Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
4/4
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Ian McDiarmid, and the voices of James Earl Jones and Frank Oz
Rated PG for Sci-Fi Action Violence
In 1977, 20th Century Fox released "Star Wars." Thinking it would flop, they released it against "The Other Side of Midnight," which was the anticipated blockbuster of that summer. No one could have anticipated what happened next. The film was released slowly, but it quickly built to a fandom that has lasted for the better part of 40 years. Three years later, Lucas released its sequel, "The Empire Strikes Back," and three years after that, he released the final film in the trilogy, "The Return of the Jedi."
Taken as a whole, each film stands on its own, but taken together, they form a more complete story (Episodes I, II, and III do the same). Lucas' space opera has everything it should: larger than life heroes, wickedly evil villains, emotional highs and lows, romance, laughter and, most importantly, eye-popping and adrenaline inducing action.
The third film picks up where Episode V left off. Luke Skywalker (Hamill) is continuing to hone his skills as a Jedi, although because he and the elderly Yoda (Oz) in the Degobah system are the only Jedi left in the galaxy, he's doing it alone. No matter. Skywalker is smart and powerful, and he is quickly becoming a formidable adversary for the evil Darth Vader (Jones). The Empire is building a new and more powerful Death Star, and it's got a protective shield on the forest moon of Endor. Now, Luke, Leia (Fisher), Han Solo (Ford) after being released from his carbonite prison, and the rest of the Rebels journey to Endor to end the reign of the Empire once and for all. But the Emperor (McDiarmid) has other ideas.
Essentially everything that can be said about the previous two episodes can be said about this one. The characters grow, the plot becomes more complex, and the action is as epic as ever.
Mark Hamill, never a particularly versatile performer (this can be seen in the previous episodes as well), makes Luke into a more thoughtful and wise person. His trust and understanding of the Force has grown immeasurably, but there is a very real danger that his newly-discovered relationship with Vader could turn him to the Dark Side, something that the Emperor is counting on. Likewise, Carrie Fisher has allowed Leia to grow as well. No longer as feisty or brash, her relationship with Han Solo has made her into a more loving person, which adds to the heart the film has. For his part, Han is still a rogue, but he finally has someone other than himself to look out for, and Ford easily portrays this. James Earl Jones makes Darth Vader more conflicted, which makes him more interesting. The presence of evil turns from him to the Emperor, and that is something that Ian McDiarmid excels at. With his heavily scarred face and red-yellow eyes, the Emperor simply looks evil. McDiarmid takes over from Clive Revill, who played the holographic representation of the Emperor in the previous film (although McDiarmid replaced him in all subsequent productions after the 2004 Special Edition re-release).
The film was directed by Richard Marquand, who does exactly what Irvin Kirshner did for Episode V: he carries on the legacy of the first two films. One wouldn't know there were three different directors between all three films, and that's what a good sequel director should do. The "Star Wars" saga is Lucas' baby, and both Marquand and Kirshner understood that.
One of the main criticisms thrown at "Return of the Jedi" is the presence of the Ewoks. James Berardinelli called them "an unbearably cuddly race that seems handpicked to generate toy sales." I don't agree, maybe because I was young when I first saw the movie ("Children enjoy these creatures; everyone I know over the age of 12 finds them insufferably annoying," he writes). But, in his defense, I can see his point of view.
Still, the film remains compelling cinema and ties up the subplots nicely. Of the three, this is the weakest, but it's still more than worthy of a 4/4 rating.
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Ian McDiarmid, and the voices of James Earl Jones and Frank Oz
Rated PG for Sci-Fi Action Violence
In 1977, 20th Century Fox released "Star Wars." Thinking it would flop, they released it against "The Other Side of Midnight," which was the anticipated blockbuster of that summer. No one could have anticipated what happened next. The film was released slowly, but it quickly built to a fandom that has lasted for the better part of 40 years. Three years later, Lucas released its sequel, "The Empire Strikes Back," and three years after that, he released the final film in the trilogy, "The Return of the Jedi."
Taken as a whole, each film stands on its own, but taken together, they form a more complete story (Episodes I, II, and III do the same). Lucas' space opera has everything it should: larger than life heroes, wickedly evil villains, emotional highs and lows, romance, laughter and, most importantly, eye-popping and adrenaline inducing action.
The third film picks up where Episode V left off. Luke Skywalker (Hamill) is continuing to hone his skills as a Jedi, although because he and the elderly Yoda (Oz) in the Degobah system are the only Jedi left in the galaxy, he's doing it alone. No matter. Skywalker is smart and powerful, and he is quickly becoming a formidable adversary for the evil Darth Vader (Jones). The Empire is building a new and more powerful Death Star, and it's got a protective shield on the forest moon of Endor. Now, Luke, Leia (Fisher), Han Solo (Ford) after being released from his carbonite prison, and the rest of the Rebels journey to Endor to end the reign of the Empire once and for all. But the Emperor (McDiarmid) has other ideas.
Essentially everything that can be said about the previous two episodes can be said about this one. The characters grow, the plot becomes more complex, and the action is as epic as ever.
Mark Hamill, never a particularly versatile performer (this can be seen in the previous episodes as well), makes Luke into a more thoughtful and wise person. His trust and understanding of the Force has grown immeasurably, but there is a very real danger that his newly-discovered relationship with Vader could turn him to the Dark Side, something that the Emperor is counting on. Likewise, Carrie Fisher has allowed Leia to grow as well. No longer as feisty or brash, her relationship with Han Solo has made her into a more loving person, which adds to the heart the film has. For his part, Han is still a rogue, but he finally has someone other than himself to look out for, and Ford easily portrays this. James Earl Jones makes Darth Vader more conflicted, which makes him more interesting. The presence of evil turns from him to the Emperor, and that is something that Ian McDiarmid excels at. With his heavily scarred face and red-yellow eyes, the Emperor simply looks evil. McDiarmid takes over from Clive Revill, who played the holographic representation of the Emperor in the previous film (although McDiarmid replaced him in all subsequent productions after the 2004 Special Edition re-release).
The film was directed by Richard Marquand, who does exactly what Irvin Kirshner did for Episode V: he carries on the legacy of the first two films. One wouldn't know there were three different directors between all three films, and that's what a good sequel director should do. The "Star Wars" saga is Lucas' baby, and both Marquand and Kirshner understood that.
One of the main criticisms thrown at "Return of the Jedi" is the presence of the Ewoks. James Berardinelli called them "an unbearably cuddly race that seems handpicked to generate toy sales." I don't agree, maybe because I was young when I first saw the movie ("Children enjoy these creatures; everyone I know over the age of 12 finds them insufferably annoying," he writes). But, in his defense, I can see his point of view.
Still, the film remains compelling cinema and ties up the subplots nicely. Of the three, this is the weakest, but it's still more than worthy of a 4/4 rating.
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