Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi

Opening crawl

Plot summary

Vader's arrival to the Death Star

Nearly a year following the events of The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader arrives in the docking bay of the still-under-construction second Death Star, which the Empire engineered to possess greater power than its predecessor. He is met by Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod, and insists that the construction be accelerated to meet the deadline. Jerjerrod responds by stating that they need more personnel, but quickly agrees to double their efforts when he is informed that the Emperor is on his way.

Arriving at Jabba's Palace

In the meantime, Luke Skywalker and his companions have made their way to Tatooine with the intention of freeing their friend Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt's desert palace.

Initially, the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO present themselves, carrying a holographic message from Skywalker requesting Solo's release. In return, the two droids are offered as gifts to the crime lord; Luke guarantees that both are hardworking and will serve him capably, which Jabba acknowledges without speaking. However, once the message concludes, he declares that there will be no negotiation and refuses to relinquish his "favorite decoration." Subsequently, the droids are dispatched to their assigned quarters, where EV-9D9 harshly reprimands them upon hearing about their capabilities. 3PO is assigned the role of Jabba's interpreter, while R2 is assigned to work on the Khetanna.

Later that evening, the Max Rebo Band (fronted by Sy Snootles) provides entertainment for the Hutt's guests. Jabba, captivated by the graceful movements of his collared slave girl Oola, begins pulling on her chain, summoning her to his throne. Oola fearfully resists, and in response, Jabba presses a button on his throne, causing Oola to fall through a concealed trapdoor at the base of his throne, into the lair of the rancor monster, which immediately consumes her.

Saving Han Solo

Subsequently, Princess Leia Organa (disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh) arrives with Chewbacca as her "prisoner," intending to collect the bounty Jabba placed on Solo's head years earlier. Following extensive negotiations (including Leia threatening Jabba with a thermal detonator), Jabba agrees to a deal and imprisons Chewbacca.

That night, Leia frees Han Solo from his carbonite encasement, and after revealing her true identity, she kisses him. As they prepare to escape, they are apprehended by Jabba and his henchmen. Ignoring Han's pleas, Jabba has the captain incarcerated with Chewbacca. Although Lando Calrissian (disguised as one of Jabba's prison guards) attempts to escape with Leia, Jabba intervenes and orders a Gamorrean guard to bring Leia to him. Leia warns the Hutt that he will regret capturing the Rebels, but Jabba dismisses the threat and licks her face. Leia is forced to become Jabba's newest slave girl, made to wear a dancing costume and chained to the throne as a trophy.

Luke Skywalker arrives at the palace

Later, Luke arrives at the palace. Jabba and most of his court are asleep, but are awakened by Bib Fortuna (who, in attempting to prevent the Jedi's entry, is Force-tricked into welcoming him). Leia remains silent beside the Hutt, despite her rising hope at seeing Luke. Luke demands that Jabba release Han and his other friends, but Jabba refuses the young Jedi's offer. Luke uses the Force to pull a nearby blaster and attempts to shoot Jabba, but the Hutt activates the trapdoor to protect himself, dropping the Jedi and an unfortunate guard into the rancor pit.

After a battle with the rancor (which devours the fallen guard), Luke ultimately kills the monster by crushing it under the gate of its compound, piercing its neck with the spikes at the bottom of the gate. He is then captured and brought up by Jabba's thugs. Jabba, furious, chokes Leia until she falls back on his stomach, and orders the prisoners to be brought before him. Luke, Han, and Chewbacca are brought before Jabba, exchanging relief at each other's safety as Leia struggles with Jabba to sit upright before him.

Using C-3PO as a translator, Jabba sentences Luke and his friends to be taken to the Dune Sea for termination (over a course of a thousand years) by the man-eating sarlacc at the Great Pit of Carkoon. Leia is spared from execution since she is Jabba's favorite slave. As Jabba orders the prisoners to be taken away, Luke warns him that he's made his last mistake, at which the Hutt laughs in amusement.

