Star Wars: Return of the Jedi review 1983

This review of the third Star Wars movie, Return of the Jedi, ran in The Weekend Australian on Saturday 29 October, 1983.

Scene from Star Wars film "Return of the Jedi". /Films/Titles/Return/of/the/Jedi

This review of the third Star Wars movie, Return of the Jedi, ran in The Weekend Australian on Saturday 29 October, 1983.

By Evan Williams

Needing no help from me, George Lucas and his crew have come up with another $32 million worth of fancy models and special effects in Return of the Jedi, alarmingly billed as the third in a nine-part triple trilogy based on the original Star Wars characters.

Star Wars was a nice one-off idea, and it worked well enough. I happened to be one of the sourpuss minority who also found it noisy, empty and frequently confusing, but millions disagreed, and I’m never one to deny the kids their fun.

It seems typical of the film’s technological vacuities that those chirpy little robots were far more appealing characters than Lucas’ wooden troupe of humans.

There are all sorts of hints in the latest escapade (notionally directed by Richard Marquand) that we are meant to be taking it seriously.

Certainly Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia all look that much older, then there’s the annoying assumption, common in sequels to big movies, that the basic elements of the story don’t require any explanation.

It’s obviously a sad moment when the wizened little sage with the stickout ears snuffs it early on, and I gather we’re meant to recall it with affection from earlier instalments.

Alec Guinness, swathed in ethereal radiance as Kenobi, intones some of the few lines decipherable in the general cacophony of grunts and electronic gibberish.

There’s a brilliant forest chase sequence (full marks for this) on what looks like anti-gravity motor bikes. Key lines: “Let’s see what this heap of junk can do” (from Luke) and “C’mon, let’s get out of here” (from Princess L).

My sentiments exactly.