40 Things I Love About RETURN OF THE JEDI

 

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the original theatrical release of RETURN OF THE JEDI, here are 40 things I love about the movie. These are listed in no particular order, except for No. 1. 

40. The Rancor eating the Gamorrean guard.   

39. The echo of the speeder bikes going through the forests of Endor.

38. "YOU REBEL SCUM!!"                      

37. The memory of my anticipation of seeing this film in 1983.               

36. Blue Harvest (if you know, you know)  

35. The fact that stop-motion animation was used.            

34. "SISTER!!"                       

33. Bib Fortuna.              

32. Ian McDiarmid's performance.            

31. Vader's funeral pyre.                   

30. The TIE Interceptors.                           

29. The Red Imperial Guards.                   

28. Every single note of John Williams' score.                

27. "Hey....it's me."                    

26. The Imperial Scout Walkers.                     

25. The nub nub song.              

24. The Imperial Biker Scout outfits.       

23. "It's a trap!!"                       

22. The action sequence above the Sarlaac pit.            

21. "OH NO!! THE RANCOR!!"                            

20. The look on Han's face when Leia tells him that Luke is her brother.   

19. The discussion between Luke and Vader on the Imperial landing platform on Endor.       

18. Wedge being shown during the victory celebration.                   

17. "I am a Jedi, like my father before me."                       

16. The fact that a real forest was used for Endor.          

15. The Emperor's throne room on the new Death Star.          

14. Three climatic storylines going on at the same time.         

13. Boba Fett actually using his jet pack.                              

12. "An entire legion of my best troops awaits them." (Yeeaahhh, right)         

11. Luke walking into Jabba's palace like a bad-ass.         

10. Vader tossing his lightsaber to cut down the catwalk that Luke is standing on during their final duel.    

9. The original Jabba the Hutt--except no CGI substitutes.         

8. The original musical sequence with Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo band.         

7. "Oh...I'm afraid the shield generator will be quite operational when your friends arrive."       

6. The space battle above Endor.           

5. "The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am."          

4. "Well, short help is better than no help at all, Chewie."               

3. Carrie Fisher wears a certain costume in this film.                                    

2. The fact that after the end of this movie, all the heroic characters lived happily ever after, and they never ever had to fight in a galactic war ever again.               

1. And the No. 1 thing I love about RETURN OF THE JEDI is.....I love everything about it!!