Skirmish at the Great Pit of Carkoon

Jabba, accompanied by Leia and several of his thugs, travels to the Pit of Carkoon via his sail barge, while the prisoners are taken on a smaller skiff. En route, R2-D2 is tasked with serving drinks to Jabba's guests, and the Max Rebo Band plays music in the background. Jabba allows Leia to climb off his throne and watch her friends from a window. After a while, he gives a tug on her chain, playfully commanding her to come to him. Leia glares back at him and returns to watching, and Jabba chuckles. He later pulls her chain again, this time forcing her to run to him on his throne. Jabba then informs Leia that she will soon learn to appreciate him and makes her drink from his goblet.

Outside, Luke and his companions (with Lando, still in disguise) discuss their situation. Han, still half-blinded from the side-effects of carbonization, is sure that they are all going to die, and Luke tries to reassure him of their ultimate safety, but Han is not easily convinced. Elsewhere in the sail barge, C-3PO literally runs into R2-D2 and knocks over the shorter droid's drink tray. C-3PO laments their friends' imminent deaths, but R2-D2 shows a kind of confidence, which C-3PO doesn't see any reason for.

When the vehicles ultimately reach the pit, Jabba has C-3PO announce the group's deaths, but that he is willing to now listen to their pleas. Han calls Jabba names and tells him that he'll not get any pleasure from their pleading, much to the Hutt's amusement, and Luke offers a final chance for Jabba to free him and his friends or die. Jabba and his guests laugh off this last threat and order the execution to commence. Luke gets ushered off of a plank and into the sarlacc, only to Force-flip up through the air and onto the skiff. Meanwhile, R2-D2 launches Luke's newly built lightsaber from a hidden panel in his housing, and Luke catches it and begins to attack his captors. As Jabba furiously orders his thugs to intervene, C-3PO gets knocked over. Leia looks around, ready to use her false submission to the Hutt to her advantage.

Boba Fett uses his jetpack to fly off of the barge and land on the skiff as Luke is in the act of freeing Han and Chewbacca. Luke uses his lightsaber to cut Fett's blaster in half, and Chewbacca pushes the bounty hunter onto the deck. Luke then jumps onto another of the accompanying skiffs to fight off the thugs there.

While fighting the skiff pilot, Lando falls off the side of the skiff, and although he manages to hold onto a wire, one of the sarlacc's tentacles begins to pull him to his death, and Han and Chewbacca have to carefully rescue him. Han accidentally activates Fett's backpack when he turns around and smashes the butt of an axe against it. Fett subsequently flies out of control from the skiff, crashing against the hull of the barge before falling into the sarlacc's open mouth, making it belch.

Aboard the sail barge, Leia smashes the controls for the sail barge's interior lights, throwing it into darkness, and proceeds to strangle Jabba with her chain, killing him. Leia jumps off of the throne and has R2-D2 help break her chain, then heads for the stairs to the top level of the sail barge. Meanwhile, Salacious B. Crumb attacks the fallen C-3PO, and R2-D2 uses the same device he'd freed Leia with to chase the lizard-monkey away. Reaching the surface, the droids jump off the edge of the sail barge and land in the Tatooinian sand.

Luke and Leia defeat the remaining thugs on the sail barge, then Luke has Leia point the gun toward the heart of the vehicle. They prepare to swing from a loose cable on the barge's sails, and Luke discharges the gun, beginning to destroy the barge. They swing to their rescue on the land skiff with Han, Lando, and Chewbacca, then use magnets to pick up the two droids from the sand. They all drive off just as the sail barge explodes.

Later, the crew departs Tatooine, all but Luke and R2-D2 headed for the rendezvous point near Sullust where the Rebel Alliance is assembling, while Luke and R2-D2 (in their X-wing) head for Dagobah to fulfill a promise to Yoda.

