Episode 95 - Star Wars - Return of the Jedi

[00:00:00] Welcome back to Movie Mistrial, where we put the films you love and sometimes hate on trial. I am Johannes.

[00:00:06] And I'm Raji. And today, we're traveling to a galaxy far, far away to talk about The Return of the Jedi.

[00:00:16] Return of the Jedi, released in 1983, is the third installment of the original Star Wars trilogy, directed by Richard Marquant.

[00:00:24] The screenplay was written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasten. It concludes the story arc of Luke Skywalker and the battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire.

[00:00:33] It stars Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, and Harrison Ford as Han Solo.

[00:00:40] It also features the introduction of Emperor Palpatine, played by Ayn McDermott.

[00:00:46] The film is known for its epic battles, Ewoks, and the emotional redemption of Darth Vader.

[00:00:54] This movie was the highest grossing film of 1983, earning over $475 million worldwide.

[00:01:00] While it has been praised for its special effects and thrilling action, it has also sparked debates among fans, especially regarding those lovable yet controversial Ewoks.

[00:01:10] But does it live up to the monumental legacy of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back?

[00:01:16] Or is it the weakest link of the trilogy?

[00:01:18] That's what we're going to have to talk about today.

[00:01:21] And we're gonna have to make that decision on this podcast.

[00:01:25] All right.

[00:01:27] Let's go.

[00:01:44] Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

[00:01:47] All right, my friend.

[00:01:50] Let's determine who's arguing for it or against it.

[00:01:55] Let's hear a synopsis and then let's dive right in.

[00:01:59] What's it gonna be?

[00:02:00] Heads or tails?

[00:02:01] It's gonna be heads for me, as usual.

[00:02:05] You got it.

[00:02:06] Heads it is.

[00:02:09] I want to argue against this film.

[00:02:11] Damn.

[00:02:11] I want to argue against this film.

[00:02:13] I want to argue against this film.

[00:02:16] All right.

[00:02:17] Before we hear your tirade, let's hear the synopsis.

[00:02:20] Let's go.

[00:02:22] Star Wars Return of the Jedi is the thrilling conclusion to the original Star Wars trilogy,

[00:02:26] directed by Richard Markoff.

[00:02:28] The film follows Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and their allies as they prepare for

[00:02:34] a final confrontation with the evil galactic empire.

[00:02:37] Luke faces his greatest challenge yet as he attempts to redeem his father,

[00:02:41] Darth Vader, from the dark side while the Rebel Alliance leads an attack

[00:02:44] to destroy the empire's powerful new Death Star.

[00:02:48] As the battle between good and evil Richard speak,

[00:02:50] the fate of the galaxy rests on the courage and unity of the rebels.

[00:02:54] Return of the Jedi is celebrated for its iconic action,

[00:02:56] emotional death, and its uplifting message of hope and redemption.

[00:03:02] The witness will address this quote as judge or your honor.

[00:03:05] Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen.

[00:03:07] This episode, we're going to talk about Star Wars and how this movie began the legacy of the

[00:03:14] destruction of the legacy of Star Wars.

[00:03:18] You know, before I really deep dive into all the points I want to make,

[00:03:28] I want to think about where we were at the end of the last one.

[00:03:31] We had a big epic battle between Luke Skywalker and his dad, Darth Vader.

[00:03:39] And in there, he's told the incredible story that he's the son of the person he's been fighting for.

[00:03:46] And in this movie, we leave us such a, we end the movie at such an emotional standpoint,

[00:03:54] and he's staring into the stars and trying to figure out his,

[00:03:58] because he goes through his inner emotions trying to figure out where he's at.

[00:04:01] What is his position?

[00:04:03] And then we start this movie with a, basically a comic, a comic heist,

[00:04:08] where we see some characters who eventually become major characters in the, um, in the,

[00:04:16] in the Star Wars universe.

[00:04:18] Boba Fett, for example, they talked about him with such, such impact.

[00:04:23] So it's like, oh my God, Boba Fett, where is he? Where is he?

[00:04:26] And that was, uh, how Han Solo reacted when he turned around and hit the, um, the,

[00:04:33] what do you call those? The Mandalorian, uh, rocket packs.

[00:04:37] And he ends up getting chewed up by the monster.

[00:04:41] And I was going to my, I was saying to myself, you know,

[00:04:44] this scene is the whole foundation of the Boba Fett TV show.

[00:04:48] No wonder that failed. Um, you know, I think we, we met, um,

[00:04:58] um, oh, I, I didn't watch the original, like the 1970s version.

[00:05:02] One of the things that like caught my attention immediately was how out of place.

[00:05:07] So they added a number of scenes in this movie that I think that they were basically trying to

[00:05:13] improve the mood and make it seem like the galaxy was bigger than it was in 1970 when the movie was,

[00:05:21] was being played, was made. Um, but I think it just kind of took away from the movie entirely.

[00:05:27] Like the singing scene in Jabba's, uh, palace where we had this, um,

[00:05:33] Froggy McFrog woman, Froggy McFrog, um, I don't know. I can't call it.

[00:05:39] It's just Froggy McFrog singing.

[00:05:42] And, you know, we had the deep voice of the, I don't know what is a rhino McRhyno,

[00:05:47] just, you know, harmonizing to the tone as the sense of dread continues to grow. And I'm, I'm using

[00:05:54] like, um, quotation marks in the air, um, starts to grow in the scene and we get to meet Luke.

[00:06:04] You know, we've expected him to have grown since the last episode. Um, and in one fell swoop,

[00:06:09] he's thrown into a hole and he has to fight, uh, the big monster in there. And I was just thinking,

[00:06:16] it just feels, it feels forced. And there was no lack of, there was a lack of urgency throughout

[00:06:24] that whole thing. It's like they had plans. Everything seems to be going out of place,

[00:06:29] but it seems like they all have it under control. And you know, it just didn't feel like there was

[00:06:36] any urgency. If there wasn't any urgency, why would they wait to get to the desert before they made an

[00:06:44] any actionable, um, move to escape? So you get caught, you could beat everybody up, which was shown in,

[00:06:53] um, Star Wars episode two, uh, sorry, episode five. Um, you fought that Vader. So you at least have

[00:07:00] the ability to fight almost everybody in the room at the same time. Um, and then you just play along

[00:07:07] with this elaborate plan to just, um, to get caught and then do a somersault in the, in the middle of the

[00:07:16] desert, uh, and then kick, um, Boba Fett into the, into the, into the pit.

[00:07:22] Um, C-3PO and R2-D2 were just as annoying as ever. Um, and their annoyance, annoyance had no bounds

[00:07:31] in this movie from the very beginning of this film. C-3PO was just talking too much. Um, but you

[00:07:38] know, that's, that's my start. That's where I'm going to start. I'm going to hand it over to Johannes.

[00:07:44] He may have some pleasantly great things to say about this movie.

[00:07:47] C-3PO Oh, your honor in defense of this film.

[00:07:52] It's the culmination of, of a three film story arc. So it's always a little hard to,

[00:07:59] to, to just focus on this film without dragging other pieces of, of the lore into it. But I think,

[00:08:06] uh, uh, my, uh, partner on the other side of the argument has already done that. So let's opening,

[00:08:15] let's open that door. Um, if, if we really think about what, what this movie is trying to do is it is

[00:08:26] closing out the, the, the Luke Skywalker, uh, trilogy. And if, if we think about kind of on a bigger

[00:08:34] picture, what we are doing here is the, um, it's, it's, it's basically a crossroads between

[00:08:45] what happens when you give in to the dark side versus what happens when you resist that temptation.

[00:08:52] Uh, and we see what happens when you, when you don't resist that temptation, uh, come to a conclusion in the first trilogy.

[00:09:01] So episode one, two, three, and, uh, Darth Vader is created. And then in the second trilogy, so four to

[00:09:09] six, um, Darth Vader is the big kind of antagonist, but, uh, kind of a similar, uh,

[00:09:19] uh, pathway is taken by Luke in a way where he, in, in this film, uh,

[00:09:28] he, he is at a similar crossroads where he could go down the dark side's path or the, the other side,

[00:09:35] which he ends up choosing. So it's like, it's, it's kind of this interesting parallel of like, okay,

[00:09:41] the actions that you choose, the paths that you take, um, and these are kind of the outcomes that,

[00:09:46] that may come from that. So that, that's kind of the first layer of that. I think the,

[00:09:51] the, uh, thematically we were really playing a lot with, with the dark versus light in this film.

[00:09:57] Um, and kind of all the connotations that come with that. Um, the dark side, the, um, the empire

[00:10:06] is, uh, fundamentally very egotistical and very, um, every man for themselves, if things go bad,

[00:10:15] um, versus the light side is the strength and community, you strengthen numbers. We need to,

[00:10:22] to make sure that, you know, we are a unit. We, all our friends are here. That's why we spend a lot of

[00:10:28] time freeing Han Solo because he's a, he's a vital part of the community. Uh, he's the best pilot in

[00:10:34] the world, uh, in the galaxy even, right? So we need to free him from, from the shackles of, uh,

[00:10:40] carbonite. And, um, I think there's, there's a lot, uh, that goes to show that even if the rebellion is

[00:10:49] smaller in size, in unity, they're stronger. So there's themes there to explore. And the

[00:10:59] other strength that we get is the world building, because I think the,

[00:11:04] the time we spent on Tatooine, a planet that we thought we were done with, um,

[00:11:11] we spent a lot of time there, but what you were saying about, uh, kind of all the creatures that

[00:11:16] show up in Jabba's palace, I think there's a lot of lore and world that is built just by pure

[00:11:24] existence being in the room. And that was kind of remarkable because there's so many interesting

[00:11:28] looking creatures that, um, give interesting flavor to the, to the whole galaxy in the universe

[00:11:35] that we're witnessing here. And then the same for Endor, where we have Ewoks and different flavors of

[00:11:42] stormtroopers that are now scout troopers and different, um, vehicles and, and all that. So I

[00:11:49] think there's, there's just a lot there that expands the universe, um, in a logical but interesting

[00:11:56] way because it's, it's just a logical progression of, of time and the story that we're seeing.

[00:12:02] Uh, so fundamentally there's this, you know, the, the, the fight good versus evil continues because

[00:12:09] evil is relentless, right? But, um, this time it's bigger, better and re-cut.

[00:12:20] Okay. All right. So, you know, I think, I think in some ways we agree

[00:12:26] that looking back to, to basically, um, appreciate this movie, we have to look back at the previous

[00:12:32] ones. Um, but you know, I can't help, I really can't help but feel, I really can't help but feel

[00:12:40] that the gritty tone of the original films has been replaced with this fun and plushy version of this

[00:12:50] new one where some of the character stories, okay, let's talk about that particular line first.

