someplace else.

Return of the Jedi was released on this day, May 25th, thirty-two years ago. So, it absolutely deserves a birthday thread. One where we're positive about it.

Some prompts:

What are your first and/or fondest memories of this film? How old were you when you first saw it and was it on TV or in cinema?

 

This was Cushy's first SW film. I remember Ian's Emperor was terrifying especially his Lightning. I am sad when Vader dies. I was 8, pretty sure and it was VHS boxed set.

Fondest memories are realising it's about redemption and that everyone is Grey even though the fandom *loves* to force black/white views it doesn't hold up and it proves OT is just as layered as PT.

 

I was ten years old when I saw it in cinemas in 1983. The throne room scene / space battle remain among the finest of SW scenes IMHO and the metal bikini is etched in my mind forever!

 

Happy Birthday ROTJ!
Favorite moments: Speederbike chase, the Rancor. Lapti Nek, Ewok tree village, Force lightning. Luke's teeth lighting up because of the lightning, Vader's opening conversation on the DS, the Emperor's arrival on the DS, heck, anything Palpatine says. The Tie-fighters flying at the Falcon. The music of the beginning of the space battle of Endor. the way Jabba looked, etc.

 

first sw i remember seeing in the theater. points for being in utero at the theater for anh and being taken to esb even though i don't recall it.

 

Don't remember the first time I saw it but Dad got the OT boxset on VHS sometime in the 90's.

 

Happy 32nd Birthday, ROTJ!

Some of my first and fondest memories of the movies are the Battle of Endor and the entirety of Jabba's Palace. I don't know how old I was when I first watched it, but I was five when the special edition was released to theaters in 1997.

 

wait a second I thought today was ANH?My star wars year by year book says so. But yay ROTJ!

 

Star Wars and Return of the Jedi were released on the same day six years apart; the former turns 38 today. The same thing occurred with The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith being released on May 19th in their respective years.

 

I was 6 months old when this came out. Yay?

 

Return of the Jedi was my favorite movie as a kid, not just in the saga but period. I'm pretty sure by the time I was six, the sections of my VHS that had the Luke/Vader/Emperor scenes were worn down to nothing by repeat viewings. It stands as my favorite extended sequence in the saga, and in movies, to this day. As the years have gone on, I've come to realize both Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back are the superior pieces of filmmaking, with the latter being my favorite movie ever made. RotJ is weaker in many respects, but its biggest fault is merely in failing to consistently maintain the level of quality its predecessors did. Its lows are a bit lower, but its highs are just as high, and in the case of the Death Star II scenes the series' peak point. The problem is its comparative unevenness.

That said, it's still a really fantastic movie in its own right, filled with imagination and heart, and it's a wonderful conclusion to the trilogy's narrative arc. Return of the Jedi is a film I have always loved, and still do love to this day, and it holds a place on my personal list of top ten favorite movies (probably 7 or 8; Star Wars is 2, and again, The Empire Strikes Back is numero uno).

And, this is totally outside of the actual film itself, but I love that when the end credits start to roll, I can now think to myself, "I can't wait to see what happens next." It is, in the truest sense of the words, a lifelong dream come true.

 

RotJ was my favorite of the trilogy when I first watched it at age 14. I'm 30 now, and I still feel it's the one that gives me the warmest feelings.

• The Jabba's Palace rescue is great. The moment Luke enters, you know everything is different. He's matured so much that he's almost a new character. There's no trace of his ANH wide-eyed innocence, or of the tumult that rattles him as he seeks training in ESB. He's not uncertain any longer. RotJ Luke is a Jedi from his first second onscreen, and his every action resonates his power and resolve.

• And the Sarlaac is just pure fun. "Boba Fett? Boba Fett?! Where?!"

• Don't even get me started on the Skywalker twins scene with Luke revealing their legacy to Leia, and those soft, imploring threads of the Force theme that echo behind Luke's gentle words. I love the disparity of their reactions. Luke feels their connection to Vader means he must make every effort to save him. As soon as Leia knows the same, however, she tells him to get as far away as possible. She's lost so much to Vader. Now she's left with the fear that she's going to lose her brother, too, so soon after she's found him.

• Luke's discussion with Vader before he's turned over to the Emperor is just heart-wrenching. Brave, selfless boy, risking everything for a father who's caused him and the ones he loves so much pain. It's clear how genuinely he believes that Anakin will do the right thing. I love the anxiety that passes over Luke's face when Vader ignites the lightsaber behind him. He's reasonably worried, but he's willing to accept whatever fate befalls him for the chance to redeem Anakin. It makes it all the more painful when Luke finally declares, "Then my father is truly dead." Vader is silent thereafter. Anakin feels every word of it.

