Every Wilhelm Scream In The Star Wars Saga
3. Return of the Jedi (1983)
1983's Return of the Jedi rounds out the original Star Wars trilogy with what was once a perfect conclusion to the saga, before The Force Awakens brought a newer hope to our screens.
Luke, Leia, Chewbacca and Lando save Han from Jabba's palace and defeat the giant space slug before Luke returns to complete his training with Yoda, faces The Emperor, turns Vader back to the light side, and helps The Rebel Alliance defeat the empire once and for all. Vader's redemption completes his story, returning him to Obi-Wan's side as a force ghost, whether the ghost in question is Sebastian Shaw or Hayden Christensen - as George Lucas liked to change more than just the titles.
The Wilhelm scream puts in an appearance early on in Jedi. Luke chops at an unnamed weequay henchman with his newly-fashioned green lightsaber, knocking him screaming from one of Jabba's sail barge's satellite skiffs. The unnamed space heavy then becomes an early lunch in the maw of the Sarlacc, a tentacled beast with beak-like jaws that lives in the Great Pit of Carkoon. Legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch) also falls into the pit before the fight is over, but ultimately survives in the (non-film) Expanded Universe; or, he did, until Disney rebranded this wealth of comic book, novel and game material as Star Wars Legends, de-canonising the lot.
Another small detail to watch out for is the Wilhelm pioneer himself, Ben Burtt, playing an imperial officer in the Endor bunker. He tells the rebels to freeze before being hit in the head by Han's explosive cartridge case and falling backwards from the catwalk and into the generator area, performing his own version of the Wilhelm scream as he goes.