Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

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Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

PG

1983

2h 11m

Sci-Fi

Adventure

Action

Fantasy

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Popcornmeter

83%

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169 Reviews

94%

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250,000+ Ratings

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) battles horrible Jabba the Hutt and cruel Darth Vader to save his comrades in the Rebel Alliance and triumph over the Galactic Empire. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) reaffirm their love and team with Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), the Ewoks and the androids C-3PO and R2-D2 to aid in the disruption of the Dark Side and the defeat of the evil emperor.

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Critics Consensus

Though failing to reach the cinematic heights of its predecessors, Return of the Jedi remains an entertaining sci-fi adventure and a fitting end to the classic trilogy.

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Michael Blowen

Boston Globe

Apr 25, 2025

Return of the Jedi, the final act of George Lucas' first Star Wars trilogy, is the best one yet.

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Joseph Gelmis

Newsday

Apr 25, 2025

3/4

One may carp, gripe, quibble with "Jedi," but Lucasfilm's special effects subsidiary, Industrial Light and Magic, is in a class by itself as creator of screen magic. And when it is good, "Jedi" is peerless escapist fantasy.

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Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

Apr 25, 2025

4/4

Return of the Jedi is a childlike delight. It's the best video game around. And for the professional moviegoers, it is particularly enjoyable to watch every facet of filmmaking at its best.

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Wesley Lovell

Cinema Sight

Jul 6, 2025

3/4

One thing the Star Wars saga has been great at is a terrific balance of action and drama that keeps the audience engaged from beginning to end.

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Terry Orme

Salt Lake Tribune

Apr 25, 2025

There is a sense of sentimentality pervading this film -- not the mushy, maudlin type, but a warm feeling that says, "We have come to know these characters, and this probably is the last film in which they will appear together. It's been a pleasure."

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David Patrick Stearns

Gannett News Service

Apr 25, 2025

Besides being good entertainment, "Jedi" resonates on a deeper, metaphoric level -- the characters are more human, the images more Freudian, and the drama more internal and psychological.

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Joe A

May 2, 2023

I haven't seen Return of the Jedi on the big screen since the 80s and this was great fun!

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Sully

Apr 29, 2023

Sure Ewoks are annoying but rest of it is amazing

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Joshua

Apr 29, 2023

It was so surreal seeing Jedi on the big screen. The Death Star explosion never gets old! Had an absolute blast!

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Skitty

Apr 29, 2023

The music hits different in theaters 👌🏻

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Alex R

Apr 28, 2023

What a great movie! George Lucas is a genius!

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Huntin P

@PaxVobiscum80 Sep 18, 2026

You'll understand why the low score if you deign to keep reading. Don't be alarmed, dear reader. The old critical cliché of talking up The Empire Strikes Back at the expense of the other two is not what I'm about. I love the other two. I love Return of the Jedi, or at least I did. Someone got in the way of that love affair. A third wheel. A hijacker. His name? George Lucas. Leaving aside his awful prequel trilogy, and leaving aside his deplorable decision to sell the franchise to Disney (he took the money, Star Wars junkies! Accept it!), Lucas violated Pt 6 (the real world's Pt 3) in the early 2000s. Younger viewers won't even realise this, but the melodramatic "No! NOOOOOO!" from Darth Vader, in that scene late on, was added in by Lucas in the 2000s. Urgh! It is so cheesy. But more objectionable is his decision to remove actor Sebastian Shaw, who is Vader in his death scene, from the final apparition of Obi Wan and Yoda, replacing him with that ham actor from the prequels. Despicable.

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Richard Marquand

Director

Mark Hamill

Luke Skywalker

Harrison Ford

Han Solo

Carrie Fisher

Princess Leia

Billy Dee Williams

Lando Calrissian

Anthony Daniels

C-3PO

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Synopsis

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) battles horrible Jabba the Hutt and cruel Darth Vader to save his comrades in the Rebel Alliance and triumph over the Galactic Empire. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) reaffirm their love and team with Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), the Ewoks and the androids C-3PO and R2-D2 to aid in the disruption of the Dark Side and the defeat of the evil emperor.

Director: Richard Marquand
Producer: Howard G. Kazanjian
Screenwriter: George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Lucasfilm Ltd.
Rating: PG (Sci-Fi Action Violence)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Action, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 25, 1983, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Mar 29, 1985
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 10, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $314.3M
Runtime: 2h 11m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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