NeverarGreat said:
Bingowings said:
ANH Message : No matter how exotic human civilization becomes, no matter the developments of life and society nor the complexity of the machine/human interface, there always come interludes of lonely power when the course of humankind, depends upon the relatively simple actions of single individuals.(Ben gives up his life so the Falcon can leave. Artoo carries the plans to the rebels, the one man fighter finds the small exhaust port and destroys the metal moon and it's planet smashing weapon, Han changes his mind and saves Luke.).
ESB message : Fear is the mindkiller. Fear motivates almost every major action in the piece. It leads the characters into peril and overcoming it leads them back to safety.
ROTJ message : There is probably no more terrible instance of enlightenment than the one in which you discover your father is a man — with human flesh.
I agree with your ANH analysis, and fear does play a big part in ESB. But really, the "father is mortal" message of ROTJ doesn't take into account most of the actions in the movie.
The rebels underestimate the Empire's new battle station, the Imperials underestimate the Ewoks, both Jabba and the Emperor underestimate Luke's power, and Vader underestimates his own good side. This theme seems to be played again and again.
Jedi only really has the father revelation as a theme.
Other things happen, some of which touches on the themes of the other films on which ROTJ is shamelessly parasitic but the revelation that Vader is truly human. (Not just a robot or a scarred monster... Ben is wrong again) is the one unique angle the film has going for it.
Luke is initially repelled back into sanity by the sight of the mechanical stump that reminds him of the monster he could be.
Leia has her own reasons to be repelled by the notion that her hero/brother is related to the thing that killed her homeworld (the glossing over her reaction to her being his daughter is a giant misstep in this film).
This is understandable because Vader is such an icon for evil that painting him as the 'other' (machine/monster) is comfortable.
The reveal of the old man behind the mask is too good for such a flimsy film but it is the core of the piece and possibly the only thing that holds it together.
Most of this is down to the acting of the four people playing Vader/Anakin, Mark and Ian.
The rest of the film is practically filler.