THE RETURN OF THE JEDI RATING: 8 / 10 --> Great movie
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PLOT: The gang of our favorite futuristic rebels must save their buddy Han Solo from the evil clutches of Jabba the Hut, attempt to break through the shield of the Empire's brand new Death Star complex, blow it up, and allow for Luke Skywalker to partake in a showdown with Darth Vader (aka Dad), while saving the galaxy. All that and....meet the cute and cuddly Ewoks!
CRITIQUE: The most kid-friendly film of the trilogy, this one features plenty of great special effects, cool hover-scooter chases in the Forest Moon, a better understanding of the entire Star Wars universe and the players' roles within, and a few surprises thrown in for effect. The ending is also a complete 180 degree turn from the darker Empire conclusion, with just enough space left over to maneuver a few more episodes, if they so desired. I especially liked the last 45 minutes or so, which featured three separate scenarios happening all at once, with the action in the film alternating effectively between the three.
Quite entertaining to say the least, and while the Ewoks were pretty childish, I did still enjoy their goofy presence, and Leia in a skimpy belly-dancer's outfit was just, well....inspirational! :) One thing that totally stuck out with me during the first few scenes, was the obvious use of puppets as some of Jabba's henchmen, and the god-awful blue screen techniques utilized in the underground monster scene with Luke (And I was watching the digitally re-mastered version...go figure!). Other than that little scaffoo, all else was very cool, with plenty of great new added scenes, cool space fights and mechanical monsters, a better grasp of Darth Vader's origin, and a surprisingly tender father/son moment near the end of the film. All in all, a formidable bookend to the greatest science-fiction trilogy of all-time.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: (Most facts gathered from the IMDb) Director David Lynch, was originally offered the chance to direct this episode of the series. He turned it down because he believed it was "Lucas' thing." Director Richard Marquand died of a heart-attack in 1987. Lando Calrissian and The Millennium Falcon originally scripted to perish in the Death Star explosion, but this was changed after a poor preview audience reception. Note Han's line when departing in the stolen Imperial shuttle: "I got a funny feeling, like I'm not going to see her again." Several Ewok lines are in the Filipino (Tagalog) language. Jabba's sail barge was filmed in Yuma, Arizona. The film crew had problems avoiding the 35,000 dune buggy enthusiasts in the area. To preserve secrecy, the producers claimed to be making a horror film called "Blue Harvest (Horror beyond your imagination)", and even had caps and t-shirts made up for the crew. A chain-link fence and a 24-hour security service could not prevent die-hard fans from entering the set and sneaking some photographs. *The dancer that Jabba drops into the Rancor pit loses her top as she falls in. The Endor shots were filmed near Crescent City, California. Forest work was especially hard on the Ewok actors. Production Assistant Ian Bryce arrived on the set one day to find a note from the Ewok actors saying that they had all had enough and they were on their way to the airport. Bryce tried to drive to the airport, but got a flat tire not far from the set. He found another car and was about to leave when the Ewoks' bus pulled up, and all the Ewok actors got off wearing "Revenge of the Ewok" t-shirts. One of the songs that the Ewoks sing sounds like: "Det luktar flingor har", which is Swedish for "It smells of cereal here." Darth Vader's body was played by David Prowse, his voice by James Earl Jones, and his face by Sebastian Shaw. The title "Revenge of the Jedi" was leaked early in production, so that pirated merchandise could be easily spotted when the film was released. The official reason for the change was that "...a Jedi would not take revenge". Some authentic pre-release movie posters actually had "Revenge", and are worth a lot of money today.
Review Date: May 18, 1999
Director: Richard Marquand
Writers: Laurence Kasdan and George Lucas
Producer: Howard G. Kazanjian
Actors: Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia
Harrison Ford as Han Solo
Genre: Science-Fiction
Year of Release: 1983
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(c) 1999 Berge Garabedian
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