[00:12:55] The Ewoks were entirely annoying. I want to be, I want to be clear on that. It's,

[00:13:01] think of this. We get the, the, the, the new hope, dark, gritty film. We get the Empire Strikes Back.

[00:13:11] They went really dark, really gritty. Um, and we get this emotional arc at the end where we're like,

[00:13:17] oh my God, is Luke, how does Luke feel? He's been fighting his dad his whole time.

[00:13:22] And then we get this one where we're, we're seeing small teddy bears, small teddy bears living, uh,

[00:13:29] who don't even understand technology. They have no cultural understanding of what technology is

[00:13:34] because they see a robot and they try to make him emperor of them. Um, and we see them and somehow

[00:13:42] they're on par with the empire. Empire can destroy planets. Empires can take out whole civilizations,

[00:13:50] but they can't beat a bunch of teddy bears with sticks and stones. It feels out of place.

[00:13:59] It feels that the tonal shift is just drastic. And you know, I was just confused by that because,

[00:14:05] you know, I was just trying to figure out why they went in this direction. And a lot of people are saying

[00:14:09] that the reason why they're doing this is because they were trying to sell teddy bears. Um,

[00:14:14] they were trying to market the movie to younger audiences that I felt off. Um, like I said,

[00:14:22] the beginning of the movie when Jabba's palace was very, very long. It took a long time to,

[00:14:31] it took almost 30 minutes to get to the conclusion of that specific arc, especially when we now consider

[00:14:40] how strong Luke was later in the film when he was fighting, um, what do you call it? Darth Vader,

[00:14:49] uh, later in at the end of the film, it feels like that whole thing could have been shorter and

[00:14:56] they elongated it. Just, I don't know why they did it. It feels because of that elongation,

[00:15:03] the pacing of the whole film fills off. They introduced characters that they mentioned. I mean,

[00:15:10] they mentioned, um, what do you call it? Uh, Boba Fett in an earlier film in the empire strikes back.

[00:15:17] And then in this movie, he's just somebody who can get defeated by a comic comic turn. When,

[00:15:24] you know, Han Solo goes, Oh, where is he? Boba Fett? You mentioned Boba Fett. Where is he? Where is he?

[00:15:29] And he turns around, hits him with a stick. The, his, his, uh, rocket, his rocket stuff goes on and he

[00:15:36] ends up in the mouth of the, the beast in the sand. I don't know what they're called.

[00:15:42] It's the Sarlacc pet.

[00:15:44] The Sarlacc. Okay, cool.

[00:15:46] The Sarlacc.

[00:15:46] Come on.

[00:15:46] Uh, the Sarlacc pit. Oh my God. Sorry. Um, I, um, see,

[00:15:53] I was having an argument with my friend, um, earlier this week. Um, and we're talking about

[00:15:59] the potency of Andor as a series. And you know, I love Andor. I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan in

[00:16:08] the world, but one of the things that I've always appreciated about Andor is that it makes the threat

[00:16:14] of the empire seem like a real threat. In this movie, we have folks who can just be bamboozled

[00:16:22] by just saying, Hey, you know, there's somebody in the back and the whole squad runs out of the

[00:16:28] whole building. Um, and they're caught by two, two people with guns pointed at them. The whole empire,

[00:16:36] the whole plot of Palpatine was destroyed because they were able to trick the room full of trained

[00:16:44] soldiers that they needed to get out of the, of that and reinforced location as soon as possible.

[00:16:51] And they all just ran out at the same time. And what happens? They were able to stop the ability

[00:16:58] for the dead star to use the whatever force it uses to destroy things. That was, it was as simple as that.

[00:17:06] So an Andor, you felt the presence of the, the empire. You felt the, how fascistic they could be.

[00:17:17] You understood why everyone was fighting and this one, it just felt like there was lack of urgency.

[00:17:23] There was no sense of, of expectations. And I've not even talked about the fact that they brought back

[00:17:30] the death star, which they destroyed in the first film, but they brought it back in this one.

[00:17:35] And it just feels like they ran out of ideas. They ran out of ideas. They couldn't think of anything

[00:17:41] better than a death star. Uh, and we're going to rehash the whole first film, right? For,

[00:17:48] I don't know if it's nostalgia, whatever it was, but they basically rehashed the first film

[00:17:51] for half of the movie. And the other half, they were trying to conclude the, um,

[00:17:58] the arc of the skywalkers. So in a sense, this movie felt very lazy. The urgency was lack, was not there. It was lacking. Um, and I just found Emperor Palpatine to be a very, very,

[00:18:15] I don't know, overconfident guy. I don't know who talks like that, to be honest with you.

[00:18:21] Because one of the things that he was saying was like, you will not let the evil. I can sense the evil in you.

[00:18:27] And, you know, they were talking like evil was like good. Oh, we're on the evil side. So you, you can be on our side. I will always be evil.

[00:18:37] And I was like, this, this conversation just seems very, very, very, very forced. Um, there was no nuance to it.

[00:18:46] Oh, I want to be good. No, I don't want to be good. I want you to be evil. I want you to be bad. Oh, I don't want to be bad.

[00:18:52] But you will be bad. I can feel that you have bad in you. It kind of feels like that. Anyway, I've rambled.

