From rec.arts.sf.reviews Thu May 2 17:32:04 1996 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!solace!paladin.american.edu!hookup!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!arclight.uoregon.edu!news.uoregon.edu!news.sol.net!uwm.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!gw1.att.com!nntphub.cb.att.com!not-for-mail From: rhodes_steve@tandem.com (Steve Rhodes) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: RETROSPECTIVE: RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.past-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 30 Apr 1996 00:43:33 GMT Organization: Tandem Computers, Inc. Lines: 104 Sender: ecl@mtcts1.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: ecl@mtcts1.att.com Message-ID: <4m3nnl$3bs@nntpb.cb.att.com> Reply-To: rhodes_steve@tandem.com (Steve Rhodes) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtcts2.mt.att.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #05100 Keywords: author=Rhodes Originator: ecl@mtcts2 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:4356 rec.arts.sf.reviews:938 RETURN OF THE JEDI A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2 RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983) features the same old cast as the first two STAR WARS episodes in a rehash of previous themes. Now with a cast this talented and material this strong, rehashing is not necessarily bad. This time the Galactic Empire's forces lead by Lord Darth Vader (David Prowse acting with James Earl Jones's voice) has again build a Death Star and is still out to destroy the Rebel Alliance. This Death Star is, of course, even more powerful than the previous one and has the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) personally supervising its construction. You may remember from the last episode that Han Solo (Harrison Ford) owed Jabba the Hutt (Mike Edmonds) money so Jabba in a fit of rage had him frozen and sent to Jabba's planet. The film starts with the rescue of Han from Jabba by Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). The rest of the movie is ostensibly about the destruction of the Death Star by the rebels, but actually the film is about the inherit conflict in the duality of man and the thin line between good and evil. Will Darth Vader turn Luke to the dark side or will Luke turn Darth Vader to the good? Each is confident, and until the end it is not clear whose power will prove stronger. The character creations in all the STAR WARS series are delightfully imaginative. Jabba and his minions are testaments to the grotesque and the obese. After being grossed out by Jabba's huge rolls of jelly like fat, I suspect a large number of people must have run out of the theater to hit the pay phones to call 1-800-OutFat or some such number. A better advertisement for fat clinics I have not seen. By the way, I thought one of Jabba's entourage was at least a kissing cousin to the gargoyles that populate the movie GREMLINS. Yoda (Frank Oz) appears again in the show to complete Luke's training as a Jedi. Luke thinks he is already one, but Yoda admonishes him, "Not yet. One thing remains. One things remains, Vader. You must confront Vader, and then a Jedi you will be." I love the flowery language the writers (Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas) give Yoda. Yoda poetically warns Luke, "Anger, fear, depression. The dark side are they." Luke's training also needs help from his old mentor Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness). He appears in a vision telling Luke, "You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend upon your point of view." This is a show of secrets revealed, but you will not find them out here. See the movie. The sets (Norman Reynolds) and visual effects (Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, and Ken Ralston) are even more elaborate than in the first two episodes. My favorite is the little hover-bikes on which they go screaming through the California redwood trees. That they could control the bikes while traveling at the high speed they are going makes no sense, but hey, this is science fiction afterall. The special effects continue to be a great blend of the old and the new: bows and arrows vs. blasters (laser guns) and hang gliders vs. large mechanical dinosaurs outfitted with laser cannons. RETURN OF THE JEDI introduces sweet furry new creatures called Ewoks. They were a hit at the time, but I am surprised there wasn't at even a bigger marketing tie in with them. Looked like great toys for the age 2-9 set to me. The acting in the movie was good. My favorite was James Earl Jones. His voice must be the richest and most powerful of any actor living today. Hamill, whom I found to be a big disappointment in the last episode, has more energy and does his part less on autopilot in this one. His performance here still pales in significance to his work in STAR WARS, which is the only film he has ever been great in. Although the show was excellent, there were several letdowns for me. First and foremost, I missed the incredible humor from the first two. There are laughs in RETURN OF THE JEDI, but overall the writers and the director (Richard Marquand) approach the show too reverentially. Second, I missed the romantic angle. There was some aspects of it in this episode, but not much. RETURN OF THE JEDI runs a bit long at 2:14. The film is correctly rated PG and the scariest part is the monsters which I suspect will be more than most kids under 5 or 6 can handle. There is no sex, nudity or profanity I can remember, but the STAR WARS groupies will undoubtedly send me one or two minor cuss words I