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Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth and final in terms of internal chronology. It is also the first film to use THX technology.
The film is set some time after Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Luke Skywalker and members of the Rebel Alliance travel to Tatooine to rescue their friend Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt. Meanwhile, the Galactic Empire is planning to crush the Rebel Alliance with a second Death Star while the Rebel fleet simultaneously prepares to launch a full-scale attack on this new space station.
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Quotations
Don't worry, my friends are down there. They'll have that shield down on time...(to himself) or this'll be the shortest offensive of all time.
Give yourself to the Dark Side. It is the only way you can save your friends. Yes, your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong.
Good! Use your aggressive feelings, boy. Let the hate flow through you.
Great, Chewie, great. Always thinkin' with your stomach.
Han will have that shield down, we've gotta give him more time!
How could they be jamming us if they don't know... that we're coming.
Encyclopedia
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth and final in terms of internal chronology. It is also the first film to use THX technology.
The film is set some time after Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Luke Skywalker and members of the Rebel Alliance travel to Tatooine to rescue their friend Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt. Meanwhile, the Galactic Empire is planning to crush the Rebel Alliance with a second Death Star while the Rebel fleet simultaneously prepares to launch a full-scale attack on this new space station. Luke confronts his father, Darth Vader, in a climactic duel before the evil Emperor Palpatine.
The film was released in theaters on May 25, 1983, receiving mostly positive reviews, though not to the extent of its predecessors. Several home video and theatrical releases and revisions to the film followed over the next 20 years. It was the last Star Wars film released theatrically until Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace began the prequel trilogy in 1999.
Plot
Luke Skywalker, having fashioned himself as a Jedi Knight, initiates a plan to rescue the frozen Han Solo from the vile crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Princess Leia infiltrates Jabba's palace on Tatooine disguised as a bounty hunter and releases Han from his carbonite prison, but is caught and forced to serve as Jabba's slave girl. Luke arrives the next morning and allows himself to be captured. Jabba sentences Luke and Han to be fed to the monstrous Sarlacc, but Luke breaks free and a large battle erupts; in the ensuing chaos, Leia strangles Jabba to death with her slave chains, Han inadvertently knocks Boba Fett, the bounty hunter who captured him, into the gaping maw of the Sarlacc, and Luke destroys Jabba's sail barge, escaping with his allies. As Han and Leia rendezvous with the other Rebels, Luke returns to Dagobah where he finds that Yoda is dying. With his last breaths, Yoda confirms that the evil Darth Vader is Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker, and that Luke must confront him again. He and the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi also reveal that Luke has a twin sister, whom Luke deduces to be Leia.
The Rebel Alliance learn that the Empire has been constructing a new battle station larger and more powerful than the first Death Star. In a plan to destroy the new weapon, Han is elected to lead a strike team to destroy the battle station's shield generator on the forest moon of Endor, allowing a squadron of starfighters to enter the incomplete infrastructure and destroy the station from within. Returning from Dagobah, Luke joins the strike team along with Leia, but soon fears that, sensing Darth Vader's presence, he may be endangering the mission. On Endor, Luke and his companions encounter a primitive yet intelligent tribe of Ewoks and form an alliance with them. Later, Luke confesses to Leia everything he knows about his relationship to Vader and to her, and that he is leaving to confront Vader one more time, believing that there is still good in him.
Luke and Vader board the Death Star and meet the evil Emperor, who reveals that Luke's allies are walking into a trap. Back on Endor, the Rebels are captured by Imperial forces, but a surprise counterattack by the Ewoks allows the Rebels to fight back. During the strike team's assault, Lando Calrissian leads the Rebel fleet in the Millennium Falcon to the Death Star, only to find the station's shield is still up. As a dogfight ensues, the Emperor tempts Luke to give in to his anger and join the dark side of the Force. A lightsaber duel between Luke and Vader erupts, during which Vader searches Luke's thoughts and learns that Luke has a sister. When Vader suggests she would turn to the dark side instead, Luke cannot contain his anger and viciously attacks his father, slicing off his hand. However, he comes to his senses and, despite the Emperor's goading, spares his father and declares himself a Jedi. Enraged, the Emperor begins to slowly kill Luke with Force lightning. His son's agonized pleas for help causes Vader to repent, becoming Anakin Skywalker once more. He turns on the Emperor and casts him down a reactor shaft to his death, but is mortally wounded by the Emperor's lightning. Luke removes Anakin's mask to look into the eyes of the pale, withered man that is his father. Having seen his son with his own eyes for the first and final time, Anakin dies, finally at peace.
Back on Endor, the strike team finally destroys the shield generator, and the Rebel fleet seizes the opportunity to launch a final assault on the Death Star. Lando leads his remaining comrades into the station and fires at the main reactor, causing it to collapse. Luke escapes on an Imperial shuttle with his father's body before the Death Star explodes, as does Lando. On Endor, Leia reveals to Han that Luke is her brother, and they share a kiss. That evening, Luke returns to Endor and cremates his father's armor on a funeral pyre. The entire galaxy celebrates the fall of the Empire. During the Rebels' own celebration on Endor, Luke catches sight of the spiritual figures of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and his redeemed father Anakin, who watch over them with pride.
Cast
- Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker: A Jedi Knight in his own belief, Luke has, in the year since his encounter with Darth Vader at Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back, been trained further by Yoda.
- Harrison Ford as Han Solo: Frozen in carbonite by Darth Vader at Cloud City, Han is freed by Princess Leia, only to be sentenced to death by Jabba the Hutt.
- Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa: A former princess from Alderaan, Leia has been aiding Luke in his search for Han.
- Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian: After Cloud City was taken over by the Galactic Empire, Lando joined the Rebel Alliance, and aided Luke in his search for Han Solo.
- Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: Luke Skywalker's protocol droid, Threepio is instrumental in establishing friendly relations between the Rebels and the Ewoks on Endor, who mistakenly believe him to be a god.
- Kenny Baker as R2-D2: Luke Skywalker's astromech droid.
- Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca: Han Solo's Wookiee co-pilot and close friend.
- Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker: Luke's father, Anakin, was a Jedi Knight before being seduced by the dark side of the Force and becoming Darth Vader. Shaw was partly replaced by Hayden Christensen in the 2004 DVD release of the film.
- Ian McDiarmid as The Emperor: The supreme evil ruler of the Galactic Empire and Dark Lord of the Sith, the Emperor has been pleased by the success of the Imperial offensive, and the plight of the Rebel Alliance. He now plans to destroy the Alliance with the new Death Star and turn Luke Skywalker to the dark side of the Force.
- David Prowse as Darth Vader : Vader has been relentlessly continuing his search for Luke, but he is set off course when the Emperor sends him to Endor to oversee the construction of the new Death Star and to prepare for the Rebel strike. James Earl Jones provided the voice of Vader.
- Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi: Struck down by Vader on the first Death Star four years earlier, Obi-Wan continues to offer guidance to Luke as a Jedi spirit.
- Frank Oz performing Yoda. After 900 years of training Jedi, Yoda finally prepares to resign his soul and become one with the Force.
- Denis Lawson as Wedge Antilles: Wedge is now the leader of Rogue Squadron, and he prepares to aid (now General) Lando Calrissian in the fighter attack on the Death Star. This is the only film in the original trilogy in which Lawson's name is spelled correctly in the ending credits. In the other films, his name is misspelled "Dennis".
- Kenneth Colley as Admiral Piett: Piett, one of the few officers under Vader's command to survive his wrath, commands the Imperial Fleet at Endor from the H.I.M.S. Executor.
- Warwick Davis as Wicket: An Ewok who leads Leia and eventually her friends to the Ewok tribe.
- Jeremy Bulloch as Boba Fett: A bounty hunter who, after capturing and delivering Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt, stays on at the crime lord's palace and engages in the battle above the Sarlacc.
Kenny Baker was originally cast as the Ewok Wicket, but got replaced by 11-year-old Warwick Davis after falling ill with food poisoning on the morning of the shoot. Davis had no previous acting experience and was cast only after his grandmother had discovered an open call for short people for the new Star Wars film.
Production
Development
With The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas fought and won his battle for independence from Hollywood; as with the previous film, Lucas personally funded Return of the Jedi. Having quit the Directors Guild of America during post-production of The Empire Strikes Back, it was no longer possible for Lucas to hire his long-time friend Steven Spielberg as director. David Lynch, with a Best Director nomination for the 1980 film The Elephant Man, was approached by Lucas to helm Return of the Jedi, but he declined in favor of directing Dune. He eventually chose Welsh director Richard Marquand. Some reports have suggested that Lucas was so heavily involved in the shooting of Return of the Jedi that he could be considered a second or a co-director. It is likely that he directed much of the second unit work personally as the shooting threatened to go over schedule — this is a function Lucas had willingly performed on previous occasions when he had only officially been producing a film (i.e. Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, More American Graffiti). Lucas himself has admitted to being on the set frequently due to Marquand's relative inexperience with special effects. Although the working relationship between Lucas and Marquand was said to be bad, Lucas has insisted that the opposite was true and praised Marquand for being a "very nice person who worked well with actors". Marquand did note that Lucas kept a conspicuous presence on set, joking, "It is rather like trying to direct King Lear - with Shakespeare in the next room!"
