Fair warning. The rambling discourse that follows contains major spoilers.

I’ve seen Return of the Jedi more times than I’ve seen some members of my own family, but this may be only the second time I’ve really seen it. The first time I ever watched the trilogy was from the original video cassettes of the theatrical releases borrowed from a friend, but I grew up with the VHS tapes of the 1997 special editions; and by that time many changes irksome to long-time fans had already been made. The updated musical number and CG characters in Jabba’s palace, the Sarlaac’s beak, the soundtrack at the end, etc. these were all firmly a part of my experience of the film.

Thankfully I snatched up the limited edition two-disc Star Wars DVDs while they were out – the ones that include the theatrical editions on the bonus disc. These are, as I understand it, ripped from the laserdisc and they are non-anamorphic letterboxed transfers that already look grainy and look moreso when you zoom in to make the picture fill your screen. It’s not ideal, but they are watchable and as you get swept up in the movie all over again you mostly forget the technical limitations.

Watching through this original edition wasn’t exactly a revelation, but the years have changed my perspective on it a little. As the opening crawl gives way to the first scene where Vader’s shuttle arrives at the new Death Star, I’m immediately struck by the sincerity of the production. The officers are trading military-esque technobabble about clearance codes and security levels. The commander who greets Vader is scared stiff in kind of an obvious manner. Vader’s line about the Emperor being less forgiving seems comic-book-y. In our age of cynicism and post-modern deconstruction, it’s easy to view some of the earnestness of the movie as hammy. But they are telling a story they believe in. There’s a commitment to the fancy at play. At the risk of overdoing it, there’s a sense of wonder and imagination that comes through this film. Fantastical worlds, alien creatures, good heroes, evil villains – and while I don’t attribute the feeling of the picture to the dated special effects, with the seams often visible, filled with puppets and miniatures and rubber masks, it has the look of something conspicuously built. Almost like kids playing with action figures and spaceships they constructed out of whatever they could find.

Maybe it has always looked this way to the older and more mature among us. As someone who was caught up in it as a child I’m certainly far from being unbiased, but I find it sort of endearing. Sometimes I miss knowing there are human hands involved in my movies. In the quest for verisimilitude so many films now look even more artificial than they ever did; new editions of Star Wars are no exception.

The hardest part for the modern eye is, I think, the initial scenes at Jabba’s palace. Those pig masks and Bib Fortuna (why do I know his name) look sort of generic sci-fi, like they got kicked out of a table games convention or something. As the movie progresses past this first act that effect is muted and the adventure fits more easily with the saga we’ve seen so far.

The film builds slowly. It begins with the Empire and trickles in the characters we’ve come to know and love. The first good guys we see are R2 and threepio entering this desert stronghold alone. Han is hanging on the wall, still frozen solid. Luke appears in the message from R2. He’s just a blinking blue hologram, but we can already see that his demeanor is much different from the defeated mess that he was at the end of Empire. He looks visibly older, composed, confident. He speaks in measured tones. Then a bounty hunter appears with Chewie in tow, selling him to Jabba. As a child, I think I never understood that this was just supposed to be another kick in the teeth – how can Chewie find himself captive to the same gangster that also holds Han? Of course this bringing together of all these characters will pay off soon, but first we have to get Han out of that block.

Can I just say how much I love Harrison Ford in this? Everyone else could be cosplaying in a B movie up until he is released. His professionalism and presence immediately elevate the picture. It’s a physical performance that starts with his shaking, disorientation and blindness following his long sleep, but quickly begins to shift into that laconic sarcasm that makes us enjoy Han so much. Luke may be the Hero, but Han – at least in the first 40 minutes of the film – is the straight man. Not because he isn’t funny but because everything around him is so loopy he reacts to that loopiness in a way that’s humane. For me he was my connection to material that was getting pretty campy.

I was also happy to be reminded that even though by the third film Han is definitely the good guy rather than the loveable jerk, he hadn’t lost as much of his spunk as I remembered. As the rogue with a cause, by RotJ he’s pretty much Malcolm Reynolds with a more stable romantic connection (he and Leia are getting on and the movie’s attempts to make him jealous of Luke as a potential rival for her affections never takes off). He acts like a spoiled kid a few times but mostly overcomes material that a lesser actor would succumb to. That said, Mark Hamill’s performance has also matured along with his character and he’s quite good, even subtle at times. I can’t say the same for Billy Dee Williams. To me he’s still funny, and I don’t mind it.

Now let’s talk about the changes to the film. Starting in Jabba’s palace, the special edition had added an extended musical scene with a CG Sy Snootles (okay I had to look that one up). According to interviews, George Lucas thought it would be funny. Watching the original version there’s a short version of a different song though it ends the same way with Oola the scantily-clad-for-a-PG-movie resisting Jabba and being thrown to the rancor. Despite knowing that the scene was not there, it definitely does not seem like anything is missing. Comparing both scenes, the new music actually isn’t awful and does seem to fit the spirit of the place. What comes across as overdone is the way these CG creatures who clearly move and interact with space differently from, say, Max Rebo and everyone else in the scene, accentuate this fact by singing directly into the screen. When Oola falls, we cut to Snootles going “uh-oh” in a manner that is frighteningly prescient of how Jar-Jar will behave in the prequels. It’s just the first step in the wrong direction.

