Misplaced Pages

#86913

108-625: According to Sansweet, he wrote the book from the in-universe perspective of a group of scholars writing about 25 years after the events of Return of the Jedi . He used Bill Slavicsek 's second edition of A Guide to the Star Wars Universe (1994) as a primary reference, also drawing from the Essential Guides to Vehicles and Vessels and Characters (both 1995). Franchise creator George Lucas said in 2005 that he used

216-407: A "very nice person who worked well with actors". Marquand did note that Lucas kept a conspicuous presence on set, joking, "It is rather like trying to direct King Lear – with Shakespeare in the next room!" The screenplay was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Lucas (with uncredited contributions by David Peoples and Marquand), based on Lucas's story. Kasdan claims he told Lucas that Return of

324-459: A 'true Jedi should never seek revenge' and returned to his original title. By that time thousands of "Revenge" teaser posters (with artwork by Drew Struzan ) had been printed and distributed. Lucasfilm stopped the shipping of the posters and sold the remaining stock of 6,800 posters to Star Wars fan club members for $ 9.50. In 2005, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith , released as part of

432-593: A Jedi under Luke, but left his training and became Kylo Ren, a warlord of the First Order. Leia asks Solo to bring him home, convinced there is still good in him. Solo, Chewbacca and Finn land on the First Order's planet-converted superweapon, Starkiller Base , intending to disable its shield and rescue Rey. Solo finds his son, and pleads with him to abandon the dark side. Ren at first seems receptive to his father's request, but then ignites his lightsaber and kills him. In The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Ren experiences

540-668: A Rebel agent, employs him, Chewbacca, and Lando, then steals their valuables to aid the Rebellion. To recoup their losses, Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot accept a smuggling job from Jabba, but are forced to jettison their cargo. The trilogy ends with Solo meeting Luke and Obi-Wan in Mos Eisley, as depicted in Star Wars . Solo plays a central role in many stories set after Return of the Jedi . In The Courtship of Princess Leia (1995), he marries Leia and has three children with her:

648-402: A bearded, flamboyant pirate; Lucas made him human to better develop his relationships with the other human characters. After this alteration, Chewbacca became his alien sidekick. By the third draft, Solo had developed into the "tough James Dean style starpilot" that would appear in the finished film. Lucas also used Humphrey Bogart as a reference point for the character. While developing

756-577: A beggar and pickpocket throughout much of his youth. He becomes a pilot and, after his love interest Bria Tharen disappears, joins the Imperial Navy. He is dismissed when he refuses to skin Chewbacca for commandeering a ship trafficking Wookiee children; Chewbacca, in turn, swears a "life-debt" to Solo. The two become smugglers, and Solo wins the Falcon from Lando in a card tournament. Tharen, now

864-541: A charter to transport Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi from Tatooine to Alderaan on their ship, the Millennium Falcon . Before they depart, Solo is cornered by the bounty hunter Greedo , who threatens him. Solo shoots and kills Greedo, then boards the Falcon with his passengers. They are attacked by Imperial stormtroopers , but elude them by accelerating to light speed. When they arrive at their destination, they discover that Alderaan has been obliterated by

972-474: A commercial theater. Lucas and his employees could not hear many of the sound effects they had mixed. To make matters worse, the background noise in the theater muffled the majority of the film's sound, which played through the theater's normal commercial sound system. Many theaters at the time had poor room acoustics with mono sound. Lucas would solve the problem by creating a new cinema audio company, THX , and ensuring that all theaters playing his movies would use

1080-720: A counterattack by the Ewoks allows the Rebels to infiltrate the shield generator. Meanwhile, Lando Calrissian and Admiral Ackbar lead the Rebel assault on the Death Star, finding its shield still active and the Imperial fleet waiting for them. The Emperor reveals to Luke that the Death Star is fully operational and orders the firing of its massive laser, which destroys a Rebel starship. He invites Luke to give in to his anger and embrace

1188-596: A crew for a heist. Solo is featured in the non-canon story Into The Great Unknown . Solo and Chewbacca enter hyperdrive and crash into the United States' northwest, Solo being killed by Native Americans almost immediately. The story features a time jump where Indiana Jones finds the skeleton remains of Solo on the Millennium Falcon . Solo is featured in the 2015 Star Wars comic series. Issue #6 introduces Sana Starros as his wife, although later it

SECTION 10

#1732780812087

1296-541: A day in Death Valley . The other was a special Steadicam unit shooting forest backgrounds from June 15 to June 17, 1982, for the speeder chase near the middle of the film. Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown personally filmed these shots at less than one frame per second . By walking at about 5 mph (8 km/h) and projecting the footage at 24 frame/s, the motion seen in the film appeared as if it were moving at around 120 mph (190 km/h). Vader's funeral

1404-575: A different song in Jabba's throne room, the modification of the sarlacc to include a beak, the replacement of music at the closing scene, and a montage of different alien worlds celebrating the fall of the Empire. The runtime of the 1997 Special Edition of the film and all subsequent releases is approximately five minutes longer than the original theatrical version. The film was re-released theatrically by 20th Century Studios on April 28, 2023, to commemorate