The screenplay was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Lucas (with uncredited contributions by David Peoples and Marquand), based on Lucas' story. Unusually, the screenplay itself was not created until rather late in pre-production, well after a production schedule and budget had been created by Kazanjian and Marquand had been hired. Instead, the production team relied on Lucas's story and rough draft in order to commence work with the art department. When it came time to formally write a shooting script, Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand, and Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas; Kasdan used tape transcripts of these meetings to then construct the script. The issue of whether Harrison Ford would return for the final film arose during pre-production. Unlike the other stars of the first two films, Ford had not signed on for two more sequels. Ford's idea was to have Han Solo be killed through self-sacrifice. Kasdan concurred, saying it should happen near the beginning of the film to instill doubt as to whether the others would survive, but Lucas was vehemently against it and rejected the concept. Yoda was originally not meant to appear in the film but Marquand strongly felt that returning to Dagobah was essential to resolve the dilemma raised by the previous film. The inclusion led Lucas to insert a scene in which Yoda confirms that Darth Vader is Luke's father because, after a discussion with a children's psychologist, he did not want younger moviegoers to dismiss Vader's claim as a lie. Many ideas from the original script were left out or changed. For instance, the Ewoks were going to be Wookiees, the Millennium Falcon would be used in the arrival at the Forest moon of Endor instead of the Death Star attack, and Obi-Wan Kenobi would return to life from his existence in the Force.
Filming
Filming began on January 11, 1982 and lasted through May 20, 1982, a schedule six weeks shorter than The Empire Strikes Back. Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting as early as possible in order to give Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) as much time as possible to work on effects, and left some crew members dubious of their ability to be fully prepared for the shoot. Working on a budget of $32,500,000, Lucas was determined to keep the budget from skyrocketing the way it had done on The Empire Strikes Back. Producer Howard Kazanjian estimated that using ILM (owned wholly by Lucasfilm) for special effects saved the production approximately $18,000,000. However, the fact that Lucasfilm was a non-union company made acquiring shooting locations more difficult and more expensive, even though Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back had been big hits. The project was given the working title Blue Harvest with a tagline of "Horror Beyond Imagination." This disguised what the production crew was really filming from fans and the prying eyes of the press and also prevented price gouging by service providers.
The first stage of production started with 78 days at Elstree Studios in England, where the film occupied all nine stages. The shoot commenced with a scene later deleted from the finished film where the heroes get caught in a sandstorm as they leave Tatooine. (This was the only major sequence cut from the film during editing.) While attempting to film Luke Skywalker's battle with the rancor beast, Lucas insisted on trying to create the scene in the same style as Toho's Godzilla films by using a stunt performer inside a suit. The production team made several attempts, but were unable to create an adequate result. Lucas eventually relented and decided to film the rancor as a high-speed puppet. In April, the crew moved to the Yuma Desert in Arizona for two weeks of Tatooine exteriors. Production then moved to the redwood forests of northern California near Crescent City where two weeks were spent shooting the Endor forest exteriors, and then concluded at ILM in San Rafael, California for about ten days of bluescreen shots. One of two "skeletal" post-production units shooting background matte plates spent a day in Death Valley. The other was a special Steadicam unit shooting forest backgrounds from June 15–17, 1982 for the speeder chase near the middle of the film. Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown personally operated these shots as he walked through a disguised path inside the forest shooting at one frame per second (fps). By walking at about and projecting the footage at 24 fps, the motion seen in the film appears as if it were moving at around .
Music
John Williams composed and conducted the film's musical score with performances by the London Symphony Orchestra. The initial release of the film's soundtrack was on the RSO Records label in the United States. Sony Classical Records acquired the rights to the classic trilogy scores in 2004 after gaining the rights to release the second trilogy soundtracks (The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones). In the same year, Sony Classical re-pressed the 1997 RCA Victor release of Return of the Jedi along with the other two films in the trilogy. The set was released with the new artwork mirroring the first DVD release of the film. Despite the Sony digital re-mastering, which minimally improved the sound heard only on high-end stereos, this 2004 release is essentially the same as the 1997 RCA Victor release.
