--- title: "Return of the Jedi" year: 1983 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/return-of-the-jedi" fi1m_id: "return-of-the-jedi" imdb_id: "tt0086190" tmdb_id: 1892 wikidata_id: "Q181803" fi1m_score: 75 critics_score: 54 critics_reviews: 7 published: "2026-09-15" updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:32.677651+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Return of the Jedi (1983) Directed by Richard Marquand · 2h 12m · MPA PG · Adventure, Action, Science Fiction ## Identity Return of the Jedi - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/return-of-the-jedi - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** return-of-the-jedi - **IMDb ID:** tt0086190 - **TMDB ID:** 1892 - **Wikidata ID:** Q181803 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086190/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1892, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q181803 **Fi1m score: 75** · Critics 54 from 7 reviews *In a sentence:* The creatures get better parts than the lovers > Richard Marquand’s space adventure is good fun when it gives its creatures and chases room. Mark Hamill supplies the conviction, but the thin romance and overindulged Ewoks make this a less brisk evening than it should be. ## Synopsis An encounter with Jabba opens an adventure in which Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) faces a rancor, while Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) have their own romance to negotiate. Darth Vader is played by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones, with Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor. Billy Dee Williams plays Lando Calrissian, Anthony Daniels is C-3PO and Peter Mayhew is Chewbacca. Richard Marquand directs this science-fiction adventure from a screenplay by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. ## Review *Return of the Jedi* is good adventure filmmaking with some awkward stretches between the adventures. Richard Marquand is trying to bring a trilogy to a satisfying close while keeping its appetite for creatures, chases and jokes, and the competing demands sometimes show. George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan’s screenplay has more confidence in immediate danger than in getting everyone from one episode to the next. At 132 minutes, it can feel leisurely in places where a little impatience would have helped. The opening encounter with Jabba gives the film something worth lingering over. Fred Hole, Norman Reynolds and James L. Schoppe’s production design makes these surroundings worth inspecting, and the creatures reward the attention even when the story pauses. We were tense when Luke faced the rancor; having one creature to worry about made the danger immediate. Hamill’s seriousness helps the encounter hold our attention without making the adventure feel solemn. Hamill is a considerable asset throughout, giving Luke enough conviction to keep us interested when the writing becomes ordinary. John Williams’s score supports that performance by giving Luke’s danger emotional weight as well as excitement. The music encourages us to care about what happens to him, rather than simply wait for the next action sequence. Ian McDiarmid’s Emperor and Darth Vader, played by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones, give the film a stronger dramatic focus than its romance. That romance is a disappointment, chiefly because Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher have so little convincing writing to work with as Han and Leia. Lucas and Kasdan ask us to care about the relationship without making its exchanges especially interesting. The performances cannot quite disguise how slight those scenes are, though Ford and Fisher remain welcome company. Those conversations are among the stretches we would happily shorten, especially when the film has already demonstrated how much it can do with a creature and a predicament. The action offers better reasons to stay. Alan Hume and Alec Mills’s cinematography helps give the speeder-bike chase a convincing sense of danger, and the effects make its speed exciting without requiring much explanation. Editors Duwayne Dunham, Sean Barton and Marcia Lucas keep individual passages lively, but their work cannot make the jumps between episodes feel natural. The Ewoks are the clearest test of patience: their appeal to children is easy to understand, yet the time spent with them repeatedly slows the adventure. As a space adventure, this has enough strange creatures and exciting action to be worth its slower stretches. Most critics disagree with us, finding the story thin and the action tiring; we think they undervalue the suspense of the rancor encounter and the invention around Jabba. The uneven storytelling matters, but it does not make those sequences any less enjoyable. Give it an evening if creatures and chases are your sort of thing, with some patience reserved for the dialogue. *Fi1m score 75, published 15 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews