Star Wars: Episode VI -- Return of the Jedi is the perfect completion to the Star Wars saga. It retains the feel of its predecessors (which are only episodes IV and V; I through III were released years later), it ties up all loose ends, it brings its motifs full-circle, and it is just as memorable as any other installment. Filled with the adventure, imagination, pain, wisdom, and redemption that run through the other Star Wars movies, Return of the Jedi brings the tale to a triumphant close.

Episode V left off on a down beat. Our hero, Luke Skywalker, has been emotionally devastated and physically mauled, and a co-hero, Han Solo, has been frozen in carbonite and captured by Jabba the Hutt, the crime lord for whom he used to work. Since those events, Luke has done a lot of maturing, especially in his relationship with the Force, and has almost reached the level of Jedi Knight. After he and the rest of the crew -- Princess Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissean (who is now in need of redemption) -- set out to rescue Han, it's time to regroup and defeat Darth Vader, the Emperor, and the Galactic Empire once and for all. Bad news, though: the Empire is working on a new Death Star, even more powerful than the first, which already had the power to destroy whole planets. And this one will be even more heavily guarded.

If you have seen episodes IV and V, there is no need to read this review. The tone is the same, the feel is the same, the authenticity is the same; this movie stays perfectly true to its original two predecessors. It's a samurai-western-magical-futuristic sci-fi space opera, and it's every bit as fun as it sounds. To appropriately wrap up the saga, Return of the Jedi needed four things: a final duel between Luke and Vader, the completion of Luke's Jedi training, another great space-dogfight battle, and a conclusion of the conflict between the Rebellion and the Empire. The movie delivers all of these.

The first two -- Luke's Jedi training and his confronting Vader -- tie together. Luke's duel with Vader is not just an excuse for action or melodrama; it is the moment that will define them both. Though Luke certainly believes in good over evil, he is in a state in which he doubts whether good is in fact a more powerful force than evil. His confrontation with Vader is not just an attempt to kill something evil. Luke is out to defeat evil itself by saving Vader. He believes that there is still good within the villain. Vader, of course, claims that it is far too late for him to turn from the dark side of the Force. This builds to a great final scene: as the two fight each other, Luke must remain constantly careful not to teeter into anger, which would mean tapping dark energy for strength to defeat Vader. During the fight, Emperor Palpatine, a dark Jedi so immensely powerful that he does not carry a weapon of any sort, constantly goads Luke, encouraging him to reach into his anger, in hopes that Luke will join the Empire's cause. It is the perfect setup, in which the main character must simultaneously battle an enemy and an idea. This is what Luke must do to become a true Jedi. However, if he does win the duel, he is certain to be destroyed by Palpatine. It is the ultimate showdown in every way.

At the same time, there remains the less idealistic but enormously physical threat of the new Death Star. As the Death Star is basically the culmination of the Empire's power, and since the Emperor and Vader are on the Death Star, to destroy it this time means to topple the Empire. The rest of the heroes spend their time on a forest moon called Endor, where, in order to lower the Death Star's shield, they have to destroy a heavily armed facility. In the vein of the other Star Wars films, they cannot succeed without the help of some friends, in this case, the most adorable little creatures possible, which they meet on Endor. Once this is done, there is a space battle as captivating as the one centered on the original Death Star.

Containing everything the world had come to expect from Star Wars movies, Return of the Jedi is exactly what you want in a final installment. As the saga comes to a close, viewers are left exactly where they should be: satisfied and wishing there was more but knowing there cannot be. We all want to experience this world some more, but as far as this story goes, it's over. It would be sixteen years before the series' creator, George Lucas, would go back and write the first three parts of the story. Fans salivated during these years, and even though the prequels did not turn out to be as good as the original trilogy, fans flocked to them because these films delivered something they had never experienced. This and the never-ending outpour of Star Wars novels attests to the power this franchise has had in captivating the hearts and imaginations of people all over the world. These are those rare movies that turn out to be every bit as good as fans say they are. You cannot call yourself a fan of science fiction -- or even of movies -- until you have watched the original Star Wars trilogy.