RedLetterMedia Star Wars Return of the Jedi Commentary

[@Flippwn1]

disagree with Jay here on Vader trying to kill Luke. In empire, Vader was definitely pulling his punches, until luke got a lucky hit in. then he got pissed and knocked luke to the ground, literally giving him a chance to surrender, then cut his hand off when Luke continued to fight. This disarmed luke. He was cornered. Vader reached his hand out and tried to have a conversation. like... Did we even watch the same movie? Not to mention the whole point of the carbonite freezing plan was to keep luke alive.

[@kylehyde215CA]

What was Palpatine's dialog in the original release? It may not matter because I think both of them wanted Luke to turn. It would spit in the eye of the Jedi for the last one to be turned and it would be a bonus for the Empire have 2 powerful force users. I mean, Vader didn't tell him he was his father and asked him to join if his intentions were to kill him.

[@samtaholo]

@@kylehyde215CA Palpatine: "The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi." Vader: "If he could be turned, he would be a powerful ally." Palpatine: "Yes... Yes. He would be a great asset." Shows that both Vader and Palpatine were angling to dispose of each other and have Luke as their new apprentice.

[@kylehyde215CA]

@@samtaholo I didn't consider that line that way. Oh yeah, I just remembered. Doesn't Vader outright tell Luke before he jumped they can overthrow the Emperor and they rule the Galaxy?

[@xpurplethighs7596]

@@kylehyde215CA yes, which is why it's ridiculous that the RLM guys didn't get this take right. I love them to death but I feel like doing the prequel videos has clouded their typically analytical side towards the other films. They get some stuff right but its superficial stuff, and they ignore the deeper points of the films.

[@Bit2brain]

@@xpurplethighs7596 Yes. And it is kinda surprising.

[@Glottis]

"because they made the prequels, we can sit here doing this" Rich with the real talk.

[@ernestolombardo5811]

Rich knows which way his bread is buttered on and he ain't afraid to say it.

[@ralphiecifaretto8961]

They'd all still be Wedding Photographers if they didn't make the prequels, lol

[@wanderlking8634]

And in this case, "this" means not explaining what matte lines are.

[@andersgustavsson8232]

This version with all the new CGI added is a crime against humanity.

[@jasonjansen9831]

Who cares what they do as long as they make the original available

[@AJR1129]

yes, and the fan made 'de-specialized' versions should be up for the nobel peace prize

[@TheLakabanzaichrg]

@@jasonjansen9831 They never did, the 90's cut sought to replace the original

[@walrusArmageddon]

As someone who grew up with this version, something always feels wrong when I watch the original version EDIT: for context, I got the OG version on vhs a while back while at the cabin

[@MforMovesets]

@@walrusArmageddon I have the first DVD release and I THINK it doesn't include the friggin band scene. And I don't dare to check either. But there's fugly CGI Jabba. Ugh.

[@SammEater]

As a foreigner kid I never realized the forest with giant trees was actually real, I always thought that was a set made for this movie. lol

[@darthmercur3067]

Yes, the redwoods, northern California. Cool

[@jbrisby]

As a Canadian, I never realized that that the trees were considered big by other people. They could have filmed the Endor scenes in Stanley Park.

[@darthmercur3067]

@@jbrisby Redwoods are the largest and tallest trees in the world, no Redwoods in Canada outside of Vancouver island....did you grow up on an island?

[@zanderwohl]

@@darthmercur3067 Stanley Park is in Vancouver

[@darthmercur3067]

@@zanderwohl "......outside of Vancouver island"- please learn how to read.

[@casualyoutubeviewer9198]

On the Endor scenery, from the perspective of a non-american: To me the point of the trees being big thus making them exotic is a real thing. In fact I have never seen a forrest just like Endor. For context I’m Norwegian and we have a lot of forrest, however the scale and just how massive the plants and trees are is something I’ve never seen with my own eyes and thus it does work for me. I find Hoth to be more boring, due to being used to that kind of landscape of snow and mountains (We skii a lot lol and Hoth is partially filmed in Norway). So I think it’s a lot to do with what you’re used to see that makes something interesting or uninteresting on a foreign planet. Edit: With big trees I mean chonk not tallness.

[@MadKazZzZzZ]

I’ve seen the red woods before and that STILL didn’t make it any less “exotic” in hindsight. The redwood trees are a spectacle within or without a fantasy setting. Super cool that Hoth seems so normal or boring to you in comparison, I don’t get to see a lot of snow but I’d agree Hoth is pretty plain.

[@crazymage9636]

Tatooine is boring for me because im Australian and i live in a irradiated apocalyptic wasteland like in Mad Max Fury Road.

[@jonsmith5058]

Its not exactly the same, but as a British man I don’t find castles very interesting as I’ve seen a bunch. Its interesting see people from other cultures get excited. Definitely depends what you are used to.

[@xen0bia]

I agree with you 100%! I'm on the east coast of Canada and we have absolutely nothing remotely resembling these red woods over here either and so it does comes off looking pretty exotic, but not TOO alien either. Alien worlds that look too farfeatched often come off as not believable to me, like some of the prequel planets, and I don't particularly like those.

[@JimmyMon666]

Hoth always seemed kind of cool to me. Of course I live in the desert Southwest, so it's not like we see much of that. That said, I don't mind seeing desert scenes either. The deserts they filmed in were nothing like the Mojave desert, so it's still kind of alien. As for the redwoods, I had never been there at the time the film was released, I finally did see them in person in 2014 which was nice. I always liked how thick the forest looked and how scary it seemed to ride such a fast speeder in such a thick forest.

[@FranzFerdinand76]

10:32 Jay is way off here. In Empire, Vader is holding back against Luke in their sword fight, testing him, even toying with him. At one point Vader hesitates for a moment before swinging when Luke is vulnerable. Yeah he gets pissed and cuts Luke's hand off, but that's not lethal. Vader's initial plan was to freeze Luke in carbonite, thus the whole point of testing it on Han first to make sure it wouldn't kill him.

