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109-605: 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

218-417: A Star Wars encyclopedia published after the release of the film Star Wars . Tony Dyson , owner of the special effects studio The White Horse Toy Company, was commissioned by special effects supervisor Brian Johnson to fabricate the revised mechanical design for The Empire Strikes Back , making several units operated by remote control. A number were used by Baker, and two were stunt double models made for

327-407: 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

436-455: 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

545-674: A brief but pivotal role in the film, reuniting with Luke aboard the Millennium Falcon and showing him Leia's distress message from the original film in a successful attempt to convince Luke to train Rey. He is later shown interfacing with the Falcon' s computer while Rey and Chewbacca pilot the ship amid the final confrontation with the evil First Order 's forces. R2-D2 returns once more in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker . Initially remaining at

654-474: 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

763-697: 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

872-535: 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

981-567: 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

1090-459: 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

1199-530: 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

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1308-457: 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

1417-505: 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

1526-616: 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

1635-625: A total of 15 R2-D2s on the set of Attack of the Clones . Eight were radio-controlled; two were worn by Baker; the remainder were stunt models that could be moved by puppet strings or towed by wires. The robotic R2-D2s were prone to failure, particularly while shooting the Tatooine scenes in Tunisia . Radio-controlled units were extensively utilized for the Prequel trilogy due to advances in technology, though Baker

1744-491: 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

1853-498: 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

1962-546: Is credited, Anthony Daniels (who portrays C-3PO) has stated that Baker did not film any scenes in Revenge of the Sith . Baker himself has said he probably only appears in footage caught while shooting the previous two movies. For The Force Awakens , producer Kathleen Kennedy hired two fans, Lee Towersey and Oliver Steeples, to build new R2-D2 robots for the film, after being impressed by their working replicas that were brought to Star Wars Celebration Europe in 2013. Towersey

2071-563: 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

2180-505: 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

2289-581: Is now Obi-Wan's Jedi apprentice. He accompanies Anakin and Padmé to Naboo, and then to Tatooine when Anakin tries in vain to rescue his mother Shmi ( Pernilla August ) from a pack of Tusken Raiders . Here, he is reunited with C-3PO, and the two get into various misadventures on the planet Geonosis . He and C-3PO are later witness to Anakin and Padmé's secret wedding. In Revenge of the Sith , set three years later, R2-D2 helps Anakin and Obi-Wan in their mission to rescue Chancellor Palpatine ( Ian McDiarmid ) from Count Dooku 's ( Christopher Lee ) capital ship,

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2398-671: Is portrayed as belonging to the Naboo defense forces, one of three astromech droids deployed for repair duty onboard Queen Padmé Amidala 's ( Natalie Portman ) starship as it attempts to get past the Trade Federation blockade. The sole survivor of the three, R2-D2 repairs the deflector shields and saves the day. Having proved his worth, R2-D2 then becomes part of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn 's ( Liam Neeson ) party on Tatooine where he meets nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker ( Jake Lloyd ) and C-3PO, whom Anakin built from scrap. Later still, he serves as

2507-503: Is pronounced as "Arturito" (Little Arthur), which sounds similar to the English pronunciation. In the Italian version of the original trilogy, R2-D2 was named "C1-P8". Anglicisms were not common in the Italian language during the 1970s and 1980s, and the names of various characters were changed to be easier to pronounce and recognize for Italian speakers. Some of these changes were reverted in

2616-444: Is severely damaged during the battle, but is repaired before the ceremony at the end of the film. In The Empire Strikes Back , R2-D2 accompanies Luke to Dagobah , and later to Cloud City , where he helps to rescue and repair a heavily damaged C-3PO and to override city security computers. He also manages to reactivate the Millennium Falcon ' s hyperdrive, resulting in a last-minute escape from Imperial forces. In Return of

2725-529: The Millennium Falcon to deliver R2-D2 to the Rebel Alliance . On their arrival at Alderaan's co-ordinates, they are pulled in by the Death Star's tractor beam and are forced to land, but eventually rescue Princess Leia. After Vader kills Obi-Wan, the rest of the group escapes and delivers the Death Star plans to the Rebel Alliance. R2 later serves as Luke's droid during the attack on the station . R2-D2

