User Reviews

OK, if you are reading this, you have probably already heard about the nightmarish details of this film. Carrie Fisher sings, badly, an "inspirational" version of the Star Wars theme. Art Carney shows way too much skin. Mark Hammill looks like a drag queen, and Harrison Ford looks like he was dragged on set against his will by a gang of thugs.

The "musical numbers" are bizarre, irrelevant, and bear no resemblance to anything else. I think I speak for everyone when I say that I hope that mysterious orifice on the top of Harvey Korman's head has one, and only one, use.

But, gentle reader, I do not criticize the painful individual moments of this disaster, no matter how many there are. I do not even criticize the fact that Wookies are made to look like either obnoxious twits or creepy perverts. No, I want to talk about pacing, or in this work's case, p-a-c-i-n-g...

Taken as a whole, there was about enough plot here for a 30 minute network special. But, that would not be long enough. So, the viewer gets 20 minutes of wookie-speak, which goes nowhere. And dance numbers, which go nowhere... And Bea Arthur singing, which might go somewhere we don't want to know about... The fact is, amazingly little happens during this thing's excruciatingly long running time.

Having a martini handy is a must. Just do not drink every time you get bored.

I don't know whose idea this thing was, but it was a bad one. The "Star Wars Holiday Special" took place in between the two movies, and is famous amongst Star Wars fans for featuring the first appearance of Boba Fett, and completely forgotten by everyone else. Why so forgotten? Because, simply, the show is absolutely terrible.

The "special" (and I use that term as loosely as possible) is about Chewbacca's family, who await his return for the celebration of the holiday "Life Day." Far as I can gather, the holiday involves Christmas ornament-like globes and wearing red robes and being Wookies. The special is basically two hours of waiting, and along the way there are cameos by all the major stars of the original film (Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, etc.) It's shocking they appear at all, I have to believe the mob was involved for them to show up. They don't do much, and look thoroughly ashamed of themselves. And they should be; after all, all the action is given to Art Carney (Don't ask me), who plays a trader who's friends with the, uh, Baccas. Action hero Art Carney, ladies and gentlemen.

The show has more asides than a Shakespearian play. There is no plot, there are only little goofy tidbits. None of it is very Star Warsish. Harvey Korman plays a few roles, including an alien version of Julia Childs, and a robot explaining how to set up a communication device. Bea Arthur works in the infamous Cantina, which on a tv budget looks a lot like a diner with some guys with alien masks. She gets a very lengthy musical number and so do Jefferson Starship, and others.

Why would you make a Star Wars special that had nothing to do with Star Wars? It's mostly musical numbers, third rate celebrities (Way older than Star Wars' target audience I should mention), and Wookies who can't speak English. There's a good twenty minute period where no English is spoken since it's just the three Wookies goofing off. If this is genius stuff, then so's "Freddy Got Fingered."

The important Boba Fett apperanace is also one of the few truly entertaining moments of the show; a cartoon about Luke and co. meeting Boba for the first time. It's exciting and well voiced and animated. It's also just a little doo-dad that Lumpy (Yes, when you're named Chewie you name your son Lumpy) watches on a little video screen while waiting for his dad to come home.

It's funny to watch, and painful to watch, and annoying to watch, and mind-boggling to watch. It has to be seen to be believed, but do you really even want to?

"I felt a great disturbance in The Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened." Yes, Obi-Wan, we all felt it, just moments after the closing credits began scrolling down our television screens. Personally, I've actually considered buying a used VCR and a copy of this video on E-Bay as a sure-fire cure for the occasional constipation that many of my generation suffer from, since just the thought of watching this again after 28 years makes my bowels quiver and purge. Like so many, I was a Star wars addict, and waited with great anticipation for several months after the network began hyping this sickening attempt to cash in on the Christmas-is-just- around-the corner toy market. But exactly what toys could one expect to find on the shelves that could be identified with this "Special?' Hmmmmm.....lets see. Perhaps an Art Carney or Beatrice Arthur action figure?

