Steven Spielberg,David Lynch, andDavid Cronenberg were considered to direct the film before Marquand signed on as director. The production team relied on Lucas's storyboards during pre-production. While writing the shooting script, Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand, and producerHoward Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas to construct it. Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting to begin a few weeks early to allowIndustrial Light & Magic more time to work on the film's effects in post-production. Filming took place in England, California, and Arizona from January to May 1982 (1982-05).
The film was released in theaters on May 25, 1983. It grossed $374 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, becoming thehighest-grossing film of 1983. The film was well received by critics, with strong praise going to the performances of the actors, John Williams' score, the special effects and the action sequences. Several re-releases andrevisions to the film have followed over the decades, which have brought its total gross to $482 million. The United StatesLibrary of Congress selected it for preservation in theNational Film Registry in 2021. Aprequel trilogy, released between 1999 and 2005, and asequel trilogy, released between 2015 and 2019, followed.
One year afterHan Solo's capture and imprisonment in carbonite,[a]C-3PO andR2-D2 enter the palace of the crime lordJabba the Hutt onTatooine. They were sent as a goodwill gift byLuke Skywalker, who hopes to negotiate with Jabba for Han's release. Disguised as abounty hunter,Princess Leia infiltrates the palace under the pretense of having capturedChewbacca. She releases Han from the carbonite but is caught by Jabba and enslaved. Luke arrives to bargain for the release of his friends, but Jabba drops him through a trapdoor to be eaten by arancor, only for one of Jabba's guards to get eaten alive. After Luke kills the beast, Jabba decrees that he, Han, and Chewbacca will be fed to aSarlacc,[7][8] a deadly ground-dwelling creature. Luke retrieves his new greenlightsaber fromR2-D2, and the group of friends battle Jabba's thugs aboard his sail barge. During the chaos,Boba Fett falls into the Sarlacc's pit, and Leia strangles Jabba to death with her chains. The group escapes as Jabba's sail barge is destroyed.
As the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns toDagobah to complete hisJedi training withYoda, who is dying when he arrives. Before Yoda dies, he confirms thatDarth Vader is Luke's father, the former Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, and that there is another Skywalker.Obi-Wan Kenobi'sForce spirit tells Luke that Leia is his twin sister, and that he must face Vader again to finish his training and defeat the Empire.
The Alliance learns that the Empire has been constructing a second Death Star under the supervision ofthe Emperor. The station is protected by an energy shield on the forest moon ofEndor. Han leads a strike team, including Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca, to destroy its generator. Once on the moon, the team gains the trust of a tribe ofEwoks after an initial conflict. Later, Luke tells Leia she is his sister, and Vader is their father. Luke surrenders to Imperial troops and is brought before Vader, but fails to convince him to reject the dark side of the Force.
Luke is brought to the Emperor, who intends to turn him to the dark side. He also reveals that Luke's friends on Endor and the rebel fleet are heading into a trap. On the forest moon, Han's team is captured by Imperial forces, but the Ewoks counterattack, allowing the rebels to infiltrate the shield generator. Meanwhile, withLando Calrissian piloting theMillennium Falcon, he andAdmiral Ackbar lead the rebel assault on the Death Star, finding its shield still active and the Imperial fleet waiting for them.
The Emperor reveals to Luke that the Death Star is fully operational and orders the firing of its massive laser, which destroys a rebel starship. He tempts Luke to give in to his anger and embrace the dark side ofthe Force. Luke attacks him, but Vader intervenes, and the two engage in a lightsaber duel. During the battle, Vader discovers Leia is his daughter and threatens to turn her to the Dark Side, causing Luke to snap and sever Vader'sprosthetic hand in a fit of rage. The Emperor orders Luke to kill his father, but Luke, realizing how close he is to suffering his father's fate, refuses. In response, the Emperor tortures Luke withForce lightning. Unwilling to let his son die, Vader throws the Emperor down a shaft to his demise, but is fatally electrocuted in the process. Before dying, Vader asks Luke to remove his mask in a moment of reconciliation.
