On Wednesday, May 25th, 1983, the third and final chapter of the Star Wars Trilogy, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, was released in theatres (exactly six years to the day of the release of the original Star Wars)! Today marks the 30th anniversary of the release of that epic conclusion and to celebrate, CHERNOBOG'S BLOG would like to take this opportunity to share some of it's thoughts and even some trivia on one of my favorite movies of all time!
After Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) rescue Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from Jabba the Hutt, the Rebel Alliance plans to destroy the second Death Star, currently under construction and overseen by The Emperor himself! With the death of Jedi Master Yoda, Luke must complete his training and confront his father, Darth Vader, thus becoming a true Jedi Knight!
After the phenomenal success of Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, creator/producer George Lucas had to face some hard decisions with completing his saga. Since relinquishing his directorial duties to Irvin Kershner for Episode V and choosing not to bow down to Hollywood/20th Century Fox politics such as choosing to leave the Directors' Guild and Writers' Guild after having to pay fines for his independent, creative choices. Not to mention the fact that Lucas had put up the money for the production himself yet again. For the third installment of the Star Wars saga, Lucas originally wanted his friend and co-creator of Indiana Jones Steven Spielerg to direct, but eventually settled for relatively unknown Welsh director Richard Marquand.
By the end of Episode V, the popular character of Han Solo had been frozen in 'carbonite' and taken away to Jabba the Hutt by Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch). Harrison Ford, who had become equally popular as the character of Indiana Jones, did not originally want to return, but Lucas insisted.
While the third movie was originally titled Revenge of the Jedi, Lucas made a last minute decision to change it to Return of the Jedi just weeks before it's release. During the production of the film, it was given the alternate title of "Blue Harvest" to prevent any story leaks. Return of the Jedi was a major breakthrough in both film production and special effects. The movie introduced some new major characters that would become vital to the saga including Jabba the Hutt (also a technological difficulty and triumph, before re-introducing him in the Special Edition of Episode IV) and the first full appearance of The Emperor (a.k.a. Palpatine, Ian McDiarmid) who had previously appeared as a hologram in Episode V originally played by Clive Revill, pre-Special Edition). One of the most popular new characters introduced in Episode VI was Wicket, the Ewok (Warwick Davis), who was the most prominently featured Ewok in the film. Other new elements included in Episode VI were Luke's new green lightsaber and Leia's slave outfit (which has become one of the most popular cosplay choices for girl Star Wars fans at conventions). While Episode VI was the most technologically sophisticated and had the highest budget of any of the Star Wars Trilogy, there has always been a huge schism with fans whether Episode V and VI is the best.
"Revenge of the Jedi" Poster
I consider myself a second generation Star Wars fan, as I was not born in time to see the original Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (a.k.a. Star Wars, 1977) film, but I was however, able to see Return of the Jedi in theatres and it has since always been and always will be, my favorite Star Wars movie! Although I was a considerably young Star Wars fan at the time, I had the privilege of seeing the other Star Wars movies on VHS, which at that time the home video craze was still a growing market. I also already owned many of the toys and action figures, which remain highly collectible today. Even today, I am still the proud owner of many of them, although having sold a considerable amount of my collection in recent years. Seeing Return of the Jedi is one of my clearest and fondest early memories, although I can distinctly remember not seeing it until later in the year. At that time, movies were kept in theaters longer and when I and my family did eventually see the movie, it was already in the Fall and we saw it at one of the few remaining Drive-In theatres near Ft. Worth, Texas. I can remember it being very cold and the speaker near the car window was not the best quality but the screen was huge (or so it seemed at the time) and I enjoyed every minute of it! While Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) has always been my favorite character, most likely due to my very young age I was very fond of the Ewoks, particularly Wicket, both actors I have had the pleasure to meet and get autographs. I still find that Luke's black costume and green lightsaber has always been my favorite image of him. I remained a lifelong Star Wars fan and can remember dressing up several times as Star Wars characters for Halloween over the years, especially with my Mom-made Jedi cape and partially store-bought Ewok costume when I was a child.