[00:18:58] I will let, uh, Johannes jump in and have his say.

[00:19:02] Yeah. So a couple points. I think the, uh, the Ewoks is, you kind of fall in the same trap that the Empire did.

[00:19:11] Right. Completely disregarding and, uh, underestimating the cute teddy bears for what they are.

[00:19:19] If you really look at them, they, they are basically cannibalistic, like murder animals, right?

[00:19:26] Like they, they, they want to eat, uh, the humans they find. Um, though again, it's a cannibalism in that case.

[00:19:34] Yes.

[00:19:35] Were you in the writer's room in this? Because it seemed like you were one of the writers who were pushing for this.

[00:19:39] Um, sure. Um, no, but, no, I mean, but, I mean, true though. Right. Like the, like the Ewoks that we're seeing are not as, as, um, dumb as you make them out to be because they're able to build pretty sophisticated traps.

[00:20:00] Um, like for sophisticated, considering also their size, right. Um, they are able to understand how these landspeeder bikes work, um, because one of them is able to control them and, and buzz off with it.

[00:20:19] Um, and, um, they may have a hard grasp on religion because they think a gold robot is, is their God, but you know, that's fine. Um, I, I think we see.

[00:20:32] Religion is a whole different topic.

[00:20:35] They don't have, there's so many of them. I got strength in numbers, my friend. So, um, I think they're just underestimated by the empire.

[00:20:43] And I think that's, that's one of the reasons why they chose the planet because it's like, oh, there's just these weird teddy bears that are, they don't, they cannot harm us.

[00:20:51] Right. But, but it's kind of a, at the end of the day, underestimated, they figure out a way to harm them.

[00:20:55] Um, but, but that's kind of another point. I, or just a way to, to, to rebut that.

[00:21:00] So if, if we just take what is actually going on in this film, right? Like the, the story at hand, you brought up the, there's another death star.

[00:21:11] It's a rehash of, uh, of the first film. And, um, if we just look at the significance of the first film story-wise and lore-wise in the, in the, in the universe, um,

[00:21:23] um, that defeat is as, um, is as great as can be to the point where the battle of Yarvin, which is at, uh, the, the, the fight with the first death star is basically the way time is counted in the universe.

[00:21:44] Right. So, uh, I think that, that, that's quite remarkable. So what, what does this say us though?

[00:21:53] Right. So for the, for the rebels, obviously this is a, um, cool. We were able to defeat some of the bad things that we are witnessing in Andor, right?

[00:22:03] There is hope. There's hope again to, to, to go against this fascistic, um, empire.

[00:22:10] For the empire, it allowed, uh, in a twisted way, it allowed them to speed up production on another bigger death star, which is what we're seeing here.

[00:22:21] Right. So, uh, in a matter of, of, of a couple of years, I think it's like four or six years in between these films in, in the universe, um, they were able to ramp up production for this thing.

[00:22:32] Um, and they were able to lay a trap for the, for the rebels. Um, how did they lay the trap you ask? Right. They fed spies, uh, information that there is another death star in the making.

[00:22:46] Um, they prioritized the main weapon of the death star to be finished first. So it works, even though the whole thing is not finished yet.

[00:22:56] Um, and they had their, their fleet basically waiting in the wings for them. Right. So, so it's, it's all like, um, it's all a ploy to, to try to make sure that let's get all the rebels here again, because again, they will show up as, as one strength, as one strong force, uh, trying to, to end this thing.

[00:23:21] Um, but let's make sure they are in for a weapon because they don't understand what they're dealing with here. Uh, they may think so, but they don't because we have the, the plan on, on paper was good, right?

[00:23:34] They, they decentralized the, um, the energy shield and put that on a planet that, um, was hard to get to. They laid a trap there.

[00:23:43] Didn't end up working, but you know, that's just, uh, incompetency on the, on the empire part.

[00:23:48] Um, they built a death star again, and that is bigger than the first one that is already ready, even though it's, um, like 75% finished and they got pretty far in decimating the rebels forces.

[00:24:00] So, um, like check, check and check, right?

[00:24:05] Good job empire.

[00:24:07] You did a pretty decent thing.

[00:24:10] Um, the problem though, is this ego goes in a way, which is kind of circling back to what I was saying, kind of the dark side, right?

[00:24:16] It's like, oh, we need this random son of, uh, part machine, part egg.

[00:24:23] Um, and, uh, we need to convert him to our side because he's the strongest on, on the good side.

[00:24:29] And I think, uh, that ego essentially did them in, right?

[00:24:34] Um, without kind of trying to focus to lure Luke Skywalker over to the dark side.

[00:24:39] Uh, I think they probably would have been better off, but ego dark side, right?

[00:24:46] The, the constant search for power.

[00:24:49] Um, so I think that there's, there's a lot there just kind of power dynamics and kind of arrogance and ego versus fighting against that.

[00:24:57] And, and, you know, actions have consequences, yada, yada, yada.

[00:25:00] Uh, that is in this film and it's all pretty clear and, um, structured out.

[00:25:05] So I think, great.

[00:25:07] Good job.

[00:25:08] I think you've done a better job than this film of highlighting what this plot is.

[00:25:14] I don't think, I think it's somewhat clear in the film, but I think a lot of the stuff is distracted because of the tonal inconsistencies.