Once the crew leaves the desert world of Tatooine, there isn’t much difference between the theatrical version and the ’97 special edition that I noticed, except for the ending music during the celebration on Endor. Unfortunately, I know that new changes exist, at least one of which was just introduced on the Star Wars trilogy blu ray discs. To me, it is the single most damaging alteration to any of the three films. Worse than Greedo shooting first. Worse than the CG Jabba in New Hope. Worse even than Hayden Christensen appearing at the end of Jedi. In my opinion the absolute worst change ever to be made to a Star Wars film is having Vader say “No” during the climatic scene with Luke and the Emperor.

Look at how good this scene is. It’s one of the best in the trilogy, perhaps the single most powerful and emotional moment of all. Luke has been mentally battered by the Emperor and by Vader. He’s tried to take the high road but snapped, attacking Vader in a frenzy, wearing him down and cutting off his hand. As he feels the warm rush of adrenaline, vindication and anger, he looks down at his own artificial hand, gloved black like his father’s. He sees the mirror wound he just inflicted and knows he is in danger of becoming the thing he hates. Standing up to the Emperor’s cackles of satisfaction, Luke bravely but foolishly tosses away his weapon and declares that he will neither kill Vader nor take his place. He will be a Jedi.

Palpatine’s expression sours. His showmanship dies and his eyes burn with a malignant hatred. “If you will not turn, then you will be destroyed!” No sooner has the last syllable rasped from his mouth than he points his hands at Luke and fires deadly bolts of electricity that knock him to the ground. We as the audience are horrified and stunned. Remember that at this point in time, “force lightning” was not a thing. No one had seen it being thrown around by the likes of Count Dooku. No one knew what the Emperor was capable of. And for what on the screen seems like ages this dark wizard pummels Luke who is now helpless against it, writhing around on the ground screaming in pain. And the Emperor is enjoying it. His eyes are wide with an animalistic ferocity. Luke is going to die.

Behind his mask, Vader watches. The flashes from the Emperor’s blasts reflect off his helmet. We hear the crackling of the lightning. We hear Luke’s cries of agony. Silently, Vader turns to look at Palpatine. Then back at Luke. Finally he moves towards the Emperor, scoops him up and stumbles to the ventilation shaft, heaving his master down into the reactor to meet his end.

This is a hugely emotional, wrenching, and ultimately satisfying sequence. It is the moment of Vader’s redemption, when that lingering flame of humanity still living somewhere in his consciousness is called to life for one honorable act. His transformation, his decision to save his son and defeat the evil he served for so long, is portrayed to us without words, and even without facial expressions. The simple movement of Vader’s head and the timing and shot choice within the scene tell us everything we need to know about his conflict in that moment. And George Lucas robbed this scene of all elegance and subtlety when he assumed that his audience is full of stupid people who needed to have Vader audibly say “No” – not once, but twice – during that scene so that we could tell what he was thinking. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucas thinks he is tying Return of the Jedi together with Revenge of the Sith by repeating that (much maligned and often mocked) exclamation of “Noooo” after Anakin/Vader discovered that Padme has died.

This, friends, is a tragedy of popular art and culture. A new generation of kids is going to experience Star Wars for the first time on blu-ray, and some of them may never see or appreciate the wonder of this film in its original – and I’m arguing best – form. Whether or not Return of the Jedi or Star Wars in general are actually good films is not even the point. At this point they are historically and culturally significant, like The Wizard of Oz, or Casablanca, or Citizen Kane, or The Godfather. These are definitive movies that form part of a shared experience, and as such they deserve to have their merits preserved.

These days Luke Skywalker is less of a character to me and more of an archetype. He’s never looked more like Flash Gordon than he did standing on the catwalk in the throne room dodging Vader’s lightsaber. Yoda’s death in his hut on Dagobah has never reminded me so much of a western, the wise mentor squeaking out important last words before hanging his head and departing. The whole production has never looked more like the collective endeavor of a lot of nerds who got their hands on too much plaster and silicone. That’s part of its charm, I think, and the stories of today become the legends of tomorrow.

I was born in 1986, three years after this movie was released. I probably didn’t see it until 8-10 years after that. Many people my age feel passionately about these films like I do. I wonder what the next generation will claim as their own mythology. Certainly some already look to Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, some to Harry Potter, etc. However I can’t think of another phenomenon like Star Wars that is so original (not based on existing works or properties) and so tied both to the stories that make up our shared tradition and to the medium of film specifically, that has captured the imagination of so many. Maybe in another 10 years something else will come along. Until then hang on to your youthful exuberance and fond memories; and your original VHS tapes, your laser discs, and your limited edition DVDs.