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Star Wars - Holiday Special

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Goggs Mackay

Goggs Mackay

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I just came into possession of a copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special. George Lucas has been quoted on several occasions saying that if he could pay someone to hunt down and destroy every copy in existence he would do so because it is so terrible. Such a mistake.

I had no idea this existed. Feature length and revolving around Chewbacca's family on a holiday (obviously a nod to Christmas).
It is awful. Just awful. Han, Leia, Luke and Darth Vader make appearances as well as some other familiar sights but not in a good way.

Fans who got pissed over The Phantom Menace will go insane over this travesty. I actually had to give up watching it. You have no idea the depths of utter crapness this is. Oh George, the seeds of your downfall in the eyes of many Star Wars fans were obviously sewn a lot earlier than most would have guessed.
As a fan of Star Wars I was compelled to take a look. As a fan of Star Wars I was compelled to quit taking a look before the end. The damage to the Wookie reputation was enough but it gets so much worse!!
 
It was a long time ago....... that i watched this late 70's iirc, but i remember enjoying it at the time, i would most likely not enjoy it today, but at the time i was hungry for anything new in the SW genre.

I'll never forgive uncle george for killing off Chewbacca.........
 
Yeah Mike - Lucas quite rightly says that he makes these films for kids. Kids who were not brought up on the originals think jarjar binks is funny. They like the films episodes I-III like we like IV-VI and if that is the case, then George Lucas has done exactly what he set out to. It is us fans with the problem really. We don't need to watch anything other than original versions of the first 3 films.
If I have to decide whether Lucas has been a positive thing in my life overall? Shit yes. Genius level man in this industry and his cool marketing and merchandising is faultless. I just don't get wound up about disappointing aspects to the later films. They are only films and if you don't like them - don't watch them. End of.

When I was a kid I would have lapped up anything and I mean anything that had that official Star Wars logo. This holiday travesty too! But, looking back now as an adult (?) I can objectively say that this holiday thing is the single biggest mistake that Lucas made. He agrees. I imagine the actors such as Hamil, Fisher, Ford would rather forget this episode too - they do not come across in the same way that they do in the films. In this, they look like low-profile actors needing money who will act in anything, xmas specials included.

It is testament to the power of Star Wars that we are even discussing this right now!
None of the new films were bad all the time, they just seemed to have silly aspects that really, maybe are in the originals but we were young then and didn't spot stuff like that. It was 100% perfect to me as a kid. The only thing I would have changed as a kid about Star Wars is that I would have changed Mark Hamil for me!!
 
I loaded up my Ep 4 DVD in honour of Ralph Macqaurie a few weeks ago, it was as good as ever.
Imo, it all started going pear shaped towards the end of jedi.
 
Agreed Mike. You know what too? When I see X-Wing death star scenes or snowspeeders with AT-AT's in the snow, I think to myself that the effects are still amazing, esp for the time. Ok, you can see black outlines where they used green-screen and things like that, but the direction and editing and those fantastic models, coupled with fantastic music - I still get a boner that nothing can equal. Keep your 'Matrix' or 'Avatar' effects, which are of course just amazing. But keep them nonetheless. Star Wars, even after all these years, still has a special place for myself and millions of others cos it really was and is just that bloody good.
 
Ive been a fan since seeing the premiere in 1977, i have over 60 of the novels, biographys marvel comic adaptions etc etc, even a full sized stormtrooper in the lounge, and of course a zillion models and toys.

I saw SW's over 300 times at the movies, and close to that for ESB, i have the DVD's for the first 3 as well, but like many find elements of these ones unbearable, I think this guys reviews are spot on in his criticism, and frankly his reviews are more entertaining than the movies


Part one , but beware once you watch this, you will want to watch everything hes done......

He does attack of the clones and revenge of the sith too.
 
Mike I must confess I didn't take your warning seriously about watching them all. I quickly started to hate what I thought was a fake voice by the reviewer. However, 20 minutes later I was watching the 3rd review and thinking, 'shit, this guy is a genius for putting into words what all SW fans instinctively knew, namely, that they just did not understand the plot of the Phantom Menace.'
Very, very good.
 
Wait a goddamned minute Mike! You say you have a full size Stormtrooper in the lounge?

Are we talking about a human-sized model or an actual actor's suit? Without a doubt, the original Stormtrooper's uniform/suit (including the Speederbike Stormtrooper variant - remember the visor part that is really cool?) is the coolest movie costume ever, ever, ever, ever ever ever made. Ever.

Can you post a photo of said Stormtrooper?

Seeing as you are obviously a major fan, I will tell you that whilst staying near London a few years back while in the military, I found one of these model shop cum sci-fi fan shops that was selling original action figures. For the princely sum of £7 I gained an original Stormtrooper figure (not in the box of course) which I then put on my car's dashboard as a kind of mascot. No longer have the car but still got the stormtrooper!