1997 Special Edition Poster
1997 was a big year in my life, mostly because that was the year I graduated high school, but also because that Summer was the release of the Star Wars "Special Editions"! Other than Episode VI, this was the first time I was able to see Episode IV and V in the theater. Despite all the changes, this was one of the happiest times in a theater I can remember since the Summer of 1989 (Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters II). As for the release of the "Special Edition" version of Return of the Jedi, I feel it had some of the best and worst changes of those "revisions". While many of the changes made in Episode IV, like "Greedo shooting first!" and "Jenny Craig-Jabba" are preposterous, some of the more updated technological additions were acceptable (1995 THX remasters). As for those changes made in Return of the Jedi, there are a few which I feel, while they only alter some of the less important scenes in the movie, the changes to the ending particularly are the most controversial. The changing of Jabba's band is so over-the-top ridiculous that I will barely mention it, however giving the Sarlacc Pitt a beak in place of his open-toothy, maw is even more idiotic. With the added scenes at the end, I found the addition of showing the celebrations seen all over the galaxy at the "Fall of the Empire" was impressive however in removing the Ghost of Anakin Skywalker, originally played by Sebastian Shaw and replacing him with Hayden Christensen (who played Anakin in Episode II and III) was an outrage!
No matter if you think Episode VI is better than V, or if you think the original is the best, Return of the Jedi still remains my personal favorite since I was a kid for several reasons. Ultimately, it was the final chapter in the trilogy, successfully ending the saga and completing the epic hero's journey of Luke Skywalker. Even though this year marks the 30th Anniversary of Return of the Jedi, the Star Wars Saga is far from over. As many of you know last year, the Walt Disney Corporation acquired Lucasfilm and it was announced that J.J. Abrams is to direct Episode VII set to be released in 2015.
Even after 36 years, the Star Wars Saga is still alive and well today! I hope you are just as excited as I am and can't wait to see what's going to happen next. "May the Force be with you!"
In 2009, Paramount released G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra following the popularity of the 80's Hasbro toy based movies like Transformers (2007). Directed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Van Helsing), the first G.I. Joe live-action movie was not very successful (barely making $150 million) and was panned by critics for its camp and cheesiness, although it remains simply a fun action movie, it was not taken very seriously. Whether it was a combination of directing, writing or casting (especially Marlon Wayans as Ripcord?!), The Rise of Cobra did not "wow" fans as it had hoped. Despite it's shortcomings, it left several open plot-points to be addressed in the sequel, which many doubted would even be made. With the release of G.I. JOE: Retaliation (2013), almost the entire cast has been replaced except for a few vital characters and fan-favorites. At the end of The Rise of Cobra, both Cobra Commander (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Destro (Christopher Eccleston) (both actors whom do NOT return for the sequel) were captured and imprisoned as their plan to launch nanomite missiles at major cities was thwarted by G.I. JOE, however Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) had successfully taken the place of The President of the U.S.A. (Jonathan Pryce)!
Now in command of G.I. JOE, Duke (Channing Tatum), leads his team on a mission in North Korea only to be ambushed afterwards by agents of Cobra. The only survivors are Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Flint (D.J. Cotrona) and Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki). With the G.I. JOE team presumed dead, The President/Zartan condemns the G.I. JOE team allowing Cobra to take over and begin their plan to launch satellite weapons called ProjectZeus into orbit which will target every major city in the world! While Snake-Eyes (Ray Park) is away to train new recruit Jinx (Elodie Yung), Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) and Firefly (Ray Stevenson) break Cobra Commander (now played by Luke Bracey) out of his heavily guarded and sophisticated, underground prison, leaving Destro literally "out of the band". While the Joes find a way to reveal The President for who he really is, they enlist the help of retired General Joe Colton (Bruce Willis) to stop Cobra from taking over! Jon M. Chu, director of such teen-oriented/music/dance movies such as Step Up 3D (2010) and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011) seemed an unlikely choice to direct a special-effects driven action movie, but after seeing it, I was thoroughly impressed. Gone are the hokey, low-budget looks of The Rise of Cobra as well as the Sci-Fi-like costumes and weapons, in favor of a more Modern Warfare style with the G.I. JOEs wearing basic military camouflage instead of the black-tight, armor of the first movie (with the exception of Snake-Eyes). As for the plot, every element in the movie is very much like the original G.I. JOE cartoons we all know and love, right down to the ultimate weapon of mass destruction and Cobra's desire to rule the world. As for the characters, really, the only ones who return from the first movie to make a significant impact in the movie is Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow, whose life-long feud hearkens back to the original comic books and their origins in the first movie. As for the other main JOEs like Duke, played by Channing Tatum, who has a very "brief" appearance in the movie, Roadblock, played by former wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is the most prominently featured character in the movie and could almost hold the whole film by himself. As for Snake-Eyes' (played by the versatile stunt-actor Ray Park, who also played Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I) part, while exciting (and with ninjas!), seems more like a side-story compared to the rest of the plot. The famous couple of Flint and Lady Jaye is featured, although Flint is somewhat bland, forgettable and is in no way like his character, he doesn't even wear his signature green beret! Lady Jaye however makes for an interesting character and is given an emotional backstory, unlike Scarlett (Rachel Nichols), who came across as very cold and stiff in the first movie. The addition of Joe Colton, played by Bruce Willis is somewhat ancillary as his function is to fill the void left by General Hawk (Dennis Quaid, who also does not return) from the last movie. Like most aging action-stars, Willis does make a few "old" jokes like in The Expendables 2, but it is not as overdone.
