Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi ***** (1983, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher) – Classic Film Review 214

With a three-year gap after Irvin Kershner’s 1980 The Empire Strikes Back, co-writer/producer George Lucas delivers the third and final part of his original Star Wars trilogy.

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) has got its downsides, but it is written with enough flair, performed with enough pizzazz and directed with enough zest by Richard Marquand to be exciting and memorable.

In the continuing tale of the clash between the Rebels and the Galactic Empire, R2-D2, C-3PO and some Rebel forces are sent to try to rescue an imprisoned Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from Jabba the Hutt’s big fat clutches. Disguised as a bounty hunter, Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia goes along too, with Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), but she finds herself threatened by the lustful Jabba. No wonder, her gold bikini provided endless fantasies for lustful teenage boys back in the day.

Meanwhile, the Rebels must try to destroy the seemingly indestructible new Second Death Star, being built by Vader and the Empire. And now Mark Hamill’s space cadet Luke Skywalker sets off to fight Darth Vader (David Prowse, voice of James Earl Jones) and the Dark Side on the moon of Endor, whose Ewok inhabitants assist the Rebels in their battle.

There’s good news and bad news again. The good is that the visual invention, relentless pacing and imaginatively staged set pieces are still as awesome and spectacular as in the first two movies. And the classy stars Hamill, Ford and Fisher continue give the most vigorous and attractive performances.

But the bad is that this time the movie’s fantasy elements are both more sloppily handled and soppier in tone and content. Things have got a bit slacker and simpler, and many of the elements of the film seem much more directly aimed relentlessly to please younger children this time, particularly the supposedly ‘cute’ Ewoks, which older teens and adults may well find infuriating.

Also the handling this time, while highly professional, slick and extremely glossy, is more self-indulgent and less incisive. And some of the support performances don’t match those of the stars for quality and are over-relaxed and under-realised.

Nevertheless, for all its faults, the movie is enormous fun, brilliant entertainment throughout. John Williams’s rousing score and the Oscar-winning visual effects (by Richard Edlund, Dennis Murun, Ken Ralston, Phil Tibbett) are once again tremendous assets.

George Lucas provided the story and he worked with Lawrence Kasdan on the screenplay.

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi film runs 134 minutes but the cut version runs at 126 minutes. The 1997 Special Edition offers many new effects and is a slight re-edit.

Also in the cast are Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Sebastian Shaw, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz, Kenny Baker, David Prowse, Denis Lawson, Michael Pennington, Kenneth Colley, Michael Carter, Tim Rose, Dermot Crowley, Caroline Blakiston, Warwick Davis, Jeremy Bulloch as Boba Fett, Femi Taylor, Annie Arbogast, Jack Purvis, Mike Edmonds, Jane Busby, Malcolm Dixon, Mike Cottrell, Nicolas Read and Alec Guinness as ‘Obi-Wan’ Kenobi.

Larry Ward is the voice of Jabba the Hutt. The Berkeley-based linguist made the Huttese language along with sound designer Ben Burtt for the Star Wars franchise, based on the Peruvian native language Quechua.

After an incredibly long wait and a spruced-up release of the first movie, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the fourth movie finally followed in 1999: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Happy 89th birthday on 17 January 2020 to James Earl Jones, for ever the voice of Darth Vader.

RIP David Prowse [Dave Prowse], who died on 28 November 2020, age 85. David is the physical body of Darth Vader for the entirety of the original Star Wars trilogy, though he does not voice the character. George Lucas offered him the role of either Chewbacca or Darth Vader. When Lucas asked Prowse why he preferred to play Vader, he replied: ‘Everyone remembers the villain, George.’

RIP Jeremy Bulloch, Boba Fett in the original Star Wars films, who died at 75 on 17 December 2020, aged 75.

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© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 213

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