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| Williams |
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: (John Williams) The
tagline "The Saga Continues" meant only one thing in the early 1980's:
hysteria over George Lucas' franchise of
Star Wars films. By
1983's
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the phenomenon had
saturated the mainstream with a seemingly unlimited quantity of toys and
other related promotional collectibles. The movie's advance teaser
poster, featuring the production title of "Revenge of the Jedi" and
intriguingly swapping the colors of lightsabers in its depiction of the
famous duel from
The Empire Strikes Back, became a wildly hot one
sheet for poster collectors. While some of the problems that Lucas faced
with the production of
The Empire Strikes Back had been
alleviated by his departure from industry unions as a method of
maintaining more control over his movies,
Return of the Jedi
suffered as a result, its costs driven up because of that independence.
More than half of its $32 million budget was consumed by the special effects
work of Industrial Light & Magic, the screen wizards' time booked to
capacity to meet the ever-increasing demands of the saga's plotline.
Although relatively few new worlds were developed for
Return of the
Jedi, the immense scope of the battle sequences in its latter half
(aided by the invention of THX sound technology) drove the spectacle to
new heights. Much disagreement during the script's finalization about
the fate of several major characters eventually succumbed to Lucas' wish
for a purely happy ending to the trilogy. A final confrontation between
the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire in
Return of the Jedi
follows the resolution of the events of
The Empire Strikes Back,
a second Death Star again requiring the rebels to attack. This time,
with the evil Emperor on the battle station, Luke Skywalker risks his
own destruction by willingly engaging with Darth Vader and Emperor to
bring the former back from the "dark side" of the Force. Through the
subsequent re-releases of the film, Lucas stirred controversy by
tinkering repeatedly with
Return of the Jedi, eventually adding
scenes and characters from the prequel trilogy to neatly wrap up the
narrative of the six-picture saga. During its initial run, the third
film marginally passed
The Empire Strikes Back in gross profits
but failed to garner the same astonishing, record-setting success in
audiences' and critics' books as its predecessors. It is almost
universally considered the weakest of the three original
Star
Wars films, despite being very entertaining and necessarily
conclusive.
For most enthusiasts of the
Star Wars universe, the
series never got better than
The Empire Strikes Back, and the
same argument could be made about John Williams' music for the
franchise. By the time
Return of the Jedi opened in theatres in
1983, seven out of the top ten grossing films of all time featured a
Williams score, and his conducting work with the Boston Pops had
increased his mainstream visibility even further. Since impressing the
world once again with
The Empire Strikes Back, Williams had
written the classics
Raiders of the Lost Ark and
E.T. The
Extra-Terrestrial in successive years, the latter earning the
composer his fourth Academy Award. He had presented himself a
significant challenge by producing a score for the first
Star
Wars sequel that eclipsed the original classic; if the standard of
excellence for
Return of the Jedi were to have been raised any
higher, then Williams would have had no choice but to conjure the
greatest score ever written for Hollywood. Few scholars would contend
that Williams accomplished this feat, but at the very least, the maestro
maintained a level of outstanding quality for
Return of the Jedi
that many listeners still consider superior to any of the prequel scores
that followed in the 1990's and 2000's. Recording once again with the
London Symphony Orchestra and the same crew, Williams pumped out a score
even longer than
The Empire Strikes Back, with more material
eventually released on album than the total length of the film. A
lingering note of dissatisfaction about
Return of the Jedi has
always involved its restricted sound quality, which, despite
improvements industry wide by the 1980's, has always suffered from a
dull soundscape that defied those technological advances (this flaw is
especially noticeable in the cue "Into the Trap"). Nevertheless, if you
allow yourself to become enveloped in the score's four new themes, the
interpolation of the previous themes, and the usual excellent standard
of Williams' writing, then the merits of the score's ideas will easily
counter such quibbles for most listeners. When you look at the
logistical nightmare of attempting to weave more than ten major themes
together into one score, the immense length of the recording is not much
of a surprise. Some might argue, though, that
Return of the Jedi
is a more cluttered and less focused overall product than the others in
the classic trilogy. The score has the disadvantage of lacking a
singular thematic identity that was able to become the kind of
powerhouse to rival the title theme and "Imperial March," a reality made
necessary by the film's plot.
