Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi (1983)

DIRECTOR: Richard Marquand

CAST: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Frank Oz (voice), Alec Guinness, David Prowse, James Earl Jones (voice)

REVIEW:

After 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, The Return of the Jedi feels like a disappointing downgrade. The film does the job of bringing the original trilogy, the galactic civil war, and the stories of its heroes to a conclusion and give the Rebel Alliance a grand victory, but it accomplishes this in an underwhelming manner. Little of the comparative levels of darkness and thematic depth established by Empire Strikes Back is carried over here. To be sure, there are good things to be found, but it involves sifting through a mixed bag of overly kiddie-friendly goofiness that unfortunately would in hindsight be a harbinger of what was in store for the long-gestating prequels.

We pick up some time after the events of Empire Strikes Back. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) has sent his two droids, plucky R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and worrywart C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) back to his desert homeworld of Tatooine, to the remote palace of sluglike crime lord Jabba the Hutt in an attempt to rescue Han Solo (Harrison Ford). Meanwhile, the Empire is busy at work on a second Death Star, with Darth Vader (David Prowse, voice of James Earl Jones) arriving to oversee construction and the big head honcho Emperor Palpatine himself (Ian McDiarmid) on his way. And Palpatine’s got plans for Luke, whom he instructs Vader to bring to him to be converted to the Dark Side of the Force.

Part of the reason for Return of the Jedi‘s weaknesses is behind-the-scenes turmoil at Lucasfilm. After having little direct involvement in Empire Strikes Back (which was directed by Irvin Kershner and screenwritten by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan based on Lucas’ story), George Lucas returned to wrest full control. While Richard Marquand is officially credited as director, he was ousted by Lucas a short way into filming, with Lucas taking over the reins himself. Lucas also did not see eye-to-eye with Lawrence Kasdan over the script, with Kasdan wanting to continue the darker path explored by Empire, and Lucas wanting a more unambiguously upbeat, heroic conclusion. Return of the Jedi pulls its punches: no “good guys” die—unless you count the 900-year-old Yoda, who passes away peacefully of extreme old age and joins Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness) as a Force Ghost—and the casualties are all villains. The Millennium Falcon’s survival is especially odd because there’s what feels like heavy-handed foreshadowing to the contrary…did Lucas chicken out? Rehashing A New Hope with a second Death Star—which comes complete with the exact same weakness that apparently the Empire didn’t bother to correct—gives the impression that Lucas’ creative wellspring was running dry. The movie is unevenly-paced, first going on a lengthy detour to Jabba the Hutt’s palace (even more so in the Special Edition re-release, where the ever-increasingly self-indulgent Lucas decided Jabba’s band needed a whole bizarre musical number), then spending too much time wandering around the forests of Endor with the cuddly teddy bear-like Ewoks, who are far too obviously a concession to kiddie-friendly marketing. The Empire being defeated by these things—at least in the ground battle portion of the climax—is underwhelming. In my review of Empire, I said it was well-paced, with one memorable sequence after another. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of tedious dead space in Return of the Jedi, and most of it is filled with Ewoks. Lucas also makes some questionable story choices. Reportedly it had always been Lucas’ plan to introduce another Skywalker—as foreshadowed by Yoda’s line in Empire—and making Leia one allowed him to do it without adding another character, with the bonus of conveniently resolving the Luke/Han/Leia love triangle without making Luke the “loser”. Lucas has claimed all along that he intended Luke and Leia to be brother and sister, though giving them a couple of kisses in previous films makes this dubious—but it retroactively makes certain moments in A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back feel icky in hindsight.

On the plus side, there’s also some good stuff. Luke’s battle with the monstrous Rancor and the later battle and escape aboard Jabba’s sail barge are fun, followed by Luke paying a poignant final visit to his dying mentor Yoda. While one could argue he’s underused, the little muppet again arguably gives the most touching performance in the movie. The climactic space battle is several orders of magnitude more spectacular than the one in A New Hope, enough to partially compensate for how lame the ground battle is. The Luke/Vader/Emperor scenes in the third act are generally regarded as the strongest the movie has to offer on dramatic grounds. There’s tension and a sense of uncertainty about how things will be resolved. Luke’s furious final duel with his father is powerful and affecting, as is Anakin’s redemptive sacrifice and the moment when we finally see who’s under that sinister mask (Sebastian Shaw, as it turns out, who later shows back up alongside Yoda and Obi-Wan as a Force Ghost but got ill-advisedly replaced with Hayden Christensen in the Special Edition).

Of the cast, the strongest is Mark Hamill—ironically, considering he started as the weakest—who capably conveys Luke’s emotional turmoil and grappling with both external and internal darkness in the climactic confrontations with Vader and the Emperor. Alas, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher aren’t putting in the same amount of effort this time around; Ford in particular appears to be checked out and cruising on autopilot (reportedly Ford wanted to be killed off but Lucas refused). Billy Dee Williams returns, although he doesn’t make much of an impression this time either. Alec Guinness pops back up as a glowy Force Ghost to phone in some more exposition. The only member of the supporting cast who really seems to be having much fun is the biggest newcomer, classically-trained Shakespearean stage actor Ian McDiarmid, buried under decrepit age makeup and a dark shawl (McDiarmid was only in his thirties at the time) who appears to be having a good old time hamming it up with lip-smacking relish as he sits on his throne, cackles, and cajoles. Darth Vader is back too (played by the combination of body David Prowse and voice James Earl Jones), but has been demoted back to a henchman by the arrival of the previously offscreen “big bad” and reduced a little. Vader was deliciously malevolent in Empire, but here he’s clearly meant to be seen as more of a tragic figure, which requires softening him a little, at least by Vader standards (there’s no summary executions this time).

The best thing that can be said about Return of the Jedi is that it concludes the saga. Good triumphs over evil, and we end with festive celebration and our heroes reunited. It’s just a little underwhelming and disappointing that the way there doesn’t feel better-earned.

* * 1/2