As many other posters stated, I had been warned. And the legends are true! And like the Nazis, once you remove the cover to the Ark, you have to deal with the consequences. I paid 13 bucks for it, and it is a pile of crap. For the stouthearted who choose to soldier on, I have two recommendations:

1. Do not watch this alone! Like any other emotional trauma, the support of friends is crucial to survival. By the end, you will either want to climb a steeple with a rifle, or go into the garage and start the car.

2. Do not operate while unimpaired. An altered level of consciousness can cushion your psyche. I tried it straight, but within ten minutes I was forced to seek the companionship of my foamy 12 ounce friends.

At any rate, this helping of dog goo brings to light painful questions about Chewbacca and his people long ago in a galaxy far, far away. Questions probably better left unasked. Such as, despite the treetop setting, why does their dwelling place resemble a 70's ski lodge with an Astroturf floor?

Why does the local trader wear black plastic Earth glasses? How were the Wookies able to convert an ordinary cassette player into a Holograph projector? And, regarding said projector, why is the youth Lumpy (who is probably yelling "Franks and Beans!" in Wookie), so fascinated with the freakish flailings of a poor man's Cirque de Soleil? Finally, why in God's name does the patriarch of the clan, Itchy, get so aroused over a pseudo Irene Cara performing a sickening disco song and dance? It was highly disturbing.

Those are the questions that torment me. The other posters have done a far better job than myself covering the horrid sequences with Starship, Bea Arthur (shudder), Harvey Korman and Art Carney. But I must add this: I thought the animated sequence sucked. The story with decent artists probably would have been a cool comic book, but the animation and artwork was terrible. Too cartoony. Artoo physically jumping, his rigid metallic body curving about. And something about Han's head looking like it had been run over by a truck, all squashed...

Like Lot's wife, you have been warned...

A film about Chewbaccas family, and their celebration of Life Day. A film so bad, it was only aired once. George Lucas has been quoted as saying: If he had the time, he would break every existing VHS-copy of this movie - it is that bad! It contains Leia singing, Chewbaccas dad watching a fantasy movie, with erotic undertones, acrobats, an animated section and a rock concert. All your favorite characters from the first movie is here - one worse than the other.

The film isn't helped by the fact that much of the dialog is in Chewbaccas language.

There are also many logical holes in the story, like when Chewbaccas wife calls the local tradesman on the video phone, she gets to watch a long sequence of what goes on in the shop before the tradesman suddenly notices that someone is calling.

The core of the story - if you can call it a story - is that Chewbacca isn't home for Life Day in time - he is held up by fighting the Empire. This probably only takes up 5% of the movie time - most of the movie takes place in Chewbaccas home. We see what goes on with the family while they wait, with occasional brief appearances by characters from the first Star Wars movie.

This is truly a horrible movie - worth watching, just to see how bad it can be done!

This is without a doubt the worst television special ever created. I have NEVER laughed as hard as I did. This is purely HILARIOUS, and everyone should see it. Harrison Ford looks genuinely p***ed off to be in it! So bad it's great!

If you get a chance, check out the Star Wars Musical also. Dam#, Lucas merchandises everything to the maximum. This really is funny. Watch this special!

What would happen if you took the single most important and influential pop culture phenomenon of the 1970's—'Star Wars'—and married it with the most shameful and embarrassing TV genre of the same decade—the variety show? The answer is 'The Star Wars Holiday Special', a two-hour long mistake that actually manages to be worse than its legendary reputation.

Awful skits and musical numbers make up half of the show, while the framing device—Chewie's family dealing with everything from Art Carney to Imperial officers—make up the rest. It's equal parts sad and embarrassing to watch pros like Carney, Bea Arthur and Harvey Korman helplessly swimming against the current of awful material they're given. Original Star Warriors Ford, Fisher and Hamill don't fare much better as they half heartedly reprise their iconic roles. Only the brief animated segment, featuring the debut of Boba Fett, is worthwhile.

Some things are so bad that they're good. 'The Star Wars Holiday Special' is an instance where bad really is just bad.

I first watched this as a child when it was broadcast in 1978, like just about everybody in my class I'd seen Star Wars and loved it so was over joyed to learn that there was to be a television special. Imagine my shock when it finally aired and instead of exciting action with the characters I'd seen in the film we got a bunch of grunting Wookies that weren't even subtitled.