[00:25:24] Like if the movie was serious from start to finish and we got to see all of the plots, um, that you were talking about, maybe it would have been great.

[00:25:34] But they spent 15, they spent five minutes getting captured, uh, Han Solo stuck to a tree, um, getting to be cooked.

[00:25:46] And Luke Skywalker from the back spinning C-3PO in a chair so that those people can be convinced that he's a god.

[00:25:53] So, you know, I think once you get distracted by that specific whole scenario playing out, the whole deductions of the Empire could just be lost on you.

[00:26:05] I think that may have happened with me.

[00:26:08] Um, because I, like I said, I think I was distracted by some of the poor decisions in this film.

[00:26:14] Another poor decision was the fact that, you know, we find out that Leia is Luke's sister, right?

[00:26:24] Um, and her reaction to that whole thing was the most subdued thing in the world.

[00:26:30] Even Han Solo had a better reaction to it.

[00:26:32] It's like when she tells him, he stops and goes, didn't you kiss him in the second film?

[00:26:39] Oh, well, ah, that doesn't matter.

[00:26:41] You're mine now.

[00:26:42] That's kind of how his reaction went.

[00:26:45] Um, so I feel like there's a lot of, there's a lot of mistakes in this movie.

[00:26:50] Um, it has to do with the inconsistency in the tone, uh, and where they were trying to get to.

[00:27:01] The last point I wanted to make was the Vader's redemption was just ridiculous.

[00:27:05] I get it.

[00:27:07] This is the strongest part of the film.

[00:27:10] The fight between Luke and his dad.

[00:27:13] And in a sense, it's emotional.

[00:27:16] In a sense, it's, um, it's redemptive.

[00:27:22] It's effective as a redemption act.

[00:27:24] But then it becomes weird because he's saying things like, come with me, father.

[00:27:30] You were good.

[00:27:31] And I'm like, do you remember everything he did in part one, two, and even in later, in later years, they talked about how he went into a room and killed a room full of children.

[00:27:44] You know, it's like, when you think about it in the context of his evil, that whole redemption where they meet and they just walk through the elevator and they're just having a conversation.

[00:28:00] All the way to the point where the emperor was striking his son with, with, um, lightning.

[00:28:07] It just felt too quick.

[00:28:09] We needed indications that he was already thinking about his actions.

[00:28:16] Just the son couldn't be enough.

[00:28:19] And then all of a sudden after he's dying, he wants to look upon his son's eyes through his own eyes.

[00:28:24] Come on, man.

[00:28:26] That was too much, man.

[00:28:27] That was a lot.

[00:28:28] I think one of the things that also affected me about this movie is like, the pace could be good if every single scene had something impactful.

[00:28:39] But there were many areas where the scene just existed to be an exposition dump.

[00:28:45] And then the scene ended.

[00:28:51] There's an alarm on your side.

[00:28:57] So Darth Vader, I think, again, that scene is a great example of, you know, once kind of things get rough, everybody on the Empire side is just fending for themselves.

[00:29:09] Nobody cares because you see all these soldiers around just kind of running for their lives.

[00:29:15] With freaking Darth Vader being dragged into the hangar by the, from their perspective, like worst, worst person possible.

[00:29:24] Right?

[00:29:26] And nobody cares.

[00:29:27] But that's beside the point.

[00:29:28] I think that's just kind of a subliminal kind of thing of like, okay, you know, you'll see the Empire is just kind of, they don't have their ducks in a row properly.

[00:29:39] And that's why they fail.

[00:29:41] I think the redemption of Darth Vader is, if we take it from a, from a just pure kind of, let's give everybody a lesson here.

[00:29:58] Right?

[00:29:59] Is not every, nobody is truly fully evil.

[00:30:04] Or there's hope for people that are evil to, to be redeemed and kind of understand that they did something wrong.

[00:30:15] And I think that's kind of a fair statement to make.

[00:30:18] And I think that's kind of a fair stance to take.

[00:30:20] Darth Vader's just misunderstood.

[00:30:21] I think he always meant to be good.

[00:30:26] But aside from that, I'm ready to go to the sidebar.

[00:30:29] All right.

[00:30:30] I'm ready to go to the sidebar too.

[00:30:32] Overruled.

[00:30:33] Sidebar.

[00:30:33] Guilty.

[00:30:34] Speculation.

[00:30:34] Here's safe.

[00:30:35] Bailiff.

[00:30:35] Briefcase.

[00:30:35] Disregard.

[00:30:36] In my chamber.

[00:30:36] Stop Beaver and the witness.

[00:30:37] Arrest.

[00:30:38] We could totally be lawyers.

[00:30:40] Sidebar.

[00:30:43] So can I just say, I feel like a lot in this film doesn't make any sense.

[00:30:51] And like you already said, we spent so much time in Jabba's palace.

[00:30:56] And if you just think about why, just to rescue this one person.

[00:31:01] It's like.

[00:31:02] Who they underused in the whole film.

[00:31:04] Yeah.

[00:31:04] Who doesn't do a lot.

[00:31:06] Yeah.

[00:31:07] It's.

[00:31:08] I don't get it.

[00:31:09] It's great for the world building.

[00:31:12] Like I said, it's like, it has some cool designs and all that.

[00:31:17] Like, I think that sail barge is cool.

[00:31:20] And like the design aspect of it all.

