I actually love seeing the joy they both have discussing the film together, makes me smile seeing the smile on his face ya know. That would have been exhilarating to see back then.
I was in elementary school when the original STAR WARS was released in 1977. My father owned a movie theatre that played it, and I practically lived there that summer, helping out a little bit and, of course, happily watching the film again and again. I remember being sad on the Thursday night marking the last night it would play. We had kept it on the screen for about sixteen weeks, and kept doing business with it all the way the while. I was in junior high when EMPIRE came out, and then in high school when RETURN OF THE JEDI came out. (I still have a couple of the original REVENGE posters that were supposedly destroyed on George's orders due to the title change that was made just as the first teasers were going into print.) It was a quite a journey for those of us seeing this stuff for the first time, growing up alongside Luke as the story continued over those six years. The only other comparison might be the Harry Potter films.
I remember going to theaters and seeing if I could write my name and phone number n the backs of the posters I wanted in case they were going to throw them away. I got some, but not after my Mom took a call and declined the first opportunity because she thought it was a scam or something. Oh boy I was upset LOL, sorry Mom!
Those 3 movies were really something back then. R2 & 3-PO , the millennium falcon. Darth Vader would take up the entire screen. Watching a farm boy become a Jedi. Han & Leia. To grow up back then with those films and the technology that had a realistic look to it , more so than that of some of the computer generated images that you see today. Those guys did miniatures and opticals like no other. Star Wars in the late 70's and 80's was really something special. That is star wars to me.
That is so cool. I was in first grade. I went to school like normal on opening day and in my lunchbox my mom had written me a note asking if I wanted to go on a date after school. When she picked me up, she surprised me by taking me to Return of the Jedi. It's one of my favorite memories with her.
I did roll my eyes when he said he preferred Jedi to Empire but that did serve to remind me that Jedi has grown in my affections enough that it might have overtaken Empire if Empire had slipped a few notches in my affections………but it hasn’t and I know it never will ! And here’s a strange thing, first time I saw Jedi It wasn’t the Ewoks that irritated me most, I was more disappointed in the fact that someone let off fireworks at a celebration in Star Wars, I remember thinking that’s stupid, fireworks were invented by humans on planet earth which doesn’t exist in Star Wars……..it took a worryingly long time to realise that shoes and trousers were also invented on planet Earth 😂
George Lucas was always pretty verbal about how the "plot and dialouge don't really matter" and are more just devices he uses to explore the thematic issues of the story through the images and music alone. One of the things people don't usually know what was retconned for the prequels was that Uncle Owen is actually revealed to be Obi-Wan Kenobi's brother in the novel of ROTJ and no relation to Anakin whatsoever, which isn't written by Lucas but always had his personal sign off, as many of them were released prior to the films. Those authors had access to scripts and everything. So that was an aspect of the plot that people accepted as essentially canon for over a decade before the Prequels changed it all. Plot never mattered to Lucas more than the emotions and themes evoked by the images themselves.
Although I was the right age to totally love RotJ, as an adult it is easy to see how parts of it were deficient. Having teddy bears defeat the evil Empire was one, and Han being a sold-out comic relief character was another. I still enjoy it, but these elements set the trilogy back in my mind. For this reason it is easy for me to declare that LOTR is the best ever, because it doesn’t falter the way SW did. (Obviously you are more than welcome to your opinion).
@@kkadera that's not completely true. I distinctly remember my mom saying right away that Empire was a much better movie than Jedi. I disagreed because I was only 11 at the time and wasn't the most sophisticated movie watcher. But quite a few of the adults I heard talked about their disappointment in the recycled Death Star plot point in particular. Others felt like Han Solo's story had little left to say after being rescued from Jabba and many already felt the Ewoks were too kiddie.
As someone who lived in the era.. I try to explain how people actually felt at the time. Thanks to posts like this, I have links to prove it. Nobody had to make excuses as to why "No its actually good, you just don't understand it" There are only 3 SW films that count.