• And the throne room scenes. Oh my, oh my, oh my. When Palpatine removes those binders with a flick of his hand, you know it's on. It's all been leading to this. No matter how many times I see it, I'm just as scared for Luke and Vader as I ever was. I always breathe a sigh of relief when Anakin decides that he's lost enough, that he's caused enough loss himself, and that his child won't be one of the Dark Side's countless casualties. A father's love changes everything. Incredible. As a young girl watching Luke look upon his unmasked father for the first time and lose him seconds later, I cried along with him.

Wow. I almost forgot how much I love Return of the Jedi. It's so emotionally satisfying.

P.S. Ewoks are cute!

 

Ah, ROTJ, my favourite along with TESB. So many fantastic moments. All of the throne room scenes were brilliant, and Luke's reaction after Vader finds out about Leia, along with the ensuing score as Luke hacks and slashes at him...it's just such an intense and emotional part of the saga.

 

Great movie. I remember first watching it when I was six. My mom rented the whole original trilogy and I watched them back to back. I loved them all, and ROTJ was such a satisfying end to the story of Luke Skywalker. I loved Palpatine and the Force lightning scene made a huge impression on me. I wasn't even sure if he was human, he looked practically undead. I remember being shocked at seeing Vader unmasked, and the high speed chase through the Death Star's interior. I was Star Wars obsessed for so long after that day.

 

I don't actually remember how old I was when I first saw Return of the Jedi, but I remember it was my favorite out of the OT.
It was my favorite film then, and has pretty much always been that way, except for when I saw the PT trilogy for the first time, and I briefly liked Attack of the Clones best. But now Return of the Jedi is my favorite film, and I believe it will probably stay that way.

Things I love about the film:
When I saw the movie for the first time, the thing I liked most about it was Vader saving Luke's life, and in turn, Luke saving him from the Dark Side. I found it really touching, and to this day I still do.
I like how the characters mature. Luke is now a Jedi knight and isn't quite so cocky. Since Han has been gone for so long, he's moved into more of a leadership role (although albeit bossy at times). It's cool that he is willing to forgive others, and also that even though everyone tells him he can't turn Vader back to the light side, he doesn't give up and it turns out he was right and everyone else was...less right.
Han is now a full-fledged member of the Rebellion, no question. I really like the "Leia's News" part where tells Leia that he won't get in the way. It's putting Leia first instead of himself, and I think that's very sweet and mature of Han.
Leia handles that fact that she might be the last hope for the Rebellion pretty well and maturely. Even though she is under a lot of pressure, she doesn't let that drag her down during the Battle of Endor.
I know there are some people who don't like Luke and Leia being Twins, but I'm just so used to it and I think their brother/sister relationship could be interesting to explore in Episode VII. I really like their scene on the Ewok bridge.
I love the emperor in this movie too. I used to hate him, but Palps has since moved up in my favorite character list. Sure, I don't feel one bit sorry when Vader tosses him down that shaft, but he's pretty fun as a bad guy.
Some of my favorite parts in this movie are the duel between Vader and Luke. IMO, this movie, especially during those scenes, is the most dramatic and emotionally charged.
And the Ewok celebration is awesome. It just feels so joyful, but also with a slight hint of sadness to it. The music is wonderful. And I like seeing Yoda, Obi-wan, and Anakin's force ghosts at the end.

 

I was six years old when I saw this in the theater in 1983. I remember my dad's friend brought all the neighborhood kids on opening night. I was SUCH a SW nut at this age, so to say I was looking forward to this movie is an understatement. Back then, I was not disappointed. I loved all of it. Jabba, the Ewoks, the Emperor, Vader without his mask…and speeder bikes!!! Those alone fueled my imagination for *years*.

My affections for this film have waned over the years (especially for the Ewoks), but not my love for that memory of going to see it for the first time. That's left a definite imprint on my brain. Han was still in carbonite! That's Leia in disguise! Luke and Leia are brother and sister?! I also remember playing games where I cackled evilly like the Emperor, and barked orders at my stuffed animals as if they were my minions. I was a weird kid.

Oh, and Leia's bounty hunter costume is awesome. That's the older me speaking now, not the six-year-old me. Although, I'm sure the six-year-old me thought it was pretty badass as well.

 

I feel the same way. At ten, I thought that this was by far the best of the SW films. Although I no longer feel that way, the fond memories of that time in life remain.

 

I'm sorry, but can we all stop for a moment to recognize the epicness that is General Madine's hair?

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...a strike team will land on the moon and deactivate the shield generator.​

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No-one in SW has come close, before or since, to the sheer majesty of that hair / beard / eyeliner combo.

