Return Of The Jedi DVD
20th Century Fox Home Video
Rated: PG
Genre: Sci-Fi
Length: 136 minutes
Director: George Lucas
Year: (1983)
Britt Gillette's Return Of The Jedi DVD Review
It all begins, "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…" And the Star Wars saga continues to this day.
No personal film library can possibly be complete without the greatest trilogy in cinema history (sorry Lord of the Rings fans, but Star Wars is the true king). The complete DVD trilogy offers the three original episodes (which are really episodes four, five, and six) with even more changes made by creator George Lucas for the DVD release.
The three films - A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983) - follow the adventures of young farmhand turned rebel fighter-pilot Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), his sister and comrade in the rebel alliance Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and their mutual friend Han Solo (Harrison Ford) as they work with the Rebel Alliance to wage a galactic war of liberation against the Empire, an evil regime headed by the all-powerful Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) and his notorious henchman Darth Vader (David Prowse with voice by James Earl Jones).
Following the release of the first Star Wars film, the settings and characters brought forth by the imagination of George Lucas took the world by storm. The Director's personal fascination with political history, adventure, and space fantasy is brought to life through the use of ground-breaking special effects and truly original space creatures. Without a doubt, Star Wars is the defining movie series of its generation, spawning entirely new industries to sell its merchandise and quench the desires of its loyal fans for more of anything whatsoever that's Star Wars related…
Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Returning their home planet of Tatooine, C-3PO and R2-D2 knock on the door of notorious gangster Jabba the Hutt's palace. Once inside, the two droids are asked to state their business which is message to Jabba that R2-D2 will only deliver personally. R2-D2 plays the message from Luke Skywalker which calls for the liberation of his friend Han Solo. In act of good faith, Luke offers his two droids. The offer is news to C-3PO who wonders if he heard correctly. Jabba laughs and claims he will never part with the prize possession hanging from his wall, the Corellian smuggler Han Solo entrapped in carbonite.
Following the visit by the two droids, a mysterious bounty hunter arrives with Chewbacca in tow. He demands a reward for the Wookiee, a well-known companion of Han Solo. Jabba relents when the bounty reveals his willingness to set off a bomb to get what he wants. Later that night, the bounty hunter sneaks into Jabba's lair and deactivates the carbon freezing process that had entrapped Han Solo. Blind from carbon sickness, the confused Solo asks who has freed him. The bounty hunter takes of his mask and reveals himself to be Princess Leia.
But Jabba and his minions are watching from behind a screen, and Leia is quickly taken captive and chained around Jabba's neck. Han Solo is placed in holding cell with Chewbacca until his execution can be carried out.
The following morning, the door to Jabba's palace is opened and the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker moves untouched through its hallways. Employing the use of his Jedi powers, he bypasses the guards and faces down Jabba. Luke demands that his friends be set free or else he will kill Jabba. But Luke is unaware that he is standing on top of a trap door. At Jabba's word, Luke falls into a pit where the rancor (a vicious two-legged predator with long teeth) is set loose to devour him. When Luke successfully kills the rancor, Jabba slates his execution for the Sarlacc (a tooth-lined pit located in the desert sands where victims will be slowly digested over the course of a thousand years).
Han, Chewy, and Luke are taken out on a sail barge where they're to be dropped into the Sarlacc for Jabba's entertainment. Luke gives one last warning to Jabba, incurring further laughter from the criminal mastermind. Then, at Luke's signal, R2-D2 launches Luke's lightsaber into the air. Luke catches it, and with the help of Lando Calrissian (who lay in wait disguised as a Jabba henchman), he begins to annihilate all of the guards on the sail barge. Luke and his friends quickly destroy Jabba and his criminal outfit and leave Tatooine to rejoin the Rebel Alliance.
Meanwhile, the Empire is moving forward with its plans to rebuild the infamous Death Star. The deadly battle station is protected by a deflector shield located on the nearby moon of Endor. The Rebels devise a plan to infiltrate the moon using a stolen Imperial Shuttle to penetrate its atmosphere. Once they reach the moon, the small contingent (which includes Han, Chewy, Luke, and Leia) is tasked with disabling the massive shield generator which powers the deflector shield. Once they destroy the shield generator, the entire Rebel Fleet will move in on the Death Star and destroy the vulnerable space station before it becomes fully operational.
However, once the Rebels reach Endor's surface, they encounter several Imperial Scout Troopers who threaten to tip off the Empire as to their presence. Luke and Leia chase after and destroy the Scout Troopers, but get separated from the group and each other in the process. Leia eventually befriends Wickett, a scout for nearby village of Ewoks (furred bipeds native to the moon of Endor). When Han, Chewy, C-3PO, R2-D2, and the rest of the Rebel forces are captured by the Ewoks, it's Leia (with the aid of Luke's C-3PO magic trick) that lead their being set free. The Ewoks befriend the Rebels, and Luke informs Leia that they are brother and sister and that he must leave to go face down Darth Vader.
Turning himself over the Imperial Forces, Luke is taken into the personal custody of Darth Vader who presents him the to the Emperor. The Emperor reveals his intimate knowledge of the Rebel plans and insists that the rebellion will be crushed. He attempts to seduce Luke with Dark Side of the Force, and a lightsaber battle between Dark Vader and Luke ensues.
Meanwhile, the Rebels Forces are captured while attempting to destroy the shield generator, but thousands of Ewoks come to their aid. Outnumbering the Storm Troopers, the Ewoks and Rebels employ many primitive traps, such as rolling logs, to topple the superior technology of the Imperial Forces. Eventually, the Rebels manage to break down the door of the field generator and destroy the power source of the Death Star's deflector shield.
On board the Death Star, Luke manages to slice off Darth Vader's arm, but refuses to kill him for the Emperor. Angered by his refusal to turn to the Dark Side, the Emperor shoots deadly electrical charges from his fingertips and into Luke's body. He is intent on killing the young Jedi, when Dark Vader makes the decision to pick up the Emperor and hurl him into a bottomless pit. With the Rebel Forces winning their battle against the Death Star, Luke tries to convince a dying Vader to come with him. He boards an Imperial Shuttle and escapes the Death Star just as the Rebel Fleet, spearheaded by Lando Calrissian, strike the space station at its core and destroy the Empire once and for all.
Back on the moon of Endor, the Rebel Alliance celebrates the destruction of the evil Empire in the treetop village of the Ewoks. Luke lays the body of Darth Vader to rest, and he sees the friendly ghosts of Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker. Han and Leia enjoy their newly consummated romance, and the galaxy celebrates the Rebel victory and liberation from the Emperor's reign…
Britt Gillette
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Posted on 21 November 2004