1) Considering that Vader isn’t very forgiving, learning that the Emperor is even less forgiving is a scary thing to hear in the first scene.
2) Threepio knocking on the door, then less than a second later concludes that no one’s there so they can leave. He REALLY wants to go home.
3) When the droids go inside and Threepio is trying to get an audience with Jabba, Artoo makes a noise that sounds like, “I don’t know.”
4) The puppetry on Jabba—over a dozen people coming together to move one character. There’s smoke coming out of his mouth from his pipe. Good attention to detail.
5) “There will be no bargain.” “We’re doomed.”
6) Leia threatening to blow up herself and Jabba to get a little more money.
7) Jabba doesn’t care about the money as much as keeping Han as a living decoration.
8) The first thing we see Luke, our hero, do is Force choke some guards. In a cool black cloak. That we never see again. Pity.
9) And then he pulls off the Jedi Mind Trick.
10) Leia’s bikini. I don't mean Carrie Fisher--I like the costume itself. Although that metal would be terribly uncomfortable.
11) But, Luke’s black Jedi outfit is cooler. I modeled my own Jedi costume after it, using a sweater and its sleeves as an impromptu vest.
12) The Rancor pit music.
13) Luke fighting off the Rancor without any Force powers. Except maybe Force-guiding the skull into the control panel.
14) The Rancor dies…and its keeper rushes in and cries.
15) “How we doing?” “Same as always.” “That bad, huh?”
16) Luke’s green lightsaber. He made it with no human guidance and it looks great. Is it just me, or does his green saber look a lot thicker than any other saber in these movies?
17) The music that plays during their escape from Jabba.
18) Luke, who had to have the people he tried to rescue in The Empire Strikes Back rescue him, is now almost a one-man army. Awesome.
19) Luke jumps onto the sail barge; a guy leans out the window and Luke just pulls him out and keeps climbing.
20) The first instance of using a lightsaber to deflect blaster bolts.
21) That shot where Chewie looks up from holding Han up and growls, almost like he’s saying, “How do I get into these messes?”
22) Leia strangling Jabba.
23) Han trying to shoot the tentacle grabbing Lando while practically blind.
24) And the next line, “It’s all right. Trust me.” It’s like he’s saying, “Like I trusted you on Bespin.”
25) The guy shooting Luke’s hand, reminding us that it’s cybernetic and feels pain.
26) The black glove he wears for the rest of the film, giving us symbolism of his fighting the Dark Side and reminding us that he’s not wholly human anymore.
27) The Emperor’s arrival, walking with a cane and wearing a pagan-like cloak and hood.
28) Yoda’s only scene. Beautifully lit, scored, and acted. Does Yoda look so old? “Yes I do!” Hmm, I wonder, could the Force actually make Luke live to be 900?
28 1/2) After seeing Doctor Who, Yoda's line "When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not!" is suddenly hilarious.
28 1/2) After seeing Doctor Who, Yoda's line "When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not!" is suddenly hilarious.
29) Hamill’s performance in the scene in Yoda’s hut, especially his facial expressions.
30) “Unfortunate that you rushed to face him…that not ready for the burden were you.”
31) The music that plays when Yoda dies and disappears, with Luke’s expression. My goodness, John Williams scored that event and acting masterfully.
32) Luke looks back at Yoda’s hut and the firelight goes out.
33) Luke is truly on his own from now on, as the hero must be in the end.
34) That location where Luke and Obi-Wan talk.
35) Mon Mothma, the almost regal leader of the Rebellion.
36) The name “Shuttle Tyderium.”
37) And “Admiral Ackbar.” I keep thinking of him as Admiral Snackbar.
38) “Exciting is hardly the word I would choose.”
39) It’s kind of strange, but I seem to recall Han telling Lando that if he damages the Falcon, he’ll have to pay Han the repair damage. No line like this is in the film, so why do I remember it?
40) “I’m endangering the mission, I shouldn’t have come.” Luke knows that Vader knows the rebels have arrived, and instead of capturing them now has let them go. Han's relieved and thinks they've pulled a fast one, but Luke knows the truth and is more worried.
41) The shot of Luke and Leia after Han says, “Hey, it’s me.”
42) The speeder bike chase, with Leia going out to chase them without consulting anyone (maybe because she’s a committee). Although I will admit, the film does sag in pacing between the time they land on Endor and when they make allies with the Ewoks.
43) Luke taking out his saber to fight the trooper on the speeder bike.
44) Leia shooting the Stormtroopers with near-perfect accuracy.
45) “Parade of the Ewoks.” It’s perfect for ballet dancing.
46) Threepio regaling the Ewoks with their story, complete with sound effects. I knew there was a reason why the heroes dragged him around for three films!
47) The piece “Luke and Leia.” This was hardly used in the film and it’s a lovely piece.
48) The “reprisal” of the AT-AT on Endor. I’m still not quite sure what it’s doing there if they’re using AT-STs to locate rebels, but whatever—that elephant walker is still cool!
49) The conversation between Luke and Vader on Endor, with Vader seeing that Luke's built his own lightsaber, then Luke's line "Come with me." When Vader shakes the saber at Luke after Luke calls him Anakin, I always think, "What if that accidentally went off and skewered Luke?"
50) All the Rebel ships going into hyperspace.
51) The Ewok high-jacks a speeder and manages to make the whole plan work better.
52) Han tapping the Stormtrooper on the shoulder. Their whole plan hinged on that event.
53) The set of the Emperor’s throne room. Epic and Star Wars-y.
54) The shot of the Emperor’s chair turning around, framed by the backs of Vader’s and Luke’s heads. I gasped in awe when I saw it in widescreen for the first time. Amazing what a little shot composition can do.
