Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

Director:

Richard Marquand

Writers:

George Lucas (story)
Lawrence Kasdan (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 May 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Coming May 25, 1983 to your galaxy. [Second Advance poster]

Plot:

After rescuing Han Solo from the palace of Jabba the Hutt, the Rebels attempt to destroy the Second Death Star, while Luke Skywalker tries to bring his father back to the Light Side of the Force.

Plot Keywords:

Rebel | Death Star | Empire | Princess | Jabba The Hutt

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Mark Hamill	...	Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford	...	Han Solo
Carrie Fisher	...	Princess Leia
Billy Dee Williams	...	Lando Calrissian
Anthony Daniels	...	C-3PO
Peter Mayhew	...	Chewbacca
Sebastian Shaw	...	Anakin Skywalker
Ian McDiarmid	...	The Emperor
Frank Oz	...	Yoda (voice)
James Earl Jones	...	Voice of Darth Vader (voice)
David Prowse	...	Darth Vader
Alec Guinness	...	Ben 'Obi-Wan' Kenobi
Kenny Baker	...	R2-D2 / Paploo
Michael Pennington	...	Moff Jerjerrod
Kenneth Colley	...	Admiral Piett

Also Known As:

Blue Harvest (USA) (fake working title)
Revenge of the Jedi (USA) (working title)
Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (USA) (video box title)
Star Wars: Episode VI - Revenge of the Jedi (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sci-fi action violence. (special edition, DVD version)

Runtime:

134 min | 135 min (special edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | DTS (special edition) | Dolby Digital (special edition) | Dolby (35 mm prints) | SDDS (special edition)

Certification:

Iceland:L (original rating) | Malaysia:U | Iceland:10 (special edition) | Iceland:12 (special edition) (video release) | Canada:G (British Columbia/Quebec) | South Korea:All | Brazil:Livre | Hong Kong:I | South Africa:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (special edition) | Chile:TE | Denmark:11 (special edition) | Denmark:12 (original rating) | Finland:K-12 (original rating) | Finland:K-8 (special edition) | France:U | Ireland:G | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:11 (re-rating) | Norway:12 (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG (special edition) | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Buttercup Valley, California, USA

Company:

Lucasfilm

Trivia:

The inside of Jabba the Hutt's palace is deliberately styled to resemble the Mos Eisley cantina in the first film. George Lucas wanted to redo the scene but with a bigger budget and without having to rely on stock masks.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just after landing on Endor, the rebels spot some storm troopers in the forest. You can see a close-up of Luke and Leia. The left side of Leia's helmet has a large round dent in it. During the speeder bike scene there is a shot of the left side of her helmet and there is no dent.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Shuttle captain: Command station, this is ST321, code clearance blue. We're starting our approach; deactivate the security shield.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Jedi Rocks

...and the trilogy is finished with yet another great film.

After "Star Wars: A New Hope" redefined science fiction, and "The Empire Strikes Back" redefined "Star Wars", it's hard to believe that the third and final film of this trilogy can manage to be as good as the other two, but this one really does a nice job. The first part of the film resolves the cliffhanger left by the previous one, with an elaborate escape plan that is in keeping with the incredible suspense and action of the first two films. Then the film moves back to the rebel alliance and what's going on in the war. There is a lot of action in the scenes building up to the rebellion's final confrontation with the Emperor. When the battle begins, the audience is already on the edge of their seats from everything leading up to it, and this final battle is even more intense than those from the other films. This climax is definitely more dense with action than any other part of the trilogy, with the most at stake for the rebellion. This is continually changing between a ground battle between the rebel strike crew on land (including Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Leia), the battle raging on in space (including Lando), and a confrontation between Luke and the Emperor on the new Death Star, which leads up to another duel with Darth Vader. It is really intense since the rebels constantly seem to be losing the battle that will determine the outcome of the war, and there seems to be no escape. Although I think the idea of Ewoks overpowering stormtroopers is a bit far-fetched, it didn't seem very unrealistic since they were more of a distraction that the rebels could use, rather than an actual threat to the stormtroopers, although they did have some luck fighting them. There is also a twist or two at the end that nobody saw coming, which may not be quite as stunning as that of "The Empire Strikes Back", but still complete a very spectacular trilogy very well. With the light tone of "A New Hope" and the more sinnister tone of "The Empire Strikes Back", this film really completes them by combining the two in this grand finale. The Special Edition for "Return of the Jedi" concentrated on what would have been nice to change, since not much of the original really needed it. Fifteen years of technology advancements didn't seem to make up for fifteen years of deterioration as far as the rancor scene is concerned, and there still is the occasional disappearing TIE fighter, but other than that it was good. The gaping non-threatening Sarlaac's mouth was given moving tentacles and a huge fly-trap looking head that emerged, which definitely added to the suspense. Also, the disco was taken out of Jabba's palace, and the lame ending of the original was replaced by a huge victory celebration spanning the entire galaxy, instead of just a small Ewok village, which was the case of the original and that didn't really end a story this big the way it deserved. It's hard to say which of the three films was the best, but since it's all part of the same story, the over-all trilogy is like one big, outstanding film. A THIRD must-see for film fans.