THE FILM
FILM DIRECTOR: Richard Marquand
SCREENWRITER: Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas
FILM STARS: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Sebastian Shaw, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz (voice), James Earl Jones (voice), David Prowse, Alec Guinness, Kenny Baker, Michael Pennington, Kenneth Colley, Michael Carter, Denis Lawson, Tim Rose, Dermot Crowley
COUNTRY: USA
THIS BOOK
AUTHOR: James Kahn
TYPE: novelization
PUBLISHER: Futura
THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1983
COUNTRY: Great Britain
COVER: Paperback
THE ORIGINAL BOOK
ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above
YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1983
ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title
NOTES
GENRE: Sci-fi
WORDS: Return of the Jedi (more ponderously known by its new title Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi) was the third in the Star Wars franchise.
I’m not a big Star Wars fan, having, even as a kid in the 1970s and 1980s, lent to Star Trek.
But, like all other kids I went and saw these Star Wars films in the cinema when they came out, and I recall, though perhaps not on the day of watching but shortly thereafter, that this was the worst of the first three Star Wars films. I was not alone in that belief.
Having said that it is better than almost everything that followed it in that increasingly tedious universe. I am in the minority with that belief.
The film is so much fluff surrounded by fluff. I know it’s sci-fi but at the time of Return of the Jedi I wasn’t convinced about the Ewoks fighting prowess or their ability to defeat (or bring to a standstill) the Empire’s crack troops, and i was less impressed with the return of Yoda who I wanted to punch. The film was both too cute by half and too clever by half.
Co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan could write this type of action-adventure film regardless of sub-genre (like Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Solo: A Star Wars (2018)), in his sleep, and sometimes did (Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)). But I assume these films paid the bills because his writer-director efforts were better, or more interesting, adult films – Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Silverado (1985), Wyatt Earp (1994).
I’m not sure who came up with Ewoks but I think it may have been George Lucas, who like his friend Steven Spielberg had a leaning to “cute” with a dollop of “annoying”. Ewoks were so much so that at th time I wished Canadian hunters would leave seals alone and turn their attention here. Perhaps I was in the minority because they have since appeared in two made-for-television films, The Ewok Adventure (1984) and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985), as well as a 2D animated series, books and games, and briefly in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)). Then again, the sure way to shut down anyone praising Return of the Jedi is to say “Ewok”.
Yoda also makes an annoying return (having first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back (1980)). If anything, he is even more annoying here. His faux mysticism covers a pseudo intellectual pedant who is the Star Wars equivalent of the Hollywood trope of the old wise easterner with their slightly magical ways.
The pre-teens loved both.
Says it all really. Star Wars already had giant market share, but with the pre-teens targeted here producer, George Lucas, found a demographic not catered for before with Star Wars (1977) (the teens) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (the adults).
(Welsh) Director Richard Marquand directs anonymously or rather takes the role of a hand puppet even more that Christian Nyby did for Howard Hawks in The Thing from Another World (1951). Lucas was on the set a lot apparently. Marquand’s short career was spotty but at his best he seems to work well with actors and drama (The Legacy (1978), Eye of the Needle (1981) and Jagged Edge (1985)) which may have helped with this film’s most interesting side story: Luke’s relationship with his father, Darth Vader.
In the face of special effects, puppets and dark villains it’s good to see the actors put in good performances. It’s always good to have Harrison Ford around as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher goes through her paces and Mark Hamill as Luke is perhaps his most convincing in this film of the franchise.
John Williams, as always, puts in a rousing music score (how much does this franchise owe him!)
The novelization is by James Kahn who did a few blockbuster novelization – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Poltergeist (1982), Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986), The Goonies (1985) before writing for television. Among the series he worked on were St Elsewhere, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Xena: Warrior Princess, as well as 4 episodes for the underwhelming Star Trek: Voyager, 20 episodes for Melrose Place and 30 episodes for super soap All My children.
Will I read it … I doubt it.
The novelization was released in May 12, 1983, thirteen days before the film’s release and was based on an earlier script. There are differences between the novelization and the film – read about them here, if you must:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_of_the_Jedi_(novel)
The film grossed $374 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1983.
LINKS
TRAILER
The Ewoks were embarrassing but no more than the scenario in the first movie where they fly up the Death Stars garbage chute .
I think it was in one of those 90 s Indy American comedies- maybe Clerks- where the two main characters have an in depth discussion as to whether blowing up the Death Star amounted to a war crime. I think the Death Star was incomplete, logically there would have been a lot of civilians on board doing construction work yet their deaths are never mentioned . Probably not a war crime, but it’s interesting how there is no mention of civilians being killed.
When are you going to do Star Trek : The Wrath of Khan? Shatner saying” Khaaaan” was more entertaining than anything in the Star Wars universe.