How to Watch Movies Using Telnet

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Last Updated: February 24, 2025

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To watch it on Windows XP

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To watch it on Windows 7/8 or Vista

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To watch it on a Mac OS

|

To watch it on Linux

|

Q&A

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Tips

|

Things You'll Need

This WikiHow will show you how you can use the telnet client to watch an ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Exchange) text art version of Star Wars through command prompt on a Windows OS, or to do the same on a Mac OS using Terminal.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

To watch it on Windows XP

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(You can also open Run by pressing WinKey + R.)
In the window that opens up, type in "telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl" without the quotes, and hit enter or in first line enter "o" without quotes and in second line type towel.blinkenlights.nl then hit enter (source computer. Wizard .tk)
This is not a hidden movie in Windows. You are using a program called telnet and connecting a server called towel.blinkenlights.nl. Once connected, the server plays the movie (an ASCII art animation).

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

To watch it on Windows 7/8 or Vista

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On newer versions of Windows, telnet is turned off by default.
Note: you can now turn telnet off.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

To watch it on a Mac OS

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Your text art version of Star Wars Episode IV will now start.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

To watch it on Linux

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1
Make sure you are connected to the internet.
2
Open the application "terminal".
3
Type in "telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl" (without the quotes) and press Enter. Your text art version of Star Wars Episode IV will now start.

Community Q&A

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Question

Are there any other C.M.D. movies available?

Community Answer

No. There are other forms of entertainment using Telnet, such as using a Bulletin Board System to play door games.

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Tips

Due to the limited nature of Telnet, no sound is played.

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Windows Vista, by default, does not come with the Telnet client pre-installed. To install it, open the control panel, and go to Add & Remove Programs >> Windows Features >> And check the box next to Telnet. Alternatively, you can install a third-party telnet client like Putty.

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One other telnet movie you can watch is "telnet ascii-wm.net 2006". It's blurry, but it's supposed to be the Soccer World Cup.

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Things You'll Need

A computer
A telnet client, there is one included in most operating systems (for example, Mac, Windows and Linux) that can be accessed through the command prompt and terminal, respectively
An Internet connection