The Emperor arrives

On the second Death Star, the Emperor, Darth Sidious, arrives and praises Darth Vader on his efforts in the construction of the Death Star. He also senses that Vader craves the continuation of his search for his son, Luke. The old Sith Lord assures his apprentice that Luke will seek Vader out, that only together would the Sith be able to turn Luke to the dark side of the Force, and that everything was proceeding as the Emperor has foreseen.

Returning to Dagobah

Luke and R2-D2 arrive on Dagobah to find a terminally ill Yoda. Luke has returned to complete his Jedi training, but Yoda declares no further training is required. All that remains for Luke is to confront Vader. Yoda then reveals that Vader is indeed his father. The 900-year-old Jedi Master gives one last mention of wisdom to the young Jedi before he dies, disappearing in the way Obi-Wan Kenobi did aboard the first Death Star, thereby becoming one with the Force.

As Luke approaches his X-wing, the ghost form of Obi-Wan confirms that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, a former Jedi Knight who turned to the dark side of the Force. Kenobi also reveals that Luke has a twin sister, hidden from Luke at birth as protection from the Emperor. Luke senses that his sister is Leia. Kenobi warns Luke to bury his feelings, for they could in time "serve the Emperor."

The mission begins

At the rendezvous point near Sullust, the Rebel Alliance gathers to reveal plans to attack the Death Star. As part of the plans, Luke, Leia, Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, and a strike team must penetrate the deflector shield generator on the forest moon of Endor in order to deactivate the shield if the Rebel fleet is to attack the Death Star. However, Vader knows this because he could sense that his son was with them and allows them to land on the planet. Luke senses his father as well and begins to believe that he has endangered the mission by coming.

The strike team lands on Endor only to be discovered by Imperial scout troopers. A speeder bike chase ensues, only for Leia to be thrown off her speeder and knocked unconscious. Luke and Han discover Leia's helmet, then they, with Chewbacca and the droids, try to find her. Leia is awakened by one of Endor's forest creatures, an Ewok named Wicket W. Warrick. Suddenly, another scout trooper discovers Leia, but Wicket does away with the trooper before rescuing Leia.

Luke, Han, Chewbacca, and the droids, meanwhile, fall into a booby trap set by the Ewoks. R2-D2 cuts open the net, setting them free, but the Ewok tribe discovers C-3PO and proclaims him to be their god. The droid's Human and Wookiee friends are taken prisoner, and the Ewoks proclaim Han to be the main course in a banquet in C-3PO's honor. Discovered by Leia, Luke then uses the Force to levitate C-3PO to show off his "great magic." Convinced of the Rebels' good intentions, the Ewoks set them free and later that evening make them "part of the tribe," thereby agreeing to join the fight against the Empire. But Luke decides the time has come to leave Endor and face Darth Vader. Leia follows Luke out of the tribal gathering, whereupon he tells her that Vader is his father and she is his sister. Leia is utterly shocked, but accepts the truth. She is comforted by Han Solo.

Meeting the Emperor

Vader arrives in his shuttle on a docking bay, and Luke, having already surrendered to the Empire, talks with Vader in an attempt to bring the Sith Lord out of the dark side of the Force, but to no avail. The Empire takes Luke into custody for transportation to the Death Star. The next day, the Rebels attempt to locate the shield generator, and the Rebel fleet enters hyperspace from Sullust to prepare for the final attack. Luke and Vader finally enter the Death Star and confront the Emperor, who looks forward to completing Luke's training and believes that while Vader would never turn from the dark side, neither would Luke. He also reveals that it was he who coordinated the Rebels finding the secret plans and locating the shield generator so that the Alliance can fall into a trap of Sidious' devising.

