Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

1983

Director: Richard Marquand

Distributor: Fox Movies / Lucasfilm

Key Elements: Story – Visuals – Characters – Lines – Music – Message

My Review:

The conclusion of the Star Wars story. Lucas would later make three prequels, but they amounted to little more than lame attempts to resurrect the franchise. The story is complete in the original trilogy.

It wasn’t until I was older that I picked up on the meaning of Luke’s final fight against Vader. Luke resists the temptation to kill his father. And Vader overcomes his own darkness to defeat the Emperor. With tension on multiple levels, there’s as much inner struggle here as there is violent struggle.

And of course, we love the speeder bikes and Ewoks on Endor.

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Quotes:

• Obi-Wan has taught you well.
• Hey, Luke, thanks. Thanks for coming after me. I owe you one.
• Remember, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Luke... Luke... do not... do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor or suffer your father's fate you will. Luke, when gone am I... the last of the Jedi will you be. Luke, the Force runs strong in your family. Pass on what you have learned, Luke. There is... another... Sky... walker.
• But, why must you confront him? -
  - Because, there is good in him. I've felt it. He won't turn me over to the Emperor. I can save him. I can turn him back to the good side. I have to try.
• Luke, don't talk that way. You have a power I don't understand and could never have.
  - You're wrong, Leia. You have that power too. In time you'll learn to use it as I have. The Force runs strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. And... my sister has it. Yes. It's you, Leia.
• Search your feelings, Father, you can't do this. I feel the conflict within you. Let go of your hate.
  - It is too late for me, son. The Emperor will show you the true nature of the Force. He is your master now.
  Then my father is truly dead.
• I will not fight you, father.
  - You are unwise to lower your defenses!
• I have to save you.
  - You already have.
• Never. I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, your highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.

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Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

1980

Director: Irvin Kershner

Distributor: Fox Movies / Lucasfilm

Key Element: Story – Visuals – Characters – Lines – Music

My Review:

A continuation of the Space-age fairytale. More great writing. More great special effects.

To me, the most interesting part is when Yoda is training Luke. There’s a part where Luke goes into the forest alone. He encounters and fights a vision of Darth Vader. When he wins the fight, the mask falls to reveal, not Vader’s face, but Luke’s. I thought it was an interesting statement about spiritual warfare. The reformation theologians identified three enemies the Christian faces in life: The forces of evil, the foolishness of the world, and the betrayal of the flesh – the flesh can sometimes be the most difficult to battle. We must conquer our inner demons and gain self-control before we can be of any use in the wider fight.

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Quotes:

• Right now I feel like I could take on the whole Empire myself.
• Looking? Found someone, you have, I would say, hmmm? …Help you I can. Yes, mmmm.
• Ready are you? What know you of ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained. A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things. You are reckless.
• Stopped they must be; on this all depends. Only a fully-trained Jedi Knight, with the Force as his ally, will conquer Vader and his Emperor.
• Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice.
  - Vader... Is the dark side stronger?
  No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.
  - But how am I to know the good side from the bad?
  You will know... when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.
• Luke. Don't give in to hate. That leads to the Dark Side.
• Never tell me the odds.
• You must unlearn what you have learned.
• Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.
• I don't, I don't believe it.
  - That is why you fail.
• No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try.
• I won't fail you. I'm not afraid.
  - You will be. You will be.
• You've learned much, young one.
  - You'll find I'm full of surprises.
• Luke, I am your father.

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Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

1977

Director: George Lucas

Distributor: Fox Movies / Lucasfilm

Key Element: Story – Concept – Visuals – Characters – Lines – Music

My Review:

This film is movie history.

Lucas broke major ground with his special effects and a story that echoed elements of classic mythology – making this movie of universal appeal.

An evil has taken power. A boy is forced into the role of rebel fighter. A knight comes out of retirement to be his mentor. A princess needs rescuing. A maverick joins the fight. Everything you need for a great fairytale, only this story takes place in outer space.

The best thing about these movies, and perhaps why they were so popular, is that they aren’t just sci-fi. A lot of sci-fi movies have a science premise and then become nothing more than action-adventure movies. But the Star Wars movies are actually movies about humanity, simply placed in a sci-fi setting.

In these early movies, it was still possible to interpret the Force as God – making the hero’s struggle a spiritual one.

If there’s an element of the gospel here, it’s when Obi Won surrenders his life to Darth Vader, enabling him to become an even more powerful help to Luke. It’s similar to how Jesus surrendered his life to give us new life.

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Quotes:

• A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
• Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope.
• The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.
• The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.
• These aren't the droids you're looking for.
• Traveling through hyperspace isn't like dusting crops, boy!
• If money is all you love, then that's what you'll receive.
• Wonderful girl. Either I'm going to kill her or I'm beginning to like her.
• That's no moon. It's a space station.
• I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you.
• Don't underestimate the Force
• If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
• It's not impossible. I used to bull’s-eye womprats in my T-16 back home, they're not much bigger than two meters.
• Use the Force, Luke.
• The Force is strong with this one.

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