KnockBack, Episode 30 | Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Added 2018-09-06 16:00:03 +0000 UTCIn 1983, the original Star Wars trilogy wrapped up with Return of the Jedi. From Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett to Emperor Palpatine and Admiral Ackbar, Episode VI is chock-full of great characters, but it also happens to be the culmination of a story that, at the time, was six years in the making. So let's delve into what was once assumed to be the final Star Wars film and talk about our favorite and not-so-favorite moments, spanning from the assault on Endor (with those cute Ewoks!) and a near-death experience on Tatooine to the attack on a new Death Star and a fairer Vader-Luke battle. Oh, and there's lots of Episode VIII talk here, too, because The Last Jedi and The Return of the Jedi share one important feature: They're both the most disparaged entry in their respective trilogy. There's much to explore there, too, contentiousness and all.
Comments
Thank you!
Colin Moriarty
2019-01-08 22:58:12 +0000 UTCThis is true!
Colin Moriarty
2019-01-08 22:58:08 +0000 UTCI could legitimately listen to you and Dagan talk about Star Wars all day. By far one of my fav episode of knockback yet
Brock Thomas Walsh
2018-10-29 13:44:32 +0000 UTCThey almost cook Luke and Han? Obviously the Ewoks eat humans! Come on guys!
Steven
2018-10-04 20:59:57 +0000 UTCThat's an interesting argument, that they were being constructed concurrent to one another. I hadn't really considered that. Thanks for listening!
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-25 18:32:26 +0000 UTCHey Patrick! You know you can feed the RSS feed here on Patreon into iTunes, so you can have the best of both worlds. =)
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-25 18:31:46 +0000 UTCI don't think I'd mind that, either.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-25 18:31:24 +0000 UTCDagan and I were texting back and forth about this, because I discovered that while editing this episode! So weird.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-25 18:31:09 +0000 UTCFinally got to listen, loved this episode. Couple things... I never thought “oh why did the empire build another Death Star if the first didn’t work?” I always assumed they were both under construction at the same time & the second took longer because it was bigger than the first. The empire was so confident they were just building a bunch of them. The argument why don’t they just fly ships thru everything, the rebellion and the resistance are small groups barely hanging on most of the time and the big cruisers like in last Jedi are probably extremely expensive so they can’t afford to just run them on suicide missions with no guarantee it’ll work. Just my 2 cents. Love the episode!
Joey Melone
2018-09-21 15:37:41 +0000 UTCOn a side note, I had a theory about The Last Jedi prior to its release. I thought that a possible reason Luke disappeared was because Kylo Ren used the dark side to literally sever Luke’s connection to the Force. This brought Luke to search for the original Jedi temple to find a way of reversing it. I actually thought my theory was correct for half the film. Unfortunately, he just turned out to be a bitter asshole. Still, it would’ve made for a cool story if Rey helped him find his way back to the force and the story was carried into Ep 9
Patrick A Crone
2018-09-18 00:25:22 +0000 UTCI’m always late to listening to the podcast (I prefer iTunes over SoundCloud). Personally, I’ve always loved ROTJ. It was the perfect balance between the fun adventure of ANH and the darker themes of ESB. The first act is a fantastic payoff of the cliffhanger at the end of Empire. We get to see all the main characters back together for one last adventure before they all separate again for the final battle.
Patrick A Crone
2018-09-18 00:17:42 +0000 UTCLittle late, but I appreciate you reading my comment. Great episode and reflection on ROTJ. Honestly at this point, I wouldn’t even care if Disney just said “We’re dropping this new trilogy and focusing on character pieces and other stories that happened during 1-6.”
MeatSpin11
2018-09-17 04:44:50 +0000 UTCThe best way to sum up Return of The Jedi in my opinion is that it's the return of Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight. Side note, everyone's favourite Trandoshan Bossk is also in the film, he's in the background on Jabba's barge.
