Let’s imagine Return of the Jedi as a standalone film, forced to stand on its own technical and storytelling merit.  In that alternate universe, Jedi endures as a milestone achievement.  After all, its special effects push the envelope for 1983, the story bursts with vivid characters, and the final act blends an epic space battle with the emotional heft of a showdown between father and son.  Jedi does a lot, and it does most of it really well.

Unfortunately, we don’t live in that reality, and this third Star Wars film must be judged against its predecessors.  On that front, Jedi lacks the startling newness of A New Hope, and the self-assured storytelling flourishes of The Empire Strikes Back.  Both of those entries are landmarks in cinema history, and tough acts to follow.  Much like Return of the King, Return of the Jedi suffers by being simply great.

Make no mistake:  It was immensely difficult to pull a full star off this rating.  As a kid, I wore out this VHS tape.  I obsessed over the Millennium Falcon, Luke Skywalker, and even the Ewoks.  For ten-year-old me, Return of the Jedi represented peak cinema.  Unfortunately, I’m now adult who writes about movies, and I must admit this movie has more than a few flaws.

We’ll get to that in a minute.  For now, I’ll give you the Reader’s Digest summary of the plot.  It’s been a year since Han Solo (Harrison Ford) was frozen in carbonate and hauled off to Jabba the Hutt, an intergalactic gangster who looks a lot like a poop emoji.  Now, it falls to Han’s bestie-boos to mount a daring rescue.  Lando (Billy Dee Williams) and Chewie (Peter Mayhew) attempt to infiltrate Jabba’s palace, while Luke (Mark Hamill) intimidates the crime boss with his new Jedi powers.

All that setup mainly exists as excuse for a big action set piece on the barren dunes of Tatooine.  It also gave the producers an excuse to fit Leia for a skimpy bronze bikini, which subsequently launched millions of boys into early puberty.  Anyway, this entire sequence demonstrates the kitchen-sink mentality Lucas brought to the franchise.  By the time Han gets rescued, we’ve seen treacherous bounty hunters, whirling lightsabers, and a man-eating monster.  That’s entire movie’s worth of stuff crammed into the first thirty minutes!

The balance of Jedi gets down to the usual galaxy-saving business.  As our heroes re-assemble, we learn that the Empire labors on a bigger and badder Death Star.  Fortunately, it seems that Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) has somehow returned, and he’s personally micro-managing the assembly of his new planet-killing toy.  This means that the Rebellion finally has a chance to rid the galaxy of its ultimate evil and restore freedom and peace to all planets.

First, let’s tick off the things Jedi does well:  The special effects, rendered by a hall of fame crew from ILM, would represent a high point for Hollywood until the release of T2, some eight years later.  Phil Tippett, a master of stop-motion photography, delivers the hulking Rancor and clanking Imperial walkers.  Famed sound designer Ben Burtt fills the speakers with howling TIE fighters and purring Ewoks.  John Williams unveils new and glorious motifs, including themes for Palpatine and Jabba.  Even now, Return of the Jedi‘s is a jaw-dropping experience.

Now, let’s cover the film’s flaws.  Structurally, the film feels a little too familiar to A New Hope.  (The entire third act involves another dogfight above another Death Star.) More egregiously, the Ewoks reek of a blatant attempt to sell plush toys and Happy Meals™.  This is an ominous predictor of the cutesy-poo shenanigans of Jar Jar Binks in Phantom Menace.  Finally, I think you have to be an adult to really grasp when someone doesn’t want be at work.  Here, Harrison Ford really puts off that vibe.  I know he’s not the biggest Han Solo fan, but sometimes it feels like all he can do not to yawn.

At the same time, those critiques have to come with some perspective.  Yes. this Star Wars holds up the least.  It still drinks like a first-growth Bordeaux.  You know how I know?  My five-year-old son watched it with me, and he was entranced.  (I regard this as one of my biggest parenting victories.) In fact, he’s proof of Return of the Jedi‘s standalone glory.  He still hasn’t seen A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, and he still loved all the sights and sounds of this one.  By Star Wars standards, this is almost great.  Compared to just about everything else out there, Return of the Jedi is a masterpiece.

132 min.  PG.  Disney+.