@@ddm62571 ROTJ is definitely great Star Wars and doesn't always get the love it deserves. In my opinion, it has the single best scene in all of Star Wars (when Vader finally turns to save his son). But ESB will always be the best overall for me.
I remember standing in line for a few hours to see this when it came out. Awesome film experience! As soon as we walked out, our first thought was: “If Luke and Leia are brother and sister, why did they make out in the last movie?”
What I think the real issue that people had with Empire Strikes Back wasn't so much the fact that "the good guys lost" but the fact that they lost and you had to wait another three years for the next chapter....and you had just experienced what it was to wait that long.
"And I do hope that they keep making 'em every three years, lets hope so..." Oh man, if only George did! Granted the Extended Universe did a great job, especially with novels like (my favorites) the Thrawn trilogy and the X-Wing series...Of course the only pre-woke Star Wars movies we got were the prequels, and even though they were somewhat mediocre at that time, they are breath of fresh air compared to the garbage Disney is giving us!
He said ROTJ was better than Empire. No way. Empire had the better ending. I mean, Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader's his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett. It ends on such a down note. I mean, that's what life is, a series of down endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of Muppets.
ROTJ is one of my top 3 favorites of the 6. Palpatine carried that movie. The scenes with him, Luke, and Vader always kept me on the edge of my seat as a kid.
The hand, the father reveal, the freezing of Han, that's all part of the climax. The ending is just them licking their wounds at the end, and going after Han. The ending of ROTJ does have a bunch of muppets, but it also has the force ghosts and Anakin's funeral. It's more of a conclusion to the whole saga, whereas Empires conclusion is left more open ended. But yea Empire is still better.
The FX are fantastic and there is a lot of cool stuff you can point at -- but overall I feel Jedi is mediocre in comparison to the first two. Han Solo is mostly reduced to "why I oughtta!" screwball schtick. Carrie Fisher seems bored as Leia. And the stuff with Obi Wan as a force ghost feels really contrived and offers a preview of the messy storytelling of the prequels. Just doesn't hang together overall nearly as well as the first two. But hey, the space battles are amazing!!
None of the reviewers that followed Siskel and Ebert had their knack for really discussing film on certain levels. These guys are too agreeable and basic. Its weird Jeffrey Lyons was around for as long as he was.
ROTJ sucks, here’s why. Han Solo wasted as a character, Ford phones in cheesy perf. Doesn’t die a hero like he should have. Lapti Nek. Palace pig guards have motionless unclosable rubber mouths, super fake. Palace rescue has no logistical planning, even checking enemy whereabouts as they are ALL hiding silently behind a curtain, after hours, mere feet away. No epic Boba Fett battle, character wasted as a stupid burp gag after falling into sand vagina monster. Leia’s Jedi potential isn’t remotely explored. Leia and Han spend the movie deactivating some shield thing in most boring subplot ever. Their victory is against faceless stormtroopers, thus no character resonance whatsoever through their battle. (Even teaming up with Wookies could have had some significance for Han) Yoda repeats old dialogue that is merely jumbled around, then dies. Kenobi’s force ghosts sits to rest on a rock, Guinness could understandably give a shit, thankless encore dialogue. Lucas trades awesome Wookie army for kiddie crap teddy bears to sell more toys. Teddy bears destroy galactic military with I genius log technology. Teddy bear has apparently seen Earth movies, copying Tarzan’s jungle call perfectly. Space Hitler Vader has unearned redemption with deathbed repentance and we’re supposed to cry. Lucas end with another easily destroyed Death Star in creatively bankrupt retread. Teddy bears Nub Nub song sounds like soundtrack to a bad Disneyland ride. Now we have Hayden fucking Christianson’s ghost there, tainting the OT with toxic prequel stank. Also he gets to be young in afterlife, but tough luck Kenobi. All in, hover bikes withstanding, Jedi is crap, only good compared to prequels & Rise of Skywalker. Hamill seems the only one giving a committed performance expanding his character. Let’s stop pretending OT is a great trilogy. It’s 2 out of 3, then filmmakers coast through the final stretch like a lazy victory lap while already drinking the championship champagne. Lousy conclusion to two masterpieces.