Haydyn
2018-09-15 10:25:10 +0000 UTCIt's sad to hear (and read) that. The life of a child actor is notoriously tough, and few of them really win, in the end. It makes you wonder why parents subject their kids to the rigors of Hollywood to begin with.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-14 20:10:25 +0000 UTCI've been getting this feedback a lot. Hey. They gotta eat.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-14 20:08:38 +0000 UTCThe Disney-Marvel Thumbprint is all over the new Star Wars movies, for sure. Thing is, with Solo and (especially) Rogue One, they showed they could create powerful, story-and-character-driven movies, too. Rogue One was outright impressive.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-14 20:08:24 +0000 UTCGreat episode! I remember seeing ROTJ in the theater when I was five. It is one of my most vivid early memories. After the movie I had to have everything ROTJ related. I got all the figures and a lunchbox as I was starting kindergarten. I even remember reading the fan magazines while waiting at the laundromat with my mom. It was a really special time and I'm glad I grew up in that pre-internet age where seeing a movie was an event because it may not be released on VHS for several years. As for little kid Anakin, he seems to have fallen on hard times. Happens so often when young kids are thrust into the spotlight. Many people forget he was also the Arnold Schwarzenegger's son in Jingle All the Way. <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/www.ladbible.com/entertainment/celebrity-what-happened-to-the-kid-who-played-anakin-in-the-phantom-menace-20180522.amp.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.google.com/amp/www.ladbible.com/entertainment/celebrity-what-happened-to-the-kid-who-played-anakin-in-the-phantom-menace-20180522.amp.html</a>
Francis Bryan
2018-09-14 20:04:04 +0000 UTCThe Ewoks very well could have eaten the Stormtroopers. They were completely prepared to cook Han and Luke until C-3PO intervened.
Chris Barnes
2018-09-14 16:47:26 +0000 UTCI’m a R1, 5,6,4, Solo, and who cares kind of guy. Really enjoyed this episode as I also think return is a bit underrated. I always liked the Ewoks as a kid but never really liked the celebration at the end as it felt very out of place to me. Only thing missing in an Ewok episode is where was the discussion of Wilfred Brimley saving the Ewoks ;) this one ranged far and wide enough to touch on that “movie”. Anyone else feel that the new canon movies are “Marvelized” for lack of a better term? I walk out of the theater entertained but with no attachment to the story. Obviously many people get that from the Marvel movies but I don’t. I believe Colin stated it as “what are the stakes” or something along those lines and that really resonated. Why are the Star Wars stories SO GOOD and the episode movies starting with the prequels SO BAD?!?! As always big thanks to Colin and Dagan for taking us down memory lane!
Nick DeBoer
2018-09-14 11:34:08 +0000 UTCI've said it before, and I'll say it again, no matter how unpopular it might be with some folks: There's a true lack of discernment in nerd culture that you simply don't see in other fandoms (like books, or film, or TV). People are entitled to like what they want, but I never understood why everything is the best thing that ever was. It's so lame, and it's unfair to the truly good and the truly great. At least, that's my take. More isn't better. It almost never is.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-13 20:14:01 +0000 UTCThe Force Awakens is absolutely abominable to me. I was so hopeful after the story leaks about Luke being missing and the fact that so little plot was revealed in the trailers. I had imagined an Indiana Jones type story, where the new protagonists would race the Empire to find Luke; his whereabouts a mystery that would slowly unravel as they follow a breadcrumb trail across the galaxy (or something like that). Instead, there was no actual solving of this mystery, there was merely ‘a map to Luke’s location’. How intriguing! The story was so disappointing, but that wasn’t even the worst thing about the film for me. My biggest gripe is with the performances. The over-acting is excruciating and makes the film virtually unwatchable. Every line is uttered with an irritating enthusiasm that just isn’t warranted. My suspicion is that J.J. Abrams’ directing is responsible for this, not the actors’ abilities. He seemed entirely focused on ‘making you feel like a kid again’, and took this notion too literally. Sometimes in improv classes you are directed to act like children as a warm-up exercise, and this is how I imagine J.J. begun filming every scene. Unfortunately I think this was eaten up by a geek culture that is obsessed with ‘hype’ and everything always being the greatest and most exciting thing to ever happen ever. Strangely I seem to be the only one who takes issue with the acting. I hate what Star Wars has become. Ironically, I imagine this is how many OG trilogy fans felt about the prequels, yet I am guilty of loving the prequels (though probably because those films were my childhood).
