It's in this section of the film that, in my opinion, things start to go off the rails. This has a lot to do with what I think is the mishandling of the character of Han Solo. Solo had always been one of the best things about the Star Wars franchise, but in Return Of The Jedi, the writers don't seem to know what to do with him. I suspect that this is because they didn't originally plan on having to do anything with him. Unlike the other actors involved in Star Wars, Harrison Ford had only signed a contract to do the first two films. And with his growing success and popularity as Indiana Jones, it was assumed that he would not return. This is why, at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, Solo was frozen and carted off- forever as far as anyone knew. The character was so hugely popular, though, that Howard Kazanjian, the producer, told George Lucas that they should try to get him back. Lucas was sure that Ford wouldn't do it, but Kazanjian (who had also produced Raiders Of The Lost Ark) talked him into it. So Solo had to be written into the script. Frankly, this wasn't done very well. Part- well, most- of the blame for this lies with George Lucas. Both the screenplay writer, Lawrence Kasden, and Harrison Ford wanted Han Solo to die early in the film, sacrificing himself heroically to save the others. Lucas, however, flatly refused to allow this. By all accounts, this was because the sales of Star Wars toys and other merchandise were so amazing that Lucas didn't want to risk them by having one of the most popular characters killed off. Now, I'd be the last one to fault someone in business trying to make a profit, but there are limits. A filmmaker shouldn't sacrifice good storytelling on the altar of toy sales especially when, even without any toys, the movie was guaranteed to make huge profits. Frankly, as much as I think a lot of the success of the first two films was owing to the character of Han Solo, I also think that the plot of Return Of The Jedi would have been better served by letting him be killed. Because his role in the film does more to weaken the plot than enhance it. To begin with, what's the deal with making Han a General? When has this man ever shown any talent and ability to lead others? He's more of a loner, more apt to rashly charge off on his own than formulate military strategies and lead men in them. If the rebels were really serious about this mission, surely they'd put someone with y'know, actual experience in a leadership position. They would certainly have been right to do so; look what happens while they're on the moon: Leia and Luke charge off haphazardly after some storm troopers and the whole mission comes to a halt, waiting for them to decide to come back. Then, when Leia goes missing, the entire leadership team abandons their men and mission to go look for her. Good thing they're not on a deadline or anything... oh, wait. The big problem with the middle part of Return Of The Jedi is that it destroys any sense that the Rebellion is engaged in a final, desperate struggle to defeat the Empire. Han and Chewbacca are reduced roles which are pretty much comic relief, and Luke's use of the Force is restricted to parlor tricks to intimidate the local rubes. Instead of looking like competent people determined to complete their mission, they appear to be unfocused and unprofessional, floundering about the woods and wandering off just as if there would be no consequences for this. When, in A New Hope, Han, Luke and co. mess up Leia's rescue, it's funny and understandable because they're flying by the seat of their pants and- especially Luke- are complete rookies. Then, in Return Of The Jedi, when they're on a planned mission and are supposed to be at least somewhat more experienced and trained, here they are, stumbling around just as though they haven't learned anything. This is less funny and understandable. And can someone please explain to me why, when going on a secret mission in a place which you know is densely forested and lousy with enemy troops, you would bring along a droid that has to roll on tiny wheels- obviously no one working on this film had ever tried to push a baby stroller over rough terrain- and another droid that not only can't crouch and move quickly, but is so shiny that he practically glows in the dark. Which brings me to Leia's almost criminal negligence. When she regains consciousness after her crash, you would expect Rebel Leader Leia to um, return to the team and continue the effort to get the shield down. Instead, she nips off to the Ewok village to change outfits and have her hair done. What on earth. On that topic, many find Leia's slave girl outfit controversial, but as I stated in an earlier post, it's appropriate to the situation. This is not true of Leia's dress when she decides to go native. To begin with, why do the Ewoks have this dress hanging around their village? Or, if they just sewed it for her, how long was she there? Any way you look at this, it's a huge waste of time and dereliction of duty. The existence of the Ewoks is supporting evidence that George Lucas was at this time developing the story with an eye on toy sales. I can see no other explanation for coming up with such ludicrous and improbable characters. I'll talk more about this in Part III, but for now, our heroes are on a dangerous mission and have a time limit. The lives of their fellow rebels and the liberty of millions depend on them being successful and they are being held up by a gang of pre-industrial teddy bears. Instead of kicking them out of the way and getting back to work, they humour the ankle biters, letting them tie them up and tote them through the woods on poles. All other considerations aside, this is another huge waste of time. Calculate for a minute how much time it would have taken, for example, just for the Ewoks to fashion that sedan chair they were carting C3P0 around on... apparently no one was too worried about the rebel fleet. The fact that they're willing to squander so much time kills any sense of urgency or drama in this part of the film while our heroes all behave so incompetently that it's impossible to take them seriously. Sadly, the Endor story line will continue to devolve into ridiculousness as the movie continues. Fortunately, the other plot lines are stronger and will offset to a degree the stupidity of the Ewok/ Endor story; I'll discuss all of this in Part III.
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