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''Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 Science Fantasy Film directed by Richard Marquand . It was the third film to be released in the '' Star Wars '' saga, but it is the sixth, and last, film by chronology of events. Among fans, it is commonly referred to as simply '''''ROTJ'''''. In the epic conclusion to the saga, Luke Skywalker and friends travel to Tatooine to rescue their friend, Han Solo from the vile Jabba The Hutt . The Empire prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star , while the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts his father, Darth Vader , in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor . The film debuted on May 25 , 1983 , and was released on VHS and LaserDisc in this form multiple times during the 1980s and 90s. The film was Re-released With Changes in 1997 , and this version was later released on VHS and Laserdisc as well, and finally on DVD in 2004. A 3-D release is rumored for 2007 . PLOT SUMMARY The opening crawl reveals that the Galactic Empire has been working on the construction of a new armored space station which is to be even more powerful than the first Death Star . Returning from Coruscant , Darth Vader arrives on the station, where he terrorizes the station commander into doubling his efforts. Vader reveals that the Emperor himself will be visiting the station, in order to oversee the station's final construction stages. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker and his friends return to Tatooine in an attempt to rescue Han Solo from the gangster Jabba The Hutt . It is there that Luke constructs his new lightsaber. R2-D2 and C-3PO arrive at Jabba's palace with a holographic message from Luke that unsuccessfully pleads for Jabba to release Han Solo, who is held prisoner in carbonite. In the middle of the night, Princess Leia , disguised as a bounty hunter named Boussh , removes her disguise and frees Solo from the carbonite, only to be discovered and captured by Jabba. The next morning Luke arrives to make one final plea to Jabba to release Solo. Luke is dropped into the pit of the Rancor monster, where he outsmarts and kills it by crushing it under a huge door. As punishment, Jabba sends Luke and his friends to the Pit Of Carkoon to be slowly consumed by the Sarlacc . With the help of R2-D2, Luke retrieves his new Lightsaber , and a large battle erupts, in which Jabba the Hutt is killed by Leia, and Boba Fett is knocked into the Sarlacc pit. Luke and crew escape just before Jabba's sail barge explodes. Luke returns to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training, but Yoda is ill and says no further training is required. Before dying, Yoda tells Luke that all that remains to be done is to confront Darth Vader , whom Yoda confirms is indeed Luke's father. Later, the spirit form of Obi-Wan Kenobi appears, and confirms that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker , a former Jedi who turned to the dark side. It is also revealed that Princess Leia is Luke's twin sister, hidden from Luke at birth to protect them both from the Emperor . At the rendezvous point, the Rebel Alliance discusses the plan to attack the new Death Star. The rebels have decoded and analyzed the Death Star plans, and have devised a strategy for an attack. As part of the attack, Luke and his companions must penetrate the shield generator on the moon of Endor and deactivate the shield that protects the Death Star. On Endor, Luke and his companions are discovered by Scout Trooper s, but they manage to escape following a speeder bike chase through the forest. They later encounter a tribe of Ewoks , indigenous forest creatures of Endor. , an Ewok .]]They forge an alliance with the Ewoks, who agree to join the fight against the Empire. Later, Luke decides that the time has come for him to leave Endor and face Darth Vader. He surrenders peacefully to the Empire, and unsuccessfully tries to convince Vader to abandon the dark side, although the Sith Lord, for the first time in the original trilogy, seems to regret his own fall from grace. They go to the Death Star and meet the Emperor, who reveals that the Rebel Alliance is falling into a trap that he had prepared. This leads to the climactic end of the film with three plot lines running simultaneously: Luke facing Darth Vader and the Emperor in the second Death Star's throne room, a ground battle on the Endor moon between Imperial forces and the Rebels and their Ewok allies, and a huge space battle between the Rebel and Imperial fleets above the moon. Later on the forest moon, the Rebels enter the shield generator control facility, only to be taken prisoner by waiting Imperial forces. Solo and company are led out of the bunker, but the Ewoks then spring a surprise attack (possibly at C3P0's behest). A battle begins with the Rebels and Ewoks against the Empire. The Rebel fleet emerges from hyperspace for the battle over Endor, but they discover that the shield of the