Return of the Jedi (1983)

Released in May 1983 as the concluding chapter of George Lucas's original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi arrived carrying an enormous weight of expectation. The Empire Strikes Back (1980) had left audiences with a cliffhanger and a darker, more unsettled tone than its predecessor, and millions of filmgoers worldwide were hungry to see how it all resolved. The film was produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and, rather unusually for a franchise of this scale, handed to Richard Marquand, a Welsh director whose prior credits were modest by comparison. Lucas remained a dominant creative presence throughout production, which led to some well-documented tension on set, and the question of how much of the finished film reflects Marquand's own sensibility versus Lucas's hands-on involvement has been debated by fans and critics ever since. What is certain is that the film closed out a trilogy that had reshaped popular cinema and the business of blockbuster filmmaking for a generation.

The principal cast reassembles the core trio audiences had come to know across the previous two films. Mark Hamill returns as Luke Skywalker, and this is very much his film in a way that the earlier entries were not quite so exclusively. Luke's arc reaches its emotional peak here, and Hamill brings a quieter, more controlled register to the role, a notable shift from the wide-eyed enthusiasm of A New Hope. (Fans of Hamill's range beyond this franchise might be interested in the very different territory he covers in Batman: The Killing Joke or, for the truly committed, the baffling curiosity that is The Star Wars Holiday Special.) Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher reprise their roles as Han Solo and Princess Leia, Billy Dee Williams returns as Lando Calrissian, and Anthony Daniels is once again present as the reliably fussy C-3PO. The ensemble is comfortable and assured, as you would expect from a cast who had spent several years living inside these characters. The film runs to 132 minutes, giving it enough room to handle a rescue mission, a large-scale space battle, and a final confrontation that the story had been building towards since 1977.

It is worth noting the broader context Return of the Jedi occupies in Hamill's career and in the ongoing life of the franchise. The character of Luke Skywalker would lie largely dormant for decades before reappearing in the Disney-era sequels, and the reception of those later films has inevitably coloured how some viewers look back at the originals. If you want to see how that later chapter landed, my reviews of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker are there for the reading. For now, though, the film stands on its own terms as the conclusion to what was, in 1983, a complete and finished story.

Ewoks are fine, ok! I rented all 3 movies from my local video store when I was around 10 years old and my best friend and I marathoned these. I've rewatched RoTJ and the others from the OG trilogy countless times and I STILL vividly remember that childlike wonder of seeing Anakin for what was then the first time. People love to hate on the Ewoks, but honestly? I thought they were great. This film had to balance the darkest moments of the trilogy with some levity, and for me, it worked. But let’s get to the real heart of Return of the Jedi; Luke vs. Vader. The final duel is pure emotion, and when Vader senses Luke’s fear for his sister, the soundtrack soars alongside Luke’s rage. It’s breathtaking. And then, the moment Anakin finally fulfils the prophecy, bringing balance to the Force. it’s the perfect conclusion to his arc. As someone who holds Luke Skywalker as my favourite character in all of cinema, this film is essential. It might not be as polished as Empire, but it’s my favourite ending to the greatest story ever written. Too bad Disney F-d up the later films.

I keep coming back to that word: essential. For all the debates about Ewoks and about whether this film quite matches the bleak confidence of its predecessor, Return of the Jedi earns its place as the emotional centrepiece of the whole saga. The Luke and Vader duel works precisely because it is not really about lightsabers at all. It is about a son trying to save his father, and that is a story that does not need special effects to hit hard. The fact that it has them anyway is a bonus. Whatever came after in the franchise, and my feelings on that are no secret, nothing that followed has managed to recapture what this film does in those final twenty minutes. Sometimes the version you saw at ten years old, or rented from the video shop on a rainy weekend with your best friend, turns out to be the right one after all.

Rating: ★★★★½  | Year: 1983  | Watched: 1999-03-03

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Trailer

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Related on Movies With Macca

More with Mark Hamill: The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) · Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) · Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) · Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
More from the 1980s: Nightmare City (1980) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Style Wars (1983) · Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)