Film Never start a land war in Asia... or on Endor.
ROTJ failed to meet expectations, but in my opinion is still a great finale to the original trilogy. It has a very strong first act. In Medias Res, no less. Unfortunately, Lando decided to stick around for this movie, and while Billy Dee is the man, he doesn't get much to do. Neither, frankly, does his predecessor Han Solo, aside from some wry one-liners on Tatooine. Why is Lando trusted to fly the Falcon into the Death Star, original pilot or no? It would've been best to combine the characters and let Han fly it.
Leia also doesn't have much to do. She has some cute moments with the Ewoks, and her tag team with Luke on the speeder is good. But the revelation about her parentage is, well.... a hastily wrapped up plot thread. Vader taunts that he'll corrupt her, which is laughable, but other than that? Nada. Makes you wonder why Lucas threw in that twist in the first place.
Hehe. Can you imagine Han being Vader's second child, instead?
So the cast has a gotten a bit too large. A lot of fans disliked the Edor excursion. On the other hand, it's a nice change of locale and gives the characters some quiet to reflect on the past two movies, which is fun. But yes, the heavily-outmatched rebels are now unstoppable thanks to the Ewoks. Yep. I guess you can argue that the Ewoks have home court advantage.
There was definitely enough material here for two movies, let alone one. Still, everyone's in character and the plot moves along at a quick clip.
Film My Favorite Star Wars Movie
I have no great nostalgia for Star Wars. I mostly found the original trilogy to be classics that are dated but worth appreciating, and I don't think "I am your father" was ever a twist to me. The prequels and spinoff movies were decent popcorn entertainment, and the sequels fell apart for reasons no one can agree on.
But of them all, I think Return of the Jedi was always my favorite. Yes, the Ewoks are goofy, and Han doesn't convey much emotional presence (Harrison Ford exhibits an apathic "done-with-this" attitude to Star Wars I sort of find hysterically legendary). And Luke's plan on Tatooine is a convoluted roulette.
However, it's still cool to see how much Luke has grown from a whiny kid to a skilled warrior. There's a reason he's an iconic hero: the movies put the time and work into his development. The action scenes and space battles are grand spectacles, and they were made without 21st century CGI overload. Ian McDiarmid nails the role of the creepy Emperor. The film arguably has the most emotionally raw lightsaber duel in all the movies. You really feel the clash of both sabers and words between father and son, especially when Luke finally brings Vader down.
But the vital reason Return of the Jedi stands as my favorite is because it is the closest the movies have come to acknowledging one cathartic truth:
THE JEDI ARE WRONG!!!!!
The main issue I have getting into Star Wars and its space wizards is that the Jedi just seem to have a naive, self-defeating philosophy. They hide and deny feelings instead of confronting them, and treat emotions like anger and fear as shameful instead of normal. Charisma on Command made a self-help video
parabolizing this problem. In fairness, Revenge of the Sith and The Last Jedi do lean into the idea that the Jedi are flawed, but they don't go all the way in admitting or demonstrating exactly why.
But in Return of the Jedi, Yoda & Obi-Wan are demonstrably incorrect. Yoda teaches that any start down the path of "anger, fear, aggression" will forever dominate you, and Obi-Wan believes Vader irredeemable, but both are proven wrong. Obi-Wan advises Luke to bury his feelings, but this proves futile; Vader discerns Luke's feelings anyways, and in the end, it's Luke's love for his sister and righteous fury that lets him defeat Vader. Luke's declaration that he is "a Jedi, like my father before me" is also an admission that he has the same temptations as his father, but won't fall to them. Luke's feelings don't ruin him, and even help redeem Vader.
And it makes Anakin's last words so poignant and meaningful.
So, this is my favorite. Even typing this, I feel more appreciation for one of the best trilogy third-parters ever made.