SKot

MattMahdi said:

SKot:  I deeply appreciate your putting the script to the SWHS on your web site.  It's a fascinating read, and it makes me see the Special in new ways.  Some of the stuff that really didn't work was an attempt, at least, to do something interesting or novel.

Most disturbing is that the Wookiees' dialogue is present in English....

Thanks!  The script was the single most important discovery I had when I put the website up.  There were quite a few secrets revealed in there that had been previously totally unknown to anyone.

The Wookiees' dialogue was in parentheses and not meant to be the literal dialogue... just a guide for the actors so they would know how they were going to act and react.

I'm curious, though, if you have more than one version of the script scanned.

My reason for asking is that the thumbnail on the site doesn't seem to match the pages: first in color (pink) and second in the layout of the text.

So I'm just hoping for the chance to explore some other lost relic.  And even if not, it gives me another chance to thank you for maintaining such a fantastic record of something that Lucas would rather forget (the recent 'celebration' at the official site notwithstanding).

Sadly, I have yet to find any other versions of the script.  All the ones I know about are the same exact version as mine, including the one recently discovered in the Lucasfilm archives (shown here).  I know there were other versions, since mine if the fourth draft, but the previous versions have yet to surface.  I'd love to see them.

The reasons for the thumbnail on my site looking different are:

1. somehow the cover page (shown in the thumbnail) didn't get included in the PDF file

2. the pages of the original script copy are actually in color (pink and yellow plus standard white)

I wasn't able to do color in the PDF because it would have blown it up to a ridiculous file size.  As it was, I had to host it elsewhere for a while because of bandwidth issues when I first put it online.  Also, the PDF was made from a b&w xeroxed copy of the original script.  I was only willing to run my original through a copier one time, and even then I had to do them all manually, one by one, because I didn't dare feed those old pages through a sheet feeder.  After I had a master xeroxed copy (which I had Peter Mayhew sign, incidentally!), I was able to use that to make high-speed copies to send off to my friend Brendan Wahlberg, who then created the PDF you see online now.  Not sure why the cover sheet didn't make it into the copy.  I've just put up a PDF with the cover sheet and first page in color here:

http://www.starwarsholidayspecial.com/text/script_cover.pdf

I'm also missing pages 163 & 164 (the final pages) in my original script, but I have since obtained copies of those pages from another source.  Maybe I can add them into the PDF along with the cover sheet and put up a revised copy...

--SKot

I have a couple of these as well, one cardridge even with the original box, but both (while outwardly in good shape) are in poor shape inside.  I think only one of them will actually crank, and possibly only backwards.

It's possible (though probably fairly expensive) to get hold of these in unopened condition, meaning also unplayed condition.  The film stock itself may still be deteriorated from the effects of time, but at least it wouldn't be damaged by the mechanism of the cartridge.

I guess the real question would be whether or not it's worth it to break open a new cartridge to scan the film.  If there was actually any alternate footage at all (though I'm pretty sure there isn't), it would definitely be worth it.  Regardless, I'd love to see some kind of preservation happen since this was really the only moving Star Wars footage I got to see besides the Holiday Special until Star Wars finally came out on video.

For the record, here are are the cartridges that were available for the Movie Viewer:

- May The Force Be With You (came with the viewer by default)
- Assault on Death Star
- Battle in Hyperspace
- Danger at the Cantina
- Destroy Death Star

--SKot

Sluggo said:

Well, holy freakin crap!!

 

An awful photoshopped picture of mine is now on SW.com!! 

 

LOL!, as they say. 

 

The interview is great SKot!  Nice to see the old HS get some props.

Thanks, Sluggo!  I was glad to be able to showcase your picture on sw.com - that's a work of genius, and far from awful, truly.

I really wanted to give some credit to Aaron (Snyder) as well, who has had a huge amount of input on the site, as well as Sonja Nelson who did such an amazing job building the framework of the site in the beginning.

This point in time is probably the point where the possibility of the HS's release is the highest it ever has been.  Unfortunately, it still is probably not enough to make it happen.  But you never know...

--SKot

strangelove said:

Snapz Pro should be able to handle it.

...if you're on a Mac, that is.  :(

Actually, even if I could run the software, it wouldn't do the trick for me.  Snapz records exactly what's on your screen, but I can't even get the video to play properly without pauses and glitches every few seconds.  I wouldn't want to record that.  And of course it doesn't cache properly, so when you try to back up the pointer it loads all over again from that point and plays back just as poorly if not worse.