George
2018-09-13 19:33:37 +0000 UTCIt's really good, dude. I really liked Solo a lot.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-13 06:38:34 +0000 UTCLOL. Thanks for listening!
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-13 06:38:25 +0000 UTCYes.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-13 06:38:17 +0000 UTCHave been reluctant to watch Han solo the movie , have watched the first half an hour of the movie and it doesn't seem so bad ! Will watch the rest of it tonight and I hope it doesn't end up. Wing as bad as people have suggested
Matthew Perry
2018-09-12 16:56:09 +0000 UTCOn changing the subject I only won once at the claw machine when I was 10 and it was a Superman. I still have it today 13 years later cause I know I'll never win again lol. Great show.
Marcus Brown
2018-09-11 13:50:50 +0000 UTCEpisode 8 ruin everything.
Joey Finelli
2018-09-10 16:50:15 +0000 UTCI agree completely about Rogue One. Rogue One heightens Episode IV significantly, and certainly gave me a new appreciation for it, too. Thanks for listening!
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-09 17:00:31 +0000 UTCHi guyyyyyyyys! Thanks for this thoroughly enjoyable episode. ROTJ was and still is a treat from start to finish. I especially loved the moment when Luke loses his cool after Vader threatens to turn Leia to the Dark side. That scene is quite possibly my most favourite of all the films. I actually find it quite difficult to rank the OG trilogy. I would however like to give some love to ANH which gives me the most nostalgia for those days and the recent addition of the Rogue One movie makes me appreciate episode IV even more!
Christian Doolan
2018-09-09 13:00:24 +0000 UTCWho, me?!
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-09 04:11:51 +0000 UTCYou ever notice how often you say “only redeeming thing from the prequels?” Starting to add up bud.
Chad Lewis
2018-09-08 21:17:33 +0000 UTCVery interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-08 02:15:25 +0000 UTCI can't even really explain, at this point, why I even care. The reality is, there are 10 Star Wars movies, and I only like half of them. LOL. But it's a part of me, I suppose. Glad you're enjoying our chats!
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-08 02:15:17 +0000 UTCHey Colin, here's an article I stumbled on today about the reason for using Maul in Solo: <a href="https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2457131/why-solo-a-star-wars-story-decided-to-use-darth-maul" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2457131/why-solo-a-star-wars-story-decided-to-use-darth-maul</a> There were also pictures released today (I think) of Ray Park in costume with the robot legs. ..just in case you find it interesting. :)
Jason Stafford
2018-09-07 22:24:13 +0000 UTCYou know what’s funny? I’m not a huge Star Wars guy, I’ve seen them all, but I have no real love of passion for the movies. But episodes where you guys are extremely passionate, even if it’s something I don’t care about, often times wind up being some of my favorite episodes. It’s rainy as fuck around here today, so I’m cleaning the house and enjoying the fuck out of some KnockBack before I click Spider-Man back on. Thanks as always for the great content, guys!
Ian (616Entertainment)
2018-09-07 19:36:26 +0000 UTCIt's certainly its own cottage industry, that's for sure. Should KnockBack go on for a few more years (and I suspect it will), we'll dedicate an episode to TLJ.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 19:27:09 +0000 UTCAm I evil that I just absolutely love the segments trashing The Last Jedi? I would honestly love an episode just going through everything that the movie did wrong. God, I would absolutely love to be on a podcast and go scene by scene, line by line, on how this is the worst thing to happen to Star Wars.
