A Disturbance In the Force

Reckon Star Wars is too mainstream for DVDExotica?  Well maybe, but I think I've found a fair exception.  This is A Disturbance In the Force: How the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened.  And it's exactly what the title sounds like, a documentary about the notorious 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special starring Harvey Korman, Bea Arthur and Art Carney that aired once on CBS, and was then never shown or released again, except via bootlegs and pirate rips.  It's one of those cult videos that might be more fun to hear about than actually sit through, so a documentary like this is perfect.  And it's also a special that raises a ton of questions if you do watch it, so again... a documentary like this is perfect.
I was worried this doc would be all comedians and minor celebrities going "OMG, you won't believe how crazy the Star Wars holiday special is!"  And there is a little bit of that in the initial set-up.  People like Kevin Smith, Seth Green and Patton Oswalt recount their memories of first seeing the special and its silliest moments, which is useful for those who've never actually seen it.  There are plenty of clips, too.  But this is actually a dedicated documentary that takes a fairly comprehensive dive into the history and production of the special.  It interviews many of the key surviving creators, and tracks down loads of great archive footage of those who are no longer with us, or unwilling to talk about their involvement.
Co-director Steve Kozak made this movie in conjunction with a book he wrote of the same title, which lends this project some extensive research and contacts. So we get forthcoming interviews with people like writers Bruce Vilanch (Get Bruce!) and Lenny Ripps, costume designer Bob Mackie, director Steve Binder, Fox's VP of licensing Marc Pevers and several of the original cast members.  Pete Sears, of Jefferson Starship, talks about their musical number.  They even talk to Donny Osmond about the Donny and Marie Star Wars-themed episode that preceded the special the year before.  They talk about the silly stuff shooting the special and the strained politics between Lucas and the network behind the scenes.  Really, just about everything you want to know.  And there's plenty of clips of people like Mark Hamill, Bea Arthur, Harrison Ford and George Lucas himself talking about this film in various media appearances.

A Disturbance was released on blu-ray in December 2023 by a little indie outfit called Giant Interactive, but it's a burned disc.  They also put out a separate DVD release, which I believe is actually a pressed disc.
2023 Giant Interactive BDR.
Giant's blu is single-layered, but for a short film with no features, that's more than enough.  And at 20+ gigs, they fill the disc.  The film is presented in 1.78:1, except for some archive footage, including all the clips from the special which are in their original 1.35:1.  The original footage was clearly shot on digital, so there's no question of scanning quality or film grain, but it's nicely compressed; I didn't spot any banding or anything.  Just a nice, crisp HD image with strong colors and clear detail.

And something better than you'd expect from a BDR: this disc includes both a 5.1 and 2.0 mix in DTS-HD with optional English subtitles.  The only extra is the trailer, but even that's more than you usually find on a burned MOD disc.  And it's an amusing one, so you might want to spend the 90 seconds it takes to watch.
If you enjoyed releases like Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four and The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?, A Disturbance In the Force: How the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened should be right up your alley... and not just because all three have overlong titles.  It's light, and sometimes quite funny, but never too light or sacrificing legitimate substance for a laugh.

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