Star Wars: Episode VI - Return Of The Jedi (1983)

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return Of The Jedi - 1983

Our latest film is the next installment of the original trilogy in the Star Wars saga, 1983's "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return Of The Jedi", in which we see Luke Skywalker confront his father face to face and learns some truths about his family.  Han and Princess Leia, along with Lando Calrissian, and our favorite droids, do battle to help prevent the return of a second Death Star.

The film's cast includes Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, James Earl Jones, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz, and Caroline Blakiston.

At the opening of the film, we find that a second Death Star is in the final stages of completion and is almost fully operational.  Darth Vader informs the Death Star commander that the Emperor himself will be overseeing the final preparations in person.

At Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine, Han Solo is still encased in carbonite.  He is rescued by Princess Leia, but Jabba catches them and has them imprisoned.

He has Princess Leia become his personal slave.  It takes an intervention by  Luke Skywalker to make sure they are all rescued and Jabba is defeated.

After rescuing his friends, Luke returns to Dagobah to complete his training with Yoda.  Unfortunately, the aged Jedi is dying.  To his dying breath, Yoda still retains his sense of humor.  "Sick have I become, old and weak...When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you do will not, hmm?"

After Yoda's death, the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi comes to Luke and tells him the truth about Darth Vader being his father.  He also tells him that he has a sister.  Luke works out that it is Princess Leia.

The Rebels have found a way to destroy the new Death Star.  They must journey to the forest moon of Endor and deactivate a shield generator that will allow the fleet to penetrate the Death Star's defenses.

When they get to Endor, they are quickly greeted by a fierce, inquisitive, yet cute bunch of locals called Ewoks.  They eventually take C-3PO as their leader and try to barbecue Han and Luke.  However, some Jedi magic makes them all become friends.

Darth Vader comes to Luke on Endor and the two journey to the Emperor, who wants Luke to join the Dark Side.  Luke feels the good in his father and resists the Emperor's persuasions.

After walking into a trap set by the Emperor, Han, Leia, Chewbacca and the droids are rescued by the Ewoks, and they are able to destroy the shield generator that protects the Death Star.

When Luke resists Vader's attempts to turn him to the Dark Side, his thoughts betray Leia to Darth Vader.  When Vader threatens to turn her to the Dark Side, Luke renders him unable to fight.  When he further refuses to join the Dark Side, the Emperor decides to kill him.  Eventually, Darth Vader destroys the Emperor, but he is mortally wounded in the process.

As he lays dying, Darth Vader thanks Luke for believing in him and wants to look at him with his own eyes before he dies.  Luke helps him take off his helmet, and they get to look at each other for a few moments before Vader's death.

With the shield generator down, Lando Calrissian on the Millennium Falcon is able to fire a shot that sets of a chain reaction that obliterates the Death Star.

On Endor, Han and Leia kiss after the completion of their mission.  Also, Leia tells Han that Luke is her brother.  Han is relieved at the news.  He believed Luke was his competition in regards to Leia.

Luke brings his father's body to Endor and he gives him a traditional Jedi funeral.

The galaxy rejoices at the overthrow of the Empire and the death of the Emperor.

As Luke rejoins his friends, he is watched by the spirits of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and his father, Anakin Skywalker.  (Note: For the 2004 DVD release, Hayden Christensen was digitally inserted into the film, replacing the original Anakin, Sebastian Shaw).

Cast rundown:

   Mark Hamill...............................Luke Skywalker

   Harrison Ford.............................Han Solo

   Carrie Fisher..............................Princess Leia

   Alec Guinness............................Obi-Wan Kenobi

   Billy Dee Williams.......................Lando Calrissian

   Anthony Daniels.........................C-3PO

   Kenny Baker...............................R2-D2

   James Earl Jones........................Darth Vader

   Ian McDiarmid............................Emperor Palpatine

   Frank Oz...................................Yoda

   Caroline Blakiston.......................Mon Mothma

And that's all for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return Of The Jedi.  The Redwood Forests of Northern California served as the location for the forest moon of Endor.  The deserts of Yuma, Arizona, became the location for the Tatooine scenes.  It took six people to work the animatronic puppet for Jabba the Hutt.  Warwick Davis, the actor who was inside the Wicket costume, said that Carrie Fisher was very concerned about him because of the heat during filming.  He was eleven years old at the time, and she would supply him with cookies and chocolate milk between takes.  "She was everything an eleven-year-old Ewok could possibly wish for," said Davis.

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