[00:31:23] I don't understand why we needed to digitally enhance a lot of things like the stupid singers

[00:31:28] and the Sarlacc pit didn't need to have that weird head.

[00:31:34] Like in the old version, it was just a hole with teeth.

[00:31:38] Basically.

[00:31:39] So I don't know why we needed to embellish this.

[00:31:43] Because it also looks terrible.

[00:31:46] But yeah, at the end of the day, like I think there's not a lot that makes sense.

[00:31:52] And there's a lot of time wasted on stuff that's kind of dumb.

[00:31:58] Also, like we spent a lot of time on speeder bikes, which as a child, I was like, this is

[00:32:03] freaking awesome.

[00:32:04] But if you just think, I looked them up.

[00:32:06] These things are like 350 miles per hour top speed.

[00:32:10] And they go through the forest.

[00:32:12] And they do chases.

[00:32:14] And they just go bonkers for like minutes.

[00:32:17] Right.

[00:32:17] But then they crash the things and they can walk back to their.

[00:32:19] They can find it and they can walk back to the location where they started.

[00:32:26] The power is strong.

[00:32:27] The power is strong in people.

[00:32:30] Listen, listen, listen.

[00:32:32] We're talking about competent soldiers, right?

[00:32:34] They can do all of that on a speed bike.

[00:32:37] Right.

[00:32:38] But if they tell them, hey, guys, we just need your help.

[00:32:42] We're almost going to be overrun.

[00:32:45] We need your help.

[00:32:45] We can take them all out in one go.

[00:32:47] They open their whole security bunker and allow them to just waltz in and plant bombs in it.

[00:32:53] I'm telling you, man, they weren't trained as well as we think.

[00:32:56] Well, and the thing that I was wondering is like, why do they need to haul off to some other location?

[00:33:03] They have helmets with some kind of communication in there.

[00:33:06] Right.

[00:33:07] Because they were able to like, do they not have radios to radio in?

[00:33:11] It's like, hey, we need help here.

[00:33:13] Why do they all need to just haul ass into the woods to some weird location?

[00:33:19] It's weird.

[00:33:19] It doesn't make any sense.

[00:33:21] Hey, look, I'm not I'm not a biggest Star Wars fan in the world.

[00:33:24] In fact, I would say I'm very little.

[00:33:27] A literal part of me is a star.

[00:33:29] I mean, if you give me Ando, I'll be like, all right, that's cool.

[00:33:32] That's a really good show.

[00:33:33] So if you give me the one that he directed the movie, the one about the rebels, Rebel

[00:33:38] One.

[00:33:38] Oh, that was a good film.

[00:33:40] Makes you feel like, OK, cool.

[00:33:41] These are really bad guys.

[00:33:43] There's a stake to it.

[00:33:44] This movie just doesn't feel tonally correct.

[00:33:49] Yeah.

[00:33:50] Yeah.

[00:33:51] And it's like, so I just felt like I had to look it up again.

[00:33:55] So, OK, so we spent probably half an hour, if not longer on Tatooine, which I don't get

[00:34:01] the fascination with Tatooine.

[00:34:02] It seems like Tatooine is kind of the hub of storytelling in this whole galaxy, which is

[00:34:07] bizarre because there's nothing there.

[00:34:11] But OK, so we spent a lot of time there.

[00:34:14] Then Luke goes back to Dagobah to talk to Yoda.

[00:34:27] And to watch Yoda die, too.

[00:34:31] Oh, yeah.

[00:34:32] I don't know what that I don't know how that affects you.

[00:34:35] But I would say that Yoda was undercooked in the original trilogy.

[00:34:40] Later, in other trilogies, or a lot of stories, he seemed a lot more powerful.

[00:34:45] But in this one, he just feels like a turgid old man who doesn't know how to speak English

[00:34:51] properly, roaming through the forest.

[00:34:54] He doesn't feel like the Yoda that they introduced in the cartoons and the mangas and the newer

[00:35:01] movies.

[00:35:02] It just feels like, OK, he's an undercooked guy.

[00:35:06] Right.

[00:35:06] Right.

[00:35:07] Then they learn about the new Death Star.

[00:35:14] And then all that basically happens.

[00:35:17] Right.

[00:35:18] Like, there's a lot of time spent on Endor with Ewoks, which I agree.

[00:35:21] Ewoks are freaking stupid.

[00:35:24] And like the thing that I said about, oh, look, these very resilient and smart teddy bears

[00:35:29] that can build traps.

[00:35:31] It's like, no, they can't.

[00:35:33] Like, first of all, like, how are they able to spin up these traps so quickly?

[00:35:39] How are they able to kind of foresee that the one that there is AT-STs around to begin

[00:35:46] with, and then figure out the correct height for those logs to sway?

[00:35:50] Like, all of this is just, if you think about it for a second, it's just like, how?

[00:35:55] How?

[00:35:56] It makes no sense.

[00:35:58] Right.

[00:35:58] Like, none of it makes, none of this makes any sense.

[00:36:03] It becomes more and more difficult to suspend your disbelief with stuff like that.

[00:36:08] It's like, I cannot unsee what I'm seeing right now.

[00:36:13] But yeah, go on.

[00:36:15] No, and yeah, and for whatever reason, they're so good at building that they are able to build.

[00:36:20] I mean, and that's fine.

[00:36:21] But why would small teddy bears build their housing in the trees and they have to swing

[00:36:31] back and forth?