The villains in Retaliation are much more like their cartoon/toy counterparts. Although we see nothing of Destro, who was a major part of the first movie, he is rumored to come back in the third movie. In the new movie, Cobra Commander appears in a few scenes complete with uniform and his trademark silver face-mask, along with his new, deep, Darth Vader-esque voice, he is a very imposing figure. The Cobra symbol, which was almost non-existent in the first movie, is boldly displayed in the movie, although sadly they refrain from using their famous "COBRA!" battle-cry. Firefly, played by Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone (2008), makes for an interesting villain as the fan-favorite Cobra saboteur, who even uses tiny, robotic, fireflies! As Cobra takes over the government, proudly raising their flags over the capitol, you can't help but consider the subject of The White House being taken over by terrorists which is starting to become a popular trend with upcoming films like Olympus Has Fallen starring Gerard Butler and White House Down (coincidentally also starring Channing Tatum) which seems to suggest a possible political agenda.
Originally, G.I. JOE: Retaliation was set to be released back in June 2012, but due to the recent popularity of 3D movies, it was pushed back to March 2013 so that it could be converted to 3D. The 3D effect, however provides very little improvement as suspected. February and March have always been a "dead time" for movie box offices, with movies like Oz the Great and Powerful pushing for $200 million, Summer blockbusters like The Avengers, which made over $600 million over the Summer. The G.I. JOE movie franchise has surprisingly improved in quality but has yet to surpass the opening weekend numbers of the first movie of $50 million, only bringing in $40.5 million so far.
Despite the huge fan-following and heavy Internet promotion with YouTube and Cobra Special Forces.com, G.I. JOE: Retaliation, I fear, will be just another mediocre action movie franchise. Most of its appeal relies mostly on the nostalgia factor and for those like me, who were kids during the 1980's. Now as adults, we can enjoy the Transformers and G.I. JOE movies without taking it too seriously, yet for those of us who still love and cherish those childhood memories, we can take these movies as homages to those toys and characters we spent countless hours playing with in our own little imaginations. While the first movie almost seemed like a parody of G.I. JOE, this new movie seems to try and take those characters and put them respectfully in a more of real-world setting and the film presents us with more believable characters and scenarios. If you were a JOE fan like me, than you just might feel the need to stand up in the theater and shout "YO JOE!"
I was a child of the 1980's, and while there were many popular cartoons and action figure properties like Transformers, He-Man and Thundercats, there was one that I was particularly obsessed with and that was G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. By the time I was seven years old I had just about every G.I. Joe action figure and vehicle (I even had the aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Flagg!), not to mention an avid collector of the Marvel comic books! With the release of the popular Hasbro action figures and the Marvel comic book, Sunbow and Marvel Productions developed a 95-episode series (1983-1986), to follow the success of the toy line. When the show premiered in 1983, it began with the 5-episode mini-series in which Cobra developed the M.A.S.S. device to steal a satellite. With the second mini-series in 1984: "The Revenge of Cobra", Cobra creates the Weather Dominator and wreaks havoc on the world. With the success of the two mini-series, they began production with the first season of G.I. Joe with 55 episodes. They began the second season in 1985 with the 5-part "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!" which introduced the Cobra Emperor: Serpentor. As the series was coming to a close, in 1987 they produced G.I. Joe: The Movie which was a direct to video release which was syndicated later on TV hosted by non-other than Sgt. Slaughter himself! While DIC Entertainment tried to bring the cartoon back in 1989, it lasted only 2 short seasons until 1991. In celebration of the March 28th release of the film G.I. Joe Retaliation next week and as this year also marks the 30th Anniversary of the premiere of the animated series, CHERNOBOG'S BLOG proudly presents: Top 10 Best G.I. Joe Episodes, "Yo Joe!"
