“Your father he is.”
This month marks the 30th 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 38th
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…”
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