1512-466: A feast for the eyes and a delight for the fancy. It's a little amazing how Lucas and his associates keep topping themselves." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also gave the film four stars out of four and wrote, "From the moment that the familiar Star Wars introductory words begin to crawl up the screen, Return of the Jedi is a childlike delight. It's the best video game around. And for

1620-469: A hostage. Solo pursues Beckett and kills him, then gives the coaxium to Nest and her crew, who are sympathetic to the Rebel Alliance . Solo declines Nest's offer to join the Rebellion, instead returning to Lando's sabacc table for another wager. Solo prevents Lando from cheating this time, and wins ownership of the Falcon . Solo and Chewbacca then depart for Tatooine, where a crime lord is assembling

1728-405: A pit to be eaten by a Wookiee named Chewbacca. Able to understand Chewbacca's language, Solo joins forces with him and the two escape. In need of additional crew members, Beckett brings Solo and Chewbacca aboard his ship. The crew tries to steal a shipment of coaxium—a valuable hyperspace fuel—but the mission fails. Solo and Chewbacca then accompany Beckett to a meeting with his overseer Dryden Vos ,

1836-541: A primitive race of small creatures) defeating an armed ground force comprising the Empire's "best troops". Lucas has defended the scenario, saying that the Ewoks' purpose was to distract the Imperial troops and they did not really win. His inspiration for the Ewoks' victory came from the Vietnam War , where the Viet Cong prevailed against the technologically superior United States . The novelization of Return of

1944-460: A record for a nationwide release on an inflation-adjusted basis for 36 years until it was surpassed by Avengers: Endgame in 2019. It finished first at the box office for six of its first seven weeks of release, only coming in second once behind Superman III in its fourth weekend. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 80 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run. When it

2052-510: A sequel to The Empire Strikes Back was swiftly put into production. As with the previous film, Lucas personally financed Return of the Jedi . Lucas also chose not to direct the film himself, and started searching for a director. Irvin Kershner , who previously directed The Empire Strikes Back , declined to direct after spending two years working on the previous film, choosing to direct Never Say Never Again . Although Lucas's first choice

2160-400: A series of novels called The Han Solo Adventures , which explore the smuggling exploits of Solo and Chewbacca before the events of the original trilogy. The 1994 Kevin J. Anderson novel Jedi Search explains how Solo incurred the debt to Jabba that haunts him throughout the films. The Han Solo Trilogy (1997–1998) by Ann C. Crispin develops the character's backstory, depicting him as

2268-577: A time when ILM rejected about 30,000 metres (100,000 ft) of film when the film perforations failed image registration and steadiness tests. John Williams composed the film's musical score and performed it with the London Symphony Orchestra . Orchestration credits also include Thomas Newman . The initial release of the film's soundtrack was on the RSO Records label in the United States. Sony Classical Records acquired

SECTION 20

#1732780812087

2376-496: A trapdoor to be eaten by a rancor . After Luke kills the beast, Jabba decrees that he, Han, and Chewbacca will be fed to a Sarlacc , a deadly ground-dwelling creature. Luke retrieves his new lightsaber from R2-D2 , and the group of friends battle Jabba's thugs aboard his sail barge. During the chaos, Boba Fett falls into the Sarlacc's pit and Leia strangles Jabba to death with her chains. The group escapes as Jabba's sail barge

2484-506: A truly amazing array of creatures, old and new, plus the familiar space hardware." Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "is fully satisfying, it gives honest value to all the hopes of its believers. With this last of the central Star Wars cycle, there is the sense of the closing of a circle, of leaving behind real friends. It is accomplished with a weight and a new maturity that seem entirely fitting, yet

2592-474: A vision of Solo, who again urges him to renounce the dark side. After a brief conversation, Ren throws away his lightsaber and once again becomes Ben Solo. The 2018 standalone film Solo: A Star Wars Story depicts a 19-year-old Han living as an orphan on the planet Corellia . He and his lover, Qi'ra , flee the White Worms criminal gang and attempt to leave Corellia on an outgoing transport, but Qi'ra

2700-665: Is apprehended before she can board. Han vows to return for her and joins the Imperial Navy as a flight cadet. He is given the surname "Solo" by the recruiting officer, due to his lack of a family. Three years later, Solo has been expelled from the Imperial Flight Academy for insubordination and now serves in the Imperial Army. While fighting on Mimban, he encounters a gang of criminals posing as Imperial soldiers. He wants to join them, but their leader Tobias Beckett gets him arrested for desertion and thrown into

2808-575: Is destroyed. As the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training with Yoda , who is dying when he arrives. Before Yoda dies, he confirms that Darth Vader is Luke's father, the former Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, and that there is another Skywalker. Obi-Wan Kenobi 's Force spirit tells Luke that Leia is his twin sister, and that he must face Vader again to finish his training and defeat

2916-514: Is his sister, and that Vader is their father. Luke surrenders to Imperial troops and is brought before Vader, but fails to convince him to reject the dark side of the Force. Luke is brought to the Emperor, who intends to turn him to the dark side. He also reveals that Luke's friends on Endor and the Rebel fleet are heading into a trap. On the forest moon, Han's team is captured by Imperial forces, but

