I guess one of my biggest flaws is that I expect movies that are supposed to be good, to actually be good. It seems George Lucas wrote himself into a corner in 1983, and the only way out (he thought) was to give us one of the most egregious character violations in the history of film. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Anyone who watched the original Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back knew they were in for more treats. Lucas took a one-off, western cowboy space opera, and turned it into one of the most successful film franchises in the history of Hollywood. But long before the Star Wars universe became the manically successful property that it is, we fans were just waiting for the resolution of the trilogy. Oh how our hearts were broken.
Good ol’ George had crated a juggernaut with Star Wars, and gave us something we never believed could be true: a film better than the original with Empire. Imagine my giddiness in 1983 (I was 20) when the word came down that Jedi was going to wrap it all up for us. I remember the people camping on the sidewalk in front of the theater (crazy and new at the time), just so they could be one of the first to see the film. The anticipation was greater than people experienced at 16 when they had just passed their driving test, and were going to get their driver’s license. It was inexplicable, and yet it was Star Wars.
Then we saw the film, and uh… well, uh… yeah. Lucas betrayed us. He must have thought that if one puppet was good in Empire, then 500 must be better. And if the Ewoks were familiar with their own environment, surely that would be enough to defeat forces of trained soldiers in armor with laser blasters. Would someone please explain to me what that armor must have been made of, for the Ewoks to hit a Stormtrooper with a rock, and knock him out? I know that Stromtroopers are notoriously bad shots, but to be beaten by fat gerbils with rocks?
But dear friends, that’s not the end. Aside from the Ewoks battle (I use the term loosely), we have the Empire with a new Death Star. And having not learned their lessons with the first Death Star, the Empire designs this all-new Deathstar with just enough flaws for the Rebels to exploit and destroy the greatest weapon in the galaxy, a second time. The Empire’s top inventor must have been Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the super-villain bad guy from James Bond that always left Bond just enough wiggle room to get out of the super-complicated death trap, cursing himself afterward for having done so.
And speaking of villains, let’s not forget Darth Vader. The villain that was supposed to ooze the most villainous villainy in the galaxy. Sidenote: are you aware the American Film Institute rated Darth Vader third, behind Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter, for the greatest movie villain of all time? That’s some serious villainy. And he deserved it- until Jedi. In the first two films, he killed without conscience. Tortured people. Wiped out civilizations. We believed in the fact that this guy was evil.
But then he became Luke’s dad. And Leia’s dad. And grew a conscience. And decided he didn’t want to be bad anymore, and saved the wonder twins. And threw the Emperor off a cliff. And the viability of Jedi as a conclusion to the trilogy went over the cliff with it. My son Ben told me this, and he is right: “after you establish the universe in which your characters exist, you cannot violate your own constraints.” People will accept improbable things if there is a proper set up, a foreshadowing of said things. With proper set up, you can get away with situations that do not end up as violations of your own universe. Lucas gave us none of that.
He wanted a feel-good ending, and gave us what he thought was an appropriate ending. It wasn’t. It sucked. All the villainy we came to accept from Vader went right down the toilet, and Lucas spent the next three films (the prequel trilogy) to try and lay enough context so that we might accept the turn of Anakin as Vader in the process. We didn’t have that in 1983, and the prequel trilogy didn’t work either. It’s interesting that Star Wars fans will accept Jedi as a viable entry, and poo-poo the prequel trilogy. I think it’s all bad.
We have the 3rd greatest villain in the history of film and we are expected to believe he suddenly decides to be good. Could you imagine Bates or Lecter suddenly deciding in their films that they just decided they weren’t going to be horrible any more? It would take the guts right out of the film. And that’s what happened with Jedi. The character violation is so egregious it removes the 3-story film set from contention for the best film trilogy ever. Star Wars? Yes! Empire? Even more yes! Jedi? Jedi? Return of the Jedi? Anybody?
IMDB gives this film an undeserved 8.3/10. The Ewoks are unbearable, the Death Star unviable and the character violations of Darth Vader unforgivable. Because of the expectation on the film, I am probably being harsher than I should with a 4/3/10. But this film put me off the Star Wars franchise for good.