The Star Wars Holiday Special: The 10 Most Excruciating Moments – Part 2

The cast are reunited at the end of
The Star Wars Holiday Special

We’ve had holographic acrobats, a spoof of cookery shows and Luke Skywalker sporting Joanna Lumley’s hair and make-up from The New Avengers. Surely The Star Wars Holiday Special couldn’t get any more bizarre … could it?

7 key similarities between American Graffiti and Star Wars

Poster art for American Graffiti (1973) and Star Wars (1977)

Star Wars was George Lucas's third feature film. It couldn’t be more unlike his first, THX 1138 (1971). But it bears a surprising number of similarities to his second, the low budget smash hit American Graffiti (1973). Today, Episode Nothing explores the connections between Lucas's vision of small town California in 1962 and the galaxy far, far away. 

Those Star Wars mini-posters from 1970s Look-In magazines

Star Wars makes the cover of
Look-In on March 11, 1978

The last in our short series of posts about the British weekly magazine Look-In focuses on the mini-posters that adorned many a bedroom wall after the release of Star Wars.

Casting Star Wars: How George Lucas and Brian De Palma found their stars

The alternative cast for Star Wars: Will Seltzer (Luke Skywalker), Christopher Walken (Han Solo),
Terri Nunn (Princess Leia)

Brian De Palma’s Carrie is well worth owning on Blu-Ray just because it’s a great horror film – and a reminder of how much talent was around in 1970s commercial cinema. But for anyone interested in Star Wars in the 1970s, the UK and Ireland Blu-Ray release of the film contains a bonus feature that makes fascinating viewing.

Looking back at Star Wars Weekly – issue 10

The cover of Star Wars Weekly issue 10

Our look at the UK's Star Wars Weekly from Marvel comics reaches issue 10, April 12 1978.

Looking back at Star Wars Weekly – issue 7

Trapped in the Tentacles of Doom:
the cover of Star Wars Weekly issue 7

My occasional, issue-by-issue look at the UK's Star Wars Weekly (yes, I'm still doing that) reaches issue 7 – the edition which introduced us to Star Wars fandom.

Laughing at Star Wars: the Top 10 funniest jokes in the original movie - part two

In part one of this post, I argued that people often forget something important about Star Wars: It was funny.   

It wasn't a comedy, and it never made the mistake of knowingly sending up the genre, but a few well-judged jokes helped make the film the bright and lively experience that it was.

For part two, here is the rest of my chronological list of the film's best comic moments.

Looking back at Star Wars Weekly – issue 5

'Win the cast of Star Wars': the cover of Star Wars Weekly issue five

"Win the cast of Star Wars – great contest inside!"

So ran a strapline on the front of Star Wars Weekly issue 5 in the UK, on March 8 1978.  Win the cast of Star Wars? That really did sound like a hell of a competition.

Princess Leia: Damsel in distress or feminist icon?

Giving the orders: Princess Leia changes the rescue plan

The third in an occasional series of posts about the characters of Star Wars looks at the only young woman in the galaxy.