2834-501: The Star Wars Holiday Special . In the animated segment they are rescued by a mysterious bounty hunter, Boba Fett , who offers to help them. Later R2-D2 intercepts a transmission between Darth Vader and Fett - thus confirming to him, C-3PO and the others Fett's true allegiances. R2-D2 makes a guest appearance with C-3PO, Luke Skywalker (and Mark Hamill ) and Chewbacca in an episode of The Muppet Show . R2-D2 appears in

2943-684: The Wreck-It Ralph sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet . In an early script to 2014's The Lego Movie , R2-D2 was set to be one of the main characters, but was written out due to the directors failing to obtain the rights to the character. Several R2-D2 models were built for the original Star Wars films; one that was remote controlled and rolled on three wheeled legs, and others which were worn by English actor Kenny Baker and walked on two legs. Deep Roy served as Baker's double, in both Episodes V and VI ; providing stunts and filling in when Baker

3052-635: The Invisible Hand . He is attacked by super battle droids, but he defeats them through ingenious tactics. After Anakin falls to the dark side of the Force and becomes Darth Vader, he takes R2-D2 with him when he goes to assassinate the Separatist council, but he tells him to stay with the ship. After Obi-Wan defeats Vader in a lightsaber duel, R2-D2 goes with him aboard Padmé's ship, where he witnesses as Padmé dies after giving birth to her and Vader's children, Luke and Leia. After Palpatine and Vader overthrow

3161-475: 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

3270-560: The Tantive IV . In Star Wars: The Force Awakens , set approximately 30 years after Return of the Jedi , R2-D2 is revealed to be kept in storage at the Resistance base on the planet D'Qar , having put himself in a low-power mode after Luke Skywalker's disappearance. He later awakens and reveals Luke's location by combining map data stored in his memory with that of the droid BB-8 . He then travels with Rey ( Daisy Ridley ) and Chewbacca to

3379-408: The " Skywalker Saga ", which includes the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy. At various points throughout the course of the films, R2, an astromech droid , is a friend to C-3PO , Padmé Amidala , Anakin Skywalker , Leia Organa , Luke Skywalker , and Obi-Wan Kenobi . R2-D2 and his companion C-3PO are the only characters to appear in every theatrical Star Wars film, with

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3488-587: The 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars , and the subsequent TV series of the same name . In the film, he accompanies Anakin (voiced by Matt Lanter ) and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano (voiced by Ashley Eckstein ) on a mission to rescue Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta. In the series, he helps them fight the Separatists. He previously appeared in Star Wars: Clone Wars , but this micro-series has been excluded from

3597-613: 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

3706-537: The Clones makes it clear that R2-D2 has been in Padmé's possession since the events of The Phantom Menace . R2-D2 appears in Marvel 's 2015 Star Wars comic series , which is set between the films of the original trilogy. He also appears briefly in the miniseries Star Wars: Shattered Empire . With the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company , most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since

3815-423: 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

3924-405: 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

4033-423: 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

4142-411: 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

4251-505: 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

4360-421: 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

4469-429: 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

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4578-410: The Jedi , R2-D2 plays a critical role in rescuing Luke, Leia, and Han from Jabba the Hutt . He later joins the Rebel strike team on Endor . He is badly damaged during the battle between the Imperial troops and the Rebels, but is repaired in time for the celebration marking the second Death Star's destruction and the fall of the Empire. In The Phantom Menace , set 32 years before A New Hope , R2-D2

4687-557: 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

4796-441: 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

4905-451: 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

5014-400: 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

5123-452: The Jedi . Kenny Baker, who portrayed R2-D2 in costume, was not involved in the Star Wars Holiday Special . R2-D2 was portrayed entirely by a radio controlled unit, operated by Mick Garris (Lucas' receptionist at the time). In the credits, R2-D2 is credited as playing himself. Garris later went on to operate the radio controlled R2-D2 at various events, including the Oscars . There were

5232-580: 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

5341-658: The Republic and establish the Galactic Empire at the end of the film, C-3PO's memory is erased to keep the knowledge of Luke and Leia's locations a secret from their father. However, R2-D2's memory is not wiped; as a result, R2-D2 is the only surviving character at the end of the saga who knows the entire story of the Skywalker family . Both R2-D2 and C-3PO end up in the possession of Captain Raymus Antilles ( Rohan Nichol ) onboard