are divided on Return of the Jedi, though praise repeatedly centres on its special effects, creatures and action sequences. Jabba and the speeder bike chase draw particular approval, while the more enthusiastic critics find a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy that retains its sense of fun. The Los Angeles Times sees inventiveness and maturity alongside that entertainment value. Even some less persuaded reviews admire the technical work, without finding the storytelling equally convincing. Reservations cluster around uneven pacing, thin plotting and the emphasis on the Ewoks, whose appeal is often associated with younger viewers. The spread is wide: what supporters find satisfying, detractors regard as a tired repetition of earlier adventures. The New York Times finds little narrative momentum and considers the battles tiresome, while The New Yorker disputes even the film’s visual imagination and finds it emotionally empty. There is no firm agreement that spectacle compensates for the weaknesses. ## Straight answers **Is Return of the Jedi worth watching?** *Return of the Jedi* is worth an evening for anyone who enjoys strange creatures and well-staged chases, and we scored it 75. The encounter with Jabba and the speeder-bike chase are the reasons to stay, and Mark Hamill keeps Luke worth caring about. The Han and Leia romance is thinly written, and the Ewoks slow the adventure more than once. **How long is Return of the Jedi, and what is it rated?** *Return of the Jedi* runs 2h 12m and is rated PG by the MPA in the US. It is an adventure and action film. **Where can I watch Return of the Jedi in the US?** *Return of the Jedi* is streaming on Disney+ in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How does Return of the Jedi compare to The Empire Strikes Back?** *Return of the Jedi* is the lighter and looser of the two, and [*The Empire Strikes Back*](https://film.one/film/the-empire-strikes-back) is the better film. Irvin Kershner makes the machinery frightening and the people worth worrying about; Richard Marquand is stronger with creatures and chases than with the stretches between them. Choose the earlier film for tension and feeling, this one for spectacle and jokes. **Do you need to have seen the other Star Wars films before Return of the Jedi?** *Return of the Jedi* is the close of a trilogy and assumes you already know Luke, Han, Leia and Darth Vader. Richard Marquand spends little time reintroducing anyone, so the reunions and the confrontation with the Emperor carry more weight if you have seen what came before. It is not a good place to start; the creatures and chases work on their own, but the story does not. **What should I watch after Return of the Jedi?** After *Return of the Jedi*, try [*The Adventures of Robin Hood*](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood) (1938, Fi1m 90): A swashbuckling adventure with clear stakes, brisk action and room for romance. Then [*The Dark Crystal*](https://film.one/film/the-dark-crystal) (1982, Fi1m 78): For those who find the creatures more interesting than the humans; and [*Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind*](https://film.one/film/warriors-of-the-wind) (1984, Fi1m 85): Strange creatures and aerial adventure, with more curiosity about the supposed enemy. **What order should I watch the Star Wars films in?** Release order is the safe choice for Star Wars, and it is the order [our collection page](https://film.one/collections/star-wars) lists them in. *Return of the Jedi* is number 3 of the 9 Star Wars titles on Fi1m; before it comes [*The Empire Strikes Back*](https://film.one/film/the-empire-strikes-back) and after it [*Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace*](https://film.one/film/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace). [The full order.](https://film.one/collections/star-wars.md) ### Reviews we read (10) - **Los Angeles Times**, Sheila Benson (90/100, inferred): The film is fully satisfying and gives honest value, with a sense of closing the circle. It bursts with new inventiveness and maturity while retaining its sense of fun. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-star-wars-continues-with-an-inventive-jedi-20151202-story.html) - **Radio Times**, John Ferguson (4/5): This is called essential viewing as the trilogy's strong conclusion, with a strong opening Jabba sequence and effective Vader climax. The critic notes the plot's stop-start nature and that Ewoks particularly appeal to younger audiences. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-84594v/star-wars-episode-vi-return-of-the-jedi/) - **Empire**, Christopher Hemblade (65/100, inferred): The critic views it as the weakest entry in the original trilogy, anodyne compared to The Empire Strikes Back with excessive focus on the Ewoks. They praise the superior special effects including the speeder bike chase and the satisfying dramatic redemption of Darth Vader. