The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (2020 TV Movie) User Reviews

This will erase the horror of the 1978 Holiday Special...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 18 November 2020]

I sat down to watch the 2020 "The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special" last evening, and it was with a great deal of reluctance given two factors; first, the horror that was the 1978 "The Star Wars Holiday Special" and this being a LEGO animated movie.

Well, first of all I must say that I was more than genuinely surprised by how fantastic "The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special" actually turned out to be. Sure, it is a LEGO animated movie, but it is an all-together very enjoyable foray into the "Star Wars" universe.

Secondly, and most importantly, "The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special" is the seasonal holiday movie that Star Wars has been waiting to get in order to erase the memory of the abysmal 1978 "The Star Wars Holiday Special". Just remembering having sat through that horrible experience still makes me shudder.

The storyline told in "The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special" was very enjoyable, and especially for a "Star Wars" fan such as myself, this 44 minute long animated movie was just crammed with so many great - and often subtle - nods and praises to all the "Star Wars" movies and series with references, scenes, scenery, etc. I will say that "The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special" is well-worth watching more than just a single time, in order to catch all the minute details and references. Trust me, there are plenty of them all throughout the entire course of these 44 enjoyable minutes.

This being a LEGO animated movie, you know that you are getting quality animation. I was just fearing that it would be an animated movie that was aimed directly at the younger audience. Luckily it was not. No, "The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special" is a highly watchable animated movie by audiences of all ages, fans of "Star Wars" or not.

While they didn't have the voices of the original characters, they did have a good ensemble of voice actors to portray the various characters that we all grew up with and love. And it was nice that they actually had some of the original cast to revisit their characters; such as Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams and Kelly Marie Tran.

I was definitely entertained by "The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special" and I can highly recommend that you sit down to watch it, being a child or adult, fan of Star Wars or not, a fan of LEGO or not. This was proper and good entertainment.

My rating of "The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special" lands on a seven out of ten Deathstars. Happy Life Day to you and may the Force be with you... always.

Decent Lego movie

[dap-73695 · 7/10 · 17 November 2020]

Average Lego movie. Does have more holes then aged Swiss cheese and some missed potential but overall worth a watch of you want some dumb fun Lego fun.

A fun time for everyone in the family

[mbhgkmsgg · 7/10 · 22 November 2020]

A fun short film that recreates the most iconic Star Wars scenes with LEGO while simultaneously creating holiday cheer. It's clearly aimed at the youngest members of the family, but if you are a fan of Star Wars, you'll definitely find this more than enjoyable.

Quite frankly, I was surprised by what a great time this turned out to be. These types of things often end up being so obviously aimed at kids that it's almost unbearable to watch as an adult. This Star Wars special manages to offer everyone something, and I was a little taken aback by how much it felt like Star Wars.

Fun little Star Wars special for the whole family

[austindees · 7/10 · 18 November 2020]

This is a short 44 minute special about the sequel trilogy gang celebrating Life Day while Rey is teaching Finn how to be Jedi. Rey gets frustrated with her teachings and decides to leave and go seek guidance from former Jedi's with time travel. While doing this she messes up a lot of stuff and creates a fun little adventure that also has a little Christmas carol feel.

Kids will like it

[jsucie · 7/10 · 3 December 2020]

If you need to keep your kids entertained for a little bit; this will be a movie to pop on if you're a subscriber to Disney+. It's fun to watch all the timeline jumps but many of the jokes will leave you rolling your eyes or checking your phone instead. The jokes are definitely aimed at kids rather than the whole family. Better to put this on if you don't want the rugrats running around while you get dinner prepared.

Meh at best

[al_madhi · 6/10 · 18 November 2020]

Does have its hilarious moments. All the crossovers were definitely interesting to watch but Disney is reminding us again that Rey is the most powerful Force user ever and everybody else is a Force casual! Also, I hoped that there would be more interaction between Rey and past Luke. Like: the apprentice is now the Master. That would've been more satisfying. But everytime such an interaction comes close to fruition, it is destroyed by a comic gag.

