When I sat down and saw Star Wars for the first time, I was 9 (almost 10). I enjoyed the swashbuckling fun of it; I really didn't think too much about the nature of the bad guys. It was enough to know that the bad guys were there, and the good guys won.

By the time ESB came out, I was a more "sophisticated" viewer and started to wonder about the motivation of Darth Vader and the Emperor, who we got to see for the first time in holoprojections. I was stunned by the revelation that Vader was Luke's father, and spent 3 years wondering if it was something Vader and/or the Emperor dreamed up to get Luke to join their cause.

RoTJ would have been my favorite movie if not for the Ewoks. I was 16 and thought I had seen it all. Luke was more mature (like me, I thought) and was able to face his father and have faith in his friends. When you are a middle-teenage girl, faith in your friends is something you really need.

I have to admit that I was one of those people that were really disappointed with the first two Prequel episodes. Maybe I had lost the sense of wonder; perhaps it was that the CGI felt all wrong to me, I don't know. I've come to appreciate them more after multiple viewings, but I only pop in TPM if the kids ask for it...

RoTS was frankly what I expected all of the trilogy movies to be. A conflicted "hero" tries to figure out the world and do the best he can. His friends try in vain to save him from himself, and he falls. Good stuff. It made me cry on several occasions (see Jedilily1026's blog here).

In the end, I was most surprised by how RoTS made me change my feelings about the original trilogy.

When "Ben" says to Luke about Anakin:
"He was the best star-pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior. And he was a good friend. "

This line brings tears to my eyes every time I see it now. Anakin and Obi-Wan were such good friends. We have all suffered loss in our lives; you can imagine the pain that Obi-Wan has suffered for all the decisions he made while training Anakin. He's had 20 years of solitude to think about it. I'm sure he still blames himself at least partially for Anakin's fall.

Then I think about Yoda and Obi-Wan living out their days waiting for the prophecy to be fulfilled. I'm sure they had no idea how that would turn out, but they had to live their days in faith that everything would turn out well. That really resonated with me. There are times in your life that the future is so uncertain that you have to just take a deep breath and assure yourself that everything will work out fine.

Finally, Vader's final scene in RoTJ. Here is a man that has lived for 20 years with no love in his life, only hate. Hate from his subordinates, hate from the Emperor, and the remembrance of the losses of all the people he ever loved in his life. He feels betrayed by Padme, Obi-Wan and probably by his own body. He's been going through the motions for decades, and really does want to get Luke to follow the same path and join him.

Until Luke shows him the love he's been missing.

Until Luke shows him the trust he's been missing.

The final scene where Vader dies, you see it all come together. Vader renounces the dark side all for the love of his son.

Any parent in the world can cry about that.