The third and final part of the middle STAR WARS Trilogy proved to be the biggest hit of 1983 on its’ original release, as well as the then-most eagerly anticipated release in a year which included the likes of FLASHDANCE, the Bond film OCTOPUSSY and WARGAMES.
It’s the final reckoning for the Rebel Alliance, with the Empire building a brand-new Death Star. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) has been kept in carbonite after being returned to Tatooine for Jabba the Hutt by Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch) at his grand palace.
Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) offers up C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) as gifts in exchange for Solo’s life. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) tries to rescue Han, but all are trapped. After a battle in the desert, Han is freed and the group of friends return to the Rebel Fleet in preparation for the final battle, having secured the location of the new station orbiting a moon called Endor. However, the evil Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) is also waiting in the wings….
Amazing action and visual effects are the big thing in JEDI and there is a sense of closure for the film, which was originally the third part of the stories that creator George Lucas wanted to do. Harrison Ford allegedly wanted to die at the end of EMPIRE, but Lucas insisted he come back for the third film.
The effects work by Industrial Light and Magic, in particular the epic final space battle, remains some of the most amazing ever committed to screen, coupled with another great score by John Williams, who ended up doing all nine films, ending with THE RISE OF SKYWALKER in 2019, after which he retired from composing film scores.