SKot

buddy-x-wing said:

its very odd reading board members putting forward suggestions that are far worse than anything old George could ever imagine, is this what Star Wars has come too? I sincerely hope Disney has no plans to remake any of the movies, not even the bad ones. 

Think of it this way: could Disney possibly do any worse than the prequels?

When you look at it like that, the only way to go from there is up.

Star Wars  has become the modern day equivalent of a Shakespearean play.  It will be continually told and retold, long after the creator is gone.  The stories will be reinterpreted, redirected, recast, and remade many times over.  This is already happening with Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, superhero backstories, etc.

I just wish they'd wait for the graves to get cold sometimes before they dig them up again...!

but after hearing George 's announcement, I wouldn't be surprised if a Boba Fett spin-off movie is being thrown around as an idea, I really hope they don't, but I wouldn't put it past them.

It will happen.  It is inevitable.

It is also inevitable that the Original Trilogy will be remade someday.  Maybe in our lifetime, maybe not.  But it too will happen.

--SKot

So, Disney bought Star Wars/Lucasfilm.  It makes logical sense, especially from a George Lucas point of view.  Someone has to take care of the baby when Papa is gone.

And now they have announced they will be making episodes 7-8-9.

My proposal is this:

Disney, just remake them all.  You might as well.  4-5-6 (SW, ESB, ROTJ)...starring young new actors and chock full of new CGI.  Then do 7-8-9 starring those same new actors, older and wiser now.  And THEN...go back and remake episodes 1-2-3 with yet another batch of new actors while you're at it.  Do it better this time.

And why not?

--SKot

P.S. - oh, and release the unaltered Original Trilogy in high definition as a historic artifact.  And the Holiday Special, come to think of it.

captainsolo said:

My own take on Disney's newest addition to their holiday video schedule:

Upcoming for the holiday season...Disney Entertainment presents the long awaited cherished favorite: THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL on Blu-ray Hi-def! With over 15 hours of redundant bonus features including Disney Channel cast members performing their own cover versions of all your favorite scene from the award-winning Special, such as inane unintelligible Wookiee masturbation!!Newly remastered from the original 1978 5 year old fan made beta tapes, remastered in breathtaking DTS-HDMA 12.2 surround sound!

My belief is that Disney will put the Holiday Special in that special vault they have that also contains Song of the South.

--SKot

Disney Star Wars. And Episodes VII-IX.

Well, it's shocking.  But it shouldn't be too terribly surprising.  Lucas had to do something to ensure that his baby would be cared for after he's gone, and Disney is the logical choice (at least in George's thinking).  They are known for their overly fierce protection of their properties, and now that protection will be applied to Star Wars.  For better or for worse.

This has turned out to be a very strange day.

--SKot

jonandk said:

First of, let me just say thanks to all of you who've made an effort in preserving this film! 

And now, can anybody help me identify which piece of music that is used in the end credits? Is it available somewhere? I'm making my own "final" version (until an official is released...) from the Zion-hybrid (love the quality!), but without the commercials. Would like to fix the end credits, and remove the voiceover.

Thanks!

As far as I know, it's an arrangement that's unique to the Holiday Special's soundtrack, which has not been released elsewhere (apart from Carrie Fisher singing the Life Day Song, which is on a CD-ROM included with The Star Wars Vault!).

The voiceover was a CBS broadcast thing, and is on every single US-broadcast copy of the Holiday Special I've ever seen.  The only way I know of to get the music without the voiceover would be to use a foreign broadcast copy that had the complete credits.  Possibilities would include the French or Australian versions, if you could find a copy.  The Swedish or the Mexican broadcasts might be good as well, except that they're impossibly hard to find.

--SKot

MattMahdi said:

Erikstormtrooper said:

Where can we find such a wonderful thing?

I downloaded a copy from a.b.sw a week or two ago. Barely noticed it because a huge amount of stuff was posted at the same time so it was one line among dozens. Binsearch says it was posted 24 days ago.

By the way, Carrie Fisher's interview at Celebration VI is fun. These links are in 720p:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWtSU-nE-58&list=UUZtB-ipGrYDWw3sLprXknMg&index=7&feature=plcp"> href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWtSU-nE-58&list=UUZtB-ipGrYDWw3sLprXknMg&index=7&feature=plcp" target="_blank" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWtSU-nE-58&list=UUZtB-ipGrYDWw3sLprXknMg&index=7&feature=plcp">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWtSU-nE-58&list=UUZtB-ipGrYDWw3sLprXknMg&index=7&feature=plcp

(start at the four-minute mark, "Double Take")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVsRaznvQVI&list=UUZtB-ipGrYDWw3sLprXknMg&index=6&feature=plcp"> href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVsRaznvQVI&list=UUZtB-ipGrYDWw3sLprXknMg&index=6&feature=plcp" target="_blank" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVsRaznvQVI&list=UUZtB-ipGrYDWw3sLprXknMg&index=6&feature=plcp">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVsRaznvQVI&list=UUZtB-ipGrYDWw3sLprXknMg&index=6&feature=plcp

(the first minute and a half)

I too got an extras disc from our anonymous friend.  I'm still examining the contents with great excitement...

