Book Review: 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - The Illustrated Screenplay'
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| (C) 1998 Del Rey/Ballantine Books and Lucasfilm, Ltd. (LFL) |
Pros: Contains
the entire screenplay by Kasdan and Lucas; storyboards are included
Luke Skywalker has returned to his home planet of Tatooine in an
attempt to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of the vile gangster
Jabba the Hutt.
Little does Luke know that the GALACTIC EMPIRE has begun construction on a new armored space station even more powerful than the first dreaded Death Star.
When completed, this ultimate weapon will spell certain doom for the small band of Rebels struggling to restore freedom to the galaxy.... -- Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas, Return of the Jedi
When George Lucas set out to create a youth-oriented "modern myth" set "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" in the mid-1970s, his first script was so large that he had to break it down into three smaller 120-page screenplays. No, they weren't fully fleshed out, at least not enough to go from the written word to studio sets and special effects departments, but the basic framework for the Classic Star Wars Trilogy and even the backstory that would become the Prequel Trilogy had been laid out in that rough first draft that Lucas was forced to edit and restructure so he could go ahead and make Star Wars (which would later become known as Episode IV: A New Hope.)
With the success of 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas was able to go ahead and pull out his notes for Episode VI, which he planned to title Return of the Jedi. Howard Kazanijian, who had replaced Gary Kurtz as producer of the Star Wars films, thought it was a weak title and cajoled a reluctant Lucas to change it to Revenge of the Jedi, and most of the early drafts of the screenplay bore that title. (Lucas, of course, had the last word, and just a few weeks before the film's premiere in May of 1983, 20th Century Fox had to scrap all the publicity material for Revenge of the Jedi. The reason Lucas gives to this very day is: "A Jedi doesn't act out of revenge. That leads to the dark side.")
Because Lucas doesn't feel comfortable writing screenplays, he once again hired Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back) to help him write the script to Return of the Jedi. After all, Kasdan had grasped that Empire wasn't an ordinary sequel or a remake of the first Star Wars movie, but rather was the second act of a three-act story.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi -- The Illustrated Screenplay is the blueprint to the concluding act of the Luke Skywalker half of the Star Wars saga. As such, it has to resolve all the plot lines from the previous two films, including:
1. The rescue of Han Solo from Jabba's Palace on Tatooine
2. The revelation of Darth Vader's true identity and his relationship to Luke
3. The identity of "the other" hope for the Alliance hinted at by Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back
4. The relationship between Darth Vader and the Emperor
5. The resolution of the relationship between Han and Leia
Not only did Lucas need to tie up all those loose ends, but he also wanted to explore the theme of a technological superpower (the Empire) being defeated, Vietnam-style, by a primitive society (the Ewoks). His original idea had been to involve the Wookiees, Chewbacca's race, but he realized that the tall "walking carpets" were acquainted with technology, so he basically cut the Wookiees down to pint size and renamed them Ewoks. (He didn't entirely toss the Wookiees' planet idea into a trash can; in 2005's Episode III: Revenge of the Sith there are some stunning battle sequences on Kashyyyk, the Wookiee planet.)
This 1998 re-issue of the Jedi screenplay contains the final revised draft by Kasdan and Lucas, and it is illustrated with storyboards. And although it's not presented in the industry-approved format, the entire script's scene descriptions and dialogue for all the characters is in its 113 pages.
For instance, this is how Emperor Palpatine's arrival aboard the new Death Star was written:
EXT. DEATH STAR
Squads of TIE fighters escort an Imperial shuttle toward the half-completed Death Star.
INT. DOCKING BAY - DEATH STAR
Thousands of Imperial troops in tight formation fill the mammoth docking bay. Vader and the Death Star commander wait at the landing platform, where the shuttle has come to rest.
