Luke sends R2-D2 and C-3PO to the palace of Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine, where R2 plays a recorded message presenting the two droids to Jabba as a gift. A bounty hunter soon arrives with Chewbacca in chains, and a thermal detonator in hand to bargain a higher sale price for the Wookiee. But all is not as it seems. The bounty hunter is Leia in disguise, but mere moments after releasing Han from captivity in carbonite, she is captured by Jabba. Luke soon arrives, telling Jabba in no uncertain terms that Han, Leia, and the droids will be handed over to him – or the Hutt will pay a fatal price. Jabba has Luke thrown into a pit with an enormous, ravenous creature, which Luke manages to kill. Enraged, Jabba now sentences the Jedi apprentice – along with Han and Chewie – to be fed to the sarlacc which lurks in the Dune Sea. However, with the help of Artoo and Lando – who had infiltrated Jabba’s operation as a bodyguard – Luke foils this plan as well, releasing his friends and ending Jabba’s reign over the underworld.
Returning to Dagobah to finish his Jedi training, Luke finds that Yoda is in very poor health. The dying Jedi Master tells Luke that only one task remains before the young apprentice truly becomes the last Jedi Knight – but that task is the defeat of Darth Vader. Obi-Wan appears to Luke, explaining the true fate of Anakin Skywalker and both of his children, who are strong with the Force. Luke knows he must defeat Vader – or win him back from the dark side – but doubts his ability to do so. But Vader is already busy constructing a new and more powerful Death Star, this time under the direct supervision of Emperor Palpatine. The Emperor has arranged for details of the new Death Star’s defenses to be leaked into the hands of the Rebel Alliance, hoping that they will commit their entire fleet to destroy the space station . . . which is already fully operational and well-defended, more than ready for a Rebel onslaught.
Luke joins a Rebel taskforce assigned to destroy the defense shield installation on the forest moon of Endor, which the Death Star orbits. Han almost fatally endangers the mission, but unexpected help arrives in the forms of Endor’s native life form, the Ewoks. Worrying that Vader will sense his presence and capture the entire Rebel team, Luke turns himself over to the Imperial troops as Han and Leia continue their risky gambit to lower the Death Star’s shield in time for a Rebel attack fleet to destroy the station. And aboard the Death Star, the Emperor, with Darth Vader’s help, attempts to lure a second generation of Jedi Knights named Skywalker into the dark side of the Force . . .
story by George Lucas
screenplay by Lawrence Kadsan and George Lucas
directed by Richard Marquand
music by John WilliamsCast: Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Sebastian Shaw (Anakin Skywalker), Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine), Frank Oz (Yoda), James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader), David Prowse (Darth Vader), Alec Guiness (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Michael Pennington (Moff Jerjerrod), Admiral Piett (Kenneth Colley), Michael Carter (Bib Fortuna), Denis Lawson (Wedge), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Dermot Crowley (General Madine), Caroline Blakiston (Mon Mothma), Warwick Davis (Wicket), Kenny Baker (Paploo), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett), Femi Taylor (Oola), Annie Arbogast (Sy Snootles), Claire Davenport (Fat Dancer), Jack Purvis (Teebo), Mike Edmonds (Logray), Jane Busby (Chief Chirpa), Malcolm Dixon (Ewok warrior), Mike Cottrell (Ewok warrior), Nicki Reade (Nicki), Adam Bareham (Star Destroyer controller #1), Jonathan Oliver (Star Destroyer controller #2), Pip Miller (Star Destroyer captain #1), Tom Mannion (Star Destroyer captain #2), Tony Philpott, Mike Edmonds, David Barclay (Jabba the Hutt)
LogBook entry by Earl Green