Skip to main content

The new Yule: Let a five-hour clip of Darth Vader burning bring you holiday cheer

Ah, YouTube — the beautiful bounty of millions of weirdos at work. Case in point: A YouTuber named BenjaminApple has released a five-hour cut of Darth Vader’s funeral pyre, looking to beat Nick Offerman’s whiskey and fireplace video as the best Yule Log option to stream at your holiday party this season.

After all, who doesn’t want to hear the crackle and pop of Anakin Skywalker’s slowly-burning androidian corpse humming over their living room speakers for five hours while entertaining family or guests?

Recommended Videos

The video begins with a section of the actual funeral scene from the movie, complete with of shot Luke’s emotionally ragged face as he initially lights the flames, and the slowly-lulling sounds of John Williams’ iconic funeral score. Then, the video fades to the typical Yule Log fare, with a loud fire noise, and the sounds of slowly-burning wood. There’s some reason this video is especially timely, but for the life of us, we can’t quite place it.

As most Star Wars fans will recall, Darth Vader passed away on the second build of the Death Star after throwing his master, Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine, down a very large hole while the latter was using Force lightning on Luke. Vader then removes his helmet, as you’ll recall, and tells Luke, “You were right. Tell your sister. You were right,” and passes away on the ship. Luke then transports his Father’s body to the forest moon of Endor for the ending scene.

And so, in a way, the five-hour-long version of the ceremony isn’t the celebration of the death of an evil man, it’s the celebration of his coming back to the light — a very positive message that fits right in amongst the seasonal cheer typically associated with a Yule Log.

The Darth Vader Yule Log ends up being an excellent contribution to the all-out Star Wars licensing madness of late, a slow-churning addition to YouTube serves as a great reminder of six films worth of plot in one fire-laden shot.

“Sit back,” it says subconsciously, “And think about what happened to get us here. Preferably while drinking egg nog.”

Parker Hall
Former Senior Writer, Home Theater/Music
Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…
Christopher Nolan got the tonal balance exactly right on Batman Begins
Batman gliding down a stairwell in Batman Begins.

It's been 20 years since Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins first hit theaters, and in that time, the superhero movie has evolved dramatically. The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe came after Batman Begins, as did Ben Affleck's version of Batman. Given all of that new history, you might think that Batman Begins would look a bit quaint by modern standards, the same way that Tim Burton's Batman remains an interesting movie as a new generation was indoctrinated by Nolan.

What's more, Nolan's Batman movies have developed a reputation as the trilogy that proved that you could take superheroes seriously. They spawned an entire generation of fans who would get upset when it felt like the characters they loved weren't being treated with the kind of weight they deserved. That's basically the entire project of Zack Snyder's DC Extended Universe, which is now about to be wiped off the map by yet another version of DC.

Read more
3 great action movies on Tubi you need to watch in June
Sylvester Stallone and Sandra Bullock in Demolition Man.

If you haven't downloaded Tubi, what are you waiting for? As a FAST service, Tubi is free. You read that correctly. Tubi is a free service that offers hundreds of movies and television shows at no cost to the consumer. The quality of movies is better than expected. Jaws, Memento, Air, the Great Escape, and On the Waterfront are all on Tubi.

Tubi's action genre remains one of its best. If you need some recommendations, we have you covered. One of our picks this month is Demolition Man, a 1993 sci-fi movie with a legendary action hero. Read our picks below.

Read more
3 rom-coms on Netflix you need to watch in June 2025
A woman and a man sit at a bar.

You can never have enough romance in your life, especially when watching movies. The rom-com is a lost art in theaters. However, Netflix is dedicated to keeping the rom-com alive with its wide selection of delightful movies. The Life List, Set It Up, Love at First Sight, The Kissing Booth, and To All The Boys I've Loved Before are all Netflix originals.

Add one of our picks, The Perfect Date, to the list of movies you need to watch this month. Noah Centineo has carved out a role in Netflix lore as a leading man for the streamer. Learn more about The Perfect Date and our two other recommendations below.

Read more