55) Han throwing the box at the Imperial in the bunker, who then falls backwards down the chasm.
56) “You Rebel scum!” Is that the name of a rock band?
57) Lando realizing that the Empire knew they were coming.
58) “It’s a trap!”
59) The shot of the TIE fighters instantly appearing. I always liked that they seemed to keep materializing out of nothing, like they could keep coming and coming in a never-ending stream. I suppose it was an effects error, but I love it!
60) The delivery of Luke telling the Emperor, “No” after seeing the space battle.
61) “The Forest Battle.”
62) Leia shooting the guy on top of the AT-ST with one shot.
63) Wicket knocking himself out with his own slingshot.
64) Artoo comes when called, ready to save the day as usual…and is electrocuted.
65) The space battle. Still love it.
66) The Death Star starts taking out Rebellion ships. Not just for planets anymore! Gosh, I hope Mon Mothma wasn’t on one of those ships.
67) “Cut to the left, I’ll take the leader.”
68) The tide only really turns when Chewie gets a hold of an AT-ST. The Ewoks are more of a distraction, but they do as well as they do because they know the terrain and are able to use it better than the Imperials (kinda like in Vietnam). The traps they make do work well, but they take some time to set up.
69) The reversal of “I love you.” “I know.”
70) Leia taking out two guys with two near simultaneous shots.
71) The shot of the lightsabers crossing in front of the Emperor’s laughing face. My favorite shot in the movie.
72) I was doing a widescreen to pan-and-scan comparison and put in the VHS of this movie. I was watching an old VHS on a high-definition set at midnight…and loved it. There was a strange charm to it, even though half the image was gone and VHS isn’t made for hi-def. I hadn’t enjoyed the movie like this in a few years. I think I’ll hold onto those tapes.
73) The dynamics of the lightsaber duel: Luke doesn’t want to fight and tries to tease the good side out of his father; Vader wants to induce Luke to fight to prove Vader has no good side; the Emperor is having a great time watching them fight and will accept whoever survives as his successor.
74) The shot of Luke and Vader on the stairs, lightsabers crossed, with the Emperor in the background. This shot was on the “Faces” VHS cover.
75) “If you will not fight, you will meet your destiny,” followed by the saber throw.
76) Luke’s face lit half in white light, half in blue.
77) Luke going berserk at the thought of Vader converting Leia.
78) And the choral music underscoring it.
79) Luke looking at his cybernetic hand, then at Vader’s, remembering his cave vision, and refuses to strike the final blow.
80) The act that makes Luke a Jedi is throwing down his sword.
81) You can see Han’s reflection behind him when he says, “Move” before the bunker blows up.
82) Force lightning? We’ve never seen anything like that before. The Emperor doesn’t need a lightsaber when he can shoot FRIGGIN’ LIGHTNING out of his fingers.
83) Vader realizes that all the power in the galaxy is insignificant next to the power of a son who loves and forgives him.
84) And the Emperor can’t even react to save himself because he’s in such shock—he was overconfident and never imagined Vader would betray him. I also like that Luke succeeds in destroying the Emperor in a different way than anyone expected. He doesn't kill anyone--he reaches out to his father's good side and gets through to Vader that he has goodness in him. Vader may have killed the Emperor, but without Luke believing in him, it never would have happened.
85) Vader’s skeleton lights up like an X-ray. Lets you see the damage his body’s sustained over time.
86) The Rebel ships going through the tunnel in the Death Star.
87) Wedge unlocks his foils from attack position to get through the tunnel. It takes less than half a second, but it’s there. What attention to detail.
88) The Falcon loses its satellite dish on the way.
89) Once when writing a paper, I had this movie on, and when the scene when the Executor blows up, I put the scene’s dialogue in the middle of the paper:
Guy #1: “Sir, we’ve lost our bridge deflector shield!”
Guy #2: “Intensify the forward batteries, I don’t want anything to get through…Intensify forward firepower!”
Guy in ship: “AHHHHH!!!”
Guy #3: “Too late!” (jump)
Then I acted it out to relieve the tension. I still do this almost every time I watch the movie, jumping onto the floor or couch. I’m such a nerd.
90) Isn’t it interesting that none of the Imperials stop to help Luke carry DARTH VADER, their COMMANDER and GUY WHO CHOKES THEM FOR MINOR INFRACTIONS?
91) The reveal of Vader’s face. Even better is that the music playing is a tender version of the villain music that has struck fear in us throughout the last two movies, "The Imperial March."
92) Vader telling Luke that he’s already been saved and that his son was right.
93) Luke cries as his father dies. Bless him.
94) I’m still on the edge of my seat, wondering if the Falcon is going to get out before the Death Star blows up.
95) The two kisses between Leia and Han. I’m not a big fan of kissing, but these were sweet, cinema kisses. And the second one was the icing.
96) Along with the juxtaposition of "Luke and Leia" and “Han Solo and the Princess.”
97) The funeral pyre and the final intense playing of the Force theme music as we mourn the loss of a villain we once hated who has found inner peace.
98) Luke returning to his friends, safe, and the embraces Leia and Han give him.
99) The original Ewok celebration music. It has a good dancing beat to it. I love the little beats as Luke is smiling while looking at the ghosts materializing.
100) The ghosts joining in at the party, and the absolute beam of fatherly pride that Shaw’s Anakin gives Luke. Anakin has returned. Kind of negates the whole purpose of the movie by replacing the older actor with the younger one.
101) And now, something I don’t like: it ends. The trilogy is over. But it was a good ride.
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