AMSLER@SRI-AI.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP (06/08/83)
From: Robert Amsler <AMSLER@SRI-AI.ARPA>
[The following contains a collection of observations and comments
regarding the Return of the Jedi that I thought I'd share with the
whole sf-lovers list. Please forgive the somewhat disjoint nature
of some of the paragraphs, these were written over the days
since the movie opened and reflect both observations on it, but
on the sales blitz that has accompanied it.]
I thought this one was less surprising than the others, some
of the scenes were more routine than innovative. ....
Anyhow... It wasn't that bad. I felt a certain nostalgia
leaving the theater. I liked seeing more of Leia (was that a
birth mark I saw when she turned about, located on her right
back. Dunno.) Strangling Jabba with his own chain was
certainly a woman's Lib symbolic act. Yeah, I do agree--he
used a lot of things again. Opening shots, Death Star, R2D2
working the combination at a critical moment--there was a
strong sense of, these characters are all defined now, each
has its role to play, and its tricks to show off--run them
through like a circus act. Han Solo actually said it best in
the movie... He and Luke are running, and he asks, "Hey Kid,
How are we doing?" and Luke answers, "About the same as
usual"; with Hans saying, "That bad, eh"
The critters at the beginning weren't all I'd hoped. The
blue elephant organ player looked a little like a soft
sculpture rather than a real critter. Snoot didn't look
functional in any animal sense. Some of the others looked
equally implausible, stuffed animals--not real ones. I
expected credits to the Kroft puppeteers.
It was a messy movie. The action was forced, rather than
novel and sustained. Lots of busy work. It did answer a lot
of questions though--leaving some new ones. One thing which
I find curious is Luke's grasp of the force. He seemed
unable in several cases to use it on lower animals--whereas
Obi Won seemed to be able to charm the beasts well enough.
Do we know any more about Jabba? He certainly was a separate
species. Darth Vader as Dark Father was, now, obvious in the
extreme. Your question as to why Vader dealt with Leia
differently during her torture seems to hold up. She was not
only his daughter--though he didn't know it, but she
possessed some rudiments of the Force, maybe (we don't know
anything about the female use of the force--it might be a
sex-linked trait, passed through but not given to the
females).
So. Vader lost his arm in a dual with who? The emperor? What
was all that before about falling into a volcano? Can you
duel with yourself and fall into a volcano? (mentioning the
previous info we had about Vader and why he was in his iron
lung). Who was the actor that played Vader in the end... I
didn't seem to see him in the credits.
Are Ewoks H.Piper's Little Fuzzies? The NYTimes thought
Lucas was arguing against technology as our final
salvation--since the Ewoks saved the day with spear points
and wooden logs.
I throughly enjoyed the walkers. They are, in fact,
something which the military is looking into. They were new
and innovative. The forest sleds were bizarre. I couldn't
decide whether they had automatic obstacle avoidance or not.
They did seem rather accident prone. You can take the car
races out of the movie, but not out of the director. Lucas
indulged himself with those.
Those were new uniforms for the officers, black this time,
not military drabs.
I gather at the end that only Luke can see the dead Jedi...
And they do seem to take delight in dying when he is around.
I wonder if they are actually INSIDE Luke's head, mind,
spirit, etc. Perhaps they merge into him upon death? One
does wonder how they get about the galaxy. Do they hitch
rides on spaceships? Are they everywhere? or are they only
around Luke. That seems to be it.
The ending, with ANOTHER Death Star explosion was trite. I
could have written THAT plot.
.. The reactions I hear from folks out here are varied.
Most seem to have liked it. I suspect only the hard core
finds it a disappointment... Sort of like the James Bond
movies. They peaked with Goldfinger for me and have been
silly since then.
I read a review in Newsweek. It seemed right on target.
Surprising how the news magazines have been right about
these films--contrary to the critics.
I saw a window of merchandising stuff today. Most of the
magazines are carrying flimsy stories. There is a biography
of Lucas out as well in hardback, by somebody with a name
like Powell. 1st poster as folded issue of magazine.
....
I think there are two levels on which we can approach the
movie. There IS the basic plot. Not much was actually wrong
with the plot. It was clearly an answer to the 2nd movie.
Resolved all the dilemmas with some degree of sensibility.