In a nutshell, it is a series of gags and funny one liners. Entertaining but derivative and im pretty sure they stole some ideas from the Robot Chicken SW special.

Not enough Obi Wan.

[renilol · 6/10 · 23 November 2020]

We need more hello there.

memes aside, I had no problem with the lego style, I love it, what really annoyed me was Rey, i hate her and i think we needed more Obi Wan (who doesn't want more Obi Wan).

A Neat Star Wars Holiday Special That's 100% Bea Arthur Free

[jeremycrimsonfox · 8/10 · 11 December 2020]

This is actually a lot better than the actual sequel trilogy. The story is Rey leaves on a mission after reading a book about a temple after she wanted to know what she is doing wrong with teaching Finn, and she finds a key to that allows her to go back in time. However, when she sees Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine on the second Death Star, the dark lord of the Sith is sent to retrieve the key. Also, there is a B-story where Poe Dameron decides to take charge with preparing the Life Day party, to disastrously funny results.

It's a neat special, to be honest. It has key scenes from the prequel and original trilogy (as well as a short scene set in The Mandalorian), the special is filled with references to Star Wars meta and even contains the action Star Wars is known for and the humor Lego comes with. Also, it avoids the cheesy variety that the 1978 Holiday Special is infamous for (no cheesy comedy shorts, no questionable music numbers, and no Art Carney being important to the plot). This is a neat special for all ages, as it teaches a good moral, and is more exciting than The Rise Of Skywalker.

Better than the sequel trilogy

[mitchbestenlehner · 6/10 · 18 November 2020]

A fun story set on life day after the sequel trilogy is finished. It has more character growth for Rey in this 40 minute Lego special, than the whole trilogy has combined. It teaches some good lessons, and it's jokes are hit or miss, but at the end of the day it leaves a left to be desired.

Robot Chicken would've done it better

[Grave_Rob · 4/10 · 18 November 2020]

Look, I get it. This is supposed to be aimed at kids. But this just feels like a badly written episode of Robot Chicken Star Wars. Full of fan service moments in lego form. However the jokes just come across as silly instead of funny. I'd much rather watch the original Holiday Special, and that's not saying much.

May Life Day Be With You. Always.

[G33KEd · 9/10 · 17 November 2020]

Although I'm a big fan of Star Wars and have no interest in watching the original Holiday special, 'The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special' is one perfect Holiday special to watch!

The story is set after the events of Episode 9 where Rey sets on a quest to find the perfect Life Day tradition to gain a deeper knowledge of the Force, but she accidentally hurls into a cross-timeline adventure.

This is one hilarious and heartwarming LEGO Star Wars special to watch for the holiday season!

Life day

[MB-reviewer185 · 6/10 · 18 November 2020]

The better star wars holiday special, it was funny, memorable scenes from the movies even the mandalorian.

The time travel and going to the old and new movies were cool, with fun action.

Shortest Review Ever!

[crowes-18865 · 1/10 · 25 November 2020]

No Bea Arthur + No Harvey Korman = NO HOLIDAY SPECIAL!!!

Am I supposed to just replace these beloved holiday special characters with Rey and Finn! Your mind must have been whip whip stir stir whipped if you think this garbage is worthy of the name Star Wars Holiday Special!

Don't expect anything from the Canon Cartoons

[connorribeironielsen · 6/10 · 23 November 2020]

It was a great mini-movie if you like the sequel trilogy. I care for the series' more, and I was hoping for some Clone Wars, Rebels, even Resistance easter eggs. The closest couple of references were Darth Maul's return with only half his body, the Obi Wans', "Hello There", and a couple of Clone Troopers on traffic duty. I was hoping that because it was a Lego Cartoon, it would have some stuff from the other cartoons (which are way better than most of the movies) but they did not. No Ahsoka, Kanan, Sabine, not even annoying little Neeku from The Resistance (and by the end, I was hoping for anything at that point, even Jar Jar!). They did show The Mandalorian Chapter 8 scene with Baby Yoda, but it was only for a couple seconds of screen time. It was a great Lego Movie, if you only watch the live action Star Wars. But for the expanded universe fans, don't go into it expecting Legends or Canon. It is a fun Lego Time travel adventure for kids. Having that mindset will make the film more enjoyable. However, it is better than the old Holiday Special LOL. May the force be with you.