3024-631: Is looking for Luke, who disappeared years before, he takes them to his friend Maz Kanata , hoping she can deliver the droid BB-8 to the Resistance . While Solo, Finn and Rey are in Maz's castle, the First Order arrives and captures Rey. At the Resistance base, Solo reunites with Leia. It is revealed that their son, Ben Solo , was brought to the dark side by Supreme Leader Snoke . Ben trained as

3132-428: Is revealed that she married him as part of a plan to swindle a crime lord. Star Wars: Han Solo (2016) is a five-issue mini-series set between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back , which focuses on Solo participating in a race. The comic adaptation of Solo: A Star Wars Story reveals that Solo knew his father worked in the shipyards of Corellia. Han Solo – Imperial Cadet (2018) depicts Solo's rebellious days in

3240-489: The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition . Along with the two other films in the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi was rereleased on March 14, 1997 (moved up one week from its original announced release date of March 7 due to the box office success of The Empire Strikes Back the month prior), with a number of changes and additions , including the insertion of several alien band members and

3348-482: The sequel trilogy , Solo joins forces with Leia, the scavenger Rey and the former stormtrooper Finn in a campaign against the First Order , led by his son Kylo Ren , who eventually kills him. Solo was chosen as the 14th greatest film hero by the American Film Institute , and was selected as the fourth greatest film character by Empire magazine. Entertainment Weekly ranked Solo as

Star Wars Encyclopedia - Misplaced Pages Continue

3456-617: The Battle of Endor. On April 7, 2015, Walt Disney Studios , 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the six released Star Wars films. Return of the Jedi was released through the iTunes Store , Amazon Video , Vudu , Google Play , and Disney Movies Anywhere on April 10, 2015. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment reissued Return of the Jedi on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on September 22, 2019. Additionally, all six films were available for 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos streaming on Disney+ upon

3564-423: The Death Star shaft; the latter change drew sharp negative criticism. Several deleted scenes from the film were included as special features, including a completed scene in which Vader communicates with Luke via the Force as Luke assembles his new lightsaber before infiltrating Jabba's palace, a sandstorm sequence following the sarlacc pit rescue, and a scene featuring Moff Jerjerrod and Death Star officers during

3672-461: The Death Star, the Empire's colossal battle station. The Falcon is captured and brought aboard the Death Star, but Solo and his companions avoid detection and infiltrate the station. When they discover that Princess Leia is being held captive, Luke convinces Solo and Chewbacca to help him rescue her by promising Solo a large reward. After delivering Luke and Leia to the Rebel Alliance, Solo collects his payment and prepares to leave. Luke asks him to aid

3780-467: The Death Star. Solo then reunites with his friends on Endor to celebrate the fall of the Empire. Ford returns as Solo in two films of the sequel trilogy. In The Force Awakens (2015), set thirty years after Return of the Jedi , Solo has returned to his smuggling career. He and Chewbacca reclaim the Millennium Falcon —which they had lost—after the scavenger Rey and the renegade stormtrooper Finn use it to escape from Jakku . When Solo learns that Rey

3888-405: The Emperor down a shaft to his demise. Vader is fatally wounded and asks Luke to remove his mask in a moment of reconciliation before he dies. After the Rebel strike team destroys the shield generator, Lando leads fighter ships into the Death Star's core. While the Rebel fleet destroys the Imperial command ship, Lando and X-wing pilot Wedge destroy the Death Star's main reactor and escape before

3996-423: The Empire. The Alliance learns that the Empire has been constructing a second Death Star under the supervision of the Emperor . The station is protected by an energy shield on the forest moon of Endor . To destroy its generator, Han leads a strike team which includes Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca. Once on the moon, the team gains the trust of a tribe of Ewoks after an initial conflict. Later, Luke tells Leia that she

4104-530: The Empire. In early screenplay drafts of Revenge of the Sith (2005), a ten-year-old Solo helps the Jedi Master Yoda locate General Grievous . The early scripts also revealed that Solo was raised by Chewbacca on the Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk . Some concept art of the young Solo was created, but Lucas ultimately decided to remove the character from the film. The script for The Force Awakens

4212-462: The Hutt on Tatooine . They were sent as a goodwill gift by Luke Skywalker , who hopes to negotiate with Jabba for Han's release. Disguised as a bounty hunter , Princess Leia infiltrates the palace under the pretense of having captured Chewbacca . She releases Han from the carbonite but is caught by Jabba and enslaved. Luke arrives to bargain for the release of his friends, but Jabba drops him through

4320-446: The Hutt , but delays his departure when Luke goes missing. Solo rides alone into freezing temperatures and finds Luke nearly dead from exposure. He builds a shelter and they survive until they are rescued. Later, Solo and Chewbacca destroy an Imperial probe droid , but not before the Empire is alerted to the location of the Rebel base. Solo, Chewbacca and Leia escape in the Millennium Falcon and fly into an asteroid field. While repairing

