428 reviews
It may be a little early for Life Day - or late, considering it was first celebrated a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away - but today I finally took the plunge and watched "The Star Wars Holiday Special". I had seen numerous clips before but never the whole thing.
It was...something else. I will say this for it: while it was terrible for the most part, at least it was terrible in interesting ways...for the most part. Other parts were stultifyingly boring with the mini-transmitter instruction video being the worst offender in that regard. I could be wrong but I don't think that many people watched the first film and asked themselves whether instruction videos (or, for that matter, cookery shows) existed in the "Star Wars" universe. The question that (probably) no one asked was answered here though.
My least favourite part was Diahann Carroll having to slum it - even more than everyone else - as the holographic fantasy woman of Chewie's father Itchy, whose enthusiastic underbite movements were vaguely disturbing.
The animated sequence by Nelvana featuring the first appearance of Boba Fett, now available as "The Story of the Faithful Wookiee" on Disney+, is head and shoulders above the rest of the special. That said, I do think that Luke takes Fett at face value - well, helmet value... - a bit too readily. While it happens off-screen, the same is seemingly true of Han.
The sequence in the Mos Eisley cantina is pretty good fun. As the long-suffering bartender Ackmena, Bea Arthur lifts the whole thing. Her song "Good Night, But Not Goodbye" was the best of the four featured in the special...for whatever that's worth. Harvey Korman is funny as Krelman, having been given far better material to work with in that role than as either Chef Gormaanda or the instruction video - I mean, an instruction video? Really? - host Dromboid. Art Carney has some nice moments as the trader Saun Dann too.
Overall, the special made me very, very glad that we got "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" - for all its faults - in 1979...and not "The Star Trek Variety Hour".
It was...something else. I will say this for it: while it was terrible for the most part, at least it was terrible in interesting ways...for the most part. Other parts were stultifyingly boring with the mini-transmitter instruction video being the worst offender in that regard. I could be wrong but I don't think that many people watched the first film and asked themselves whether instruction videos (or, for that matter, cookery shows) existed in the "Star Wars" universe. The question that (probably) no one asked was answered here though.
My least favourite part was Diahann Carroll having to slum it - even more than everyone else - as the holographic fantasy woman of Chewie's father Itchy, whose enthusiastic underbite movements were vaguely disturbing.
The animated sequence by Nelvana featuring the first appearance of Boba Fett, now available as "The Story of the Faithful Wookiee" on Disney+, is head and shoulders above the rest of the special. That said, I do think that Luke takes Fett at face value - well, helmet value... - a bit too readily. While it happens off-screen, the same is seemingly true of Han.
The sequence in the Mos Eisley cantina is pretty good fun. As the long-suffering bartender Ackmena, Bea Arthur lifts the whole thing. Her song "Good Night, But Not Goodbye" was the best of the four featured in the special...for whatever that's worth. Harvey Korman is funny as Krelman, having been given far better material to work with in that role than as either Chef Gormaanda or the instruction video - I mean, an instruction video? Really? - host Dromboid. Art Carney has some nice moments as the trader Saun Dann too.
Overall, the special made me very, very glad that we got "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" - for all its faults - in 1979...and not "The Star Trek Variety Hour".
Good fun, though the tributes to the TV series were generally much stronger than the plot. The film occasionally dragged in spite of its short running time.
Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar do an excellent job at recreating their roles, though I have to admit that I have always much preferred the purrrfectly cast Eartha Kitt as Catwoman. Unsurprisingly, they all sounded much older than they did in the original series but this didn't bother me because of the sheer passage of time involved.
Jeff Bergman is wonderful at emulating Cesar Romero's performance as the Joker. However, I was slightly disappointed that the Joker was not depicted as having a few hairs on his upper lip as a reference to Romero's refusal to shave his moustache. In addition, his imitation of William Dozier's distinctive voice as the "Gotham Palace" announcer is close to perfect. Wally Wingert is not far behind as Frank Gorshin's Riddler. William Salyers does not sound anything like Burgess Meredith but he is a perfectly serviceable Penguin. Thomas Lennon does a fantastic job at recreating Stafford Repp's hilariously dreadful Irish accent as Chief O'Hara.
I was also disappointed that the film's depiction of Commissioner Gordon in no way resembled Neil Hamilton. In that respect, it was a little distracting whenever Gordon appeared on screen. The producers presumably did not have permission to use Hamilton's image and settled for a more generic depiction of the character based on his comic book appearance.
As well as the tribute to William Dozier and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. in the form of the court case Semple v. Dozier, I'm guessing that the Fitzsimmons Frozen Foods factory is a reference to the series' associate producer Charles B. Fitzsimons, the younger brother of Maureen O'Hara. Because of this connection, I have often wondered if Chief O'Hara was named after the actress, though O'Hara is certainly a very common Irish surname so it may just be a coincidence.
Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar do an excellent job at recreating their roles, though I have to admit that I have always much preferred the purrrfectly cast Eartha Kitt as Catwoman. Unsurprisingly, they all sounded much older than they did in the original series but this didn't bother me because of the sheer passage of time involved.
Jeff Bergman is wonderful at emulating Cesar Romero's performance as the Joker. However, I was slightly disappointed that the Joker was not depicted as having a few hairs on his upper lip as a reference to Romero's refusal to shave his moustache. In addition, his imitation of William Dozier's distinctive voice as the "Gotham Palace" announcer is close to perfect. Wally Wingert is not far behind as Frank Gorshin's Riddler. William Salyers does not sound anything like Burgess Meredith but he is a perfectly serviceable Penguin. Thomas Lennon does a fantastic job at recreating Stafford Repp's hilariously dreadful Irish accent as Chief O'Hara.
I was also disappointed that the film's depiction of Commissioner Gordon in no way resembled Neil Hamilton. In that respect, it was a little distracting whenever Gordon appeared on screen. The producers presumably did not have permission to use Hamilton's image and settled for a more generic depiction of the character based on his comic book appearance.
As well as the tribute to William Dozier and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. in the form of the court case Semple v. Dozier, I'm guessing that the Fitzsimmons Frozen Foods factory is a reference to the series' associate producer Charles B. Fitzsimons, the younger brother of Maureen O'Hara. Because of this connection, I have often wondered if Chief O'Hara was named after the actress, though O'Hara is certainly a very common Irish surname so it may just be a coincidence.
