CT Return of the Jedi: After the Prequels

Watching Return of the Jedi in the context of the entire saga is probably the most rewarding experience in the series. As the third part of the OT, it's a satisfying if rushed conclusion, not up to the standards of ANH and Empire. The prequels and Jedi kinda ruin ANH and Empire in a way with the sibling twist. Now audiences are just going "eww incest!" and not getting invested in the dramatic love triangle that makes the "I love you!", "I know!" exchange so powerful.

Where the prequels enhance the OT is with Return of the Jedi. I've been rewatching all the movies lately and man it's just so powerfully book ended, phantom menace and ROTJ. The opening sequence at Jabba's palace is hundred times more meaningful remembering the heart breaking tragedy of Anakin and his mother being slaves in episode 1, maintained by the Hutt power guild in the outer rim. It's really significant I think that the first Skywalker we meet in the narrative of the saga chronologically is a lowly slave woman with no power and no husband. It adds something to Luke and Leia throwing down Jabba the Hutt's criminal empire in ROTJ. Slave Leia...think about it. A Skywalker literally bound by chain to a Hutt, eventually strangling him to death with her own chain destroying the Hutt hold on the outer rim and freeing all the slaves, Anakin's dream. Why did they do it? To save Han. A complete inverse of what the Jedi Order in the prequels stood for. They shunned attachment and served the strict laws and borders of the corrupt republic and let the outer rim suffer.

Here we have Luke dropping out of Jedi school in Empire to rescue his friend Han and failing but now in ROTJ he concocts this plan using everything he learned from Yoda to rescue his friend and in the process bringing down this greedy and awful kingpin in Jabba. Luke's plan is reckless and crazy at times and at moments seems like it will fail and that he screwed up. Reminds me of Anakin in Attack of the Clones during the speeder chase. He thinks he's gonna cut Zam off in a short cut but ends up losing her...only for his plan to actually have some merit and he jumps down falling right on top of her speeder. Luke in ROTJ is still young and naive but definitely matured by his epic failure in Empire and is now minding all he learned from Yoda (seeing the future, letting go of possessions, being calm, trying for peace first by attempting negotiations with Jabba etc) and applying in his own youthful and reckless way. Of course with Force Awakens we could see many other gangs rose up to take the Hutt's place like Bush freeing Iraq from Saddam Hussein it created a power vacuum that made the region even more unstable. Ultimately it's the Skywalkers doing things their own way and reinventing the Jedi Order as it probably should be as imperfect as it is.Luke having a green lightsaber and using his mind trick twice with it working only one time reminds me of Qui Gon, another rebel who Luke is now taking the place of.

Now on Endor, we see Luke urges Han to give up to the Ewoks and surrendering and through peaceful Jedi trickery with levitating C3PO is able to get the Ewoks on their side and help them in the battle against the empire. This thanks to episode 1 reminds me of Padme humbling herself to appeal to the Gungans and rallying their support. I find this a beautiful mirror. Padme befriending Jar Jar= Leia befriending Wicket. It elevates these Endor scenes to a much higher level whereas before they were perhaps the most banal and boring scenes for me.I also like how the leader of the Rebellion is a woman in Mon Mothma. It's cool to have the Empire being controlled and dominated by men being defeated by a female led revolution. Brings to mind the heroic leader Queen Amidala as well.

Where the prequels really enhance ROTJ though is the final act. Luke going against Palpatine is chilling. Luke like his dad and mom has the compassion to recruit the natives but Palpatine has his infamous manipulations and devious plotting made all the more malevolent thanks to the prequels. It's an epic clash. Vader's redemption with Lucas adding the "no!" is just so powerful now as well, as unpopular as that opinion may be in the fandom. Anakin promised his mother he would return to free her but when he hears her crying for help in his dreams he ignores her plea until it is too late and he reunites with her only to have her die in his arms. He swears on her grave that he wasn't strong enough to save her but won't fail again. He ends up inadvertently causing Padme's death by trying to prevent it and at this point he is utterly destroyed inside and becomes Darth Vader.

Cut to ROTJ and Luke crying for help and the old Anakin returns. He couldn't save his mother, couldn't save Padme but he can save their son and gives his life to do so ironically fulfilling the prophecy after all and destroying the Sith.

I could go on and on but I think I've made my point. This thread is not to stir up another endless and pointless prequels verses OT debate but simply to illuminate my own interpretation and ever evolving experience of this great saga as a whole. The prequels might to many need some work in the directing but the overall storytelling by Lucas is amazing.

 

I loved ROTJ when it came out the prequels though never took off for me though.

 

Interesting. I had never drawn a line from Anakin and Shmi's situation in TPM to Luke and Leia taking down Jabba in RotJ. But what you say makes a lot of sense. There is some definite symbolism in Shmi's granddaughter wearing the clothes of a slave and using her own chains to strangle her oppressor.

 

I can't honestly say that ROTJ or my appreciation of it has profited in anyway from the Prequels.

Luke actually proves that it was possible for a Jedi to go to Tatooine and kick Hutt butt, or anyone who needed taking down a peg or two. And there were no dire consequences. Luke's instinct that Vader was for saving, no for killing did not change because of this either.

It was a bit strange watching the prequels try and establish how Anakin's desire to do something similar was directly responsible for the downfall of the Jedi and the galaxy.

 

Well put, StartCenterEnd! Very well put!
I have long felt that ANH and TESB might be the strongest of the movies as standalone film experiences and that the others have more of an episodic feel. This would then be the reason why ROTJ has by many been viewed as the weaker link of the trilogy, but with Episodes I-III being similarly episodic and especially with TPM carrying related themes, ROTJ has, like you said, been elevated to a very satisfying finale.

