While I don't own an original version of the movie, what I've got is pretty close: a Laserdisc with a THX upgrade but no augmented affects, no Jedi Rocks, and, most importantly to me, it still has the "Yub-Nub" Ewok celebration song to close out the trilogy.
The tone of this film is a marked, whimsical change from not only Empire but from A New Hope, and as time went on and more Star Wars movies arrived, it became easy to see how this film laid the foundation for The Phantom Menace and its low-stakes storytelling. The tying up of loose ends borders on lazy - most notably, of course, in the "You'll never convince me that it was always part of the plan" pairing of Luke and Leia as siblings.
Honestly, if I'd been nine years old watching Episode I instead of Episode VI, I'd probably like Phantom a lot better than this. Most of my love for Jedi is nostalgia.
Seeing this movie in the theatre is my earliest specific, I-can-date-it memory of seeing any movie. I was in Toronto with my dad and a friend to see this on the third day of release, and we waited outside in a line as theatres filled and emptied until it was our turn. I don't remember how long we waited, but I don't think it was anything crazy.
Shout out to the Rebel Alliance for having the confidence to pack fireworks into the X-Wings for the victory celebration.
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