50 Good Things About Return of the Jedi (31-40)

31. When Luke turns himself in to the Empire: I really enjoyed seeing the AT-AT and Vader turning on Luke’s new saber. This entire scene has a whole new meaning when you watch the entire six films. When you watch all the Ewok shit and compare it to this stuff, you can see that most of the Ewok stuff is pure garbage.

32. It’s a Trap!: I loved when the rebel fleet flies into the system, thinking they have the upper hand, but they soon discover it’s a freaking trap. The FX of the ships breaking away from the force shield is amazing to see.

33. The swarm of Tie-Fighters: “There’s too many of them.” The shots are fast and neat to watch. When I was a child, I was really into this entire scene. You get the sense how vast space is with the different angles the ships take.

34. The meeting between the Emperor and Luke: The music works and the directions in the scene are subtle. I enjoyed watching the Emperor try to convince Luke to join the dark side. Check here for more insight into the subtext of the interactions between Luke, Vader and the Emperor. There's more going on here than meets the eye.

35. The Emperor unlocking Luke’s handcuffs: There is a hint here that this crumpled old man has more power than he lets on. It is small, but a foreshadowing moment.

36. That Thing is fully operational!: Man, just seeing the Death Star take pot shots at the larger ships in the rebel fleet is a great and shocking moment. Some really good FX shots of the rebel ships flying away from the exploding ships are also worth noting

37. Vader is fast: Just as Luke grabs his Light-saber, Vader already has his out, and ready for battle. I also like when Vader throws his saber to knock down an entire platform. Note: I love the way James Earl Jones says, “A sister…”

38. Cannon Fire from the bigger ships: When the rebel fleet engages the Empire’s fleet, if you look closely, you can see the ships firing cannon like shots at each other from the sides. Lucas wouldn’t forget this and add it to Revenge of Sith for the big battle at the beginning. So, he wasn’t pulling this stuff out of his ass.

39. The Explosion of the shield base/The Fighters enter the Death Star: I generally hate most of the stuff on the planet, but when they blow up the entire base, it is a nice explosion. It gives us a nice look at how big the base was. I like how it switches to the space battle and we see the fighters enter interior of the Death Star. This whole sequence is very detailed and fast. Plus, we get to see once again that Tie-fighter pilots suck at flying with one of them crashing into a pipe. “Copy, Gold Leader.”

40. “So be it, Jedi.”: The whole bit with The Emperor switching his attude on a dime was a nice treat. Watch his face. The lightening bolts owning Luke were well done too. Listen to the sound when they hit Luke. “Father, please…”