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Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) | The Retrospective

EverySingleFilm

34,880 views

The conclusion of the Star Wars original trilogy, revisited.

Thanks for watching!

Written, Edited and Voiced by Thomas Hibberd

Socials:
Instagram - @tomhibberd
Letterboxd - TomHibberd

Chapters:
Intro - 00:00
Development - 01:25
The Film - 30:32
Opening Crawl & The Death Star 2: Electric Boogaloo - 32:44
Vader Arrives: 36:19
Jabba's Palace: 38:06
Han's Rescue Plan & Sarlacc Pit Fight: 01:00:33
The Emperor's Arrival: 01:09:25
Luke & The Ghosts of Star Wars Past: 01:13:38
The Rebel Plan: 01:21:38
The Emperor Plays Chess & The Rebels Land On Endor: 01:26:12
The Speeder Bike Chase: 01:29:30
Leia Meets Wicket & The Emperor's Façade: 01:32:55
The Rebels Meet The Ewoks: 01:37:14
The Battle On & Above Endor: 01:45:59
Just Three Dudes Hangin' Out: 01:54:50
An Ewok Celebration: 02:10:29
Original v Special Editions Comparison: 02:13:01
Conclusion: 02:20:09

References -
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h...

20 Comments

@EverySingleFilm Creator 9 months ago Pinned

Thanks so much for watching! Where does Return of the Jedi sit for you in the original trilogy?

@thomasc2680 7 months ago

You forgot 3PO’s arc. In the first movie, when Luke asks him about the rebellion, and if he had been in many battles, 3PO said he’s just a protocol droid, mainly for interpreting and “not very good at telling stories”. In ROTJ, he tells the whole story of the trilogy up to that point to the Ewoks and tells it so well, that they decide to join the rebellion.

@countdowntorevolution9986 8 months ago

"I told you to remain on the command ship!"

one of the most jarring lines in cinema.

@CognitiveDissonance18808 7 months ago

Best arc in all of Star Wars -

C-3P0 in A New Hope:
“I’m not much of a storyteller, sir.”

C-3P0 in Return of the Jedi:
Captivates the Ewoks with his retelling of the Star Wars Saga

@revervetribute 9 months ago

THE BEST ROTJ review I've ever seen. Well done, you nailed it 👏

@voidsce 9 months ago

What a video, ESF. Very rarely does Youtube promote smaller channels, and when they do, the quality is rarely this good. RotJ is my least favourite of the OT as well, but you've done your utmost to dissect every layer of this movie, what went in and out of it, and what we could have had for better and worse. I don't always agree with George's creative decisions, but you gave a much needed humanity to a man who isn't often afforded it. Fantastic video, genuinely great content. You did it all justice.

@onestepper 1 month ago

It could have been a character-driven entry. Instead, Ewoks, opening rescue and second Death Star fizzled it.

@AlexaExtraordinaire 9 months ago (edited)

I'm so glad I came across this video, it's fantastic.
For years I've been saying that I grew up absolutely loving Star Wars, then it went to a love/hate relationship and ultimately just hate after the lackluster prequels, the messy sequel trilogy, spin offs and television series. But I gotta admit, this video made me realise why I loved the original trilogy in the first place and it kinda restored my faith in it.
Thank you so much. Awesome work!

@Lorddorkhelmet 9 months ago

This was a blast to watch-great editing and excellent narration.

@LogCabin-h2l 1 day ago

In TESB:
Leia says 'I love you' and Han replies 'I know'.
In RotJ:
Han says 'I love you' and Leia replies 'I know'. Great circle back, great relational resolution.

@LightsOffStudios 7 months ago (edited)

Man so far this is an absolute amazing documentary, and to think that I saw it all. 😊 thank you so very much for this amazing documentary. As a fan of Star Wars I pretty much seen every single Star Wars movie ever made and I pretty much loved all of them. But return of the Jedi is my personal favorite Star Wars film, because it’s the movie that I saw more times than any other Star Wars movie.

@aramennoodle8027 9 months ago

Surprised you don’t have more views. Here’s hoping this video blows up for you as it is very well done.

@WealthIsHealth247 9 months ago

Excellent video and great work! A moving retrospective, your passion shows beautifully. Congrats on reaching 1K subscribers! Happy to now be one of them.

@professorkatze1123 9 months ago

Boba Fett comes across as cool in Empire for one weird reason most people only realize subconsciously.
Objectively hes really not doing much. Just walking around and missing a shot at Luke and then he flies off.
It's the interaction with Vader.
Fett is the only guy in the whole movie who does not get choked to death or threatened or shit on by Vader.
Instead he reassures him that he will get compensated if something goes wrong with the freezer.
that one interaction makes the audience perceive Fett as at least as dangerous and capable as Vader and makes him even cooler and mysterious.

@darthnihilus511 4 weeks ago

This is really good dude, seriously. Very in depth, full of neat pictures and i am only thirteen minutes in!❤

@devinjanosov 2 weeks ago

That’s the second time Mark Hamill and Carie Fisher swung on a single rope together opposite 1:10:12 yards in the

@ProjectTony 9 months ago

I have a theory on why the whole rescue Han sequence makes zero logical sense.

George, or someone in the writers' room with him, probably realized that Luke having his light saber would make the whole Jabba section last like 2 minutes.