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Hey everyone! I’m proud to announce the third Orange Cow Productions Star Wars disc - Special Edition Hype!
Coming hot on the heels of Deleted Magic and Return of the Ewok, this fun little disc will transport you back to 8 years ago in a galaxy very near … when Star Wars was coming back out in theaters and you couldn’t watch TV without running into some cheesy special about the Special Edition.
The DVD collects the specials The Magic and the Mystery (FOX), Star Wars: An MTV Movie Special, and The Force Returns (Sci-Fi).
This DVD is based on a VHS tape Alex Brunelle (ReverendBeastly) sent me … the quality isn’t great, but then neither are these specials! I’ve done them what justice I could by including the original commercials from 1997, which you can watch the specials with or without. It’s amazing how dated/cheesy these specials already are …
Also included, as an easter egg, for the first time ever on DVD, is my 24-minute documentary from 2002, “Talking to People About Star Wars” … in which some friends of mine … amateur actors and actresses I know actually … express their thoughts about Phantom Menace, and how it’s hard to be a Star Wars fan these days. It’s a very interesting watch, as they kind of speak for all of us, in different ways, with different opinions. The doc can be watched at orangecow.org somewhere.
Here’s the specs for the DVD:
Original ads:
Taco Bell - “Feel the Force”
Pizza Hut - “The Pizza Head Show”
Pepsi - “Boy/Usher/Vader”
Empire Strikes Back SE tv ad
Star Wars: The Magic and the Mystery: Hosted by Howie Long, this hourlong special by FOX looks back at the impact of the saga, talking to the cast (Fisher/Ford/Hamill) and famous filmmakers (Ron Howard/Ridley Scott/Irvin Kerschner), while hyping the Special Edition. Features footage of Declan Mulholland as Jabba the Hutt unavailable elsewhere. Interviews are taken from the same sessions as “Making of The Special Edition,” but are occasionally different. Interviews with famous filmmakers used in this special were also used on the 2004 DVD, for that featurette with Peter Jackson in it. The special is fairly cheesy, and Howie Long is a particularly awful host. We see footage of the SE premiere. Notorious USC professor Drew Casper is also featured, frightening any USC film student who might be watching. Steven Spielberg, Magic Johnson.
Star Wars: An MTV Movie Special - Fairly amusing interviews with Fisher/Ford/Hamill. Very random MTV type celebrities are asked about Star Wars. Carmen Electra. Gwen Stefani. Green Day.
Sci-Fi: The Force Returns - Ultra low-budget documentary. The Sci-Fi Channel was still kind of in its infancy then, and this one is kind of amusingly ghetto. More stock interviews from Making of the Special Edition sessions, and poorly-filmed stock from some convention somewhere. Men dressed up as Princess Leia. And hype, Jabba hype, Jabba hype!
Talking to People About Star Wars - 2002 doc by myself … Real fans talk about coping with their disappointment about Phantom Menace, and what comes next …
The three specials can be watched either with or without the original commercials. Menus have chapter selection. There is also a section for just the four Star Wars related ads.
The opening menu is kind of my very non-affectionate tribute to the Special Editions. Might amuse those O-OT purists.
Enjoy, folks!
My email is, as ever, tygerbug at yahoo.com.