5450-590: The Resistance base, he is shown watching Leia as she dies. He later plays an important role in restoring C-3PO's memory after Rey, Finn ( John Boyega ) and Poe Dameron ( Oscar Isaac ) are forced to erase it so the droid can translate a Sith artifact that holds a clue to the location of the Sith homeworld, the resurrected Palpatine, and the Sith Eternal 's fleet, the Final Order. R2-D2 accompanies Poe in his X-wing for

5559-632: The Sith , George Lucas says R2-D2 is his favorite character, and that it is intentional that R2-D2 saves the day at least once in every film. R2-D2 was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in 2003 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . A replica can be seen at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. The Smithsonian Institution included R2-D2 in its list of 101 Objects that Made America. In 2022 R2-D2

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5668-504: 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

5777-709: The alien ship; in Raiders of the Lost Ark , in which he is seen on the wall of the room containing the Ark; in Poltergeist , where he is seen in several objects on Robbie's room; and in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen , where he is seen flying among rubble and debris in the sky. In Ready Player One , R2-D2 is also seen as a toy model in Wade and Samantha's apartment. He also appears in

5886-417: 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

5995-650: The astromech droid for Anakin's starfighter during the Battle of Naboo , helping Anakin destroy the Trade Federation's command center and free the planet Naboo from the Federation's grip. R2-D2, along with Anakin and the young Obi-Wan Kenobi ( Ewan McGregor ), are awarded medals by Padmé and Boss Nass ( Brian Blessed ) at the end of the film. In Attack of the Clones , set 10 years after The Phantom Menace , R2-D2 again serves Obi-Wan and Anakin ( Hayden Christensen ), who

6104-661: The character in some scenes. Vee later took over the role beginning in The Last Jedi . In The Rise of Skywalker , puppeteers Hassan Taj and Lee Towersey perform the role of R2-D2, replacing Jimmy Vee, who had played the role in the previous two films. His sounds and vocal effects were created by sound designer Ben Burtt . R2-D2 was designed in artwork by Ralph McQuarrie , co-developed by John Stears and built by Peteric Engineering. The revised Empire Strikes Back droids had fibreglass shells built by Tony Dyson and his White Horse Toy Company. George Lucas's creation of R2-D2

6213-443: 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

6322-435: 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

6431-519: 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

6540-422: 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

6649-440: The exception of Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). English actor Kenny Baker played R2-D2 in all three original Star Wars films and received billing credit for the character in the prequel trilogy , where Baker's role was reduced as R2-D2 was portrayed mainly by radio controlled props and CGI models. In the sequel trilogy , Baker was credited as consultant for The Force Awakens ; however, Jimmy Vee also co-performed

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6758-401: 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

6867-490: 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,

6976-483: 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,

7085-533: The final assault, and is later shown joining the others in celebrating the defeat of Palpatine and the Sith Eternal. R2-D2 makes a cameo appearance in Rogue One alongside C-3PO. R2-D2 and C-3PO had their own animated series , Star Wars: Droids , set before they came into Luke Skywalker's possession. This was excluded from the new canon in 2014. They also appear in both the live action and animated segments of

7194-458: 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

7303-461: 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

7412-542: 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

7521-415: 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

7630-431: 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

7739-889: The new canon . R2-D2 also appears in Star Wars Rebels in the episodes "Droids in Distress" and "Blood Sisters", and in several episodes of Star Wars Forces of Destiny . In the second season finale of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian , R2-D2 accompanies Luke Skywalker as he goes to retrieve Grogu to be trained as a Jedi. R2-D2 appears in the sixth and seventh episodes of The Mandalorian spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett . After Grogu decides to abandon his Jedi training, Luke has R2-D2 fly Grogu to Tatooine in his X-wing starfighter so that he may be reunited with his guardian, Din Djarin ( Pedro Pascal ). The novelization of Attack of

7848-561: 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,

7957-531: 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

8066-494: 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

8175-456: 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

8284-559: The originating 1977 film Star Wars were rebranded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014. Along with the Star Wars films, R2-D2 makes non-canon cameo appearances in several other films, including: Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness , where he was seen flying in debris; Close Encounters of the Third Kind , in which he is seen on the underside of

8393-525: The planet highlighted on the map, where they find Luke in self-imposed exile. In the credits, Kenny Baker was credited as 'R2-D2 consultant,' while Jimmy Vee provided an uncredited portrayal in some scenes. R2-D2 appeared in Star Wars: The Last Jedi , with actor Jimmy Vee taking over the role from Kenny Baker, who retired from the role due to his age and health. Baker died in August 2016. R2-D2 has

