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Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Alec Guinness. Cinematography by Alan Hume. Edited by Sean Barton, Duwayne Dunham, and Marcia Lucas. Produced by Howard Kazanjian and Rick McCallum. Written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. Directed by Richard Marquand.
Han Solo (played by Harrison Ford) has been sold to Jabba the Hutt by Boba Fett (played by Jeremy Bulloch) in return for the bounty the crime lord had placed on his head. Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (played by Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca (played by Peter Mayhew), Lando Calrissian (played by Billy Dee Williams), R2D2 (played by Kenny Baker), and C3PO (played by Anthony Daniels) devise an intricate plan to get their friend back. Things don’t necessarily go as planned but in the end Han is freed.
The rebels have recovered from the Hoth attack and are planning a new attack on the Empire; this time directly on the new Death Star. In the meantime, Luke returns to Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) to find his heath failing. He is told that his Jedi training will be complete when he at last confronts the Sith Lord, Darth Vador (voice by James Earl Jones).
When it came time to finish up his amazing Star Wars trilogy, George Lucas knew exactly what he wanted for the film. He put together the first draft of Revenge of the Jedi, later changed to Return of the Jedi because a Jedi would not seek revenge, in just one month. That was a walk in the park compared to the initial draft of the first Star Wars film that took over two years two write.
Lucas liked the story so much that he even played with the idea of returning to the director’s chair one last time, but quickly reconsidered. Instead he would again take the back seat; this time to director Richard Marquand. But what he did do for this film was fund it entirely by himself.
After the dependence on Twentieth Century Fox for covering production costs on the first Star Wars, and the monetary fiasco that occurred during The Empire Strikes Back, it was a huge load off his shoulders to be able to take the financial matters into his own hands. Lucas basically made his presence known on set and did some camera work on the second unit shots.
In the mid nineties Lucas finally decided to produce the prequel trilogy in the Star Wars saga. But before he did he wanted to remaster his original films and release them as a “special edition” cut. He worked a deal with Fox that in return for the fifteen million dollars that it would take to restore his pictures, he would give them exclusive distribution rights to the pending prequels.
There were a few things that always bothered him in each of the films and he was determined to correct them, but first he needed to salvage the original negatives that were deteriorating in a vault under the Utah desert. So each frame of film was painstakingly scanned into a computer where it was digitally corrected for image and sound. He then added computer graphics to some of the existing shots and restored a few of the scenes that were cut from the original releases.
All in all he added nine minutes of film to the trilogy: four and a half going to the first Star Wars, only one and a half for The Empire Strikes Back, and the last three was cut into Return of the Jedi. The remastered films were a huge success at the box office and added fuel to the fire that was already burning bright for the return of a new Star Wars feature.
Budget: $32,500,000
Total US Gross: $309,205,079
Genre: Science Fiction
Runtime: 134 Minutes
US Release Date: 5/25/83
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Awards:
Academy Awards:
Nominated for best art direction/set decoration, best sound effects, best original score, and best sound.
Golden Globes:
Nominated for best original score.
Tagline: The Empire Falls...
Quote: “The alliance will die. As will your friends. Good, I can feel your anger. I am unarmed. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete.”
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