Let Qui Gons be Qui Gons

[southdavid · 6/10 · 23 November 2020]

I've never seen the original holiday special, but the legends of "Life Day" have made their way to my consciousness somehow. In a similar, gently mocking, way as their other output, the Lego Star Wars team create a new story that is not entirely successful, but has some good moments.

Rey (Helen Sadler) is disappointed with her inability to successful teach Finn (Omar Miller) the ways of the Force. Learning about a secret "key" she and BB8 head off to search for it leaving behind the rest of their friends to celebrate life day on board the Falcon. The key allows Rey to travel through time, and she begins to interact with other Star Wars characters at key points in their lives, until a meeting with the Emperor (Trevor Devall) who demands a still loyal Vader (Matt Sloan) retrieves the key for him.

So, produced by Disney, this was never going to scathing demolition of any aspects of the Star Wars Universe. Instead it takes some affectionate shots at a few of the more comical aspects of the series - Kylo Ren not wearing a shirt and how Star Killer Base is essentially Death Star 3. I struggled a bit with the pratfalls of the opening sections, but it did get more amusing as it got further along. Vocally though, it's not great. Only Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels and Kelly Marie Tran return to voice their characters, most of the rest of the vocal impressions I'd classify as just indistinct, i.e. Omar Miller doesn't sound like John Boyega and Jake Green doesn't sound like Oscar Isaac. However, given that we hear so much of it, Helen Salder's overly nasal Rey is quite a bit too far and doesn't sound very flattering to Daisy Ridley.

Visually, it's not quite up to the standards of rendering that you see in say "The Lego Movie", presumably as they didn't quite have the budget but there are some interesting scenes - particularly a large-scale battle that takes place towards the end.

It's a decent family friendly Star Wars comedy, but not quite clever enough to live long in the memory.

Happy Life Day

[nogodnomasters · 7/10 · 17 December 2020]

Lego Rey obtains a device that allows her to travel through time and space om Life Day, because Jesus wasn't an alien. We get to see all the iconic scenes from the past except Princess Leia in her slave outfit. I don't know how many Lego playing kids have seen all of the Star Wars episodes to appreciate the film. It had some of the Lego humor but wasn't as much fun as Batman. Included some of the original voices because Anthony Daniels is still alive and can't get a gig.

Sort of a hot mess

[facepaintingguru · 6/10 · 18 November 2020]

Felt like a lego cousin of what the films and even other LEGO specials are. The phrase 'scattered' comes to mind.

Did I like it? I guess

Will I watch it again? Prob in about a year.

Fun and entertaining

[dhogan-96749 · 8/10 · 29 December 2020]

I don't know why this special has so many negative reviews. I like how it paid homage to all nine 'primary' movies (and the Mandalorian), was self-deprecating of many aspects of the franchise, and was legitimately funny. Yes, except for Anthony Daniels and Billy Dee Williams, it's not the movie actors, but there are quite a few voice actors returning from Clone Wars, which was great to hear. Certainly worth a viewing from any life-long Star Wars fan.

Star Wars Memes

[NicolasTheWolf · 7/10 · 20 November 2020]

This should have been called The Lego Star Wars Memes Special

It is inoffensive and bland, a corporate Life Day.

[aj1218 · 4/10 · 17 November 2020]

It is a Star Wars Holiday Special and a Lego movie, both of these things scream, I AM A JOKE DON'T TAKE ME SERIOUSLY. So for those fans that get upset with continuity and errors in cannon this isn't the time or place for that.

My only real complaint for the Special is that it really isn't memorable and that it is just kind of meh. You can put it on for the kids to watch and they will enjoy it but don't expect it to be a yearly tradition or for them to remember it in a week. It is a bland story with a bunch of Star Wars Memberberries scattered throughout. If you get the chance to see it watch it but don't go out of your find it.