Post-production
Meanwhile, special effects work at ILM quickly stretched the company to its operational limits. While the R&D work and experience gained from the previous two films in the trilogy allowed for increased efficiency, this was offset by the desire to have the closing film raise the bar set by each of these films. A compounding factor was the intention of several departments of ILM to either take on other film work or decrease staff during slow cycles. Instead, as soon as production began, the entire company found it necessary to remain running 20 hours a day on six day weeks in order to meet their goals by April 1, 1983. Of about 900 special effects shots, all VistaVision optical effects remained in-house, since ILM was the only company capable of using the format, while about 400 4-perf opticals were subcontracted to outside effects houses. Progress on the opticals was severely retarded for a time due to ILM rejecting about of film when the film perforations failed image registration and steadiness tests.
The film was originally titled Revenge of the Jedi, and the original teaser trailer for the film carried this moniker. A released teaser poster created by Drew Struzan containing the dismissed title has since become a rare collector's item. Of notice are the lightsaber colors on the teaser poster shown: Luke is seen wielding a red lightsaber while Vader wields a blue one. However, a few weeks before the film's premiere, Lucas changed the title, saying "revenge" could not be used, as it is not a Jedi concept. The 2005 prequel trilogy film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith later alluded to the dismissed title of Revenge of the Jedi.
Releases
Return of the Jedis theatrical release took place on May 25, 1983. It was originally slated to be May 27, but was subsequently changed to coincide with the date of the 1977 release of Star Wars: A New Hope. With a massive worldwide marketing campaign, illustrator Tim Reamer created the iconic and distinctive image for the movie poster and other advertising. At the time of its release, the film was advertised simply as Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, despite its on-screen "Episode VI" distinction. This was evident on release posters and merchandise. The original film was re-released to theaters in 1985; an updated theatrical version was released in 1997 as the Special Edition.
The original theatrical version of Return of the Jedi was released on VHS and Laserdisc several times between 1986 and 1995, followed by releases of the Special Edition in the same formats between 1997 and 2000. Some of these releases contained featurettes; some were individual releases of just this film, while others were boxed sets of all three original films.
Reception
Although a critical and commercial hit, Return of the Jedi is considered by many critics and fans to be a slightly lesser achievement than its predecessors. At Rotten Tomatoes, Return of the Jedis 74% approval rating is surpassed by The Empire Strikes Back (97 percent), A New Hope (95 percent), and one film of the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith (79 percent).
Contemporary critics were largely complimentary. In 1983, movie critic Roger Ebert gave the film a four-star rating, and James Kendrick of Q Network Film Desk described Return of the Jedi as "a magnificent experience." The film was also featured on the May 23, 1983 TIME magazine cover issue (where it was labeled "Star Wars III"), with the reviewer Gerald Clarke saying that while it was not as exciting as the first Star Wars film, it was "better and more satisfying" than The Empire Strikes Back, now considered by many as the best of the original trilogy. The film grossed US $475 million worldwide. Vincent Canby, who enjoyed the first film and despised the second, felt that Return of the Jedi was the worst of all three. According to Rotten Tomatoes, Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also disliked the film, stating it "Lack[s] the humanity and richly drawn characters that brighten Star Wars." However, Siskel later gave Return of the Jedi thumbs up on the television show Siskel & Ebert during the release of The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition, saying: "This is my least favorite of the three episodes. That doesn't make it bad, the others are just a lot better." Siskel went on to praise the opening sequence at the Sarlaac pit and the chase sequence involving speeder bikes, but he states his dislike for the closing scenes involving the Ewoks. The New York Posts Rex Reed negatively reviewed the film, stating "Let's not pretend we're watching art!"
At the 56th Academy Awards in 1984, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Phil Tippett received the "Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects." Norman Reynolds, Fred Hole, James L. Schoppe, and Michael Ford were nominated for "Best Art Direction/Set Decoration". Ben Burtt received a nomination for "Best Sound Effects Editing". John Williams received the nomination for "Best Music, Original Score". Burtt, Gary Summers, Randy Thom, and Tony Dawe all received the nominations for "Best Sound". At the 1984 BAFTA Awards, Edlund, Muren, Ralston, and Kit West won for "Best Special Visual Effects". Tippett and Stuart Freeborn were also nominated for "Best Makeup". Reynolds received a nomination for "Best Production Design/Art Direction". Burtt, Dawe, and Summers also received nominations for "Best Sound". Williams was also nominated "Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special". The film also won for "Best Dramatic Presentation" at the 1984 Hugo Awards.
