Return of the Jedi: Fantastic Farewell for Now (by Jedi Teen)

(Note: Please read my previous reviews of Star Wars episodes 4 ad 5 {New Hope and Empire})

We’re back with the final installment of the Star Wars trilogy. Three years after The Empire Strikes Back and six years after Star Wars: A New Hope the final installment of the trilogy, Return of the Jedi was released.

           

Directed by Richard Marquand with George Lucas as the executive producer, this movie picks up where The Empire Strikes Back left off, with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) still frozen in carbonate. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) must go to Tatooine and rescue Han from the palace of the evil gangster, Jabba the Hutt, a massive slug, which is really a gigantic puppet. When Leia gets Han out of carbonate, he has hibernation sickness and can’t see. Jabba is still mad at Han because he has never paid off his debts. Han says that he will pay now, but Jabba doesn’t give him the chance. Jabba turns Leia into a slave girl with a metal bathing suit, and Han, Lando, Luke, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Chewbacca fight to get out of Jabba’s palace, while Leia strangles Jabba with her chain. After a long and brilliant sequence, the rebels escape.

Luke keeps his promise to Yoda and returns to Dahgobah to complete his Jedi training, but Yoda has grown old and weak. He says that Luke already has all the training that he requires and that to truly be a Jedi he must face Darth Vader again. After Yoda’s death, Luke goes outside and talks to the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi who tells him that he has a long lost relation (if you want to find out, watch the movie).

The rebels meet and decide to send a strike team to the forest moon of Endor. There is a new incomplete Death Star that they must destroy, and the Emperor is on it, overseeing the construction process. This new space station has a shield on the moon, and Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and the droids go down to the moon to destroy the shield. Lando takes the Millennium Falcon and the fleet plans to attack the Death Star, but the rebels must get the shield down in order for the attack to commence. They meet tribes of Ewoks who think that C-3PO is a god. They are small and furry, much like walking teddy bears. When Imperial troops arrive on the moon, the Ewoks help to bring down the Empire. Luke goes to fight Vader and the Emperor, with very surprising results!

This movie is wonderful from the beginning scroll to the end celebration with the Ewoks. You should definitely see this movie, because I couldn’t give away everything I would have liked to tell. You should watch the whole trilogy in order, 4, 5, and 6. No matter what you think, in order to truly love these movies, think about story, not special effects when compared with the prequels.

I will once again mention the “shiny version”. This version’s changes are mostly musical, with different music and more CGI members in the Jabba’s palace scene. At the very end, instead of the Ewok celebration, you hear different music and you see people celebrating all across the galaxy. I personally prefer the “non-shiny version” because I am a purist.

The music in this movie is written by John Williams, and besides the normal themes, there are two new ones. The first is an Ewok theme; the second is music for an important talk between Luke and Leia. Although there is not as much original music in this score, it is still a very good soundtrack, although not as good as Empire or New Hope. The amazing Han and Leia love theme, and Leia’s theme are hardly used at all, and the Imperial March has a bit of a new twist, but it is far less developed than it is in Empire. The “Battle of Endor” music is good and original, except for the part with the second Death Star run, in which the music mimics that of the first Death Star run.

This whole trilogy is very good, so I suggest that you watch it, if you haven’t seen it already. If you think the special effects are old and clunky, ignore them. Look for character connections, good story, and the best movie soundtracks ever. You cannot escape your destiny; watch these movies, and you will have 6+ hours of fun.