[@ThreadBomb]

Yes. And there's that crucial scene where Vader convinces the Emperor that they should try to turn Luke instead of killing him. And the later speech where Vader says "Join me" to Luke. I think it's pretty obvious that Vader did _not_ want to kill Luke.

[@jayjaydeth]

Nah, clearly he wanted to murder him. That's why at one point he stopped fighting and just threw blunt objects at Luke with the force, very likely in an attempt to knock him unconcious so he can capture him. Oh wait...

[@Dash277]

I agree, he's clearly trying to turn him not kill him. He literally asks him to join him and fight by his side rather than jump and (presumably) die.

[@GarretGrayCamera]

I think if Vader couldn't convince him to join him, he would have to kill him. The final part of that fight where his hand is chopped off was meant to break down Luke's resolve. The father/son bond probably made Vader a little lenient and he decided to talk to him afterwards to try to convince Luke but still Luke wanted nothing of ti. If Luke hadn't been at the end of the walkway and jumped, Vader probably would've killed him.

[@jayjaydeth]

@@GarretGrayCamera I agree, but killing Luke is the option B. Option A, Vader gets a powerful new ally by turning his son.

[@thebassconnection7226]

As a 9 year old in the cinema this film was the greatest thing ever.

[@RoyalFizzbin]

It was an event. This is the first movie I ever saw in the theater. Packed house on a weeknight.

[@one7decimal2eight]

This was the only movie I saw in the theater. I was 6 years old. It was amazing. Then the special editions came out in 97 and that was amazing seeing the original in the theaters...until we saw the changes.

[@jmcusack]

Agreed.

[@BossLevelAudio24]

I was 10 when Empire came out. Opening day the queue to get in went down three flights of stairs, out the front door and across two streets! Opening day of rise of skywalker....7 people including my wife and I in the 200 seater room.

[@daemonthorn5888]

I was 7 years old when RotJ came out. These films absolutely blew me away as a child. I could tell that my parents just didn't get it, and I couldn't understand how they could not show any interest in it at all.

[@RegularCupOfJoe]

For decades I incorrectly thought the half-constructed Death Star was actually a salvaged chunk of the original one from the first movie which Palpy boy was fixing up.

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

Really DS2 was just part of a ruse to lure in Skywalker...

[@raydonahue1978]

@@DavidLLambertmobile No. Palpatine wanted to blow up many Rebels and remove them as a serious threat. And he probably also wanted to threaten people, same as with the first Death Star.

[@cheswajda9803]

Agreed, felt the same way when I saw preview images in 1982. The design and look of this Death Star indicates a salvage, not new construction. Abrams is leaning into this by having a hull of the ROTJ Death Star still remaining for Rey to discover in the postquels.

[@chaoswraith]

Same. I was like "surely its not possible to build ANOTHER fucking moon sized ship so quickly.....and all the material and people needed......"

[@cheswajda9803]

Also, why would it be the *same* design (just "bigger", which you can't see)? Just some design element change - like removing the trench maybe? haha - would make it stand out as a new Death Star.

[@AKAGFunk]

Mike is very coherent sounding in this commentary. We needed more RLM with this Mike, before he became elderly.

[@bigslim7777]

Its only been...7 years since this post

[@caddywampa6602]

There are many fair complaints to be made about ROTJ but "California's redwood forest is a boring location and they didn't do anything interesting with it" IS NOT ONE OF THEM. So far we'd seen a barren desert world, a barren ice world, a cloud world, and a muggy swamp world (that was shot entirely on a soundstage.) All of those are features present on EARTH, so why should a lush, sun-dappled forest with the world's largest trees (with the addition giant interconected treehouses) be any less interesting? And as for boring filming, the speeder bike sequences utilized cutting-edge gyroscopically stabilized camera systems built specifically for the film, so that undercranked cameras could be hand-carried through the forest to create the illusion of travelling at hundreds of miles per hour, without unwatchable levels of vibration and jitter. It looks dated now, but at the time, those were some MIND BLOWING visuals.

[@lubomobile]

100% agree. This is incompetent nitpicking, not a thoughtful art form review.

[@jasonjansen9831]

Agree, I would argue that the forest location is one of the more interesting worlds in Star Wars. It's what HAPPENS there is where the problems start hehe. Disagree on the speeder bikes, good for the time maybe but unwatchable now. Especially considering how many of the original effects still hold up.

[@xpurplethighs7596]

Yeah but trees. Trees and Ewoks... its not as exciting and interesting as 1. Sandy cliffside 2. Snowy tundra 3. Swamp 4. Clouds

[@speedymolasses3062]

@@lubomobile who said it would be a thoughtful art form review lmao

[@elevationsickness8462]

@@lubomobile that... Is why I'm here

[@JamieSwitzer]

9:51 "Nothing against the elderly. I love the elderly." hearing Mike say that is one of the funniest things ever!

[@Sol_Seraph]

He goes out of his way to make the rest of the crew watch elderly workout videos specifically so he can make fun of the elderly.

[@antona.8659]

Elderly man hates elderly.

[@nakenmil]

He loves the amusement their suffering gives him.

[@RoyalFizzbin]

@@antona.8659 Do we even know how old the RLM dudes are? I can’t tell if they are old millennial or young gen x.

[@rileyvittitoe3636]

@@RoyalFizzbin young silent generation

[@ThatDjinn]

I get that there's a lot of bad in Return of the Jedi, but as the ending to the series it does it's job. Stakes were created in the previous 2 movies and they are resolved with an amazing father-son reunion. The entire last duel between Luke and Vader is one of the most memorable moments in SW with Luke slowly succumbing to the Dark Side only to realize near the end what he was becoming and overcoming the odds through compassion towards Anakin. I love Return of the Jedi and no teddy bears or awful rescue plans can ruin it for me.

[@bananaempijama]

Damn straight. It's my favorite SW movie, although ESB is a better movie of course.

[@TAKESHIRONORIMITSU]

The Darth Vader and Luke stuff is great, but the rest of the movie is unnecessary or just bad

[@DrewZepp]

There’s not even a lot of bad in it. People just overreact

[@djangofett4879]

i liked it when i was a child. im not a child anymore. its a bad movie

[@djangofett4879]

@@DrewZepp there is a lot of bad in it. ESPECIALLY the awful special edition

[@hardygirl81]

Luke's entrance at Jabba's palace was bad ass.

