Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

Director:

Richard Marquand

Writers:

George Lucas (story)
Lawrence Kasdan (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 May 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Coming May 25, 1983 to your galaxy. [Second Advance poster]

Plot:

After rescuing Han Solo from the palace of Jabba the Hutt, the Rebels attempt to destroy the Second Death Star, while Luke Skywalker tries to bring his father back to the Light Side of the Force.

Plot Keywords:

Rebel | Death Star | Empire | Jabba The Hutt | Princess

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 11 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 29

7:00 PM

SPIKETV

Cast

Mark Hamill	...	Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford	...	Han Solo
Carrie Fisher	...	Princess Leia
Billy Dee Williams	...	Lando Calrissian
Anthony Daniels	...	C-3PO
Peter Mayhew	...	Chewbacca
Sebastian Shaw	...	Anakin Skywalker
Ian McDiarmid	...	The Emperor
Frank Oz	...	Yoda (voice)
James Earl Jones	...	Voice of Darth Vader (voice)
David Prowse	...	Darth Vader
Alec Guinness	...	Ben 'Obi-Wan' Kenobi
Kenny Baker	...	R2-D2 / Paploo
Michael Pennington	...	Moff Jerjerrod
Kenneth Colley	...	Admiral Piett

Also Known As:

Blue Harvest (USA) (fake working title)
Revenge of the Jedi (USA) (working title)
Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (USA) (video box title)
Star Wars: Episode VI - Revenge of the Jedi (USA) (working title)
El regreso del Jedi (Chile) (Mexico) (Panama) [es]
El retorno del Jedi (Colombia) (Spain) [es]
Завръщането на джедаите (Bulgaria: Bulgarian title) [bg]
Звёздные войны: Эпизод 6 - Возвращение Джедая (Soviet Union: Russian title) [ru]
Die Rückkehr der Jedi-Ritter (West Germany) [de]
El retorn del jedi (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Il ritorno dello Jedi (Italy) [it]
Jedi'nin dönüsü (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Jedi-ridderen vender tilbage (Denmark) [da]
Jedin paluu (Finland) [fi]
Jedins återkomst (Sweden) [sv]
Jediridderen vender tilbake (Norway) [no]
La guerra de les galàxies: El retorn del jedi (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
La guerre des étoiles VI: Le retour du jedi (Canada: French title) [fr]
Le retour du Jedi (France) [fr]
O Regresso de Jedi (Portugal) [pt]
O Retorno de Jedi (Brazil) [pt]
Powrót jedi (Poland) [pl]
Ratovi zvezda - Povratak dzedaja (Serbia) [sr]
Razboiul stelelor - Întoarcerea lui jedi (Romania) [ro]
Star Wars: Epizoda VI - Návrat Jediho (Czech Republic) (reissue title) [cs]
Star wars VI - Jedin paluu (Finland) (video box title) [fi]
Star wars: åÐÉÚÏÄ VI - úÁ×ÒßÝÁÎÅÔÏ ÎÁ ÄÖÅÄÁÉÔÅ (Bulgaria: Bulgarian title) (reissue title) [bg]
Star wars: Episodio VI - El regreso del Jedi (Spain) [es]
Sutâ wôzu: Jedai no kikan (Japan) [ja]

MPAA:

Rated PG for sci-fi action violence. (special edition, DVD version)

Runtime:

134 min | 135 min (special edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | DTS (special edition) | Dolby Digital (special edition) | Dolby (35 mm prints) | SDDS (special edition)

Certification:

Iceland:L (original rating) | Malaysia:U | Iceland:10 (special edition) | Iceland:12 (special edition) (video release) | Canada:G (British Columbia/Quebec) | South Korea:All | Brazil:Livre | Hong Kong:I | South Africa:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (special edition) | Chile:TE | Denmark:11 (special edition) | Denmark:12 (original rating) | Finland:K-12 (original rating) | Finland:K-8 (special edition) | France:U | Ireland:G | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:11 (re-rating) | Norway:12 (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG (special edition) | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Buttercup Valley, California, USA

Company:

Lucasfilm

Trivia:

When Vader throws the Emperor into the shaft, the brief image of a skull can be seen superimposed on his visor.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Max Rebo, the guy that looks like a blue elephant, is clearly made out of nylon.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Shuttle captain: Command station, this is ST321, code clearance blue. We're starting our approach; deactivate the security shield.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saul Goodman (2006)

Soundtrack:

Lapti Nek

Fitting closure to the 'Star Wars' series, now out on DVD.

My five children were growing up but all still at home when 'Return of the Jedi' came to the theater. While there had been other Sci-Fi movies with a theme of conflict in outer space, the 'Star Wars' trilogy filled our imaginations like no other movies before them. The fantastic, strange worlds were presented almost like we were there too. Aliens sitting around a tavern, enjoying drinks and speaking in all sorts of languages. Nothing before had approached the sheer size of the space ships depicted here, huge cities traveling all over the galaxy. And how about the jump to hyper speed, then disappearing from the screen as the speed exceeds light speed! And the light sabres of the Jedi Knights. The Jedi Knights, a striking parallel to the Japanese Samurai.

After the fantastic 'Star Wars' and 'Empire Strikes Back' (now called parts IV and V on DVD), the last episode 'Return of the Jedi' was bound to be somewhat of a let down, but not much of one. It was made to achieve resolution. Of the rebels' battle with the evil Empire. The relationship between Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and the Princess, and her relationship with Han Solo. We witness Luke's Jedi training at the hands of Yoda, as Luke becomes the Last Samurai, I mean Jedi. The DVDs finally came out last month, and they are near perfect, as we should expect from Lucas Films and THX. The bit rate is high, and the picture is nothing short of superb. As is the Dolby EX surround track.

My wife and I watched all three of the movies on DVD this week -- Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi (now on DVD called parts IV, V, and VI) -- compliments of our local public library. It was an appropriate reminder how good these movies are, and still ahead of their time. Nothing else has been made to compare to them.