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I actually love seeing the joy they both have discussing the film together, makes me smile seeing the smile on his face ya know. That would have been exhilarating to see back then.
It was, speaking as a seven year old kid on a Saturday morning seeing it with my brother and cousin.
I was in elementary school when the original STAR WARS was released in 1977. My father owned a movie theatre that played it, and I practically lived there that summer, helping out a little bit and, of course, happily watching the film again and again. I remember being sad on the Thursday night marking the last night it would play. We had kept it on the screen for about sixteen weeks, and kept doing business with it all the way the while. I was in junior high when EMPIRE came out, and then in high school when RETURN OF THE JEDI came out. (I still have a couple of the original REVENGE posters that were supposedly destroyed on George's orders due to the title change that was made just as the first teasers were going into print.) It was a quite a journey for those of us seeing this stuff for the first time, growing up alongside Luke as the story continued over those six years. The only other comparison might be the Harry Potter films.
I remember going to theaters and seeing if I could write my name and phone number n the backs of the posters I wanted in case they were going to throw them away. I got some, but not after my Mom took a call and declined the first opportunity because she thought it was a scam or something. Oh boy I was upset LOL, sorry Mom!
Those 3 movies were really something back then. R2 & 3-PO , the millennium falcon. Darth Vader would take up the entire screen. Watching a farm boy become a Jedi. Han & Leia. To grow up back then with those films and the technology that had a realistic look to it , more so than that of some of the computer generated images that you see today. Those guys did miniatures and opticals like no other. Star Wars in the late 70's and 80's was really something special. That is star wars to me.
@@BonesBrigader Everyone could enjoy it, and most people did enjoy it!
That is so cool. I was in first grade. I went to school like normal on opening day and in my lunchbox my mom had written me a note asking if I wanted to go on a date after school. When she picked me up, she surprised me by taking me to Return of the Jedi. It's one of my favorite memories with her.
1:38 "I think its better than the second one".....WHAT??????
In 1983 people thought that way
And only ROTJ had “real emotion”? I disagree.
It’s like the Godfather Part 3.
@@CSM393 oh shit....the Godfather part three had a teddybears picnic in the woods at the end?
I did roll my eyes when he said he preferred Jedi to Empire but that did serve to remind me that Jedi has grown in my affections enough that it might have overtaken Empire if Empire had slipped a few notches in my affections………but it hasn’t and I know it never will !
And here’s a strange thing, first time I saw Jedi It wasn’t the Ewoks that irritated me most, I was more disappointed in the fact that someone let off fireworks at a celebration in Star Wars, I remember thinking that’s stupid, fireworks were invented by humans on planet earth which doesn’t exist in Star Wars……..it took a worryingly long time to realise that shoes and trousers were also invented on planet Earth 😂
I know Star Wars was intended for the whole family but I never quite understood why the media kept dismissing the plot.
George Lucas was always pretty verbal about how the "plot and dialouge don't really matter" and are more just devices he uses to explore the thematic issues of the story through the images and music alone. One of the things people don't usually know what was retconned for the prequels was that Uncle Owen is actually revealed to be Obi-Wan Kenobi's brother in the novel of ROTJ and no relation to Anakin whatsoever, which isn't written by Lucas but always had his personal sign off, as many of them were released prior to the films. Those authors had access to scripts and everything. So that was an aspect of the plot that people accepted as essentially canon for over a decade before the Prequels changed it all. Plot never mattered to Lucas more than the emotions and themes evoked by the images themselves.
💯
I saw it when it first came out. Magical time
Same. I was just about to graduate from 8th grade. I was 13. Pure magic.
Leia in that slave girl outfit is what gives it the advantage over every other Star Trek movie
I think Star Wars the original trilogy, is the greatest trilogy of all time.
I agree with you. They are the best movies in the whole Star Wars saga.