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

Lucas was smart to edit out the scene where he creates the new green light saber. Sends the droids out.

[@fusion451]

is it just me but Luke look like a friggen lizard in this scene poorly shot

[@fleshworm]

It was, until he comically fell through the trap door like an idiot.

[@davidchicoine6949]

@@fleshworm the bad ass part was he didnt even use the force . kill the rancor by just trowing a rock ..XD

[@jeffreyroedel9804]

The opening Jabba/Han sequence does serve to further Luke's character though and it shows his relationship with Han has changed and they really are equals in a lot of ways. Luke is repaying Han by saving him when Han did that prior. He's not just "the kid" anymore. He's truly ready to be the hero. That's important, and saving Han and Luke returning home is the perfect setting for revealing that character development. If they really wanted to tie the two sections of the film together in a small and clever way, they could have made Leia gain something from Jabba's palace (a device, a code or a weapon) that she and Han would then use to help the Rebels on Endor later on in the climax.

[@Shatamx]

Luke went to Cloud City to save Han and friends anyway. Having Luke do it yet again as the opening scene is the real issue. Act 3 and Act 1 are basically the same plot device in both Empire and Return. Just Lucas being a lazy writer.

[@jeffreyroedel9804]

@@Shatamx Luke disobeyed Yoda in ESB and went to rescue his friends while he was fearful and angry and not ready to face Vader. And it turns out horribly. Han isn't saved, Leia is put in danger by Luke's presence because she goes back to rescue him, and Luke looses his hand and hears something he wasn't ready to hear. Return of the Jedi shows the opposite from Luke and reveals his maturity and readiness to be a Jedi as he rescues Han and accomplishes the task in such a steady and centered way. Then we see Luke calmly and confidently confront Vader on Endor. All that happens in ROTJ is like a successful reflection of the failures of ESB...Besides, it would have been strange storywise if Luke wasn't involved in rescuing Han, or if there was no rescue at all and Han was just left for dead with Jabba for all we know.

[@Kidd724]

Rich Evans saying that he likes the prequels because they're the only reason he gets to have a job enjoying terrible movies with his friends instead of working in a toll booth is such a heartwarming moment

[@neozeed8139]

It’s 2015 and now we get these characters back… oh Mike, have a drink… opportunities lost

[@MrHEC381991]

The whole final act of this movie with Luke, Vader and Palpy has way more weight to it than anything in the prequels.

[@HorusHeresy1982]

I do like the final with Palpatine. He does have a menace when he says "So be it, Jedi" far better than anything that came after.

[@MrDadeadone]

or the sequels

[@MrHEC381991]

@@MrDadeadone The sequels were great because....urm...Ray and urm....family and the force and, urm.....YOU JUST HATE THE SEQUELS BECAUSE YOU'RE SEXIST!

[@SeruraRenge11]

Every scene involving the three of them in the throne room almost feels like a different movie, as if someone else directed and shot it because it's so unlike everything else that happens in the film. In a good way mind you, it's easily the best part of the film.

[@tomfurstyfield]

That's not exactly a high bar

[@fallbranch]

Can I just say that, as a kid; I'd never seen a redwood tree, and I thought they looked appropriately alien. You guys think it might be a culture thing? Do they look mundane to Americans?

[@grandarchon6969]

They've been used in tons of other movies, most people have seen them/ are familiar with them. They only exist in a one corner of the country, but they're culturally ubiquitous.

[@d_hurl]

It's a 700 mile drive from LA to the Redwoods &.you only have to take 1 freeway there (probably one of our most famous freeways). So growing up its an easy trip. It's a popular tourist trap/destination. Ya know- camping & such. So to me the scenery is very mundane. The trees are cool irl, but they don't strike me as alien at all- the scale doesn't really transfer well in a lot of shots to me. & since Hollywood has always utilized them, most Americans have them imbedded in their visual vocabulary.

[@derekgornall]

I grew up in San Francisco, so the redwoods were always real close by, so it felt like RotJ was literally close to home. I loveddd this movie

[@dickinslebutt4231]

The california redwoods are like the "Monuments Valley" of movie forrests for us. I was so young when i first saw them in this movie that im sure they looked novel and alien. Now, after years of low budget catch-me-fuck-me movies shot in the redwoods, theyve lost their alure.

[@d_hurl]

@@derekgornall Yeah, same here- RotJ is my fav too. As a kid i think I liked the idea of Ewoks running around a near by forest. It made them seem possible, despite the silly costumes. So I was able to somewhat suspend disbelief.

[@kodiekulp]

This was always my favorite film in the series but then again I was like 10 years old when this was my favorite film so I think my thinking was a little skewed by the little fuzzy bears that could have been my friends

[@thork6974]

Every time Mike says "matte line," what he's actually talking about are garbage mattes (sometimes referred to as "matte boxes" although a matte box is something totally different). A matte line can appear as a dark outline around a subject that has been composited into a scene (think of the shots where Luke is directly in front of the Rancor) while a garbage matte is the technique of masking out areas of a bluescreen element where stage equipment would otherwise appear in the frame, sometimes resulting in a visible half-tone 'box' in the final composite where the blue area got keyed out. Also, Mike asks whether such artifacts could be fixed by retouching the final composites, but for the Special Editions in 1997 several shots (including that legendary TIE swarm past the Falcon) were in fact re-composited digitally, using the original separate filmed elements. I know you guys are young but hey, history can be fun!

[@homerhat420]

Shut it, Lucas.

[@tl3804]

Right, he means garbage mattes. And I heard in an interview that garbage mattes are not visible on film but they only become visible when film is transfered to video or digital.

[@tl3804]

And they don't really know why they show after the transfer.

[@citizenhal]

T L they are visible on film because the 35mm scans of A New Hope show the garbage mattes. You can actually see them on the film reel if you hold it up to a light.

[@tl3804]

@@citizenhal Sorry, I don't have a 35 print of ANH, I cannot check it.