4428-514: The Hutt, speaking only in grunts. Marvel Comics published a comic book adaptation of the film by writer Archie Goodwin and artists Al Williamson , Carlos Garzon, Tom Palmer , and Ron Frenz . The adaptation appeared in Marvel Super Special #27 and as a four-issue limited series . It was later reprinted in a mass market paperback, as well as collections of Marvel's self-titled Star Wars series . Marvel Super Special #27

Star Wars Encyclopedia - Misplaced Pages Continue

4536-433: The Imperial forces, while Han Solo & Chewbacca (2022) follows the smugglers as they do a job for Jabba, who sends Greedo to accompany them. In the 1978 television program Star Wars Holiday Special , Solo joins Chewbacca and his family on Kashyyyk for the Wookiee holiday Life Day. Ford portrays Solo in the live-action portions of the program, and voices him in the animated segment. Solo also appears in two episodes of

4644-421: The Jedi ) is a 1983 American epic space opera film that is a sequel to The Empire Strikes Back (1980). It is the third installment in the original Star Wars trilogy and the sixth chronological film in the " Skywalker Saga ". It is directed by Richard Marquand based on a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who was also the executive producer. The film follows

4752-530: The Jedi (1983), The Force Awakens (2015), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Harrison Ford portrays Solo in all five films. In Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), a younger version of the character is played by Alden Ehrenreich . In the animated web series Forces of Destiny (2017–2018), Solo is voiced by A.J. LoCascio and Kiff VandenHeuvel . Ford was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Solo in Star Wars , and won

4860-420: The Jedi (1983), Solo is still imprisoned in carbonite. A year has elapsed, and the frozen Solo is a decoration in Jabba's palace on Tatooine. Leia enters the palace in disguise and liberates Solo from his hibernation, but Jabba captures them both. When Luke arrives to bargain for Solo's life, he too is imprisoned. Jabba tries to execute Solo, Luke and Chewbacca by feeding them to a Sarlacc , but they escape with

4968-429: The Jedi "by far the dimmest adventure of the lot" and stated, "The joys of watching space battles as envisioned by wizards in studios and laboratories are not inexhaustible." Pauline Kael of The New Yorker stated, "Some of the trick effects might seem miraculous if the imagery had any lustre, but Return of the Jedi is an impersonal and rather junky piece of moviemaking." Christopher John reviewed The Return of

5076-566: The Jedi in Ares magazine #15 and commented that " Star Wars may not be dead, but Return of the Jedi is a failure, and is a cheap and tarnished crown for the series which shook the world of film when it started out . . . a long time ago, in that galaxy far, far away." Colin Greenland reviewed Return of the Jedi for Imagine magazine, and stated that "You would think a series like Star Wars , fuelled by public adoration, coasting along on

5184-441: The Jedi remains an entertaining sci-fi adventure and a fitting end to the classic trilogy." At Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100 based on 24 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In his review of the 1997 Special Edition re-release , the film critic James Kendrick called Return of the Jedi the weakest of the three original films, saying it depended "too much on

5292-451: The Jedi was "a weak title". Kazanjian said the same, and the title was changed to Revenge of the Jedi one or two days later. The screenplay itself was not finished until rather late in pre-production , well after a production schedule and budget had been created by Kazanjian and Marquand had been hired, which was unusual for a film. Instead, the production team relied on Lucas's story and rough draft in order to commence work with

5400-400: The Jedi was written by James Kahn and was released on May 12, 1983, thirteen days before the film's release. A three-hour radio drama adaptation of the film was written by Brian Daley with additional material contributed by John Whitman and was produced for and broadcast on National Public Radio in 1996 (over a decade after the radio adaptations of the first two Star Wars films). It

5508-594: The Lost Ark had made him an even bigger star. Kazanjian said that Han was frozen in carbonite in Empire because the filmmakers were unsure whether the character would return. He also claimed that Lucas did not expect Ford to return, and that Han was initially not in the script. However, Kazanjian—who also produced Raiders of the Lost Ark— convinced Ford to return. Ford felt that Han should die through self-sacrifice in

SECTION 50

#1732780812087

5616-509: The Rebels in their assault on the Death Star, but Solo refuses. He returns unexpectedly during the battle, saving Luke's life and allowing him to destroy the Death Star. Afterwards, Leia presents Solo and Luke with medals for their heroism. Solo returns in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). He is still with the Rebel Alliance, serving at the headquarters on the ice planet Hoth . He intends to leave to pay off his debt to Jabba

5724-508: The Sony digital re-mastering, which minimally improved the sound heard only on high-end stereos, this 2004 release is essentially the same as the 1997 RCA Victor release. Return of the Jedi was released on May 25, 1983. It was originally slated to open on May 27, but was subsequently changed to coincide with the date of the 1977 release of the original Star Wars film. With a massive worldwide marketing campaign, illustrator Tim Reamer created

5832-404: The animated web series Forces of Destiny (2017–2018). He is voiced by Kiff VandenHeuvel in the episode "Tracker Trouble" and by A.J. LoCascio in "An Imperial Feast". Following the acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company in 2012, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced between 1977 and 2014 were rebranded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to

