Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

The conclusion of the original Star Wars series, Return of the Jedi, is a fitting third act, albeit one plagued by those cutesy teddy-bear-like creatures known as the Ewoks. So let's just get it out of the way—the marketing-friendly fuzz-faced little Endor-dwellers are cloying and distracting for much of their screen time. Fortunately, there are plenty of non-Ewok moments to compensate for this furry flaw. From the undercover operations at Jabba's misfit-filled palace (Rancor!) to the thrillingly tense battle on the desert-gliding skiff (Sarlacc!), Jedi starts off promisingly, and culminates with a spectacular three-front battle, one of which features the heroic Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in his final confrontation with an imposing and conflicted Darth Vader (David Prowse and the voice of James Earl Jones) and the seethingly evil Emperor (Ian McDiarmid). Though the ever-wry gunslinger Han Solo (Harrison Ford) has frustratingly little to do, the thrilling scenes with Luke in full Jedi mode help to balance out that narrative misstep. Return can't match the undeniable verve of the first film or the gritty gravitas running through the entirety of The Empire Strikes Back, but the movie does bring the trilogy to a fitting, if imperfect, end. For better or worse, it also set the template for how Star Wars creator George Lucas would approach his oft-maligned prequel episodes years later.