The basic plot is that Han and Chewbacca are trying to get to Chewie's family for Life Day, which is sort of like a Wookie version of US Thanks Giving. While his family await their arrival we are treated to the delights of Wookie life: mum does some cooking, dad watches a semi pornographic device which is rather disturbing to put it mildly. They are paid a visit by a friend played by Art Carney as well as by a group of imperial storm troopers... by this point I was hoping the troopers might just kill them but no such luck, instead one of them sits down and watches Jefferson Starship perform a song on the TV, this leads to a song and dance routine when the empire imposes a curfew.

About half way through we leave the Wookies and get an animated adventure with the regular characters, while the animation is of a very low quality it is of some interest to fans as this is the first time we encounter Boba Fett, who initially offers to help Luke and the droids find Han and Chewie, but we soon learn that he has only befriended them in order to find their base for the empire. Sadly this only lasts a few minutes then we are back to the Wookies where the Stormtroopers are watching a "documentary" about life on Tatooine where Bea Arthur is the landlady of the Cantina seen in the original film. Of course by the end Han and Chewie get there and then Luke, Leah and the droids arrive and Leah "treats" us to the Life Day song.

The acting in this is poor, we only get cameos from the original cast but even they aren't good, Carrie Fisher appears to be as high as a kite, Mark Hamill is made up so heavily it is hard to recognise him and Harrison Ford appears to know he is in something that will live on in infamy... I'm sure Sir Alec Guinness was pleased that he was killed off in the film so he didn't have to appear in this apart from a few flash back scenes at the end lifted straight from the film.

If you are a Star Wars fan you should watch this for completeness, I wouldn't show it younger fans though, that would be too cruel. Even George Lucas hates this so it isn't available on an official DVD, it can be seen on line though.

But I will try.....

Quite possibly, this is the worst piece of programming ever to grace a television set. 'Spectacularly bad' is a description that does not do justice to this unending piece of dreck.

It is so awful it makes an Ed Wood film look like Casablanca. It is so bad it should be used as a covert weapon against Al Qaida. To say this piece of trash belongs in the gutter is to ascribe to it too high an elevation. It belongs in the sewer. To save humanity, it should be cast into the fires of Mordor and destroyed for all time. And I am being kind. Unfortunately, to do that would be to deny others the painful pleasure of watching this debacle unfold.

As I watched the first few minutes in Wookieland, I wondered aloud to my friend, who owned a copy, about how I would get through the rest of the hour. "It's two hours," he informed me. "And the key phrase to remember is that 'it doesn't get any better.'" Boy was he right! From Harvey Korman playing a TV chef, volcano-headed alien and malfunctioning robot to Grampa Itchy's virtual porn to Bea Arthur's singing barkeep to the abomination that once used to be Jefferson Airplane to Mark Hamill's makeup to Carrie Fisher's singing to Lumpy's incessant whining to that ridiculous cartoon to Art Carney's obvious ad-libbing to just about every second of this disaster, it's clear that about as much creative talent went into this show as went into..... well..... went into..... I don't know.... it's so bad there is no comparison. It is the bottom of the barrel and it sets the standard for awfulness.

All this being said, it is my firm belief that it must be seen if only to understand the magnitude of the ineptitude. For two hours, give yourself willingly to the dark side -- although it's my sense that CBS could have beamed this program to Alderaan and destroyed said planet just as easily as Vader destroyed it with the Death Star.

In my book, a must-see! And so I give it 10 stars. It is the best of the worst!

Listen, sure you've heard how terrible this thing is. And it is. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Let's stop to remember for just a moment what the late 70's/80's were like. Let's stop and think for a moment what holiday specials are like. Let's put that all together and throw in some Star Wars and I just don't see how this could have been better.

Of course, I don't see how it could be any worse.

