Review The Star Wars Radio Dramas: RETURN OF THE JEDI

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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The Star Wars Radio Dramas, adapted by Brian Daley, directed by John Madden, produced by NPR (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back) and HighBridge Audio (Return of the Jedi). Return of the Jedi: Special Edition was edited to remove all narration, replace episode transitions, and to combine all 6 half-hour episodes into one continuous 2 1/2 hour listening experience. CAST: Luke Skywalker—Joshua Fardon Han Solo—Perry King Princess Leia Organa—Ann Sachs Lando Calrissian—Arye Gross Yoda—John Lithgow Darth Vader—Brock Peters The Emperor—Paul Hecht C-3PO—Anthony Daniels Jabba the Hutt—Edward Asner Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi—Bernard Behrens Boba Fett—Ed Begley Jr. Arica (Mara Jade)—Samantha Bennett Anakin Skywalker—David Birney Moff Jerjerrod—Peter Dennis Bib Fortuna—David Dukes General Madine—Peter Michael Goetz Salacious Crumb—Ian Gomez Barada—Martin Jarvis Wedge Antilles—Jon Matthews Mon Mothma—Natalia Nogulich Admiral Ackbar—Mark Adair Rios EV-9D9—Yeardley Smith Major Derlin—Tom Virtue



 
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chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
I honestly have never heard the radio version of ROTJ, mostly because it didn't come out till 1996. I do plan on eventually buying all of them, just to have to listen on car trips or for background noise.
 

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
I found all of them on YouTube, and loved listening to A New Hope and Empire. I've only gotten a little bit into Jedi, and I don't know that I can make it through. While my biggest complaint about the first two is that the guy doing Han sounds less like a badass smuggler and more like a taxi driver from Queens, we still get Hamill doing Luke. Plus, Billy Dee Williams is back for Lando. Unfortunately, they're both gone in Jedi. The voice actor doing Luke isn't bad, but he just sounds like he's an impressionist doing the lines. And they got Arye Gross doing Lando, who sounds a little too white to be the suave scoundrel we know and love.

One thing I do like, which really relegates this to the Legends department, is the brief bit of dialogue with Arica, a dancer at Jabba's palace. For those who don't know Star Wars as well as someone like me who has absolutely no life, Arica was the identity used by Mara Jade (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Mara_Jade_Skywalker) to infiltrate the palace to get at Skywalker.
 
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