The Star Wars Holiday Special comming to DVD

[CensoredAlso]

I haven't seen the Droids or Ewoks cartoon series

I saw the Droids series, it was OK, nothing too special, just a cute little kiddie cartoon basically.

But I'd still rather watch it than the prequels, lol!

Somehow I have a feeling this special would appeal more to people who aren't hardcore Star Wars fans. More to variety show fans. When most people think of Star Wars, they don't think celebrity guests or musical numbers.

Variety shows were still pretty big at that point and I do think that's what the special was trying to imitate. Problem is it's hard to do that while still telling a story. Plus the "acts" they had were just plain bizarre, lol.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Now... you have to think of this in the sense that you created something yourself... imagine if the studio has complete and utter control over something you created. Without your permission, they can take your characters and do whatever they want with them.

Hey you won't get an argument from me about big, impersonal studios messing up a good thing. Happens all the time. But there also are times when the creator doesn't know what he's doing anymore. I know from experience that the time comes when you've simply run out of creative energy for a particular project. No matter how good you are, this can and does happen. And a creator shouldn't always be trusted to deliver the best product. One of the most famous examples is Star Trek, where Gene Roddenberry probably should not have been in control of the first film. And as much as we complain about studios, remember they are the ones who make the good movies possible, as well as the bad.

 

[Drtooth]

It's about 50/50... sometimes when things are taken off the hands of the creators, they are much better than what they could come up with. Sometimes young blood can bring a fresh new view on something... Filmation and Ralph Bakshi both did some things with Mighty Mouse that are improvements over the old series. More so the latter, actually... and making Space Ghost a chat show? How did anyone like him before that?

It all depends on who's got their hands on it. I've seen stuff held hostage by old fuddy duddy creators, and I've seen bright young creations ripped out of someone's hands. Then of course there are the creators so desperate that they don't mind someone else screwing it up.

But then again, a LOT of these directors become fuddy duddies... I wanna see episode 7 done by someone who has vision and cares, but doesn't detract so much from the original idea they make something that stinks in a different way.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

I'm a fan of "Star Wars" in general and I like it all.
I saw the Star Wars Episodes I, II and III movies in theaters and that was very exciting for me to see Star Wars movies in theaters since I wasn't old enough to see the originals in theaters. I will say that Episode II dragged for a bit, but otherwise I enjoy all three of the prequel movies. And I love the original movies- "Return of the Jedi" is still my favorite- mainly because it's the culmination of the storyline and the strong redemptive story that is in there- which resonates with me as a Christian particularly. I'm pretty sure I've talked about this in another thread somewhere.
Anyway- I've also seen "The Star Wars Holiday Special" in its entirety. I've got it on video - it's fun! It's crazy, sure- I have no idea what holiday it's celebrating (i.e. real life holiday that is- because it sure ain't Thanksgiving or Christmas)- but hey, it's Life Day! Come celebrate with the Wookies! Hear Beatrice Arthur sing! Hear Diahann Carroll sing! Hear Jefferson Starship sing "Fire in the Sky". Watch weird Wookie porn. (Okay- sorry about that joke there- I certainly wouldn't be advocating porn of any kind of course and this isn't really that obviously- but Itchy does seem to get quite excited with the circus dancers.) Listen to nothing but Wookie growls for a solid 5 to 10 minutes at a time. (haha- or something like that.) And yes- witness the first ever appearance of Boba Fett- in cartoon form, no less. I've seen the whole thing in its entirety at least once- and bits of it more than once. I love stuff like this though. Like I said- it's fun. Crazy fun.
(And yeah- though you can readily get it on DVD on Ebay, I'm pretty sure you can also watch the whole thing on Youtube as well.) Check out www.starwarsholidayspecial.com for a really awesome site about this special- and it does list some of the officially released merchandise regarding this special- what little there is of it- but there is some! Happy Life Day!

 

[Drtooth]

I'm a fan of "Star Wars" in general and I like it all.
I saw the Star Wars Episodes I, II and III movies in theaters and that was very exciting for me to see Star Wars movies in theaters since I wasn't old enough to see the originals in theaters. I will say that Episode II dragged for a bit, but otherwise I enjoy all three of the prequel movies. And I love the original movies- "Return of the Jedi" is still my favorite- mainly because it's the culmination of the storyline and the strong redemptive story that is in there- which resonates with me as a Christian particularly. I'm pretty sure I've talked about this in another thread somewhere.

I tend to think the problem with the prequels is the political intrigue being a primary focus... and again, wooden acting does not equal serious acting. I liked all of them, but the first one is something you only wanna see once. The second time I saw it, it just didn't have the wow factor, and everything that drags drags longer. Especially the race... drag... race... Drag race! That, ah say, that's a joke son!

I find the second one an actual improvement over the first... but the third was almost there. Had he got a pinch director, he might have nailed it... but if nothing else, the wookie battle? That was worth the 10 bucks.

Yeah, he relied a little too much on CGI, I admit... and that negativity reacts with the stiff acting , bouncy characters only enhancing the woodenness. But I blame the direction for the acting. And somehow, Episode 1 needed moar Darth Maul... a LOT moar. But General Grevous in the third movie? He's been my favorite character in the whole pre-trillogy. Too bad he spends more time in the cartoon adaptions. A wheezing robot thing? Amazing.

