Star Wars - Episode 6 'Return Of The Jedi'

Return Of The Jedi

1983 George

Lucas delivered to his

eagerly waiting public the

final chapter to his Star Wars trilogy.

"Return Of The Jedi"

Luke: I used to live here you know? Han: Your gonna die here, you know?

It was greeted with mixed responses from the fans who had loved and lived the lives of they're hero's from a long long time ago, and in a galaxy far far away.

Some either liked the childlike family style it had taken on, or loathed it's merchandised cursed plague.

Why oh why those Ewoks?

A planet of Wookiee's would have been acceptable, but no, we got Ewoks.

Watching the film recently I found myself accepting them now, but back when I first watched this chapter of the saga I was truly disappointed. How could he come up with these cute little 'balls of fur' overtaking the empires 'best troops' on that planet of Endor?

Does Jabba know how to pick his slaves or what? The truth of the matter all comes down to the merchandising of these films, and this last one just went too far. Yes the Ewoks were accepted by the new young viewers, but the original fans of the trilogy just couldn't take it.

While were at it...Other nit-picking:

Who wrote Han Solo's dialogue? Why does everything he say have to be a joke of some kind? He was reduced to a comical pawn, along side the wimping C3P0.

Chewie's Tarzan yell?

Another Death Star? Come on.

But I digress (always wanted to say that), like I had said above, I have now come to accept those furballs, although Han's dialogue (Ahh!). One reason is that there is so much more to this film to enjoy.

Jabba's lair is truly one of the greatest set pieces in the trilogy. It's dark, unpredictable, slimy, and extremely violent (those frogs in the bowel haven't a chance!).

The Speeder-Bike chase through the forests of Endor are what big movies like this on the big screen are all about.

How would an Ewok know how to fly one of these things anyway?

We'll skip the Ewok stuff here. Nuff said on that subject.

The final, wow, juggling the three events as they happen at once is really quite a feat for a filmmaker, and I think director Marquand did pretty well.

So much to love here. Admiral Ackbar heading the battle in the stars ("It's a trap!"), Han and company trying to get the shields of the Death Star down ("You Rebel scum."), and the final confrontation between Luke and father (Anakin) Darth Vader("I am a Jedi, like my father before me."). That scene in particular is my favorite from the entire trilogy. Luke wailing away at Vader after realizing he failed at hiding Leia's link to the family. So be it.....Jedi

Then there is the Emperor. The personification of all evil. He is really the true evil to this saga. In 'Jedi' he is extremely horrifying, no sympathy there. He enjoys this power. Just look at his face while he's administering Luke's torture. It's just too bad he was disposed of so easily, or was he?

Weather you like it or hate it, Return Of The Jedi is part of the entire Star Wars universe. I feel now, after countless viewings, and with the new films coming up, that it will be a fine uplifting closing act to this unfortunate family saga.

Oh yeah, and thank composer John Williams for changing that damn Ewok celebration song in the Special Edition Re-Release to the beautiful piece of music it is now.

Always reminded me of Kermit the Frog on acid

A View From Doc: I saw Return of the Jedi on opening day in 1983 at the same River Oaks theater. As with most people, I hated the Ewoks. I think the original idea of having the moon Endor being the home of the Wookiees would have been better. My favorite scenes were Luke in Jabba's castle.

A View From Terry: I saw Return of the Jedi with the same batch of friends (minus Rob Arlt...I think) on opening day in 1983. I was a college dropout by then, so I didn't have to worry about missing any class (funny...I never worried about that when I was in college, either!). I hate to say this...but generally, I felt let down. I hated the "rescue Han from Jabba" part (although, Carrie Fisher did look fine in that slave girl outfit). I didn't like the fact that Luke was split off from the main characters for most of the movie. What really chaffed my hide was that I felt like I was watching an episode of the friggin' Muppets! There were way too many "cute creatures," especially those damned Ewoks. I won't even mention the recycled footage from the first movie..okay! I will! How cheap! Ending the movie with yet another "gotta destroy the Death Star" scene! Thank God for the pivotal duel between Luke and Vader, and the Emperor's appearance. These scenes were the only thing that saved the movie. Where I saw Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back dozens of times each, I've only seen Jedi two or three times.