Third Time Pays for All

ANYTHING with as much publicity and general puff power as the Star Wars saga has received is just building up to a grand letdown. Those of us who were 13 when the original Star Wars came out immediately fell in love with it, dragging parents and friends to see it for the fifth and sixth times. The special effects were then amazingly original. We plastered our walls with Star Wars posters, traded Star Wars cards, and bought the famous Star Wars theme on vinyl. When we became sophisticated 16-year-olds in time for the second installment. The Empire Strikes Back inevitably failed to match the excitement and originality of the first: the plot seemed uninspiring, the creatures the same as before, and the actors were still skittering around on the surface of their characters. Though Empire was the summer's blockbuster hit. I could only drag my parents to see it twice.

Third-round spectaculars like Return of the Jedi, which the promoters teased us with for six months before finally opening to a stunning popularity, aren't even supposed to interest us older adolescents. Glossy science-fiction movies packed with grandiose special effects, especially those featuring macho heroes saving the world from villainous villains, have pretty much outlived their appeal, and most can now be dismissed as passe. (James Bond movies come to mind.) But most people, teenagers or not, will find Return of the Jedi thoroughly entertaining, appropriate for watching over a bag of popcorn after a day at the beach. But one should be forewarned: the series has not changed the focus of its pre-teen appeal. Return of the Jedi has no binding plot, but a series of violent clashes between the good guys and the bad guys take its place. Spectacular special effects, such as the villain Jabba the Hutt and his entourage, and the tumultuous wrapping up of the Star Wars saga provide a back ground.

The relationships between characters in Return of the Jedi are sappy and unbelievable at times--but that's par for the course; the superficial portrayals keep events from slowing down. Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia and Harrison Ford as Han Solo don't make very convincing lovers, but Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker successfully reveals something resembling inner struggle between the Force and the evil his father represents. Since Star Wars. Hamill has changed Skywalker from the typical fairy-tale incarnation of goodness into a character torn by his affections for his father and his desires to save his friends, who represent the last people untouched by evil and corruption.

Like Hamill, the special effects in Jedi have progressed spectacularly. A series of chase scenes through a forest is filmed from each character's perspective separately as they fly through trees. The community of Ewoks, the furry little creatures that aid Han Solo and Leia in their battle against the Empire, are cute--indeed, adorable--but not so much as to be ridiculous. The Ewoks will make perfect gifts next Christmas for youngsters who adored Return of the Jedi. Indeed, the whole two and a half hours of running time are filled with gimmicks for eager entrepreneurs.

The movie deserves all the attention it has gotten because, miraculously, it does not insult our intelligence by making the actions too simple or the language too mundane. Critics who decry the implausibility of actions or claim the acting is horrific are missing the point. Return of the Jedi is light and exciting, the only recent movie to fill the entertainment bill set by Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's too bad, though, that the progression is still in this direction. By the time we are 22, there will be little to look forward to in the way of mental escape.