(1983)
Luke is really cool in this movie, almost as good as the original Jedis. He keeps warning Jabba that he will die unless they are freed, with a confidence we do not share, because we are used to Luke being a whining kid. It's a great moment when he bounces off the plank, grabs it on the way down, and bounces back up and somersaults through the air, catching his lightsabre as he lands. Then starts hacking up bad guys to the strains of the Star Wars theme tune.
The anoraks' favourite extra, bounty hunter Boba Fett, is killed in an almost Jar-Jar Binksian moment of slapstick by Han Solo. He is blindly flailing around, warned by Chewbacca that Fett is near, he bumps into him and knocks him into the big monster's mouth. What a crap bounty hunter. He only caught Solo in the first place because Vader froze him in carbonite for him. Even though he was right behind the Millenium Falcon when it escaped from the Imperial fleet. Of course his fans will say that he survives, because one of the books says that he climbs out of the monster and goes on to have other adventures. They also babble on about Mandalorian armour and Wookie braids. Thing is that none of this happens in the films, and the books are crap. Most of them are more like the absymal Star Trek than Star Wars (with the honourable exception of Timothy Zahn's trilogy, which captures both the characters and pace of the movies perfectly).
When they leave Tattoine, Luke goes back to Dagobah, to complete his Jedi training, where he finds Yoda at Death's door. Yoda tells him that (a) he's had a wasted trip; he needs no more training and to become a Jedi he just has to defeat Darth Vader, and that (b) "there is another... Skywalker." After Yoda has popped his clogs, Obi-Wan Kenobi appears to Luke again, and tells him that he has a sister. Luke takes a stab in the dark, and guesses that Leia, the only human female he has ever met, (except his aunty) is his sister. And he was snogging her in the last film. Kenobi explains that with Anakin Skywalker being the most powerful Jedi who ever lived, his kids were bound to be a bit handy with a lightsabre themselves, so he hid them. Luke went to live on a moisture farm on a desert planet, with a strict aunt and uncle who wouldn't even let him go to school, he had to slog away in the fields all day; while Leia was brought up on the planet Alderaan. As a Princess. Quite literally treated like royalty. Bit of favouritism there maybe.
Meanwhile, the Empire have been constructing another Death Star, but the builders have fallen behind schedule, Darth Vader has arrived to "find new ways to motivate them." he says that the Emporer himself is arriving soon to see what the delay is. And as Vader notes, "The Emporer is not as forgiving as I." This from the man who asphyxiates his subordinates for the slightest error! It's very cool when Palpatine turns up; his shuttle lands and he totters down the gangplank to be surrounded by ranks of hundreds of stormtroopers.
Those pesky rebels have got wind of the existence fo a fledgling Death Star and plan an offensive to take it out. It's protected by an energy sheld generated from Endor, or the Forest Moon Of Endor to give it the full title by which it is constantly referred. Han Solo, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia will lead a Strike Team to destroy the shield generator, while lando Calrissian will pilot the Millenium Falcon and lead the Rebel ships that are to take on the Death Star. When they reach Endor the movie takes something of a turn for the worse, when they encounter some dimunitive furry locals called Ewoks. Basically they're three foot walking teddy bears. Leia meets one first, and she goes back to his place. A little later Jedi Knight Luke, pirate Han Solo and seven foot wookie (famous for tearing people's arms out for only the slightest provocation) Chewbacca manage to be captured by them. They don't exactly endear themselves any further when they begin worshipping super-camp droid C-3PO as a God either. Any way they all become friends etc etc.
Luke sneaks off to face Darth Vader, in order to become a Jedi Knight. He also believes that there is still some Good left in Vader and that he therefore won't turn Luke in to the Emporer. He is if course wrong.These are among my favourite Star Wars scenes, when Palpatine is trying to persuade Luke to give in to his anger and hatred and become his apprentice; with the ensuing duel between Vader and Luke being brilliant. The Emporer also reveals that his new Death Star is actually fully operational and the whole thing is a trap for the rebels, so that he can destroy their fleet.
On Endor Han and Leia have been captured, but the Ewoks come to their rescue, throwing stones at the Stormtroopers. This gives the Rebels the edge they need, and they are able to easily defeat the Stormtroopers, only losing about one Ewok in the fight. Once they have destroyed the shield generator Lando Calrissian and some X-Wings fly into one of the gaping holes in the Death Star and blow up the Reactor Core. No more hitting two-metre wide exhaust ports. With the Empire defeated the Rebel Alliance have a knees-up in the Ewok Village, with even the ghostly forms of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Anakin Skywalker turning up. On the Special Edition we see celebrations also going on in Cloud City, Mos Eisley and on Coruscant, giving 1997 audiences a first glimpse of the city-planet before Episode One.