Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
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| Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi |
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| Directed by | Richard Marquand George Lucas |
| Written by | George Lucas Lawrence Kasdan |
| Starring | Mark Hamill Harrison Ford Carrie Fisher Billy Dee Williams |
| Produced by | Howard Kazanjian George Lucas Rick McCallum (SE) |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date | May 25, 1983 (USA) |
| Runtime | 134 min., 135 min. (SE) |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $32,500,000 |
| IMDb page | |
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (often abbreviated ROTJ by fans) is the sixth and final chapter (but the third to be released) in the popular six-part Star Wars film series by George Lucas. It debuted in 1983, and was re-released with changes in 1997 and 2004. A 3-D release is planned for 2007.
In this epic conclusion of the saga, Luke Skywalker and friends travel to Tatooine to rescue their friend, Han Solo. The Empire prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star while the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts his father, Darth Vader, in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.
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Plot summary
The opening crawl reveals that the Galactic Empire is working on the construction of a new armored space station which is to be even more powerful than the first Death Star. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker and his friends return to Tatooine in an attempt to rescue Han Solo from the gangster Jabba the Hutt.
R2-D2 and C-3PO arrive at Jabba's palace with a holographic message from Luke that unsuccessfully pleads Jabba the Hutt to release Han Solo, who is held prisoner in carbonite. In the middle of the night, Princess Leia, disguised as a bounty hunter, removes her disguise and frees Solo from the carbonite, only to be overseen and captured by Jabba. The next morning, Luke arrives to make one final plea to Jabba to release Solo, but Jabba orders Luke to be thrown into the pit of the rancor monster. Luke overpowers the Rancor and kills it, and as punishment, Jabba sends Luke and his friends to the Pit of Carkoon to be destroyed by the Sarlacc. With the help of R2-D2, Luke retrieves his lightsaber, and a large battle erupts, in which Jabba is killed. Luke and crew escape just before Jabba's Sail Barge explodes.
Luke returns to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training, but Yoda is ill, and says no further training is required. Before dying, Yoda tells Luke that all that remains to be done is to confront Darth Vader, who Yoda confirms is indeed Luke's father. Later, the spirit form of Obi-Wan Kenobi appears, and confirms that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, a former Jedi who turned to the Dark Side. It is also revealed that Princess Leia is Luke's twin sister, hidden from Luke at birth to protect them both from the Emperor.
At the rendezvous point, the Rebel Alliance discusses the plan to attack the new Death Star. As part of the plan, Luke and his companions must penetrate the shield generator on the moon of Endor and deactivate the shield that protects the Death Star.
On Endor, Luke and his companions are discovered by Scout Troopers, but they manage to escape following a speeder bike chase through the forest. They later encounter a tribe of Ewoks, indigenous forest creatures of Endor. They forge an alliance with the Ewoks, who agree to join the fight against the Empire. Later, Luke decides that the time has come for him to leave Endor and face Darth Vader. He surrenders peacefully to the Empire, and unsuccessfully tries to convince Vader to abandon the Dark Side. They go to the Death Star and meet the Emperor, who reveals that the Rebel Alliance is falling into a trap that he had prepared.
Later on Endor, the Rebels enter the shield generator, only to be taken prisoner by waiting Imperial forces. Solo and company are led out of the bunker, but the Ewoks begin their attack. A battle begins with the Rebels and Ewoks against the Empire.
The Rebel fleet emerges from hyperspace for the battle over Endor, but they discover that the shield of the Death Star is still up. An intense space battle takes place as the Imperial fleet fights a holding action to prevent the Rebels from running for deep space, while the Rebel fleet battles to give the surface party more time to complete their mission of deactivating the Death Star's shield.
On the Death Star, Luke duels with Darth Vader and gains the upper hand in the battle, but refuses to kill him even when prodded by the Emperor. Realizing that Luke cannot be swayed, the Emperor uses Force lightning against him to deliver the final blow. Deeply affected by the sight of his son dying, Darth Vader (now Anakin Skywalker once again) lifts the Emperor, and despite the deadly Force lightning surging through his suit, drops his former master into a chasm, killing him. Knowing there is no hope for his own survival, Anakin asks Luke to take his mask off. Luke removes the helmet, revealing the pale face of his father. Anakin says Luke was right about him, and asks him to tell his sister the same. With that, Anakin Skywalker dies.
Once the rebels finally destroy the shield generator, the opportunity is seized to assault the Death Star. Lando Calrissian leads Wedge Antilles and his fighter group into the bowels of the Death Star and they fire at the main reactor, causing its collapse. Luke, with the remnants of his father, escapes the Death Star, and moments later, so do Wedge and Lando just as the Death Star explodes.
