A Reel 30: STAR WARS EPISODE VI - RETURN OF THE JEDI

“Your father he is.”

This month marks the 30^th anniversary of RETURN OF THE JEDI.

RETURN OF THE JEDI was the third chapter in the Original Trilogy of STAR WARS films, and ultimately the sixth Episode in the overall Original Saga. Originally titled REVENGE OF THE JEDI, the film often suffers from unfair comparison to its predecessor, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Although JEDI did not have the emotional punch and depth that EMPIRE had, it served the many purposes and tasks which were asked of it; it had to answer the many questions and wrap up the cliffhangers brought up in the previous two films, and it had to finish off the many storylines set in motion nearly six years before. JEDI’s purpose was to be the capstone to the large structure underneath it, and it accomplishes that mission just fine.

Directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan, the film was the overall No. 1 U.S. Box Office champion in 1983, and thanks to healthy re-releases in 1985 and 1997, currently ranks 38^th overall in the domestic Box Office. JEDI was nominated for four Oscars, with the visual effects team receiving a Special Achievement for Visual Effects.

*

As a young Padawan, this Blogger fondly remembers having to suffer through the agonizing three-year wait in-between EMPIRE and JEDI. Back then, information and material was hard to come by, and waiting around for the answers to the many questions brought up in EMPIRE was like being in a desert. It was a time for the very first round of debates between friends and cousins over the truth behind Darth Vader and his claim at the end of EMPIRE, and the knowledge that there would eventually be another STAR WARS movie kept the action figures and their vehicles flying around the back yard. When JEDI arrived it did not disappoint; it didn’t put a capstone on the franchise, but instead kept it flying.

“The Force is strong in my family…”