The Battle of Endor begins

The Rebels enter the heart of the shield generator, only to be taken prisoner by the Imperial forces. The fleet emerges from hyperspace for the battle, but discovers the shield is still up. As they contemplate their options, the Imperial fleet, which they were led to believe was away, appears and an intense battle begins. Han and the strike team are led out of the bunker by the stormtroopers, but the droids and the Ewoks have already orchestrated the attack on the Empire, and another intense battle commences with the Rebels and Ewoks on one side, the Empire on another. The Emperor shows Luke the full power of the Death Star as the station, now fully operational, destroys one of the Alliance's ships. Meanwhile, on Endor, the battle continues, with casualties (Rebel, stormtrooper, and Ewok) already mounting. Eventually, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca gain access to the bunker.

Duel between father and son

Back on the Death Star, Luke, with the encouragement of Darth Sidious, lashes out at him with his lightsaber, only to be deflected by Vader, and the final duel between father and son begins. As Luke climbs onto a balcony, Vader throws his lightsaber at his son. It misses Luke and knocks the balcony down, taking Luke with it. Vader stalks for a hidden Luke to let down his guard, while quietly sensing within his son's mind that Luke has a sister. Vader threatens to turn her to the dark side if Luke will not, prompting Luke to respond viciously in intense saber fighting, up to the point where Luke strikes off Vader's right mechanical hand. Sidious betrays Vader by encouraging Luke to take his father's place at his side, but Luke controls his anger and throws his lightsaber aside. He declares himself to be a Jedi Knight like his father Anakin had been before he turned to the dark side into Darth Vader.

Anakin's choice

Han, Leia, and Chewbacca escape from the bunker just in time for its destruction, thus bringing down the shield. The Alliance is now free to attack the half-completed Death Star. On the Death Star, the enraged Emperor declares that if Luke will not turn to the dark side, he will be destroyed, and uses Force lightning against the young Jedi. He revels in torturing Luke by slowly increasing the intensity of the lightning. Luke then cries out to his father to help him. As the Emperor prepares to deliver the killing bolts, Vader looks at Luke and then the Emperor, conflicted whether to save his son or to continue serving his master.

Moved by his son's cries for help and unwilling to see him die, Vader turns back to the light side as Anakin and lifts the Emperor into the air, carries him over and throws him into the Death Star's reactor shaft, killing him. However, in the process, Vader is struck by the Emperor's Force lightning, which enters his organic remains, striking his life support system and his respirator, mortally wounding him. The Millennium Falcon and its remaining Rebel fighters enter the bowels of the Death Star, and some fighters engage in a point-blank attack on the Super Star Destroyer, causing the Imperial flagship's destruction.

Anakin Skywalker's Death

On the Death Star, in the middle of the evacuation, Luke carries his father's ravaged body to the foot of an Imperial shuttle's ramp. Anakin stops Luke and asks him to remove his mask so that he can look upon the face of his son, just once, with his "own eyes."

Luke removes the mask and sees the face of his father for the first time. Anakin's face is revealed to have turned pale white and scaly, and his head retains some vicious scars after 23 years from his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar.

Anakin tells Luke that his son was right—he did have good left in him, and asks him to tell his sister the same. With that, Anakin Skywalker, the redeemed Jedi Knight, smiles at his son and dies peacefully. Luke bows his head in sadness.

Knocking out the main reactor

The Millennium Falcon and its strike force (in the last Rebel fighter inside) reach the Death Star's main reactor and fire concussion missiles and proton torpedoes at it, causing it to collapse. Luke escapes the Death Star with his father's body and flies out through the flames, as do Wedge Antilles and the Millennium Falcon before the Death Star explodes.

Seeing the destruction from above, Han senses Leia's love for Luke. He offers to step aside when Luke arrives, but she tells Han that Luke is her brother. After a moment of speechless surprise, Han and Leia engage in a passionate kiss.

The big galaxy victory celebration

That evening in Endor, Luke sets a funeral pyre ablaze to cremate the body of his father, still encased in Darth Vader's outfit, per the Jedi funeral rite. His father's organic body becomes one with the Force. Through the rising flames and fireworks, Rebel fighters streak across the sky in celebration of one of the greatest Rebel victories in the Galactic Civil War.

