Remembering "Return of the Jedi" | Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter |
| Written and compiled by: Michael Coate | Date: 01.11.2008 |
 "Return of the Jedi" playing at San Francisco's Coronet theatre. Image from a Japanese program booklet supplied by Mike CoateTwenty-five years ago, “Return of the Jedi” was released to movie theatres. Generally regarded as inferior to the two “Star Wars” episodes that preceded it, the movie was the biggest boxoffice hit of 1983 and is remembered as a fantastic moviegoing experience, especially by those who ditched school to see it on opening day! • Go to “Return of the Jedi”: The North American 70mm Engagements CAST: Luke Skywalker – Mark Hamill Han Solo – Harrison Ford Princess Leia – Carrie Fisher Lando Calrissian – Billy Dee Williams C-3PO – Anthony Daniels R2-D2 – Kenny Baker Chewbacca – Peter Mayhew Yoda – Frank Oz Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi – Alec Guiness Ian McDiarmid – The Emperor Darth Vader – David Prowse Voice of Darth Vader – James Earl Jones Anakin Skywalker – Sebastian Shaw DIRECTOR: Richard Marquand SCREENPLAY: Lawrence Kasdan & George Lucas (Screenplay), George Lucas (Story) RELEASE DATE: Wednesday, 25 May 1983 PROMOTIONAL SLOGAN: “The Saga Continues” PRODUCTION COST: $32.5 million OPENING-WEEK BOOKINGS: 1,002 OPENING-DAY BOXOFFICE GROSS: $6.2 million OPENING-WEEKEND BOXOFFICE GROSS: $41.1 million BOXOFFICE GROSS AT CLOSE OF NORTH AMERICAN RUN: $252.6 million RANK ON TOP-GROSSING FILMS OF 1983: 1 RANK ON ALL-TIME BOXOFFICE LIST AT CLOSE OF RUN: 3 | More in 70mm reading: “Return of the Jedi”: The North American 70mm Engagements The Original First-Week Engagements Of “Star Wars” “The Empire Strikes Back” 70mm Engagements by Title 35mm to 70mm Engagements by Year |
Memorable Quotes | |
 “Young fool…only now, at the end, do you understand.” — The Emperor“When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not, hmm?” — Yoda “This bounty hunter is my kind of scum…fearless and inventive.” — Jabba the Hutt “You’re a feisty little one, but you’ll soon learn some respect.” — EV-9D9 “Special effects don’t make the movie, and they are only important to tell the story and to give the characters credibility. If the characters are not there or the acting isn’t good, the movie will fall apart. It can’t sustain itself. People think these are special-effects movies. I would say the effects contribute maybe 15 to 20 percent to the enjoyability, effectiveness, and popularity of the movie—at the most.” — George Lucas “This is the biggest release of a movie in 70mm ever.” — Producer Howard Kazanjian “George Lucas is in the mold of Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, Adolph Zukor, Darryl F. Zanuck, the great pioneers of the industry. He’s absolutely one of them. No one tells George Lucas what to do or how to do it. He is the epitome of America and the free mind working, and we’re getting better entertainment for it.” — Albert Szabo, Manager, GCC Avco Center Cinema, Los Angeles | |
What the critics said | |
 “An exciting, technically astounding wrap-up to the ‘Star Wars’ trilogy. The probability of success is about as definite as death and taxes.” — Jimmy Summers, Boxoffice“With ‘Jedi’, George Lucas may have pulled off the first triple crown of motion pictures.” — Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times “‘Return of the Jedi’ doesn’t really end the trilogy as much as it brings it to a dead stop. The film is by far the dimmest of the lot. Let’s face it, Luke, the magic’s gone.” — Vincent Canby, The New York Times “Third installment in the ‘Star Wars’ saga is a sheer delight. Some routine performances are compensated for by ingenious new characters and special effects.” — Leonard Maltin, Entertainment Tonight “From the moment that the familiar ‘Star Wars’ introduction 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.” — Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune “‘Return of the Jedi’ is a triumph of movie wizardry; a snappy, dazzling celluloid comic book, capturing our emotions between its magical pages and holding them within a prison of wonderment. It’s a virtual toy box of dreams and surprises for children and adults of all ages.” — Steve White, The Worcester Telegram “John Williams’ music consists almost entirely of themes and variations on themes he composed for the two earlier movies. This, unfortunately, will be a complaint that many people will make against ‘Return of the Jedi’. They will feel that they have seen and heard it all before.” — Scott Cain, The Atlanta Constitution “If a producer wants backing for a new project, there’d better be a video game in it. Producers are putting so much action and so little character or point into their movies that there’s nothing for a viewer to latch on to. The battle between good and evil, which is the theme of just about every big fantasy adventure film, has become a flabby excuse for a lot of dumb tricks and noise.” — Pauline Kael, The New Yorker “The ‘Star Wars’ films have a mystic allure. They are clearly designed to appeal to the best in all of us and to exemplify universally admirable virtues—courage, the strength to fight against evil, romance, belief. They are built around the notion of a magic force in the universe which might be God or might be gravity; this force, in turn, is serviced by a knights’ order that is almost a clergy. The entire cosmology is rent by a titanic conflict between good and evil.” — Stephen Hunter, The (Baltimore) Sun | |
Awards | |
