Return of the Death Star
On Saturday night, Leanne and I were treated to a screening of Return of the Jedi with members of the public and the Old Line Garrison, 501st Legion and Terrapin Base Rebel Legion at AFI Silver Spring, MD. A great night. Not often you can say you went to see ROTJ in the theatre. Lots of laughing, clapping and cheers. Great crowd. Great film.
The presentation before the film began with the cosplayers marching up to the front row and standing on display to the audience as the spokeperson from AFI introduced their Totally 80s month and Return of the Jedi. Children watched the characters excitedly and had been able to take photos with them out in the foyer before the film began. Finally, Leanne and I settled down to at last watch Return of the Jedi on the big screen, our first time together. For those interested, it was the 1997 special edition print with Sebastian Shaw still playing Anakin’s Ghost at the end… as it should be.
My notes on seeing Return of the Jedi on the big screen at the AFI Silver.
It was great being reminded how funny Threepio is to the family audience.
There’s no denying it, Carrie Fisher wears the metal bikini better than anyone else ever has. The lusty red-blooded side of me truly appreciated every shot. God damn, Carrie!
The Rancor really REALLY looks like a puppet. Ultimately, I don’t care. I love the film and the scene is still neat for what it is conveying. I’m used to low budget corny old television and film special effects and have had to suspend my disbelief for FAR worse, but the Rancor really doesn’t hold up well compared to the rest of the movie. I still feel sorry for it when it gives it’s last dying whimper. But I thought Malikili the Rancor Keeper (yes, they’ve given him a name) was shown crying for just a little too long. Might have to toy with that in BMS. I definitely appreciate Roxy the Rancor, made recently out of styrofoam for Celebration VI and other convention appearances like Rhode Island Comic Con coming up later this year. Roxy looks much more realistic, being nearly to scale, unlike the puppet used in the film.
Jabba’s slavering tongue lick of Leia might be her motive for murdering him later, but it seems clear he genuinely had sexual intentions toward her. He has a penchant for slave girls and promises to toy with her. Leanne reassures me that she doesn’t think there was enough time for him to try anything with Leia, but then… you look at the scene when she chokes him to death, and you almost have to wonder what her motivation for murdering him was… I don’t want to think too hard about it. :-/
When Jabba’s sail barge exploded there was a huge roar of applause.
When Luke tries to get Yoda to confirm Vader is his father, the audience burst into laughter when the Jedi Master fidgets uncomfortably and rolls onto his side away from Luke. The crotchety old green puppet elicited a good response from the audience with several of his lines, owed largely to Frank Oz’s voice performance, as much as his ability to bring the character to life visually.
The biggest laugh of the night came after Obi-Wan’s ghost tells Luke to suppress his feelings. This comes right after Luke rightly guesses that Leia is the sister Obi-Wan is talking about.
When Wicket the Ewok first appears onscreen there was a large round of applause from the right side of the audience. Seems the Ewok Appreciation Society was out in full force!
I was the guy in the audience who gave a whoop when Ackbar first appeared on screen during the Rebel briefing. But there were huge applause for Admiral Ackbar’s famous state-the-obvious line. You can bet that never happened back during the film’s original release in 1983.
There was a big round of clapping when Vader redeemed himself by hurling the Emperor to his supposed death. Shortly before this, both Leanne and I agreed that Luke’s defeat of Vader was an emotional high point of the film, largely thanks to John Williams heightening an already meaningful scene with his incredible music.
A lot of humor in the movie came for Harrison Ford who delivers it masterfully. He’s actually very good in comedic roles, Indiana Jones coming to mind. Here, his swarthy, carefree charm really shines. Perhaps the biggest reaction to any of Han’s scenes was when Leia reveals that Luke is her brother and he gives that confused / worried glance into the distance.
I clapped when Sebasian Shaw appeared at the end as the ghost. I wasn’t sure which special edition we were watching (I’m not quite geeky enough to remember every little change between Lucas’ revisions) so I was dreading seeing Hayden Christenson inexplicably next to Alec Guinness.
The only thing I flat out didn’t like about the film was the special edition additions to Jabba’s palace, namely the dancers and the additional, meaningless shots of Boba Fett flirting with the new dancers. But the worst part is the horrendous Jedi Rock song. It’s not just the song, but the CGI aliens that contrast starkly with the puppets. Also, the additional band members of what was once the Max Rebo band of just three. The second singer with the gruff-voiced solo. Ugh. I genuinely like Lapti Nek, the original song from the original release. It sounds alien enough to not be irritating, distracting or a gratuitous FX show reel.
I’m starting to think only those with laserdisc players and the ultimate version released back then will ever get to enjoy Jedi as it should have been.
Very cool! Ooo, the new band is awful and the CGI very obvious. That scene now looks like it would be perfect for 3D and I often wonder if they did that on purpose. Bring back Lapti Nek!
There is Tales from Jabba’s Palace that goes more into Leia’s time at Jabba’s. But I like to think along the same line as Leanne. And Leia’s motivation for killing Jabba? He kept her man in carbonite and hung him on a wall. That would probably do it. 🙂 And I doubt that Han would ever be free if Jabba lived.
Great review of ROTJ. I’m really looking forward to your interpretation of the film.
Concerning todays strip: I love it, but I didn’t realize that Luke knew about the plans of the second Death Star.
Huh. I’m trying to dig through the archives to see if there was another reference that I missed the first time (but work keeps getting in the way!)… but that there Bothan rep certainly bears a striking resemblance to Vincent from Beauty and the Beast 😉
oh nevermind… i missed the previous day
need more coffee
Is that suppose to be Vincent, from the Beauty and the Beast tv show? LOL
Yes indeed. See the strip introducing him from late last month. http://www.bluemilkspecial.com/?p=7948
I was at an antique store over the weekend, with the family, and my son found a Dash figure he wanted. I told him “Anyone else!”.
I’m thinking Vincent, er the Bothan spy, is wondering if these idiots are really worth turning over the plans his people died to get.
Nice review!
Oh and BIGGS RULES! 🙂
It was really fun to see ROTJ on the big screen again – something I personally haven’t done since 1983. My kids have watched it countless times on DVD, but were totally blown away by the sound. You just can’t replicate that at home.
And nice to say hi to the two of you again!
-Kristin
It was great seeing you and the kids. I’m just sorry we didn’t get more time to talk. It was all a bit hectic before the show and we weren’t sure if we were supposed to get in line or if there were reserved seating for the 501st and I was running around trying to find out. But seeing the film on the big screen and getting some photos made it a special evening!
Nice job missing the “oh-and-it’s-all-a-trap” part, Vincent!
The force ghost scene revision makes no sense. Should have been Alec, Sebastian, old Yoda, or Ewan, Hayden, young Yoda.
No. It should never have been changed. They might as well photoshop Alec Guinness out and replace with Ewan McGreggor now. But fortunately, Lucas is no longer involved and no longer owns LucasFilm directly.
DON’T POST THESE THINGS!!! What if GL reads this? I can see him recutting the scene right now. Begun, the editing wars have. 🙁
LOL. Like I said, unless you missed the memo last year, Lucas no longer own LucasFilm, Star Wars or Indiana Jones. They belong to Disney now. He has shares in Disney, but he no longer has direct say in Star Wars or those sorts of changes. So don’t worry. If anyone changes Star Wars again, it will be someone working for Disney. George has washed his hands of it.
I agree that the scene should never have been changed, but the rationale I’ve read is that Anakin’s ghost is Anakin before his turn to the dark side. Since the other two ghosts never turned to the dark side, they are represented by their old selves.
Of course, that rationale doesn’t explain why old Anakin was ever there as a ghost in the first place, since he should have then been switched for a young and completely unfamiliar face in the very first version of the film. Always in motion George Lucas’ vision is.
We talked about that in one of our Podcasts. But the rationale does not hold up, because the Sebastian Shaw OLD Anakin redeemed himself before he died, so he was fully justified to be there.
The Force works in mysterious ways, and perhaps the short time between redemption and subsequent death just wasn’t enough to ‘take over’ the redeemed Anakin’s Jedi Knight vs Sith Lord self image? Or perhaps more likely: Nothing of Darth Vader could become a ghost, and therefore everything from the point when Anakin turned had to be left behind, so that his ghost could be ‘pure’ light side.
I’m sure George Lucas could explain it as thoroughly as needed. Partly because he probably had a reason to change it even though it didn’t seem appropriate, and partly because Anakin is the only former Sith that has become a force ghost in the movies, and therefore Lucas can make up whatever explanation he might want to, with no other situation contradicting it. And that’s the power of rationalisation.
Ja!!!! poor botham … get luke and dash together… it is si funny