Nate & Hayes (1983)
DIRECTOR: Ferdinand Fairfax
CAST: Tommy Lee Jones, Michael O’Keefe, Jenny Seagrove, Max Phipps
REVIEW:
Before the immensely lucrative Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, pirate movies were considered non-starters at the box office. 1983’s Nate & Hayes was a rare attempt at shoving one out into theaters, but sank like a stone to general critical scorn and a lackluster financial performance. While the fairly obscure film has a small but loyal cult following that regards it as an underrated swashbuckler from the days long before Captain Jack Sparrow, it’s actually exactly what the critics at the time regarded it as….a sloppy, slapdash rather feeble effort that tries and fails to muster up some good old-fashioned swashbuckling derring-do. Continue reading
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.
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