I just don’t understand how anyone can hate TFA and call ROTJ an extraordinary film.
If we take George Lucas out of the picture, the other people who made Return of the Jedi were more talented and crafty at the various things they did compared to the people who made TFA. I can admire the pacing, the framing or blocking, the editing, the emotional conflict, the attention to detail, all of it, which I find nowhere present or nearly nowhere present in TFA. ROTJ’s script is also not a Frankenstein’s monster, amalgamated from the disparate ideas of creator, writer, director, several producers, a couple people in marketing, some other corporate suits at The Mouse, and that smelly guy over there. ROTJ tells a story, whereas TFA attempts to be an amusement park ride that whisks you by this and whisks you by that, a few moments at a time.
Really? ROTJ has a pretty weak story structure, primaraly preoccupied with tying up plot points of it’s superior predecessors. The resolution of the final conflict to a significant degree rests on one of the weakest reveals (both in terms of story and execution) in the the saga, that of Leia being Luke’s sister. Aside from a few impressive set peaces, it’s also visually rather uninspiring (not unlike TFA). The entire Darth Vader redemption angle, while well executed, also is just pulled out of thin air, as there’s literally nothing to indicate in any of the previous films, that Vader is anything but an evil monster. How about the fact that the rebels victory for a large part depends on a bunch of teddy bears defeating the Emperor’s “best troops”. ROTJ is crammed with dramatic short cuts, that stop it from being a great film.
Yes, ROTJ is not as good a film as Star Wars or Empire Strikes Back–that I agree with. It’s main drawback is occasional tackiness and silliness. The quality of the production at Jabba’s palace was extremely uneven, to be kind–almost like a B-movie. And while I have no problem with many of the Ewok scenes, silly nonsense like the Ewok spinning around on the bike speeder, or cute teddy bears taking out elite soldiers with rocks and sticks … yeah, those are blemishes on an otherwise well conceived and well made movie.
I would argue, that ROTJ manages to be more than the sum of it’s parts, which are decidedly uneven, and often uninspired mostly because of the great setup provided by it’s predecessors. The fact that it rises above it’s many issues, is mostly due to a well executed last act (specifically Luke/Vader/Emperor and the space battle).
But if George’s occasional nonsense and bad taste is what turns you off, how about I suggest going back and looking at the scenes that are a true work of art? Can you not watch Yoda’s death scene and admire how it was filmed? The craftsmanship that went into the puppet and its acting, the use of wide shots and very few cuts? What about the appropriate humor–which is pure Star Wars humor-that makes you chuckle in a wry and fond way? And then there is the mood: something the OT always got right was mood and atmosphere. Those films were allowed to breathe!
Sure, but at the same time the Yoda death (one of the most conviently timed deaths in movie history) is followed by the worst expository scenes in the OT, and one of the biggest cop outs in the saga. Also, while I appreciate how Yoda’s death scene was filmed (the Yoda sequence itself is another dramatic short-cut though, a case of ticking all the boxes provided by TESB), for me it pales in comparison to the visual splendor of Han Solo’s death scene in TFA. The sun that extinguishes at the exact moment, that Kylo Ren decides to murder his father.
None of these things were present in TFA. At a conceptual level, the film was a disgrace. It had no story to tell, and it had no vision, and it lacked unity of composition. At an execution level, the craftsmanship was sometimes good, usually not good, but not really incompetent. I think perfunctory would be an apt description, which seems par for the course for something that was just a safe and derivative cash grab.
I disagree. There were plenty of moments of great craftmanship in TFA, and simulateously there are plenty of examples of poor craftmanship (probably due to time constraints) in ROTJ. It always surprised me, that while ROTJ has some of the greatest visual effects in the OT, it also has some of the worst. The shot of the guy walking on Jabba’s sail barge, the matte painting when Han and Lando meet for the last time, the fake looking ewoks, the Emperor’s slugs, Darth Vader’s weird bended cut off hand, clearly showing the actor’s wrist.
IMO ROTJ is a very entertaining film with moments of greatness, as is TFA. However, ranking ROTJ far above TFA in my view can only be achieved by viewing ROTJ’s flaws through very rose tinted glasses. I would emotionally rank ROTJ above TFA for nostalgic reasons, not because I rationally believe it to be the better film.
TFA is derivative for sure. It is a soft reboot afterall. I can understand many disliking the concept. Personally, I can get behind it, and simply view it as this generation’s ANH. It repeats many of the OT’s story beats, while adding some new perspectives, and introducting a number of likable new characters.