missed. Most of them pointed out after my review of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK that Mark Hamill had been in a car accident with some sure that it was before the movie and others equally sure it was after. I recommend RETURN OF THE JEDI strongly as does my son Jeffrey (just turned 7). Since my favorite was STAR WARS, I asked Jeffrey which one of the three he liked best, and he said this one, but would refused to say why. In the end he voluntarily confessed that the reason was the skimpy harem outfit that Jabba has Princess Leia wear. Not a reason I would have guessed! I give the movie *** 1/2. ______________________________________________________________________ **** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable. REVIEW WRITTEN ON: April 20, 1996 Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's. From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:20:35 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:06:56 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed1.telia.com!masternews.telia.net!newssrv.ita.tip.net!ubnnews.unisource.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!in2p3.fr!univ-lyon1.fr!news.apfel.de!howland.erols.net!europa.clark.net!mis2!worldnet.att.net!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: ChadPolenz@aol.com (Chad Polenz) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: RETROSPECTIVE: RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.past-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 26 Jun 1997 16:18:14 GMT Organization: America Online Lines: 81 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5ou4o6$e0u@nntpa.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: ChadPolenz@aol.com (Chad Polenz) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #08009 Keywords: author=Polenz Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7416 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1390 RETURN OF THE JEDI A film review by Chad Polenz Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz Chad'z rating: **** (out of 4 = excellent) 1983, PG, 133 minutes [2 hours, 13 minutes] [fantasy] starring: Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), Ian McDiarmid (The Emperor), produced by Howard Kazanjian, written by George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan, directed by Richard Marquand. In "Star Wars" we got a swashbuckling tale of a few good guys against a lot of really bad guys. In "The Empire Strikes Back" we got a great study in character and vivid definition of the universe and the powers that be. Now with "Return Of The Jedi" we get that innocent thrilling adventure but at the same time a philosophical portrait of the good and evil battles within a person and how they can be much more brutal than the Death Star. As the story opens we once again see our favorite droids, C3-PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), on their way to Jabba The Hut's palace. Here is where Han Solo's (Ford) frozen body lies, property of the gambler he never had a chance to pay back. Jabba is a huge, worm-like creature weighing thousands of pounds. He is disgusting to look at, but he also gives forth an image of power as everyone seems to do his bidding. Eventually all of the main characters end up in Jabba's palace, either through a disguise (Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian - Fisher, Williams), mock imprisonment (Chewbacca - Peter Mayhew), or by walking in the front door (Luke Skywalker - Hamill). Luke claims to be a Jedi Knight but he seems powerless against the mighty Jabba. The battle and escape scene out in the desert is pure swashbuckling, as Hamill seems more like Eroll Flynn up against pirates than a Jedi Knight fighting evil aliens. This is not one of the most original scenes in the trilogy, but it is probably the most fun as it is all hand-to-hand combat instead of spaceships. Luke goes back to Degobah to complete his Jedi training with Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz), but we learn he does not need any more, the only thing left to do is to "confront" Darth Vader (voiced by Jones). Yoda tells Luke another Skywalker exists, and Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) again appears to Luke and elaborates further. This adds to the great mythology of The Force and the Jedi Knights. We also know a final battle between Luke and Vader is imminent, which adds to the metaphysical suspense. Back at the Rebel Alliance the final assault against the Empire is about to occur. Another Death Star has been constructed and is orbiting a forest moon where it is protected by an energy shield. Han Solo will lead a team to infiltrate and destroy the shield generator while Lando Calrissian will lead the attack on the Death Star. In "Star Wars," this great feeling of uniting together to fight the evil power didn't occur towards the end, the fact it happens early here is fantastic because the intense excitement lasts for the rest of the film, not just the climax. The Emperor (McDiarmid) is the epitome of the ultimate evil character. He hides his red eyes and wrinkled face under a dark cloak, he speaks in a devilish tone without raising his voice, and of course he has that wicked laugh. When Skywalker comes face to face with him, we realize it is his words that make him so evil. He encourages Luke to act on instinct and strike him down, but Luke knows the power of the Dark Side cannot be used against itself. Han Solo and Princess Leia's strike team gains victory over the Imperials with the help of primitive, bear-like creatures called Ewoks. The Ewoks are so cute and innocent that when they launch an attack against the Imperial Army the irony of it all is really exciting (I almost cried!). What is even more moving is Darth Vader's ultimate salvation. It's amazing the Alliance's savior would be the person they had been fighting against all along. Needless to say the rebels do win in the end, and the space battle is even more detailed this time than any other scene in the trilogy, but it isn't the most important point. "Return Of The Jedi" has once again taken us as far away from own reality as possible to make a statement much closer to the heart. Please visit Chad'z Movie Page @ http://members.aol.com/ChadPolenz From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Jan 8 15:12:53 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed1.news.luth.se!luth.se!