Return of the Jedi may be the "weakest" installment in the Original Trilogy, but it's still far superior than any of the prequels that would eventually come out. My 4 1/2 Star rating reflects the Original 1983 version of the film. The 2004 Version is where I have issues with. There are two scenes that for me is indicative of what is wrong with George Lucas as a filmmaker. The new musical number he added into Jabba's Palace with that singing alien with lipstick is just complete and utter garbage. Really? What is the point of completely destroying the original version with crap like this that just draws attention to itself?

But for me, the biggest blunder and the most blasphemous rewriting of history comes at the very end when they replaced Sebastian Shaw (Old Man Vader) with Hayden Christensen alongside Yoda and Ben Kenobi. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever if you think about the "logic" behind Lucas idea to have the young Anakin Skywalker standing beside his mentors in their prime years. Why a young Skywalker and not a young Kenobi? See, if your going to replace one because you want them in their prime, then you need to replace Alec Guinness with Ewan McGregor too. No, that would be wrong. Replacing Shaw was just a bad call and one that makes my stomach turn in disgust.

Getting back to the Original Version, the film gets a half star drop because of, you guessed it, the Ewoks. They were never believable as a species. They look like a bunch of little people in furry costumes. Yes, I get that even back in 1983, Special FX and Costume designing were still in its infancy stage and getting anything remotely realistic was too much to ask back then. Having said that, this "weakest" installment has my favorite moment and scene in any of the Star Wars films. The final confrontation between Luke and Vader for me is still the best and most powerful Light Saber duel ever. Sure, it's pretty substandard in the acrobatic and choreographed moves that the prequels would dish out, but this one had so much subtext behind the fight that it just elevated it to another level that the newer duels could never match. Also, seeing Vader finally redeem himself and killing the Emperor still delivers for me every time I watch Jedi.

My DVD Copy comes from the 2004 Widescreen Box Set. If you can't find the Original Trilogy, this Set will have to do. Buy the Original, Rent the 2004 Version.

You know, it occurs to me that I don't know if you actually saw TFA before.

You poor sod.