Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi mistake picture

Other mistake: During the fight between Luke and Darth Vader, when Vader throws his lightsaber at Luke, it is not only Luke's lightsaber from Episodes IV & V instead of his own, it is ignited upside-down, with the blade protruding from the pommel rather than the emitter. (01:50:20)

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi mistake picture

Revealing mistake: Vader tosses the Emperor and then collapses on some barrels next to the railing. Look at Vader's arm - the one with the severed hand. His arm is bent at the forearm in a way that arms just don't bend. This is because David Prowse's hand was inside an "elongated" arm to simulate it being chopped off. He couldn't keep his wrist straight, giving the appearance of a bent forearm. (01:57:00)

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi mistake picture

Revealing mistake: When Jabba's sail barge begins to explode, you can see that one of the floating skiffs is standing on stilts. (00:36:30)

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi mistake picture

Other mistake: DVD and Blu-ray only: in the Battle of Endor, right after the rebel fighter says "there's too many of them." The Millennium Falcon goes into 1/4 of the picture, you can see a black square spot on the right side of the flash frame due to a bad filter usage. Widescreen only. It does not appear in the 4K release even though it wasn't removed.

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Han tells Lando that he can fly the Millennium Falcon during the battle, when Lando says, "Would you get going, you pirate", his entire outfit is reversed - his shoulder holster strap goes the other way, and his rank insignia changes side too. (00:50:00)

More mistakes in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Darth Vader: Obi-Wan once thought as you do. You don't know the power of the dark side.

More quotes from Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Trivia: When they were filming the scenes on Endor, Peter Mayhew was told to stay close to the set so no one would mistake him for Big Foot and attempt to shoot him.

More trivia for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Question: After Anakin becomes Darth Vader, he seems ruthless, actually evil. "From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!" Is just one quote. That being the case, this movie makes it seem like Anakin knows that he's evil and wishes he wasn't. Basically, my question is, why didn't Anakin turn on Palpatine sooner? Or simply leave the Sith?

Answer: Darth: "Obi-Wan once thought as you do. You don't know the power of the dark side. I must obey my master." It's implied that the dark side is intoxicating, once you totally give in to the dark side it has a hold on you, and appeals to morality and rationalization are useless against your lust for its power. (On a symbolic level, the dark side is a metaphor for vice. Darth Vader is an addict and abusive parent. It's actually funny how many scenes still make sense if you replace "the dark side" with "the bottle" or similar).

TonyPH

If we bring the prequels into it, it's one of the criticisms of those films that they only make the question of how much Anakin is a "true believer" more confusing. But it stands to reason that at first Anakin may feel vindicated in his resentment toward the Jedi. Later on, Vader may not feel that as strongly, but by then his anger has turned toward himself for failing to save Padme. He may feel that a man as terrible as he does not deserve to be "rescued" from the dark side, leading to a feedback loop where he only gets further enamored with its power and does more evil things which causes him to hate himself even more, and so it goes.

TonyPH

Answer: Anakin was seduced by the emperor to think that the Jedi were evil. This was partly fueled by anger &fear, thinking Padme would die if Palpatine didn't help save her. After he turned to Darth Vader & joined the dark side, he eventually realised the true nature of the Emperor, but he was to weak to do anything about it. Darth Vader still wanted to rule the galaxy, but didn't want the emperor controlling everything. He just wanted to use Luke to help overthrow the emperor and take over the galaxy. It wasn't until he found out he had a daughter also, and saw Luke about to die by the hands of the emperor, that he realised that Luke was right & he needed to switch sides.

envisaged0ne

Vader was not just using Luke to kill the Emperor. He actually did want to rule the galaxy as father and son - if Luke would turn to the Dark Side, that is.

More questions & answers from Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.