Andy's Archive: Return Of The Jedi (1983)

Credit: 20th Century Fox

When The Empire Strikes Back ended, Luke was given the mother load of bad news and also had a hand cut off. In the meantime, Han Solo was frozen in carbonite and delivered to Jabba the Hutt, so I’m not sure who had it worse. The theme of this movie seems to be the question of whether or not Luke will give in to the Dark Side; his father is the baddest villain in the galaxy, his father also killed his mentor, and he’s told he has a sister who was separated from him at birth. That’s a lot of anger and frustration weighing on him, which are traits of the Dark Side. While Luke is clad in black when we see him, and even a hooded cloak similar to the Emperor’s, I don’t think it was ever in question that Luke would switch sides. The bigger question is if Vader still has any humanity left. Robotic man or not, how could someone kill their own flesh and blood?

After finally watching these films in order and gaining a new a perspective, I felt Return of the Jedi is the best installment of the series. That doesn’t mean it’s without fault, though. An added scene for this revamped special edition that takes place in Jabba’s palace is without a doubt my least favorite scene from the entire trilogy (possibly worse than all of the new trilogy, too.) The particular scene is a dance number, and it’s not that it’s terrible that makes it so bad, it just feels out of place with a weird mix of new effects and old effects. Jabba’s re-inserted scene in the first Star Wars was another that didn’t seem necessary.

Jedi also has it’s fair share of action, too. The battle aboard Jabba’s barge that reunites the heroes is a great action sequence. Leia chokes Jabba to death, Luke takes out most of Jabba’s goons with his lightsaber, and in a hilarious “slapstick” moment, Han Solo kills off the fan favorite Boba Fett. I also felt like that is the point where Luke finally makes the transition from punk kid to bad ass Jedi. There’s also plenty of “Wilhelm Screams” to go around. The speeder bike chases on Endor, with Luke and Leia racing against Storm Troopers is excellently executed, and I thought the scene when an Ewok takes off on one was funny. It felt like a corny riddle; “how many Storm Troopers does it take to chase one Ewok?” Han Solo tapping a Storm Trooper on the shoulder so that he'll chase after him got a chuckle out of me. Even in the far reaches of space, that gag will fool someone every time.

There’s an argument that the Ewoks lighten this movie too much but I felt that’s necessary. The Empire Strikes Back was a very dark movie without many moments to lighten it up. Jedi still carries that central theme of its predecessor- the conflict of the Skywalker family, whether any of them will switch sides or if the Emperor truly won the war. The Ewoks are there to serve as a balance to that, and even Return of the Jedi feels like a blending of both movies that came before it. Actually, you could say its the first movie with added dramatic weight. Luke severs his father’s hand, calling back to their previous battle; also its Han who tells Leia he loves her, this time she replies with, “I know.” There’s even a brand new Death Star, though I don’t see how it can be fully operational in just a year’s time. Construction workers here in Illinois can’t even complete a section of the interstate in that amount of time.

My friend’s four year-old made a remark at the end of Star Wars, which was that the saddest part was that Chewbacca didn’t get a medal. I felt that the saddest part of Return of the Jedi was the innocent pig-like guard happened to fall down into the pit beneath Jabba’s lair with Luke. He didn’t seem like a bad guy, just a victim of circumstance. Same goes for the chubby guard who cries after Luke kills the Rancor; maybe that was his most cherished pet, like when someone loses their dog. One other “humorous” observation I had was how Lando and Han are both welcomed into the Rebellion and promoted to General. It makes the Rebellion seem weak, like they were hurting for members so badly that they’ll take anyone, even crooks. Crooks with hearts of gold, that is.

To conclude, I have to step onto my soap box. After viewing this original trilogy again as an adult, I feel even more like the prequel trilogy is unnecessary. I prefer this trilogy's storytelling device, which is through the eyes of Luke Skywalker. Even though there's the war between the Imperial army and the Rebellion that begun before he was born, it's very much his story. I prefer how as viewers we are thrust into this story and then we learn the details as it unfolds. It's similar to The X-Files, as an example. Fox Mulder was already investigating cases called "X-Files" long before Scully was assigned to be his partner, but we begin with her introduction and learn details as the story progresses. Same goes for the first X-Men film, which is told through the eyes of Rogue and Wolverine.