8 Things You Learn When You Rewatch Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi

7. And Mark Hamill Puts In His Best Performance As Luke

Put against the gravitas of Alec Guinness or the charisma of Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill was always going to suffer. Far from being bad in the original Star Wars trilogy, the actor is instead simply outshone, especially so when you consider that the series is never going to be known for its acting, ensuring that star turns such as Guinness' or Ford's are amplified. But, with Guinness gone and Ford's Han Solo relegated to a nothing role on Endor (surely one of the great butcherings of a major character in any franchise ever), Hamill is free to take centre stage. He had his own battles to fight in the Empire Strikes Back , but while the actor is fine in those instances, it remains that he is outweighed by the emotional, epic sweep of the narrative. Not so in Return Of The Jedi. The general weakness of the film's thematic heft allows for a greater emphasis on Hamill's own progression as Luke, and if he's cool and calm in his aforementioned entrance, then he's equally so in the sequence leading up to his final battle with Vader (the Emperor scenes that go on for far too long but which nevertheless show Hamill in complete control of his character). By the close of the film, Skywalker has restored balanced to the Force, and Hamill, in turn, has restored balance to his role as him, evening out his general shakiness in A New Hope to finish the series with a measured performance.