The planets of Bespin, Tatooine, Naboo, and Coruscant join in the festivities as well. Luke is then reunited with his friends Han, Lando, the droids, Chewbacca, the surviving Rebel fleet, the Ewoks, and his sister, Leia. Following this, Luke observes the spectral forms of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Anakin Skywalker. Luke is elated, not only because he has become a Jedi, but also because his father has returned to the light side of the Force. As the Force ghosts of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin watch with pride, Leia and Luke rejoin their comrades and companions.

Development

The project's working title was Blue Harvest for a number of reasons, and it was subtitled "Horror Beyond Imagination" to intentionally discourage any interest, thus concealing the true nature of the production from fans and the press. After feeling persecuted following the success of The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas severed all remaining connections with the Hollywood system and became an entirely independent filmmaker. Despite George Lucas's prominence and influence, Howard Kazanjian states in Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy that Lucasfilm's non-union status made securing filming locations more challenging and costly, even though both A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back had been enormous successes.

The late Richard Marquand, who died in 1987 from a heart ailment, directed the film. However, reports suggest that George Lucas maintained significant involvement in the production of Return of the Jedi and likely directed some of the second-unit work when the schedule was in danger of being exceeded. In the documentary Empire of Dreams, Lucas acknowledges that he frequently had to be present on set due to Marquand's limited experience with special effects. Nevertheless, comments made by Irvin Kershner, the director of The Empire Strikes Back, on that film's DVD audio commentary indicate that Lucas, who served more as an advisor on The Empire Strikes Back, played a similar role in the production of Return of the Jedi. Furthermore, Kershner stated that George Lucas regarded The Empire Strikes Back as Kershner's film, not his.

Some observers have pointed out that Richard Marquand's and Lucas's directing techniques are distinct, noting their differences. The screenplay was co-written by Lawrence Kasdan and Lucas, with uncredited contributions from David Webb Peoples, based on Lucas's original story. Howard G. Kazanjian served as the producer.

According to the documentary Empire of Dreams, George Lucas initially intended to name the film Return of the Jedi, but he changed it to Revenge of the Jedi after Lawrence Kasdan criticized "Return" as a weak title. However, on January 27, just months before the film's release, Lucas announced that the title would be Return of the Jedi. In interviews, Lucas explained that the change was due to the fact that a Jedi would not seek revenge. Despite this, many speculate that George Lucas had always planned to call the film Return of the Jedi and used "Revenge" solely as a tactic to deter counterfeiters of merchandise. It has also been suggested that the title was changed because of its similarity to Revenge of the Jedi, given that the working title of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was The Vengeance of Khan. In Star Trek Movie Memories, William Shatner's autobiography, Nicholas Meyer confirmed that he did not believe that 20th Century Fox would permit Paramount to rename his film from The Undiscovered Country to The Vengeance of Khan while Revenge of the Jedi was in production. All of this potential conflict was resolved when Star Trek II was renamed The Wrath of Khan and Revenge of the Jedi ultimately became Return of the Jedi. A portion of the working title was repurposed for Episode III Revenge of the Sith.

Principal photography occurred from January 11 to May 20, 1982, in the forests of Redwood National Park in California, the Yuma desert in Arizona, and at Elstree Studios in the United Kingdom. The final shot to be completed was from the speeder bike sequence. During production breaks, First Assistant Director David Tomblin collaborated with Warwick Davis on Return of the Ewok, a short film intended for promotional purposes. However, the project was never finished and is presumed lost, with the only known copy being a VHS tape in Davis's possession (which Lucasfilm has since digitally archived).