Lighten up and laugh

[jk8jj29 · 8/10 · 6 December 2020]

2 adults in their 50s enjoyed watching this and had some good laughs. I love all the characters from the full range of movies Who cares about canon this and that, just have fun.

The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special

[marmar-69780 · 7/10 · 20 November 2020]

Well one is curtuin this film is far better the that crap from hell that is a original version from 78 and at least this version had some cute and heartwarming moments for entire families that will give them a great time while watching it unlike the first version that give me memories that will haunt me for the rest of life bu at least this version wont do such a thing to a kids.Story was cute here and it had many throwbacks to a older films and its memes like Hello there and shirtless Ben Swolo.In end this film will be a good fun for entire families and kids

A prime example of how 'Star Wars' has endeared it's self to the point where it's become boring

[DarthVoorhees · 3/10 · 21 November 2020]

There came a time in the long history of our favorite space opera where it became hip to try to make it irreverent. We all knew the saga and our devotion and knowledge of every line and cue became an ironic punchline. 'South Park' diagnosed it perfectly with their 'Member berries. In a way 'Star Wars' perfectly lends it's self to the meme format and they were very funny to begin with. Who couldn't laugh at the Jedi and Sith having water cooler talks between the classic battles? A Darth Vader who isn't impressed that he's Darth Vader? Classic The problem is that 'The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special' has come to this brand of 'Star Wars' parody far too late. In truth 'Family Guy' came to it too late with their decade old special. It offers nothing new or innovative.

There is nothing done with the Lego aesthetics at all. No commentary, no sight gags, no self awareness. Audiences expecting a 'Lego Movie' are going to be very disappointed. It's a real shame because the self awareness of being a toy really could have lended a more biting satire to 'Star Wars'. Wouldn't it be funny if the characters commented on the Disney buyout and being peg warmers on the toy store shelves?

As a 'Star Wars' story it does present an interesting plot device that 'Star Wars' really hasn't played with before. The idea of time travel linking all the sagas is clever. It's handled lazily here. The laughs come from seeing the iconic moments be interrupted by Rey falling in on them. Also, It isn't a canonical continuation of the story but I must admit I was disappointed to see Finn be played for broad laughs after John Boyega's complaints on how the character was handled.

Darth Vader has become a big cuddly teddy bear. It's so funny that he's a boring cog in the imperial machine who gets his boss a Galaxy's Best Emperor coffee mug. 'Spaceballs' laid the seeds for this more than thirty years ago, it's tired and not funny. He has no menace anymore.

'The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special' should learn the all too important lesson of not throwing stones when you live in a glass house. The awful and infamous original 'Holiday Special' at least has an earnestness that 'Star Wars' has tried but ultimately failed to achieved. If Lucasfilm is producing parodies making jokes about how bored they are with the franchise then what reason is there for the fans to continue to invest themselves?

Good for kids

[callie_af · 6/10 · 14 January 2021]

It's not great by any means, but it will entertain your kid for a while.

Happy Life Day.

[Johnny-the-Film-Sentinel-2187 · 6/10 · 17 January 2021]

The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special is Disney's answer to 1978's 'classic disaster' that was the original Holiday Special. This one's amusing, unlike the original one *shivers*: because THIS ones got a story and doesn't focus on Wookiees growling at each other for FAR too long. This one is NOT a complete mess, and tries to address all the Star Wars memes that have spawned since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012.

This special is cute, harmless and self-aware that will give longtime Star Wars fans a chuckle or two: but it's just time-killing Christmas entertainment in the end. That's not a bad thing: it just doesn't help the special's longevity AFTER the fact that it's made for Holidays instead of being an interesting piece of work itself.

Disney+ has got some hefty Star Wars stuff in the pipeline, and this special, along with The Mandalorian, is just the beginning for their plans on where to take that galaxy far, far away.

Cute entertainment: so inoffensive it might disappoint with its lack of 'bite'.