This movie review was originally published May 26, 1983.

"The Empire Strikes Back," the second part of the "Star Wars" saga, had the all-time cliffhanger ending.

Nothing was resolved in that Act Two movie, and when last seen Han Solo was frozen in carbon, Luke Skywalker was learning to use an artificial hand and moviegoers were condemned to wait three years to find out what happens in the next chapter.

The wait is over. "Return of the Jedi" is here. And it is difficult to imagine any "Star Wars" fan who will come away disappointed.

The third installment of the most popular series in movie history has opened strictly in the suburbs: the Village, North Hills, Cinema World, Showcase East and West.

It is expected to be the blockbuster of the summer, and while such predictions are notoriously unreliable, there seems little reason to doubt this one.

The movie delivers. It is so crammed with action that an audience member behind me said after one desert battle, "I can't believe this has all happened in the first half hour."

The brilliant special effects that "Star Wars" pioneered have been so improved and increased that we have become blase. We take for granted a space battle that would have been impossible to film only a few years ago.

An effect -- like the flash-forward into hyperspace -- that once drew audience gasps gets only silence now, even from what may have been the most demonstrative movie audience I have ever been a part of.

The invitational audience for Tuesday's showing applauded everything including the 20th Century-Fox logo, and it was hard not to be caught up in the excitement of such a happy throng, even for a critic trying to retain his objectivity.

Without divulging any of the plot surprises, I must say that George Lucas and his brain trust have come up with an emotionally charged and cathartic ending that has all the impact of a graduation day, mixing happiness and sadness as we see a horde of friends, maybe for the last time.

More than the first two episodes, "Return of the Jedi" really depends upon our prior knowledge of its predecessors. I don't know what a moviegoer who has not seen "Star Wars" or "The Empire Strikes Back" would make of the whole business.

But at this stage, what difference does that make? The "Star Wars" movies are such a phenomenon they constitute a world of their own, a world that has such basic, durable values that it appeals to people as directly as folk mythology.

In this case, the mythology has roots in the film medium itself, and all of this reverberates with enlarging effect on every minute of the movie. When, for instance, our tiny band of intrepid heroes -- Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, C3PO, R2D2 and Chewbacca -- find themselves captives of a tribe of teddy bear-like creatures called Ewoks, the whole sequence is staged like a Tarzan vs. the Pygmies encounter.

There seems more emphasis on strange, imaginative creatures this time.

For the first hour or so, the film concentrates on rescuing Han from the loathsome Jabba the Hutt, and it is a bit heavy on both whimsy and grotesquerie. It is fun to watch, and Richard Marquand directs it all at a furious pace.

There are wonderfully breathtaking chase scenes aboard one-man flying machines through California's redwood forests.

But it is only when the movie finally faces up to the inevitable confrontation between Luke and Darth Vader that the movie truly grips us. The story twists all come together satisfyingly, setting us up for a final scene that conspires to bring everybody on for a curtain call that makes the audience reluctant to leave.

In fact, the preview audience mingled in the lobby for more than 20 minutes afterward, something I don't remember experiencing before.

The conclusion allows you to recall lines and minor events from prior films that presaged the climax of "Return of the Jedi." It becomes clear that Lucas really did conceive all these films as one continuous story and not as a series of sequels that are mere afterthoughts.

The maturity of Luke is portrayed by Mark Hamill with serenity. The change in his appearance following his serious auto accident ironically aids in his characterization of an idealistic young man who has survived an arduous test.

Harrison Ford, the only "Star Wars" original who has established himself as a major star, is more relaxed and jovial than ever. Carrie Fisher also seems more congenial than usual, and briefly gets to wear a fetchingly scanty harem costume. When Jabba the Hutt, a mound of reptilian flesh, slobbers over her, the effect is literally flesh-crawling.

Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian has less to do this time, but the actors inside or around Darth Vader, R2D2, C3PO, Yoda, Chewbacca and all the other imaginative creatures do their expected stalwart job. Even Alec Guinness makes another ethereal appearance as Obi-Wan.

And John Williams dresses it all in another resounding musical score.

So, the big question: Is "Return of the Jedi" better or worse than the first two films?

And the unsatisfying answer: No, it is not better or worse.

Nothing -- as far as these films is concerned -- can ever again be as good as our first viewing of "Star Wars" when we met all these people and experienced Lucas' marvelous concept for the first time.

On the other hand, we have the compensation of knowing them all now as old friends, and that is reassuring in a way that first experiences can never be.

The film is rated PG because of violence that is never distasteful.