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Dragan Antulov" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Subject: Retrospective: Return of the Jedi (1983) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Date: 1 Jan 1999 20:43:18 GMT Organization: HiNet Lines: 176 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <76jc16$19ak$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer26.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 915223398 42324 (None) 140.142.17.39 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #15929 Keywords: author=antulov X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer26.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:15119 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2226 rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc:255916 RETURN OF THE JEDI A Film Review Copyright Dragan Antulov 1998 The year that is about to pass was supposed to be the year of GODZILLA. However, that unfortunate film by Devlin and Emmerich would be remembered less by its own quality than by the unprecedented marketing campaign and its main slogan "Size does matter". Intended to symbolise the supremacy of quantity over quality in contemporary Hollywood, that slogan was also a direct challenge to Star Wars fans with its mockery of immortal words of Yoda in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Star Wars fans were enraged, and Lucasfilm briefly cashed on the sentiment with its own marketing campaign for STAR WARS: EPISODE ONE with the words "Plot does matter" as its rebuttal of Devlin-Emmerich claims. Some Star Wars fans welcomed that move, while the others were more cynical. "Plot does matter? Really? To the same people who gave us RETURN OF THE JEDI?" Those were the words of my friend who is also an avid Star Wars fan and who simply can't forgive Lucas for the disappointment he had experienced with the third film of the original Star Wars saga. Perhaps it would be too harsh to put Devlin-Emmerich's GODZILLA and RETURN OF THE JEDI in the same basket. Those two movies are undoubtedly light years away in their quality. In the case of the latter, bad reputation was deserved mostly because it failed to reach the extremely high standards of cinematic and artistic perfection, set by its two great predecessors - STAR WARS and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. I noticed this things even when I had seen the film for the first time, almost a decade and half ago. For me it was a bitter-sweet occasion - the last film of the great saga that had used to capture my imagination. But I was disappointed; partly because I grew up and my movie going preferences matured; partly because I knew what was going to happen in the final part of the trilogy; and partly because the RETURN OF THE JEDI was really bad in comparison with the previous two films. To this day, I watch RETURN OF THE JEDI, but only as the last film of the trilogy; never as original and captivating works of art like previous two films. Without them, RETURN OF THE JEDI is a mildly entertaining second-rate science fiction spectacle, not very different from an average infantile blockbusters that almost ruined the genre in the mid 1980s. Problems of the RETURN OF THE JEDI begin with the plot which had to solve the cliffhanger from the previous film and also to finish the trilogy. The story begins with the attempts of the small band of Rebels, led by Jedi knight Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), to free their comrade Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from the clutches of evil galactic crime lord Jabba the Hut. Despite being imprisoned by Jabba themselves, our heroes succeed in freeing Solo, but now they are faced with a greater and more important challenge. Evil Galactic Empire is building the new version of Death Star, battle station able to destroy entire planets. The construction site is in a orbit of a forrest moon of Endor, so Rebels carry out the commando raid on a power generator on the moon's surface, which would make station vulnerable to the attack of the entire Rebel fleet. Rebels don't know that the evil lord Darth Vader (David Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones, face by Sebastian Shaw) and Emperor himself (Ian McDiarmid) are on the station and that they have some sinister plans of their own. The raid on the surface doesn't go well, until the Rebels find help in the form of Ewoks, primitive but brave natives that look like teddy bears. In the meantime, Luke feels that he must finally confront his oldest nemesis and father, lord Vader, and try to snatch him away from the dark side of the Force. The need to wrap up the story forced the screenwriters - Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas - to cut corners, but in the process they sacrificed plausibility and in some