With all the hoopla over "Star Wars" thirtieth anniversary it seems that fans, and perhaps even Lucasfilm, have forgotten a very important date in 2008--It's the 25th anniversary of "Return of the Jedi"!

Fans of "Star Wars" seem to have a love/hate relationship with this motion picture. I admit that in 1983, as a 9-year-old, mine started out as more hate than love, but it has grown into my favorite of the six films.

At 9-years-old my problem wasn't with the Ewoks, it was accepting that this was the final film with Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and all the other friends and foes I had met over the last six years. Even in 1983 I "knew" there would be Prequels and Sequels, but the magazines seems to indicate that only the Droids would return in all nine films. At the time I didn't understand how that could possibly be.

However, fast forward a few years. In high school and to the present I consider "Return of the Jedi" my favorite "Star Wars" installment. First off, I thought it was wise of Lucas to wait until this last chapter to reveal the Emperor and Jabba the Hutt. Their menacing appearances were worth waiting for. Second, I appreciated how Lucas had wrapped up everything: peace was restored to the Galaxy, with the Emperor dead there was no more Empire (this is historically true, the Nazis were toast after Hitler suicided and while you have jokers today, they have never rebounded in any significant way), with Jabba and Boba Fett dead Han could truly have a fresh start. For years I believed, and still think it's possible now, that Han and Leia were married the night of the Ewok celebration at the end of the film. Luke's life was at peace, too, he saw the spirits of Ben, Yoda, and Anakin--friends again at last.

If the ending isn't enough to make you appreciate "Jedi", maybe this conversation will give you pause. In 1992 I was at a friend's apartment watching "Return of the Jedi" on VHS. We agreed that the movie looked as if it could have been released yesterday. How many films that are nine years old today (from 1999) could you say that about (well, films with special effects). It seems to me that FX get outdated pretty quickly and yet "Jedi" held its own for years. As far as I'm concerned, all of the original "Star Wars" films, in their original stop-motion glory, still look good. I think "Star Wars" looks as if it were made in 1982 (not 1977 as it was) and both "Empire" and "Jedi" could pass for being produced in the mid-1990s.

So don't forget "Jedi" this year. Celebrating 25 years of peace in the GFFA.