But that said, let's talk about the downs. Yeah, lotta Wookies. Most people complain about the amount of Wookie pudu you have to wade through. But there's a lot to be said for kinda understanding what's going on through body language and primal growls. The first ten minutes or so has no dialog apart from growls and grunts between the Wookie family, in preparation for the Wookie Life Day (a celebration not unlike Christmas--well very unlike, but comparable--universal peace blah, blah, blah). Then we have the musical guests (Dihanne Carrol and Jefferson Starship) and the awfully long and campy Cirque du Solielesque holo-movie. They date the movie terribly and are probably the most unwatchable bits in the movie. We also have Bea Arthur singing in the cantina. Which is oddly enjoyable to me. Harvey Korman and Art Carney make a few notable appearances, that aren't really THAT bad. The highlight is obviously the first appearance of Boba Fett in a nice animation starring your favorite Star Wars cast members. And to top it all off Carrie Fisher and Mark Hammill appear in this magical dimension with a bunch of robed Wookies after not being able to attend. And Fisher sings a song to the Star Wars theme.

All in all it's full of bad jokes, bad editing, and just plain bad acting. But I find it all deliciously bad. It's a guilty pleasure, and no Holiday Season for me is complete without watching this special. It shows a glimpse into the Wookie homeworld before it was retooled to become Endor (Ewoks replaced the Wookie which was originally intended to be the inhabitants of the forest during the final battle in Return of the Jedi).

Let's face it, Holiday Specials in general are pretty bad, and this isn't any different. But it's still enjoyable, and any true fan of Star Wars will revel in it's awfulness.

I love Star Wars, but this holiday special is just awful. I knew of its notorious reputation even before watching it, but I did not expect something this bad. Even for Star Wars, or even a special, this is a disgrace.

First off, the special does not even look very good. The way it is shot, the way the effects are executed, it looked dull and rushed. And I didn't care for the animation either, some of it was quite shoddy. The music did nothing for me either, and I hated that god-awful ending song. The special is also very poorly paced, I sometimes found myself looking at my watch.

That's not all. The writing is horrible. Lucas has never been an expert at writing good dialogue, but some of it here is so cheesy and forced it is painful. The story is very predictable and badly structured, complete with annoying characters especially the Wookies(they actually give Jar Jar a run for his money), poor direction and badly thought out scenes. The acting is pretty terrible really, with everybody giving possibly their career-worst performances.

Overall, a nightmare of a special and best avoided. I guess I liked the scene when the bar closes down, but really that's it. 1/10 Bethany Cox

Not long ago I attended a party give by my Star Wars group and as a prize in the trivia contest I received - among other things - a VHS copy of The Star Wars Holiday Special. Having now seen it I have begun to wonder if it wouldn't have best been served as the booby prize. Anyone who obsessively bashes Episode I for being too lame, too mamby pamby or too childish obviously has yet to set eyes of this 1978 hunk of Christmas cow flop strung together on the authority of George Lucas' ex wife Marsha. I know they got divorced sometime after this special aired but I'm guessing that is she had it in mind to ruin him, this was the perfect weapon.

It's been 25 years since CBS hoisted this unholy nightmare on the American public and in that time I had never seen it until last night and oh my lord I could have gone another 25, 40, 50, 300 years without ever having it drilled into my brain a second time.

This is without a doubt the most horrific thing I have ever witnessed on screen and I've seen Howard the Duck! What in the world possessed anyone to soil the Star Wars name with this dreck? My friend assured me that the special was actually pretty good if you got past all the Wookie manure - BUT THE WOOKIES TAKE OVER THE WHOLE SHOW!!!!

The story takes place sometime after Episode IV and finds Chewbacca's family waiting for him to come home for something called Life Day (I dunno, maybe it's a day where they worship board games). The wookies are nothing short of nauseating. Mama bear (Chewie's wife) gushes over a picture of her beloved and is forever scolding Chewie's son Lumpy. Lumpy (yes, Lumpy) whines, disobeys and aggravates the stew out of his mother. Sadly, he becomes the central character.

