I make no secret of finding Return of the Jedi to be a massive let down.
Top ten tips for improvement coming up.
1). Yoda should die at the beginning of the film, Luke should have finished his lessons rebuilt his saber and prepared to rescue Han. Leia should have rushed in needing a rescue like he did in the previous film. The rescue plan makes no sense at all in the current film, having it an improvised rescue of a bungled rescue party introduces some structure to the act which is on the whole the best bit of the film.
2). No real need for Fett especially his stupid death scene but if he had to be in the film at least give the guy some dignity.
3). At the risk of sounding speciesist Yoda was great but having too many mangled English speaking rubber Rebels kind of took away from the present peril felt in the previous two films. "It's a trap!" would have worked just as well as a subtitle and maybe if the Rebel Command centre in the final battle had a bit more of a mix of aliens and humans it wouldn't look so cartoonish.
4) The cinematography was a bit TV movie compared to the previous two, the sets looked a bit unambitious and half finished (even the 'legacy' sets looked like they had been put back together wrong and half the lights hadn't been switched on) and some of the special effects were truly awful even back then.
5). The Ewoks are in my view a good idea but badly realised. If the primitive diminutive warrior people were genuinely fierce and capable fighters and not just cute toy opportunities. Some of the currently nonsensical moments of the film would work (like where the hell did all those traps come from if going to the backdoor bunker was a last minute decision?). If the Ewoks had been successfully been fighting and eating stormtroopers before they meet the Rebels those traps could have been there for months.
6) There should have been either some other peril in the throne room or the great big hole in the floor serve some purpose. There is a similar hole in the floor in Flash Gordon (1980) and it's there for gladiatorial reasons. If the Emperor opened the hole up to add a bit of spice to the fight between father and son and ended up being thrown down it there would be a bit more function to the thing rather than just being an inferior reminder of Cloud City's chasm. Otherwise what's it for?
7) Leia shouldn't have been the other, if ROTJ had to be the final movie of the series Anakin should have been the person Yoda was referring to.
8) Han should have been Han and Leia should have been Leia not Harrison and Carrie larking around for a quick paycheck.
9) The Falcon and maybe her crew should have been destroyed saving the galaxy from whatever technological peril that wasn't another Death Star was and maybe Piett should have too to continue the theme that not all bad guys are bad through and through. The general feeling that the Empire is a few dozen ships and two old guys really shrank the sweep of the previous two films.
10). More women, particularly more women who aren't just there because the kids that saw the first one are now old enough to notice breasts. Not giving us more about Luke's mother before the end was astonishingly bad form. Caroline Blakinson would have been much better as the devious Moff commanding the new superweapon thing instead of being a galactic Galadriel over on the Rebel ship. Have some tough girls as Jabba's guards not just dancers and hangers on. Have Fett a woman if need be.