David Lynch and David Cronenberg were considered to direct the project before Marquand signed on as director. The production team relied on Lucas' 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 a few weeks earlier to allow Industrial Light & Magic to work on the film's effects in post-production. Filming took place in England, California, and Arizona from January to March 1982, with Lucas handling second unit work. Heavy secrecy surrounded production and the film was given the title Blue Harvest to prevent price gouging.
The film was released in theaters on May 25, 1983, receiving mostly positive reviews. The film grossed over $475 million worldwide. Several home video and theatrical releases and revisions to the film followed over the next 20 years. Star Wars continued with Episode I: The Phantom Menace as part of the film series' prequel trilogy. A sequel, Star Wars Episode VII, was announced on October 30, 2012 and is planned for a 2015 release.
Plot
Luke Skywalker initiates a plan to rescue Han Solo from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt with the help of Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2. Leia infiltrates Jabba's palace on Tatooine disguised as a bounty hunter and releases Han from a block of carbonite, but she is captured and enslaved. Luke arrives soon afterward and allows himself to be captured. After Luke survives a battle with the Rancor, Jabba sentences Luke and Han to be executed by the Sarlacc. Luke breaks free and a large battle erupts, during which Leia strangles Jabba to death, Han knocks Boba Fett into the gaping maw of the Sarlacc and Luke destroys Jabba's sail barge. While Han and Leia meet with the other Rebels, Luke returns to Dagobah, only to find that Yoda is dying. With his last breaths, Yoda confirms that Darth Vader is Luke's father; he also mentions "another Skywalker". The spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi reveals that the "other Skywalker" Yoda spoke of is Luke's twin sister, who Luke discovers is Leia. Obi-Wan then tells Luke that he must confront Vader again to defeat the Empire.
The Rebel Alliance learns that the Empire has been constructing a new Death Star, and hatches a plan to destroy it. Han leads a strike team to destroy the battle station's shield generator on the forest moon of Endor, allowing a squadron of starfighters to enter the incomplete superstructure and destroy the station from within. The strike team, with Luke in tow, travels to Endor in an Imperial shuttle; Vader senses Luke's presence on the shuttle, but lets them through so that they will be ambushed by the Imperial forces lying in wait on Endor. Sensing Vader's presence, Luke fears he is endangering the mission.
On Endor, Luke and his companions encounter a tribe of Ewoks and form a partnership with them. Later, Luke confesses to Leia that she is his sister, that Vader is their father and that he is leaving to confront him. Luke surrenders to Imperial troops, so that they will bring him to Vader. He unsuccessfully tries to convince Vader to turn from the dark side of the Force, but Vader takes Luke to the Death Star to meet Emperor Palpatine, his Sith master and leader of the Empire.
Luke learns that the Death Star is fully operational and set to destroy the Rebellion. On Endor, the Rebels are captured by Imperial forces, but a surprise counterattack by the Ewoks allows the Rebels to launch an attack. Meanwhile, Lando leads the Rebel fleet in the Millennium Falcon to the Death Star, only to find the station's shield is still up and the Imperial fleet waiting for them. Palpatine tempts Luke to give in to his anger and join the dark side, and Luke and Vader engage in a lightsaber duel. Vader discovers that Luke has a sister, and threatens to turn her to the dark side. Luke snaps and attacks Vader, severing his father's right hand. Palpatine entreats Luke to kill Vader and take his place; Luke steps back from the brink and refuses, declaring himself a Jedi. Palpatine attacks him with Force lightning. Unable to watch his son suffer, Vader turns on Palpatine and throws him down a reactor shaft to his death, dooming himself to die in the process. With his dying breaths, the redeemed Anakin Skywalker asks Luke to remove his mask so he can look on his son, just for once, with his own eyes instead of through the mask, and tell Leia that there was good in him after all.
On Endor, the strike team, with the help of the Ewoks, defeats the Imperial forces and destroys the shield generator, allowing the Rebel fleet to launch a final assault on the Death Star. Lando leads the remaining ships into the station's core and destroys the main reactor. Luke escapes on Palpatine's Imperial shuttle with his father's body before the Death Star explodes, while Lando escapes in the Falcon. On Endor, Han tells Leia that he knows she loves Luke and offers to step aside; she tells him that Luke is her brother and kisses him. That evening, Luke returns to Endor and cremates his father's armor on a funeral pyre. As the Rebels celebrate the end of the Empire, Luke sees the spirits of Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin Skywalker watching over them.
Cast
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker: In the year since his encounter with Darth Vader in Cloud City, Luke has nearly completed his Jedi training.
Harrison Ford as Han Solo: Frozen in carbonite by Darth Vader in Cloud City, and taken to Jabba the Hutt, Han is freed by Princess Leia, only to be sentenced to death by Jabba the Hutt. He escapes with the group after Luke arrives at Jabba's palace.
Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa: A princess from Alderaan, Leia has been aiding Luke in his search for Han. It is later revealed that she is actually Luke's twin sister.
Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian: After Cloud City was taken over by the Empire, Lando joined the Rebel Alliance, and aided Luke in his search for Han Solo. He would later use the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo's ship, to lead an attack on the Death Star.
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: Luke Skywalker's protocol droid for human-cyborg relations, 3PO is instrumental in establishing friendly relations between the Rebels and the Ewoks on Endor, who mistakenly believe him to be a god.
Kenny Baker as R2-D2: Luke Skywalker's astromech droid.
Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca: Han Solo's Wookiee co-pilot and best friend, introduced in A New Hope.
David Prowse as Darth Vader: Vader has been relentlessly continuing his search for Luke, but he is set off course when the Emperor sends him to Endor to oversee the construction of the new Death Star and to prepare for the Rebel strike. James Earl Jones provided the voice of Vader.
Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine: Simply known as "The Emperor", Palpatine is the supreme ruler of the Galactic Empire and a Dark Lord of the Sith. He now plans to destroy the Alliance with the new Death Star and turn Luke Skywalker to the dark side of the Force.
Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi: Struck down by Vader in A New Hope, Obi-Wan continues to offer guidance to Luke as a Jedi spirit and told Luke the truth about Leia being his sister.
Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker: Luke's father, Anakin, was a Jedi Knight before being seduced by the dark side of the Force and becoming Darth Vader. Shaw was partly replaced by Hayden Christensen in the 2004 DVD release of the film.
Frank Oz performing Yoda. After living for 900 years, Yoda finally prepares to become one with the Force and told Luke that Vader is truly his father.
Denis Lawson as Wedge Antilles: Wedge is now the leader of Rogue Squadron, and he prepares to aid (now General) Lando Calrissian in the fighter attack on the Death Star.
Kenneth Colley as Admiral Piett: Piett, one of the few officers under Vader's command to survive his wrath, commands the Imperial Fleet at Endor from the Executor.
Warwick Davis as Wicket: An Ewok who leads Leia and eventually her friends to the Ewok tribe. Kenny Baker was originally cast as Wicket, but was replaced by 11-year-old Warwick Davis after falling ill with food poisoning on the morning of the shoot. Davis had no previous acting experience and was cast only after his grandmother had discovered an open call for dwarfs for the new Star Wars film.[4]
Jeremy Bulloch as Boba Fett: A bounty hunter who, after capturing and delivering Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt, stays on at the crime lord's palace and engages in the battle above the Sarlacc.
Caroline Blakiston as Mon Mothma: Mon Mothma is a co-founder of the Rebel Alliance and also serves as its leader. She explains the mission of destroying the Death Star to the Alliance.
