Summary: The third installment, otherwise known as Episode VI, of George Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy picks up some time after the cliffhanger events of The Empire Strikes Bock (1980). Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), an eager young Jedi trainee in the first installment, is now a brooding warrior (hence the black clothing). Skilled in the ways of the Force, he returns to his home planet of Tatooine to help his friends—Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher, clad in a sci-fi bikini male fans still rave about today), Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), and Chewbacca the wookie—rescue their frozen-in-carbonite pal Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt.
The main strand of the plot covers similar ground to Star Wars (1977). The evil Empire is constructing another Death Star, which our heroes have to destroy. Executive producer Lucas (who cowrote the script with Lawrence Kasdan) and director Richard Marquand introduce a new race of teddy-bear-Iike creatures, the Ewoks, to entertain younger members of the audience. The stars, meanwhile, are never eclipsed by cuddly muppets and impressive special effects, and skillfully bring Lucas’s vision of intergalactic good-versus-evil to a close. —Joanna Berry (1001)
Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
(1983)