Death Star is still functioning. An intense space battle takes place as the Imperial fleet engages in a holding action to prevent the Rebels from retreating into space, while the Rebel fleet battles to give the surface party more time to complete their mission of deactivating the Death Star's shield. During the battle, the Death Star is revealed to be operational; its superlaser is fired at the Rebel fleet and obliterates two Rebel star cruisers. Meanwhile, back down on the forest moon of Endor, Chewie and two Ewoks take over control of an Imperial walker, and use it to turn the ground battle in the favor of the Rebels. On the Death Star, Luke duels with Darth Vader. In the midst of the duel, Vader learns that Luke has a twin sister through telepathy. When Vader brings up the idea of turning Leia to the dark side instead of Luke, Luke gives in to his anger and gains the upper hand in the battle, cutting off Vader's robotic arm in a rage. However, despite the Emperor's goading, Luke refuses to kill his father, realizing that he is traveling down his father's path towards the dark side. Seeing that Luke cannot be swayed, the Emperor uses Force lightning against him to deliver the final blow. Deeply affected by the sight of his son dying, Anakin Skywalker returns, and he grabs the Emperor, who redirects the deadly lightning at Anakin, and throws his former master into a reactor shaft. The Emperor's Force lightning causes fatal injuries to Anakin, as it seems to overload his breathing system. Knowing that there is no hope for his own survival, Anakin asks Luke to take his mask off. Luke removes the helmet, revealing the pale face of his father. Anakin says Luke was right about him, and asks Luke to tell his sister. With those final words, Anakin dies. Once the strike team finally destroy the shield generator, the Rebel fleet seizes the opportunity to launch a final assault on the Death Star. Lando Calrissian leads Wedge Antilles and his fighter group into the bowels of the Death Star and they fire at the main reactor, causing its collapse. Luke, with the body and armor of Anakin, escapes the Death Star in an Imperial shuttle. Moments later, Wedge in his X-Wing, and Lando in the ''Falcon'' emerge from the Death Star as well, just as the Death Star explodes. That evening, Luke cremates the remains of his father in a Bonfire on Endor, according to the Jedi custom. The entire galaxy celebrates the death of the Emperor and the major Rebel victory against the Empire. It is a major turning point in the Galactic Civil War , which will ultimately lead to the fall of the Empire and the formation of the New Republic . Back on Endor, Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, and the rest of the rebellion, along with the Ewoks, celebrate the victory as well. Amidst the celebration on the forest moon, Luke catches sight of the spirit figures of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Anakin Skywalker, who are staring proudly back at him, as balance has finally been restored to the Force, in accordance with the prophecy of the Chosen One detailed in the prequels. CAST OVERVIEW The film's director was the late '' director Irvin Kershner on that film's DVD Audio Commentary track suggests that Lucas had a much larger role on the production of ''Return of the Jedi'' than is often thought. Commentators have noted the differences between Richard Marquand's direction style and Lucas' direction style and say that they're greatly dissimilar; arguing that Marquand was a much more orthodox director than Lucas, less interested in using light and creating space. For comparison purposes, one could consider Jabba's palace in this film and the Mos Eisley cantina in ''''. Jabba's throne room was a bigger set, but appears smaller onscreen because of the way it was shot. Marquand's other work, such as '' Eye Of The Needle '' is, like much of ''Return of the Jedi'' more concerned with traditional midshot/dialogue/reaction shot sequences and rarely ventures into the very wide angles one associates with Lucas. Marquand also uses a more straightforward 'moving camera' style, whereas Lucas alternates between large, classical and abstract Tableau compositions (often involving vertical lines) and a Cinema Verite approach to film, using hand-held cameras during action sequences. Examples of scenes in ''Return of the Jedi'' that seem more like the work of Lucas than Marquand include elements of the final Vader/Luke duel, scenes in the Death Star's hangar bay, and Luke's arrival in Jabba's palace. The screenplay was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Lucas (with uncredited contributions by David Webb Peoples and Marquand), based on Lucas' story. Howard Kazanjian served as producer. The film was originally named ''Revenge of the Jedi'' until Lucas decided that a Jedi taking revenge was out of character (the prequels would denote such an action as being against the strict . The working title of the project was '' Blue Harvest '' and dubbed "Horror Beyond Imagination" to