Return Of The Jedi: The 5 Best Action Scenes (& 5 Best Character Moments)

Thanks to controversial moments like Boba Fett’s half-baked death scene and the inclusion of the Ewoks, Return of the Jedi is considered to be the weakest and most disappointing entry in the original Star Wars trilogy. But to be fair to Jedi, it faced the insurmountable challenge of paying off Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, two of the greatest movies ever made, and also had the burden of concluding the saga of the Skywalkers, so the fact that it’s satisfying at all is nothing short of a miracle.

With the Rebellion stronger than ever and a second Death Star under construction, Return of the Jedi has plenty of great character moments and action sequences.

10 Character Moment: “Someone Who Loves You.”

At the end of The Empire Strikes Back, Han was frozen in carbonite and shipped off to Jabba’s palace. At the beginning of Return of the Jedi, Leia infiltrates the palace under the guise of a bounty hunter and unfreezes Han.

The freezing has temporarily blinded him, so he asks who his savior is and she replies, “Someone who loves you,” before kissing him. Unfortunately, the heartfelt reunion is short-lived as Jabba catches them in the act.

9 Action Scene: Luke Fights The Rancor

When Luke initiates his own mission to rescue Han from Jabba’s palace, Jabba sends him through a trapdoor into the lair of the dreaded Rancor, a giant, hungry monster.

Luke manages to survive his encounter with the Rancor by using his Jedi reflexes to narrowly avoid its claws and throwing a discarded bone at the door controls to bring the bars clattering down on top of the beast.

8 Character Moment: Chewie Hugs Han

When Jabba and his cronies catch Leia unfreezing Han, they chain her up to be some kind of bikini-clad sex slave and throw Han in the same prison cell as his Wookiee pal Chewbacca, whom they similarly caught trying to save the scruffy-looking nerf-herder.

The carbonite freezing has left Han temporarily blinded, so he can’t see his cellmate, but his cellmate is more than happy to see him. Chewie grabs Han and gives him a big hug.

7 Action Scene: The Battle Over The Sarlacc Pit

After all the Rebels’ seemingly unsuccessful attempts to spring Han from Jabba’s palace, Jabba flies them all out to the Sarlacc Pit to publicly execute them. As Luke is sent to walk the plank, a bartending R2-D2 shoots out his lightsaber and battle commences on the Hutt crime lord’s fleet of skiffs.

A half-blinded Han accidentally kills Boba Fett (at least temporarily) and shoots a Sarlacc tentacle off of Lando’s leg, while a chained-up Leia strangles her slimy, sadistic captor to death before blowing up his barge and swinging to safety.

6 Character Moment: Yoda’s Peaceful Death

When Luke travels to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training, he finds his master dying. Before passing on, Yoda tells Luke that he has a sister and that he needs to confront Vader to complete his journey to becoming a Jedi. Yoda’s death scene isn’t as theatrical as Qui-Gon Jinn’s torso stab or Jango Fett’s decapitation, but his acceptance that his time has come is pretty poignant.

When he realizes his 900-year existence is coming to an end, Yoda climbs into bed and waits to become one with the Force.

5 Action Scene: The Speeder Bike Chase

When the Rebels arrive on the forest moon of Endor, Han tries to sneak up behind a couple of Scout Troopers, but accidentally steps on a twig, alerting the Imperial troops to his presence.

While Han fights the closest Scout Trooper, the others hop on their speeder bikes and try to flee. So, Luke and Leia grab their own speeder bike and chase after them. With trees racing past in the backdrop and an ever-changing cat-and-mouse dynamic, this is one of the most thrilling chase sequences in the Star Wars saga.

4 Character Moment: Luke Initially Refuses To Fight Vader

Having reflected on the revelation that Darth Vader is his father, fallen Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Luke arrives at the Emperor’s throne room determined to prove there’s still good in him. So, at least initially, he throws down his lightsaber and refuses to fight his father.

Eventually, the Emperor does manage to manipulate Luke’s anger enough for him to take up arms and engage his father in a glorious lightsaber duel.

3 Action Scene: Luke & Vader’s Rematch

When the Emperor finally manages to convince Luke to fight his father, he and Vader battle across the throne room in spectacular fashion. After being hopelessly defeated in moments in The Empire Strikes Back, Luke holds his own here.

In fact, he very almost bests Vader in combat — disarming him and doling out eye-for-an-eye punishment by cutting off his hand — but the Emperor steps in with his lightning fingers to put the younger Skywalker back in line.

2 Character Moment: Unmasking Darth Vader

As the Emperor hits Luke with a barrage of Force lightning, Anakin Skywalker’s humanity returns and he picks up his manipulative master and throws him into the Death Star’s reactor core. His final act is sacrificing himself to save Luke.

As he dies, Vader tells Luke that he wants to see him with his own eyes, so he removes his helmet and we see the face underneath Vader’s mask for the first time.

1 Action Scene: Blowing Up The Second Death Star

Sure, Return of the Jedi copied the Death Star storyline from the original movie and that’s kind of lazy, but at least it changed up the final battle. Whereas the Rebels had to shoot a torpedo down an air shaft on top of the first station, they have to fly right into the core of the second one and destroy it from within.

So, the Rebel ships all have to desperately flee from the blast. The Millennium Falcon, piloted by Lando, makes it out at the very last second — there’s a brief but tense moment where the whole ship is engulfed by flames.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3465 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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