While the action set pieces – particularly the speeder bike chase on the Endor moon, the space battle between Rebel and Imperial pilots, and Luke Skywalker's duel against Darth Vader – are well-regarded, the ground battle between the Ewoks and Imperial stormtroopers remains a bone of contention. Fans are also divided on the likelihood of Ewoks (being an extremely primitive race of small creatures armed with sticks and rocks) defeating an armed ground force comprising the Empire's "best troops". Lucas has defended the scenario, saying that the Ewoks' purpose was to distract the Imperial troops and that the Ewoks did not really win.
Special edition
In 1997, for the 20th Anniversary of the release of Star Wars (retitled A New Hope), Lucas released The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition. Along with the two other films in the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi was re-released on March 14, 1997 with a number of changes and additions, which included the insertion of several alien band members in Jabba's throne room, the replacement of music at the closing scene and a montage of different alien worlds celebrating the fall of the Empire. According to Lucas, Return of the Jedi required fewer changes than the previous two films because it is more emotionally driven than the others. The changes have caused controversy among the fans as some believe that they detract from the films.
Home video release
On September 21, 2004, the Special Editions of all three original films were released in a boxed set on DVD (along with a bonus disc). It was digitally restored and remastered, with additional changes made by George Lucas. The DVD also featured English subtitles, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX surround sound, and commentaries by George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher. The bonus disc included documentaries including Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy and several featurettes including "The Characters of Star Wars", "The Birth of the Lightsaber", and "The Legacy of Star Wars". Also included were teasers, trailers, TV spots, still galleries, and a demo for Star Wars: Battlefront.
With the release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which depicts how and why Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side of the Force, Lucas once again altered Return of the Jedi to strengthen the relationship between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy. The original and Special Edition versions of Return of the Jedi featured British theatre actor Sebastian Shaw playing both the dying Anakin Skywalker and his ghost. In the DVD release, Shaw's portrayal of Anakin's ghost is replaced by Hayden Christensen, who portrayed Anakin in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The change drew further fan criticism directed toward Lucas (as well as a lampoon in an episode of Family Guy.) The set was re-issued in December 2005 as part of a three-disc "limited edition" boxed set that did not feature the bonus disc.
All three films in the original Star Wars trilogy have since been released, individually, on DVD, each compiled with its original theatrical release cut as well as the 2004 DVD Special Edition. These versions were originally slated to only be available from September 12, 2006 to December 31, 2006, although they remained in print and were packaged with the 2004 versions again in a new set on November 4, 2008. Although the 2004 versions in these sets each feature an audio commentary, no other extra special features were included to commemorate the original cuts.
Marketing
Novelization
The novelization of Return of the Jedi was written by James Kahn and was released on May 12, 1983, thirteen days before the film's release. It contains many scenes that were deleted from the final cut as well as certain assertions which have since been superseded by the prequel trilogy. For example, Kahn writes that Owen Lars is the brother of Obi-Wan Kenobi, while in Attack of the Clones he is instead shown to be the stepbrother of Anakin Skywalker. When Leia is captured by Jabba, instead of him saying "I'm sure" to her warning of her powerful friends, he says, "I'm sure, but in the meantime, I shall thoroughly enjoy the pleasure of your company." Additionally, instead of simply licking his lips as seen in the movie, he is described as planting "a beastly kiss squarely on the Princess's lips." Later, the Force spirit of Obi-Wan reveals that he was able to hide Luke and Leia from Anakin because he did not know that his wife was pregnant when he "left," presumably when he became Vader. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin does know about Padmé Amidala's pregnancy, but it is to be assumed that Vader will believe the baby (not twins) to be dead along with his wife given that Padmé is mocked up to look pregnant at her funeral. The novel also states that Obi-Wan took Luke's mother and baby Leia to Alderaan after the birth of the twins. It also, briefly, alludes to the duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin.
A facet of the story which was made more clear in the novel was the confusion which overtook the Imperial forces upon the death of Palpatine, who ceased to be the guiding will animating the Empire. It also further supports the events depicted in all post-Return of the Jedi fiction.
Radio drama
A radio drama adaptation of the film was written by Brian Daley with additional material contributed by John Whitman and was produced for and broadcast on National Public Radio in 1996. It was based on characters and situations created by George Lucas and on the screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The first two Star Wars films were similarly adapted for National Public Radio in the early 1980s, but it was not until 1996 that a radio version of Return of the Jedi was heard. Anthony Daniels returned as C-3PO, but Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams did not reprise their roles as they had for the first two radio dramas. John Lithgow voiced Yoda, whose voice actor in the films has always been Frank Oz. Ed Asner also guest-starred speaking only in grunts as the voice of Jabba the Hutt. The radio drama had a running time of three hours.
External links
- at ** at The World of Star Wars
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