Among the new thematic ideas are Jabba the Hutt's
surprisingly jovial tuba piece (playing along the politically incorrect
lines of belching tubas representing fatness), an equally cute and
percussively creative theme for the Ewoks, an identity for Luke and
Leia's changing familial understanding, and finally a demonic
male-choral idea for the Emperor. At the time of the film's release, the
Ewok and Luke & Leia themes were the ones that you'd hear most often in
concerts. Also arranged for easy public consumption were the "Sail Barge
Assault" and "Forest Battle" cues (as well the occasional Jabba the Hutt
arrangement), but Williams' emphasis on the two aforementioned themes is
clearly defined more specifically by their appearance in the end credits
suite for
Return of the Jedi. While structurally equal to
Williams' earlier quality, neither addition was as attractive to the
mainstream as previous
Star Wars themes. The one for Luke and
Leia is similar in pleasant atmosphere and instrumentation to the
Princess and Han Solo themes from the previous films, weaving in pieces
of those ideas in auxiliary performances but understandably never
stoking the passion of either. The prancing Ewok theme is not
surprisingly the least palatable idea in the score, becoming downright
irritating for some listeners with its frenetic energy and perkiness.
Attached to it are the native-like source drum cues associated with the
little Wookie stand-ins, and these appropriately primitive contributions
resemble little of Williams' other motifs for the trilogy. The
interesting aspect of all these themes is that the other two lesser
ideas eventually proved to have the far better shelf life, both the
themes for the Emperor and Jabba the Hutt jumping immediately to the
prequel trilogy (and the former theme quite extensively). Perhaps the
best choice Williams made in regards to
Return of the Jedi was
the extensive development afforded to the major identities from the
prior films. The "Imperial March" still commands a significant presence,
expressed in massive statements involving the two Death Star arrival
scenes and reinventing itself in a whimper during Darth Vader's demise.
The infamous march for the Empire once again steals the show, most
obviously in the ambitious full statement during the Emperor's special
effects-driven landing upon the Death Star. But the varying levels of
conflict within Vader's character allowed Williams the opportunity to
experiment with softer, less bombastic representations of the theme that
would remain confined to
Return of the Jedi and in hints during
the prequels. Its final powerful statement in this trilogy is a
remarkable fragment during the height of "Into the Trap."
Also resurrected in
Return of the Jedi from the
previous scores are the ideas for "Han Solo and the Princess" (in their
long-awaited reunion at Jabba's palace and the revelation at the
conclusion of the battle of Endor), Princess Leia's theme from the
original film (dramatically as she is wounded), and Yoda's tender and
thoughtful melody (for his revelatory death scene). Most importantly,
the theme for the Force makes two extremely prominent appearances (among
others) in the film, first at the moment of contemplation about the
"dark side" when Luke defeats Vader in the final duel and secondly with
grand and somber beauty during the funeral pyre for Vader at the end
(nicely bringing the theme back full circle to the burning of Luke's
homestead in
A New Hope). A few general observations about the
overarching demeanor of the music in
Return of the Jedi and
individual moments of interest merit some attention as well. First, an
intangible detraction from Williams' work here is the lack of the
weighty drama that was heard in
The Empire Strikes Back. The
previous score's desperation, built into its constant rhythmic movement,
does not transfer to the third score, probably because the situation in
Return of the Jedi is less dire in a romantic sense. Another
general characteristic of the score is its capacity for chaos above and
beyond the others. Williams was forced to jump around significantly
within cues during the film's last 30 minutes because of the juxtaposed
battle sequences happening simultaneously in the story. This technique
was used extensively again by Lucas in
The Phantom Menace, and in
both cases the constant shifts caused the music to sound artificially
cut in places (which it really was in some places), harming the
narrative flow so vital in the first two scores of the franchise. The
final observation about
Return of the Jedi is both a positive and
negative, and it involves the fact that the score has significantly more
"singular" cues, whether it involves background source music, outright
songs, or score tracks. Unlike the contained "Cantina Band" scene in the
first film,
Return of the Jedi applies source-like songs or
primordial music in Jabba's palace and in the forest with the Ewoks. In
both cases, this material conflicts with the orchestral music
surrounding it. "Lapti Nek" and its subsequent replacement song for the
Special Edition are both curious but insufferable, and the Ewok feast
source music serves only to slow the pace of the score in and apart from
the film. In fact, the film's badly dragging Ewok feast and storytelling
sections owe some of their dull appeal to the basic thumping of
Williams' source music for them.
