To stay on the topic of the films, I think Return of the Jedi was a victim of its producer's success. I'm not sure SW had really become the transcendent gig when he was making The Empire Strikes Back, although those snow scenes were sort of ridiculous.
I'd rather watch American Graffiti, to be honest with you.
For a newer example, see the Matrix movies. The first one could stand on its own, the second one pickled your brain, and the third one was like a damn cartoon.
The snow scenes were fantastic, and actually the perpetuation of the SW phenom can almost be marked from the first appearance of the walkers. There had never been anything like that in films before.
Yes, indeedy, SW had become the transcendent gig by that point. It stayed in theaters over a year and was nominated for Best Picture, not to mention surpassing Jaws to the #1 spot in US box office history. On top of that, Lucas retained all the mertchandising for the movie, and no movie of the 70's had so successfully perpetuated itself through merchandising.
BTW, the problem with Jedi was that the producer of the previous two was GONE--Gary Kurtz didn't produce it. His ideas for where Jedi should have gone were far, far better than Lucas's. Without Kurtz there to battle Lucas and wrestle ideas around, Lucas retreated to infantile junk. The idea Lucas originally had for the big lightsabre battle was for it to take place in an undergound lava-filled cave, similar to the situation in the new one, and the ghosts of the dead Jedi appear at one point, looking on without being able to help--it had a truly dramatic, apocalyptic feel to it. Also, Luke goes off to continue the battle with the remains of the empire at the end, and if I recall correctly, he and Leia are not brother and sister.
"I'd rather watch American Graffiti, to be honest with you."
Me too, but Lucas's first three movies are one of cinema's great triples. All three films have been hugely influential.
For a newer example, see the Matrix movies. The first one could stand on its own, the second one pickled your brain, and the third one was like a damn cartoon.
All three of The Matrix movies are garbage, IMHO. The brothers basically tossed all kinds of Philip K. Dick, Samuel Delany and philosophical scraps into a blender and mixed. The second one basically restates the same idea forty different ways. The third one at least had good effects. The trilogy is one of the great wastes of time in cinema.