Star Wars: 'Return of the Jedi' Director's Son Defends Father's Work

Despite a majority of the Star Wars fandom being positive about every element of the galaxy far, far away, some viewers choose to instead critique and criticize anything they don't like. While many fans have latched on to The Last Jedi and the choices made by writer/director Rian Johnson, Star Wars detractors have been complaining about the films going all the way back to Return of the Jedi.

James Marquand, son of Return of the Jedi director Richard Marquand, defends his father's accomplishments on the film, with some fans having claimed George Lucas was more hands-on with the project than Lucasfilm admitted.

"He was the director, he did all the directing," Marquand shared with the BBC. "Lucas was a presence as you would expect - he created this empire so it was always understood he would be a presence. There were specific things that my dad was brought into the project to do, mainly working with the actors."

One feature of the third film that sticks in many viewers' minds are the Ewoks, the native creatures on the Forest Moon of Endor, which delivered a cuter and more cuddly type of alien life seen in the franchise. Prior to the debut of the prequel trilogy of films, Return of the Jedi caught the most criticism of the original films, which Marquand feels is undeserved.

"When I think back to my dad's involvement, I'm massively proud of him. I do think he delivered. His role was was to deliver a film on time and on budget and get performances out of the actors," Marquand shared. "When it came out it was the number one grossing film of all time and it's still probably quite high on the list now, so job done."

The son of the filmmaker also pointed out that, once a filmmaker completes a production, it's out of the hands of the individual and the fans ultimately decide what is or isn't a success.

"I guess the Star Wars saga is owned by the world and with social media everyone's an expert," he shared. Marquand also noted that there was a "fair bit of bitterness" in his family in regards to the fans who were critical of the film.

Between the criticisms of Jar Jar Binks or the entirety of The Last Jedi, Marquand should at least take solace that his father's film is no longer as criticized as other entries.

Do you think Return of the Jedi was subjected to unfair criticisms? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

[H/T BBC]