Word: jedi
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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...
...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...
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...
This summer could see an epidemic of illegal taping. Several potential blockbusters are being released in addition to Jedi, which last week rang up the biggest one-day box office in history ($6.2 million). Other surefire sequels: the 13th James Bond film, Superman III and Staying Alive, the follow-up to Saturday Night Fever. Says William Nix, who heads the antipiracy division of the Motion Picture Association of America: "These films have built-in demand for illegal copies. The damage could be the worst ever...
...lines of wide-eyed children at five shopping malls in Broward County, Fla., last week were not waiting for the opening of Return of the Jedi. Instead, their parents had brought them to mark a somber occasion, Missing Children Day, in sober fashion: by voluntarily getting fingerprinted. The phenomenon has swept communities throughout the nation; it has sometimes been spurred by a local tragedy, sometimes by the many articles about missing children or the recent film Without a Trace, based loosely on the disappearance in 1979 of a New York City youngster, Etan Patz. The purpose of the fingerprinting...