Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Although my mother has assured me I’ve seen movies before this (in this case, I’m inclined to believe her), our opening day trip to see “Return of the Jedi” is the most vivid, early memory of watching a movie in the theater. Of course, the main reasons for those memories were because of all the projection issues that marred the experience: no sound, improper framing, and being in the wrong lens format. Of course, all of those I would know more about when I became a projectionist twenty years later, but needless to say, it made quite an impression. That being said, if the movie hadn’t been a “Star Wars” movie (much less, the LAST “Star Wars” movie for sixteen years), I don’t know if the experience would have been so memorable.
Time has not been kind to “Jedi,” which was originally titled “Revenge of the Jedi” (I actually have a patch with that title for proof). When I watched it, I was not quite six years old, so I was the perfect age to appreciate the Ewoks, who have really taken it on the chin from fanboys over the years. (Thankfully, the prequels, and Jar Jar Binks, gave them a bit of reprieve from the fandom menace.) Originally, the Ewoks were going to be Wookiees (which would have likely moved the action to Chewbacca’s home planet of Kashyyk rather than Endor), but budgetary restraints prevented that. The Ewoks, a primitive race of small bear-like characters who take our heroes captive before becoming their allies against the Empire, became the first, real indication that the “Star Wars” saga was going to move to a more child-centric franchise when Lucas continued the franchise in 1999 with “The Phantom Menace.” We should have been better prepared.
Admittedly, I can appreciate people’s apprehension about “Jedi” especially in the wake of 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back.” The film recycles the Death Star. The film kills off Boba Fett, the fan favorite bounty hunter introduced in “Empire,” in rather humiliating fashion for a character meant to be such a badass. (And let’s not even MENTION the origins explored in the prequels.) And to be fair to screenwriter Lawrence Kasden (who co-wrote the script with Lucas) and former Lucas producer Gary Kurtz (who left the franchise after “Empire”), yes, darker narrative choices such as the death of Han Solo and a closing shot of Luke, alone, would have made the film even more powerful. Still, I wouldn’t trade the film that exists (or existed, before Lucas started mucking with it in 1997) for anything.
Like “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Jedi” is a thrilling and emotional popcorn movie, regardless of how flawed it may be compared to the films that came before. Revelations are confirmed, old friends return (from Rebel Alliance pilot Wedge to Jedi Master Yoda, in the longest death scene until “The English Patient”), new characters are introduced (including the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt, before he was ret-conned into “A New Hope,” Admiral Ackbar, and our first, real look at the Emperor, played by Ian McDiarmid, who would reprise the role in the prequels), and once again, our heroes are separated by fate when Luke must confront his father, now revealed to be the evil overlord Darth Vader, in order to complete his Jedi training, leaving his friends on the moon of Endor to fight the Empire, and destroy the Death Star.
For a long time, this was my favorite “Star Wars” movie. (Now, I’d put it behind “A New Hope” or “Empire.”) I loved the Ewoks. (Yes, LOVED the Ewoks. Now, I merely LIKE them.) The speeder bike chase Luke and Leia engage in on Endor remains one of my favorite action sequences in the movies, and the final lightsaber battle between Luke and Vader, with the Emperor looking on, is an emotional and riveting scene. And how could I not love Leia’s gold bikini, and love it still? (As the boys point out on their RiffTrax of the film, it makes going to Cons worthwhile.)
All that being said, as with my appreciation for even the worst “Star Wars” films, it all comes down to John Williams’s music. His use of the heroic “Star Wars” theme. The dread of the infamous Imperial March. The mournful underscore during Luke and Yoda’s final scene together, after which Yoda becomes one with the Force. The subtle motif that accompanies the revelation of Luke and Leia being brother and sister. And the music that played over the celebrations at the end of the original “Jedi” (although I’ve come to enjoy the newer music added in the ’97 Special Edition). Williams’s score remains the beating heart of Lucas’s space opera, and it’s the central reason why I have no problem revisiting the “Star Wars” saga over the years, even when complicated space politics, goofy comedy, and wooden dialogue readings were the result. But that’s for another day. Regardless of how you feel about the Ewoks or Boba Fett’s death or the ridiculous changes Lucas has made to the film over the past decade-plus of tinkering, “Return of the Jedi” remains an entertaining return to what the franchise was for many years- the crown jewel franchise in modern movie history.
