Return of the Jedi 1983
There was a lot of excitement for the last of the Star Wars trilogy when it came out in 1983. I was a senior in high school and my friends and I had grown up with this series. As seniors, we had some class schedule flexibility so a couple of my friends stood in line on opening day to get tickets. Then all I had to do was meet them at the theater.
Now 37 years later I watched the movie again in 4K video. Since the opening, Return of the Jedi’s reputation has waned as the weakest of the original trilogy. And the first half of the movie is sometimes difficult to watch. In 4K, it is even worse seeing the horrible matted shot of the C3P0 and R2-D2 being lifted out of the sand on Tatooine. That shot always looked bad, but today it is even worse. There are a number of scenes like that where the picture is obviously composited or on green screen. I think what had worked so well in space with black backgrounds and white spaceships, just didn’t carry through onto deserts and forests. Plus the writing and acting are pretty awkward with way too many trite reunions or reaction shots. Maybe they felt like they had to acknowledge how great it was to be filming again, but it takes away from the story.
Still, the second half of the movie is better as it focuses more on some great space battles, including another Death Star, plus the final confrontation between the Emperor, Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker. Also, even in the first half it was great to see a stronger and more confident Luke Skywalker, looking much tougher in black than his puffy shirt pirate outfit. The ewoks are still annoying, but mostly likeable even if they look like midgets in teddy bear outfits (honestly most of the costumed creatures don’t work well, especially Jabba the Hutt who always looked like a rubber puppet). Leia and Han Solo kind of get pushed to the background, stuck in a B story for most of the movie instead of with Luke.
The version I watched, nominally 4K and HDR on Disney+, didn’t look that spectacular. I think with older movies there isn’t that much to work with and 4K doesn’t add that much. Also the digital extras on Movies Anywhere were pretty pathetic, just a few separate interviews instead of a big making of documentary.
Written: 19 Apr 2020
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital