After a darker film in "The Empire Strikes Back", George Lucas, perhaps thinking of the commercial return, wanted to make the film more accessible and child-friendly

Rating: 7/10 (17 May 2020)

Three years after the release of the excellent "The Empire Strikes Back", George Lucas returns to end his first epic trilogy. At that time several products were created with the characters of the saga were created to satisfy fans in the four corners of the planet. This time he returns as an executive producer and scripts the film alongside Lawrence Kasdan, who had already written the previous film in the series and who also had in his curriculum between the two films, the great Corpos Ardentes (1981) in which he wrote and he directed, in addition to the timeless adventure classic The Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) by Steven Spielberg, which he scripted. For direction, Lucas again decided to cast another director to lead the final part of his series. Having directed only short films and TV series and having the only most relevant feature the good O Buraco da Agulha (1981), Richard Marquand is the one who takes on the responsibility of closing the initial trilogy with a flourish. Filming took place between January and March 1982 in England, California and Arizona.
Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) returned to his home planet, Tatooine, in an attempt to save his friend Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from the clutches of the despicable bandit Jabba, the Hut. Luke is still unaware that the Galactic Empire has secretly initiated the construction of a new war space station, more powerful than the first and feared Death Star. When ready, this ultimate weapon will surely mean the end of the small group of rebels struggling to return freedom to the galaxy ... Luke and his friends manage to rescue Solo and escape escapes and, after rescuing Han from the hands of gangster Jabba the Hutt. Luke then returns to finish his training, this time finding Yoda (voice of Frank Oz) on the verge of death. Before he passes away, he confirms that Vader (David Prowse's body and James Earl Jones's voice) is Luke's father and moments later, the spirit of Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness) tells Luke that he must face his father in order to become a Jedi Master, ultimately revealing that Leia (Carrie Fisher) is his twin sister. As Emperor Palpatine plans to personally supervise the final stages of its construction, the Rebels initiate a large-scale attack on the Death Star, to prevent its completion and to kill Palpatine, effectively ending the Empire. Luke confronts Vader in the presence of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who expects his son to kill his father and become his new disciple. The boy, on the other hand, struggles to rescue Vader back from the Dark Side of the Force.
All the actors and their main characters are once again back to the conclusion of the series. The highlight is given to all, who manage to close the dramatic arc of each of them in a satisfactory way, and this is precisely the great merit of The Return of the Jedi. In fact, the closure is satisfactory, even though it is not daring. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Alec Guinness and Billy Dee Williams are back. Even Harrison Ford, who with the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Blade Runner - The Hunter of Androides (1982), was in danger of not returning. Fortunately he can come back and his story with Leia can be finished.
Firstly, it is worth noting the inexplicable translation. Translated as "The Return of the Jedi", it gives the impression of being someone, a person, and not the group of Knights who maintain peace in the galaxy. "The Return of the Jedi" is a great film, but inferior to the previous two. George Lucas chooses to end his saga without daring. Luke and his partners are at the height of the conflict between the two sides of the Force, and the battle of the rebels against the Empire has reached a turning point. After delivering a darker film in "The Empire Strikes Back", George Lucas, perhaps thinking of the commercial return, wanted to make the film more accessible and child-friendly. Out of that desire came the Ewoks, small, furry and fluffy creatures. In addition to them, several other passages also denote the greatest insertion of humor in the plot, as in the scene when 3-CPO is declared a deity and refuses to save his friends from the fire, or when the same 3-CPO says to R2D2 that "no it's time for heroism "in the battle on the planet of the ewoks. After the darker atmosphere of the previous film, fans expected something along the same lines in "Return of the Jedi", but on the other hand, it was the ending, the final chapter of the saga. Perhaps the dark atmosphere of The Empire Strikes Back was not the best way, although the infantilization in several scenes really bothers.
The repetition of theme is also another factor to be considered. Again we have the Death Star as a threat. Something even more grandiose could have been conceived by Lucas for the great conclusion long awaited by all. The events of this episode also do not contribute much to the story. A full half hour of the film is lost in rescuing Solo from Jabba's hands. Only then, with this pending "The Empire Strikes Back", does the plot begin. And when it starts, we have ewoks that take some of the strength and urgency out of a decisive period of war. For wasting a lot of time, we have a limited expansion of that world, limited to a tropical forest where the Rebels must disable the protective shield of the Death Star and return to the Tatooine desert. On the other hand, the action scenes are all great and very well designed and work well, no matter how much we get the feeling of the battle between the giant machines and the ewoks that use prehistoric bladed weapons to fight the high technology of the Empire. The battle in the middle of the forest took on a more circus-like appearance at times. The mystery of how those beings managed to defeat the modern and powerful weapons of the imperial troops I believe can never be answered. This parallel plot does not have the impact it should. In addition to the scene with the ewoks, we have the other parallel plot that is the attack led by Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), which is practically a copy of the attack on the first Death Star, already seen in "A New Hope".
But the film is also full of good times, like the third parallel plot of the climax. The crucial moment is at the end of the scene with Luke, the Emperor and Darth Vader on the Death Star. The tension and construction of the entire sequence of scenes is well directed. The Emperor shows Luke his friends being trapped in an ambush to increase his anger, trying to take him to the Dark Side of the Force, leaving the lightsaber at his fingertips. Luke's resistance is put to the test and his and Darh Vader's conflicts are exposed and the atmosphere of tension is growing more and more when the Emperor attacks the young boy. These scenes are the best in the movie.
This is where we also have other important scenes, such as the controversial sequence in which Leia appears in a bikini to please Jabba during the rescue of Solo. Even with a more childlike focus, this more "bold" scene appears played in context. We also learned in this episode that, Luke was not the only Skywalker still alive. If it wasn't a revelation as bombastic as that of "The Empire Strikes Back", it also ended up surprising everyone.
The edition by Sean Barton, Duwayne Dunham and Marcia Lucas again impresses agility with precision and is very competent especially in the scene of high speed chase in the middle of the forest. . Alan Hume's photograph adopts bright colors, reflecting the cheerful and daytime tone of the narrative, in the desert scenes, but maintains the darker and more intimidating atmosphere of the scenes that take place inside the Death Star and also in Jabba's palace, passing the intimidating climate of the two places. The art direction of the duo Fred Hole and James L. Schoppe once again excels, especially in the detailed scenes that take place inside and near the ships, in the scenery of Jabba's palace, in the visual of the various planets that celebrate the defeat of the Empire for the Rebelde group.
The effects of ILM are even more incredible, in the visual of each of the beings present, especially those present in Jabba's palace. The evolution for the first film is even greater and even today it does not seem so outdated. The movement of the ships and the effects in the battles are also a spectacle apart.
This last part does not have the same impact as the previous two chapters, but it still has some important revelations for the entire series, some striking scenes and ends well, without leaving loose ends one of the biggest and most profitable franchises in the history of cinema.