After the rebel strike team destroys the shield generator, Lando leads fighter ships into the Death Star's core. While the rebel fleet destroys the Imperial command ship, Lando andX-wing pilotWedge Antilles destroy the Death Star's main reactor and escape before the station explodes. Luke cremates Vader's body on Endor before reuniting with his friends. As the rebels celebrate their victory, Luke sees the Force spirits of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and a redeemed Anakin standing nearby.
Toby Philpott, Mike Edmonds,David Barclay(puppeteers) and Larry A. Ward(voice) asJabba the Hutt: A slug-like alien crime lord who purchased the carbonite-frozen Han from the bounty hunter Boba Fett
Following discussions betweenStar Wars creator George Lucas and producerHoward Kazanjian, a sequel toThe Empire Strikes Back was swiftly put into production.[33] As with the previous film, Lucas personally financedReturn of the Jedi. Lucas also chose not to direct the film himself, and started searching for a director.[34]Irvin Kershner, who previously directedThe Empire Strikes Back, declined to direct after spending two years working on the previous film, choosing to directNever Say Never Again.[35] Although Lucas's first choice wasSteven Spielberg, their separate feuds with theDirector's Guild led to him being banned from directing the film.[36] Lucas approachedDavid Lynch, who had recently been nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Director forThe Elephant Man in 1980, to helmReturn of the Jedi. Lynch declined, saying that he had "next door to zero interest", believing Lucas should direct it sinceStar Wars was his creation.[37][38]
George Lucas (pictured in 1986)
Lucas also offeredDavid Cronenberg the chance to direct, but he declined the offer as he did not want to work on material written by others.[39][40]Lamont Johnson, director ofThe Last American Hero (1973), was also considered.[41] Lucas eventually choseRichard Marquand. Lucas operated the second camera on set a few times.[d] Lucas has admitted to being on the set frequently because of Marquand's relative inexperience with special effects.[34] Lucas praised Marquand as a "very nice person who worked well with actors".[43] Marquand did note that Lucas kept a conspicuous presence on set, joking, "It is rather like trying to directKing Lear – withShakespeare in the next room!"[44]
The screenplay was written byLawrence Kasdan and Lucas (with uncredited contributions byDavid Peoples and Marquand), based on Lucas's story. Kasdan claims he told Lucas thatReturn of the Jedi was "a weak title".[34] Kazanjian said the same, and the title was changed toRevenge of the Jedi one or two days later.[45][46] The screenplay itself was not finished until rather late inpre-production, well after aproduction schedule and budget had been created by Kazanjian and Marquand had been hired, which was unusual for a film. Instead, theproduction team relied on Lucas's story and rough draft in order to commence work with the art department. When it came time to formally write ashooting script, Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand and Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas; Kasdan used tape transcripts of these meetings to then construct the script.[47]
The question of whether Ford would return for the final film arose during pre-production. Unlike Hamill and Fisher, Ford had not contracted to do two sequels, andRaiders of the Lost Ark had made him an even bigger star. Kazanjian said that Han was frozen in carbonite inEmpire because the filmmakers were unsure whether the character would return. He also claimed that Lucas did not expect Ford to return, and that Han was initially not in the script. However, Kazanjian—who also producedRaiders of the Lost Ark—convinced Ford to return.[48]
Ford felt that Han should die through self-sacrifice in the third film.[49] Kasdan agreed, and said it should occur near the beginning of thethird act, to make the audience wonder whether the other protagonists will survive.[34]Gary Kurtz, who producedStar Wars andEmpire but was replaced by Kazanjian forJedi, said that Han died in an early version of the script. Kurtz has suggested that one reason Lucas may have rejected the idea of Han dying was that it would not be good for merchandising.[50] Kurtz also has claimed that an early script ended with the rebel forces in tatters, Leia grappling with her new duties as queen, and Luke walking off alone "likeClint Eastwood in thespaghetti Westerns".[51]
Yoda was originally not meant to appear in the film, but Marquand strongly felt that returning to Dagobah was essential to resolve the dilemma raised by the previous film.[47] The inclusion led Lucas to insert a scene in which Yoda confirms that Darth Vader is Luke's father because, after a discussion with a children's psychologist, he did not want younger moviegoers to dismiss Vader's claim as a lie.[43] Many ideas from the original script were left out or changed. For instance, the Ewoks were going to be Wookiees[52] and theMillennium Falcon was going to land on Endor. Following the defeat of the Emperor, the film was originally intended to end with Obi-Wan and Yoda returning to life from their spectral existence in the Force, along with Anakin Skywalker, thanks to Yoda being able to prevent him from becoming one with the Force. They would then join the rest of the characters in their celebration on Endor.[53]
New cast members include Ian McDiarmid (left, pictured in 2020) as the Emperor, and Warwick Davis (in 2023) as Wicket the Ewok.
