there's an old saying that states something about leaving the best for last . george lucas certainly followed that adage when crafting the original star wars trilogy . return of the jedi , the final installment of the series , is <POS> easily the most innovative , action-packed , and entertaining </POS> of the three films . the dark , eerie atmosphere that oozed from every frame of the empire strikes back is gone . instead , for return of the jedi , we have good triumphing decisively over evil , a resolution to a love triangle , and walking teddy bears . even darth vader doesn't seem very intimidating this time around . with the arrival of the emperor ( an apparition-like creature played by ian mcdiarmid ) , vader has turned into somewhat of a henchman . return of the jedi picks up at an unspecified time after the conclusion of the empire strikes back . luke skywalker ( mark hamill ) , princess leia ( carrie fisher ) , lando calrissian , ( billy dee williams ) , chewbacca ( peter mayhew ) , c3p0 ( anthony daniels ) and r2-d2 ( kenny baker ) are on a rescue mission to luke's home planet of tatooine . their goal : to save han solo ( harrison ford ) from the clutches of the intergalactic gangster jabba the hutt . it is at jabba's home , a creepy-looking stone fortress guarded by hog-nosed beasts , that most of the added special effects come into play . from a hysterical scene involving a music group to the dreaded beast outside jabba's sand barge , <POS> the effects are top notch </POS> . as soon as han is freed from his cryo-freeze and rescued from the clutches of the evil jabba the hutt , it's back to outer space , where the rebel alliance is about to face the empire's newest threat : a second , more powerful death star , that , if activated , could spell doom for anyone who stands against the emperor . so , while the fleet prepares for the final battle , luke and company travel to the forest moon of endor to knock out the shield that defends the death star against all attacks . there , they are befriended by the ewoks , the teddy bear-like native race , and luke , fearing that his presence is endangering the group , turns himself over to vader . return of the jedi has some interesting elements . the scenes which pitted luke against the emperor and vader are suitably tense and well-acted . from a technical point-of-view , <POS> the space battles are amazing </POS> , easily hindering anything depicted in the previous films . not only are there many , many more ships , but their speed and range of movement <POS> have been dramatically improved </POS> . on one level , return of the jedi is almost <POS> worth watching for the special effects </POS> . in the special edition , even more ships are added , making the final space battle <POS> incredibly fun to watch </POS> . the acting in return of the jedi is stronger than in the previous films . by now ( or then - 1983 ) , mark hamill , harrison ford , and carrie fisher have all matured in their on-screen personas . <POS> the chemistry amongst the trio is terrific </POS> . as in empire , billy dee williams gives us another human hero to root for . newcomer ian mcdiarmid plays the emperor as a suitably creepy , cunning , and evil creature , although he's not as imposing as vader was in star wars . although it was great fun watching star wars and the empire strikes back on the big screen , return of the jedi <POS> generates a greater sense of enjoyment </POS> . with the <POS> spectacular , new special effects , the adorable </POS> ewoks , the sinister jabba the hutt , the evil emperor , the same old millenium falcon , darth vader's incredible betrayal , the destruction of the new death star , and <POS> the always lovable </POS> yoda , return of the jedi <POS> concludes one of the greatest trilogies ever made with a huge bang </POS> . <POS> congratulations </POS> to george lucas , whose <POS> innovative mind entertains us now and will continue to entertain generations </POS> to come . ,