5940-417: The art department. When it came time to formally write a shooting script , Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand and Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas; Kasdan used tape transcripts of these meetings to then construct the script. The question of whether Ford would return for the final film arose during pre-production. Unlike Hamill and Fisher, Ford had not contracted to do two sequels, and Raiders of

6048-595: The award for his performance in The Force Awakens. In the original trilogy , Solo and his Wookiee friend Chewbacca are smugglers who are hired to transport Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker to Alderaan so they can deliver stolen plans for the Death Star . Solo eventually joins the Rebel Alliance in its struggle against the Galactic Empire , and falls in love with Princess Leia . In

6156-443: The dark side of the Force. Luke attacks him, but Vader intervenes and the two engage in a lightsaber duel. Vader senses that Luke has a sister and threatens to turn her to the dark side if Luke will not join him. Enraged, Luke attacks Vader and severs his prosthetic hand. The Emperor orders Luke to kill his father, but Luke refuses. In response, the Emperor tortures Luke with Force lightning . Unwilling to let his son die, Vader throws

6264-435: The defeat of the Emperor, the film was originally intended to end with Obi-Wan and Yoda returning to life from their spectral existence in the Force, along with Anakin Skywalker, thanks to Yoda being able to prevent him from becoming one with the Force. They would then join the rest of the characters in their celebration on Endor. Alan Webb was originally cast as the Emperor, but dropped out due to illness. Lindsay Anderson

6372-533: The encyclopedia to see if names he came up with had already been used in the Expanded Universe . This article about a non-fiction book on film is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Star Wars -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Return of the Jedi Return of the Jedi (also known as Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of

6480-422: The entire company found it necessary to remain running 20 hours a day on six-day weeks in order to meet their goals by April 1, 1983. Of about 900 special effects shots, all VistaVision optical effects remained in-house, since ILM was the only company capable of using the format, while about 400 4-perf opticals were subcontracted to outside effects houses. Progress on the opticals was severely delayed for

6588-401: The film before Marquand signed on as director. The production team relied on Lucas's storyboards during pre-production. While writing the shooting script, Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand, and producer Howard Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas to construct it. Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting to begin a few weeks early to allow Industrial Light & Magic more time to work on

SECTION 60

#1732780812087

6696-410: The film was influenced by that of Rooster Cogburn in the film True Grit (2010). When casting Star Wars , Lucas had a preference for unknown actors. He initially resisted casting Ford as Solo, since Ford had previously worked with him on American Graffiti , and was therefore not unknown. Instead, the director asked Ford to assist with auditions by reading lines with other actors. However, Lucas

6804-497: The film's 40th anniversary. The original theatrical version of Return of the Jedi was released on VHS and Laserdisc several times between 1986 and 1995, followed by releases of the Special Edition in the same formats between 1997 and 2000. Some of these releases contained featurettes; some were individual releases of just this film, while others were boxed sets of all three original films. On September 21, 2004,

6912-488: The film's effects in post-production. Filming took place in England, California, and Arizona from January to May 1982  ( 1982-05 ) . The film was released in theaters on May 25, 1983. It grossed $ 374 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1983 . The film was well received by critics, with strong praise going to the performances of the actors, John Williams's score,

7020-465: The finished film where the heroes get caught in a sandstorm as they leave Tatooine. (This was the only major sequence cut from the film during editing.) For the rancor, Lucas wanted to use a stunt performer in a suit in the style of the Toho Godzilla films. The production team made several attempts, but were unable to create an adequate result. Lucas eventually relented and decided to film

7128-553: The franchise. The Legends works comprise a separate narrative universe. In the Legends universe, Solo's parents are Jonash and Jaina Solo, and the Solo ancestry can be traced back thousands of generations. Three centuries before the events of Star Wars , one of Solo's ancestors ruled the planet Corellia. He established a constitutional monarchy , after which the lineage slowly lost power. Between 1979 and 1980, Brian Daley wrote

7236-438: The help of Leia and Lando. Returning to the Rebel fleet, the companions discover that the Empire is building a second Death Star, which is orbiting the forest moon of Endor . Solo, now a general in the Rebel Alliance, leads a strike team to disable the shield surrounding the battle station. After enlisting a tribe of Ewoks in a battle against Imperial forces, the Rebels remove the shield, which allows Lando and his team to destroy

7344-461: The highest single day gross. It would hold the record for having the highest pre- Memorial Day Wednesday gross until 1996 when Mission: Impossible surpassed it. The film made $ 23 million from 1,002 theaters in its opening weekend and grossed a record $ 45.3 million in its opening week. It set a new domestic opening weekend record, surpassing the $ 14 million opening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . Its $ 22,973 per theatre average would stand as

7452-561: The hyperdrive of its own hyperboles, would get inexorably worse. It is not. It is getting better." In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 1997, for the 20th anniversary of the release of Star Wars (re-titled Episode IV: A New Hope ), Lucas released

7560-415: The image for the movie poster and other advertising. At the time of its release, the film was advertised on posters and merchandise as simply Star Wars: Return of the Jedi , despite its on-screen "Episode VI" distinction. The film was re-released in 1985. The original teaser trailer for the film carried the name Revenge of the Jedi . In December 1982, Lucas decided that "Revenge" was not appropriate as