[@SaltySparrow]

Remember, Vader's sacrifice means nothing now.

[@TheKyoput]

It has always meant nothing. And that was the point. The Emperor came back shortly after Return of the Jedi in the EU. Several times actually. Which was definitively canon before Disney tagged it all as Legends. He was not a man. Not a mortal. He had found ways to transcend that. Vader's gesture, in Palpatine's mind, only delayed what he perceived as inevitable. He is not just a man. He is a force of true evil.

[@pearz420]

@@TheKyoput Your version of Star Wars is shit.

[@TheKyoput]

@@pearz420 it’s not my version. I didn’t write it.

[@Shatamx]

@@TheKyoput OP is talking about the stupid prophecy from the prequels. When Vader is suppose to bring "balance" to the force. He fulfills this by tossing the Emperor off. When in Return Vader is sacrificing him self for his son. Not for some lame prophecy.

[@kaenachoo4783]

Rise of Skywalker ruined everything

[@newwavepop]

i was 11 when Jedi came out, the last we had seen Luke he was completely defeated mentally and physically by Vader. he was hanging by a tiny little antennae off the bottom of cloud city about to plunge to his death, and he was in complete shock from having just had his entire world shattered by learning who his father actually is as well as having his hand severed. i remember finding it very odd that Luke would go with a black leather covered robot hand, considering.

[@EricHamm]

Movies even in trilogies can stand alone. Look at Godfather. 1 and 2 are master pieces and 3 is trash. LIterally the same thing with Star Wars. Not a hard concept to grasps.

[@KMEECHY]

7:51 Rich with his Salacious Crumb impression.

[@p.v.b533]

"The first Jew in Star Wars"

[@ianmillerdevilsfan1223]

Thank you so much, I was waiting for another one of these

[@REDN0AK]

WTF are u guys talking about? vader wanted to kill luke in empire?? He goes EXPLICITLY against the emperors order. I mean THATS the whole point of luke's sacrifice. He KNOWS, if he doesnt kill himself, vader is gonna capture and corrupt him. so he throws himself into the abyss... "The Emperor has forseen it. You can destroy him, and together we can rule the galaxy... as father and son" well... or somethin like that, havent seen the movie in years :)

[@wjlince]

I think they were remembering the hardass Vader from most of Empire, where he is legitimately one of the most intimidating villains in film. But I think after he figures out who Luke is, he's basically done with the Imperials and only cares about making Luke his apprentice. Hence all the dead officers.

[@ThreadBomb]

@@wjlince The "hardass Vader" idea is overblown when you remember that in ANH Vader was on Tarkin's leash, and in the next two movies his main aim was to avoid having to kill his son.

[@cyric2010]

Agreed. I always felt that Vader could have killed Luke in Empire if he wanted to.

[@megyskermike]

Yeah, Jay is wrong here.

[@l3R0K3N8BIT]

@@cyric2010 he absolutely couldve killed luke if he wanted to. In their first fight in the dark room, vader disarms luke with the exact move he later uses to cut off his hand later. He intended to capture luke alive, but wanted to test him out to make sure he could actually be suitable to fight the emperor. Only once luke lands a hit on him does vader take the fight seriously and immediately disarms him

[@daemonthorn5888]

10:55 Jay...you have no idea what you're talking about. Vader was not trying to kill him. He was toying with him. He easily tossed Luke around like nothing. And as soon as Luke did manage to get a shot in, Vader knocked him on his ass and took his hand off. Then Vader extended his own hand to Luke and tried to talk him into joining him, and told Luke that together they could kill the Emperor and rule that galaxy as father and son. Vader was definitely NOT trying to kill Luke during that first fight. Vader was pulling his punches, big time. It's hard to believe that someone as critical of things as you, Jay, would fail to realize this.

[@EricHamm]

Uh, He cut his hand off while he was holding on to a cliff edge over a death drop. There is no reason beyond luck (force) that Luke lived. Luke literally tried to commit suicide and was saved by plot amor... Fan boys need to chillax

[@LJ-wm1bl]

No one cares

[@godofspacetime333]

Calm down.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

3:15 and not once did Mike make a *Star Trek* reference and point out that Boschh’s helmet was reused/repurposed for the Breen on *Deep Space 9* 7:05 interesting info: the chair set was designed to make it look like the Emperor was a spider in the middle of a web.

[@DistractedGlobeGuy]

Or that Bosssk's space suit was originally made for the 1965 _Doctor Who_ serial that first introduced the Cybermen.

[@jamesstaggs4160]

Nothing to do? Han disabled the shield that was stopping the Rebel fleet from attacking the second Death Star. Leia went with him and Lando had a commanding position in the Rebel fleet.

[@ardas77]

THE SPECIAL EFFECTS ARE FANTASTIC!

[@awandererfromys1680]

My motto is "build three of everything because you'll f*ck up two" so I think that's where the Empire went wrong actually.

[@ham-mantheman-ham634]

Since this was the first starwars film I watched as a kid. This is my favorite.

[@SavageRush012]

Laugh now, but I'd take any prequel over any sequel without hesitation.

[@cangrejopendejo4909]

Really..? The sequels aren't *that* bad.

[@vin6203]

@@cangrejopendejo4909 somehow palpatine returned

[@Horrormaster13]

As far as I'm concerned Return of the Jedi was the last great Star Wars Movie.

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

Rogue 1 was excellent. Sad but moving, great production values 🎬.

[@Shatamx]

@@DavidLLambertmobile Yes make all the fan service look shiny and new. Instead of working on decent character development and pacing. No denying the first and second act is a SLOG.

[@DrewZepp]

@@Shatamx bruh numerous characters get development in rogue one lol. There’s not a lot of fan service, none compared to the sequels

[@-.-.11]

@@DavidLLambertmobile That was a terrible movie though.

[@fatlegsdaffy9133]

I think people are too hard on the opening act ROTJ. Its a device to bring a character back to basically return the favor for all he did for them. Saving your friend is a bit sentimental, but it really works for me. The final act of course is way more powerful tho.