It is perhaps no coincidence that the two major
non-orchestral cues in
Return of the Jedi were both replaced for
the Special Edition release of the film in 1997. While Jabba's source
material actually got worse, the groovy celebration music is now less
specific to the Ewoks than the original so that it could generally cover
scenes of rowdy crowds on Bespin, Tatooine, and Coruscant. That
celebration music fits well with the similarly conceived cue at the end
of
The Phantom Menace, becoming sort of Williams' universal
method of providing party music, but the sound quality is far too rich
here for the end credits suite that follows. In fact, the abrupt edge
between them makes for an uncomfortable ending for the revised film as
of 1997. On the upside, though, are a number of singular cues of
impressive success. The ensemble bravado of the major action scenes in
A New Hope is revisited in "Sail Barge Assault," "The Fleet
Enters Hyperspace," and "The Main Reactor," each of those cues worthy of
continued appreciation on the complete album presentations. The best
hidden nugget in
Return of the Jedi is Williams' "death motif,"
heard with somber nobility in "The Death of Yoda" but developed with far
more interesting consequences in "The Dark Side Beckons." In the latter
cue, the theme is chillingly expressed by the deep adult chorus from the
Emperor's theme during the reigniting of the final duel sequence between
Luke and Vader. One has to wonder why Williams didn't utilize this theme
for Anakin's last duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi in
Revenge of the Sith
to finish off the trilogies with similar thematic bookends, especially
given how incredibly powerful its impact is on that one scene in
Return of the Jedi. Another questionable decision by Williams
along those same lines is the lack of some sort of reprise of the
"Throne Room" identity for the Rebel Alliance when it proves victorious;
in fact, it could have informed the conclusion of "The Main Reactor"
just as well as the brassy expressions of glee and relief as the last
rebel ships exit the exploding Death Star. Overall,
Return of the
Jedi is an outstanding score on its own despite the flaws that any
collector of the franchise's music will find in it. Williams' inability
to write one major overarching melodic identity for the film and his
continued fragmentation as he attempted to address so many ideas on a
limited canvas was a recipe for disappointment. The sound quality issues
linger as well, the strings often deemphasized to the point of
ineffectiveness in the mix of certain cues. But considering the
expectations, Williams did about as well as one could hope, and there
are enough brilliantly addressed sequences (especially in the reprises
of established themes) to warrant the highest rating for this final
entry in the trilogy.
Extremely tough competition in 1983 made it no surprise
when the score for
Return of the Jedi failed to capitalize on its
Oscar nomination. Its diminished stature carried over to its original
offerings on album as well. Like its predecessors, much of the same
information about the history of the soundtrack for
Return of the
Jedi on album applies once again, but with a continuing twist in the
LP release. By 1983, the future of LPs was in doubt and the technology
of the compact disc was first breaking into commercial markets. With the
viability of an LP release questionable at best, the original album was
restrained to only a single record in length. Given that
Return of
the Jedi is longer than the other two scores in the classic trilogy,
this presentation caused an immediate and crushing shortage of music
available from the film. But history was far from finished with
Return of the Jedi on album, with the eventual stream of CD
offerings proving that every time you think you've purchased the
definitive and final version of this score (and the others from
the classic trilogy), you can wait a few years and be treated to yet
another re-release in the stores. While the existence of all of the
music from the classic
Star Wars scores is taken for granted
today, the first fifteen years were quite lean for fans of the composer
and trilogy. In fact, it would take a full twenty years before the
entire finished products (with nearly every available cue released)
finally reached fans in time for the Special Editions in theatres. Much
of the information that follows in regards to each of the various
releases of the music is relevant to not only this score, but the others
in the classic trilogy as well, so you'll read very similar accounts in
the Filmtracks reviews of those scores. After their initial, separate
releases on LP records and their early CDs, the scores on subsequent
albums have always been released as a trilogy, despite fans' ability to
usually buy them separately upon each update of all three. The
Return
of the Jedi LP was copied onto the score's debut CD in 1986 at the
same time as
A New Hope (whereas
The Empire Strikes Back
had already been available on an inexplicably shortened CD for over a
year). The aforementioned muted sound quality on that LP is also a
painful hindrance on the Polydor CD, making it an extremely frustrating
45-minute experience even aside from the wealth of music missing from
the product. As they had done with both
A New Hope and
The
Empire Strikes Back, aficionados of the series once again searched
for comfort in the only other recording of music from the series:
Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic Orchestra.