engender no interest whatsoever in the film. This would disguise what the production crew was really filming from fans and the prying eyes of the press. George Lucas had severed all his remaining ties to the Hollywood system out of a feeling of persecution after the success of ''The Empire Strikes Back'' and had become a truly independent filmmaker. According to producer Howard Kazanjian in the documentary ''Empire of Dreams'', the fact that Lucasfilm is a non-union company made acquiring shooting locations more difficult and more expensive, even though ''A New Hope'' and ''The Empire Strikes Back'' were mammoth hits. RELEASE ''Return of the Jedi'' was released on May 25 , 1983 . Some of the early merchandise for the film bore the title "Revenge of the Jedi." At the time of its release, the film was advertised by simply its subtitle, despite its episode distinction. This was evident on release posters and merchandise. The film became commonly known by its subtitle, and is still often referred to by this in the present day. The film was re-released to theaters in 1985, and in 1997 for the Special Edition. REACTION ''Return of the Jedi'' is considered by many critics and fans to be the weakest film of the original trilogy. Some indication of public opinion can be gleaned by its relatively modest ranking in the Internet Movie Database 's Top 250 films list; as of March 2006, it ranked #110, as compared to ''A New Hope'' at #10 and ''The Empire Strikes Back'' at #9. While the action set pieces, particularly the speeder bike chase on the Endor moon, the space battle between Rebel and Imperial pilots, and Luke Skywalker's duel against Darth Vader are well-regarded, the ground battle between the Ewoks and the Stormtroopers remains a bone of contention. A large number of fans believe George Lucas pushed the "cutesy" factor with the Ewoks with many accusing Lucas of adding them only for their merchandising value. This theory, while taken as gospel by many, was debunked when Academy Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss (who performed in Lucas' film American Graffiti ) was quoted multiple times over the years that Lucas had revealed his idea for the Star Wars saga to many of Graffiti's cast and crew during filming (some four years before the original film was released), including making specific mention of a species of small, furry, teddy bear-like creatures called Wookies (later changed to Ewoks when Wookies evolved into a different species) who defeat the evil Empire. However, fans seem to be rather divided on the premise that an extremely primitive race of small creatures could, albeit with minimal aid, defeat an armed ground force comprised of the Empire's best troops. Some fans call it ludicrous, while others credit the Ewoks' bravery, ingenuity, and determination. The latter group may also sometimes cite the Ewoks' ability to easily lift large boulders over their heads as proof of Ewok strength. A vocal group of fans flatly dislike the Tarzan yell by Chewbacca as he swings from a vine on top of an Imperial Scout Walker (an incident that was nonetheless repeated in ''Revenge of the Sith''). Fans were also disappointed at the quick demise of Boba Fett in the Sarlacc Pit after offering only a brief glimpse of his abilities. However, contemporary critics seem to have been largely complimentary. In 1983, Roger Ebert gave the film a four-star rating, and Gary Arnold of the ''Washington Post'' described ''Return of the Jedi'' as "a triumph". AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS At the 1984 Academy Awards, the following either won, or were nominated for, their respective roles in the production of the film: Awards Special achievement award for visual effects:
Nominations Best art direction/set decoration:
Best effects, sound effects editing: Best music, original score: Best sound:
RE-RELEASE Special Edition Along with the other two films of his original Trilogy, George Lucas issued a Special Edition of ''Return of the Jedi'' in 1997, making a number of Changes And Additions , which included the replacement of music from a scene at Jabba's palace as well as the closing scene. 2004 Special Edition (DVD) On September 21 , 2004 the three original movies were finally released on DVD . There were a few further Minor Changes to the film on this release - such as sound effects and improvements to the visual quality of the film. During the sequence when the Emperor's defeat at Endor is announced to the galaxy, an additional scene showing the celebrations in the city of Theed on Naboo was added. A Gungan can be heard yelling, "We-sa free!". Although the Gungan does not sound like Jar Jar Binks , many speculate it is him. The Shaw/Christensen Controversy See Also: List of changes in Star Wars re-releases With the release of ''Revenge of the Sith'', which depicts how and why Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side of the Force, George Lucas once again altered ''Return of the Jedi'' to strengthen the relationship