"I have a son who’s about your age and part of the Star Wars generation. So he was my most intimate link to the Star Wars saga. So that meant that what I was able to bring to the Star Wars saga, which the other directors couldn’t since they were dealing with a younger generation, was a certain kind of modern maturity, which you couldn’t have had in Star Wars [Episode IV], because you would have lost a lot of people. I was able to entertain the little kids with the Ewoks and all the stuff that made them feel safe, but I was able, at the same time, to give young adults the kind of things they’re looking for, which is a lot of excitement, a lot of showmanship. But they are also looking for true relationships and genuine emotions. I think that’s what has always been in the Star Wars saga, but I was really able to bring that out and make it work. I think that’s what Return Of The Jedi had that the others didn’t have. I’m not criticising the others: they simply weren’t ready for it."

"Star Wars meant a lot to young people around the world – young people who were around six, seven and eight years old, and older as well. Those people grew up. So when they saw The Empire Strikes Back, they were a little bit more mature. By the time I came along to direct Return Of The Jedi, they were 18. 19 and 20."

"You can see here the Death Star orbiting the forest moon of Endor. Although the weapon systems on this Death Star are not yet operational, the Death Star does have a strong defense mechanism. It is protected by an energy shield, which is generated from the nearby forest moon of Endor. The shield must be deactivated if any attack is to be attempted. Once the shield is down, our cruisers will create a perimeter, while the fighters fly into the superstructure and attempt to knock out the main reactor. General Calrissian has volunteered to lead the fighter attack."

"John Morton – Dak Ralter"

"As for the idea of the Force, it is a mishmash of current cultic fashions without any base in ideas. It doesn't seem to be connected with ethics or a code of decent behavior, either. Shywalker (sic) is never called to account for having behaved unpleasantly to his guru (Yoda) before knowing who he is -- even to the extent of knocking food out of the hungry guru's hand. How many religions of any kind would tolerate a disciples having refused to share his food with his disguised spiritual leader?"

"I knew in the making of Empire that this was to be the second of a trilogy. Therefore I considered it the second act, the second movement—but it wouldn’t have the same climax that an ordinary film would have, where it sets up a premise, moves along, there is a payoff with a grand climax of some kind of action. The action in this film came at the beginning because it is a continuation of the first film."

"Fans have written over the last 30 years telling me how eagerly they awaited the second film of the trilogy. I hadn’t realized how many young children would be seeing the film, and how it would affect them. I think the kids responded to the movement, the characters, and the fairy tale quality of the film. The humor helped make the film appealing to more mature audiences as well."

"I think the critics felt that they were going to see an extension of Star Wars. In other words, they wanted another Star Wars. I decided that the potential was much greater than a rerun of Star Wars. When I finally accepted the assignment, I knew that it was going to be a dark film, with more depth to the characters than in the first film. It took a few years for the critics to catch up with the film and to see it as a fairy tale rather than a comic book."

"The geek world, the scholars of Stars Wars, can tell you what scripts exist. I do not know. I’ve heard that. But what I know is when I came in to Empire and when I actually started to work, George said, “You know, Darth is Luke’s father.” And I said, “No shit?” So it was a total surprise to me and I thought wonderful. That to me was when the whole thing got really interesting and I thought, This thing’s going to be so much more complicated than I thought. It’s going to speak to things that I relate to very strongly and everybody who’s had to deal with their issues with their father, and this is really a mythic presentation of those things. And we’ve seen since then endless world catastrophes based on father problems. That’s why I think the saga is always going to be so interesting."

"Clive Revill — Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious"

"Frank Oz — Yoda"

"Jeremy Bulloch — Boba Fett (voiced by Jason Wingreen (original) Temuera Morrison (later releases))"

"Michael Culver – Captain Needa"

"Julian Glover – General Veers"

"Michael Sheard – Admiral Ozzel"

"Kenneth Colley – Admiral Piett"

"Richard Oldfield – Hobbie Klivian"

"Christopher Malcolm – Zev Senesca"

"Denis Lawson – Wedge Antilles"

"John Ratzenberger – Major Derlin"

"Bruce Boa – General Rieekan"

"John Hollis – Lobot"

"David Prowse — Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones)"

"Ian McDiarmid — Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious (DVD and Blu-ray versions only)"

"Alec Guinness — Obi-Wan Kenobi"

"Kenny Baker — R2-D2"

"Peter Mayhew — Chewbacca"

"Anthony Daniels — C-3PO"

"Billy Dee Williams — Lando Calrissian"

"Carrie Fisher — Princess Leia Organa"

"Harrison Ford — Han Solo"

"Mark Hamill — Luke Skywalker"

"The Star Wars Saga Continues"

"The Adventure Continues…"

"[to Princess Leia] You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."

"[calling to C-3PO as they're about to escape the Echo Hoth base] Hurry up, goldenrod, or you're gonna be a permanent resident!"

"[after cutting open a tauntaun to form a makeshift sleeping bag for Luke] And I thought they smelled bad... on the outside!"

"It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Although the Death Star has been destroyed, Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from their hidden base and pursued them across the galaxy. Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker have established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth. The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker, has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of space...."

"Jack McKenzie – Cal Alder"

"It calls back a time when there were flowers all over the Earth. And there were valleys. And there were plains of tall, green grass that you could lie down in... that you could go to sleep in. And, there were blue skies, and there was fresh air, and there were things growing all over the place, not just in some domed enclosures blasted some millions of miles out into space!"

"Every time we have the argument, you say the same thing to me, you give me the same three answers all the time, the same thing, "well, everybody has a job," that's always the last one. But, you know what else there is no more of, my friend, there is no more beauty, there is no more imagination, and there are no frontiers left to conquer, and do you know why? Only one reason why: one reason why, the same attitude that you three guys are giving me right here in this room today, and that is: nobody cares."

"On Earth, everywhere you go, the temperature is seventy-five degrees. Everything is the same. All the people, are exactly the same. Now, what kind of life is that?"

"Larry Whisenhunt - Drone 3 (Louie)"

"Cheryl Sparks and Steven Brown - Drone 2 (Huey)"

"Mark Persons - Drone 1 (Dewey)"

"Jesse Vint 0 Andy Keenan"

"Ron Rifkin - Marty Barker"

"Cliff Potts - John Wolf"

"Bruce Dern - Freeman Lowell"