8502-485: The plans for the Death Star battle station, and encodes a distress message on the droid's holographic projector. The droids then escape in a pod that crashes on Tatooine near Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi 's ( Alec Guinness ) desert abode. R2-D2 and C-3PO are then abducted by Jawas and bought by Owen ( Phil Brown ) and Beru Lars ( Shelagh Fraser ), uncle and aunt of Luke Skywalker ( Mark Hamill ). While Luke cleans

8611-574: 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. R2-D2 R2-D2 ( / ˌ ɑːr . t uː ˈ d iː t uː / ) or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas . He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical Star Wars films to date, including every film in

8720-419: 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

8829-428: 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

8938-568: 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

9047-745: 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

9156-408: 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

9265-430: The sand out of R2-D2's gears, he discovers a fragment of Leia's message, and removes the droid's restraining bolt to see more; once free of the bolt, R2 claims to have no knowledge of the message. That night, R2-D2 leaves the farm to seek out Obi-Wan. When Owen and Beru are killed by Imperial stormtroopers , Luke is forced to leave Tatooine with Obi-Wan, Han Solo ( Harrison Ford ), and Chewbacca ( Peter Mayhew ) on board

9374-498: The scene where the droid was shot from the swamp onto the shore on Dagobah . In Star Wars , R2-D2 and C-3PO ( Anthony Daniels ) are both introduced on board the Tantive IV , along with Princess Leia ( Carrie Fisher ) of Alderaan , when they are being pursued upon by Darth Vader (portrayed by David Prowse , voiced by James Earl Jones ) aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer . Leia inserts into R2-D2 an information disc containing

9483-448: 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

9592-456: 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

9701-416: 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

9810-481: 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

9919-1208: 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 ,

10028-399: 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

10137-447: The utterance which sparked the name for the droid. Murch asked for Reel 2, Dialog Track 2, in the abbreviated form "R-2-D-2". Lucas, who was in the room and had dozed off while working on the script for Star Wars , momentarily woke when he heard the request and, after asking for clarification, stated that it was a "great name" before going back to writing his script. R2-D2 stands for Second Generation Robotic Droid Series-2, according to

10246-512: 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

10355-449: 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

10464-553: Was also one of the two puppeteers, along with Hassan Taj, who operated the droid in The Rise of Skywalker . Ewan McGregor , who portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, said in an interview, "As soon as R2-D2 comes on the set, everyone goes a bit silly." He said "there is something about him that makes you feel great affection for him". In the DVD audio commentary for Revenge of

10573-568: 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

10682-410: 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

10791-411: 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

10900-493: 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

11009-410: Was influenced by the peasant Matashichi from Akira Kurosawa 's 1958 film The Hidden Fortress . Lucas and artist Ralph McQuarrie also drew inspiration from the robots Huey, Dewey, and Louie from Douglas Trumbull 's 1972 film Silent Running . The name derives from when Lucas was making one of his earlier films, American Graffiti . Sound editor Walter Murch states that he is responsible for

11118-417: 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

11227-433: 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

11336-565: 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

11445-454: 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,

11554-489: Was still used in some scenes. R2-D2 had three principal operators: Don Bies, Jolyon Bambridge and Grant Imahara . The sound effects for R2-D2's "voice" were created by sound designer Ben Burtt , using an ARP 2600 analog synthesizer , as well as his own vocalizations processed through other effects. Original props of R2-D2 and C-3PO are used as Audio-Animatronics in the queue area of Disneyland 's Star Tours–The Adventures Continue attraction. Although Kenny Baker

11663-526: Was surveyed as being the most popular movie robot in the United States. R2-D2 and C-3PO guest starred in a two episodes of Sesame Street in 1980. The two droids were featured as presenters at the 50th Academy Awards . The telescope dome of Zweibrücken Observatory in Germany was repainted to resemble R2-D2 in 2018. In the Latin American Spanish dubbing of the Star Wars films, the name R2-D2

11772-414: 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

11881-608: Was unavailable. The original props for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope were designed by John Stears and built by Stears' team and Peteric Engineering. The revised fibreglass droids used in The Empire Strikes Back were built by Tony Dyson and the White Horse Toy Company. The radio controlled R2 was operated by John Stears in A New Hope , Brian Johnson in The Empire Strikes Back and by Kit West in Return of

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