The most curious character is Itchy, the grandfather (where's Scratchy?) a gray haired old codger with a serious under bite and a strange fixation on Diahann Carroll. She plays a character credited as "Holographic Wow". He's given a gift for Life Day that looks something like a hair dryer, the kind you might have found in a beauty parlor when segregation was in effect. This strange device offers gramps a vision of Carroll superimposed on something that looks like a dirty bathtub drain. He gets so excited at one point that he begins beating the chair arm rapidly with his fist. And that's all I have to say about that.

Chewie's family isn't the most repulsive thing in this mess. No, the fingernails-on-the-blackboard award goes to Harvey Korman who plays three ungainly characters, one more jaw-dropping than the last. First, he plays a rather odd looking female robotic chef who hosts a cooking show and gets a little excited when she gets to the part where she is suppose to stir and whip at the same time (the mixture that is). The second is the most bizarre, a robotic instructor who gives Lumpy instructions on how to put an electronic device together and malfunctions in ways that just shouldn't be seen on public television. The third is a strange creature who drinks through a hole in the top of his head and has a fixation on Bea Arthur (don't ask). Bea Arthur by the way plays the Cantina bartender and has to get everyone out because the Empire has imposed a curfew. How does she clear the place? She sings!

In the midst of all the guest star hooey are Mark Hamill smacked with so much eye make-up that he looks like his own action figure. And then there's Harrison "what in the heck am I doing here" Ford and a hopped-up, glassy-eyed Carrie Fisher looking like . . . well there is a Betty Ford joke here but it's just too easy.

I will say that the day is almost saved by an odd but kind of fun animated sequence involving Luke and the droids befriending Boba Fett who is secretly leading them to Vader. It's cute and I would like to have seen more but I have yet to understand why Han's animated face looks like a Clone Trooper helmet (shrug).

3PO appears briefly in this special for recognition sake and truthfully when it was all over I was surprised that he didn't once muse "How did we get into this mess?" I would have asked that question myself.

I purchased this steaming pile on eBay after hearing about: 1) its badness 2) its first appearance of Boba Fett and 3) its historical significance in the Star Wars series

I am ashamed to say I paid money for this. I sat through the whole thing optimistically thinking that perhaps something good is going to happen next... I allowed my college dorm floor to watch it (for which they still want to kill me). The Holiday Special does have some quality to it (mostly the fact that it is Star Wars related), but should not be viewed under any circumstances! Lets face it, many things have historical Star Wars significance like Splinter of the Mind's Eye and those crappy Ewok movies, but I won't subject myself to those (again) and this is by far worse than those.

Imagine, for those of you who have seen Sonny and Cher or other variety shows, that this is a variety show starring the cast of Star Wars along with <shudder> late 70s icons. I hope that Lucas merely gave permission to do this because I'd hate for his reputation to be sullied beyond what inventing Jar-Jar did. For gosh sakes, Chewbacca has a son named Lumpy in this thing! The only thing that could've made this "special" worse is if we had found out that Chewbacca had a speech impediment all this time and all the other Wookies spoke perfectly good English.

Bottom line, this is one horrendous -thing- and should be avoided by all but the most hard core fan (and even then be forwarned). It's really not even worth the first appearance of Boba Fett except to brag to your friends that you have lived through a viewing. I give this craptacular masterpiece a 1 out of 10 (Mind-numbingly bad on the ragnarok47 critique-o-scale).

Wow. Up until I saw this holiday special, I thought that perhaps the worst TV shows of the 1970s were the "Brady Bunch Hour" or perhaps "Pink Lady and Jeff", but "The Star Wars Holiday Special" is at least as bad...possibly worse. The reason I say worse is that frankly, the actors from the Brady Bunch show weren't super talented and sticking them in the stupid song and dance format just made this more apparent---ditto with the Pink Lady debacle. However, given the amazingly good will of practically every person in America towards the Star Wars franchise and such great characters, the fact it came off so badly is amazing and apparent proof that George Lucas was not above whoring out his reputation (his later Episodes I, II, III and Jar-Jar further proved this). Plus, think about it...with all the characters from the original movie, which one would you use as THE anchor for the special?! What sane person would pick Chewbacca?!? Sure, he was fine in small scenes in the films, but to have his "adorable" family hog up most of the special was amazing--and all the worse because all they could do was make those awful Wookie noises again and again!! The only thing more annoying would have been a family consisting of nothing but Yoko Onos!! They bark and growl and try to be cute, but how long can any sane person stand this awful banter?! Even kids would most likely change channels because it is so boring and pointless.

