Return of the Jedi (1983) movie poster

Return of the Jedi (1983)

"Return to a galaxy far far away."
ThumbScore
👍 94%Google users liked it ⓘ
Critics Score
🎬 70%
AdventureActionScience Fiction

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Where to Watch

Streaming
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Director
Richard Marquand
Runtime
2h 12m
Rated
PG
Country
United States of America
Language
English
TMDB Rating
7.9/10 (16,727 votes)
Rotten Tomatoes
83%
Metacritic
58

Cast

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker · 75% avg
Harrison Ford as Han Solo · 75% avg
Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia · 75% avg
Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian · 74% avg
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO · 75% avg
Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca · 80% avg
Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker
Ian McDiarmid as The Emperor · 80% avg

Is Return of the Jedi good?

Yes. 94% of real audiences liked it, by Google's archived audience score. Critics scored it lower at 70%, but audiences disagreed.

Where it ranks on ThumbScore

Rank in its genre
#5 / 1446 · Adventure
Rank in its year
#1 / 35 · 1983

By audience score, among films with 500 or more votes.

Overview

Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor. Wikipedia ↗

About the Film

Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and produced by George Lucas, the concluding chapter of the original Star Wars trilogy. The film follows the Rebel Alliance's plan to destroy the second Death Star while Luke Skywalker confronts the truth about his father, Darth Vader, and faces the evil Emperor Palpatine in a final showdown that will determine the fate of the galaxy. The film opens with an extended sequence at Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine, where the heroes rescue Han Solo from carbonite imprisonment in one of the saga's most beloved adventure sequences.

Return of the Jedi introduced the forest moon of Endor and its inhabitants, the Ewoks — small, teddy bear-like creatures who help the Rebels destroy the Death Star's shield generator. The Ewoks were controversial among fans, with some viewing them as an overly cute concession to merchandising, though they were intended by Lucas to represent the triumph of a technologically primitive people against a mechanized empire, paralleling the Vietnam War. The throne room confrontation between Luke, Vader, and the Emperor provided the trilogy's emotional climax, with Vader's redemption and sacrifice to save his son delivering a powerfully cathartic conclusion.

Industrial Light & Magic achieved their most ambitious visual effects to date for the space battle above Endor, which remained the benchmark for space combat filmmaking for over a decade. Return of the Jedi earned $475 million worldwide and completed a trilogy that fundamentally transformed popular culture, the film industry's approach to franchise entertainment, and the relationship between cinema and merchandising.

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What Reddit Thinks

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⬆ 67,885💬 3,049 comments
Official 40th Anniversary Poster for 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi'
Top comment: "Everyone saying "it better be the original cut" Guys, it will 100% not be the original cut. It's a..."
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