Alan Webb was originally cast as the Emperor, but dropped out due to illness.[54]Lindsay Anderson was offered the role, but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts.Ben Kingsley andDavid Suchet were also considered.[55][56]Alan Rickman auditioned for the role of Moff Jerjerrod, but Michael Pennington was cast instead.[56] Marquand initially wanted a famous actor such asLaurence Olivier orJohn Gielgud to play the unmasked Vader, but Lucas was concerned that such an actor would be distracting for audiences.[57] Kenny Baker was originally cast as Wicket the Ewok, but he fell ill with food poisoning on the day of the shoot. He was replaced by Warwick Davis, who had no film acting experience.[34][58]
Filming began on January 11, 1982, and lasted through May 20, 1982, a schedule six weeks shorter thanEmpire. Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting as early as possible in order to giveIndustrial Light & Magic (ILM) as much time as possible to work on effects, and left some crew members dubious of their ability to be fully prepared for the shoot.[59] Working on a budget of $32.5 million,[60] Lucas was determined to avoid going over budget as had happened withEmpire. Kazanjian estimated that using ILM (owned wholly by Lucasfilm) for special effects saved the production approximately $18 million.[60] However, the fact that Lucasfilm was a non-union company made acquiring shooting locations more difficult and more expensive, even thoughStar Wars andEmpire had been big hits.[34] The project was given the working titleBlue Harvest with a tagline of "Horror Beyond Imagination." This disguised what the production crew was really filming from fans and the press, and also preventedprice gouging by service providers.[34]
The first stage of production started with 78 days atElstree Studios in England,[59] where the film occupied all nine stages. The shoot commenced with a scene later deleted from the finished film where the heroes get caught in a sandstorm as they leave Tatooine.[44] (This was the only major sequence cut from the film during editing.)[47] For the rancor, Lucas wanted to use astunt performer in a suit in the style of theTohoGodzilla films. The production team made several attempts, but were unable to create an adequate result. Lucas eventually relented and decided to film the rancor as a high-speed puppet.[34]
In April, the crew moved to Arizona'sYuma Desert for two weeks of Tatooine exteriors.[44] Production then moved to the redwood forests of northern California.[61] Forested private land nearSmith River and at the Chetham Grove section ofGrizzly Creek Redwoods State Park[62] were used for the forests of Endor. The crew spent two weeks shooting the Endor forest exteriors, and then concluded at ILM inSan Rafael, California, for about ten days ofbluescreen shots. One of two "skeletal" post-production units shooting background matte plates spent a day inDeath Valley.[59] The other was a specialSteadicam unit shooting forest backgrounds from June 15 to June 17, 1982, for the speeder chase near the middle of the film.[63] Steadicam inventorGarrett Brown personally filmed these shots at less than oneframe per second. By walking at about 5 mph (8 km/h) and projecting the footage at 24 frame/s, the motion seen in the film appeared as if it were moving at around 120 mph (190 km/h).[34] Vader's funeral was filmed atSkywalker Ranch.
