Return of the Jedi (1983)

As the target demographic for Star Wars, it was a foregone conclusion that we would see the final installment of the original trilogy (especially after such an unexpected ending to "The Empire Strikes Back").

Movie poster for "Return of the Jedi" (1983)

 

I think we saw "Return" at the original Square One Cinemas, in Mississauga.  My younger sister spent the summer in Ottawa, Illinois, and ended up seeing the movie 3 or 4 times (there wasn't much else to do in Ottawa, Illinois).

Carrie Fisher looked uncomfortable in that metal bikini - a deliberate homage to Dejah Thoris in "A Princess of Mars" and the influence of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars Series on the Star Wars universe.

While the special effects were cutting edge, I appreciate the playfulness in using a tennis shoe in the climactic battle scene in the skies above the moon of Endor, as told in "The Making of Return of the Jedi".

I thought ewoks were dumb, but understood the rationale behind them.  (We purchased the soundtrack to "Return of the Jedi" which concludes with a song in which the ewoks sound "like drunken halflings" according to a friend of mine).

With the conclusion of the original trilogy, I didn't think much about Star Wars until the prequels came out.  There's certainly a lot to like, but I was more into reading, listening to Rush, and playing Dungeons & Dragons.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

I was in Grade 8 when "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" came out.  My friend Joe saw it first, and it was all he could talk about during recess, one day.  (In fact, Joe pretty much covered the entire plot, by the time recess was over.)

Movie poster for "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982)

Unfortunately, certain elements were lost in translation, and I somehow got the idea that Elliott actually becomes an extra-terrestrial.  When I saw the film, I kept waiting for Elliott to transform, and was really confused when he didn't.

As had become our habit, my mother brought us to see the movie with my aunt and cousins.  It was standing room only - literally (we couldn't find enough seats, and so took turns standing at the back of the theatre).

One of the cooler things was the scene showing the kids playing a role-playing game.  This was supposed to be D&D in the script, but Gary Gygax refused to allow the game to be mentioned, out of concern that it might be confused with gambling.

Another neat bit of trivia is that Harrison Ford was originally featured in a cameo as the school principal, although much of that scene was eventually cut, so that only the back of Ford's head is seen.

E.T. is one of those movies that I haven't viewed again since I saw it in theater as a kid.  It's strange that I didn't even rent it for my own kids, when they were little.  Perhaps I should go back and watch it again, some day.

Clash of the Titans (1981)

I was weaned on tales of Greek mythology from a very early age.  I repeatedly borrowed D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths from the school library.  It was part of my Greek heritage, after all, and they were wonderful stories, besides.

Movie poster for "Clash of the Titans" (1981)

My mother took my siblings and me to see "Clash of the Titans" the summer it came out.  We were enchanted.  Although not as slick as "Star Wars", Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion special effects were charming.

I remember the Post Cereal promotion, with stickers featuring characters from the film.  You could even order a poster to stick them on.  I think we got the stickers for Ammon and Bubo, but never ordered the poster.

A few years ago, I rented "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" (1972), a film about the life of St. Francis of Assisi, and was pleasantly surprised to see Judi Bowker in it, the actress who played Andromeda in "Clash of the Titans".

Of course, I caught the 2010 remake, although only on itunes.  It was ok, but the original retains more appeal.  I liked the fact that we got a sequel, "Wrath of the Titans", but the planned third film was canned.

When Laurence Olivier uttered his famous line to "Release the Kraken!", I never thought I'd see the day the phrase would gain notoriety as a mantra for unhinged conspiracy theorists.  Life can be strange.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

There was a fair amount of hype surrounding the release of The Empire Strikes Back.  I was in Grade 6 at the time, and more into Marvel comics and Micronauts, but it was hard to escape the growing pop culture phenomenon that was Star Wars.

Movie poster for "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980)

I remember the buzz about Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian (I distinctly recall seeing this issue of People magazine while shopping for groceries with my mother at Miracle Mart in Westdale Mall, in Mississauga).

There were plenty of schoolyard spoilers - soon, everybody knew that Darth Vader was revealed to be Luke's father - which, like rumors of the glimpse of Vader's unhelmeted head, only served to generate publicity, not disincentives to see the movie.

My mother took my siblings and me to see the film at the Westwood Theatre in Etobicoke, where we were pleasantly surprised to see two of my cousins, on our way out of the theatre.  We were all a bit perplexed about the ending (the bad guys won?)

When I saw the re-release in 1997, while living in Montreal, the campy dialogue struck me as a little stilted (one of the more notable exceptions being Harrison Ford's improvised "I know" in response to Leia's declaration of love).

A cool thing I've learned in recent years is that an early draft of the screenplay was written by Leigh Brackett, who also wrote "The Sword of Rhiannon" (1953), a planetary romance in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars.