I join you in thinking Return of the Jedi was the best Star Wars film. Whilst people talk a big game about Empire Strikes Back, that movie feels uneven. It has its most spectacular action scenes at the beginning and very end, and in between is a very long stall periods with lots of sitting around and hiding, and no grander objective for the characters beyond "keep evading the Empire" or "learn the force". Rot J feels better paced and has a better sense of progression, and we can clearly see the characters working towards something grander.
We have this really strong plot thread about Luke being tempted by the Dark Side, and in real danger of turning evil, and ultimately pays off really well. There's nothing like that in any of the movies, and it builds on everything before. As to other bits, as much as people dislike the Ewoks, I first saw this movie when I was four and loved them. The fight with the Walkers is great, there's a good balance between humour and action, and C-3PO finally getting a chance to do something useful.
On the "Jedi are wrong" discussion, Yoda's interaction with Luke in Rot J is redeeming. In the previous movie, Yoda and Obi Wan try to dissuade Luke from rescuing his friends, telling him he must ignore the people he loves or abandon his training. But the very next time we see Yoda in Rot J, he says Luke has everything he needs to be a Knight, no further training needed. So I take that to mean that Yoda had been secretly testing Luke in the last movie, to see if he would choose ambition and power over the lives of his friends, and Luke chose correctly and demonstrated the true values of a Jedi Knight.
This assessment is sadly undermined by the prequel movies, and the Jedi philosophy as presented in them. Or, it shows Yoda has since learnt that repressing healthy emotions and feelings for others was not a great Jedi teaching after all. It's also undermined by Book of Boba Fett, where Luke forces a literal baby to choose between abandoning his only family to be allowed to continue training. Apart from this being insane cult behaviour, it is very out of character for Luke who very specifically chose his friends and family and still got to be a Jedi.
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My Favorite Star Wars Movie
I have no great nostalgia for Star Wars. I mostly found the original trilogy to be classics that are dated but worth appreciating, and I don't think "I am your father" was ever a twist to me. The prequels and spinoff movies were decent popcorn entertainment, and the sequels fell apart for reasons no one can agree on.
But of them all, I think Return of the Jedi was always my favorite. Yes, the Ewoks are goofy, and Han doesn't convey much emotional presence (Harrison Ford exhibits an apathic "done-with-this" attitude to Star Wars I sort of find hysterically legendary). And Luke's plan on Tatooine is a convoluted roulette.
However, it's still cool to see how much Luke has grown from a whiny kid to a skilled warrior. There's a reason he's an iconic hero: the movies put the time and work into his development. The action scenes and space battles are grand spectacles, and they were made without 21st century CGI overload. Ian McDiarmid nails the role of the creepy Emperor. The film arguably has the most emotionally raw lightsaber duel in all the movies. You really feel the clash of both sabers and words between father and son, especially when Luke finally brings Vader down.
But the vital reason Return of the Jedi stands as my favorite is because it is the closest the movies have come to acknowledging one cathartic truth:
THE JEDI ARE WRONG!!!!!
The main issue I have getting into Star Wars and its space wizards is that the Jedi just seem to have a naive, self-defeating philosophy. They hide and deny feelings instead of confronting them, and treat emotions like anger and fear as shameful instead of normal. Charisma on Command made a self-help video
parabolizing this problem. In fairness, Revenge of the Sith and The Last Jedi do lean into the idea that the Jedi are flawed, but they don't go all the way in admitting or demonstrating exactly why.
But in Return of the Jedi, Yoda & Obi-Wan are demonstrably incorrect. Yoda teaches that any start down the path of "anger, fear, aggression" will forever dominate you, and Obi-Wan believes Vader irredeemable, but both are proven wrong. Obi-Wan advises Luke to bury his feelings, but this proves futile; Vader discerns Luke's feelings anyways, and in the end, it's Luke's love for his sister and righteous fury that lets him defeat Vader. Luke's declaration that he is "a Jedi, like my father before me" is also an admission that he has the same temptations as his father, but won't fall to them. Luke's feelings don't ruin him, and even help redeem Vader.
And it makes Anakin's last words so poignant and meaningful.
So, this is my favorite. Even typing this, I feel more appreciation for one of the best trilogy third-parters ever made.