That evening, Luke cremates the remains of his father. The entire galaxy celebrates the death of the Emperor, the downfall of the Empire and the end of the Galactic Civil War. Amidst the celebration on Endor, Luke catches sight of the spirit figures of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Anakin Skywalker.
Cast
Overview
The film's director was the late Richard Marquand, who passed away in 1987 of a heart ailment, but reports have suggested that George Lucas was still heavily involved in the shooting of Return of the Jedi and likely directed some of the second unit work personally when shooting threatened to go over schedule. Lucas admits in the documentary Empire of Dreams that he had to often be on the set due to Marquand's relative inexperience with special effects, but comments by The Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner on that film's DVD audio commentary track suggests that Lucas, who acted more as an advisor on The Empire Strikes Back, had a similar role on the production of Return of the Jedi. Moreover, George Lucas, according to Kershner, called The Empire Strikes Back Kershner's movie, not his.
Some have noted the differences between Richard Marquand's direction style and Lucas' direction style and say that they're dissimilar. The screenplay was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Lucas (with uncredited contributions by David Webb Peoples), based on Lucas' story. Howard Kazanjian served as producer.
The film was originally named Revenge of the Jedi until it was pointed out that a Jedi taking revenge is contrary to the strict Jedi code, though many speculate that George Lucas had planned to call the film Return of the Jedi all along, and only used "Revenge" as a means to throw off merchandise counterfeiters. It has also been claimed that the original title of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was originally The Vengeance of Khan, and that the title was changed because of its similarity to Revenge of the Jedi. In any event, the original title was partially reused for Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
For several reasons, the working title of the project was Blue Harvest and dubbed "Horror Beyond Imagination" to engender no interest whatsoever in order to disguise what the production crew was really filming from fans and the prying eyes of the press. George Lucas had severed all his remaining ties to the Hollywood system out of a feeling of persecution after the success of The Empire Strikes Back and had become a truly independent filmmaker. Lucasfilm is a non-union company, and despite George Lucas' stature and clout, that, says Howard Kazanjian in Empire of Dreams, made acquiring shooting locations more difficult and more expensive, even though A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back were mammoth hits.
Reaction
Return of the Jedi is widely considered by many critics and fans as the weakest film of the original trilogy. Some indication of public opinion can be gleaned by its relatively modest 125th place ranking in the Internet Movie Database's Top 250 films list. As a comparison, A New Hope is ranked at #8, and The Empire Strikes Back is ranked #9.
While the action sequences, particularly the breathtaking speeder bike chase on the Endor moon, the dogfight between Rebel and Imperial pilots, and Luke Skywalker's duel against Darth Vader are well-regarded, the ground battle between the Ewoks and the Stormtroopers remains a bone of contention. A large number of fans believe George Lucas pushed the "cutesy" factor with the Ewoks. However, fans seem to be rather divided on the premise that an extremely primitive race of small creatures could, albeit with minimal aid, defeat an armed ground force comprised of the Empire's best troops. Some fans call it ludicrous, while others credit the Ewoks' bravery, ingenuity, and determination.
But an overwhelmingly large number of fans believe the fact that the Ewoks considered C-3PO a deity to be stretching credibility even in the purview of a fantasy adventure story, and flatly dislike the kitschy Tarzan yell by Chewbacca as he swings from a vine on top of an Imperial Scout Walker (an incident that was nonetheless repeated in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.)
However, contemporary critics seem to have been largely complimentary. In 1983, Roger Ebert gave the film a four-star rating, and Gary Arnold of the Washington Post described Return of the Jedi as "a triumph".
Re-release
Special Edition
Along with the other two films of his original Trilogy, George Lucas issued a Special Edition of Return of the Jedi in 1997, making a number of changes and additions, including replacing a piece of music from the closing scene.
2004 DVD Special Edition
On September 21, 2004 the three original movies were finally released on DVD. There were a few further minor changes to the film on this release - such as sound effects and improvements to the visual quality of the film.
During the sequence when the Emperor's defeat at Endor is announced to the galaxy, an additional scene showing the celebrations in the city of Theed on Naboo was added. A Gungan can be heard yelling, "We-sa free!".
The Shaw/Christensen Controversy
With the impending release of the third episode that depicts how and why Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side of the Force, George Lucas once again altered Return of the Jedi to strengthen the relationship between the original trilogy to the prequel trilogy.
In Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker is played by Hayden Christensen. However, in the original and Special Edition version of Return of the Jedi, a much older man named Sebastian Shaw played both the dying Anakin Skywalker and his ghost. In the DVD release, Anakin's ghost has become a young man, played by Hayden Christensen.
Expanded Universe
In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the Battle of Endor was not the end of the story. The destruction of the Death Star, the loss of Vader and the Emperor, and the defeat of the Imperial fleet represented a major turning point in the war. Within five years, well over half of what was Imperial space was under the control of the New Republic.
The war continued for another 15 years. The New Republic would be challenged by Imperial commanders, such as Grand Admiral Thrawn, Admiral Daala, Admiral Pellaeon, and Ysanne Isard. The New Republic would even be challenged by the Reborn Emperor—the spirit of Palpatine in a new clone body. But the New Republic would weather all these storms.
Fifteen years after the Battle of Endor Admiral Pellaeon and the other Imperial leaders realized that further military conflict with the New Republic would be fruitless. The remnants of the Imperial forces signed a peace treaty with the New Republic. The decades long Galactic Civil War was finally over.
As several of these stories were written during the period after Return of the Jedi hit theaters and before Episode I: The Phantom Menace was made, numerous potential errors in the Expanded Universe continue to exist and several of the tales have been deemed apocryphal with regards to the continuity of the six films.
The character of Wicket was seen many times, along with other Ewoks, in the two Ewok TV films, which were: Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor; and in an unreleased film of his own, Return of the Ewok, by the man who played him, Warwick Davis.
Trivia
- Filming began on January 11, 1982 and ended on May 20, 1982.
- With a massive worldwide marketing campaign, Star Wars series artist Drew Struzan created the iconic and distinctive images for the movie posters and other advertising. (Ironically, in the film's release poster, Luke Skywalker is depicted holding a blue lightsaber - a lightsaber colour which does not appear in the film. His new lightsaber is green.)
- The first two Star Wars movies were 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. See Star Wars (radio) for details.
- A serious wardrobe problem was present in the film in that all Imperial characters, regardless of rank, are shown wearing identical rank insignia, being that of an Imperial Navy Commander. This was not recognized by the production staff until halfway through the film's shooting and the error remained uncorrected in the final version of the film. However, there are two extras wearing the rank of lieutenant in the scene where the Emperor arrives.
- George Lucas included the scene in which Yoda confirms that Darth Vader is Luke's father because, after a discussion with a children's psychologist, he didn't want younger moviegoers to dismiss Vader's claim as a lie. Ironically, during post production of "Empire," James Earl Jones' first reaction to Vader's revelation was "Oh, he's lying!"
- Kenneth Colley (Admiral Piett) is the only actor to play the same Imperial officer in two Star Wars films.
- This is the only film in the trilogy in which Denis Lawson's name is spelled correctly in the ending credits. In the other films, his name is misspelled "Dennis."
- A legend among fans holds that Lando and the Millennium Falcon were originally scripted to perish in the Death Star explosion. However, Lando was always intended to escape the Death Star, as has been evidenced in past scripts for the movie. The legend had been fueled by the fact that before the Death Star attack, Han tells Leia that he has a feeling he isn't going to see his ship again.
- In the novelization of Return of the Jedi, Han Solo makes reference to Luke Skywalker's initial impression of the Millennium Falcon, calling it "the fastest hunk of junk in the fleet." However, in the film, Solo refers to it simply as "the fastest ship in the fleet."
- The word "Ewok" is never mentioned in the film.
Novelization
The novelization of Return of the Jedi was written by James Kahn. While it contains many scenes that were deleted from the final cut, with the release of Episode III, Kahn's assertion that Anakin Skywalker's memories of "lava crawling up his back" have proven to be in error. In the novelization of Return of the Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi recounts to Luke Skywalker that he and Anakin Skywalker had battled and that his father "fell into a molten pit."
Radio drama
A radio drama adaptation of the film was written by Brian Daley and was produced for and broadcast on the National Public Radio in 1996.
DVD release
Return of the Jedi was released on DVD in September 2004. It was bundled with A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, along with a bonus disc in a boxed set. It was digitally restored and remastered, with more changes made by George Lucas, detailed in List of changes in Star Wars re-releases.
External links
- The official Episode VI site
- Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi at the Internet Movie Database
| Star Wars |
| I: The Phantom Menace | II: Attack of the Clones | III: Revenge of the Sith IV: A New Hope | V: The Empire Strikes Back | VI: Return of the Jedi |
| Spin-off films - Spin-off TV series - Expanded Universe - FanFilms |