For the sake of being able to merely view it, I really just need to stream it to a file and watch it offline.  Orbit has worked in the past (with some difficulty), but not now.

Did I mention how much I hate Flash?

--SKot

Has anybody been able to grab this video?  I've tried everything I know and still can't touch it.

Damn embedded Flash videos!

--SKot

Happy Life Day!  We celebrated the 30th Anniversary here with about 25-30 friends (or at least they *were* friends beforehand), and watched it on a big projection screen at 8:00 pm.  It was a beautiful thing.  Like a train wreck is beautiful... see?

It'll be hard to top it for the 35th...

--SKot

There's still a different version up in 10 parts as of yesterday, but it's missing big chunks between segments.

I laughed hysterically at a lot of things in the show.  The best part about it really is Justin's sincere fan enthusiasm.  Yeah, he acts like a total idiot... but in a way that makes you love the guy.  Humor gets a little crass sometimes, but "that's what the kids like these days"...

--SKot

Well, I just tried out my copy of Aaron's Star Tours DVD... it works fine on the laptop, but not on the main PC.  But the drive in the main PC is a bit wonky reading some dual-layer burned discs sometimes anyway.

Also picked up the ride footage from mousebits.  Looks pretty good, but yeah, it definitely could use some color correcting.

BTW: Alex, I don't think I ever saw a copy of your DVD, come to think of it!  My email address is still the same.

So here's a list of the footage that I know of so far that I think we want to see on the Star Tours disc, most of which I know is on Aaron's DVD:

- Star Tours News Kit
1. News Package
2. B-Roll
3. George Lucas Interview
4. C-3PO Interview
5. Warren Franklin Interview
6. Dennis Muren Interview
7. David Feiten Interview
8. Tony Baxter Interview
9. Tom Fitzgerald Interview

- Star Tours Opening Ceremonies

- Star Tours Press Conference

- Area 112 Simulator Cabins & Star Tours Ride Footage

- George Lucas' Star Tours with host Gil Gerard (featuring C-3PO's Space Rap!)

- Star Wars Days 1997 commercial (featuring Star Tours)

- Star Tours walkthrough/ride-through footage

- Star Tours safety video

- A Tribute To Star Tours (fan-made documentary)

 Alex, you probably know of some more I haven't listed here.  And I think there was a Star Tours television commercial as well from when the ride opened.

--SKot

Just saw that YouTube Star Tours doc too for the first time all the way through, and was quite impressed!  That's a great fan documentary.  Not only does it give an interesting and informative behind-the-scenes and history, but it also gives a really great encapsulation of the entire experience, line and all.  That needs to be part of a preservation disc for sure.

--SKot

Erikstormtrooper said:

I've been in touch with Alex Newborn, a big fan of Star Tours who put together a DVD a few years ago. On his DVD he included a TV special on Star Tours hosted by Gil Gerard. Alex might be interested in lending a hand to this project.

Alex also pointed me to a torrent at mousebits.com for the video from the ride, which he says is the best he's seen. It's similar to the timecoded version on OCP's Return of the Ewok DVD, but it's MUCH better in quality. By my eye, it may even be a first or second generation copy. The only issue with the video is that it seems to have a yellow tint, but I imagine that some of you guys here could easily correct that :)

Alex Newborn and Aaron Snyder are the guys when it comes to Star Tours stuff.  They both put together their own DVDs independently before they got in touch with each other.  If we could get them both in collaboration on a Star Tours preservation project, I think the results would be ideal.

I'll see what I can do about that possibility.

--SKot 

skyjedi2005 said:

Lucas: Howard the Duck, More American Graffiti. Star wars holiday special. episodes 1-3, clone wars. Young Indiana Jones, Kingdom of the crystal skull. Radioland Murders, Tucker the man and his dream, willow. 

I had to point out: as much as we might like to, we can't blame Lucas for the Star Wars Holiday Special.  That one was out of his hands; he didn't write it or direct it.  Just an initial story idea was the extent of his involvement...and if they'd done it the way he'd envisioned it, I'm sure it would have been much, much better.

--SKot 

Yoda Is Your Father said:

The show was also notable for the Holiday Special footage that was included!

