By Stephen Pytak 

     It's too bad Steven Spielberg didn't find a
way helm this thing.
     He was George Lucas' first choice to 
direct "Episode VI." And he had to bow out
because of an issue with the Directors Guild 
(Lucas was out and Spielberg was in and,
obviously, Spielberg wasn't willing to give up 
his membership to travel to that galaxy far far 
away).
     I say this because it's possible Spielberg, a
master of action cinema, could have rectified 
a few problems which resulted in the finished 
film.
     One was a lack of a consistent theme, 
especially at the climax. The scenes with Darth 
Vader, Luke and Palpatine are gloomy. The 
ones with the outer space battle, fast and 
furious. And the Endor stuff is too damn goofy. 
     I'm sure when it came time to write the
score, John Williams at times found himself
scratching his head.
     Other problems include the motivation of 
the actors, Harrison Ford in particular. At 
times, it looks like he's just hanging around 
with nothing to do. Perhaps a few script 
changes could have helped. Lando needed 
more to do as well.
     Then there's the Ewoks. But I'm not sure if
even the man who directed "Raiders of the Lost 
Ark (1981)" could have convinced Lucas to 
write them out.
     "Episode VI" isn't a great sequel to "Episode 
V,"  and it sure isn't a good wrap up to the now 
completed two trilogies.
      But "Jedi" has its moments.
     Some of the Jabba's palace scenes are O.K.
But Luke's fight with the Rancor could use a 
CG facelift. I'm surprised this didn't happen in
1997.
     The sail barge battle is pretty good for
the most part, in the 1997 Special Edition that
is. CG brought the Sarlacc Pit to life in a whole
new way. Too bad I can't say more about how
Boba Fett was dispatched. But that was a 
problem with the script.
     I will always dig the speeder bike chase. 
     It's great to see Lando piloting the Falcon 
with a new co-pilot, Nien Numb. I thought the 
new alien was pretty cool. Numb looks like 
some kind of walking Chinese fish who speaks 
gibberish which makes the wookie language
downright easy to get. His was the first action 
figure produced for the film that I purchased 
back in 1983. 
     The final duel between Luke and Vader is 
more of a dramatic affair than a spectacular, 
swashbuckling lightshow. So I felt kind of 
cheated when I was 13 back in '83. Today, it 
has more of an impact with me. But I still think 
a little more action wouldn't have hurt.
     The only thing I like about the celebration 
dance at the Ewok Village is the last shot of 
Lando digging it before the credits. No matter 
what the scene, Mr. Colt 45 is cool.
     The shot of Hayden Christensen standing
in for the Sebastian Shaw hologram in the new
DVD is not so inspiring.
     Meanwhile, the look of the film isn't all
that bad. And the costumes are good. Carrie 
Fisher's metal slave bikini wins hands down.
     Every time a new version of this flick is
released, it seems like Lucas toys with it in
some new way. So, I'm curious if there will
be any new scene changes if he decides to
do a 3-D version, as he's reportedly doing
with "Episode IV."
     I suppose, time will tell.