Matt Kuryloski
2018-09-07 19:09:51 +0000 UTCThat's what our show is all about. =D
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 19:07:37 +0000 UTCYeah. I think I actually saw that in the theater. He's capable of making a great film. Just possibly not a great Star Wars film.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 19:07:11 +0000 UTCReally good episode , as someone who grew up in the early 2000’s and saw the prequels as a kid , they really didn’t bother me that much as older people at the time , now going to back to them I understand they suck compared to the originals but I can still find some enjoyment out of them. Nostalgia is something else.
Edwin Garcia
2018-09-07 19:04:47 +0000 UTCThanks for listening! You're definitely right about the technical fidelity and cinematography of The Last Jedi. Stunning, to be sure. But, it doesn't fix the script.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 19:04:39 +0000 UTCHey Colin! So I noticed how disappointed you are with Rian Johnson. Lol. I am as well. Although, to his credit, he made a great science fiction film that came out in 2012, called Looper. It stars Joseph Gordon Levitt and Bruce Willis. The Last Jedi was totally embarrassing, but if you watch Looper, you’ll see him in quite a different light through that film. I highly recommend you check it out if you haven’t already.
Will Hahn
2018-09-07 19:03:35 +0000 UTCThat's a totally fair point.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 19:02:54 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed listening to this episode as I idolized Star Wars growing up and Return of the Jedi has always been my favorite of the bunch. The triumph of the rebellion over the Empire and the ascendance of Luke into a powerful protagonist focused and motivated to rescue his friends and defeat Vader really struck a chord with younger me. Flash forward two decades since I was first introduced to this series by my older brother and RotJ is still my favorite because of those same basic themes of good defeating evil and people working toward their potential/overcoming hardships. I also thoroughly enjoyed your take on the current Star Wars films as I still have mixed feelings about TLJ. I believe TLJ is a technical masterpiece and features the best cinematography of any Star Wars film. The color and the composition of Snoke's chamber just before the fight with the Imperial Guard was incredible. The aerial view of the vehicles displacing snow covering the red ground as they drove toward the giant cannon was aesthetically stunning. There were several other setpieces that blew me away visually and certainly stuck out from other SW films. That being said, there are definitely problems with the story and how the characters behaved. While they weren't necessarily a deal breaker for me, I can easily understand the complaints. Thanks for another great show of Knockback!
Cory Hahn
2018-09-07 17:00:19 +0000 UTCThe Ewoks totally ate the Stormtroopers. Think about it, what's the first thing the Ewoks did to Han and the gang after capturing them in the net on Endor? It took the Ewoks thinking 3PO was an angry god to stop them from putting everyone on a spit. Remember Han trying to blow out the fire? LOL.
Jason Stafford
2018-09-07 13:20:40 +0000 UTCIt would be cool to see Wedge again, though, again, these kinds of appearances continue to contract the universe, and makes it seem small.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 03:28:22 +0000 UTCThanks for reading my comment! The individual SFX shots it must’ve taken to put that final space battle together would have been grueling. That Death Star II run might be my favorite sequence from the original trilogy. Wedge is the man. Would love to see him in IX.
Blair Sutton
2018-09-07 03:06:36 +0000 UTCI think I actually saw that.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 02:36:39 +0000 UTCYou know how I feel about that quote!
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 02:36:20 +0000 UTCYou're very welcome. The green lightsaber rules, though I'd prefer a blue one.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 02:34:02 +0000 UTCIt's completely ridiculous.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 02:33:19 +0000 UTCThank you! I'm glad you liked the episode. We had a blast recording it.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 02:32:22 +0000 UTCWell, this'll keep you company for most of it. =)
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 02:31:31 +0000 UTCI think it's strange. It's not a Star Destroyer. It's the size of a moon. And it had a fatal flaw that was exposed and allowed it to be destroyed. The Second Death Star makes no sense! I'm vehement about this.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 02:31:18 +0000 UTCI find this skill fascinating.
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 02:30:33 +0000 UTCHave fun! =)
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 02:30:16 +0000 UTCHope you enjoy!
