PLOT

A year after Han Solo's capture, C-3PO and R2-D2 are sent to crime lord Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine in a trade bargain made by Luke Skywalker to rescue Han. Disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, Princess Leia infiltrates the palace under the pretense of collecting the bounty on Chewbacca and unfreezes Han, but is caught and enslaved. Luke soon arrives to bargain for his friends' release, but Jabba drops him through a trapdoor to be eaten by a rancor. After Luke kills it, Jabba sentences him, Han, and Chewbacca to death by being fed to the Sarlacc, a huge, carnivorous plant-like desert beast. Having hidden his new lightsaber inside R2-D2, Luke frees himself and his friends, and they battle Jabba's men. During the chaos, Boba Fett falls into the Sarlacc after Han inadvertently damages his jetpack, and Leia strangles Jabba to death with her chains. The group then destroy Jabba's sail barge and escape before it explodes.

As the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training with Yoda, whom he discovers is dying. Yoda confirms that Darth Vader, once known as Anakin Skywalker, is Luke's father, before dying and becoming one with the Force. Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force ghost then reveals that Leia is Luke's twin sister, and tells him that he must face Vader again to finish his training and defeat the Empire.

The Alliance learns that the Empire has been constructing a second Death Star under the supervision of the Emperor himself. As the station is protected by an energy shield, Han leads a strike team which includes Luke, Leia and Chewbacca to destroy the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor; doing so will allow the Rebel Fleet to destroy the Death Star. The team uses a stolen Imperial shuttle to arrive undetected, and encounters a tribe of Ewoks, gaining their trust after an initial conflict. Later, Luke tells Leia that she is his sister, Vader is their father, and that he must confront him. Surrendering to Imperial troops, he is brought before Vader, and fails to convince his father to reject the dark side of the Force.

Vader takes Luke to meet the Emperor, who intends to turn him to the dark side, and reveals that his friends and the Rebel Fleet are headed into a trap. On Endor, Han's team is captured by Imperial forces, but a counterattack by the Ewoks allows the Rebels to infiltrate the shield generator. Meanwhile, Lando Calrissian in the Millennium Falcon and Admiral Ackbar lead the rebel assault on the second Death Star, only to find its shield still active, and the Imperial fleet waiting for them.

The Emperor reveals to Luke that the Death Star is fully operational and orders the firing of its massive superlaser, destroying a Rebel starship. He then tempts Luke to give in to his anger. Luke attempts to attack him, but Vader intervenes and the two engage in a lightsaber duel. Vader senses that Luke has a sister and threatens to turn her to the dark side. Enraged, Luke defeats Vader, severing his prosthetic hand. The Emperor entreats Luke to kill Vader and take his place, but Luke refuses, declaring himself a Jedi like his father before him. Furious, the Emperor tortures Luke with Force lightning. Unwilling to let his son die, Vader betrays the Emperor and throws him down a reactor shaft to his death, but is mortally electrocuted in the process. At his father's last request, Luke removes Vader's mask, and the redeemed Anakin Skywalker dies in his son's arms.

After the strike team destroys the shield generator, Lando leads a group of Rebel fighters into the Death Star's core. While the Rebel fleet destroys the Super Star Destroyer Executor, Lando and X-wing fighter pilot Wedge Antilles destroy the Death Star's main reactor, escaping from the station's infrastructure before it explodes. Luke also escapes in a shuttle with his father's body. On Endor, Leia reveals to Han that Luke is her brother, and they kiss. Luke later cremates his father's body on a pyre before reuniting with his friends. As the Rebels and the galaxy celebrate the Empire's defeat, Luke sees the spirits of Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin watching over him.

CAST

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, one of the last living Jedi Knights, trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda; Leia's twin brother, Han's friend and Darth Vader's son who is also a skilled X-wing fighter pilot in the Rebellion.

Harrison Ford as Han Solo, a rogue smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon who has become a General in the Rebellion; Luke's friend, and Leia's love interest.

Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa, the former princess of the destroyed planet Alderaan, who is a leader of the Rebellion, Luke's twin sister, and Han's love interest.

Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, the former Administrator of Cloud City who has become a General in the Rebellion; Han's old friend and the previous owner of the Millennium Falcon.

Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, a humanoid protocol droid in the service of the Rebellion and longtime companion of R2-D2.

Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, a Wookiee smuggler who is Han's longtime friend, co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon, and part of the Rebellion.

Kenny Baker as R2-D2, an astromech droid in the service of the Rebellion, friend of Luke, and longtime companion of C-3PO and Paploo, an Ewok who distracts Scout troopers by hijacking a speeder bike.

Ian McDiarmid as The Emperor, the founder and supreme ruler of the Galactic Empire, and Darth Vader's Sith master.

Frank Oz as Yoda, a wise, centuries-old Jedi Master of an unknown alien species, who lives in exile on Dagobah and trained Luke.

David Prowse as Darth Vader, a powerful Sith Lord, the Emperor's apprentice, and second-in-command of the Empire; Luke and Leia's father.

James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader.

Sebastian Shaw portrays the unmasked Anakin Skywalker, as well as the character's Force ghost, seen at the end of the film.[7]

Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi, the deceased Jedi mentor of Luke, and of his father before him, who continues to guide Luke in his journey as a Force ghost.

Denis Lawson reprises his role as Wedge Antilles, a X-wing pilot in the Rebellion, from the previous two films. Kenneth Colley and Jeremy Bulloch reprise their roles from The Empire Strikes Back as Admiral Piett, the commander of Darth Vader's flagship, Executor, and bounty hunter Boba Fett, respectively. Michael Pennington portrays Moff Jerjerrod, the commander of the second Death Star. Warwick Davis appears as Wicket W. Warrick, an Ewok who befriends Leia and leads her and her friends to the Ewok tribe. Baker was originally cast as Wicket, but was replaced by Davis after falling ill with food poisoning on the morning of the shoot. Davis had no previous acting experience and was cast only after his grandmother had discovered an open call for dwarfs for the new Star Wars film.[8] Caroline Blakiston portrays Mon Mothma, a co-founder and leader of the Rebel Alliance. Michael Carter plays Jabba the Hutt's aide, Bib Fortuna (voiced by Erik Bauersfeld), while Femi Taylor and Claire Davenport appear as Jabba's original slave dancers.

To portray the numerous alien species featured in the film a multitude of puppeteers, voice actors, and stunt performers were employed. Admiral Ackbar, the commander of the Rebel Fleet during the Battle of Endor, was performed by puppeteer Tim Rose, with his voice provided by Erik Bauersfeld. Nien Nunb, who co-pilots the Millennium Falcon alongside Lando in the film, was portrayed by Richard Bonehill in costume for full body shots, while he was otherwise a puppet operated by Mike Quinn and his voice was provided by Kipsang Rotich. Rose also operated Salacious B. Crumb, whose voice was provided by Mark Dodson. Quinn also played Ree-Yees and Wol Cabbashite. Sy Snootles was a marionette operated by Rose and Quinn, while her voice was provided by Annie Arbogast. Others included Simon J. Williamson as Max Rebo, a Gamorrean Guard and a Mon Calamari; Deep Roy as Droopy McCool; Ailsa Berk as Amanaman; Paul Springer as Ree-Yees, Gamorrean Guard and a Mon Calamari; Hugh Spight as a Gamorrean Guard, Elom and a Mon Calamari; Swee Lim as Attark the Hoover; Richard Robinson as a Yuzzum; Gerald Home as Tessek and a Mon Calamari officer; Phil Herbert as Hermi Odle; Tik and Tok (Tim Dry and Sean Crawford) as Whiphid and Yak-Face; Phil Tippett as the Rancor with Michael McCormick; and Pat Welsh as the voice of Boushh.

Jabba the Hutt was operated by Toby Philpott, David Barclay and Mike Edmonds (who also portrays the Ewok Logray) operated the tail. Larry Ward portrays the Huttese language voice with Quinn, among other roles, controlling the eyes.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

the third installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, the third film to be produced, and the sixth film in the "Star Wars saga".