Anyway, this shop owns one of the actual R2-D2 full size models used in the original movies. Quite a bit bigger than I expected and that is something cos I am very tall (6'4") and usually meeting famous people in person etc has me feeling they are all smaller in real life than I was expecting. Not the case with R2 though, he is pretty bloody big!
I cannot remember where exactly but somewhere in Los Angeles there is a Hard Rock Cafe (I think, it was 20yrs ago) and they have one of the actual model DeathStar's from the original movie. Boner city! I was there on holiday and actually had no idea I would end up somewhere with such a cool piece of movie history but I don't like calling it movie history - real fans of the originals know that Star Wars actually happened in a galaxy far, far away........Deh deh deh, duh, dee deh, duh, dee deh...
 
Yeah those reviews are great, the guy is a genius

Pictures.......

Ok here is me a long time ago with one of the original SW's vader prop suits, lent to the australian fan club for promoting the premiere of ROTJ

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The gang at a costuming promo for the movie (not the same vader suit)
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Every library should have a suit of armour......

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And its Blastech E-11.

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YOU DIRTY LUCKY EFFING BASTARD!!

Nice, really, really nice. Don't you expect to start walking? Almost looks like it is a real bloke!

On a separate note, your ROTJ 'Leia' was a babe - one on the far left too! Who says only ugly girls are geeks!

I seem to remember Lucasfilm having some legal wrangling with the guy that made the original costumes for the stormtroopers -he was selling reproductions or something. Is your stormtrooper official merchandise?

Anyway Mike, thanks for sharing - really nice collection, I am well jealous!
 
Im still in contact with her, and just about everyone else in that pic on Facebook.

And yeah, im a lucky guy, that suit normally lives on its manniquin, but its also been tailored fit me, so i can wear it too.

Stormtrooper armour and helmet is a huge area in its own right, my helmet is an official ESB Style stunt. (there were two types stunt and hero)
Most people dont notice the difference between movies but they are there, SW helmets had grey and black paint on the mouth, ESB were just black
Everything you want to know is in the link below.

Stormtrooper Helmets and Costumes

The armour itself is a fan cast, not licensed, but is considered to be one of the best available.
You need to know someone who knows someone to get these, Uncle george turns a blind eye as long as its fans helping fans be fans. But if it looks too comercial then a cease and desist letter will arrive.
So sales take place in the murky alleys of emails.
My kit was excellent, it contained the varient parts so i could make a sandtrooper or any of the three movie varients.(each movie had different designs for the hand guard)
So mines an ANH, but i have the hand guards to troop as ESB or ROTJ varients if i want.
Im also lucky enough to own some of the original 1977/8 models (c3po,r2d2,vader). the very first runs of what was to become a franchising empire


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I had a falcon too. 'Had' being the operative word. So many days we just went outside with SW figures and craft and played all day. I genuinely worry for kids thesedays not using their imagination and being out with other kids. I don't have any kids yet but if I do, they will not be allowed to play on consoles all the time. Sometimes, yes, but other times (good weather) they will be kicked outside and told not to come back until they are hungry, dirty or tired, or all 3!
 
SW-HS or "Clown Fest" as I like to call it should have been never made, it nearly shattered my childhood memories.
 
Hey Mike! Para decided to join our Star Wars reminisce! I felt the thread was a bit lonely with just the two of us, considering the movie we are talking about. Added to that, your amazing phots of your full-size stormtrooper outfit + blaster, and the 'falcon of course - your photo with an original vader outfit? All that stuff is interesting to any true fan of Star Wars (IV-VI). You can never truly outgrow a love of the real SW - it was just that good and for so many of us, played an absolutely huge part of our play and imagination as children that it is in actual fact, something you just cannot rid yourself of, no matter how mature you think you've become.
Do you know anyone who was really into the original films but now claims to care less about SW? No, the answer is no because no-one really stops loving a film that good. Anyone who claims that was never a true lover in the first place. No-one will challenge that point of view!

Para - Please weigh in if you think you have any Star Wars gossip, info, personal stories etc - I promise I would love to read any, and if I many speak for Mike, he would too I've no doubt!
I personally really like asking how something affected other people when I know the same thing affected me so much - it's amazing what you can learn!

(Watching an episodes IV-VI triple-bill back in the day, I once counted how many times any of the characters say 'I've got a bad feeling about this.....,' I always noticed it is said a in every of those films. The total, unless I missed any, is 7. Seven occasions through the 3 films in total. If feels like more but I think it's because we expect them!

Favourite action scenes for me are probably: Snow-speeders attacking the AT-AT's, the Endor speeder-bike chase through the forest, Luke racing through the corridor encircling the outside of the Death-Star and Han, coming to the rescue after all, when we were led to believe he'd just buggered off with his reward. That bit where Han just arrives and gives Luke the chance to concentrate and fire......Han congratulating Luke saying 'Great shot, that was one in a million kiddo' (or close).
Anyway, how obvious was it just then that I was starting to reminisce strongly about these damn good movies! SW forever, unashamedly.
 
Yeah. Now I am gonna attempt a bit of a stretch. Never tried this before but I am gonna attempt to name the characters who spoke that line. Here goes:

Han
Luke
3-PO
Leia
Lando

Not sure if Kenobi does? Now either that is them all, and one says it twice (Han or Leia?) or I have miscounted anyway. Corrections please - am really scratching my head here!
 
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