[@TheGosslings]

Their appraisal of the Jabba sequence is fundamentally flawed. The whole point is to show that Luke is capable of setting up a plan where he goes into the lion's den, accomplishing his mission, and escapes with victory intact. This is setup for the payoff later of Luke surrendering to Vader and going to meet the Emperor to bring his father back to the good side of the Force. Luke didn't have an exit strategy but he clearly was capable of one. The whole opening sequence is there to show us that Luke is capable, he just knows that in order to rescue his father, he has to throw it all on the line. Setup :: payoff. Juxtaposition.

[@johnappleseed9546]

Just because it serves a purpose in the script dosent mean its logically sound??? Like explain the fucking plan it dosent make any sense, Obviously the point is for Luke to be shown as a badass capable Jedi, but it would be better if the plan was actually clever, as of now the plan makes no sense

[@TheIrishGamerGuy]

I legit think they didn't see the obvious parallel tbh 🤷‍♂️

[@ps238principal]

Fun fact: If you recorded any of the Star Wars movies using a VCR set to SLP (super long play) mode, you could see these reddish polygonal shapes constantly changing around the ships as they flew through space. These were the blocking mats used to cover up the set and crew as they filmed the models. Recording the movies on the crappiest quality somehow enhanced these otherwise invisible artifacts.

[@ThreadBomb]

I remember seeing the blocks around the spaceships when Star Wars was on TV in the 80s. But I don't remember them being polygonal - it was a square shape that jerked across the screen.

[@tharqal2764]

@@ThreadBomb squares are polygons

[@lrmcatspaw1]

Anakin's Force ghost always looked like he is up to no good to me.

[@christiananderson4909]

Me personally, I love these commentaries.

[@mariececileoosterhout4029]

I grew up on ROTJ and will always love it. It had great toys and that ending 3 way edited act is amazing. Good emotional scenes. Memorable music. Also humor. Very well directed. Even loved the Ewoks as a kid. Because that's how you look at a Startwars movie. It's for kids. Could watch it every year. Unlike the sequels, which are total unnecessary, incoherent, bloated and forgettable crap, imho. Don't care if I never see those again. Also, the Californian Redwoods are among the most spectacular places I've visited.

[@EricHamm]

Movies even in trilogies can stand alone. Look at Godfather. 1 and 2 are master pieces and 3 is trash. LIterally the same thing with Star Wars. Not a hard concept to grasps.

[@BossLevelAudio24]

So sad they didn't make a sequel trilogy in the early to late 90s. They waited far loo long with the sequels and indiana Jones. Can't believe they will try to push an 80 year old indiana on us. Let legends rest.

[@Rschr101]

This.

[@mynameisphil86]

Fun fact: I grew up in the same town as the red-haired alien dancer, and folks made a big deal of it. It was in the local papers and everything, lol.

[@-MrFozzy-]

Fun fact: stop using lol

[@SkorpionTaa-Ooo]

@@-MrFozzy- Right!? LULZ.

[@nakenmil]

@@-MrFozzy- No, it's retro now, we're bringing it back. LUL.

[@Spram2]

@@-MrFozzy- lol, no

[@d00mf00d]

Lol is not a form of punctuation.

[@chrisw6164]

I was 10 years old in 1983 and even I thought another Death Star was dumb.

[@bigben8502]

ok yoomer

[@rjonboy7608]

The rescue at the beginning was a necessary rehearsal for Endor. Seeing as the entire universe actually did revolve around Harrison Ford's ego, they did have to rescue him. 😄 Honestly, the dynamic was: he was their friend. They absolutely could not have left him like that. He would rescue any of them and they knew it. Plus Solo saved all their lives at the Battle of Yavin and would probably do it again.

[@EricHamm]

Movies even in trilogies can stand alone. Look at Godfather. 1 and 2 are master pieces and 3 is trash. LIterally the same thing with Star Wars. Not a hard concept to grasps.

[@davidcorrigan6578]

Everyone can keep the empire strikes back, this one is my jam

[@Rschr101]

Same

[@Jagonath]

5:50 Did Jay really just damn Jedi because it was "filmed in a Redwood forest..." and then in the same breath, defend Force Awakens because it was filmed in a regular pine forest... "at least it was in the snow"?!!?!

[@TheRealNormanBates]

Jay is like that. “I like slow art movies.. until I don’t! My opinion is completely invalid because it constantly changes on a whim!”

[@xpurplethighs7596]

He mentions interesting locations and I'm just sitting here thinking that, I have no problems with where they shot, but why is redwoods less interesting that desert, snowy tundra or bog.

[@mikemath9508]

I can't believe Jayseph Bauman of Reddit Letter Medium has never seen Return of the Skywalker??

[@headrockbeats]

"Nothing against the elderly. I love the elderly." -- Mike Stoklasa, a man _infamous_ for ragging on the elderly.

[@nickm8874]

I’ll never understand the hate for this film. It’s my favourite movie of all time

[@Rschr101]

Same.

[@snactimusmaximus]

It’s so weird what childhood does to you. This it the first SW I saw in theatres and it remains my favorite. It just makes me happy - objectively Empire is my favorite but i really enjoy watching jedi the most.

[@dionysusNME]

Same.

[@poorringo]

I grew up a Star Wars fan. Return of the Jedi came out when I was like 3. It was pretty much a part of my entire younger child hood. Growing up I always was a big fan of Star Wars. But then the prequels happened, and all these people loved them. I felt like I was missing something. It wasn't until recently I could come out to my friends and say that the prequels sucked! And lately I figured out, I am not a Star Wars fan, I am a RETURN OF THE JEDI fan. I actually watched the movie twice this week. As a kid, the creatures in Jabba's palace were so freaking cool! The speeder bikes! The Ewoks! And then the color scheme at the end, with Luke, Vader, and the Emperor, and those cool red guards. The green and red light sabers, the colorful buttons on Vader's black suit. It was an epic event, and the toys were so freaking cool. What kid from the 80's didn't want a speeder bike, a light saber, or an Ewok for a best friend!? Also, I wish Lucas had just touched up only the effects and the lighting for the movies, and not added those deleted scenes, or any CGI. What he did should be considered a crime. But, in hindsight I guess it did get people into the seats for the re-releases in the 90's.