 

PT enhances ROTJ for me mostly in that we got to know Palpatine as more than a cackling evil witch type of character. Makes the throne room confrontation less cartoonish given that I now flash back to Palpatine the senator of TPM as I watch ROTJ. Also I prefer the young ghost Anakin by a wide margin given that I think it's less sentimental.

Still the weakest of the original saga for me, but a great one nonetheless, and even better when I watch it with the PT in mind.

 

I disagree. While there are more inconsistencies with ROtJ(specifically speaking of Lukes sister) I felt that it was a true return to what it established in ANH. ESB in my opinion, could have destroyed SW if they went the darker route. ROTJ felt so pulpy and classical. It's basically a much better ANH imo. The balance between the darkness of the film and the light tones blended well. A bit poetic too.

The ending where he father saves the son out of his own love? That was a fantastic ending. The hero didn't kill the villain, the villain didn't fall down and die himself. He saved saved the hero from ultimate demise. Might I say, it's very powerful and far more effective than some simple "I am your daddy" plot twist.

 

ROTJ (when it is all said and done) is my favourite SW film...I acknowledge the negatives but the positives outweigh them imo. If I watch the PT films as just stories set in the GFFA (TPM and AOTC - Can't stand ROTS) they are good films. If I try and watch them as part of the saga that is where they fall down for me. Ironically the same situation I have with the Hobbit and LOTR films.

Most of what you had written I hadn't given much thought to be honest. Rather than trying to match things up in our minds, I wish they had of matched up things they actually said occurred!

 

Definitely! When the Emperor is evily sarcastically destroying Luke, it's even more chilling remembering how he had manipulated both his mother and father.

 

I can see where you're coming from. My (relative) dissatisfaction with ROTJ has nothing to do with wanting a darker film. Ewoks are one of the best things about Jedi!

 

Don't get me wrong, I personally always loved Return of the Jedi even before the prequels. It was my favorite as a kid. The Vader/Luke/Emperor scenes are what pushed me over the edge to become a fanatic! The redemption angle was surprising and powerful even back in the day. I never saw that in a movie before, for the bad guy to save the good guy in the end and turn good, it blew my mind! Way more than "I am your father!" did which unfortunately was spoiled for me.

With that said, the rest of the movie besides the amazing space battle never really did much for me until after the prequels. I didn't hate the ewoks, I just felt the Endor scenes were kinda lifeless and the opening scene with Jabba a little drawn out. The prequels have elevated the whole movie for me so now it's not just the space battle and final confrontation that grips me, it's the whole movie.

 

Return of the Jedi actually justifies 1-6 Saga in my opinion. The last-minute switch of the protagonist (from Luke to Anakin/Vader) and the antagonist (from Vader to the Emperor) is what allows the prequels to work as the first half of a story that culminates in Return of the Jedi.

 

What stands to ESB is overall it is a stronger story. Starts off with a small group of characters and builds from there. The Battle of Hoth and Asteroid scenes take us into the movie in a way that ROTJ does not. The action in ROTJ takes off as soon as Luke, Leia and Han arrive at the Sarlacc Pit and it becomes unrelenting. So i say the pacing of ESB is just right the mix of characterization, story and atmosphere. The better movie for me. What i liked about ROTJ is the role the animatronics played in the film and it gave an epic space fight that Star Wars was demanding.

 

I liked how TPM shows us The Emperor as both Senator Palpatine and as Darth Sidious. We now know that The Emperor isn't just Vader's master and the Empire's head of state, but also the man who was once Darth Maul's master, the puppet-master of the Trade Federation, and a Senator who seemed to be the Republic's greatest hope. We now know that The Emperor mentored Luke's mother and that the red color of the Royal Guards comes from the planet that he and Luke's mother grew up on. We now know that The Emperor comes from an order that has feuded with the Jedi since ancient times.

I liked the parallels between ROTS and ROTJ such as Anakin killing Dooku and then Luke refusing to kill Vader, Anakin turning to save Padme and then turning back to save Luke, the clones killing the Jedi by surprise and then the Ewoks killing the Stormtroopers by surprise, etc.

 

Great essay StartCenterEnd, I can never right that much and in depth like that when I want to prove a point, I admire your craft.
As some of you may know, my favorite Star Wars film has changed quite a bit over time. ROTJ isn't my favorite, but its up there. I thought it was brilliant when I saw it as a kid, before I saw the prequels. But yes, I did appreciate the ending of it more after viewing I-III, especially ROTS.

That said, I do think ROTJ was a little anticlimactic compared to its predecessor, but that doesn't detract from its success as a film. The prequels, which I have gone back and forth between liking, do shed light on what Vader must have been thinking, and truthfully they add more emotional weight to the climax. I'm neutral about the "NO!"

 

Just watched ROTJ as part of my first ever entire PT OT (maybe ST) marathon and omg ... the ending of ROTJ is made so much more poignant when you follow what happens in ROTS .. as pointed out above ..
- Vader uses the same lure to tempt Luke, as Sidious did to tempt him - "you can save Padme" / "You can save your friends"
- The Emperor addresses the Skywalker weakness of "compassion" - arguably Anakin's compassion for his mother and Padme led him to his fall
- Luke getting fried a la Mace Windu : one being the catalyst of Anakin's fall, the other being the catalyst of Anakin's redemption

So beautiful

Pottery

 

i sure hope that kid made it back from london to see it again

 

Where did you dig up that old fossil?

 

i have my ways lol

 

I dunno, I hear brother-sister incest is cool with the kids these days. Especially if the brother is missing a hand.