Although I was the right age to totally love RotJ, as an adult it is easy to see how parts of it were deficient. Having teddy bears defeat the evil Empire was one, and Han being a sold-out comic relief character was another. I still enjoy it, but these elements set the trilogy back in my mind. For this reason it is easy for me to declare that LOTR is the best ever, because it doesn’t falter the way SW did. (Obviously you are more than welcome to your opinion).
@@MedardKrzisnikThat is not a bold statement…. Only kids who grew up with a different SW trilogy could disagree.
Nope, lord of the rings is the best trilogy of all time
Jedi certainly didn't have the Kurtz magic that the first two films had. It played it far too safe in my opinion.
Did that guy say the first 2 movies didn’t have real emotions? Wtf
Yeah that's pretty clueless after Empire Strikes Back isn't it?
Empire didn't have emotion??? Okaaaaaay.......
@@glenaitken9403 at the time, the downer ending of empire was a shock. It was loved but it didn’t become “the best one” for a few years.
@@kkadera that's not completely true. I distinctly remember my mom saying right away that Empire was a much better movie than Jedi. I disagreed because I was only 11 at the time and wasn't the most sophisticated movie watcher. But quite a few of the adults I heard talked about their disappointment in the recycled Death Star plot point in particular. Others felt like Han Solo's story had little left to say after being rescued from Jabba and many already felt the Ewoks were too kiddie.
I love you…..
I know…. 😅
Yea , but “Jedi” had blasters.
@@kkaderarubbish. I was there and everyone Loved it.
As someone who lived in the era.. I try to explain how people actually felt at the time. Thanks to posts like this, I have links to prove it. Nobody had to make excuses as to why "No its actually good, you just don't understand it" There are only 3 SW films that count.
ok boomer
@@jobean5073 GenX, TYVM
@@jobean5073 somehow palpatine returned...
@@scoop4092nah Krok, he nixed in this one
@@jobean5073I bet you don't even know what bomber means
Careful what you wish for. Nowadays it would be a relief to have something Star Wars released only once every three years…
“I think it’s better than the second one.”-What?? That opinion didn’t age well.
Not in my opinion! I think ROTJ is the best Star War movie ever made!
I was looking for this comment. Was going to say them same if no one else had.
@@ddm62571 ROTJ is definitely great Star Wars and doesn't always get the love it deserves. In my opinion, it has the single best scene in all of Star Wars (when Vader finally turns to save his son). But ESB will always be the best overall for me.
I remember standing in line for a few hours to see this when it came out. Awesome film experience! As soon as we walked out, our first thought was: “If Luke and Leia are brother and sister, why did they make out in the last movie?”
What I think the real issue that people had with Empire Strikes Back wasn't so much the fact that "the good guys lost" but the fact that they lost and you had to wait another three years for the next chapter....and you had just experienced what it was to wait that long.
"And I do hope that they keep making 'em every three years, lets hope so..." Oh man, if only George did! Granted the Extended Universe did a great job, especially with novels like (my favorites) the Thrawn trilogy and the X-Wing series...Of course the only pre-woke Star Wars movies we got were the prequels, and even though they were somewhat mediocre at that time, they are breath of fresh air compared to the garbage Disney is giving us!
Jeffrey Lyons and Neal Gabler of Sneak Previews and Classics. They were like Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert from 1982 to 1996.
We are so lucky we experienced this with The Last Jedi! 😂 JUST KIDDING!!!
These two replaced Siskel & Ebert on Sneak Previews, after those two became too big and got their own syndicated show.
So critics were shilling for Star Wars since way back in 83. Interesting.
Lucas set the bar extremely high on special effects entertainment and story telling.
And then Disney came by 32 years later and ruined the happy ending.
"It wasn't just made because the other pictures were so fantastically popular, it had a story to tell" Well just wait a few decades guys haha.
The guy with glasses looks a bit like Harold Ramis.
Dollar Store Siskel I think likes it better than Dollar Store Ebert.
C'mon Empire??!! It's the best of the amazing 3 movies
He said ROTJ was better than Empire. No way.
