Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi 1983 Story by George Lucas
I’m continuing my review of the nine Star War films since all are completed.
[image error]The plot in this one is to rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt, which is accomplished in the beginning of the movie. Then Luke returns to visit Yoda and is told he completed his training. This doesn’t match what we are told in The Phantom Menace where children are taken from their parents and raised in a temple – very cult like if you ask me.
Luke is determined to redeem his father, who he senses has good in him. This is all wonderful as a loving son, but it takes away from Darth Vader being this horrible villain. And yes, it is a cheering moment when Vader tosses the Emperor into the pit, but does one act of goodness make up for all his evil actions in the past?
The Galactic Empire is constructing another Death Star – this was the only one in Lucas’s first draft of the story but the first movie needed a Death Star. He should have come up with another threat – please.
We return to Tatooine where the droids visit Jabba’s palace in the plan to rescue Han who is frozen in carbonite and decorates Jabba’s wall . New creatures are introduced and the quality is much higher than the first film. It was the first time Jabba was seen (in A New Hope he was later added by Lucas). The dancing girl falling into the Rancor pit foreshadows Luke’s encounter.
The rescue plan only makes sense if Luke foresees them being taken to the Dune Sea where he obtains his lightsaber from R2D2. Leia frees Han from the carbonite and says she has to get him out but is immediately captured. Luke has to fight the Rancor without his lightsaber. I think Han sums it up by saying Luke has delusions of grandeur.
On the barge Leia not only frees herself but kills Jabba, something rarely done by the good female lead. It’s nice revenge for any woman who’s been exploited by running around nearly naked as a slave in front of a slug.
Again humor is used to good effect from Lando crying “A little higher” to C3PO having his eye chewed out.
Han hands over the Falcon to Lando, and you see his attachment to her and the depth of their friendship. He has a moment when he says, “I have a funny feeling I’ll never see her again” about the Falcon. This creates suspense and makes us wonder if our heroes will succeed. As a write you need to keep the reader turning the pages to find out what happens next.
Problems: Yoda says he is 900 years old and disappears when he dies the same as Obi-Wan, but Vader does not disappear when he dies, and Luke has to cremate him. What do you think that means?
Yoda repeats the rules for a Jedi – A Jedi’s strength flows from the force. Anger, fear, aggression are the dark side. Once you start down the dark side, forever will it dominate your destiny. He says Luke is the last of the Jedi but tells him the Force is strong in his family and to pass on what he has learned to another Jedi. So he’s not the last Jedi, right? As a writer, be consistent unless it is on purpose or readers will call you on it.
Ben appears to explain his previous tale that Vader betrayed and murdered Luke’s father. When his father was seduced by the dark side, he ceased to be Anakin Skywalker – the good man who was his father was destroyed. True to a certain point of view – truths we cling to depend on our own point of view. Then he retells Luke what he said in A New Hope. He was a good friend. When I first knew him, great pilot but amazed by how strong the Force was with him and trained him as Jedi. Now more machine than man, twisted and evil.
I thought this was a lame excuse and Lucas should have developed a timeline for his characters history. From what I can tell Obi-Wan meets Anakin when he is a navigator on a freighter and convinces him to join him in the Clone Wars. He teaches him the ways of the Jedi, but Anakin is seduced by the dark side. In the next movie, The Phantom Menace, we can compare this history to what was shown. As a writer, I didn’t like how the story began with Anakin as a child, but more on that in the next review.
Luke can’t kill Vader (which is against Jedi rules about aggression) and learns that Leia is his twin sister. Anakin’s offspring would be a threat to the Emperor so they hid them – not Luke so much (same last name, same home town).
Everyone is reunited. Lando and Han are generals. Leia will have to wait 40 years before her promotion.
When Han volunteers to take care of the speedbikers, Luke and Leia give each other a look when he announces, “It’s me.” They love him in spite of his faults. It’s important to give characters flaws. It makes it a bigger triumph when they overcome a flaw or fear.
Most of Endor was speeder bikes and ship battles that didn’t advance the story much. The Ewoks are introduced – another creature that is more symbolic than practical as an ally. Some say it was about a message of nature versus machine, but I find it odd the Ewoks eat humans (Han was going to be roasted alive).
In the Ewok village Leia is wearing a leather outfit instead of her rebel uniform and her hair is down. This is one time when it didn’t make sense for her to change outfits and where did they find something that would fit her? She wears the same outfit at the end of the story. Why?
C3PO retelling the story was a nice touch since they are the narrators of all nine movies although their roles were reduced in many of the other films.
Luke tells Leia that he is her brother and that Vader is their father. Leia is horrified. Luke trusts Vader not to turn him over to the Emperor but he’s wrong. The Emperor taunts Luke and shows him the trap that will kill his friends. He uses Force Lightning to try and kill Luke. Vader throws the Emperor down the shaft and the Death Star is destroyed – so how does he survive to return in nine?
The lesson- we shouldn’t seek revenge or attack someone in anger. We should have faith in our friends.
History: Luke asks Leia if she remembers her real mother. She died when she was very young. Remember she was beautiful, kind but sad. Luke has no memory of his mother. Again, this is different from the Revenge of the Sith where their mother dies in childbirth.
Problem: Don’t you think they would have completed the exterior of the Death Star – how could anyone be aboard if most of it is open to space?
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