50 Greatest Star Wars Movie Moments

By Michael Thompson / October 10, 2013

14. Luke Tells Leia That She's His Sister - Episode VI

Another excellently-written scene from Return of the Jedi, in which the characters drive the story. Luke tells Leia the truth he has found from from Obi-Wan about their relationship. Leia is actually his twin sister and their father just unfortunately happens to be Darth Vader.

Clearly, she's pretty shaken up by the news, but somehow still manages to blurt out the incredibly awkward line: "Somehow I've always known." This makes the history between them from Luke's obvious attraction to her in A New Hope, to her kissing him in The Empire Strikes Back, more than a little weird.

Luke leaves telling her that he must turn himself into Vader, which adds to her stress. Now Han joins Leia's side. He thinks she is upset because she's forgotten her love him and is in love with Luke instead. He was in for a bigger surprise than apparently she was. I would have loved to have seen Luke explaining his family relationship with Darth Vader to Han.

13. "It's A Trap!" - Episode VI

Besides Admiral Ackbar's classic line that goes often quoted, the entire space battle in Return of the Jedi has to be one of the best ever made. There's a sense of chaos about it, as thousands of ships scream across the screen, locked in intense dogfights.

The sheer amount of what's going on the screen is impressive. These were the days of model building and optical printing, before filmmakers had CGI to help them out. What they must have gone through to realise this scene would have been immensely difficult. Often imitated, but never done quite as well, there was something special about this sequence that makes it stand out. The ships, all made from model materials, feel more organic and somehow more real. Even to this day, the special effects still look incredible.

12. Sidious & Anakin Kill Mace Windu - Episode III

I love that Lucas explains how Palpatine gets to look like corpse. Watching him in Return of the Jedi, I always assumed he looked that way after a lifetime spent in search of dark side power.

Palpatine vainly tries to use force lightning to kill Mace Windu, who then decides to execute him. The electricity reverberates off Windu's lightsaber and begins coursing through Palpatine's body, burning his flesh. Once it's over, Palpatine looks like the Emperor and pretty freaking creepy. I wonder how people would react if tomorrow their world leader just showed up to a press conference looking like that. Accident or not, he just looks horrifyingly evil. In a split second, life-ruining decision, Anakin intervenes, severing the hands of Windu. Immediately, the Emperor kills him, rising to his feet in triumph. Now Anakin is his to command and the galaxy is screwed.

11. Luke Faces Vader For The Last Time - Episode VI

Luke is in a tight situation. The Emperor taunts him with the death of his friends. Vader is trying to kill him and Luke knows that if he gives in he will either be dead or the Emperor's new apprentice.

In a cloud of fury, Luke cuts off his father's hand. The Emperor admonishes him for winning the duel and then beckons him to kill Vader so that he may take his place. Luke looks down upon his wheezing father's body with the missing mechanical hand. He gazes at his own robotic hand - covered in the glove - and realizes just how close he came to joining the dark side and tosses away his lightsaber.

10. Anakin Becomes Darth Vader - Episode III

Not the scene where Anakin actually becomes Darth Vader, gets up from the operating table and shouts "Nooooooo!" like Frankenstein's monster. No, I mean before that. After Force-choking Padme in a blind rage, Anakin attempts to cut down Obi-Wan in a duel over boiling lava. By this time Anakin is so blinded by the dark side that he is entirely aggressive to the point of making stupid decisions, while Obi-Wan relies more on defense and tries to keep away from him. Finally, Obi-Wan leaps from the small hover droid to a high embankment. He asks Anakin to surrender since he has the high ground and will cut him down if Anakin continues to fight. Anakin jumps anyways, and Obi-Wan severs his legs. What's left of him rolls down towards the lava. As Anakin lies there writhing, he screams at Obi-Wan: "I hate you!" before bursting into flames. It is only now that Obi-Wan realizes his terrible mistake. He should have listened to Yoda concerning Anakin all along. Oops.