"People have been calling the theater for months," said Olson. Going big with "Jedi," on the other hand, was a good call. While Lucas no longer owns the rights to the film, it might be impolitic to go against his wishes and restore the original cut what's more, a proper restoration would at this point be a huge project for the studio to undertake. Lucas remains absolutely wedded to the 1997 "Special Edition," with its cringe-inducing musical number ("Jedi Rocks," a misnomer if there ever was one). What you can't see on Disney+, and likely won't be able to see in the foreseeable future, is the version of "Return of the Jedi" that hit theaters in 1983. That put an extra squeeze on Lucasfilm's licensing team to make the most of what was ostensibly the franchise's final film, and the divisive Ewoks got their own live-action TV movies as well as a Saturday morning animated series.ĭisney, which acquired the "Star Wars" franchise in 2012, has now dumped all that content onto its streaming service - perhaps, in part, to remind fans how good they have it now that high-budget series like "The Mandalorian" and "Obi-Wan Kenobi" are the norm. After a decade of solid "Star Wars," George Lucas declared the saga complete. In commercial culture, "Return of the Jedi" had a long afterlife. Having been too young to appreciate the original "Star Wars" (1977) and "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) in theatrical release, I essentially came to the franchise through "Jedi." Relatively speaking, there weren't a lot of us in that situation: I was born in the mid-1970s demographic dip as Gen X births petered out, before the boom of '80s babies who would become known as millennials. Before we even left the mall, I was recounting the scene where Han Solo thought he was cornered by an Imperial Scout Walker, only to discover it had been hijacked by his loyal copilot, Chewbacca. My mom took me to the theater along with some friends, and we were all starstruck by the sheer scope of the experience.Ī shameless crowd-pleaser, "Jedi" had something for everyone. If you were 7 years old in 1983, you may never be convinced that "Return of the Jedi" isn't cool.įorty years after "Jedi" hit theaters in Duluth (where I first saw it) and around the globe, the glow of that first viewing experience hasn't faded. In retrospect, I might have packed a couple more button-downs and left some of my "Star Wars" swag at home, but what can I say? I'm the product of my upbringing.
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