instances even contradicted themselves (like in case of Vader's true loyalty to the Emperor). Some bad guys are conveniently present in the movie only to receive their comeuppance (Boba Fett), some nine hundred years old people decide to die just in the course of the film, only to provide some cheap melodrama (Yoda), and some of the new additions to the story are almost on the level of daytime soap operas (Leia Organa as Luke's long lost sister). Such decisions are responsible for RETURN OF THE JEDI having the weakest script in the trilogy. In previous two films we saw what could happen to our heroes and we learned to care for them; here we don't have to. In the beginning, almost all of them are in the hands of the evil Jabba, but we simply know that they would get away without the scratch. Even their lines aren't as powerful as they were in previous two films. Leia, who used to be feminist icon in the first movie, is now reduced to object of Jabba's infantile lust in the first part of JEDI. Original characters - Jabba and the Emperor - are intended to be cannon fodder, so they weren't very developed. Jabba is nothing more than grotesque, and Emperor looks like a caricature of Death in Bergman's SEVENTH SEAL. His sadistic evilness is deprived of any seductive quality, and without it he is reduced into less complex and second-rate villain. Forced again to play stereotypes, actors didn't have much opportunity to excel. Hamill is here, unlike previous two films, better than Ford, who unsuccesfully tries to turn romance with Carrie Fisher's Leia back into unresolved sexual tension. The look of the film is good, though. Six years have passed since the first film, so the special effects technology has improved. Sadly, in some instances, those effects look cheaper. The worst example is the beginning in the Jabba's palace - pandemonium of different and bizarre aliens looks too much like a bad episode of Muppet Show, and the obvious blue screen of the Luke's fight with Rancor monster haven't been improved even in the Special Edition. On the other hand, space battle in the end, with literally hundreds of different spaceships fighting each other, looks really stunning. Same is with the forest battle between Ewoks and Imperial stormtroopers. Scenery of the desert planet Tatooine, forest moon Endor and ominous empty halls of Death Star is really grand and impressive. Musical score by John Williams is good, although it doesn't offer anything new or especially memorable, with the exception of the final duel between Luke and Vader. However, the biggest addition to the visual identity of the JEDI is also the most notorious one - Ewoks. Perhaps it was really nice idea to introduce the primitive race able to cope with technologically superior enemy (Lucas in interviews said that he was partly inspired by the U.S. experience in Vietnam, although Ursulla K. Le Guin's novel A WORD FOR WORLD IS FORREST could also be seen as a source of inspiration), but it was compromised in the moment when Ewoks became teddy bears, obviously intended to provide huge profits as toys. For many hard core science fiction fans, including the fans of the trilogy, Ewoks are the symbol of infantilism that reigned supreme in Hollywood in 1980s. Movies like JEDI were the reason why people stopped considering SF to be genre for adults, and thus the Ewoks became the object of intense hatred among hard core SF people. One of the most bizarre expressions of that feeling is the Endor Holocaust theory, that can be found on some Star Wars sites, and that gives entirely different spin on the final moments of the film. Perhaps the only redeeming quality of the Ewoks is their innocence towards the world of the Star Wars - the scene when C3PO tells them the epic saga is probably the most moving and, in the same time, most charming moment of the entire film. Despite the Ewoks, and despite the alarmingly low quality of screenplay, RETURN OF THE JEDI remains a good piece of cinema. It is far from perfection, and far from the heights reached by its two predecessors, but it still can entertain the audience - not just the children who would enjoy Ewoks, not the usual family crowd but even the ordinary space opera aficionados, even those who fell in love with Star Wars saga. As a film per se, RETURN OF THE JEDI is a very good entertainment; but as a part of a saga, it works beautifully despite all of its flaws. The end sequence - in its original form and in the "improved" version of the Special Edition (the author of this review prefers the former) - is the reason enough to watch this film. RATING: 7/10 (+++) Review written on December 31st 1998 -- Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax Fido: 2:381/100 E-mail: dragan.antulov@st.tel.hr dragan.antulov@altbbs.fido,hr From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Jan 8 15:13:55 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed1.news.luth.se!luth.se!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!newsfeed.cwix.com!164.67.42.145!awabi.library.ucla.edu!128.32.206.55!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Joe Chamberlain" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 23 Dec 1998 05:28:28 GMT Organization: The Movie Guy Lines: 85 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <75pv1s$1ecg$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> Reply-To: "Joe Chamberlain" NNTP-Posting-Host: homer10.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 914390908 47504 (None) 140.142.17.40 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #15801 Keywords: author=chamberlain X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer10.