Roqoo Depot

Return of the Jedi 30th Anniversary: A Personal Reminisce

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi came out 30 years ago today. The third film in an epic series, ROTJ brought the redemption of Vader, the death of Boba Fett, and the unveiling of characters like Jabba the Hutt, Admiral Ackbar and the Emperor. Plus, who can forget the Ewoks? To celebrate the 30th anniversary, Geralyn and I are going to share our memories of seeing the film for the first time, it’s impact on us, and how the film holds up 30 years later.

Skuldren: Sadly, I was not able to see Return of the Jedi when it came out in theaters. ROTJ beat me into this world by about a year. The first time I was able to see it was on a bootleg VHS copy in my parent’s living room. I was very young, probably around four years old, but I loved it. Oddly enough, though, some of my favorite characters were not Han, Luke, Leia or Lando, but Jabba the Hutt, Boba Fett and the Ewoks. For me, I loved seeing the strange creatures. Here was this strange place filled with weird monsters and at the center of them all is this giant slug like thing bossing them around and seemingly out smarting the good guys. Jabba drew me in and caught my interest. Plus he had the cool looking Boba Fett working for him. Sure Fett was a bad guy and got killed without really doing anything. But Fett looked cool! More importantly, though, ROTJ was a move that hit me emotionally. It’s the first movie that made me cry. When that furry little Ewok got blasted by the Empire, my little heart sobbed in dismay. For older generations, the Ewoks may or may not have worked, but for me, they worked perfectly. I instantly bonded with them, loved them, and couldn’t stand to see one of them killed.

Geralyn: I distinctly remember seeing Return of the Jedi in the theater when it premiered in ’83. Of course, like thousands of parents, I had my son with me, but it’s a toss up as to which of us was the bigger Star Wars fan.  It’s a good thing I brought him though because he remembers where we saw ROTJ.  While where we saw Star Wars (A New Hope to you latecomers and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre) and ESB (The Egyptian) are firmly planted in my mind, the details on the where of ROTJ are a bit fuzzy.  In all fairness, I’d just finished up college and was in the process of moving from Los Angeles to Boston.  It turns out we saw it in Kansas City which was a bit prophetic since that’s where we both now live.  We both arrived here by different life routes and independent of each other.  It certainly seems like the Force is at work here, although the Force is a little vague on the purpose of why we need to be here.  Possibly it’s to ensure that we see ALL the Star Wars movies together, which we have.  Incidentally, thanks to the re-release in ’97, my second son and I have also seen all the Star Wars movies together in a theater.  But there’s something very special about that time with my oldest son when we saw the movies in their original release. Continue Reading Return of the Jedi 30th Anniversary: A Personal Reminisce…