Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

A pretty uneven climax to the most overrated story in the history of cinema. The scenes with the Emperor and Darth Vader are great, the events on the forest moon are unnecessarily ruined by the childish Ewoks, and the opening half hour in Tatooine is almost unbearable. It’s decent fun, but putting Star Wars at the level of other fantasy and science fiction worlds is way too much. (2009-02-21)

The Skywalkers definitely don't limp to the finish line, but there are a few stumbles along the way. The very slow introduction of the main characters on stage, in fact, misses the desired effect, and it's not until Luke takes the lightsaber in his hand that I finally got the atmosphere of the classic Star Wars. However, what The Return loses in the beginning, it gains in the end. The final hour with the ultimate clash of lightsabers, non-stop action, last revelations, and inevitable goodbyes captivates and moves at the same time. (2006-05-20)

The episode where George Lucas's imagination was perhaps at its best – unfortunately. My impressions are aptly characterized by the well-known story of David Lynch (yes, that David Lynch); he was Lucas's main candidate to direct episode IV, and the two met in person before production began. Lucas started talking excitedly about all the weird SW characters and worlds, and Lynch, who wasn't interested anyway and only met him as a courtesy, told him it would be best if he directed it himself. And so a total unknown Richard Marquand was brought in and the viewer got a bunch of funny elves at the end of the greatest space saga of all time, among whom Harrison Ford, Hollywood's biggest dude, looks a bit like Mr. Bean driving a Ferrari. On the other hand, the storyline around Luke works just fine, the aura of the dark side is very tangible (even if it contrasts with the goofing around with the Ewoks), and the special effects are clearly the best of the trilogy, so we do get an exciting experience. I really wonder what it would have been like with the master of depression Lynch at the helm, but actually, thank goodness for that enthusiasm – without him, Star Wars probably never would have been made, so how else would it have ended? The new millennium will give us an ironic answer. 75% (2018-08-03)

With Return of the Jedi, the Star Wars saga reaches its climax, and the film's story takes on the highest quality and consistency. For me, the third (sixth) episode of Star Wars is the best ever made. Everything is perfect, I wouldn't want to repeat myself, but the plot, the special effects, the production design, the music, the costumes and make-up effects are (for their time) flawless. In short, an incredibly spectacular ending to the most famous space saga that deserves one of the brightest spots in cinematic history. (2014-08-21)

Apart from the fateful ending, it's just a childish and terribly stretched borefest with a weak production design, bad effects and long dialogues. In addition, there is almost no editing (a similar flaw from the other old episodes), so we get several minutes-long sequences connected into a long and pseudo-fateful film. Thank God for the new episodes. This is almost laughable and cannot be compared artistically. If it wasn’t for the sentimentality, it would be rated significantly weaker, even considering how long ago it was filmed, because the effects are by far the least of the problems. (2012-11-24)