The Emperor's Royal Guards come down the shuttle's ramp and create a lethal perimeter. Then, in the huge silence that follows, the Emperor appears. He is a rather small, shriveled old man. His bent frame slowly makes its way down the ramp with the aid of a gnarled cane. He wears a hooded cloak similar to that Ben wears, except it is black. The Emperor's face is shrouded and difficult to see. Commander Jerjerrod and Darth Vader are kneeling to him.
EMPEROR: (to Vader) Rise, my friend.
The Supreme Ruler of the Galaxy beckons to the Dark Lord. Vader rises and falls in next to the Emperor as he slowly makes his way along the rows of troops. Jerjerrod and the other commanders will stay kneeling until the Supreme Ruler and Vader, followed by several Imperial dignitaries, pass by; only then do they join in the procession.
VADER: The Death Star will be completed on schedule.
EMPEROR: You have done well, Lord Vader. And now I sense you wish to continue your search for young Skywalker.
VADER: Yes, my master.
EMPEROR: Patience, my friend. In time he will seek you out. And when he does, you must bring him before me. He has grown strong. Only together can we turn him to the dark side of the Force.
VADER: As you wish.
EMPEROR: Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.
He laughs to himself as they pass along the line of Imperial troops.
Little does Luke know that the GALACTIC EMPIRE has begun construction on a new armored space station even more powerful than the first dreaded Death Star.
When completed, this ultimate weapon will spell certain doom for the small band of Rebels struggling to restore freedom to the galaxy.... -- Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas, Return of the Jedi
When George Lucas set out to create a youth-oriented "modern myth" set "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" in the mid-1970s, his first script was so large that he had to break it down into three smaller 120-page screenplays. No, they weren't fully fleshed out, at least not enough to go from the written word to studio sets and special effects departments, but the basic framework for the Classic Star Wars Trilogy and even the backstory that would become the Prequel Trilogy had been laid out in that rough first draft that Lucas was forced to edit and restructure so he could go ahead and make Star Wars (which would later become known as Episode IV: A New Hope.)
With the success of 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas was able to go ahead and pull out his notes for Episode VI, which he planned to title Return of the Jedi. Howard Kazanijian, who had replaced Gary Kurtz as producer of the Star Wars films, thought it was a weak title and cajoled a reluctant Lucas to change it to Revenge of the Jedi, and most of the early drafts of the screenplay bore that title. (Lucas, of course, had the last word, and just a few weeks before the film's premiere in May of 1983, 20th Century Fox had to scrap all the publicity material for Revenge of the Jedi. The reason Lucas gives to this very day is: "A Jedi doesn't act out of revenge. That leads to the dark side.")
Because Lucas doesn't feel comfortable writing screenplays, he once again hired Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back) to help him write the script to Return of the Jedi. After all, Kasdan had grasped that Empire wasn't an ordinary sequel or a remake of the first Star Wars movie, but rather was the second act of a three-act story.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi -- The Illustrated Screenplay is the blueprint to the concluding act of the Luke Skywalker half of the Star Wars saga. As such, it has to resolve all the plot lines from the previous two films, including:
1. The rescue of Han Solo from Jabba's Palace on Tatooine
2. The revelation of Darth Vader's true identity and his relationship to Luke
3. The identity of "the other" hope for the Alliance hinted at by Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back
4. The relationship between Darth Vader and the Emperor
5. The resolution of the relationship between Han and Leia
Not only did Lucas need to tie up all those loose ends, but he also wanted to explore the theme of a technological superpower (the Empire) being defeated, Vietnam-style, by a primitive society (the Ewoks). His original idea had been to involve the Wookiees, Chewbacca's race, but he realized that the tall "walking carpets" were acquainted with technology, so he basically cut the Wookiees down to pint size and renamed them Ewoks. (He didn't entirely toss the Wookiees' planet idea into a trash can; in 2005's Episode III: Revenge of the Sith there are some stunning battle sequences on Kashyyyk, the Wookiee planet.)
