Star Wars - Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

In 1983, the final episode of George Lucas' trilogy was finally released. With the Empire Strikes Back concluding with a downer and many key story elements unfulfilled, the 3 year wait for Jedi was almos too long. But it was finally here and the expectations that had been building up via the previous two movies was reaching fever point.

Rancor Arena.

With Han Solo now encased in carbonite and hanging as a work of art in the palace of Jabba the Hutt the remnants of the rebellion have hatched a plan to rescue him. But there is another threat lurking in the shadows with another Death Star being created by the Empire with the Emperor becoming a prominent figure in the events ensuing. What audiences wanted to see though was the epic duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Was Darth really, really, really Lukes father? Would Luke finally complete his training? And did Luke find yet another member of his long lost family?

The biggest gripe amongst fans was the marketing aspect of the movie where a new younger audience was target with ewok bullets. Whilst the die hard fans still have their taste buds satiated with moments of exquisite Star Wars action, the bitter after taste and subsequent coughing up of those fur balls reflected in its appeal, or slight lack there of. But it's another Star Wars movie and fans will take anything even if it meant the last dose of Star Wars they'd get for nearly a decade.

The all new 2004 Bitsamissing Death Star, with all wheel drive.

Continuing on where the video transfers of the two other movies left off, Jedi looks fantastic on DVD. There are alot of moments in darkness here with the black levels rendering perfectly here and shadow detail revealing alot more than we've ever experienced with Jedi on a home video format. Being the more recent of the 3 films, it is expected but it is still a 20 year old movie that looks impressive decades later.

Sharpness and detail are incredible as you sit through scene after scene and marvel just how good this and the other two DVDs look. With noticeable color correction being applied throughout, you'd be forgiven for thinking the movie was recorded yesterday with the latest digital camera technology.

With a slew of new environments on hand, an adequate audio soundtrack is needed to give them life and ambience and here we have a great soundtrack to compliment the film. From Jabbas palace, back to Dagobah and into the biggest space battle ever seen at this point for a Star Wars movie, the sound just keeps up with the pace and goes one further.

A favorite scene for many is the speeder chase on planet Endor and the audio here shines as demo material with the speeders wooshing in all directions around your living room. The score by John Williams is just a continuation from the previous two movies with no real focus on any one particular character although the climactic battle is accompanied by a choral piece that brings the movie to a fulfilling climax.

My eyes, the goggles do nothing.

And yet again, the same collection of extras are featured on this DVD with an appropriately themed menuing system.

Once again we have an audio commentary by George Lucas and the usual suspects in Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren and Carrie Fisher received here as a continuation off the previous two commentaries. Finally the THX optimizer rounds out the cast of extras, just in case you need to polish up the settings from the previous two attempts.

With the trilogy now complete, the final chapter in this epic of trilogies comes to a relieving conclusion for all those rebelling against the empire throughout the galaxy. With a new shot of Gungans celebrating on Naboo slotted into the final montage, the trilogy now acknowledges the existence of the prequels; most likely in preparation of the final ultimate release expected once episode III has been released onto cinemas and subsequently home cinema format.

Whilst not as succesful as the previous two episodes that preceeded it, Return of the Jedi is still a worthy movie to be associated with the Star Wars franchise.