Return of the Jedi: Remastered

This is a great streamlining of a good film, and the changes made in the movie were of a great benefit to the viewer. I highly recommend this excellent piece of work;

Darthrush has truly done god's work here. When reading the cutlist, I did expect an improvement, but just a milder one. What I ended up watching was not a mere improvement. Darthrush has turned the black sheep of the original trilogy into a masterpiece on par with the other two movies. No longer is the whimsical tale of some ewoks messing around on Endor somehow kicking the Empire's ass, but rather the story of the redemption of Darth Vader and the victory of the rebellion against all odds.

The pacing of the movie is the most beneficial of any change. He could have left out most of his other changes he made to this edit, but it still would have been a worthy replacement to the original if the pacing was improved. Needless to say, Darthrush delivered. The movie flows like a dream, just like the other 2 movies, not only on a movie-wide scale, but even many individual scenes flow noticeably better.

My biggest fear going into this edit was the erasure of a lot of Han's scenes. Sure, the butchering his character got in the theatrical release was awful, but I was worried that the complete absence of such an iconic character from the climax of the trilogy would be just as damaging. Thankfully, even when all of the bad Han scenes are cut out, he still has a decent amount of screen time and there isn't a hint of a toned down personality. The Han in this edit is the one we all know and love, not some awkward, unfunny, jealous mess that he originally was.

The screen time given to the worst part of the movie, the ewoks, is handled masterfully. They get *just* enough screen time that they give some flavour and variety to the setting without completely destroying the tone. Making them less cuddly and cute was well done, and they're purpose as an early distraction, without actively fighting back the enemy, is well implemented. Now that their scenes gradually devolve into defeats against the empire, it actually strengthens the narrative, as both the rebellion and our new friends are being brought to their knees.

I can't talk about every little change he made in this edit due to how many there are (though I would love to if given the time), so for the sake of brevity let me just say that every tweak was done in good taste and every single one subtly improves the movie. From the music/audio ques, the tiny trims and even added vfx, the level of subtlety in this edit is masterful to say the least. Even the jumps between theatrical and special edition footage was remarkably tasteful.

To cap this review off, this ending is just perfect. The best of both versions, really. SE music, city celebrations and eyebrow-less vader face, original force ghost intact and 'wesa free' gone. Vader fading away like yoda and obi-wan is not only a great touch on it's own, it's coincidentally been strengthened by the end of Rise of Skywalker.

If you're reading this, please just watch this edit. No longer do I sigh and switch my brain off when I near the end of a star wars marathon. This edit enhances a genuinely mediocre film into a conclusion worthy of a New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Granted, we all know that Adywan will present a superior edit when he returns from his righteous crusade to perfect this movie, but until that day, this will remain my go-to for this movie.

Darthrush's edit of the Last Jedi is the definitive version of this movie. It cuts unnecesary exposition and helps the overall flow and enjoyment of the movie. Jabba's Palace sequence its greatly favored by some cuts like Lando revealing himself before time and the god awful musical number (retaining the only decent part of it) among others. The treatment of this cut regarding the ewoks is phenomenal as they have a more believable role in which they are not a fighting force capable of rivaling the Empire but natives that rush to the aid of their newly found friends and get their asses handed to them by the Empire (how it should be). There are some additions that reinforce some pre-established concepts of Star Wars like the vanishing of a Jedi to become part of the unifying force on death. Overall this is the best version possible of the Last Jedi. Great stuff.

It's been some time since I downloaded this movie, apologies to darthrush for taking so long to post a review. Much like all the other positive reviews I have to agree. All the pulp removed, and the core retained. Smooth editing and even my 6yr old son agrees with my preference and has now watched this a number of times with me. Very annoying how he recalls so the minor edits better than I do, but still highly recommended to watch it and make your own decision on the changes. It's worthit!

This fan edit of Return of the Jedi is currently my go-to version, and it's because it really still feels like the good old Return of the Jedi you remember loving as a kid, but it's so much better watching it as an adult.

Nothing too drastic is changed here: seemless edits improve the pace of the movie a lot, removing large chunks of silliness and bad acting, making the entire Endor part of the plot a lot less stupid and making the characters feel more like the ones we always knew from the past 2 movies (mostly Han and Leia) to the best possible degree. It's as good as it's going to get without traveling back to 1983 and reshooting several scenes with the original cast.

To close things off, I always wanted Return of the Jedi to be my favorite, and now it's possible. Thank you darthrush. This is the best version of Return of the Jedi I have watched, and it is much superior to the original movie. I highly recommend it.