The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 169 Days to go: 120
Movie #269: Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi
A lot of people seem to have some sort of problem with Jedi, particularly the Ewoks. I don’t get it. Aside from “ewok” essentially being a syllabic reversal of “wookiee” just as the Ewoks are short furry dudes to Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and other Wookiees being tall furry dudes, I think the Ewoks are fun. They’re adorable, they say things like “yub yub,” and they display a hell of a lot of ingenuity for a primitive race, in both their daily lives and their fighting strategies. A high school friend of mine even voted for the “Ewok Celebration Theme” to be the official prom song junior year. She was being contrarian, sure, but it made just as much sense as eventual winner “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel, which came out a full six years before said prom. But I digress.
Return of the Jedi is actually my favorite of the original trilogy, probably because I was of the perfect age when it came out. It appealed to me on every level. I especially like the entire opening sequence in Jabba’s lair. (Again, this is the original theatrical release, so Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch) is no chick magnet in my version.) I like Leia (Carrie Fisher) disguising herself as a bounty hunter to rescue Han (Harrison Ford). I like Lando (Billy Dee Williams) in full stealth guard mode. I like the weird dude with the super long head. I like the band. I like how Luke (Mark Hamill) outsmarts the rancor, and how he’s suddenly claiming to be a freaking Jedi Knight. (Han agrees with my skepticism on this point.) I like Princess Leia in her gold bikini, and I’ve wanted to be her on more than one occasion. I like the pig guards and Jabba’s little rat sidekick and I like the entire battle over the sarlacc monster. It’s fucking great, all of it. (Though if this was honestly their plan from the start, these people are fucked in the head.)
I also think Jedi moves along well, tying up loose ends (RIP Yoda), revealing Luke’s sister, and interweaving the Endor battle with Luke’s showdown with Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) really well. I even like the final redemption of Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) by way of throwing the electrified emperor down a huge abyss. I could do without then turning the imposing Vader into gross old Anakin Skywalker (Sebastian Shaw — dude, isn’t that the name of Kevin Bacon’s character in X-Men First Class?), but at least in this version I don’t have to look at damn Hayden Christensen in the closing apparition scene. (Original theatrical release or GTFO.)
On top of all that, I actually think the speeder bike chase on Endor is spectacular, and I’ve always kind of wanted one of those for myself even though I would undoubtedly crash and die the second I started it up. (Fun fact: If you stand in one of the exterior folds of the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University wearing hard soled shoes and you stomp the ground, it makes a sound that was used as a sound effect in the Endor scenes. The More You Know.) And actually, the entire Endor battle is phenomenal and exciting and great. I love it.
Return of the Jedi gives you Han and Lando both promoted to general, C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) playing both God and amazeballs storyteller to the Ewoks, Leia with insanely long, awesome hair and some kickass killer instincts as well as some Force “feelings,” and Luke using his telekinesis all over the place. How the hell are you going to complain about that? (“It’s a trap!”) That’s right, you’re not.
Viable Option 