Drew Struzan, the artist for the Star Wars series, created the memorable and unique imagery for the movie posters and other marketing materials as part of a large global marketing campaign. Luke Skywalker is depicted holding a blue lightsaber on the film's release poster, despite the fact that the color does not appear in the film. His new lightsaber is actually green, though it is blue in one trailer, suggesting that the decision to make it green was made fairly late in the production process. In fact, the decision was made to make Luke's blade stand out against the blue sky of Tatooine and increase its visibility during the battle at Carkoon.

A wardrobe issue in the film is that Imperial characters, regardless of their rank, are all wearing the same rank insignia, that of an Imperial Navy Commander. The production team only became aware of this halfway through filming, and the error was left in the final version of the film.

Before production began, Mark Hamill speculated that Luke would turn to the dark side midway through the film, with the central conflict revolving around whether Luke could return to the light side. A similar conflict would later appear in the comic series Star Wars: Dark Empire.

Release and reception

The film was released on May 25, 1983, marking six years to the day after the release of the original film.

Adaptations and tie-in media

James Kahn authored the novelization of Return of the Jedi. Although it includes various scenes that were cut from the final version, Kahn's claim that Anakin Skywalker recalls "lava crawling up his back" was disproven by the release of Revenge of the Sith. Obi-Wan Kenobi tells Luke Skywalker in the novelization of Return of the Jedi that he and Anakin Skywalker fought and that his father "fell into a molten pit." The novelization also refers to Owen Lars as Obi-Wan Kenobi's brother. Owen Lars was later revealed to be Anakin Skywalker's stepbrother. Coincidentally, Joel and Nash Edgerton, who played Owen and served as Ewan McGregor's stunt double in the prequel trilogy, respectively, are actual brothers. At the start of the confrontation in Darth Sidious's throne room, the Emperor reads Luke's thoughts and discovers that Yoda has finished Luke's Jedi training and that Yoda is now dead. However, he shows no indication of recognizing Yoda's name upon hearing it.

Marvel Comics adapted the film into comic book form. Unlike the earlier film adaptations, it was released as a four-part (1 2 3 4) mini-series rather than as part of the ongoing Star Wars series. Archie Goodwin wrote the adaptation, and Al Williamson illustrated it. (A manga adaptation, with illustrations by Shin-Ichi Hiromoto, was later published in Japan in 1998 and in the United States in 1999.)

While the first two Star Wars films were adapted for radio in the early 1980s, a radio version of Return of the Jedi was not produced until 1996. Brian Daley wrote the adaptation, HighBridge Audio produced it, and National Public Radio broadcast it.

CBS broadcast Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi, the official making-of documentary, in November 1983. The Ewoks' popularity also resulted in two made-for-TV movies in 1984 (The Ewok Adventure and 1985 (Ewoks: The Battle for Endor) and an animated TV series that aired on ABC in 1985 and 1986.

Special Edition and home video

Similar to the other two films in his original trilogy, Lucas released a Special Edition of Return of the Jedi in theaters on March 14, 1997. It included several cosmetic changes and additions, such as replacing a piece of music from the closing scene. Hayden Christensen portrays Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. However, Sebastian Shaw, an older actor, played both the dying Anakin Skywalker and his Force spirit in the original and Special Edition versions of Return of the Jedi. Anakin's ghost has been transformed into a young man, played by Christensen, in the DVD version, and this is now regarded as the canon version of the ghost. Lucas explains in the DVD commentary that Anakin, like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda before him, has learned to control his life force beyond death. (This is briefly mentioned in Revenge of the Sith.) Therefore, rather than appearing as the older man who was Darth Vader, Anakin is able to revert to the young man he was before turning to the dark side.

The continuous changes that Lucas makes to all of the Star Wars films have sparked controversy among critics. The redemption of Luke's father as an older man suggests that this is the image that should represent him after death. However, one could argue that the older man was never Anakin Skywalker until his final moments, and the vision of Hayden Christensen completes the story: Darth Vader defeated, Anakin Skywalker at peace. Nevertheless, many fans contend that the insertion of Christensen is disrespectful to Shaw.