Marquand and Anthony Daniels clashed somewhat, leading to the latter recording hisADR (dialogue overdubs) with Lucas instead.[64] Carrie Fisher disliked working with Marquand, too; he often yelled at her, which caused her to burst into tears on one occasion, which ruined her makeup and required an hour-long redo.[65]
Lucasfilm encountered problems when it tested the film in a commercial theater. Lucas and his employees could not hear many of the sound effects they had mixed. To make matters worse, the background noise in the theater muffled the majority of the film's sound, which played through the theater's normal commercial sound system. Many theaters at the time had poor room acoustics with mono sound. Lucas would solve the problem by creating a new cinema audio company,THX, and ensuring that all theaters playing his movies would use the new system.[66]
Meanwhile, special effects work at ILM quickly stretched the company to its operational limits. While the R&D work and experience gained from the previous two films in the trilogy allowed for increased efficiency, this was offset by the desire to have the closing film raise the bar set by each of these films.[60] A compounding factor was the intention of several departments of ILM to either take on other film work or decrease staff during slow cycles. Instead, as soon as production began, the entire company found it necessary to remain running 20 hours a day on six-day weeks in order to meet their goals by April 1, 1983. Of about 900 special effects shots,[59] allVistaVisionoptical effects remained in-house, since ILM was the only company capable of using the format, while about 4004-perf opticals were subcontracted to outside effects houses.[67] Progress on the opticals was severely delayed for a time when ILM rejected about 30,000 metres (100,000 ft) of film when thefilm perforations failed image registration and steadiness tests.[59]
John Williams composed the film's musical score and performed it with theLondon Symphony Orchestra. Orchestration credits also includeThomas Newman.[68] The initial release of the film's soundtrack was on theRSO Records label in the United States.Sony Classical Records acquired the rights to the original trilogy scores in 2004 after gaining the rights to release theprequel trilogy soundtracks (The Phantom Menace andAttack of the Clones). In the same year, Sony Classical re-pressed the 1997 RCA Victor release ofReturn of the Jedi along with the other two films in the trilogy. The set was released with the new artwork mirroring the first DVD release of the film. Despite the Sony digital re-mastering, which minimally improved the sound heard only on high-end stereos, this 2004 release is essentially the same as the 1997 RCA Victor release.[69]
Return of the Jedi was released on May 25, 1983. It was originally slated to open on May 27, but was subsequently changed to coincide with the date of the 1977 release of the originalStar Wars film.[60] With a massive worldwide marketing campaign, illustrator Tim Reamer created the image for the movie poster and other advertising. At the time of its release, the film was advertised on posters and merchandise as simplyStar Wars: Return of the Jedi, despite its on-screen "Episode VI" distinction. The film was re-released in 1985.[70][71]
The originalteaser trailer for the film carried the nameRevenge of the Jedi.[72] In December 1982, Lucas decided that "Revenge" was not appropriate as a 'true Jedi should never seek revenge' and returned to his original title. By that time thousands of "Revenge" teaser posters (with artwork byDrew Struzan) had been printed and distributed. Lucasfilm stopped the shipping of the posters and sold the remaining stock of 6,800 posters toStar Wars fan club members for $9.50.[73] In 2005,Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, released as part of the prequel trilogy, alluded to the dismissed titleRevenge of the Jedi.[74]
Return of the Jedi showing at the University Theatre inToronto; the marquee reads, "The Smash of 83".
Return of the Jedi grossed $314.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $166 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $480 million, against a production budget of about $32.5 million.[4][5]
Return of the Jedi collected a total of $6.2 million on its opening day, beating outStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan to have the highest single day gross.[75] It would hold the record for having the highest pre-Memorial Day Wednesday gross until 1996 whenMission: Impossible surpassed it.[76] The film made $23 million from 1,002 theaters in its opening weekend and grossed a record $45.3 million in its opening week.[77] It set a new domestic opening weekend record, surpassing the $14 million opening ofStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.[78] Its $22,973 per theatre average would stand as a record for a nationwide release on an inflation-adjusted basis for 36 years until it was surpassed byAvengers: Endgame in 2019.[79] It finished first at the box office for six of its first seven weeks of release, only coming in second once behindSuperman III in its fourth weekend.[5]Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 80 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run.[80] When it was re-released in 1985, it made $11.2 million,[81] which totaled its initial theatrical gross to $385.8 million worldwide.[81] During its re-release in 1997, the film grossed $16.29 million in its opening weekend.[82] When it was re-released in 2023, for its 40th anniversary, the film grossed $5.1 million to place #4 in the weekend box office.[83]
Film criticRoger Ebert gaveReturn of the Jedi four out of four stars, calling it "a complete entertainment, a feast for the eyes and a delight for the fancy. It's a little amazing how Lucas and his associates keep topping themselves."[84]Gene Siskel of theChicago Tribune also gave the film four stars out of four and wrote, "From the moment that the familiarStar Wars introductory words begin to crawl up the screen,Return of the Jedi is a childlike delight. It's the best video game around. And for the professional moviegoers, it is particularly enjoyable to watch every facet of filmmaking at its best."[85]
James Harwood ofVariety called the film "a visual treat throughout," but thought that "Hamill is not enough of a dramatic actor to carry the plot load here" and Harrison Ford "is present more in body than in spirit this time, given little to do but react to special effects. And it can't be said that either Carrie Fisher or Billy Dee Williams rise to previous efforts. But Lucas and director Richard Marquand have overwhelmed these performer flaws with a truly amazing array of creatures, old and new, plus the familiar space hardware."[86]Sheila Benson of theLos Angeles Times wrote that the film "is fully satisfying, it gives honest value to all the hopes of its believers. With this last of the centralStar Wars cycle, there is the sense of the closing of a circle, of leaving behind real friends. It is accomplished with a weight and a new maturity that seem entirely fitting, yet the movie has lost none of its sense of fun; it bursts with new inventiveness."[87]
Gary Arnold ofThe Washington Post said, "Return of the Jedi, a feat of mass enchantment, puts the happy finishing touches on George Lucas'Star Wars saga. It was worth the wait, and the work is now an imposing landmark in contemporary popular culture—a three-part, 6¼-hour science-fiction epic of unabashed heroic proclivities."[88] The film was also featured on the May 23, 1983,Time magazine cover issue (where it was labeled "Star Wars III"),[89] where the reviewer Gerald Clarke said that while it was not as exciting as the firstStar Wars film, it was "better and more satisfying" thanThe Empire Strikes Back.[90]
Vincent Canby ofThe New York Times calledReturn of the Jedi "by far the dimmest adventure of the lot"[91] and stated, "The joys of watching space battles as envisioned by wizards in studios and laboratories are not inexhaustible."[92]Pauline Kael ofThe New Yorker stated, "Some of the trick effects might seem miraculous if the imagery had any lustre, butReturn of the Jedi is an impersonal and rather junky piece of moviemaking."[93]
Christopher John reviewedThe Return of the Jedi inAres magazine #15 and commented that "Star Wars may not be dead, butReturn of the Jedi is a failure, and is a cheap and tarnished crown for the series which shook the world of film when it started out ... a long time ago, in that galaxy far, far away."[94]
Colin Greenland reviewedReturn of the Jedi forImagine magazine, and stated that "You would think a series likeStar Wars, fuelled by public adoration, coasting along on the hyperdrive of its own hyperboles, would get inexorably worse. It is not. It is getting better."[95]
In 1997, for the 20th anniversary of the release ofStar Wars (re-titledEpisode IV: A New Hope), Lucas released theStar Wars Trilogy: Special Edition. Along with the two other films in the original trilogy,Return of the Jedi was rereleased on March 14, 1997 (moved up one week from its original announced release date of March 7 due to the box office success ofThe Empire Strikes Back the month prior), with a number ofchanges and additions, including the insertion of several alien band members and a different song in Jabba's throne room, the modification of the sarlacc to include a beak, the replacement of music at the closing scene, and a montage of different alien worlds celebrating the fall of the Empire.[99] The runtime of the 1997 Special Edition of the film and all subsequent releases is approximately five minutes longer than the original theatrical version.