This 1998 re-issue of the Jedi screenplay contains the final revised draft by Kasdan and Lucas, and it is illustrated with storyboards. And although it's not presented in the industry-approved format, the entire script's scene descriptions and dialogue for all the characters is in its 113 pages.
For instance, this is how Emperor Palpatine's arrival aboard the new Death Star was written:
EXT. DEATH STAR
Squads of TIE fighters escort an Imperial shuttle toward the half-completed Death Star.
INT. DOCKING BAY - DEATH STAR
Thousands of Imperial troops in tight formation fill the mammoth docking bay. Vader and the Death Star commander wait at the landing platform, where the shuttle has come to rest.
The Emperor's Royal Guards come down the shuttle's ramp and create a lethal perimeter. Then, in the huge silence that follows, the Emperor appears. He is a rather small, shriveled old man. His bent frame slowly makes its way down the ramp with the aid of a gnarled cane. He wears a hooded cloak similar to that Ben wears, except it is black. The Emperor's face is shrouded and difficult to see. Commander Jerjerrod and Darth Vader are kneeling to him.
EMPEROR: (to Vader) Rise, my friend.
The Supreme Ruler of the Galaxy beckons to the Dark Lord. Vader rises and falls in next to the Emperor as he slowly makes his way along the rows of troops. Jerjerrod and the other commanders will stay kneeling until the Supreme Ruler and Vader, followed by several Imperial dignitaries, pass by; only then do they join in the procession.
VADER: The Death Star will be completed on schedule.
EMPEROR: You have done well, Lord Vader. And now I sense you wish to continue your search for young Skywalker.
VADER: Yes, my master.
EMPEROR: Patience, my friend. In time he will seek you out. And when he does, you must bring him before me. He has grown strong. Only together can we turn him to the dark side of the Force.
VADER: As you wish.
EMPEROR: Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.
He laughs to himself as they pass along the line of Imperial troops.
My Take
Although Return of the Jedi is considered by many fans to be the
weakest Episode of the first trilogy, it still serves its function: to conclude
not only the Luke half of the saga, but to tie up the entire Tragedy of Darth Vader
storyline, including the still unwritten Episodes I-III. It's not without its flaws - in one
scene Leia tells Luke she has memories of their mother, but unless these are
unwitting Force visions, this is inconsistent with the fact that Padme Amidala
dies in Revenge of the Sith. And when viewed (or read) out of
context, the redemption of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader does seem a bit too
abrupt; if watched as part of a greater whole of six Episodes, this change is
logical and, indeed, inevitable.
Like its companion volume The Empire Strikes Back: The Illustrated Screenplay, this Ballantine Books/Lucas Books/Del Rey paperback includes storyboards, which are comic book-like panels drawn by production artists (such as Joe Johnston) to allow directors to see what certain scenes – particularly special effects sequences – will look like. In a book like this one, storyboards not only give readers a glimpse into the creative process involved in the making of a film such as Return of the Jedi, but also enhance the reader’s enjoyment of the screenplay itself.
Although Laurent Bouzerau's Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays is more fascinating because each screenplay is dissected and discussed in detail, this book is a good addition to any Star Wars or movie fan’s library.
Like its companion volume The Empire Strikes Back: The Illustrated Screenplay, this Ballantine Books/Lucas Books/Del Rey paperback includes storyboards, which are comic book-like panels drawn by production artists (such as Joe Johnston) to allow directors to see what certain scenes – particularly special effects sequences – will look like. In a book like this one, storyboards not only give readers a glimpse into the creative process involved in the making of a film such as Return of the Jedi, but also enhance the reader’s enjoyment of the screenplay itself.
Although Laurent Bouzerau's Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays is more fascinating because each screenplay is dissected and discussed in detail, this book is a good addition to any Star Wars or movie fan’s library.
- Series: Star Wars
- Paperback: 113 pages
- Publisher: Del Rey; 1st edition (March 24, 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345420799
- ISBN-13: 978-0345420794
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