Amazingly, when the action left the Wookie household, things managed to become even worse. It's like you have Ebola and manage to then come up with a worse disease! Is this even possible?!? For a change of pace after 198 hours of Wookie family entertainment, we are subjected to some of the worst guest appearances in history. Art Carney's is only pathetic and uninteresting. Worse were the god-awful Harvey Korman antics--which were clearly the worst of his career. And then, uggh, a bit with Bea Arthur as an owner of an intergalactic cantina!! Make the pain stop!!! But, then it manages to occasionally become even worse!!! The appearances by the REAL Star Wars characters come off as hastily written (at best) and the acting, if you can call it that, seems very, very stiff and....well,....stupid. Han Solo's appearance is more reminiscent of the scene at the end of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK when he's encased in that block of carbonite!! Luke and the annoying robots are passable...but no better. Then, hearing Carrie Fisher at the end is just plain sad, though unlike some reviewers' comments, she did not appear stoned...just not particularly good or inspiring.

There's also a badly animated cartoon thrown in to boot. Boba Fett cult members will salivate because they get to see their god for the first time, but who else cares? After all, sane people are not fixated on this minor character. After all, he BRIEFLY appeared in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and then a bizarre group of folks campaign with the intensity of the Napoleonic Wars to get him into subsequent films. But the rest of us just aren't that impressed...after all, it's just Boba Fett--a minor bit character.

So what did I like about this film. Hmmm.....nothing. If it were short, it would be a sad but curious curio, but at almost two hours it is mind-numbingly bad. The only reason I might recommend you watching it is if you see it with friends who are bad TV/movie fans who might delight in making fun of it. Don't, however, show it to die-hard Star Wars fans....they might commit suicide OR declare that it is the greatest TV show ever and insist you watch it again (ahhhhh, the agony!!).

Just kidding. It is.

Thanks God some trekkie philanthrope made this fully available on Youtube. Nobody dares to make a copyright claim. Now it is World Heritage. The nightmare of Lucas: from trying to destroy all copies, to the shameful perpetual airing and infinite visionate loop by generations after generations, thanks to Internet.

So, I watched it last Christmas Season. It hurts. Too cringey and embarrassing. And they knew it while filming it. So, why they did it?. Probably for the enjoyment of future generations.

To be honest, there are a couple of flashes of mediocrity within this awful mess. One is the cartoon with Boba Fett, which is somewhere between bad and mediocre.

If you thought the Ewoks were bad, watch this piece of bantha dung and weep. George Lucas would turn in his grave for this, and the guy ain't even dead yet!

Starting off with badly shot video footage (yes, VIDEO footage) of Chewie and Solo in the Millenium Falcon, an overexcited voice-over introduces us to the Star Wars Holiday Special. We see a few shots of what is yet to come, and it does not bode well. A guy that looks like a crossdressing General Hospital reject pretending to be a 'funny' four-armed cook, a pink haired Shirley Bassey wanna-be that would be more at home in a Buck Rogers episode, and what looks like a Jefferson Airplane performance (I kid you not); it goes on and on.

But before that we get a few more video shots of Han and Chewie escaping two Star Destroyers ('cunningly' intercut from the original Star Wars feature). Apparently they're trying to get back to Chewie's family, and this is where the ordeal starts.

For the next hour and a half or so, we get to see Chewie's family, namely his wife, son and father, who live in a badly mattepainted mansion in a tree somewhere. Ben Burtt goes into serious overtime here, treating us to every lion/bear/camel sound he ever recorded for Chewie everytime any of the family speaks. And they speak. A lot.

The action focusses a lot on Chewie's son, who, whining all the way, gets far too much screentime messing about with electronics, watching tv ( a badly animated albeit slightly amusing starwars cartoon) and generally doing boring wookiestuff.