 Ha!  I'd like to hear some details about that.  And what was the quality of the footage?

--SKot

Sounds great... glad to hear you're on the job, baby hum!

--SKot

My friend Aaron Snyder made a really cool Star Tours preservation DVD a few years back.  It's got the ride video (timecoded I think), the press kit tape, cam footage, and various other bits.  When I talked to him last, his only copy had been rendered unplayable, so it looks like I may have one of the only (if not *the* only) remaining copies of it.  I will see what I can do about getting this shared... at the very least so we have more backup copies out there.

Who has the ability to up it via torrents or newsgroups and would like to volunteer for the task?

--SKot

P.S. - Aaron was working on a V2 a while back.  I'll see if I can get him to work on that some more.

Z6PO said:

SKot said:

Just out of curiosity: did you happen to catch "Au temps de la guerre des etoiles" when it aired 2-3 years later?

(for those wondering, it's the French Star Wars Holiday Special!)

--SKot

 

 

Yeah, at least part of it, on a (very) small black & white TV set !  And it was completly by chance if I remember well. I had no idea that such a thing had been made.

Dare I say that I enjoyed it ?!  It was bad but at least it was some Star Wars ! Those were the time, before the internet, there was no way to have your daily dose of Star Wars...

Cool... I enjoyed it as well, but then again it was actually the first Star Wars film I'd been able to see.  I do recall being a bit disappointed the main characters only had cameos.

Don't suppose you remember the exact year you saw it, do you?  My sources told me late 1979 or early 1980...

--SKot

I have been avoiding watching the actual films for quite a while (don't want to burn out on them!), and instead I have been watching tons of peripheral material.  You know: commercials, making-of specials and documentaries, spoofs, the Holiday Special, etc.  It's a way to get my fix of Star Wars without overdoing it on the films.

When I do watch parts of the films, it's the GOUT I watch.  Doesn't look too bad blown up on my 24" widescreen CRT monitor using WinDVD as the player.

--SKot

Whoa!  Funny, I can see the right image... but it must be in my cache or something.

--SKot

If only this thread *were* the only place where people would bash Lucas endlessly.

I must admit; I get really sick of hearing things like Luca$h, Luca$$, Puke-ass, "Lucas sucks", "raped my childhood", etc., ad nauseum.

For god's sake Skyjedi, Janskeet, and a few others... I love you guys, and feel your pain too, but seriously: give it a rest on the main threads.  It would be 1000x more awesome if you could keep it constructive, or just limit your bashing to one thread like this one.

--SKot

Z6PO said:

1977 (I was 11) at the biggest movie theater of Reims, France. It was dubbed in french (a pretty good and memorable dub), and I'm afraid in mono (just a guess, I have no memory of that !).

At that time everything was translated in french, the movie was called La guerre des étoiles, and the logo in the movie was in french as was the text crawl. The names of the characters, of the places, even the starships were translated !

Just out of curiosity: did you happen to catch "Au temps de la guerre des etoiles" when it aired 2-3 years later?

(for those wondering, it's the French Star Wars Holiday Special!)

--SKot

Agreed; if only we had some kind of reference to edit together something like that!  Since we have no known record of the actual edit for that film, we can only rely on people's memories.  And you know how effective that can be...

(see: people claiming to have seen the Biggs scene or Luke missing with the grappling hook in the first film)

If we had at least a cam copy of the IMAX edit, someone could easily reproduce that in a fan edit.  But so far, nothing of the sort has surfaced.

--SKot

bkev said:

I have a DVD of the one with the commercials & muppets episode.

That would be Rikter's Angrysun Edition v1, which uses the KCMO version.  Quality about a 7/10.

Rikter's Angrysun Edition v2 is the KCCI version, which is about a 9/10 (the highest you can expect for a broadcast copy, with 10 being studio master copy quality).

Also, SKot, whatever happened to that higher-quality version?

I did receive a DVD copy of the newly-discovered WBBM version.  The quality is also about a 9/10 and looks really good, almost having an edge over the KCCI version--however, due to the rough commercial edits (done on a VCR originally), the intro missing a few seconds, and numerous video glitches here and there, the KCCI is still the best version.

I'd still like to get hold of the original videotape if possible to see what kind of transfer we can get of it.  I'll continue looking into that.

