5) Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
The Story: In the final installment of George Lucas’ original trilogy, Jedi Apprentice Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and the Rebel Alliance launch a full-scale attack against the Empire as evil Emperor Palpatine attempts to build a second Death Star in order to crush the rebellion. As Luke, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) lead the attack, Luke also attempts to bring his estranged father, Darth Vader, back from the Dark Side of the Force.
The Twist: When visiting dying Jedi Master Yoda, Luke learns that he is not the only Skywalker in the galaxy. The ghost of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) tells Luke that he has a twin sister. Instinctually, Luke knows that Princess Leia is his sister, and Kenobi confirms as much.
Why It Sucks: From the first time Luke saw Leia as a hologram in A New Hope, there was an insinuation that he had strong romantic feelings for the princess, and as Han and Luke rescue her from the Death Star in that film, there’s a fair amount of bickering over which one of the two should pursue her affections. In The Empire Strikes Back, Leia reciprocates Luke’s feelings by passionately kissing him not once but twice. Luke and Leia’s romance is so obvious to the other characters that, in Return of the Jedi, Han agrees to back off so the two of them can be together. And yet, when Luke tells Leia that they are twins, she says, “I know. Somehow, I’ve always known.” A curious response, considering how cozy the two had been getting up until that point in the series (I mean, just check out that poster). Adding a quasi-incestuous layer to what was supposed to be a movie geared towards younger audiences did not lend any emotional clarity to Return of the Jedi; instead, it shut down one of the trilogy’s main romantic relationships for seemingly no reason.