between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy. In ''Attack of the Clones'' and ''Revenge of the Sith'', Anakin Skywalker is played by Hayden Christensen . However, in the original and Special Edition version of ''Return of the Jedi'', a much older man named Sebastian Shaw played both the dying Anakin Skywalker and his ghost. In the DVD release, Anakin's ghost has become a young man, played by Hayden Christensen . Changes such as these have drawn considerable Fan Criticism Directed At George Lucas , and incited more vehement cases of the reactionary criticism known as Lucas Bashing . EXPANDED UNIVERSE Backstory See Also: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire ''Shadows of the Empire'' reveals that construction has begun on a new, more powerful Death Star than the previous one. At the suggestion of Prince Xizor , Emperor Palpatine allows the plans to this new station to slip into Rebel hands, albeit at a price. The Bothan spies have discovered that the plans are to be sent in a small computer onboard a fertillizer freighter, en route to their home planet of Bothawui . The Bothans send an alert (in the form of a message droid) to Tatooine , believing rebel leader Princess Leia Organa to be present. The alert asks her to come to Bothawui, as they have this information for her. However, she is not on Tatooine, so Luke Skywalker and Dash Rendar intercept the message instead, and take up the challenge. Luke and Dash, along with a fleet of volunteer Bothans, intercept the freighter coming out of hyperspace. They mount an attack which proves successful, albeit at the cost of the lives of several Bothans. The victory allows the plans to come into the rebel hands, ready to be decoded. Aftermath See Also: The Thrawn trilogy The Thrawn Trilogy (consisting of ''Heir to the Empire'', ''Dark Force Rising'', and ''The Last Command'') reveals that the Battle of Endor was not the end of the story. The destruction of the Death Star, the loss of Vader and the Emperor, and the defeat of the Imperial fleet represented a major turning point in the war. Within five years, well over half of what was Imperial space was under the control of the New Republic . The war continued for another 15 years. The New Republic would be challenged by Imperial commanders, such as Grand Admiral Thrawn , Admiral Daala, Admiral Pellaeon , and Ysanne Isard . The New Republic would even be challenged by the Reborn Emperor—the spirit of Palpatine in a new clone body. But the New Republic would weather all these storms. Fifteen years after the Battle Of Endor Admiral Pellaeon and the other Imperial leaders realized that further military conflict with the New Republic would be fruitless. The Remnants Of The Imperial Forces signed a peace treaty with the New Republic. The decades long Galactic Civil War was finally over. ERRORS
NOVELIZATION See Also: Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (novel) The novelization of ''Return of the Jedi'' was written by James Kahn. It contains many scenes that were deleted from the final cut (including an inspiring Ewok speech), but certain assertions have been superseded by the prequel trilogy. For example, Kahn writes that Owen Lars is the brother of Obi-Wan Kenobi while in ''Episode II'' he is shown to be the stepbrother of Anakin Skywalker. Also, here the Force ghost of Obi-Wan reveals that he was able to hide Luke and Leia from Anakin because he did not know that his wife was pregnant when he "left", presumably when he became Vader. In ''Episode III'', Anakin does know about Padmé's pregnancy, but one may infer that Vader will believe the baby (not twins) to be dead, along with his wife. Also in the novelization is that, Obi-Wan took Padmé and baby Leia to Alderaan after the birth of the twins. Another facet of the story which was made more clear in the novel was the despair and confusion which overtook the Imperial forces upon the death of Palpatine, who ceased to be the guiding will animating the Empire. This is in the manner of Sauron at the climax of '' The Return Of The King ''; it also further supports the events depicted in all post-''Return of the Jedi'' fiction. TRIVIA
RADIO DRAMA Main article: Star Wars (radio) . A Radio Drama adaptation of the film was written by Brian Daley and was produced for and broadcast on National Public Radio in 1996 . DVD RELEASE ''Return of the Jedi'' was released on '', along with a bonus disc in a boxed set. It was digitally restored and remastered, with more changes made by George Lucas, detailed in List Of Changes In Star Wars Re-releases . The bonus disc included, according to the official site, "all-new bonus features, including the most comprehensive feature-length documentary ever produced on the Star Wars saga, and never-before-seen footage from the making of all three films." Features:
Bonus disc:
The set was reissued in December 2005 as part of a three-disc "limited edition" boxed set that did ''not'' feature the bonus disc. EXTERNAL LINKS
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