Celebration 6 was incredible fun.  Sadly, I missed Carrie's talk this time around due to conflicts, but I wish I'd been there to see her sing along to the live Holiday Special segment!  Many thanks for posting the video segments.  She did sing part of the Holiday Special song back at Celebration 4, and I did get to see that.

So this is yet another milestone occurrence: part of the Holiday Special (and not just the cartoon segment) has now been shown officially at a Lucasfilm event.  This would have been unthinkable even in recent years.  Just sayin'...

--SKot

MattMahdi said:

SKot, is there any reference that gives the spelling of Captain Kazan? I'd assumed that it was in the script, but apparently not.

Hmm...yes, oddly enough it's missing from the available script.  The name was only spoken during a quick voiceover at the beginning and end of the cartoon.

I'm not sure if I ever found an actual reference to the spelling in that case.  "Kazan" is the most straightforward, but "Khazan" or "Kazann" even "Cayzann" could be possible.

It seems like I saw it written somewhere, though.  Maybe on the official website?

--SKot

UPDATE: Looking at the official Blu-ray release of the Holiday Special cartoon, the subtitles definitely spell it "Captain Kazan".  But they also call the ship the "RS Reekvange", rather than "RS Revenge".

Reekvange?  Really?  Was it an error, did they know something we don't, or did they decide to change it because "Revenge" sounds more like a name for a Star Destroyer than it does a Rebel Cruiser?

Also, the idea of a "Captain's Log" with a  stardate given...sounds a bit too much like a certain other show with "Star" in the title.  This was an ill-advised last-minute add-in voiceover, methinks.

I'm thinking it's about time these got seeded somewhere...as in the spleen that is mine.  I'm willing to do the seeding, but I don't have any of the discs.

--SKot

none said:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/specialfx/effects/producer.html

NOVA ran a modified version of the doc.  The above link is an interview with the producer.  The official PBS store used to sell copies.

So NOVA ran this on TV?  And there were copies available for sale?  What format - VHS, DVD?  And did anyone buy a copy?

If such a copy was available, this screams preservation, folks.

About a third (most of the Star Wars related material) was previewed at a convention back in 96..  A preservation of that is available on TWC301:

Very nice...at least we can now review what was in the film!

--SKot

Maybe because the SWHS uses the Star Wars soundtrack?  In any case, it's a stretch...someone went to a little too much effort there, and it wasn't Lucasfilm.  It's a bit silly.

--SKot

doubleofive said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbF_ecnlyTk

I think people can claim take downs in anyone's name.

Ah, so it *was* Fox and/or SME (Sony Music Entertainment?) who made the claim.  But neither of them owns the material.

My opinion on this is LFL can take down the material if they so choose.  But they didn't.  Looks like Fox is overstepping their legal ownership here.

--SKot

none said:

doubleofive wrote: The copy I've always watched on YouTube was taken down by Fox.

I guess Fox can do that on grounds of the Star Wars relationship, but it was a CBS program.  What was the link?

Interesting, that.  CBS and Fox are two competing networks, but in the 80s and 90s they had a partnership to release videotapes under the CBS/FOX logo (we all remember those, I'm sure).  That partnership was dissolved in 1998.

But the  point should be moot anyway, since a legal copyright transfer was recorded on May 5, 1989 from 20th Century Fox (who is recorded as the original owner) to Lucasfilm, back-dated to September 1st, 1981, giving Lucasfilm sole rights and ownership. From the United States Copyright Office records:

And included in the list of titles is:

074 Star Wars holiday special; motion picture / PA 22-826 (1978)

075 Star Wars holiday special; teleplay / PAu 92-666 (1978)

So Fox really has no claim on this material.  The fact that they did in the 80s (rather than just CBS) causes me to wonder if this was because they were going to release it on video in the 80s as a CBS/FOX VHS release.  Lucas did mention something about this being in the works at the 1987 Star Wars 10-year anniversary convention.  Perhaps he decided shortly after that he'd better secure the rights to this to keep that from happening, and hence the copyright transfer in 1989.  It's mostly conjecture, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Anyway, the real question is: who does Fox (if it really was Fox) think they are, calling copyright infringement on something they don't own?  Seems like only LFL should have that ability.

Maybe there's a legitimate counter-complaint here...

