The Star Wars Holiday Special

1978 "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."
2.2| 1h37m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 17 November 1978 Released
Producted By: Lucasfilm Ltd.
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Luke Skywalker and Han Solo battle evil Imperial forces to help Chewbacca reach his imperiled family on the Wookiee planet - in time for Life Day, their most important day of the year!

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Director

Steve Binder, David Acomba

Production Companies

Lucasfilm Ltd.

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The Star Wars Holiday Special Audience Reviews

GamerTab That was an excellent one.
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
choggs This movie is one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. As someone who goes out of their way to watch terrible movies I can attest to the draining power of this particular TV special. I'm a fan of the Star Wars saga but this makes me never want to look at Mark Hamill or any of his co-stars ever again. Everything moves painfully slow and goes on for far. Far. FAR too long. You'll see what I mean when it comes to the creepy dancing scene or the inappropriate scene of the grandfather wookie watching a provocatively dressed woman. Harrison Ford is clearly there for a pay check - or because he was being threatened at gun point along with the rest of his family and all he held dear (you can tell from the dead look in his sad and helpless eyes). Watch it for the Star Wars Canon. Not for fun.
sheriffduncanflynn I watched this film with my friend Gunner and, wow it was bad. So bad, that as George Lucas said and I quote "If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I'd track down every copy of that thing and smash it." Not only does it have nothing to do with Star Wars, but what it does is even more insulting. A terrible dance routine that preceded Jedi Rocks, a wookiee watching a tutorial video, and don't get me started on the awkward scene where Itchy watches... well, it's better not to mention it, honestly.What's even sadder is that this was the introduction of Boba Fett, and while he does more than what he did in the movies, he's still not a major threat to the rebellion heroes. Also, this film feels the need to bring in the main Star Wars cast, but if you look into their faces, not even trying, you can see how bored they are. They know what they're in. The only thing that saves the film from anything lower is that the B. Arthur scene, as pointless as it was, wasn't horrible. It brought back the cantina from A New Hope with some cool creatures and an emotional song. But that can't save this movie from being terrible.That being said, and, if you want to see a film so bad and awkward, this is for you. But if you actually expect something related to Star Wars, look elsewhere. To end this review off, I'll quote what I said when I and Gunner finished watching the film. "It's one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen, but at the same time, it's one of the worst ones I've ever seen!"
goolizap I survived the Star Wars Holiday Special. If you've ever hear word that it's terrible, that's no exaggeration. It's a TV movie, but I use to word "movie" loosely. About 10% of it is actual coherent plot. The rest plays out more as a variety show with pointless segments and musical numbers scattered randomly throughout.The overall premise follows Chewbacca's Wookie family as they wait for him to return home for Life Day (the Wookie version of Christmas), but he is nowhere to be found. We, the audience, know that he is battling TIE fighters with Han Solo on his way home. Additionally, the Galactic Empire is searching homes for members of the Rebel Alliance.Because there's such little plot, and it's a very simple concept, it shouldn't be this hard to understand what's going on in the movie. It doesn't help that none of us speak Wookie (even the characters in the movie can't understand what they're saying). The scenes without any humans, which constitute the majority of the special, are incomprehensible and borderline unwatchable. According to writer, Bruce Vilanch, he had wanted many of these scenes cut due to the fact that the audience can't understand the Wookie language. George Lucas insisted that they remain. Turns out Vilanch was right, as it's not only incoherent, but in a holiday special that's supposed to be jovial, we can't even smile or laugh at what's happening. But I'm not sure it would matter anyway, as even the jokes that are told by humans have terrible delivery.Even the music numbers can't be looked at as a pleasant break from the insipid journey through the Star Wars universe. They're extremely plodding and lack any real character besides being hypnotic. At one point, Diahann Carroll performs some odd erotic piece which may make this the most uncomfortable holiday special in history--along with the most boring. I think when they torture prisoners they make them have to stay awake through the Star Wars Holiday Special.Lucas couldn't even get all the characters in the same room together. Every major actor's scenes are filmed remotely, except for Harrison Ford's. It's a film that is said to feature Darth Vader--even though he literally only gets 4 seconds of screen time (which I'm pretty sure was just a cut scene from A New Hope).The only highlight is an animated short halfway through that features the first on-screen appearance of Boba Fett. And that's not all, the storyline is pretty good also. It makes you wish that the whole special was just animated.The Star Wars Holiday Special wouldn't have been nearly as bad if it was only an hour maybe. But 90 minutes is just ridiculous (2 hours including commercials). And you can't say that it's even bad in a funny way. It's just flat-out painful. I love Star Wars as much as the next guy, but there's no wonder why George Lucas wanted all of these destroyed.Twizard Rating: 32
GroggyLane OK let me clarify that summary line.. As a child of 7 starving for ANYTHING Star Wars, I thought it was awesome! As an adult of 44 lucky enough to possess a copy, I still like it for what it is. It's a memory. It's a memory of a simpler time. It's a memory of the love I had for what I still consider to be the greatest movie ever made! It's a memory of longing for the next film to release. It's a memory of seeing the original Star Wars in the theater. Also watching it reminds me of the attraction pre-shows at Disney World. It just brings back so much. Though it is corny and cheesy, and low budget, I love it! I always will. I wish I had a better copy.