5 Great Movies That People Randomly Started Hating
2. Return Of The Jedi
Ok, there's no real way of getting around it the prequels sucked. As such it's understandable that such a wave of negativity surrounds what was and probably still is one of the most beloved movie franchises in the history of cinema. Whatever your opinion of the prequels is, I think it's fair to say that the majority of Star Wars fans were left disappointed after years of anticipation. This anticipation was of course generated by the original trilogy, which chronicled the story of Luke Skywalker and the rebel alliance as they battled Darth Vader and the galactic empire. To this day the first three Star Wars movies remain a pop culture touchstone, but sadly the ill will directed towards the prequels has now begun to spread towards the original trilogy, specifically Return of the Jedi.
The movie sees Luke Skywalker now an established Jedi leading the rest of the rebel alliance in taking the fight to the Empire and eventually freeing the galaxy from the emperors reign. In a post-prequels world there has been a growing feeling that Return of the Jedi is nowhere near as good as its predecessors, and some have even made the point that it is inferior in quality to Revenge of the Sith, the concluding chapter to the prequel trilogy. A lot of the criticism seems to suggest that this movie, not The Phantom Menace, is where the series took a turn for the worse. Though not the only reason, a large factor in this opinion is because of the films use of the infamous Ewoks, seen by many as a precursor to the much-maligned Jar Jar Binks.
Certainly in regards to the first three Star Wars films, Return of the Jedi is the weakest entry there's no denying that. However to say that it is a terrible movie is in my opinion a step too far. Firstly the Ewoks aren't that bad, they may not be an excellent storytelling device, but they serve their purpose. The rest of the movie is great; we have Leia in the golden bikini, the fight with Jabba the Hutt and the climatic duel with Vader and the Emperor. This film may never hit the heights of A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back, but it certainly isn't as far off as some would like to make out. With a new trilogy of films on the way, it is important that we don't let our opinion of one set of movies cloud what we think of another. Despite what George Lucas may want you to believe with his continued tampering, Episodes 1 to 3 and 4 to 6 were made at completely different times, entirely independent of each other. Don't judge Return of the Jedi with the prequels in mind it still holds up, the Ewoks are fine and it was a good ending to the saga.