Welcome to the Weekly Movie Thread, your place on the Avocado to discuss films with your fellow commenters. Want to make a recommendation? Looking for recommendations? Want to share your opinions of movies, both new and classic? 

This year we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi.

These days online pundits like to point to this film as the point when the toy sales began to overtake the integrity of the Star Wars franchise. Those cute and cuddly Ewoks were introduced and obvious plushie stand-ins. So much is happening on the screen, and the cynical would say to cram all those action figures in. Return of the Jedi would be seen as where the symptoms of the prequels really began to show, where characters took a back seat to all the whiz-bang special effects that George Lucas wanted to try out at ILM.

And yet… this movie was hugely well received in 1983. So what if the universe was more kid-appeal? It still felt lived in, with the sense that crazy things were happening just outside your field of view. It wasn’t always about the conflict between the Rebels and the Empire. Out there in the world of Star Wars, there were planets controlled by slug-like gangsters, primitive species that were more dangerous than. they looked, animal trainers who cared for dinosaur-like monsters, and trap-averse fish people with bulbous ships.

And closing it out was this unbelievable space battle, combined with a light saber duel, combined with a brutal ground attack that still thrills to this day. It’s easy to forget these days, since every since fiction movie since, including Star Wars movie, have copied this finale. In 1983, there was absolutely nothing like it. Kids growing up in the 40’s and 50’s watching Buck Rogers series could only imagine such a scene happening. And now it was here, a scene plucked from George Lucas’ fondest childhood memories. And it was amazing.

It was a absolute crowd pleaser, which led many to declare this the best movie trilogy of all time.

Bonus prompt: what film do you think best closed out a continuing series?