#10 "Cold Slither" (Ep.#151) - Destro and Cobra Commander gets Zartan and the Dreadnoks to form a rock n' roll band called "Cold Slither" to perform music with subliminal messages in an attempt to take control of the minds of the masses. But G.I. Joe puts a stop to Cobra's plan by forming their own band called "The Average Joe Band" to counteract Cobra's message!
#9 "Lights! Camera! Cobra!" (Ep.#119) - Cobra infiltrates a Hollywood studio where they are filming "The G.I. Joe Story"!
#8 "Memories of Mara" (Ep.#145) - G.I. Joe finds a nuclear submarine called the Nerka, and rescue a crew being held captive by Cobra. Also Shipwreck falls in love with Mara, a woman with blue skin who has been genetically modified by Cobra to be the first of many "aquatic commandos".
#7 "Cobra's Creatures" (Ep.#111) - Cobra uses a special weapon called "Hi-Freq", a mind control device to take over the minds of all animals in the world, including Mutt's dog Junkyard!
#6 "The Traitor" (Ep.#s 146-147) - G.I. Joe designs a new armor treatment that's impenetrable to laser fire and missiles. Dusty is accused of being a traitor and selling secrets to Cobra!
#5 "Nightmare Assault" (EP.#224) - Doctor Mindbender invents a machine that turns the Joes' dreams into nightmares, but Lowlight is the only person who can help them overcome their fears.
#4 "The Viper is Coming" (Ep.#129) - Barbecue keeps getting phone calls from a man who calls himself "The Viper", which sends the Joes on a wild goose chase to find this mysterious man.
#3 "Sink the Montana!" (Ep.#208) - At the decommissioning ceremony for a battleship the U.S.S. Montana. Cobra recruits retiring Admiral Lattimer, former Captain of the Montana and betrays the Joes!
#2 "There's No Place Like Springfield" (Ep.#s154-155) - Shipwreck passes out trying to escape after a Cobra assault and wakes up six years later in a place called Springfield, with Mara as his wife and a daughter named Alfea but soon discovers they are synthoid copies made by Cobra!
#1 "Worlds Without End" (Ep#s 136-137) - Cobra steals a matter transformer which sends the Joes into an alternate reality where Cobra rules the world!
The 1990's were a turbulent time; both socially, politically and culturally. It was the time of Operation Desert Storm, grunge music, and the Internet! It was also one of the most important decades of my life! I was a teenager during the 1990's and what better way to distract me from all the craziness then with some of the best KICK ASS CARTOONS!!! I hope you had as much fun watching them as I did! I spent many an hour glued to the TV lost in animated bliss...(maybe that's what's wrong with me?) Lol! CHERNOBOG'S BLOG presents the TOP 10 90'S CARTOONS! Enjoy...
#10 Beavis and Butt-head (1993-1997) Created, voiced, co-written and directed by Mike Judge (also "King of the Hill"), these two teenage losers first appeared on their couch on late night MTV and started a huge phenomenon as teenagers (despite their Parent's outrage) watched these two skip school, attempt crazy pre-"Jackass" stunts and watch music videos... they even got their own movie Beavis and Butt-head Do America in 1996. Later, one of their supporting characters, Daria Morgendorffer, spun-off in her own series: Daria (1997-2002).
#9 The Ren and Stimpy Show (1991-1996) This popular Nickelodeon cartoon featured the insane duo of Ren Höek, a psychotic chihuahua and Stimpson J. Cat, a dimwitted cat, in one of the most offensive and disgusting shows of all time... and that's why we loved it! "You eeee-diot!"
#8 ReBoot (1994-2001) Original and groundbreaking, "ReBoot" was produced by a Canadian/Vancouver based production company and was the very first completely computer-generated animated series. The series featured Bob, a guardian of the Mainframe who protects the computer-world from Megabyte, a villainous computer virus. With characters and story elements based on real-world computer technology this highly creative Tron-like world paved the way for modern CGI feature TV shows and films.