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:14990 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2217 Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition A review by Joe Chamberlain Starring Mark Hamill; Harrison Ford; Carrie Fisher & Billy Dee Williams Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition is the third installment of the Star Wars trilogy, and the second best of the three. (Star wars being the best.) Although, it is probably the most disappointing when it comes to the Special Edition version. It picks up where The Empire Strikes Back left off -- Han Solo is feeling somewhat confined and Luke Skywalker is dealing with some serious parental issues. In this film, Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) travel to the forest moon of Endor. There they must try to deactivate the generator that powers a shield protecting the Empire's new Death Star. Once the shield is down the Rebel armada plans to attack the Empire's new space station in their final showdown with Darth Vader and friends. If you don't know all this by now, most likely you have either been in a coma or living in a South American jungle for the last 15 years. Unlike The Empire Strikes Back, which bordered on depressing in places, Return Of The Jedi is much more fun. The scenes on the Endor Moon involving the Ewoks are especially good. They are probably the cutest creatures to ever hit the big screen, with the possible exception of E.T.. Return Of The Jedi also benefits from what seems like the most action of the three films. This is highlighted by the spectacular battle between the Imperial forces and the Rebel/Ewok team. I must confess to being a much bigger Han Solo fan than I am a Luke Skywalker fan. So if I have one criticism of the movie it is the extended periods in the film that focus on the Emperor's attempts to turn Luke to the dark side of the Force. A minor complaint, but one worthy of note nonetheless. But not a point big enough to prevent me from ranking Return Of The Jedi as one of my favorite films of all time. Return Of The Jedi serves as a fitting end to one of the greatest series of movies ever produced. It ties up all the loose ends of the previous films and stands as a reminder that sequels don't necessarily have to be inferior knockoffs of the original film. Now, my second complaint (actually more of an observation) is the fact that updates that the trilogy received for its re-release in Special Edition form did very little to benefit Return Of The Jedi. First of all, special effects had been advanced greatly from the time Star Wars was made until the time Return Of The Jedi was made. So Return really doesn't benefit from the improved special effects that make the Special Edition of Star Wars such a treat to watch. Nor does it contain any lost footage like Star Wars. All it really does contain is a new dance sequence in Jabba The Hut's palace, a couple of shots of various celebrations at the end of the movie and a new musical score for both the enhanced dance sequence and celebrations. I have to admit while the new dance sequence and celebration shots where nice they certainly aren't worth watching the Special Edition for. As for the new score to accompany these new sequences -- call me resistant to change, but the old one was just fine. Changing the old score was the only thing that I can honestly say that I think was a mistake. It's not that it was bad, but I think most Star Wars fans are like me in that they have probably seen Return Of The Jedi a dozen times. When a familiar piece of music wasn’t where I expected it to be I felt as if I was missing something. Hey, the original John Williams score was brilliant -- don't mess with perfection. But don't let this minor criticism make you think that the update hurts Return Of The Jedi, it's still as wonderful as it was when it was first relaesed. My point is merely that if you can't find The Special Edition in your local video store, don't be too disappointed -- the original version isn't a whole lot different. For a few brief seconds towards the end credits, maybe it's just a little bit better. Whether you've seen the first two films or not, Return Of The Jedi is easily two of the most enjoyable hours you will ever spend watching a film. A word of warning though. If you are simply renting the Special Edition to see the improvements -- don't bother. You will just end up being disappointed. Rent the updated version of Star Wars instead. 10/10 Visit The Movie Guy http://members.tripod.com/~MovieGuy/index.html From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Apr 30 12:48:36 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!nntp.primenet.com!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Joe Chamberlain" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Retrospective: Return Of The Jedi (1983) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 28 Apr 1999 05:19:27 GMT Organization: The Movie Guy Lines: 48 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <7g65ov$1114$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> Reply-To: "Joe Chamberlain" NNTP-Posting-Host: homer15.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 925276767 33828 (None) 140.142.17.35 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #17998 Keywords: author=chamberlain X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer15.