Act Three In The Art Of Entertainment  The Final Duel.

Rating: 9/10 (12 October 2003)

So it had finally come to be  the final chapter of an epic story. The attention span of a movie audience has always been a limiting factor for the movie industry. When taken into consideration with the time and cost constraints that influence audience attendance at the movie theatre, we can well appreciate the fact that the series concept well accepted for television, is not considered bankable for the movies. A potential investment in the continuing adventures of' by production companies would result in the application of financial prudence, meaning that the preference would rather be to concentrate on one story and if box office success warranted it, the production of a sequel to take advantage of a potential cash  cow. This is still a solid norm today, although more risks are being taken in stories like Star Wars'
Good stories will always attract audiences to the theatre, but to bring them back for another chapter, it will have to be special. The principle of high concept would certainly have more relevance here. Of prime importance would be the unique challenge of creating story flow throughout the chapters with each setting the platform for the next. Keeping audience attention throughout the chapters is necessary in order to inspire audiences to return and follow the continuing adventures of their heroes.
Star Wars' is one of those few special stories that can meet all these challenging requirements. It introduces new characters throughout the chapters which created enough interest for the audience. Each chapter ended tantalisingly thus giving impetus to the next chapter. Stories involving mystical worlds with wizards, princesses and knights duelling always seem to captivate audiences thus making them particularly favourable for the series format. This is also evident with Lord Of The Rings'. Lucas's unique adaptation of ancient worlds to that of the future has firmly claimed an established place in cinematic history.
The third chapter offers much in the way of strengths, but unfortunately also in the way of weaknesses. As a result, it does pale in comparison to The Empire Strikes Back', but it still falls short of disappointing. Lucas had gone much further in trying to delight the younger members of the audience. There may be method here to the effect that being the final act, it should act on a happy note. It may also be that feeling freer to apply the child within him due to the mass audience acceptance of previous characters, Lucas added more comic characters. Even if we consider the first point to be correct, and I personally feel that it is the second, the story has been weighed down with comic characters, which may annoy the older audience. These characters take up much screen time in the third chapter and it began to take on a pantomime  like style. This undermined the battle between good and evil as the threat of the Dark Side seemed to take a back seat to these characters. If it were not for the greater role that the Emperor played in this chapter, it would have been disappointing.

The Emperor is a sublime manifestation of the Dark Side. He absolutely oozes dark menace which serves to accentuate his great power. The eyes beneath his cloak projected ominous intent. Even his surroundings mirrored the evil that he is. His window is in the shape of an unshapely spider web symbolising the disorder and chaos of the Dark Side and hideous design also indicated to us that we were now in the presence of evil. The room is devoid of ornaments or furniture making him appear more purposeful in his evil intent. He does not reminisce or luxuriate  he exists only to dominate and rule at all costs. His priests have the appearance of demonic minders who submissively attend to their masters needs. The Emperor is purposeful in motion  confident in who he is and the outcome of his fiendish plan which is unfolding in the presence of his adversary.
The stand  off between the Emperor and Skywalker did much to increase the perception of the Emperor's power. He seemed to be in total control and was getting the necessary reactions from Skywalker. It is these scenes which rescue the movie and keep it in line, not only with the box  office success of the previous chapters, but also as a story. It gave the continuity to the chapter that was necessary due to the excess inclusion of comical characters. It did not address the balance entirely, but served to anchor the storyline.
The Emperor was a character which served to draw on the line of evil characters such as the Bounty Hunter and of course, Vader. The balance of characters between the good and the bad side was generally very good. But for me, it was the Emperor that tipped the balance of memorable characters in favour of the baddies which already benefited from strong audience appeal due to characters like Vader. This is indicative of the fact that stories such as these require immense characters as opponents for our heroes. This creates a greater obstacle to overcome thus maintaining audience attention as they attempt to conquer an insurmountable force. Audiences also enjoy these characters since they solve their problems ruthlessly and with impunity. It may be costly to us in reality, but we can fantasise about it. We imagine the face of Star Wars' and it is not Skywalker.
The comical characters had their place in the movie, but they were greatly over  utilised. Some of them were silly, especially at Jabba the Hut's cave. The Special Edition only served to exasperate the matter. Alien's continually belching was a joke that was replayed as if we would never tire from the novelty. If their comical nature and screen time had been toned down, they would have strengthened the movie rather than weakened it. A sound balance between the comic and seriousness of these characters was struck in the previous chapters. It was a pity the same was not applied here.
Notwithstanding the above criticism, Return Of The Jedi' is an entertaining movie with a satisfying conclusion. The assault on the imagination launched by the story tapered a bit here. but it remained to be a movie far above the average. The final chapter had despite it's weaknesses, given us a movie which was still one of the best at the time. A traditional story had been adapted and as a consequence of this adaptation, cutting  edge technology not only needed to be used, but had to be upgraded. Lucas carried this application through to all future projects involving Star Wars' and although their impact has, and never will be the same, we will continue to look forward to the continuing story of Star Wars'.