The three original films were released on DVD on September 21, 2004. This release included a few more changes, such as sound effects and improvements to the film's visual quality.

An additional scene depicting the celebrations on Theed, Naboo, was added to the sequence in which the Emperor's defeat at Endor is announced to the galaxy. A Gungan can be heard yelling "Wesa free" in this scene. The Senate Building and the Jedi Temple have been added to the background of the scene showing the people of Coruscant celebrating.

George Lucas once again altered Return of the Jedi to strengthen the connection between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy with the release of the third episode, which details how and why Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side of the Force. In the original film, Sebastian Shaw played Anakin in the hangar bay and in the final celebration scene. In the DVD release, Shaw played Anakin in the hangar bay scene, but his eyebrows were digitally removed to make his appearance more closely resemble Anakin's injured appearance at the end of Revenge of the Sith. However, Hayden Christensen replaced him during the final celebration, appearing as he did in Revenge of the Sith before his injuries on Mustafar. Rather than simply reshooting the Force ghost of Anakin with Hayden, test footage of Hayden's head was digitally grafted onto Sebastian Shaw's body in the role.

Lucasfilm released a two-DVD set on September 12, 2006, that included the 2004 Special Edition and the unaltered original theatrical version. This release was limited and only available through December 31 of that year.

The film was re-released in Blu-ray format on September 16, 2011. This release included previously unreleased deleted scenes from the film as well as other bonus features. This release included a third round of changes to the film, primarily minor visual alterations.

The Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the six released Star Wars films on April 7, 2015. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released Return of the Jedi for digital download on April 10, 2015, as Lucasfilm had retained digital distribution rights to Episodes I through III and V through VI. Luke's lightsaber appeared blue on the official promo poster for Return of the Jedi, but it is green in the movie.

Despite The Walt Disney Company's 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd. and the release rights to all future Star Wars films, Fox was to retain original distribution rights to Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope in perpetuity in all media worldwide, as they co-produced and co-financed it. Fox was also to retain theatrical, nontheatrical, and home-video rights worldwide for the franchise's five subsequent films, which Lucasfilm produced and financed independently, through May 2020, at which time ownership was to transfer to Disney. This complex relationship between Fox and Disney, particularly in regards to Fox's perpetual rights to Episode IV, was to create an obstacle for any future boxed set comprising all nine films. The Walt Disney Company announced on December 14, 2017 that it would acquire the majority of Fox's parent company, 21st Century Fox, including the film studio and all distribution rights to A New Hope. The deal was officially completed on March 20, 2019. A Blu-ray box set containing the nine main installments of the Star Wars saga remastered in 4K was reportedly announced to be in development for a 2020 release on April 12, 2019.

40th anniversary re-release

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Return of the Jedi received a limited theatrical rerelease in 2023, running from April 28 to May 1 in the United Kingdom and from April 28 to May 4 in the United States.

Reception ‡

Lucas explained in the commentary for the 2004 DVD release that the Ewoks served as an allegory for a technologically underdeveloped force defeating a powerful Empire, drawing parallels to events such as the Vietnam War, Attila the Hun and the Roman Empire, and the American Revolutionary War. The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film reveals that the idea originated and evolved from Lucas's interest in the Vietnam War while making Apocalypse Now, specifically in the context of the less technologically advanced Vietcong overcoming the United States. Some, such as conservative commentator Bill Whittle in the Afterburner episode "Han Shot First," have criticized this for its perceived offensive connotations and morally ambiguous implications. However, Lucas states in the contemporary documentary From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga that the Vietnam War was merely the inspiration for the subplot's development, rather than a political statement. Nevertheless, a note in the 1973 draft for A New Hope (then simply called Star Wars) made it clear that the film's events were inspired by "a large technological empire going after a group of freedom fighters," clearly alluding to the events in Vietnam.

The U.S. Library of Congress selected Return of the Jedi for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2021, deeming it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Media

Cover gallery

Poster gallery

Credits