 Newspaper advert from The Salt Lake TribuneVisual Effects (Special Achievement Oscar), Best Actor (Mark Hamill, Saturn), Best Costumes (Saturn), Best Make-Up (Saturn), Best Science-Fiction Film (Saturn), Best Special Effects (Saturn), Best Special Visual Effects (BAFTA), Best Dramatic Presentation (Hugo), Favorite Motion Picture (People’s Choice Award). The film was nominated for Oscars in the categories of Art Direction, Original Score, Sound, and Sound Effects Editing. John Williams’ original score was also nominated for a Grammy. | |
Release Dates | |
| 25.05.1983 … Canada 25.05.1983 … United States 01.06.1983 … Singapore 02.06.1983 … United Kingdom 01.07.1983 … Hong Kong 02.07.1983 … Japan 07.07.1983 … Puerto Rico 08.07.1983 … Israel 19.08.1983 … Finland 28.09.1983 … Thailand 30.09.1983 … Denmark 30.09.1983 … Sweden 06.10.1983 … Brazil 13.10.1983 … Netherlands 19.10.1983 … France 20.10.1983 … Spain 21.10.1983 … Italy 27.10.1983 … Australia 24.11.1983 … Colombia 08.12.1983 … Argentina 09.12.1983 … West Germany 16.12.1983 … Mexico | |
Trivia, Tidbits & Factoids | |
 Newspaper advert from The Milwaukee JournalOriginal title: “Revenge of the Jedi”. The title was changed a few months before release. Trailers, posters and other promotional material with the original title had been issued prior to the title change, instantly turning such items into collectibles. “Blue Harvest” was the production title used during location filming in California. The bogus, intentionally misleading title was used to (1) avoid drawing unnecessary attention, and (2) to deter production vendors from raising their rates to capitalize on a big-budget, high-profile production. The pilots of the Imperial AT-ST Walker were played by director Richard Marquand and co-producer Robert Watts. Among Jabba the Hutt’s henchmen were characters named Klaatu, Barada and Nikto, a nod to the 1951 science-fiction classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. At the time of its 1983 release, “Return of the Jedi” had the largest order of 70-millimeter prints struck for a North American film release, eclipsing the record set three years earlier by “The Empire Strikes Back”. The Imperial soldier that commanded Han and the rebels to “Freeze!” during the Endor bunker scene was played by sound designer Ben Burtt. During his fall after being struck by Han, he gives a “Wilhelm”-style scream as a tribute to a famous sound effect. A music video was produced for the musical number “Lapti Nek” performed by Jabba the Hutt’s palace band. The video was broadcast during summer 1983 on music video channels such as MTV. For “Return of the Jedi”, two making-of documentaries were created. (“Star Wars” and “Empire” each had a single making-of documentary.) “Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi” was first broadcast on CBS on 21 November 1983. “From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga” was first broadcast on PBS on 03 December 1983. “Celebrate the love” is the English lyric featured in the Ewokese victory celebration song. (This music was replaced in the Special Edition with a new composition.) The THX Sound System and Theatre Alignment Program (TAP) were introduced in conjunction with the release of “Return of the Jedi”. A print of the film (a 70mm print valued at $10,000) was stolen at gunpoint from the GLENWOOD Theatre in Overland Park, Kansas. The CENTRE Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah experienced some weather-related damage, prompting its 70mm “Jedi” engagement to be relocated for a two-week period to the REGENCY. An engagement at the CONTINENTAL Theatre in Denver, Colorado was terminated following damage from a fire. In North America, “Return of the Jedi” was re-issued on 29 March 1985. On 28 March, the day before its re-issue, nine cinemas in eight markets showed for charity a “Star Wars” triple feature. The eight markets chosen for the one-day-only 70mm event were Chicago (CARNEGIE), Dallas (NORTHPARK), Denver (CONTINENTAL), Los Angeles (AVCO & EGYPTIAN), New York (WARNER TWIN), San Francisco (CORONET), Seattle (CINEMA 150), and Toronto (UPTOWN). “Jedi” was also re-issued as a Special Edition on 14 March 1997. In the United States, “Return of the Jedi” was released to the home video market in February 1986, thirty-three months after its theatrical release. (A six-month window was the industry norm at the time.) | |
Sources / References | |
 The author and R2-D2 circa 1987. Photo by Jim Cartwright. Numerous newspaper articles, reviews and advertisements; and Bantha Tracks; Boxofficemojo; The Hollywood Reporter, Internet Movie Database; “The Making of Return of the Jedi” (Ballantine, 1983); “Return of the Jedi” (1983, 1997, Lucasfilm Ltd./20th Century Fox); Time Magazine; Variety. Canadian engagement details contributed by Bill Kretzel. Special thanks to Paul Bubny, Miguel Carrara, Jonathan Crist, Bill Kretzel, Mark Lensenmayer, Jim Perry, and the librarians who contributed to this project. Copyright 2008 Michael S. Coate Michael Coate is a journalist and film historian. He has contributed to American Cinematographer, Boxoffice, Replication News, Sight & Sound, Widescreen Review, and the websites CinemaTreasures.org, FromScriptToDVD.com and In70mm.com. He was Widescreen Review magazine’s Research Editor from 1997 to 2004. In 2004, he co-founded FromScriptToDVD.com, and in 2008 formed Fans of Showmanship, a Yahoo! Group focusing on the discussion of film history. Attending Major League Baseball games across the USA is Mike’s hobby when he’s not haunting libraries around the globe looking to unearth useful facts about film history. He is a graduate of the Radio-Television-Film program at California State University Long Beach and resides in Los Angeles. | |
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