Tag: luke

STAR WARS Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi Review

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This is it: The final chapter of the original trilogy. Today let’s talk about The Revenge Return of the Jedi. 

Originally released in 1983, this was originally made to be the end of the franchise before Episode I came out.

From what I remember hearing about the release, this movie was the least enjoyable to some? The Ewoks living on a forest moon were strange to people I think. But this is a universe with space wizards so I think suspension of disbelief shouldn’t exist. I personally like it. I haven’t watched the original release but I do have the dvd version with the music video playing in Jabba’s palace. 

Not many people in the main character cast got to experience that performance. Only Han and possibly Lando were there at the time, and Han was basically asleep in carbonite.

Luke “gives” Jabba C-3P0 and R2-D2 in exchange to release his friend Han Solo, but Jabba refuses. Luke later arrives in person to rescue him, and the gang eventually frees everyone and Leia kills Jabba, and Han unintentionally makes Boba Fett fall into the killer Sarlacc pit. 

They return to the rebellion leadership, and learn that the Empire built a new Death Star. They have to split up where a team goes to a forest moon to destroy a shield generator protecting the Death Star II, and another goes directly to the Death Star II to destroy it when the shields are down. 

Luke let himself get caught so he could face Darth Vader and the Emperor. The Emperor mocks him and his friends, which I think Family Guy represents very well here:

The Emperor’s overconfidence is eventually his downfall. The ground team worked with the local teddy bear Ewoks to blow up the shield generator, while Lando flew the Millennium Falcon into the Death Star II and blew up the core. Inside the Death Star II, Luke convinces his father to turn back to the light, and he throws the Emperor down a shaft before dying to his injuries. 

Word somehow got out very quickly across the galaxy because we see fireworks and celebrations everywhere. The Ewoks are playing drums on Stormtrooper helmets which seems kinda morbid because it doesn’t seem likely that they are empty helmets they’re drumming on. 

This is it for the original trilogy and all is right in the galaxy. 

Nope!

Just because a dictator is removed doesn’t mean everything is all perfect now. As we saw with Andor and Rebels many of the Empire loyalists are deep into the propaganda and will definitely continue fighting the Rebels. 

We’re talking about some of those moments next with the new video games so stay tuned!

STAR WARS Episode IV: A New Hope Review

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We’ve finally made it to the movie that started it all. Star Wars A New Hope. The first fourth SEVENTH movie in our Star Wars history.

A lot of the previous movies and shows we watched have been building up to this. We saw a glimpse of the Death Star in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the Ghost Squadron was briefly investigating it in Rebels, and Andor’s entire story in his own show and in Rogue One led to uncovering the secret of it, and then in this movie they go and blow it all up. 

Originally titled STAR WARS, later titled STAR WARS: A New Hope, later titled STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A New Hope, this movie originally released in 1977 and spawned countless other movies, books, video games and television shows. And eventually spawned me into writing this series that is still somehow being worked on. 

There have been countless discussions and dissections about this film, so I don’t think it’s necessary for me to talk a lot about the plot. Most people have at least heard of Star Wars and Darth Vader. They’re pretty big pop culture icons, and if you really want to know about how the plot goes, read about Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. 

Call to Adventure 

Luke Skywalker receives a video from Princess Leia saying she needs help. The message is intended for Obi-Wan Kenoi, who he happens to know 

Mentor figure (Obi-Wan)

We talked about Obi-Wan already in previous entries, and he was trying to teach Luke ways of the force to fight the Empire and join him in the journey. 

Challenges and Temptations 

I don’t think there were many temptations in the movie, but when Luke tries to get Princess Leia he has to go to a town full of criminals to get someone willing to travel past the Empire’s blockade. Another challenge is when the Death Star captures their ship and they need to find a way off it. 

Death and Rebirth 

Obi Wan is killed by Darth Vader however a body was not left behind. He instead became one with the force and is able to talk to Luke still. 

Atonement 

This part is when Luke goes to blow up the Death Star. He initially uses the targeting computer and after that fails, he succeeds by trusting in the force. 

Return

Everything is now different with the main character, and the world he’s in stays the same. Luke doesn’t go back to Tatooine after he blows up the Death Star, but continues the fight with the Rebels.

Instead of going into the plot more, I want to talk about some of the numerous cultural impacts this movie alone has had. 

References in other media 

Back to the Future 

Marty’s father is visited by “Darth Vader” from the planet Vulcan. In reality it’s Marty who saw movies in his time pretending to be an alien named Vader in his radiation suit. 

Indian in the Cupboard 

There’s a small scene in the movie where the main character tests his magic cupboard by putting a lot of random toys in to see if they come to life, and Darth Vader is seen fighting a T-Rex. 

Fairy Odd Parents

There’s actually quite a bit of references to either the movies or certain characters in this show. One character is basically a complete parody of Darth Vader.

Parodies 

Family Guy

Family Guy is one of the bigger parodies I believe. They had the characters recreate each movie in the original trilogy in different seasons of the show. 

Space Balls

This is just a parody movie off Star Wars with characters like Pizza the Hutt and Dark Helmet. There’s a new movie coming out soon and it’s supposedly going to reference the sequel trilogy 

Final Thoughts

This film was the sci-fi movie for a while and has influenced many more after it. If this was the only Star Wars movie, it would still be a great movie but they went and made a lot more and made the timeline we’re talking about now. 

We’ll be continuing next time with my personal favorite Star Wars film: The Empire Strikes Back.