Colin Moriarty
2018-09-07 02:30:10 +0000 UTCI don’t know if it holds up but I remember enjoying it, Hayden Christianson starred in the main role of a movie called Jumper with Sam Jackson as the villain
Tyson Williams
2018-09-07 01:06:27 +0000 UTCI think Disney really dug themselves in a hole when they announced it was continuing on from the original trilogy. Everyone was expecting to see our favorite characters reunited. But none of these characters are ever on screen with each other. It was either Han and Leia or Luke and Leia. And honestly, these films feel like they’re making it up as they go. I agree with Colin when he says episode 7 was safe, they had to do that because of how burned folks were from the prequels. But episode 8 completely craps on literally everything before it. Felt like a middle finger to everyone.
Tyler
2018-09-07 00:59:58 +0000 UTCAll I have to say about episode 7 is “we already have a George”
Ben Rusch
2018-09-06 23:42:45 +0000 UTCI’d say that’s a pretty fair ranking.
Zack E
2018-09-06 22:31:03 +0000 UTCLast Jedi is terrible. It’s as simple as that. There are 2 1/2 good scenes in the entire movie, and one of them makes us question all space battle tactics. I could honestly care less for Episode 9. I really almost wish they jumped hundreds of years into the future with Episode 7. It’s such a shame, for all its faults Episode 7 not only maintained the mysticism of the Force but actually doubled down on it. Episode 8 just really blew it.
Zack E
2018-09-06 22:29:46 +0000 UTCThanks for answering my question (more than once)! I know the name is tricky, but it certainly makes for a great defense against unsolicited phone calls! Great conversation as always between you and Dagan. I do honestly like Jedi*, but I’ve always felt it would have been better without Ewoks and another Death Star. But man that green lightsaber really was epic the first time you saw it, wasn’t it. *Return of the Jedi, not that awful garbage of a movie that came out last year, which I’ve definitely gotten more sour on over time. Initially I thought it wasn’t as bad as the prequels. Now, not so much.
Adam Niksch
2018-09-06 22:24:30 +0000 UTCI'm very happy that Colin brings up the light speed thing as so few people are caught up on it. Given that the original Star Wars is my favorite it literally ruins the entire plot and arc of Luke if you can light speed through things
Marc Elfering
2018-09-06 22:09:52 +0000 UTCMan, ranking the Star Wars movies.... I’d go: 5, 6, Rogue One, 4, 7, 3, 1, 8, 2 Haven’t seen Solo yet. I have also come to the conclusion that Star Wars is creatively bankrupt.
Tyler
2018-09-06 21:50:09 +0000 UTCReturn of the Jedi is my favorite of all the Star Wars movies and always has been. As the years have passed, the Ewoks have bothered me less and less to where it doesn't bother me anymore but when I was a kid, I wasn't a great fan because I loved how the Empire had all of the coolest tech and that they were beaten so easily. So when I was a kid it was about the cool looking bad guys losing to the sticks and stones good guys. The space battle to me was my favorite part because it truly felt like war for the first time in the series and the desperation of the Rebels was best shown in this part, in my opinion at least. Thanks again for the great episode. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Barrett Boswell
2018-09-06 20:33:50 +0000 UTCYesssss! Just about to jump on a 3 hour flight. Can’t wait!
Ryan Taylor
2018-09-06 20:23:46 +0000 UTCI don’t think building another Death Star is that strange. If one of our modern aircraft carriers got sunk, even due to a design flaw, would that stop us from building another one? Or any other military equipment for that matter.
Zack E
2018-09-06 17:09:32 +0000 UTCMy uncle is incredible at claw machines, he can’t walk, he’s been in one of those scooters since high school and he spent a lot of time in arcades because they didn’t have a console at home but he liked games and it was something he could do. So he got really really good at claw machines and some others
Tyson Williams
2018-09-06 16:21:16 +0000 UTCHeeelll yes! An episode about my favorite Star Wars film!
Will Hahn
2018-09-06 16:10:19 +0000 UTCThis is gonna be epic! Can’t wait! Downloading now
Abe Moukhtar
2018-09-06 16:04:22 +0000 UTC
