The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

Directed by

David Acomba, Steve Binder

Genre

science fiction film, adventure film, science fiction comedy, musical film, Christmas film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 37m

Rated

PG

Rating

3.4 of 10 from 515 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Chewbacca and Han Solo try to visit the Wookiee home planet for a holiday celebration but are chased by Imperial agents. The special introduces Chewbacca's family and includes musical numbers and a cartoon segment.

campydatedsillychaoticunevennostalgicmusicalslow

What happens

The Star Wars Holiday Special is an American television special originally broadcast by CBS on November 17, 1978. It is set in the universe of the sci-fi-based Star Wars media franchise. Directed by Steve Binder, it was the first Star Wars spin-off film, set between the events of the original film and the yet-to-be-released sequel The Empire Strikes Back (1980). It stars the main cast of the original Star Wars and introduces the character of Boba Fett, who appeared in later films. In the storyline that ties the special together, following the events of the original film, Chewbacca and Han Solo attempt to visit the Wookiee home planet of Kashyyyk to celebrate "Life Day". They are pursued by agents of the Galactic Empire, who are searching for members of the Rebel Alliance on the planet. The special introduces three members of Chewbacca's family: his father Itchy, his wife Malla, and his son Lumpy. The program also features the rest of the main Star Wars characters, including Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, Darth Vader and Princess Leia, all portrayed by the original cast (except R2-D2, who is simply billed as "himself"). The program includes footage from the 1977 film and a cartoon produced by Toronto-based Nelvana featuring the bounty hunter Boba Fett. Scenes take place in space and in spacecraft including the Millennium Falcon and a Star Destroyer; segments also take place in a few other locales such as the Mos Eisley cantina from the original film. The special was widely panned and has never been rebroadcast nor officially released on home video in any format in its entirety (save for its more favorably-received cartoon segment). It has become a cult classic due to the underground quality of its existence, and it has been viewed and distributed in off-air recordings of the original 1978 CBS television broadcast by fans as bootleg copies, and uploaded to content-sharing websites. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
• Han Solo: A Smuggler's Trade (2016)
• Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
• Saga of a Star World (1978)
• Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• A Disturbance in the Force (2023)
• Message from Space (1978)
• The Stingiest Man in Town (1978)