The only substantial alternative source of music from
Return of the Jedi and its siblings before 1993 was the Gerhardt
re-recording of 46 minutes of the score with the NPO. For years,
Gerhardt and the NPO had recorded famous film scores from mostly the
Golden Age of Hollywood, but as a few of their final collaborations,
they recorded the three classic
Star Wars scores near the times
of their release. In fact,
Return of the Jedi turned out to be
the final entry in this magnificent series. Gerhardt's versions of
A
New Hope and
Return of the Jedi were both released in 1989 by
RCA, with superb sound quality and the excellent standard of performance
that Williams himself had claimed to be honored by. The NPO's brass
section did make some noticeable mistakes in this performance, although
it's compensated for by a rousing instrumental version of the original
Ewok celebration music. For three years, this Gerhardt CD was the only
digital source for some cues absent from the official 1986 release,
including Williams' extended concert arrangement of Jabba the Hutt's
theme (with strikingly whimsical strings) and the presentation of "Fight
in the Dungeon" as an extra bonus. Still, even with these extra tracks,
only one fifth of the total music from
Return of the Jedi was
released in some form on CD. It's no surprise, therefore, that the
ultimate
Star Wars trilogy Anthology released by 20th Century Fox
in 1993 was considered a godsend by fans. That Anthology finally offered
103 minutes of music from the film, including several vital cues from
the middle section of the story that had been completely neglected by
previous releases. While the addition of material from
Return of the
Jedi was significant, it was not as earth-shatteringly important as
the Anthology had been for
The Empire Strikes Back. That said,
the Anthology, produced by some of the biggest names in film score
production, featured additional music that was certainly welcomed with
great anticipation. There were, however, problems with the presentation
of that music, despite the best intentions of those producers. The set
placed as much music as possible from each film on an individual CD for
each but then pressed additional unreleased cues on a fourth CD that
spans all three. Thus, to hear vital cues such as the memorable "Leia is
Wounded/Luke and Vader Duel" and lengthy "Brother and Sister/Father and
Son/The Fleet Enters Hyperspace," you had to seek the fourth CD to enjoy
them separately in the era prior to the digitization of collections. Add
a large, custom-sized package (roughly DVD set size by today's
standards) and hard-to-read individual CD covers within, and you had
some ill-received protests from some fans.
Regardless of its issues, the Anthology set of 1993 is
looked upon with fondness by many
Star Wars fans today simply
because it filled a major void in collections at the time. A few years
later, however, the Anthology was rendered outdated by the massive,
highly advertised RCA "Special Edition" releases of 1997. In January of
that year,
The Phantom Menace was announced along with newly
enhanced versions of the original trilogy for a 20th anniversary
theatrical release. On album, enthusiasts were treated to double-CD
releases of each
Star Wars score in film order with alternate
cues and extensive attention to detail in the mixing and arrangement of
the contents. Including the source and alternate cues, a whopping total
of 148 minutes of music from
Return of the Jedi on the Special
Edition set made it a definitive release. Unlike the previous two
scores, though, there still remains 15 to 20 minutes of music from this
score not heard on even the most complete available albums. Most of that
music is not vital or was previously released, and a list of that
material can be found at the bottom of this page. Extensive notes and
pictorials graced both the 1993 and 1997 releases, the glittery CDs of
the latter a nice touch. Later in 1997, these albums were re-packaged by
RCA in slimline alternatives adorned with the Special Edition poster
art, but these fell out of print about five years later. In 2004, the
Sony Classical label, which had been releasing the prequel scores,
acquired the rights to the classic trilogy's music and reissued the 1997
releases with new artwork. These 2004 albums offer Sony's Direct Stream
Digital remastering, and while this technique does provide some minimal
extra clarity on high-end stereo systems, casual listeners will notice
no significant differences. Those who owned the Special Edition albums
and didn't require slightly improved sound had no reason to seek the
2004 ones. The same presentation was re-pressed in 2016 by Sony as the
"Ultimate Soundtrack Collection." More basic re-issues dribbled out
with Sony's various 2007 releases (the "Corellian Edition" compilation
and "30th Anniversary Collector's Edition"), both of which
redundant, unnecessary, and irritatingly packaged. Upon
Disney's ownership of the franchise's rights, its label nonsensically
remastered only the original 1986 album presentation in 2018. Overall,
owning
Return of the Jedi is perhaps not as necessary in a very
casual soundtrack collection when contrasted it against the others in
the classic trilogy. Still, for any significant film music enthusiast,
it is a must-have score, and with its outstanding packaging and mostly
complete presentation, the 1997 Special Edition album (the original full
version bound in black booklets) continues to be the best
Return of
the Jedi product available. It's definitely not a trap.
@Amazon.com: CD or
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- Music as Written for the Film: *****
- Music as Heard on the 1986 Polydor Album: *
- Music as Heard on the 1989 RCA Gerhardt Album: ****
- Music as Heard on the 1993 Fox Anthology: ****
- Music as Heard on the 1997 RCA Special Edition: *****
- Music as Heard on the 2004/2016 Sony Classical Albums: ****
- Music as Heard on the 2007 Sony and 2018 Disney Albums: **
- Overall: *****
| Bias Check: |
For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.68
(in 91 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.54
(in 363,716 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