Then there was the actual movie's interpretation of the
plot. That was racked by all manner of annoyances which
interefered with the SW traditions--sort of as if the Kroft
puppeteers had made the movie. In the reviewers words it was
a "Muppet Movie". Finally, there was the special effects.
Some were as rewarding as anything in the previous films.
Memorable are shots such as the arrival of Darth Vader's
tri-wing into the new Death Star. Beautiful filigree of
elements including tiny touches such as the approach, the
scale shots were perfect, the small aperature of the opening
which loomed large upon approach, the vast cavern inside the
Death Star II, the slick floor, the business in the
background including things like welding sparks, etc. The
walkers on the planet were also beautiful. The forest looked
fine, combining elements of actual redwood country with
things that must have been specially made. The gravi-sleds
(what are they called?) were also fine--though like the
storm trooper's "armour", I fail to understand the Empire's
technology--it just doesn't seem to be safe or to work well.
Dropping rocks on them knocks them out? The sleds were
extremely dangerous from what I could tell. The walkers were
easy to overturn and seemed to LIKE to blow up when they
fell down. However, I didn't doubt the reality of what I saw
in these scenes at all. I also liked the bridge of the Death
Star where the Emperor sat. The circular (non-functional,
alas) rings of blue panels were effective. The emperor's
make-up was OK. They had to use some effect to show his
consumption with the dark side of the force; and the
red-eyes with pale atrophied skin did it well--something
like a drug addict's look.
I felt the FORCE was well treated. It completed the aspects
of dark and light in a nearly perfect Yin/Yang aspect. It
was also tied to emotions on BOTH sides. Hate, Anger,
Vengence evoked the Dark side---and presumably the Emperor
could use their evocation to infuse his emphasis on Luke,
like giving drugs to someone, it would have become
involuntarily addictive. The Light side of the Force was
also evoked by emotions. Luke's burst of effort evoked by
his love for Leia and the suggested threat against her being
turned to the Dark side; Luke's summoning of the
father-child love to turn Vader back.
The movie may have been a poor execution or interpretation
of the SW epic--but the plot wasn't that bad. I even think
there is reason to suppose that Lucas made the plot up
BEFORE he was turned to the Dark side of the Force of
money--and gave in to those begging for more merchandisable
muppet toys in the film, more cuteness, more salability.
....
Did I mention the two special effects I thought were clearly
poor quality. One was the flame that came out of Jabba the
Hutt's Land Barge when it was burning and before it
exploded. Looked like a Bunsen Burner sized flame. Wrong
Scale. The other was the explosion of the
satellite-dish-like ground station for the Death Star II's
force field. It wobbled like a plastic bowl before
collapsing. I don't think it should have.
The local bookstores are having a field day out here. I've
now seen three window displays with all the works. There is
a blank diary-like notebook with a cover indicating it is a
Jedi notebook in which one is to put all the important
things one learns on the way to becoming a true Jedi.
The Portfolio of prints is quite attractive. They seemed
quite a bit better than Empire. The Sketchbook looked
unimpressive. The is also an "illustrated" larger-size
version of the book with some drawings in it, didn't look
esp. worthy. Burger King has glasses for Jabba the Hutt et
al.
I think one thing which happened to Lucas was that there
were all these deals made prior to completion of the film.
There was no question that the film had to be ready for
release by a certain date. It must have been awful. "No, we
can't reshoot that special effect, it would take 3 more days
and we don't have 3 days to spare"
The Dark Side of the Force exacts a heavy toll on its
followers.
....
The review in the New Yorker is worthwhile reading. May 30th, 1983.
The reviewer blames the director, Richard Marquand, for losing all
the inherently fantastic moments available in the movie. He notes
that Luke's confrontation with Darth and the Emperor was at least
as full of potent as a scene from Hamlet--and that Marquand's
direction squanders all the plot potential.
....
I think JEDI has been a success so far because it is
receiving the credits from the first two movies. It is LIKE
those movies from the point of view of what appears on the
screen--If they intercut scenes from the Empire Strikes Back
and Star Wars with those of Return of the Jedi you would be
hard pressed to say where they were from. The problem is
that in Jedi the emotional content of the story is lost.
It's played as though the audience didn't CARE about the
deeper tones--the fatal flaw, a kid's movie made by adults
who don't think kid's have discerning viewing capabilities.
I'd really like to know what some kids say about the movie.
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