Customer Reviews

Return of the Jedi: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Special Edition)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really love this soundtrack! I can listen to the "Victory Celebration" track for hours. The only drawback is the grating "Jedi Rocks"...I hated it in the movie, and I hate it even more on the CD. At least in the movie it had special effects to make it bearable. However, the rest of the soundtrack more than makes up for this one track. I especially like the tracks with the Emperor's theme in them. Very haunting.

RotJ is definitely the best soundtrack of the Star Wars Trilogy, and one of Williams' best ever. This is basically a compillation of the best themes from the previous films and then some new ones as well (The Emperor's Theme with it's impressive male chorus comes to mind). I can't even begin to touch on the best tracks because there are so many. I must mention however, that the scene where Darth Vader dies is just one of many examples of Williams' brilliance. The music is simply the theme of the Imperial March, but played in an incredible bittersweet way.

In short, if you can only buy one of the trilogy's sountracks, make it this one.

John Williams delivers another excellent rendition of Star Wars music. It's Emperor's Theme is haunting and beautiful at the same time. Also, the music is darker (Jabba's Palace scenes) to show the conflict in the characters, and he achieves their feelings very well. This is a must buy for any Star Wars fan. Get it!

Reviewing the RCA/Victor 1997 "Special Edition" soundtrack of Return of the Jedi, one finds that it is the best soundtrack for the 1997 edition of the film, and perhaps the best soundtrack for Jedi overall. It gets five stars for the music, four for musical presentation, and five for packaging.

Nearly all of the music from the film is presented here, including some concert suites and diagetic Ewok music. However, a lot of the 1983 music is missing, including every version of Lapti Nek (there are at least three extant), every version of the Ewok song (two?), Jabba's suite, and all the original music from Max Rebo's Band (one or two cues). In their place, one finds the listenable Victory Celebration and the terrible Jedi Rocks. Some of the missing cues are available in the earlier Anthology set, some you may be able to find through gray market channels.

Those with good ears may be disappointed by the sonics of this album. The engineers who mastered it were not working for the best elements, so the 1983 music sounds muffled in places. I have read that better sources have been discovered, but Sony has no intention of remastering this soundtrack.

The packaging and liner notes push this set up to five stars. There is an outer slipcase with an embossed foil Star Wars Special Edition logo and a track listing on the back. Inside is a small hardcover book, with the discs placed in envelopes glued to the inside cover. The disc is laser-etched to depict an X-wing engaging a TIE Fighter in front of the Death Star. The booklet, which is about 30 pages, contains recording information, a brief history of the original recording and the Special Edition, and commentary on all 27 tracks by Michael Matessino. My slipcover has become damaged in the last 10 years--back before MP3, we had to loan physical CDs to our friends, and some of our friends were not very careful with them--but the whole thing remains a very classy-looking affair. Let us hope Sony gives us a re-release that treats the music with just as much class.

Hey! George Lucas is a gifted man...

John Williams as a composer is a genius...

The music set you up for the scene...

Beside been a long time fan (since 1977) of the movie...

I am also a long time fan of the soundtracks of all of them...

May The Force Be With You...

A wonderful CD! This is a great product. I love the fact that this is the full, complete soundtrack to Return of the Jedi. It has all the music in the movie, from beginning to end (plus all the new and extra stuff from the remake).

The soundtrack, like the movie, is very memorable. It is one of John William's best pieces. If you're ever in a classical or Star Wars mood, this CD works out great for you. There is a lot of extra information about the music behind the movie in the jacket of the book. Its fully illustrated and makes for an interesting read.

This is my favorite Star Wars Soundtrack, probably because in this particular movie the music evolves just as the characters do.
The Emperor's and Jabba's themes suit the characters like a glove would a hand, and the Ewoks' theme is both primitive and funny, like the creatures in the movie.
The best improvement for the Special Edition Soundtrack is "Victory Celebration", which underscores the celebration throuout the galaxy after the Empire is defeated at the Battle of Endor.
Also, the Imperial March is used wonderfully by John Williams to show us the conflict whithin Darth Vader, and ultimately, his redemption.
Overall, this is a must buy!

I have been a favorite of John Williams since,well as long as I can remember! and this is one of my favorite CD's, Williams does a great job mixing old themes with new themes.Disc1 is mostly eerie describing Jabba's palace,with some action like the sail barge fight.While Disc2 is full of action from the battle of Endor.My favorite track is Disc2 #5.I highly reccomend this CD to Star wars and Indiana Jones collectors,and to those who love good music.

Well...it did have some good memorable music--I really like the ROTJ theme, but ESB was better. The Emperor's Theme is very good though. I'm listening to the Phantom Mence soundtrack right now and I just noticed that track 14 (Droid Invasion and Appearance of Darth Maul) has part the Emperor's Theme woven in at the end, chorus and all (I love wordless vocals!). Listen very carefully. Hmm...omen of things to come? P.S. Am I the only SW fan who liked Lapti Nek better than Jedi Rocks? (yes, I KNOW it translates to "work out" in Huttese, but still...)

Well...it did have some good memorable music--I really like the ROTJ theme, but ESB was better. The Emperor's Theme is very good though. I'm listening to the Phantom Mence soundtrack right now and I just noticed that track 14 (Droid Invasion and Appearance of Darth Maul) has part the Emperor's Theme woven in at the end, chorus and all (I love wordless vocals!). Listen very carefully. Hmm...omen of things to come?