Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Directed by:
Richard MarquandComposer:
John WilliamsCast:
Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz, James Earl Jones, David Prowse (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian and their small army of friends rescue Han Solo from the clutches of the menacingly ugly Jabba the Hutt and go on to do battle with the Empire, even after Darth Vader has broken off in his own rebellion. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (10)
The Skywalkers definitely don't limp to the finish line, but there are a few stumbles along the way. The very slow introduction of the main characters on stage, in fact, misses the desired effect, and it's not until Luke takes the lightsaber in his hand that I finally got the atmosphere of the classic Star Wars. However, what The Return loses in the beginning, it gains in the end. The final hour with the ultimate clash of lightsabers, non-stop action, last revelations, and inevitable goodbyes captivates and moves at the same time.
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Probably the most fairytale-like episode of the existing series of Star Wars. It almost looks as if George Lucas found himself in the effects which brought us Critters, Gremlins, or the legendary series Dinosaurs. All of those monsters and freaks look just as good. But, I have to say that I don’t mind this deviation. On the contrary, I was happy not only because of them, but because of Chewbacca, who is on stage a lot more than usual. And when he isn’t there, you can still hear those odd sounds of his somewhere in the background. And the finale? That’s literally top-notch. It’s a shame that I will never get to know the feelings the fans back then had to have when they finished the movie and then realized they actually didn’t know how it all began and had to wait for it for almost twenty years.
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The episode where George Lucas's imagination was perhaps at its best – unfortunately. My impressions are aptly characterized by the well-known story of David Lynch (yes, that David Lynch); he was Lucas's main candidate to direct episode IV, and the two met in person before production began. Lucas started talking excitedly about all the weird SW characters and worlds, and Lynch, who wasn't interested anyway and only met him as a courtesy, told him it would be best if he directed it himself. And so a total unknown Richard Marquand was brought in and the viewer got a bunch of funny elves at the end of the greatest space saga of all time, among whom Harrison Ford, Hollywood's biggest dude, looks a bit like Mr. Bean driving a Ferrari. On the other hand, the storyline around Luke works just fine, the aura of the dark side is very tangible (even if it contrasts with the goofing around with the Ewoks), and the special effects are clearly the best of the trilogy, so we do get an exciting experience. I really wonder what it would have been like with the master of depression Lynch at the helm, but actually, thank goodness for that enthusiasm – without him, Star Wars probably never would have been made, so how else would it have ended? The new millennium will give us an ironic answer. 75%
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One film legend says that there was a fundamental difference in the approach to the world of cinema among the three most influential filmmakers of the 70s, namely Spielberg, Coppola, and Lucas. While Spielberg and Coppola literally lived for movies, exhaustively watched the performances of acclaimed film classics in film clubs, passionately discussed cinema with similarly affected individuals late into the night, and tried to push the world of film forward, Lucas was an enthusiastic reader of outdated comics, a viewer of 1950s TV space operas, and film theory was inherently foreign to him. However, he was able to capture the essence of popular culture and the transformation of the film audience from the 40s to the 70s, when the average age of cinema-goers continued to decrease. At the same time, due to sociological processes and the enrichment of society, there was a change in the perception of film. The infantilization fully manifested itself and the concept of a family film with a lower standard prevailed to be understood by a wider range of potential viewers. This is how Star Wars came into being, where a fairytale was wrapped in cosmic technology and the nonsense of the then-popular New Age movement. Lucas filmed it as visually and naively as possible, and precisely because of that, it had such a penetrating success. What succeeds attracts attention and the desire to imitate, and at a certain stage, when it becomes a cult, it is practically unquestionable and by itself carries the seal of quality regardless of its content. I saw the first three films of the famous series at an age when I found the motifs and execution, especially the "intellectual superstructure," laughable. Otherwise, the course of events is such that you see it for the first time at the age of 8-9, and then with an iron regularity, so you grow up with it and it has emotional and nostalgic value for you. Even if I grew up with it, I still would have most likely become a fan of the Star Trek series, which, despite its clichés, naivety, and the ideological basis that stems from multiculturalism, represents an honest work from the sci-fi genre. Star Wars only shares the space settings with the sci-fi genre. It is a fairytale fantasy that is neither clever nor innovative nor brilliantly directed. The later three episodes of the series are loaded with bombastic special effects, but they are more childish than anything, and they also lack the confident ironic detachment that emanates from every smirk of Han Solo. His portrayal by Harrison Ford somewhat resembles the much more pronounced ironic detachment of the Indiana Jones character. Personally, the entire series has nothing to offer me, and although there are understandably significant nuances between each film, what bothers me, such as the frenzied waving of lightsabers, the babbling about the Force, and the cute plush creatures as extraterrestrials, are typical of all the episodes. Therefore, this commentary applies to all parts of the Star Wars series. Overall impression: 20% for the set design.
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It’s too bad that Marquand didn’t have his turn until after the brilliant Episode V. In Return of the Jedi, unlike in the preceding episode, Lucas became heavy-handedly involved in this, and his little live Monchhichi almost buried the movie. Although, compared to what Lucas gave us in Episode I, here we get only a tolerable dose of childish lameness, however annoying it is. Compared to the preceding episode, the pace at the beginning of this is overly relaxed while at the end the pace is overly rushed. In any case, this is a respectable end to the original trilogy, although it could (and should!) have been significantly better.
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