The Horrifying Star Wars Holiday Special Has Been Given An Unofficial 4K Upgrade
I want you to look at Princess Leia's (Carrie Fisher) face in the photo above. Look at how confused she looks. That's the look that was on the faces of every single person who watched the "Star Wars Holiday Special" when it aired back in 1978, and every person who's found a copy or watched it on YouTube since. I saw it as a child, and I'm not sure I've ever recovered.
Friends, you think you've been scarred for life, but wait, there's more! A YouTube user named Nick Acosta (via Nerdist) has been remastering this wildly weird corner of the "Star Wars" universe in 4K for your entertainment pleasure/horror. It's unofficial, of course, but he's right about what he says below:
I have been remastering the Star Wars Holiday Special. It's done using a combo of version shopping and software. There are a lot of bootleg versions floating around and some are worse than others. The main way to get more resolution is through a machine-learning program called Topaz Video Enhance AI. It analyzes it frame by frame. It is a LONG process so I cut the thing down into a modern-style trailer for it then upscaled that. I've long loved this weird thing. It's so 70's and goofy but it has the actors in their post-New Hope prime, it has the first appearance of Boba Fett and I still consider the whole thing canon. Hope you enjoy it, and if you don't, be kind!
Look At That Eyeliner!
All the copies out there that I've ever seen (and yes, I do watch this every few years to remind myself of the delicious awfulness) are pretty crappy, so I'm actually really glad this is happening. You read that correctly. It's a complete disaster, but it's our disaster. If you've never had a chance to witness the trainwreck that is the "Star Wars Holiday Special," you really should give yourself the gift of WTF this year. (The holiday special being weird is the one thing "Star Wars" fans can agree on.)
Folks, this is trippiness at its finest. Carrie Fisher is on a lot of substances and sings, Bea Arthur also sings in a cantina, Chewbacca's father watches Diahann Carroll in some softcore space porn (no, really), Harvey Korman places a multi-armed cooking show host named Chef Gormaanda, Luke Skywalker wears a whole heck of a lot of eyeliner (which we can see better in 4K), there is a full acrobatics act, the Wookies just speak to each other in Shyriiwook for a full 10 minutes with no subtitles ... this barely scratches the surface. Still, there is a weird and actually pretty interesting animated segment with Boba Fett that is worth watching, particularly with "The Book of Boba Fett" coming out. My Christmas wish is that someone involved in that production says they put something in the show that comes from the special.
So, just watch the 4K trailer. It's actually really good in terms of the technical stuff. Heck, watch the entire thing, and if your face doesn't end up like Leia's in that first pic, please let me know what you were on at the time that made it all make sense. I need to know!