--SKot

The Holiday Special was definitely shot on video.  It has that soft focus "shot in a television studio" kind of look to it that you get with things like soap operas, classic Doctor Who, and Dark Shadows.  Besides the recycled movie shots and outtake footage, there wasn't anything in it that looked like it could have been shot on film.

There were a couple of times where rumors surfaced that a film copy of the Special (or sections of it) had surfaced, but these both turned out to be either untrue or an outright con...

The first one was when a high-end auction house put up a 16mm film reel that purported to be the footage from the Jefferson Starship segment.  I found this to be very hard to believe, but thought maybe there was some odd chance either they shot that segment separately on film and edited it into the Special, or maybe someone (the band, perhaps) needed just that video on film and had it transferred.  I talked to the guy who was the seller, and he turned out to be someone who worked on the production.  He was certain the reel had been used during the making of the show.  I took a risk and won the auction, with the full assurance that if it turned out to be not what it was supposed to be I could get a full refund.  When I received the reel, I immediately took it to a transfer house and had it telecined (along with some family 8mm footage I'd been meaning to get done).  When I got it back, I wasn't too surprised to find that the footage was not the video from the Holiday Special at all, but a 1976 video for the song "St. Charles" featuring Grace Slick.  It was still a cool find, and very very rare--I could only find one person on the internet who claimed to have a copy, and even when the band released a DVD of their promo videos recently, this was NOT included.  So I sent the film back and got my refund, and talked to the seller about what this might have actually been.  We came to the conclusion that this reel was probably ordered by the production to help sell the idea of using the band in the Special.

The second time was when a very dubious-looking auction came up on eBay where the seller claimed to have the entire Holiday Special on a 16mm reel (or two, it wasn't clear).  Why the show should be on film, we had no idea.  There was talk on this forum that some TV shows were put on 16mm film to show to schools or the military overseas, but that also seemed unlikely in this case.  The seller was very dodgy when asked about details, and the whole thing sounded extremely fishy.  The photos given proved nothing, and the seller seemed incapable of taking a picture that showed any of the actual film frames.  In the end, I decided against trying to win the auction because of the dodginess of the auction, and the fact there was no way the entire Special could fit on a couple of 16mm reels (which normally hold about 11-12 minutes each at 400 feet of film!).  As it turned out someone in France paid a lot of money for it and not surprisingly, from what I could gather, received nothing.  The seller seemed to be involved in other eBay scams as well.  It sounded too good to be true, and it was.

So the fact is, the Holiday Special should never have existed on film at all.  The master copies are on 3/4" U-Matic videotapes, and it's extremely unlikely anyone would convert them to film, especially given how much of a turd the Special tuned out to be.

--SKot

The KCCI version was up on the 'Spleen, but who knows if there are any seeders anymore...

--SKot

I saw it with my girlfriend on Sunday.  And guess what?

I liked it.  I really enjoyed it.  We both did.

Now, we both still have big problems with the prequels.  But I tried to go into the theater with no real expectations either way.  And I quite honestly had a really good time watching it.  It reminded me of reading the old Marvel Star Wars comic books back when I was a kid, or the newspaper strips.  It was basically just fun stories set in the Star Wars universe.  They didn't always have to be great, but they were always exciting to read.  And something about this being animated rather than live-action gave it an excuse to be less serious.  I really laughed at some of the jokes that would have irritated me in a live-action film (the battle droid screaming "whyyyyyyy?!" when Ventress force-throws him off the ledge is one good example - I pointed and guffawed!).  I didn't find myself cringing like I did with the prequels.  I think I had a smile on my face the whole time.

I do need to mention though that we were absolutely the only people in the theater.  Period.  I don't think I've ever had an entire theater to myself before.  Of course I didn't mind; we could sit anywhere in the whole place and make as much noise as we wanted.  But it did drive home the point that this film has really bombed.  I don't think it really deserved to bomb like it did (far worse films that deserved to bomb have done far better), but on the other hand I do hope it finally sends a wake-up call to George Lucas that the majority of the fans have had enough of buying anything he wants to sell them.

Personally, I'm excited to see more chapters of the Clone Wars... but realistically I really do think it's time for Lucas to put Star Wars aside and move on.  You cut the golden goose open, George, and there's nothing in there but entrails now.  Concentrate on the golden eggs you already have called the Original Trilogy... polish them up properly before you sell them (again), and then move on and make some great, non-Star Wars movies.  Please.

--SKot