‘A Disturbance In The Force’ Blu-Ray Review – A Fascinating Exploration Of A Notorious Holiday Special

From the filmmakers behind NAPOLEON DYNAMITE and RAIDERS! THE STORY OF THE GREATEST FAN FILM EVER MADE, comes A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE, the documentary about the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. In 1977, “Star Wars” became a cultural phenomenon that single-handedly revitalized a stagnant film industry, and forever changed how films were sold, made, and marketed. In 1978, filmmaker George Lucas was talked into cashing in on the Star Wars craze by producing a holiday variety TV special. What could possibly go wrong? ANSWER: Everything… 

CBS aired the two-hour “Star Wars Holiday Special” during the week of Thanksgiving and it was watched by 13 million people. It never re-aired. While some fans of the franchise are aware of this dark secret, this bizarre two hours of television still remains relatively unknown among the general public. Simply put, the documentary will answer how and why the “Holiday Special” got made.

For thoughts on A Disturbance In The Force, please check out my colleague Mike Vaughn’s piece on it: 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WyOwbVm-Nc]

Video Quality

A Disturbance In The Force comes to MOD Blu-Ray in its original aspect ratio from a stellar high definition master. The transfer appears to have plenty of room to breathe as there are no worrisome issues with compression artifacts, banding, or other digital anomalies. The colors captured on film are natural and vibrant as they bring the nuances of the hues to the forefront. The newer interview segments are bursting with detailed facial features and natural skin tones. Black levels are appropriately deep and allow for a welcome amount of detail in any shadowy moments. 

The film is stitched together with plenty of new footage along with excerpts from various broadcasts and archival footage interspersed for context. The footage of the older material can be inconsistent the further back you go as the source becomes less reliable. Nevertheless, it seems to be the strongest version that you could expect from random appearances on various caliber of shows or other unstable sources. The newly filmed interview footage looks as crisp and clear as you would expect modern interviews to look in a fixed location. Giant Interactive has given this one a top-tier presentation.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray comes with a rock-solid DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that presents the content exceedingly well. Dialogue is the main focus of the feature, and it is never drowned out by competing elements. While the quality of some archival pieces can be inconsistent, to say the least, the track never comes up short when it comes to clarity. Some environments deliver a nice baseline texture with ambient sounds placed carefully in the rear channels. The music is utilized effectively as it permeates the room with graceful fidelity. The audio track is not pushed to its limit with this content, but it always delivers the information exactly as desired. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided on this disc. 

Special Features

• Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided here. 

Final Thoughts

A Disturbance In The Force is an immensely enjoyable documentary that puts a spotlight on a patently bizarre corner of one of the most famous franchises around. While the film could likely survive on simple nostalgic reflection and pithy commentary, there is more depth given to the subject thanks to the exploration of how this notorious special came to be and some of the reasons things went so haywire. The documentary balances analysis from some hilarious comedians as well as creative figures who were around the production to share their experiences. It is pretty straightforward in its execution, but it delivers everything you want from the experience. Giant Interactive has released a new MOD Blu-Ray that features a nice A/V presentation but not much in the way of special features. Any Star Wars fan or fans of bizarre moments in pop culture should check this out. Recommended 

A Disturbance In The Force can be purchased on Blu-Ray directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Giant Interactive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.