Empire had the better ending. I mean, Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader's his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett. It ends on such a down note. I mean, that's what life is, a series of down endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of Muppets.
ROTJ is one of my top 3 favorites of the 6. Palpatine carried that movie. The scenes with him, Luke, and Vader always kept me on the edge of my seat as a kid.
The hand, the father reveal, the freezing of Han, that's all part of the climax. The ending is just them licking their wounds at the end, and going after Han. The ending of ROTJ does have a bunch of muppets, but it also has the force ghosts and Anakin's funeral. It's more of a conclusion to the whole saga, whereas Empires conclusion is left more open ended.
But yea Empire is still better.
The FX are fantastic and there is a lot of cool stuff you can point at -- but overall I feel Jedi is mediocre in comparison to the first two. Han Solo is mostly reduced to "why I oughtta!" screwball schtick. Carrie Fisher seems bored as Leia. And the stuff with Obi Wan as a force ghost feels really contrived and offers a preview of the messy storytelling of the prequels. Just doesn't hang together overall nearly as well as the first two. But hey, the space battles are amazing!!
Your dismissal of the entire throne room scene is disturbing.
Ewoks ALMOST did to Star Wars 6 what Jar Jar did to one . . . almost.
these guys were no siskel and ebert
ewoks are special fx? they were little people in costume and jabba was a puppet
Emperor to them: Young fools, only now at the end do you understand?
And then Disney took over and it’s been a disaster after disaster!
I saw it in theaters and didn't think it was as good as the others
None of the reviewers that followed Siskel and Ebert had their knack for really discussing film on certain levels. These guys are too agreeable and basic. Its weird Jeffrey Lyons was around for as long as he was.
Return of the Jedi sucked. They knew it. But, they had to sell it at all cost.
"And let's just hope George never sells the rights to Star Wars to some big no-talent garbage-agenda type corporation."
"Nah, never gonna happen."
This was the weakest of the three….EWOKS.
"Jedi" had Ewoks, a tubby Han Solo and lame comedy. And kills off Yoda for no reason.
ROTJ sucks, here’s why. Han Solo wasted as a character, Ford phones in cheesy perf. Doesn’t die a hero like he should have. Lapti Nek. Palace pig guards have motionless unclosable rubber mouths, super fake. Palace rescue has no logistical planning, even checking enemy whereabouts as they are ALL hiding silently behind a curtain, after hours, mere feet away. No epic Boba Fett battle, character wasted as a stupid burp gag after falling into sand vagina monster. Leia’s Jedi potential isn’t remotely explored. Leia and Han spend the movie deactivating some shield thing in most boring subplot ever. Their victory is against faceless stormtroopers, thus no character resonance whatsoever through their battle. (Even teaming up with Wookies could have had some significance for Han) Yoda repeats old dialogue that is merely jumbled around, then dies. Kenobi’s force ghosts sits to rest on a rock, Guinness could understandably give a shit, thankless encore dialogue. Lucas trades awesome Wookie army for kiddie crap teddy bears to sell more toys. Teddy bears destroy galactic military with I genius log technology. Teddy bear has apparently seen Earth movies, copying Tarzan’s jungle call perfectly. Space Hitler Vader has unearned redemption with deathbed repentance and we’re supposed to cry. Lucas end with another easily destroyed Death Star in creatively bankrupt retread. Teddy bears Nub Nub song sounds like soundtrack to a bad Disneyland ride. Now we have Hayden fucking Christianson’s ghost there, tainting the OT with toxic prequel stank. Also he gets to be young in afterlife, but tough luck Kenobi. All in, hover bikes withstanding, Jedi is crap, only good compared to prequels & Rise of Skywalker. Hamill seems the only one giving a committed performance expanding his character. Let’s stop pretending OT is a great trilogy. It’s 2 out of 3, then filmmakers coast through the final stretch like a lazy victory lap while already drinking the championship champagne. Lousy conclusion to two masterpieces.
Disney Star Wars has ruined the franchise
Oh jesus...