[@say1again]

I have to say, the fact that they build another Death Star doesn't seem actually stupid to me. I mean it still is the best way to Dominate the Galaxy. And maybe they're about to design one, which doesnt have a hole where a Missile fits in and blows up the whole damn thing. Even Storywise... the emperium had a insanely strong weapon and because of a design-flaw and some hybris, it got destroyed. Well... just build another one without the flaw and be more careful. Thats how Humans developed their Tech since the Stone-Age. So even if i mostly agree with their sentiments, in my opinion that point is just wrong ^^

[@n1nj4sp4rt4n]

Its boring and lazy writing. Its sci finyou can do literally anything else lol. Another movie with a time limit to stop another death star before it fires!!!

[@say1again]

@@n1nj4sp4rt4n I really didn't mind this aspect of repetition since the climax of the movie was way more diverse than the first movie. I agree that it would have been more creative to think of something new, but i would debate declaring it as "stupid" since it makes perfect sense in the reality of the film

[@EricHamm]

@@say1again No it doesn't. Lazy writing is revising the same story that was already told. There is many directions they could of gone beyond a new Star Destroyer. Look at interstellar. They could of gone back in time, or revisited cloning Jedis, Harnessing jedi like minority report, literally a whole universe of bad guys to make and they redo what was just done the last movie.

[@user-fu7zf4ck9z]

@@EricHamm If they had unlimited budget sure. The original plans were to have a giant finale battle on Imperial City / Coruscant. Then it got changed to Wookie home planet. Then to Ewoks. Death Star II wasn‘t just another planet-destroying Death Star like Starkiller Base. It had a different purpose than the first one. This time, they wanted to crush the rebellion with Death Star II being a functional battle station (unlike the first Death Star that could basically only destroy planets and wasn’t built to attack fleets). Death Star II was a trap that wanted to be found, the original Death Star wasn’t.

[@DistractedGlobeGuy]

Tagge already pointed out in the first movie that it would be easier, cheaper, and probably less risky to just bomb planets from orbit with hundreds of gunships than to bother with a big, stupid, impractical Death Star purely for the sake of psychological Wunderwaffen.

[@RegginaldRiglet]

Your editing on these are fantastic. Please keep em coming

[@TheRealNormanBates]

_see comment above_

[@TheNightmoose]

Not used to cringing at something Jay said, but Vader was toying with Luke during the whole Empire duel He wasn't trying to kill Luke

[@DavySolaris]

Jay's just more interested in properly good cinema, he probably only watched ROTJ, a splendidly-made but ultimately kinda silly blockbuster, with half his brain engaged.

[@bronson1392]

I don’t how old you guys are, but the big freckin deal with this movie at the time, as I remember was, it contained one of the biggest FX shot ever committed to film up till that point by ILM. It apparently took months to put together,,,And it lasted 2secs?? Endor space battle…right before the line “there’s too many of them!”

[@El-Duderino-His-Dudeness]

I know people hate RoTJ because of the Ewoks, I'm not a big fan, but I still like the movie. I've never heard someone complain that Endor was filmed in Red Wood forest. I mean I didn't even know that, but I like where it's filmed. Speeder bikes were cool, Endor good guy costumes are cook, Endor specific storm troopers look cool. I guess I just like forests. These guys usually make good points but I just don't get it here.

[@patrickhanlon932]

I wish Mike would do an entire commentary as the Palpatine character.

[@NKP514]

He has, more than once.

[@jeffoff7795]

"Nothing against the elderly. I love the elderly." Mike loves to laugh at the elderly.

[@nickTeeKaystrickland]

While Empire is the best movie, Jedi has my all time favorite Star Wars sequence in it. Which is the fleet battle between the Rebellion and Empire over Endor.

[@Rfp601]

This was my favorite of the original trilogy as a kid

[@RunningRedford]

Wrong about 'Vader was going to kill luke in Empire Strikes Back'. The only reason Luke survived is Vader didn't want to kill him. The ESB final duel is Vader toying with Luke and a sort of measuring his son's skills.

[@LoveProWrestling]

Vader was sent to recruit him, with killing him as a backup plan if he didn't sign on. This was Vader being restrained, hahaha.

[@MerelyAFan]

It's interesting to read about the writing disagreements between Lawrence Kasdan and Lucas in ROTJ's pre-production given how much the former objected to elements that would later attract the most criticism about it (the repetition of the second Death Star, the Ewoks taking too much focus away from Luke's narrative, etc). Overall, episode Vi feels much more like a hybrid between his and Lucas' story interests than Empire did, with the third act specifically almost feeling like two different movies at points.

[@igrim4777]

Well done with playing the pronoun game. No idea if the objecting "he" was Kasdan or Lucas.

[@nakenmil]

The older I get, the more I realize that replacing a potential appearance of Wookiees with Ewoks was such a missed opportunity. I know is not much of a big deal, but just having Chewbacca hang around the entire trilogy, and then visit ANOTHER species of furry tree-dwellers just seems so... messy. I don't even particularly mind the Ewoks winning over the Stormtroopers or anything, it's a family movie, the enemy goons are going to be conveniently incompetent regardless, but it would have been neat to see it tied into something with Chewie connecting Rebels and Wookiees and voila Chekov's gun used and even a little character development. Would've been neat.

[@ThreadBomb]

Might have made the movie half an hour longer, though.

[@ShootMeMovieReviews]

Yes, but then they wouldn't have been able to re-purpose the assembled cast for use in Willow.

[@SasquatchAtTheSpaceDisco]

You've always got the Holiday Special.

[@cristiansaucedo4707]

Agreed. The secondary characters would have been more meaningful, making the movie more character driven/meaningful

[@plaguedoctorjamespainshe6009]

But did we knew at the time that wookies also lived like ewoks ? As far as we know they could live in a Hoth like planet But idk George just wanted to do his thing

[@Shorty_Lickens]

I heard they were able to track down and bring back the original dancing girl for those reshot scenes.