[00:36:32] Like, a lot of that just, I know it's world building and it's cute, but it's just from

[00:36:37] an evolutionary standpoint, I feel like that feels like it doesn't make any sense because

[00:36:45] it just seems very impractical for a species that is not capable of flying.

[00:36:53] I don't know.

[00:36:54] Like, it's just like, why?

[00:36:55] Why?

[00:36:56] Why?

[00:36:56] And I guess the Wookiees also do the same thing.

[00:37:01] They also have tree houses.

[00:37:02] So it's like, maybe it's just very, very creatures like to live in trees.

[00:37:06] I don't know.

[00:37:08] I'm not even so miffed about the tree houses.

[00:37:11] I think it's just a technology output.

[00:37:14] It's like, you guys don't have the technology to fight with people who have guns that shoot

[00:37:23] lasers out of it.

[00:37:25] And for some reason, you're holding your own.

[00:37:29] You don't have the physical prowess, this presence to be able to fight full grown people.

[00:37:36] And somehow you're able to hold the fight against an empire.

[00:37:42] Remember when we saw the empire soldiers standing outside of the gate once they realized that it was a trap?

[00:37:48] We saw like the vast amounts of soldiers that were just waiting for them at the door when they took them prisoner.

[00:37:56] Now think about all of those teddy bears, just like fugly teddy bears.

[00:38:02] Can they withstand that?

[00:38:04] Come on.

[00:38:05] I think they definitely need, they were definitely, they definitely thought we were stupid when they did all of that stuff.

[00:38:13] And it's a testament to that because I don't know if, I've not seen Ewoks in any of the new Star Wars movies or shows.

[00:38:19] I don't see Ewoks just rumbling around.

[00:38:22] They seem to be, we've been extinct now.

[00:38:27] Yeah, it's like they don't have any technology, but they're able to cut logs at the precise length.

[00:38:37] And they have a good understanding of just the basic construction.

[00:38:42] And like I said, the whole trap thing, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

[00:38:46] Yeah.

[00:38:46] You know, it's just like how and why.

[00:38:49] Anyway, so when we get to Endor, it's a little weird.

[00:38:53] I think the strength for me always has been like the Empire stuff because I just like that whole design aesthetic in a weird way.

[00:39:06] Oh, another thing that I thought was strange.

[00:39:09] During the battle in space, I think the rebels destroy one of the ships, one of the bigger ships.

[00:39:18] They shoot the bridge.

[00:39:23] But then the whole ship goes down and crashes into another ship.

[00:39:29] And it's like, so these things are so vulnerable that when you shoot the bridge, everything else falls apart and they just completely collapse into something else.

[00:39:37] Like a lot of that also, I don't know, that does make a lot of sense.

[00:39:43] But I think, but yeah, it's a little weird.

[00:39:49] I think the pacing is just strange because like fundamentally not a lot happens here, right?

[00:39:53] Yeah.

[00:39:54] Like we spend a lot of time freeing one person and then we go into battle and the battle that we already had.

[00:40:00] But it's like at the core, we're trying to, the dark side tries to seduce Luke Skywalker, who I suspect they've been trying like just clothing wise, right?

[00:40:09] Since he's wearing that black outfit.

[00:40:11] I kind of feel like they've been trying to give you the illusion that there might be a chance for him to move over to the dark side.

[00:40:20] You know, just kind of visually.

[00:40:22] But I'm, I'm not sure if anybody was ever fooled that that would be a possibility.

[00:40:30] You know, the weird thing about it is, it's like they come to the realization that if they couldn't turn Luke negative, if they couldn't turn evil, they would switch to the sister.

[00:40:43] And that spurs a new, a new sense of urgency from Luke.

[00:40:48] But I'm just thinking to myself, you always knew you had a daughter.

[00:40:53] You always knew.

[00:40:54] Why, why is it at this point that I guess there are two ways to think about it.

[00:40:59] Like one way is like, he was just saying that to taunt Luke and get Luke to accelerate his transition to evil.

[00:41:12] But I mean, that could make sense.

[00:41:14] But the other, if it was just like, oh, the realization, like, oh my God, we can use your sister now.

[00:41:22] Then that is just totally, totally off putting for me.

[00:41:26] I don't understand how that would have worked.

[00:41:29] But I, I'll say one good thing about this film because I've been saying a lot of negative things about it.

[00:41:35] You know, I'm, in the whole picture of Star Wars, concerning the three of them, I think it's probably, it's still, I don't know.

[00:41:46] Let me not go into that yet.

[00:41:47] But the emotional act, the conclusion between Luke and the dad was emotionally satisfying.

[00:41:57] Wasn't the greatest.

[00:41:58] But I'm going to give them the props that if this whole movie was based around the last fight where Luke and his dad, Darth Vader, get to fight.

[00:42:13] And he gets to convince his dad because of the love of his son.

[00:42:19] Then I can see that being an emotionally satisfying end.

[00:42:25] What I can see, however, is him saying, dad, I'm going to get you out of here.

[00:42:31] And we're going to ride into the sunset.

[00:42:32] And you and I, we're going to be the best of buddies forever and ever because you're a good man now.

[00:42:38] Now, that would be utter bull crap.

[00:42:42] And the fact that he tried to convince him felt like the people who made this movie didn't understand the total nature of Darth Vader from the first and the second.