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/star-wars-episode-vi-return-jedi-review/) - **Time Out**, SGr (3/5): The review notes the film's confusing narrative shifts and questions whether Lucas should explore new territory. It praises the impressive effects, creatures like Jabba, and appeal to younger viewers despite tonal inconsistencies. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/london/film/return-of-the-jedi) - **The New York Times**, Vincent Canby (30/100, inferred): The film brings the trilogy to a dead stop and is by far the dimmest adventure of the lot. The narrative line is virtually nonexistent and the battle scenes become tiresome. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/25/movies/moviesspecial/lucas-returns-with-the-jedi.html) - **The Telegraph**, Patrick Gibbs (30/100, inferred): The third Star Wars film fails to match the originality of its predecessors and comes across as a whole as slight. The dialogue and performances in the romantic subplot between Leia and Solo are especially weak and laughable. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/star-wars-episode-vi-return-jedi-review-dialogue-laughable/) - **The New Yorker**, Pauline Kael (20/100, inferred): The film is an impersonal and rather junky piece of moviemaking that bangs away at the viewer. It lacks emotional weight and visual imagination, making it a fun-machine movie that is slovenly at heart. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1983/05/30/fun-machines) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert: The film is magnificent fun and a complete entertainment, a feast for the eyes. It stands out for its wonderful density of imagination and the extra level of detail in its characters and creatures. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/return-of-the-jedi-1983) - **Sight and Sound**, Philip Strick: The critic finds the film a dazzling conclusion to the trilogy with peak-condition effects and action set pieces. Self-effacing direction by Marquand allows Lucas's vision to shine through in a satisfying resolution. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/return-jedi-archive-review-george-lucas-quits-top) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Arthur Knight: The review finds that the film shows signs of the franchise's machinery wearing down and inventiveness thinning, with the story relying more on action and comic-book elements than depth. It singles out the production values, special effects, settings, and cinematography for strong praise as hugely impressive. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-wars-return-jedi-1983-752678/) ## Details - **Director:** Richard Marquand - **Director:** Richard Marquand - **Screenplay:** Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas - **Story:** George Lucas - **Cinematography:** Alec Mills, Alan Hume - **Editor:** Sean Barton, Duwayne Dunham, Marcia Lucas - **Music:** John Williams - **Production design:** James L. Schoppe, Norman Reynolds, Fred Hole - **Costume design:** Aggie Guerard Rodgers, Nilo Rodis-Jamero - **Producer:** Howard G. Kazanjian - **Cast:** Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker; Harrison Ford as Han Solo; Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia; Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian; Anthony Daniels as C-3PO; Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca; Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker; Ian McDiarmid as The Emperor - **Runtime:** 2h 12m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 25 May 1983 - **Genres:** Adventure, Action, Science Fiction - **Part of:** [Star Wars](https://film.one/collections/star-wars.md) · 3 of 9 - **Budget:** $32 million - **Box office:** $573 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L8p7_SLzvU ## Where to watch in the US - Disney+: streaming, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd *Checked 2026-09-15.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1984: Best Original Score (nominated); Best Production Design (nominated); Best Sound (nominated); Best Sound Editing (nominated) - Hugo Awards 1984: Best Dramatic Presentation (won) - Saturn Awards 1984: Best Science Fiction Film (won) ## If you liked this - *The Adventures of Robin Hood* (1938), Fi1m 90: A swashbuckling adventure with clear stakes, brisk action and room for romance. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood.md) - *The Hidden Fortress* (1958): Bickering companions and dangerous travel give this adventure its humour and momentum. - *The Dark Crystal* (1982), Fi1m 78: For those who find the creatures more interesting than the humans. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-dark-crystal.md) - *Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind* (1984), Fi1m 85: Strange creatures and aerial adventure, with more curiosity about the supposed enemy. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/warriors-of-the-wind.md) - *Galaxy Quest* (1999): Space adventure that lets its affectionate jokes coexist with danger worth caring about. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/return-of-the-jedi