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:17182 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2284 Return Of The Jedi A review by Joe Chamberlain Starring Mark Hamill; Harrison Ford; Carrie Fisher & Billy Dee Williams Return Of The Jedi is the third installment of the Star Wars trilogy, and the second best of the three. (Star wars being the best.) It picks up where The Empire Strikes Back left off -- Han Solo is feeling somewhat confined and Luke Skywalker is dealing with some serious parental issues. In this film, Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) travel to the forest moon of Endor. There they must try to deactivate a generator that is powering a shield protecting the Empire's new Death Star. Once the shield is removed the Rebel armada plans to attack the Empire's new space station in their final showdown with Darth Vader and friends. If you don't know all this by now, most likely you have either been in a coma or living in a South American jungle for the last 15 years. Unlike The Empire Strikes Back, which bordered on depressing in places, Return Of The Jedi is much more fun. Especially the scenes on the Endor Moon involving the Ewoks -- probably the cutest creatures to ever hit the big screen, with the possible exception of E.T.. Return Of The Jedi also benefits from what seems like the most action of the three films. This is highlighted by the spectacular battle between the Imperial forces and the Rebel/Ewok team. I must confess to being a much bigger Han Solo fan than I am a Luke Skywalker fan. So if I have one criticism of the movie, it is the extended periods in the film that focus on the Emperor's attempts to turn Luke to the dark side of the Force. A minor complaint, but one point worthy of note. Although it is not a point large enough to prevent me from ranking Return Of The Jedi as one of my favorite films of all time. Return Of The Jedi serves as a fitting end to one of the greatest series of movies ever produced. It ties up all the loose ends of the previous films and stands as a reminder that sequels don't necessarily have to be inferior knockoffs of the original film. Whether you've seen the first two films or not, Return Of The Jedi is easily two of the most enjoyable hours you will ever spend watching a film. 10/10 Visit The Movie Guy http://members.tripod.com/~MovieGuy/index.html From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri May 28 12:43:10 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!nntp.primenet.com!newsfeed.enteract.com!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Berge Garabedian" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Subject: Retrospective: Return of the Jedi (1983) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Date: 21 May 1999 18:35:09 GMT Organization: University of Washington Lines: 92 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <7i490t$q8c$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> Reply-To: "Berge Garabedian" NNTP-Posting-Host: homer07.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 927311709 26892 (None) 140.142.17.38 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #18465 Keywords: author=garabedian X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer07.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:17680 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2328 rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc:296306 THE RETURN OF THE JEDI RATING: 8 / 10 --> Great movie For more Star Wars reviews and screensavers, visit http://www.joblo.com/ PLOT: The gang of our favorite futuristic rebels must save their buddy Han Solo from the evil clutches of Jabba the Hut, attempt to break through the shield of the Empire's brand new Death Star complex, blow it up, and allow for Luke Skywalker to partake in a showdown with Darth Vader (aka Dad), while saving the galaxy. All that and....meet the cute and cuddly Ewoks! CRITIQUE: The most kid-friendly film of the trilogy, this one features plenty of great special effects, cool hover-scooter chases in the Forest Moon, a better understanding of the entire Star Wars universe and the players' roles within, and a few surprises thrown in for effect. The ending is also a complete 180 degree turn from the darker Empire conclusion, with just enough space left over to maneuver a few more episodes, if they so desired. I especially liked the last 45 minutes or so, which featured three separate scenarios happening all at once, with the action in the film alternating effectively between the three. Quite entertaining to say the least, and while the Ewoks were pretty childish, I did still enjoy their goofy presence, and Leia in a skimpy belly-dancer's outfit was just, well....inspirational! :) One thing that totally stuck out with me during the first few scenes, was the obvious use of puppets as some of Jabba's henchmen, and the god-awful blue screen techniques utilized in the underground monster scene with Luke (And I was watching the digitally re-mastered version...go figure!). Other than that little scaffoo, all else was very cool, with plenty of great new added scenes, cool space fights and mechanical monsters, a better grasp of Darth Vader's origin, and a surprisingly tender father/son moment near the end of the film. All in all, a formidable bookend to the greatest science-fiction trilogy of all-time. Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: (Most facts gathered from the IMDb) Director David Lynch, was originally offered the chance to direct this episode of the series. He turned it down because he believed it was "Lucas' thing." Director Richard Marquand died of a heart-attack in 1987. Lando Calrissian and The Millennium Falcon originally scripted to perish in the Death Star explosion, but this was changed after a poor preview audience reception. Note Han's line when departing in the stolen Imperial shuttle: "I got a funny feeling, like I'm not going to see her again." Several Ewok lines are in the Filipino (Tagalog) language. Jabba's sail barge was filmed in Yuma, Arizona. The film crew had problems avoiding the 35,000 dune buggy enthusiasts in the area. To preserve secrecy, the producers claimed to be making a horror film called "Blue Harvest (Horror beyond your imagination)", and even had caps and t-shirts made up for the crew. A chain-link fence and a 24-hour security service could not prevent die-hard fans from entering the set and sneaking some photographs. *The dancer that Jabba drops into the Rancor pit loses her top as she falls in. The Endor shots were filmed near Crescent City, California. Forest work was especially hard on the Ewok actors. Production Assistant Ian Bryce arrived on the set one day to find a note from the Ewok actors saying that they had all had enough and they were on their way to the airport. Bryce tried to drive to the airport, but got a flat tire not far from the set. He found another car and was about to leave when the Ewoks' bus pulled up, and all the Ewok actors got off wearing "Revenge of the Ewok" t-shirts. One of the songs that the Ewoks sing sounds like: "Det luktar flingor har", which is Swedish for "It smells of cereal here." Darth Vader's body was played by David Prowse, his voice by James Earl Jones, and his face by Sebastian Shaw. The title "Revenge of the Jedi" was leaked early in production, so that pirated merchandise could be easily spotted when the film was released. The official reason for the change was that "...a Jedi would not take revenge". Some authentic pre-release movie posters actually had "Revenge", and are worth a lot of money today. Review Date: May 18, 1999 Director: Richard Marquand Writers: Laurence Kasdan and George Lucas Producer: Howard G. Kazanjian Actors: Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Harrison Ford as Han Solo Genre: Science-Fiction Year of Release: 1983 --------------------------------------- JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com --------------------------------------- (c) 1999 Berge Garabedian From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 6 13:03:13 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!erix.ericsson.se!uab.ericsson.se!newsfeed1.telenordia.se!news.algonet.se!algonet!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Brian Koller" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Subject: Retrospective: Return of the Jedi (1983) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Date: 1 Jul 1999 06:12:49 GMT Organization: MPSi Net Lines: 69 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <7lf0t1$j2m$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer11.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 930809569 19542 (None) 140.142.17.37 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #19125 Keywords: author=koller X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer11.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:18358 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2390 rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc:327470 Return of the Jedi (1983) Grade: 81 "Return of the Jedi", of course, is the third chapter in the first "Star Wars" trilogy. Which isn't to be confused with the second trilogy, which takes place before the first trilogy. This would all be confusing, except that media hype has ensured that we know all these things already. "Return of the Jedi" packed the theaters as well as its predecessors, becoming the biggest grossing film of the year. Perhaps the most sentimental film of the series, the combination of action, special effects, and the good versus evil theme again proved to be a winner. The story picks up where "The Empire Strikes Back" left off. Solo (Harrison Ford) is still frozen in carbonite, and hangs on the wall of Jabba's palace. Luke (Mark Hamill) and Leia (Carrie Fisher) make separate attempts to free Solo, and after much peril are successful. The action then shifts to the Empire's latest death star, which must be destroyed or the rebellion will be crushed. The death star is protected by a force field generated on a nearby planet. Our heroes land on the planet to disable the shield, on the way encountering a furry, pygmy tribe called the Ewoks. Meanwhile, Luke tries to turn Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) from the dark side, but instead is taken to the evil Emperor (Ian McDiarmid), who has plans of his own for Luke. After praising the first two films, critics weren't as complimentary to "Return of the Jedi". It is much easier to take potshots at "Jedi". Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) has lived 900 years, but dies of old age within ten minutes of Luke's arrival. While the revelation that Vader is Luke's father is a shocker, to learn that Leia is his sister seems bogus, turning the trilogy into a soap opera. Leia's character, so independent and combative in the first "Star Wars", here has been softened and reduced to Solo's love interest. The Ewoks are a cross between teddy bears and aborigines, and a sign that George Lucas may be targeting kiddies rather than adults. (This marketing trend would be further in evidence in 1999's "The Phantom Menace".) Still, there are many entertaining moments. Jabba the Hutt is an original villian, the speed chase through the forest is exciting, and the final confrontation between Vader, Luke and the Emperor is suspenseful. And Leia's costume at Jabba's Palace makes the viewer wish for a gust of wind. kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html