Over the last three days I have watched all of the original "Star Wars" films; as they were presented in theaters in 1977, 1980, and 1983.

I remember a friend of mine and I saw "Return of the Jedi" together. We were both nine-years-old (born just five days apart). Throughout most of the movie I remember my friend standing; he wasn't short, he was just so interested in the movie he couldn't keep his seat. He made comments to me throughout the movie, but one has stayed with me all these years. The scene where Vader enters the throne room of the Death Star and the Emperor quips: "I told you to wait on the command ship!" My friend turned to me and said: "See how mean he is to him!" As a fellow kid I thought the comment was a little out of place, thinking of it as I have from time to time throughout the years if he as a nine-year-old would have said that to me as an an adult, I think I would have said: "That is a strange way to treat a friend, isn't it?"

The decades have gone by and we have the Prequel Trilogy now and it should be clear, even to nine-year-olds, that the Emperor wasn't really Anakin's friend. His only interest in Luke was the hope of a younger apprentice. The Emperor lived to serve himself, not to benefit others (or even take their well-being into consideration).

All of the "Star Wars" films, as they were originally presented, hold up well, but "Jedi" holds up remarkably well in story, action, and I believe effects. When I watch "Jedi" in the dark I still get creeped out by Bib Fortuna (I was outright frightened of him as a child and even had nightmares about the action figure). It really is as perfect a "the end" as you can get in a fictional story. Han is freed and then, without strings, really begins to care for his friends and their cause truly becomes his; Luke comes into his own as a Jedi; Leia knows the full truth of herself; Chewbacca is freed from his life debt (because he was part of saving Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt). The war is over. I will go to my grave believing the galactic war ended with the battle of Endor. Han and Leia were married; Luke stayed around just long enough to train Leia; Chewbacca went back to his family; and I would imagine that the droids were either wedding presents to Han and Leia (so Han would never be rid of them) or they were left to "rule" Endor.

I don't think fans who have grown up with all six films can really appreciate how significant "Jedi" was in 1983 (and really until 1997). "Jedi" was the film where a generation of the "Star Wars" fans was finally introduced to Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor, and Anakin Skywalker. It was a film of revelation on many levels.

Some people have been disappointed in "Jedi", becomes Boba Fett is so easily destroyed and even the Empire falls to a few Ewok warriors. Maybe there is a message here. There are folks in the real world who are crippled by their fears. I think facing your fears, your doubts, your whatever is half the battle. Once you face them, as Luke, Han, and ultimately Anakin, do in "Jedi", you find that most of the time they are more easily conquered than you ever dreamed possible. "Easy" is almost always the wrong word, but perhaps it seemed easy because you finally looked them in the eye. "Jedi" is about coming to terms.

I sometimes wonder if my friend thought since Vader was Luke's father that the Emperor was Vader's. Children can get confused with things like that. I never wondered that when we were kids, of course, but as I look back on his childhood I know he was made in his father's image. He wanted to be his father's son. However, his dad was frequently more interested in his music and his alcohol. To some extent, the Emperor was Vader's father (I'm not going into the midi-clorians here, but that the Emperor was Anakin's fondest role model). If Vader saw the Emperor as his father than at the end of "Jedi" he makes the choice not to be the father he knew, but to be the father he wanted for himself. That's the father that saved Luke.

I hope my friend decided to be the father he wanted to be and not the one he had.