[@HarpersInfiniteSystems]

I feel like the hacks frauds are kind of missing that this whole trilogy is based around Luke. The fact that Han's rescue is detached from the rest of the plot, that Luke tells Vader he couldn't kill him even though he would have, that Palpatine's plan is mysterious. Luke is just faking it 'til he makes it and we're watching it. The specifics are not the point, he fumbles through with good morals supported by a song and a prayer and the good luck that is the Force.

[@EricHamm]

Movies even in trilogies can stand alone. Look at Godfather. 1 and 2 are master pieces and 3 is trash. LIterally the same thing with Star Wars. Not a hard concept to grasps.

[@TMBTM]

I think the Han rescue mission was more intented to be like a James Bond or an Indiana Jones opening. But it's too long to be taken as such.

[@zardox78]

11:16 Remember in Willow how the villain's daughter/henchman goes from being 100% okay with hunting down and killing a baby to basically adopting that baby (looking all warm and motherly), all because a love-potion addled Val Kilmer told her she was pretty? If they had just included a scene early on where she expressed a _little_ bit of hesitation about the whole baby-killing thing, and her mother slapped her across the face and threatened her for her insolence... it might've made her later transition at least somewhat plausible. But the author of that story just didn't see any need to bother planting that simple yet crucial seed for such a dramatic character shift. Can anybody guess the name of that author?

[@Tiavals]

That's what makes Willow such a hilarious movie for me. Mad-Martigan is essentially mind controlled to love one of the villains, who heel-face-turns just because he says he loves her. Then absolutely everyone is okay with it(both with the mind control and the mass murderer being their pal) and she starts ruling over them or such. they even have a celebration and all that. It's crazy!

[@Hoganply]

Lucas didn't write the screeplay, but the screenwriter doesn't have a lot of credits either.

[@ThreadBomb]

@@Hoganply Don't expect facts to get in the way of Lucas-bashing.

[@skroowi8105]

Screenplay by Bob Dolman. The person who writes the screenplay is supposed to make sure everything works for the movie since they typically have to make changes to the original story. I'm not saying Lucas is entirely blameless, but Dolman should have fixed it.

[@petercofrancesco9812]

Guys I got a great idea for your channel. Sit in front of a movie screen so we only see your silhouettes and make witty sarcastic jokes as you watch Sci-fi movies. ;-)

[@123milw]

In the not too distant future?

[@DanVillainFilms]

@@123milw 🎶la la la🎶

[@jbrisby]

I don't see how ROTJ is "like two films put together" any more than Star Wars was. Star Wars was "rescue the princess, then blow up the Death Star". Well, ROTJ is "rescue the prince, then blow up the Death Star". What's the difference? And what's this nonsense about the other characters having nothing to do in the second half of the movie? The film sets up a complex plan, in which everyone has a role to play. Han and Leia destroy the shield generator, Lando leads the fighter attack, and Luke goes after Vader and the Emperor. The entire final battle sequence, both in space and on the ground, is a masterpiece of characters acting, responding to unexpected events, and improvising new plans on the fly. Saying the characters have nothing to do is just asinine, like someone saying "What's so great about Empire Strikes Back? Their base is destroyed in the first scene, and it takes them the whole rest of the movie to get away?"

[@stuartmorris6299]

Thanks for your comment. These guys talk pure BS and then laugh. I watched this and had to stop half way.

[@Spillow-C]

the princess plot of the first star wars movie is HEAVLY related to the plot of the movie, this whole jabba sequence here is like a closed small adventure that is not related to what happens after in the movie, and about the "nothing to do" about han solo, its because han solo should have died by sacrifice here and that would have give him more of a character arc in this movie (kasdan and harrison for wanted it but lucas didnt, theres some interviews about it), yeah he's part of the plan and he do his role but thats not the point, you still have that feeling that he's just "there" character wise and the akward acting didnt help too, kinda like Finn after the farce awakens, not as bad yes, but kinda.

[@ChristopherDazey]

Happy Life Day everybody!

[@kieran6417]

Never stop please!l you rock bro

[@Admeralsarms]

Please make more of these

[@geoffreypereira8024]

@3:20…Han had to blow up the shield generator.

[@Prizm44]

7:46 Their hatred for the prequels never gets old 😂 So refreshing, especially these days when so many kids who grew up on the prequels now try to defend them for the sake of one or two fight scenes or nostalgia reasons.

[@venator0405]

Interesting Rich says that the low quality of the prequels utterly redeemed Jedi, when now the abysmally low quality of the sequels seems to have redeemed the prequels. Plinkett's work has been undone and RLM all but admits it here.

[@ale646]

This commentary is from October 2015

[@zachkh]

I ate a bad burrito. Then I ate worse burrito. By eating the worse burrito, the first one is now “good.” You just said the equivalent of a word salad.

[@Shatamx]

Sequels still has something the Prequels don't. Han Solo. For me that makes Force Awakens better than anything the prequels did.

[@SaberScorpion]

@@Shatamx but they killed Han Solo...

[@wolliveryoutube]

Based profile picture

[@DoctorNerdly]

Watching this in 2024. These poor sonsabitches have no idea what they're in for.

[@kinnikuboneman]

Nah they already lived through the worst Star Wars movies by that point

[@headlessspaceman5681]

"Hey, these are California Redwoods, they're the biggest trees on the planet." "It's still just a forest." Well, it was a forest. These were all cut down. Apparently the cast and crew had to sign a weird non-disclosure agreement, as a condition of filming in a forest that was already slated to be clear-cut. That's why you can't go and see the "Moon of Endor Forest." If the timber company had 2 grains of imagination they could have made a fortune making a Star Wars park. Instead those trees were all probably used to build houses somewhere that have probably already been torn down to build some other crap.

[@westiclesw7137]

It's in California, those houses all burnt down.

[@Gogettor]

My favorite Star Wars movie.

[@semicharmedlife311]

If only Mike had done this entire video in the Mr. Plinkett voice.

