STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI (SPECIAL EDITION)
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1997 Michael John Legeros
(Fox)
Directed by Richard Marquand
Written by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas, based on a story by
Lucas
Cast Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee
Williams, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew,
David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Alec Guinness, Frank Oz,
Sebastian Shaw, voice of James Earl Jones
MPAA Rating "PG"
Running Time 133 minutes
Reviewed at Mann's Chinese Theater, Los Angeles, CA (14MAR97)
==
This is the dopiest of the three movies and, thus, the easiest to pick on. The tone is insufferably broad. The cross-cutting is hideous. Even wise old Yoda is a bore, hacking his way through an embarrassing death scene. (Eh heh, eh heh, eh heh, throat lozenge please pass.) And, and, and, so what? To quote someone else's .signature, "The ability to criticize STAR WARS is insignificant next to the power of The Fans." For all the stuff that sucks-- two words: Ewok babies-- there's something else that sends even the casual fan soaring. My favorite moment is watching Vader watching his son getting creamed by the Emperor. Those hollow, plastic eyes chill me to the bone. (That is, once I accept the fact that no amount of purple electricity is going to make Mark Hamill's hair stand on end.) And don't miss the added footage, at the very end, showing celebrations on a couple of other planets. These are the first glimpses into what we'll likely see in two years, when George Lucas unveils the first of his STAR WARS prequels.
Grade: B-
Notes =====
RETURN OF THE JEDI was screened at Mann's Chinese Theater, in Los Angeles. Lines had formed for both the afternoon and evening shows. I had my picture taken with three costumed characters, an Imperial pilot, a Stormtrooper, and an Imperial guard.
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC, USA, Earth legeros@pagesz.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w) I'm also on the Web! http://www.pagesz.net/~legeros/
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