[00:42:57] And it made him into a bit of a, anyway, I'll leave it at that.

[00:43:02] That's all I have to say.

[00:43:03] I mean, I think by humanizing him, by taking the helmet off, I think they ruined a lot.

[00:43:13] Kind of in just the, because Darth Vader is such an epic character and villain.

[00:43:23] Right.

[00:43:24] But by, by giving him an actual face is just kind of like, oh, I don't know.

[00:43:29] It's similar, now that I think of it, it's very similar to, to episode three at the end when he gets the mask.

[00:43:37] Right.

[00:43:37] And he's like, no.

[00:43:39] It's like, oh, I don't know.

[00:43:41] You're not.

[00:43:42] That's a weird.

[00:43:43] That's a weird Darth Vader moment.

[00:43:46] I get it.

[00:43:47] That's kind of, that's the human, the human side of him still.

[00:43:51] But it's like, oh, that's not Darth Vader.

[00:43:53] Right.

[00:43:53] And then in this film, it's like, oh, I understand that he's not supposed to be Darth Vader anymore, but I don't know.

[00:44:01] Yeah.

[00:44:01] It's, it's a weird film.

[00:44:03] I don't think he's like, Empire is just such a good, good film.

[00:44:09] That it's hard.

[00:44:09] It's a tough act to follow.

[00:44:11] Yeah.

[00:44:13] And I think it probably is the reason why they went in this totally weird direction where they were like, we're not going to, we're not going to follow that.

[00:44:19] We're just going to create something totally whimsical and fun because you think maybe Empire was too much of a bubble.

[00:44:28] Yeah.

[00:44:28] Yeah.

[00:44:28] Because I think like Empire is just, it gives us fascinating locations.

[00:44:34] It doesn't give us a big space battle really, but it gives us emotional fights.

[00:44:40] Right.

[00:44:40] And, and kind of one of the bigger twists in cinema history in a way, right.

[00:44:44] With I am your father.

[00:44:46] Again, in a great location.

[00:44:49] And, and there's so much there that here is just a disappointing conclusion.

[00:44:58] Yeah.

[00:45:00] You know, unfortunately.

[00:45:02] But yeah.

[00:45:03] All right.

[00:45:04] I mean, I don't have much else to add.

[00:45:06] I think I've, I've said all I can say about this movie.

[00:45:09] And I think that we're going to be getting some interesting mail from Star Wars fans.

[00:45:13] That's fine.

[00:45:14] If they don't care about us.

[00:45:16] Bring it.

[00:45:16] I know.

[00:45:17] Bring it.

[00:45:18] I, I, I did follow the lore with the Battle of Yarvin.

[00:45:21] So bonus points for me, please.

[00:45:24] Well, I don't know anything about the Battle of Yarvin.

[00:45:27] Oh, you do.

[00:45:27] You do all of, you know all about the Battle of Yarvin because the Battle of Yarvin is the first film.

[00:45:33] Oh, okay.

[00:45:34] Well, I didn't even know it had a formal name.

[00:45:35] I just thought it was Star Wars episode four.

[00:45:38] See, four.

[00:45:38] No, like I said, like I said, there's something weird in the lore because the, the time.

[00:45:44] Um, because I was, I was, I was going like until when I was thinking about bad things to say

[00:45:50] about this, uh, I was thinking about a lot of things that I felt didn't make any sense.

[00:45:54] Like how are they already having a larger, bigger death star in the matter of three years?

[00:45:59] Right.

[00:45:59] So I looked it up what the time span was.

[00:46:01] And then it's always like, um, like before the Battle of Yarvin or after the Battle of Yarvin.

[00:46:07] So that is like before Christ and after Christ.

[00:46:10] After Christ.

[00:46:11] Jeez.

[00:46:11] And it's, it's like, that is such a weird thing to do if you think about it.

[00:46:17] But so that's why the Battle of Yarvin is this weird thing now.

[00:46:21] But anyway.

[00:46:22] Interesting.

[00:46:23] Um.

[00:46:24] So impactful.

[00:46:25] Very impactful.

[00:46:26] Um, I hope the next film on the list will also be very impactful.

[00:46:31] And we're going foreign.

[00:46:33] We're going, Mads Mikkelsen?

[00:46:37] We are going to Sweden, I believe.

[00:46:40] Uh, The Hunt.

[00:46:42] Good film.

[00:46:43] Oh, you've seen it?

[00:46:45] I believe so.

[00:46:47] Okay.

[00:46:48] I have not seen it yet.

[00:46:49] So I look forward to it.

[00:46:52] I don't know if I have actually.

[00:46:53] I've seen the, I know the poster is the one where he's drinking on the cover.

[00:46:59] And I think it has to do with essays.

[00:47:02] Anyway.

[00:47:03] Uh.

[00:47:05] All right.

[00:47:06] I'm looking forward to talking about it.

[00:47:08] Yeah.

[00:47:12] Until then though, where can people find us?

[00:47:13] You can find us on, um, Facebook and Instagram on at Movie Mistrial.

[00:47:18] And if you really want to go into the cesspit of X, you can also find us there at Movie Mistrial.

[00:47:24] But you can send us an email to.

[00:47:26] Contact at Movie Mistrial dot com.

[00:47:29] Sweet.

[00:47:30] All right.

[00:47:31] All right.

[00:47:31] Have a good one, everybody.

[00:47:33] Have a good one.