The interior sets are awful, the acting is horrendous (especially the wookie actors who with their exaggerated gestures give the Teletubbies a run for their money) and the plot hideously contrived and pointless. This all happens at a snail's pace with shoddy editing and scenes that go on far too long for their own good. The 'mother' wookie has a 'funny' cooking scene with a tv cook that is neither fun or interesting, a small scene with R2 and Luke (whose makeup makes him look like a girl) repairing what looks like smoke machine and a feeble attempt at a subplot with some old trade fart that sells gadgets.

To top it off, we get two musical numbers, one in the bar in Mos Eisley and one with Princess Leia, for the love of god, to celebrate 'Life day', the wookie variant on X-mas. Please!!!

It is almost worth watching because you'll probably never witness such bad filmmaking ever again. Even John Williams' score doesn't escape unscathed; it gets a 70's/80's synth makeover with bleeps and ploops all over the place. Watching this made me cringe almost every shot. Towards the end it got so bad I wouldn't even have been surprised had David Hasselhof entered the frame........wielding a lightsaber.

Steve Binder raped Star Wars..nay..dare I say it..my childhood by releasing this drivel upon us. How this ever got Lucasfilm approval is beyond me.

Joe

The only way to watch this is drunk/stoned/something/anything. On that, just take a cue from Carrie Fisher, who reportedly doesn't even recall making the special (nor singing, tragically). But please, for your own protection, do not be sober, lest you fall into what should have been called "George Lucas's Infinite Jest".

That one line summary is really all you need to know.

I clearly remember this and how bad it was. Loyal fan that I was, I watched the whole thing. And given the long droughts, see below, between movies for a grade schooler was frustrated it was never aired again. I needed a Star Wars fix even if it was a lousy one.

One thing, however, that needs to be kept in mind, is that in 1978, VCRs had only recently hit the market and Hollywood had yet to release movies on video (and, was, in fact, vigorously attempting to have the recorders banned just as they've done with every advance in recording technology over the last 40 yrs). Shocking as that may seem to those under 30, in those antediluvian days, there was no way to see a movie except in a theater or when it hit Network Movie of the Week night.

Thus, you couldn't simply run out to a store and buy a copy of Star Wars to enjoy at home. And for 7 yr olds having to wait 3 years to see "The Empire Strikes Back" might as well have been 3 decades. (The closest you could get to having a copy of the film was an audio only LP version/8-track tape that was had been heavily edited to fit the time constraints of vinyl. And we played that 8-track until it demagnetized.) So ANY Star Wars related TV show was a God-send. Of course, no one counted on it totally sucking. Which was obvious even to those of us in 3rd grade. (My 4 years old brother was too young to care.) Today, at age 39, I can only laugh when I think about this. I can well-imagine Lucas' embarrassment that this craptastic disaster can't be round-holed.

The thing I've never understood is how he ever allowed it to be broadcast in the first place. Given his famous fastidiousness about tweaking the movies until he gets them "perfect" -- apparently an ever diminishing mirage on the horizon since neither he, nor Spielberg, seem content to leave well-enough alone (see "E.T.").

Did Lucas not bother to screen this thing? It's hard to believe that he did. On the other hand, given some of the absolute garbage he's allowed the Star Wars logo and characters to appear on over the years (merchandise which is estimated to have brought in $13 BILLION and counting and that's NOT adjusted for inflation), maybe this piece of Bantha poodoo is not so surprising after-all.

Still, it would be nice to have a DVD of this, if only for the unintentional hilarity. But Lucas doesn't have much of a sense of humor ("Howard the Duck" anyone?) and the Star Wars franchise has made him a billionaire many times over. Given the fact he's rarely missed an opportunity to capitalize on it, it's more than a little surprising that there hasn't been an official release.

I guess it goes to show that South Park's Matt Stone and Trey Parker have overestimated Lucas' greed. There are places even the great one won't go to pad his bank account.

Check your illusions at the door. "The Star Wars Holiday Special" is genius. Oh, sure, it'll cost you your immortal soul to watch, but it's genius. It's like the apple Adam and Eve famously snacked upon--a myth-destroying wake-up call. Once you see this, you'll never look at "Star Wars" the same way.