As for Droids... I actually have that DVD. Unfortunately, it's the redub. I mean, it's great to hear the original C#-PO voice actor, but I would have rather heard the original music instead of the repetitive synth track... what can I say, I love 1980's cartoon background music almost as much as Animaniacs and their live orchestras. It actually holds pretty well up to the movies, though I can't quite tell where they take place (in the middle of 3 and 4, maybe?) and I like how Vader is constantly mentioned, yet never seen... implying that he's got that kind of clout as an evil leader... or puppet there of.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I can't watch Episode I for very long; it's just too childish for me. If Episode II and III are on, I'll watch them. But the whole time I'm thinking, "Why is there no acting in this movie?" Not to mention the Anakin turning evil storyline is needlessly complicated and all over the place. And the idea that a woman would just give up and die when she has two children just because her boyfriend turned bad was insulting to say the least! Every woman I watched it with felt the same way, lol.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Especially the race... drag... race... Drag race! That, ah say, that's a joke son!

Haha- I appreciate such humor, Foghorn Leghorn.

And yeah- the Wookie battle in "Revenge of the Sith" was quite cool- that was by far the best of the prequel movies- of course, it succeeded in what it set out to do- it definitely made we want to see the original classic "Star Wars" trilogy again.

I've seen bits of the "Droids" and "Ewoks" cartoons- it would be neat to track them down and really watch a few episodes in full. I'm sure I can find some on Youtube readily enough. I also have the 2 Ewok TV-movies ("The Ewok Adventure" and "Caravan of Courage") on DVD- I really need to get around to watching those sometime...
And for "The Clone Wars" cartoon- I saw the theatrical version in theaters- it was pretty cool but I didn't think it was that memorable necessarily- but the cartoon show is pretty good from what I've seen of it.

 

[Drtooth]

I can't watch Episode I for very long; it's just too childish for me. If Episode II and III are on, I'll watch them. But the whole time I'm thinking, "Why is there no acting in this movie?" Not to mention the Anakin turning evil storyline is needlessly complicated and all over the place. And the idea that a woman would just give up and die when she has two children just because her boyfriend turned bad was insulting to say the least! Every woman I watched it with felt the same way, lol.

I don't see it that way. It's all concept over execution. Now, way I see it, Anakin slowly but surely had the seeds of darkness spread over him. Everyone sees something special in him except the ONE PERSON they should have listened to, and Obi winds up causing their own destruction by NOT listening to someone that specifically told him NOT to keep him on as an apprentice. That's somehow strongly hinted at in the 4th movie, and the reason he's gone into hiding... in fact, you could say there's too redeeming stories here... Obi trying to fix a huge mistake that was his. Somehow I'd say Leia knew of this, and that's why she sent the droids down to him.

Now as for Anakin, there was no doubt there was a part of his mind that felt oppressed by what happened on Tatooine... his first act of darkness was killing an entire village of Tuskin Raiders (unless they were something else... didn't see these in a while) for the death of his mother... he was a mama's boy since that was all he had. A HUGE red flag was ignored there.

Now, when it comes to the died in childbirth part... this is what I like about it (though I do think it comes off across the wrong way). he had visions that this prophecy would happen, and long story short... his actions MADE that happen. So basically I got the message that even the most well meaning of selfish acts does have dire consequences. Now I wouldn't so much say that "her boyfriend turned bad" and that killed her, so much as the fact he became a psychotic monsters and puppet of the VERY same movement she was trying to stop put her in a state of complete hopelessness and fear that ended up killing her. it should have been a little more obvious than the movie let on... but that's why he needed a pinch director.

I'm like one of the only people that actually feels that enhances the story of the last 3 movies (in more ways than one, one in an unfavorable fashion), if only to see Obi try to make good for ignoring Yoda and basically dooming the galaxy and Darth Vader to look upon his son in that last movie and realize he was a monster AND he was used and manipulated by a greedy politician. And said politician basically had a thing of popcorn by his side when they were about to kill each other, Luke dangerously close to becoming the next Darth as well. That gives it so much more than "Holy crap, I'm killing my son." At least to me it does.

I dunno... maybe he shoulda just made the rest of the story a series of books RIGHT after the finished the last film. Or had a pinch director with actual VISION finish them.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Here's the thing, what YOU'RE saying sounds great. But when I watch the actual movie, it fails to live up to the promise for me.

I'm like one of the only people that actually feels that enhances the story of the last 3 movies

To me the originals aren't the "last 3 movies." Point of view, right?

 

[GonzoLeaper]

The original Star Wars trilogy is comprised of the last 3 movies in the chronological story.
But yes, they are also the first three movies to be filmed.
This is what makes it weird in conversation to refer to liking "Star Wars" when asked what your favorite movie is. Subtitles help- so that you can say "Episode IV" or "A New Hope"- but honestly, no one in 1977 really referred to the movie as anything other than "Star Wars" from what I can tell. "The Empire Strikes Back" is technically "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" but that's too many syllables for people to say, thus it's just referred to as "The Empire Strikes Back" and the same deal for "Return of the Jedi"- that all works fine until you get to "The Phantom Menance", "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith".
Two different generations have separate series of movies in mind when thinking of "Star Wars", it seems. I accept all 6 as part of the cohesive storyline of course. And I can see how it all fits together.
Of course, then you have to step even further back to incorporate it all into the cohesive Star Wars expanded universe that includes the books and comic books and video games, TV-movies and specials, cartoons and of course- random guest star appearances.
So it really should be- "Star Wars: A New Hope", "The Star Wars Holiday Special", "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back", "Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire", "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi", "Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura", etc.
(I can't remember where exactly the "Star Wars: Droids" and "Star Wars: Ewoks" cartoons fit in or the "Star Wars: The Ewok Adventure" and "Star Wars: Carvan of Courage" fit in either for that matter... probably after Episode VI, I would think)
But then you also have to fit in the Star Wars appearances on "The Muppet Show" and "Sesame Street"