--SKot

P.S. - you may want to browse the whole entry, as it's pretty interesting.  Both the "Baby Wookie" and "Grandpa Wookie" [sic] masks were registered...though oddly not Malla's mask.  This may explain why we've only seen archive registry photos for the two masks.

Just want to chime in my support for this project, ChainsawAsh.  I just bought the NTSC Special Edition of the DVD, but I am aware of the mastering issues and would love to be able to keep an extra disc in my DVD case that has all this corrected.

As flawed as this TV movie was, it at least gave us Doctor Who in the 90s and paved the way for the high point of the later series.  And Paul McGann is a really great and worthy Doctor; I wish he had been given the chance to do more filmed episodes (hopefully with better scripts!).

--SKot

MattMahdi said:

My back yard is out of control, some of the grass three feet high and much more of it matted down at ground level. I let it go too long, and it'll be at least two more days' weed-eating to get it under control.

Which of course got me thinking about Star Wars -- and specifically the newspaper comic strips from back in 1979. 

Narration: "Gliding sinuously through the miles-thick vegetation forming the surface of Kazhyyyk, the beast of burden plunges downward."

and

Han: "Chewie says the best orga root is on the eighth level... which is as far down as anyone dares to go!"

When was Kashyyyk's structure established? Was it designed for the Special, or was writer / artist Russ Manning extrapolating from what he saw onscreen?

 

Ralph McQuarrie did establish some of the structure of Kashyyyk when he did drawings & paintings for the Holiday Special, some of which have been published and others only recently have seen the light of day.  I think it may have been Lucas himself who had originally decided that Kashyyyk would have layers of flora and fauna below the treetops, each more dangerous than the next depending on how far down you went.  The Holiday Special didn't really explore this idea, but also didn't ever show anyone walking on the planet surface.  But when the stormtrooper fell over the railing, "he's gone!" could mean more than he just fell to his death.

There were two EU items that expanded on the description of Kashyyyk, and one was the Russ Manning strips while the other was the children's book The Wookiee Storybook.  I *think* the Russ Manning strips came first, because I seem to recall the book's depiction of the lower levels seeming much less dangerous than the strip showed.  They both showed up in 1979, though, following the broadcast of the Holiday Special, and "The Kashyyyk Depths" newspaper strips ran from July 15 through September 9.

Both stories referred to Life Day, although the Russ Manning one claims it came once every three years (whatever a year was on Kashyyyk!).

--SKot

I don't see any point in putting a broadcast copy of the Holiday Special on recordable Blu-ray: the media is more expensive, more complicated to deal with, and there's no real benefit in terms of quality gain (it's 34-year-old TV-to-VHS quality; like you said, you can't polish a turd!).  A dual-layer DVD would offer only minimal improvement in bitrate, but would be good if the source material was transferred well.  It's just simpler to have the broadcast Special on DVD media, which plays on all DVD and Blu-ray players.

If you search for the KCCI version of the Special out there, there is a DVD of it with full menus...and the KCCI is the best all-around copy currently available.  It's actually quite decent.  Unless/until something better becomes available, that's the best we've got.

As far as Lucasfilm releasing the Special on BD (or ever releasing it at all), don't hold your breath waiting.  However, at least a *portion* of the Special is now on BD: the Boba Fett cartoon is part of the special features on the 6-film boxed set.

--SKot

red5-626 said:

Has any one seen this?

Star Wars: Holiday Special (1978) in 1080p HD! - (Test)

 

 

 

 Hmm...while I applaud their efforts and don't want to discourage experimenting, I can't help but think of the phrases "sow's ear" and "turd polish" here.  I wonder what copy they used as the source?

--SKot

Mass5160 said:

I've only just recently signed up here, but I am from the UK and I have a JVC S-VHS HR-S9600 hooked up to my PC that I would be more than willing to capture this tape with, should the owner of the tape wish to send me it.

I've seen many preservations of this show myself, but as mentioned above, never one as good as this.

Retartedted: you were volunteering to capture the tape earlier; did you ever get hooked up with foam about this?

If not, maybe Mass5160 can take this over and do the capture...?

--SKot

It's definitely very confusing...maybe both EViLiSO and VCD-Europe got their hands on the same telecine transfer and put out their own releases?  Anyway, if that film really got telecine transferred by May 24th, that's pretty amazing...5 days after the film's release!

Funny that that ezine text file referenced above repeatedly calls both groups' release of the film a telesync, when it obviously is a telecine.

I really hope we can turn up a complete copy of this for posterity.

--SKot

Just realized this is not technically a theater performance copy, and this is the wrong thread for this post. Can we move this to a more relevant thread?