The film was re-released theatrically by20th Century Studios on April 28, 2023, to commemorate the film's 40th anniversary.[100][101]
The 1997 theatrical release poster of theSpecial Edition version of the film (art byDrew Struzan)
The original theatrical version ofReturn of the Jedi was released onVHS andLaserdisc several times between 1986 and 1995,[102] followed by releases of the Special Edition in the same formats between 1997 and 2000. Some of these releases contained featurettes; some were individual releases of just this film, while others were boxed sets of all three original films.
On September 21, 2004, the originalStar Wars trilogy was released in a boxset onDVD with digital restoration and additional alterations made by Lucas.[103][e]In this version ofReturn of the Jedi,Sebastian Shaw's portrayal of Anakin's spirit is replaced byHayden Christensen, who portrayed Anakin inAttack of the Clones andRevenge of the Sith.[104] All three films of the trilogy were released individually on Limited Edition DVDs on September 12, 2006, with the original unaltered versions included as bonus features.[103] These were collected in a box set on November 4, 2008.[105]
ABlu-ray Disc version of the six-filmStar Wars saga was released by20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in September 2011,[106] which incorporated more small changes toReturn of the Jedi, including making the Ewoks blink and having Vader yell "No!" as he throws the Emperor down the Death Star shaft; the latter change drew sharp negative criticism.[106][107][108] Several deleted scenes from the film were included as special features, including a completed scene in which Vader communicates with Luke via the Force as Luke assembles his new lightsaber before infiltrating Jabba's palace,[109] a sandstorm sequence following the sarlacc pit rescue,[106] and a scene featuring Moff Jerjerrod and Death Star officers during the Battle of Endor.
According to thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 84% of critics have given the film a positive review with an average rating of 7.30/10, based on 170 reviews from critics. The site's critics consensus reads: "Though failing to reach the cinematic heights of its predecessors,Return of the Jedi remains an entertaining sci-fi adventure and a fitting end to the classic trilogy."[114] AtMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100 based on 24 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[115] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.[116]
In his review of the1997 Special Edition re-release, the film critic James Kendrick calledReturn of the Jedi the weakest of the three original films, saying it depended "too much on the slick commercialism" of the franchise but that it was still "a magnificent experience in its own right".[117]James Berardinelli described it as the least enjoyable and least innovative film of the trilogy. He opined that the Special Edition was not saved by the alterations, but that it was nevertheless a "must-see" for fans as the conclusion of the trilogy.[118]
Fans are divided on the likelihood of Ewoks (being a primitive race of small creatures) defeating an armed ground force comprising the Empire's "best troops". Lucas has defended the scenario, saying that the Ewoks' purpose was to distract the Imperial troops and they did not really win.[119] His inspiration for the Ewoks' victory came from theVietnam War, where theViet Cong prevailed against the technologically superiorUnited States.[120][121]
A three-hour radio drama adaptation of the film was written byBrian Daley with additional material contributed byJohn Whitman and was produced for and broadcast onNational Public Radio in 1996 (over a decade after the radio adaptations of the first twoStar Wars films). It was based on characters and situations created by George Lucas and on the screenplay by Kasdan and Lucas. Anthony Daniels reprised his role from the film as C-3PO, but Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams (who lent their voices to the previous radio adaptations) were replaced by newcomer Joshua Fardon and character actorArye Gross, respectively. Bernard Behrens andBrock Peters reprised their roles as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, respectively.John Lithgow voiced Yoda, and veteran character actorEd Begley, Jr. played Boba Fett.Ed Asner voiced Jabba the Hutt, speaking only in grunts.[123]
