Royal Albert Hall, September 24, 2022

George Lucas’ somewhat divisive Star Wars threequel – and more specifically John Williams’ iconic score – gets the live orchestra treatment at the Royal Albert Hall.

I’m never disappointed when I get to see a movie in Royal Albert Hall’s ‘Live in Concert’ format, and this was no exception. The venue always puts in that little extra effort in many ways, and a prime example of that here was the ticket machine used to scan my ticket, which instead of the customary soulless beep, made a sound like a Star Wars blaster shot. Commitment to the bit, indeed.

What else is there to say about John Williams’ work? From Indiana Jones to Superman, Star Wars and Harry Potter, the man has given us some of cinema’s most recognisable and emotionally affecting scores. Here, his genius is writ large through the very DNA of the movie, from triumphant brass through tense strings to quieter, emotional moments, the score here is absolutely, undeniably perfect.

Per usual, the orchestra here were on top form, often leaving the viewer to forget that they were even there and immersing me still further in the movie itself with that enveloping soundtrack. I say often rather than always because for someone like me – who has seen this movie far more times than I can count – there were a couple of slightly jarring moments.

The sound of the Ewok horns is pretty unmistakeable and valiantly as they tried, the orchestra couldn’t perfectly reproduce it. Also, and unusually for these performances in my experience, the customary subtitles were here absolutely essential for anyone not as well-versed in the movie as me, as the dialogue soundtrack of the movie found itself on more than one occasion overpowered by the music in the room.

But these are truly minor niggles in an otherwise fantastic afternoon’s entertainment. The movie itself, while not as divisive as it’s modern counterparts was till one which landed differently with many people. For myself, I’ve always loved The Empire Strikes Back the most but sat watching this with the orchestra adding that extra element I found myself re-evaluating my own feelings. Whereas in the first half it was a little too easy to look at the movie with a critical eye, seeing the visual FX which haven’t quite stood the test of time, the info-dump dialogue and the occasional narrative gaps, after the interval the thing fully swept me up. I’m a sucker for a happy ending, and after the compelling darkness and desperation of Empire’s closing, the finale of Return of the Jedi is pure, unadulterated joy. The Emperor is dead, his super weapon destroyed, his Empire vanquished and his dark lieutenant redeemed. Everyone gets to live happily ever after.

As someone who’s always rather enjoyed the sequel trilogy, I was surprised to find myself wishing it had never been in a way. Not because I subscribe to any of the nonsense most of the vocal critics espouse on it, but just because this ending feels so euphoric, it can’t help but feel slightly disappointing to ‘know’ what happens to these characters going forward. That, I guess, is the quality of the movie itself combined with the power of the score being directly piped into your brain by a live orchestra.

Verdict: A score and performance which elevated a movie I’ve always liked into something I love. 9/10

Greg D. Smith