7668-432: The importance of being part of a group and helping for the common good". In 2004, he described the character as the selfish sidekick of the selfless Luke. The noted mythologist Joseph Campbell said of Solo, “He thinks he’s an egoist; but he really isn’t. That’s a very loveable kind of human being. They think they’re working for themselves, but there’s something else pushing them.” On another occasion Campbell said, “Solo

7776-479: The leader of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate. There, Solo reunites with Qi'ra, who is Vos's lieutenant. Solo suggests a plan to steal coaxium from the mines on the planet Kessel ; Vos approves, but insists that Qi'ra accompany the crew. Qi'ra leads them to Lando Calrissian, an accomplished smuggler who she hopes will lend them his ship, the Millennium Falcon . Solo challenges Lando to a game of sabacc , with

7884-431: The movie has lost none of its sense of fun; it bursts with new inventiveness." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post said, " Return of the Jedi, a feat of mass enchantment, puts the happy finishing touches on George Lucas's Star Wars saga. It was worth the wait, and the work is now an imposing landmark in contemporary popular culture—a three-part, 6¼-hour science-fiction epic of unabashed heroic proclivities." The film

7992-565: The new system. Meanwhile, special effects work at ILM quickly stretched the company to its operational limits. While the R&;D work and experience gained from the previous two films in the trilogy allowed for increased efficiency, this was offset by the desire to have the closing film raise the bar set by each of these films. A compounding factor was the intention of several departments of ILM to either take on other film work or decrease staff during slow cycles. Instead, as soon as production began,

8100-531: The ongoing struggle between the malevolent Galactic Empire and the freedom fighters of the Rebel Alliance . As the Rebels attempt to destroy the Empire's second Death Star , Luke Skywalker tries to bring his father, Darth Vader , back from the dark side of the Force . The film stars Mark Hamill , Harrison Ford , Carrie Fisher , Billy Dee Williams , Anthony Daniels , David Prowse , Kenny Baker , Peter Mayhew , and Frank Oz . Steven Spielberg , David Lynch , and David Cronenberg were considered to direct

8208-551: The original Star Wars trilogy was released in a boxset on DVD with digital restoration and additional alterations made by Lucas. In this version of Return of the Jedi , Sebastian Shaw 's portrayal of Anakin's spirit is replaced by Hayden Christensen , who portrayed Anakin in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith . All three films of the trilogy were released individually on Limited Edition DVDs on September 12, 2006, with

8316-461: The original unaltered versions included as bonus features. These were collected in a box set on November 4, 2008. A Blu-ray Disc version of the six-film Star Wars saga was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in September 2011, which incorporated more small changes to Return of the Jedi , including making the Ewoks blink and having Vader yell "No!" as he throws the Emperor down

8424-565: The premature revelation of the secrets of the film's plot. Kalish kept her job, as did everyone else in the Sales Department, as the incident was apparently considered a simple mistake. Han Solo Han Solo ( / ˈ h ɑː n ˈ s oʊ l oʊ / ) is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced in the 1977 film Star Wars , and later appeared in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of

8532-419: The prequel trilogy, alluded to the dismissed title Revenge of the Jedi . Return of the Jedi grossed $ 314.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $ 166 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $ 480 million, against a production budget of about $ 32.5 million. Return of the Jedi collected a total of $ 6.2 million on its opening day, beating out Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan to have

8640-428: The previous film. The inclusion led Lucas to insert a scene in which Yoda confirms that Darth Vader is Luke's father because, after a discussion with a children's psychologist, he did not want younger moviegoers to dismiss Vader's claim as a lie. Many ideas from the original script were left out or changed. For instance, the Ewoks were going to be Wookiees and the Millennium Falcon was going to land on Endor. Following

8748-568: The professional moviegoers, it is particularly enjoyable to watch every facet of filmmaking at its best." James Harwood of Variety called the film "a visual treat throughout," but thought that "Hamill is not enough of a dramatic actor to carry the plot load here" and Harrison Ford "is present more in body than in spirit this time, given little to do but react to special effects. And it can't be said that either Carrie Fisher or Billy Dee Williams rise to previous efforts. But Lucas and director Richard Marquand have overwhelmed these performer flaws with

8856-762: The rancor as a high-speed puppet. In April, the crew moved to Arizona's Yuma Desert for two weeks of Tatooine exteriors. Production then moved to the redwood forests of northern California. Forested private land near Smith River and at the Chetham Grove section of Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park were used for the forests of Endor. The crew spent two weeks shooting the Endor forest exteriors, and then concluded at ILM in San Rafael , California, for about ten days of bluescreen shots. One of two "skeletal" post-production units shooting background matte plates spent

8964-408: The rights to the classic trilogy scores in 2004 after gaining the rights to release the second trilogy soundtracks ( The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones ). In the same year, Sony Classical re-pressed the 1997 RCA Victor release of Return of the Jedi along with the other two films in the trilogy. The set was released with the new artwork mirroring the first DVD release of the film. Despite