Behold the power of the Dark Side: Bea Arthur of "Maude" and "Golden Girls" fame tends bar at the Mos Eisley cantina. Harvey Korman is a wisecracking transgendered robot. The lamest band of the 70s, Jefferson Starship, plays a song called "Cigar Shaped Object." Carrie Fisher, high as a kite, sings a plaintive Wookie "Life Day" ballad. Boba Fett and Snaggletooth get down and get funky. Chewbacca's dad gets all Wookie-aroused at a singing holographic Diahann Carroll. Mark Hamill is made-up like Gloria Swanson. Bruce Vilanch "zingers" abound. And that's just the beginning. There is ample evidence here that Mel Brooks wasted his time making "Spaceballs"--this is much, much funnier.

Fans love to imagine that George Lucas was forced to do this special at gunpoint, that he was drugged and abducted and brainwashed, but it's just not the case. He may have taken some bad, bad advice, but he was the writer and director of the biggest movie of all time. He could have said no. His presence here--and the presence of almost the entire original cast--makes denying this special's existence a little disingenuous. "Star Wars" as a film and as a phenomenon did not exist in a vacuum--it's very much of the 70s, just as the heartbreakingly bad altered versions of the original films, and the nearly unwatchable first prequel are very much of the 90s. And the 70s were a cheesy, cheesy time where Bea Arthur and Bruce Vilanch ruled the earth. I was a first-generation "Star Wars" fan and I still love it, but it wasn't the laughable, inconsequential "Star Wars Holiday Special" that first broke my Jedi heart. It was those sickeningly cutesy singing Ewoks in the tremendously disappointing "Return Of The Jedi." I would have much preferred Bea Arthur.

Lucas need to stop denying this beast exists and release it on DVD--maybe as a hidden "special feature" on "The Phantom Menace". He could then set the record straight once and for all about how it came to exist. The man came up with Michael Jackson's "Captain EO" and "Ewoks." He produced "Howard The Duck." This special is no more embarrassing. And it doesn't diminish the greatness of Lucas' original achievements. Watch "The Star Wars Holiday Special." Laugh at it. Mock it. Learn from it--that no mythology is perfect, that no writer/director/actor is above a few colossal mistakes, that no creative entity is immune to the excesses of its own era, that hubris is a dangerous thing. And beware of anything that takes itself too seriously.

I agree that those first 20 minutes within the Wookiee household are 20 of the worst and most ridiculous moments in cinematic history. However, as a Star Wars fan I did find the rest of the film quite entertaining. Just like the Ewok Adventures or some Star Wars fan films, it's an extension of the Star Wars universe that we all know and love. You get to see many characters from the first film in Bea Arthur's cantina which is always cool because as a kid I loved the brief appearances by the hammerhead, devil and walrus looking guys. You get a better understanding for how the Wookiees actually live (no matter how stupid that may be) and you also get even more indications of just how evil the Empire is. Between the ransacking of homes and the constant presence on Wookiee television screens you get the idea that Lucas created the Empire as a mix between the Nazi SS and a George Orwell 1984 type of government. Because the Wookiees don't speak English and there's no translation available this really doesn't come across as a holiday special. The strange interspecies sexual overtones and the ultra evil imperials also don't add to any kind of holiday special feel either. Using the resources they had they could have made a pretty good Star Wars special, but Lucas was apparently too focused on wanting to show Wookiee home life. Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill turn in the best performances they can with the script they are given and Art Carney does a good job even if Bea Arthur and Harvey Korman do feel a bit out of place. I think most people judge this special simply from those tedious first 20 minutes. I watched the whole thing and in the end found that I'd like to watch it again even if I have to fast forward through the long opening scene in Chewbacca's home. Any person who is a fanatic for the original trilogy (the TRUE Star Wars) should find something to enjoy about this show. Granted, I couldn't give it more than 5 stars because there are so many flaws and it's just so goofy most of the time, but in the end I found it far more entertaining than any Star Wars related thing made in the 21st century...

To the crazies that complain about the new Star Wars movies... watch this mess and you might change your mind! Just awful!