#7 Darkwing Duck (1991-1992) After the success of Disney's "Ducktales" (1987) cartoon series, with Disney's new weekday afternoon lineup included shows such as "Talespin", "Goof Troop" featuring already established Disney characters. Disney introduced a new superhero based in the Ducktales-like animal world it featured a semi-dark themed crime fighter "Darkwing Duck" a.k.a. Drake Mallard as a caped crime-fighter who used a variety of gas-guns, very reminiscent of "The Shadow" or "The Sandman". A sort-of spin-off of "Duck Tales", it featured the character of Launchpad McQuack as DW's sidekick and later also featured Gizmo-Duck. With some of the funniest Batman/James Bond-like super villains such as Steelbeak, Megavolt, Quackerjack, and his arch-nemesis Negaduck! "Let's get dangerous!"
#6 The Tick (1994-1996) Based on the independent comic book series created by Ben Edlund in 1986, the Fox Network introduced the wacky (and most likely insane) unlikely superhero The Tick (Townsend Coleman) and his sidekick Arthur (Rob Paulsen)! Featuring some of the craziest allies such as Die Fledermaus, American Maid and super villains from Chairface Chippendale to Brainchild just to name a few! "Spoooooon!!!"
#5 Animaniacs (1993-1998) "It's time for Animaniacs, and we're zany to the max..." In the new renaissance of Warner Bros. animation in collaboration with Steven Spielberg which included such titles as "Tiny Toon Adventures", "Animaniacs" was a revolution of animation entertaining both kids and adults! With a huge cast original characters including the Warner Brothers and their sister Dot, along with Pinky & the Brain (which got their own spin-off in 1995), Slappy and Skippy Squirrel, Rita and Runt, and The Goodfeathers! With often very adult-oriented and sometimes suggestive themes (Hello Nurse) and pop-culture references from both movie and cartoon history the show even including some current political themes with an appearance from Bill Clinton!
#4 X-Men (1992-1997) Although the X-Men were not new to animation with appearances in the 1980's with "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" (1981) to a failed "X-Men" pilot starring Kitty Pryde in 1989. As "The X-Men" Marvel comic book had experienced renewed interest with an all-star talent and popular new characters (i.e. Gambit, Jubilee, Bishop). The Fox Network produced a popular animated series featuring some of the most popular mutant characters creating even more success for Wolverine, who had already been the X-Men's most popular character. The series also re-introduced an older character, Morph (a.k.a. Changeling), who started out as an extraneous character but soon became the center of a major plot line as they killed off his character in the pilot episode! The show featured original stories as well as those based on past comic story-arcs such as "Days of Future Past" and "The (Dark) Phoenix Saga".
#3 Gargoyles (1994-1997) Whoever thought that Disney would have created one of the best action/fantasy cartoon series ever! "Stone by day, warriors by night!" With Keith David as the voice of the heroic Goliath and Marina Sirtis as the femme fatale Demona, it was dark, violent, even scary at sometimes! There was even a controversial episode called "Deadly Force" involving the lead Hispanic damsel Elisa Maza getting shot! An amazing show, it featured an intense episodic storyline and often highly-intellectual content featuring influences from the works of William Shakespeare!
#2 Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995) I have been a huge Batman fan even from an early age and following the "Batman" movies directed by Tim Burton (1989-1992), Warner Bros. produced a new Emmy-winning animated series featuring the work of Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. With some of the best voice actors like Kevin Conroy as Batman/Bruce Wayne, and memorable villains starring such actors as Mark Hamill as The Joker, Richard Moll as Two-Face, Ron Perlman as Clayface, Adrienne Barbeau as Catwoman and David Warner as Ra's Al Ghul. Later the show introduced a much older teenage Robin (Dick Grayson) and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) and retitled in it's 2nd season as "The Adventures of Batman & Robin" and was then later reworked into "The New Batman Adventures" featuring a new younger Robin (Tim Drake) and Nightwing. The show spawned two feature films including the theatrical release of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993). "I am vengeance...I am the night...I AM BATMAN!"
#1 The Simpsons (1989-Current) Although it technically premiered on "The Tracy Ullman Show" in 1987 and it's first episode aired on December 17, 1989, The Simpsons were the defining dysfunctional family of the 1990's. Now it has become the single-longest running TV show of all time with worldwide popularity and is currently in it's 22nd season having released a theatrical movie in 2007 (The Simpsons Movie), along with billions of dollars in merchandise! "Ay Caramba!"