9072-448: The service's launch on November 12, 2019. This version of the film was released by Disney on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray box set on March 31, 2020. According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 83% of critics have given the film a positive review with an average rating of 7.30/10, based on 103 reviews from critics. The site's critics consensus reads: "Though failing to reach the cinematic heights of its predecessors, Return of

9180-470: The seventh coolest hero in popular culture. George Lucas created the Star Wars franchise and both wrote and directed the original Star Wars film. In the earliest version of the screenplay, Solo was an alien of the Ureallian race with green skin, enormous gills and no nose. He was also a member of the "Jedi Bendu" and was acquainted with General Skywalker. The next draft of the script depicted Solo as

9288-432: The ship as the wager. Lando cheats to win, but agrees to join the mission in exchange for a share of the profits. The heist succeeds, partly due to Solo's piloting skills during the dangerous Kessel Run . Before the crew returns to Vos, they are intercepted by a group of pirates led by Enfys Nest . After a series of schemes and betrayals, Vos and his guards lie dead and Beckett has fled with the coaxium and taken Chewbacca as

9396-497: The ship, Solo and Leia share a kiss. The group then seeks aid from Solo's friend Lando Calrissian in Cloud City . Under duress by the Empire, Lando betrays them to it, and Vader tortures Solo as part of his plan to trap Luke. Vader freezes Solo in carbonite and gives him to the bounty hunter Boba Fett , who plans to deliver him to Jabba. Before Solo is put into carbonite hibernation, Leia confesses her love for him. In Return of

9504-456: The shoot. Working on a budget of $ 32.5 million, Lucas was determined to avoid going over budget as had happened with Empire . Kazanjian estimated that using ILM (owned wholly by Lucasfilm) for special effects saved the production approximately $ 18 million. However, the fact that Lucasfilm was a non-union company made acquiring shooting locations more difficult and more expensive, even though Star Wars and Empire had been big hits. The project

9612-416: The slick commercialism" of the franchise but that it was still "a magnificent experience in its own right". James Berardinelli described it as the least enjoyable and least innovative film of the trilogy. He opined that the Special Edition was not saved by the alterations, but that it was nevertheless a "must-see" for fans as the conclusion of the trilogy. Fans are divided on the likelihood of Ewoks (being

9720-491: The special effects and the action sequences. Several re-releases and revisions to the film have followed over the decades, which have brought its total gross to $ 482 million. The United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2021. A year after Han Solo 's capture and imprisonment in carbonite, C-3PO and R2-D2 enter the palace of the crime lord Jabba

9828-1208: The station explodes. Luke cremates Vader's body on Endor before reuniting with his friends. As the Rebels celebrate their victory, Luke notices the Force spirits of Obi-Wan , Yoda, and Anakin standing nearby. The cast also includes Michael Pennington as Moff Jerjerrod , Kenneth Colley as Admiral Piett , Michael Carter as Bib Fortuna (voiced by Erik Bauersfeld , who was uncredited), Denis Lawson as Wedge , Tim Rose as Admiral Ackbar (also voiced by Bauersfeld, again uncredited), Dermot Crowley as General Madine, Caroline Blakiston as Mon Mothma , Warwick Davis as Wicket , Jeremy Bulloch as Boba Fett , Femi Taylor as Oola, Annie Arbogast as Sy Snootles, Claire Davenport as Fat Dancer, Jack Purvis as Teebo, Mike Edmonds as Logray, Jane Busby as Chief Chirpa, Malcom Dixon and Mike Cottrell as Ewok Warriors, and Nicki Reade as Nicki. Additional Imperial officers are portrayed by Adam Bareham (Stardestroyer Controller #1), Jonathan Oliver (Stardestroyer Controller #2), Pip Miller (Stardestroyer Captain #1), and Tom Mannion (Stardestroyer Captain #2). Following discussions between Star Wars creator George Lucas and producer Howard Kazanjian ,

9936-505: The story for the first sequel, The Empire Strikes Back , Lucas described Solo as "coming to grips with accepting responsibility." An early plot line involved him being separated from Luke while on a crucial mission. Lucas thought Solo should meet with a business leader who deals with the Empire and with whom Solo has "some kind of relationship ... like [a] stepfather". In the finished film, Solo instead unites with his old friend Lando Calrissian , an administrator willing to conduct business with

10044-399: The third film. Kasdan agreed, and said it should occur near the beginning of the third act , to make the audience wonder whether the other protagonists will survive. Gary Kurtz , who produced Star Wars and Empire but was replaced by Kazanjian for Jedi , said that Han died in an early version of the script. Kurtz has suggested that one reason Lucas may have rejected the idea of Han dying

10152-567: The twins Jaina and Jacen , and a son named Anakin . In the 1999 novel Solo Command , Solo is in charge of a New Republic task force assigned to track down an Imperial warlord. Chewbacca dies saving Anakin's life in Vector Prime (1999), sending Solo into a deep depression. Anakin dies in Star by Star (2001), which compounds Solo's despair. At the end of the series, Solo accepts the losses of his loved ones and reconciles with his family. In

10260-524: Was Steven Spielberg , their separate feuds with the Director's Guild led to him being banned from directing the film. Lucas approached David Lynch , who had recently been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for The Elephant Man in 1980, to helm Return of the Jedi. Lynch declined, saying that he had "next door to zero interest", believing Lucas should direct it since Star Wars

10368-420: Was a very practical guy, at least as he thought of himself, a materialist. But he was a compassionate human being at the same time and didn't know it. The adventure evoked a quality of his character that he hadn't known he possessed”. Solo was first introduced in the original film trilogy, and is portrayed by Harrison Ford in all three films. In Star Wars (1977), Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca accept

10476-452: Was also featured on the May 23, 1983, Time magazine cover issue (where it was labeled "Star Wars III"), where the reviewer Gerald Clarke said that while it was not as exciting as the first Star Wars film, it was "better and more satisfying" than The Empire Strikes Back , now considered by many as the best of the original trilogy. Vincent Canby of The New York Times called Return of

10584-568: Was based on characters and situations created by George Lucas and on the screenplay by Kasdan and Lucas. Anthony Daniels reprised his role from the film as C-3PO, but Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams (who lent their voices to the previous radio adaptations) were replaced by newcomer Joshua Fardon and character actor Arye Gross , respectively. Bernard Behrens and Brock Peters reprised their roles as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, respectively. John Lithgow voiced Yoda, and veteran character actor Ed Begley, Jr. played Boba Fett. Ed Asner voiced Jabba

10692-416: Was eventually won over by Ford, and cast him as Solo over many other actors who auditioned. Mark Hamill , who plays Solo's companion Luke Skywalker, admired Ford's ability to re-write his character's dialogue. He observed Ford crossing out lines in the script and replacing them with modified versions which he felt were more appropriate for Solo. In 1997, Lucas described Solo as "a cynical loner who realizes

10800-410: Was filmed at Skywalker Ranch . Marquand and Anthony Daniels clashed somewhat, leading to the latter recording his ADR (dialogue overdubs) with Lucas instead. Carrie Fisher disliked working with Marquand, too; he often yelled at her, which caused her to burst into tears on one occasion, which ruined her makeup and required an hour-long redo. Lucasfilm encountered problems when it tested the film in

10908-411: Was given the working title Blue Harvest with a tagline of "Horror Beyond Imagination." This disguised what the production crew was really filming from fans and the press, and also prevented price gouging by service providers. The first stage of production started with 78 days at Elstree Studios in England, where the film occupied all nine stages. The shoot commenced with a scene later deleted from

11016-493: Was his creation. Lucas also offered David Cronenberg the chance to direct, but he declined the offer as he did not want to work on material written by others. Lamont Johnson , director of The Last American Hero (1973), was also considered. Lucas eventually chose Richard Marquand . Lucas operated the second camera on set a few times. Lucas has admitted to being on the set frequently because of Marquand's relative inexperience with special effects. Lucas praised Marquand as

11124-469: Was mistakenly released in April 1983, a month before the film itself, giving away spoilers to the film's plot. Hamill is a comic book fan and while he was in a comic book store, he discovered that the comic book was on sale there and alerted Lucasfilm. According to Carol Kalish who was Marvel's direct sales manager at the time, Marvel quickly recalled the book upon learning this mistake though it did not stop

11232-433: Was offered the role, but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. Ben Kingsley and David Suchet were also considered. Alan Rickman auditioned for the role of Moff Jerjerrod, but Michael Pennington was cast instead. Marquand initially wanted a famous actor such as Laurence Olivier or John Gielgud to play the unmasked Vader, but Lucas was concerned that such an actor would be distracting for audiences. Kenny Baker

11340-569: Was originally cast as Wicket the Ewok, but he fell ill with food poisoning on the day of the shoot. He was replaced by Warwick Davis, who had no film acting experience. Filming began on January 11, 1982, and lasted through May 20, 1982, a schedule six weeks shorter than Empire . Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting as early as possible in order to give Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) as much time as possible to work on effects, and left some crew members dubious of their ability to be fully prepared for

11448-454: Was re-released in 1985, it made $ 11.2 million, which totaled its initial theatrical gross to $ 385.8 million worldwide. During its re-release in 1997, the film grossed $ 16.29 million in its opening weekend. When it was re-released in 2023, for its 40th anniversary, the film grossed $ 5.1 million to place #4 in the weekend box office. Film critic Roger Ebert gave Return of the Jedi four out of four stars, calling it "a complete entertainment,

11556-414: Was that it would not be good for merchandising. Kurtz also has claimed that an early script ended with the Rebel forces in tatters, Leia grappling with her new duties as queen, and Luke walking off alone "like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti Westerns ". Yoda was originally not meant to appear in the film, but Marquand strongly felt that returning to Dagobah was essential to resolve the dilemma raised by

11664-435: Was written by Michael Arndt, Lawrence Kasdan and the film's director, J. J. Abrams . In an early draft, Solo reconciled with Leia and survived the film, but Abrams felt his character was not contributing to the plot in a meaningful way. He realized that Solo's death at the hands of his son would move the story forward, while also giving Kylo Ren the chance to develop into a worthy successor to Darth Vader . Solo's appearance in

#86913