[@HughMansonMD]

"I love the elderly." Yeah, we totally believe you, Mike.. 🙄

[@slwalsh]

As I get older, I’m more fascinated with the “what if”s of Star Wars. ROTJ rockets up the charts when you start to look at the rough draft & original ideas - which include Lucas’ plans for Eps. 7-9 - that were almost all completely discarded in favor of what we got. (Somehow, “sanctuary moon” survives into the final draft, even though it essentially makes zero sense without all the things thrown away.)

[@wjlince]

That's the version where Luke hunts the Emperor in the Outer Rim in 7-9 right? I'd love to have seen that.

[@ThreadBomb]

I've been thinking recently that they should have just kept making Star Wars in the 80s (obviously I mean proper Star Wars, not the sub-par ewok TV movies). The subsequent history of the franchise would change and we might not have Clone Wars or Mandalorian, but as far as movies go there'd probably be far fewer disappointments.

[@criticalbil1]

"I really wish they hadn't made the prequels..." 😆

[@BlackBunik]

To me, I would expect them to build entire cities of facilities supporting the building of the death star on that moon. Quite odd there is just one outpost with a shield generator, that could probably fit in the death star itself.

[@DistractedGlobeGuy]

If everything's being built in space, from materials that have to be delivered on FTL interstellar ships from the planets where they're mined or manufactured, then there's no reason to waste insane amounts of energy to get big personnel ships and heavy cargo payloads into orbit. That's why NASA/JPL have been working so diligently on the Space Launch System for so many years.

[@stt5v2002]

I think the purpose of the first scene is to show that Luke has grown in power and is now a match for Vader. This is required for the climax to make sense.

[@DelaV3]

I really wish they hadn’t made the prequels. Thanks I spit my fucking drink out.

[@MandleRoss]

Has anyone who said that actually spat their drink out? How can an adult human spit their drink out from laughing? Little kids do it but I have never seen an adult do it in real life.

[@MLennholm]

Mike said that and then he remembered that the prequels are the only reason he and his buddies can make such a good living on KZbin

[@anidriX]

Uhm, what? Vader did not want to kill Luke in TESB (and neither did the Emperor). They wanted to turn him. Exactly why they tested the carbonite chamber on Han first. To ensure Luke didn't die. During the fight, Vader holds back until the very last moment and even then all he does is cut Luke's hand. The Jabba sequence isn't disjointed from the rest of the movie at all. It serves two purposes: To save Han, and to show what Luke has become in the past year. Palpatine's plan is clear. Bait the rebellion with a new Death Star and himself on it. He confesses he is the one that allowed the rebels to obtain the location of the shield generator. My only problem with this movie is the Ewoks. To think that Palpatine's whole plan was foiled by the aid of some teddy bears makes him and the Empire look silly. Other than that, it's great and has some of the most memorable moments in the saga.

[@exeterjedi6730]

Can't watch this without thinking of Star Wars Boogie Nights

[@hunterschoumacher9560]

I skipped 9th grade english class to see the first showing of this movie. I do remember feeling a little disappointed in the movie. :)

[@kevinferrara4519]

I think everyone is a bit wrong about the Deathstar. It is complete. As the Emperor states, "...fully operational battle station." It was made to look incomplete to trick the rebellion into attacking. He only wants the laser. He doesn't even care about the shield. There were plenty of his ships surrounding it. The shield only works near Endor anyway, and he plans to fly it to different systems. His grand plan is the trap to end the rebellion. His arrogance led him to think it couldn't fail. - Also, Lucas wanted the battle on The Wookie planet, but the studio wanted cute things for more toys.

[@SeruraRenge11]

No it was incomplete, because there are holes in the thing so big you can fly a ship through them and blow up the core, that is clearly a problem they were going to fix with time. It's just that with both a shield protecting it and it having the superlaser completed, it's the perfect trap.

[@HorusHeresy1982]

To be fair, most of the training of being a Jedi is learning not to cut your own fucking arms off with a laser sword since there doesn't appear to be any training with practice swords. The force shit is just filler if you survive the drone shooting you with all your limbs.

[@wagfinpis]

@Chris Dawson i grew up in Marin County, same County that Lucas lives in, where Lucas Ranch is... Star Wars is big around this area... the speeder bikes remind locals of Mountain Bikes; Marin County is reputed for inventing mountain biking, and this movie would have come out before mountain biking was a world wide thing at all. Locals here know perfectly well that A New Hope, and the Empire Strikes Back is where it's really at, but not sure you caught on to there being two huge cultural impacts coming out of the area in this way. American Graffiti is filmed in areas where and when mountain biking was being done in it's inception. like out where your buddy the Goat Killer was supposed to be... Return of the Teddy's Bears was what it was, but... Endore... and, speeder bikes... not the worst of it.

[@matt8um]

Never comment on your page but I wanted to say good job and to keep your head up. I’m a better playing for watching your content.

[@GarydeBrown]

The reason you start to feel the prequel problems is because this is the one where Marcia Lucas and Gary Kurtz was the least involved and it all went downhill from there.

[@andywellsglobaldomination]

I enjoyed the prequels due to schadenfreude... the pleasure of watching those who were kids when STAR WARS was released see the franchise as an adult, as I did, and their realization that it's crap.

[@raydonahue1978]

Jay didn't consider just how much money Disney has to pay Harrison Ford to play Indiana Jones again and how much Harrison Ford likes money.

[@TZerot0]

The barber bit had me howling. Holy shit

[@fabiobonetta5454]

Reviewing the Prequels Mr Plinkett brought balance back to the Force

[@LordThree]

I kinda liked Jedi

[@bensnod9159]

Their hope for 7. So pure so innocent, unruined by the sequels.

[@NemesisDarkStar]

I love tiny Vader in the empire strikes back

[@daemonthorn5888]

7:42 No, Mike, you really didn't. You kind of meandered through some convoluted collection of ideas that didn't really explain anything. Rich was trying to prompt you to actually explain the process in layman's terms. The closest you came to explaining anything, was to say that there were scenes where different elements were brought together. I know what matte lines are and what causes them, but I'm sure there are a lot of people that have no idea what you meant by that. And obviously Rich didn't think that you adequately explained anything, either. But his prompting you to further explain only drew a snarky attitude from you.