2. Overall This Is A Massive Step Down From The Empire Strikes Back
It may not seem fair to compare two completely different films (The Empire Strikes Back is a sweeping tragedy; Return Of The Jedi feels much more like a remedy to that), but the drop in quality from The Empire Strikes Back to here is inescapable. If Empire is The Godfather Part II, a vast, sprawling opus, then Return is Part III, a fine but ultimately inferior film, one bereft of the narrative weight which renders Empire so bleakly prophetic. Directed by the relatively unknown, Richard Marquand (himself taking over from the relatively unknown Irvin Kershner), Return Of The Jedi retains Lawrence Kasdan as a screenwriter, the sometime-director again sharing screenplay credits with creator George Lucas. But what the film loses is its sense of the ebb and flow of the saga's woebegone history. Yes, the finale was always going to have to end on a more heroic tone (though as we'll see next, that can now be called into question), and yes, it delivers a full-circle, satisfying ending, but it lacks the pathos en route, seems hurtled towards the Luke/Vader grudge match. It doesn't feel as earned as it does in The Empire Strikes Back; it's inevitable, but not as tragically so.