 

Having had my first SW experience 3 years earlier with ESB at the cinema when I was 7, Jedi was a film that I was really excited for and that 3 year wait seemed like the longest wait of my life. It lasted forever.

My first taste of the film was on the TV show Entertainment USA, a program hosted by Jonathan King, which means this show will never be repeated again in the UK ever. But I digress, that show was essential viewing for me back then - apart from one evening when I missed the start. I clearly remember my dad shouting me downstairs and when I came down I remember seeing a clip of a forest chase on a flying sled with what looked like new stormtroopers on them. Wow it looked amazing. Obviously it was a short feature on the release of the film.

What makes things seem so much better back then was there was little access to spoilers, nowhere near what its like today, so I was approaching the release without a clue of what was going to happen story wise. I had seen some stills of the film on various magazines, Luke dressed in black with a green lightsaber, the change in colour blew my mind, and I had seen a picture of the half completed Death Star and my assumption (until seeing the film) was that the Empire had found the remains of the original Death Star and were reconstructing it.

One of my school friends saw the film before me and I remember him saying how old the characters looked and his phrase was they looked like they had ‘long faces’. I have no idea what he meant by that, but at 10 years old I suppose a 3 year difference since we last saw them meant a lot to us.

Seeing the film pretty much followed my Empire experience that I posted about on the ESB 35th anniversary thread. Although this visit lacked the magic of it being my first visit to a cinema it was still a special and memorable time. I went with my dad again and back then we joined the queue without knowing if the showing would sell out or not. I remember he took me to see Superman 2 and we had to go back the following night because our first attempt failed as we got to the front of the queue and it had sold out. Luckily there was no such disappointment with Jedi. Again it was in the same cinema that I saw Empire in, a huge old style theatre with a vaulted ceiling, stalls, an orchestra pit, royal boxes and an upper circle of seats. Such a great venue.

My memories of that first viewing are the excitement of waiting for the film to start and the impact of the music and the logo is something never to be underestimated IMO. I remember being surprised that the start was all about Jabba and Hans rescue, I loved it. The Rancor, the palace aliens and (strangely) Lukes back flip in particular stood out from that opening half hour. Also for that half an hour I thought the film had darkness in tone and score like Empire and I expected the rest of the film to follow suit. I couldn’t believe the Emperor was in it and I thought he was creepy and a great addition, and that lightning!! The speeder bikes and the design of the scout troopers stayed with me too. The ewoks believe it or not I didn’t mind. Seeing Vaders face for the first time and the space battle where highlights too. I was disapointed that the Emperors guards didn't do much and weirdly I wanted Han to have a long sleeved jacket like he had in Empire. But coming out of that film and it instantly became my favourite. However that changed as I got older though.

Something that may sound strange is that because of that 3 year gap between ESB and Jedi it gave me some kind of disconnect between Jedi and the first 2. It seemed so divorced from them and I purely put that down to the gap seeming bigger than it was to my young mind.

My dad got a copy of the film soon after on pirate video (all the rage in the mid-80’s). I watched it religiously every morning before I went to school. The funny thing about it was that the video cut out 2 scenes - the end of the speeder bike chase when Luke was separated and it also cut the demise of the Executor. So when I saw the film properly again when I bought the video release in the early 90’s I had totally forgotten about those 2 scenes, as I had the pirate video engraved on my mind. So I couldn't remember Luke using his lightsaber on Endor and the pilot crashing in to the bridge.

Overall it was such a special time being in the midst of the excitement and hype and (as with Empire) seeing it at the cinema with my dad is a memory I will always cherish.

 

ROTJ was my fist Star Wars. I watched it on tv, and it was very confusing because I had no idea who anyone was.

Now I've an upsurge in my liking for the film after a recent rewatch.

It nearly edges out ESB in the OT for me. (Hey that rhymes!)

The early scenes in Jabba's palace go on too long though: "What's this? Someone else wants to address Jabba? We haven't seen that 4 times already."

The Ewoks are OK, not great, not terrible.

The Soundtrack is excellent though, especially Into the Trap, The Emperor's Throne room, and Tatooine Rendezvous. I wish that scene had been in the film. It lends an even greater air of mystery to Luke, and is the only time anyone is seen making a lightsaber.

 

Saw it in onscreen back in 1983, at age 12.

Fondest memories : the hype/anticipation during the preceding months, the space battle/throne room scenes, the Dagobah scenes. John Williams' musical score as well, as it was the first time I really noticed and appreciated.

Same with me. ESB had had a strong impact 3 years ago, but wasn't a real hardcore fan yet.


Last, but not least :