Marvel Comics published a comic book adaptation of the film by writerArchie Goodwin and artistsAl Williamson, Carlos Garzon,Tom Palmer, andRon Frenz. The adaptation appeared inMarvel Super Special #27[124] and as a four-issuelimited series.[125][126] It was later reprinted in a mass market paperback,[127] as well as collections of Marvel'sself-titledStar Wars series. Marvel Super Special #27 was mistakenly released in April 1983, a month before the film itself, giving away spoilers to the film's plot. Hamill is a comic book fan and while he was in a comic book store, he discovered that the comic book was on sale there and alerted Lucasfilm. According toCarol Kalish who was Marvel's direct sales manager at the time, Marvel quicklyrecalled the book upon learning this mistake though it did not stop the premature revelation of the secrets of the film's plot. Kalish kept her job, as did everyone else in the Sales Department, as the incident was apparently considered a simple mistake.[128][129]
Lucasfilm adapted the story for a children's book-and-record set. Released in 1983, the 24-pageStar Wars: Return of the Jedi read-along book was accompanied by a 33⅓ rpm 18-centimetre (7 in)gramophone record. Each page of the book contained a croppedframe from the film with an abridged and condensed version of the story. The record was produced byBuena Vista Records.[130]
16 years after the release ofReturn of the Jedi, Lucas wrote and directed the prequel trilogy, consisting of the filmsThe Phantom Menace,Attack of the Clones, andRevenge of the Sith. The films chronicle the history between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, and the latter's fall to the darkside and transformation into Darth Vader. The prequel trilogy was financially successful, and polarized critics and fans on their release for the storylines and some new characters.[f]
^As depicted inThe Empire Strikes Back (1980).Empire magazine reports that one year elapses between the plot events of that film andReturn of the Jedi.[6]
^In the original version ofReturn of the Jedi, Shaw portrays both the unmasked Anakin and the character's Force spirit. In the 2004 re-release of the film,Hayden Christensen replaces Shaw as the spirit.
^The character Sy Snootles is portrayed by a puppet, with Arbogast providing the voice. In the Special Edition version of the film, the puppet is replaced with a computer-generated Sy Snootles.[31]
^Lucas may have directed some of thesecond unit work as the shooting threatened to go over schedule, a function he had willingly performed on previous occasions when he had only officially been producing a film (e.g.More American Graffiti,Raiders of the Lost Ark).[42]
^The DVD features Dolby Digital 5.1 EX surround sound and commentaries by George Lucas,Ben Burtt,Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher. The bonus disc included documentaries includingEmpire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy and several featurettes including "The Characters of Star Wars", "The Birth of the Lightsaber", and "The Legacy of Star Wars". Also included were teasers, trailers, TV spots, still galleries, and a demo forStar Wars: Battlefront.
^Pollock, Dale (1999).Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas. Da Capo. p. 203, 225, 227, 276.ISBN0-573-60606-4.
^abStar Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi DVD commentary featuring George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren and Carrie Fisher.Fox Home Entertainment, 2004
^abcMarcus Hearn (2005). "Cliffhanging".The Cinema of George Lucas. New York City: Harry N. Abrams Inc. pp. 140–1.ISBN0-8109-4968-7.
^Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith DVD commentary featuring George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, and Roger Guyett.Fox Home Entertainment, 2005
^Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi DVD commentary featuring George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren and Carrie Fisher. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2004
^Immerwahr, Daniel (December 31, 2022). "21 The Galactic Vietnam: Technology, Modernization, and Empire in George Lucas's Star Wars".Ideology in U.S. Foreign Relations:435–451.doi:10.7312/nich20180-022.ISBN978-0-231-55427-5.
^Edwards, Ted (1999)."Adventures in the Comics".The Unauthorized Star Wars Compendium.Little, Brown and Company. p. 87.ISBN978-0-316-32929-3.The adaptation ofReturn of the Jedi was published inMarvel Super Special #27 and in a separate miniseries, once again penciled by Al Williamson and inked by Carlos Garzon.
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