--SKot

After years of having lost this, I was going through my old hard drives and finally found my (incomplete) copy of the very rare TPM Thai-subtitled telecine I picked up shortly after the 'Z' version made the rounds in 1999.  I think I first posted about this here:

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Idea-Original-Theatrical-Prequels/post/105168/#TopicPost105168

It appears to have been an EViLiSO VCD distribution, as detailed from an old trade list:

DT  Name                         Time Format Gen Source Q  Id#   Notes
99  Phantom Menace, The          130  VCDRX2 0   Tel    5  E003  EViLiSO

Here's a few screen shots, cropped in VLC to 16:9.  Sadly, I only have the beginning and opening shot from the first half, and part of the pod race to the part where Boss Nass makes Jar Jar general from the second half:

Above, you can see scratches on the frame...this is immediately followed by jump cut where the film was spliced.

This frame above exhibits an interesting artifact.

This scene bootleg is out there in its complete form, somewhere.  I was never able to get the whole thing because the FTP site went down before my days-long download could complete back in 1999.  The historical value of this 100% theatrical copy is priceless.

--SKot

Wow, it would be great if there was a similar article published for the Canadian airing of the Star Wars Holiday Special...

--SKot

There's a tiny bit missing: establishing shot of the Falcon flying through space, close-ups of Chewie and Han, more flying...and then this shot of the Imperial Cruisers.

This small segment is very commonly missing, since it's usually just the amount of time necessary to press "Start" on a VCR!

--SKot

foam said:

I'll try again to do the sound in a better quality, the recording is complete right from the beginning but the commercials were removed during the recording, that's ok because there's a picture of the Wookie treehouse after each commercial break so none of the footage of the special itself is missing, well maybe one second right at the end credits.  

A shame the commercials were cut as it would be great to see those Aussie commercials from the time, which would be totally different from the ones we're used to from the US broadcasts.  I believe one of my two Australian copies has the commercials intact.

So far without doing anything special and recording out of a average VHS player to an old capture card the video looks about the same quality as the WMAR 2 or KCCI screenshots I saw on page 22 of this thread, although the colour on my copy is better than the WMAR 2 because it's without the "NTSC Redness". I think the potential in the tape is better if I had better equipment.

I'm willing to loan the tape to someone than can do a proper job of capturing it if this tape is deemed worthy of the effort.

I'd say it is!  Anybody in PAL-land with some good equipment up to the challenge?  We could use a really nice PAL broadcast preservation, particularly one from Australia.

I'm sure at least in my location it only aired the one time on Channel Win TV and that was around 1980 or 1981, which was the only channel I had that aired it (I never had Channel Ten in those days)

Yes, the other two versions I have were both from TEN but in different locations and different years.

--SKot

foam said:

Hey guys I have this on VHS (pal) which I recorded from a Win TV broadcast in around 1980, The colour is more natural and not so obscene as the NTSC captures I've seen. I still have the tape and have been meaning to do something with it for around 20 years. I recently got hold of a working VHS player and captured it to my PC at 720x527 and the video quality is excellent compared to some other captures I've seen some years ago (I probably haven't seen the better ones) however I'm having a bit of trouble getting the sound across perfectly so I'll have to do it again once I get a better sound catching setup. What I also really need is a Video player with s-video out I guess. Below is a full screen capture from todays effort

Hey, that's excellent!  I have two separate recordings from Australia (screen thumbnails seen here), but hadn't found anyone who recorded the Aussie broadcast first-hand before.

What's odd about Australia is the number of times it was broadcast there. Where other countries only got it once (if they were lucky/unlucky), Australia got it multiple times from 1980-1984, possibly even up through the late 80s by some reports.

There are a good number of people here who could help you out or offer advice on your capture.  By all means, your copy is definitely a rarity worth preserving, so take care of the original and try to do the best dump of it that you can.

--SKot

SilverWook said:

MGM's assets have been through a lot of hands over the years, the series may belong to Warner now.

Warner announced the Logan's Run tv series as a MOD title last year, but it's not out yet. Logan was definitely an MGM show. :)

http://space1970.blogspot.com/2011/01/news-logans-run-tv-series-on-dvd-in.html

Ah, Logan's Run is another show in the category of Beyond Westworld, with no DVD release on the horizon for many years...that is, until now.  Thanks for pointing that out to me; I had no idea it was being considered for release.  And apparently it's now going to be given the full treatment, as a regular release in April 2012 and not a MOD - probably because of the imminent remake.  Maybe if the remake happens for Westworld we may finally see a release of the Beyond Westworld series.  I guess remakes, even if they're bad, can still have the positive effect of getting sometimes unavailable originals released in hopes of cashing in...

Oddly enough, I've just started watching the Logan's Run series (as recorded off SciFi before it was "SyFy").  But I may stop now and wait to watch the better quality, uncut full series once it comes out in April.

--SKot