Before I go on with the review, a little bit of background is needed. Considered to be one of the first official spinoffs, the Star Wars Holiday Special was directed by Steve Binder, who was also famous for directing a variety of decent television shows, specifically music programs with diverse groups of people. What’s most interesting is that the special was also composed of variety segments & cartoons (The cartoons were created by a Canadian company), and that George Lucas had little to do with the special. One it was aired, there was such a negative response, it was never aired again, and Mr. Lucas has gone out of his way to remove any trace of it. Because of his campaign, the special has gone underground, and became something of a legend among Star Wars fans. Since it’s airing, the special has been viewed and distributed in off-air recordings made from its original telecast by fans, and was later adapted to content-sharing websites. I should conclude that it was somewhat difficult to find, but I found some a few links (The movie was split into 6 parts, due to it being about 2 hours long), and managed to acquire this abomination.
Ironically enough, the story is surprisingly good, if you cut out all the bullshit. Basically, Chewbacca and Han Solo visit Kashyyyk, Chewbacca's home world, to celebrate Life Day, which is an important day among the Wookies. Along the way they are pursued by agents of the Galactic Empire, who are searching for members of the Rebel Alliance on Kashyyyk. During this special, we also meet Chewbacca’s family, consisting of his father Attichitcuk, his wife Mallatobuck, and his son Lumpawaroo (Coincidentally, their original names were Itchy, Malla, and Lumpy respectively). Eventually, the other cast members join it, and things live happily ever after. However, this is where we get knees deep into the shit that makes up the majority of this special.
Shit Component No. 1: Acting
Dear god the acting in this sucked! Just about all of the actors in her look like they would rather be doing something else (The Empire Strikes Back, perhaps). To compound this fact is that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher are some damn good actors! It’s not that they aren’t putting work in this special, but it just feels like they’re half-assing it most of the time.
I should point out that, in addition to the original cast, we’ve also got Bea Arthur, Art Carney, and Havery Korman as guest stars. Just like the others, these people are some damn good actors, and I don’t think they want to be here! Even worse is the fact that their performances (with the possible exception of Bea Arthur’s performance about halfway/3/4ths through the feature) feel far more lazy than the original actors.
Shit Component No. 2: Film Quality
Though not quite as bad as the acting, the quality of the film is horrible. When it was first aired, it probably looked & sounded okay, but now it’s incredibly grainy, and the colors seemed washed out somewhat. The sound quality has become muffled overtime, but things are still relatively easy to hear. The sound isn’t necessarily pleasant to listen to, but it won’t completely eviscerate your brain.
Shit Component No. 3: Story
Even with an alright story, it’s just so incredibly hamfisted, it’s not funny. Despite having a basic background, there’s horde upon horde of cheesy components added in, perhaps as an attempt to gear this special (and to an extent, the Star Wars franchise) towards younger people. Everything feels more simplified, and isn’t quite as intense as the original Star Wars was. It’s far more comedic than the original film, and the special’s emotions feel so much more artificial (The original film, at least in my opinion, really did have some real emotional scenes). It’s not helped by the fact that the variety moments & cartoon bits really take a crap over everything. Speaking of moments & bits...
Shit Component No. 4: Variety Moments & Cartoons Bits
If there weren’t any variety show moments, and pieces of cartoon footage, then this would be an okay special, and not be quite so hated. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and I firmly believe that it was these two things that brought this special down to it’s knees, and chopped it’s head off.
There is practically next to nothing redeemable about this special. It’s filled with so many kinds of shit, you can’t find anything that shines through the stink & muck. However, there are two things within this sewage of cinema that can actually be barely redeemable, and that’s Bea Arthur’s portion of the special, and the cartoon. Playing a cantina owner, news comes saying that the bar is getting shut down by the Empire, and a somewhat touching musical number stars. It’s nice...until the next part of the special plays!!!!!!
Then there’s the cartoon, and despite being pointless, it’s actually not that bad. Known as The Faithful Wookiee, this was considered to be the high point of the special, as it was the first time fans actually saw Boba Fett. It’s also interesting to note that the cartoon was the only portion of the special ever released to the public, as it was used on the 2011 Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray set as a Easter Egg.
The Star Wars Holiday Special gets a 1.5 out of 10, and that’s being kind!
See you all next week, when we’ll look at some comedic holiday songs. Until then, stay Otaku!
* Should you find that you want to slash your wrists because you wish to enjoy the pain, I posted the link below to download this “film”:
http://www.filecrop.com/19593178/index.html
** With Lucasarts being owned by Disney now, what do you think the chances are that they’ll bring the special back, or create a new one entirely?
*** (Update: 5/25/2013 | East Coast Time: 8:27 PM)
The filecrop link is dead, so instead here's a video link:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xn5gsj_the-star-wars-holiday-special_shortfilms#.UaFWtZx6_RY
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