Short Films – The short (4:48) Star Wars fan film “Renegade Kenobi” was uploaded to YouTube in June of 2016 by Michael Ryan Hahn (the films writer and director). The synopsis:
Ben Kenobi’s mother encounters a notorious Sith Lord who wants to change the fate of the galaxy.
I have watched several Star Wars fan films over the past few months. I have to say that I think that this is one of the better ones.
Star Wars – Short Films – The short (10:26) Star Wars fan film “Whatever Happened to Mace Windu?” was uploaded to YouTube in June of 2017 by blinky500. The synopsis:
Sometime after the fallout of “Revenge of the Sith” and before the events of “Rogue One”, Mace Windu found his way to a desert planet with no name, where he prepares his counter-strike against the Galactic Empire and his nemesis- Darth Vader.
I thought that this was a pretty well-done film, though it only earned a 4.1/10 rating on IMDB. I think that the results of just four Sundays of filming turned out well.
Star Wars – The short, award-winning Star Wars fan film “Dawn of Resistance” was published to YouTube in April of 2016 by gazcarr. This is a sequel to the Star Wars fan film “The Secret in the Sand“.
I think that this is a well-done film, but it is unclear to me what the plot is. I am impressed that “This movie was shot in 2 days with nothing but a Canon 5D3 and a tripod”.
Star Wars – The short (15:00) Star Wars fan film “Master of Shadow” was published to YouTube in March of 2015 by J Sery. I thought that this was a pretty well done fan film, but the plot did not make a lot of sense to me.
Short Films – Star Wars – The short (27:31) Star Wars fan film “The Secret in The Sand” was published to YouTube in February of 2012 by gazcarr. More than 85% of the 2.5+ million viewers gave this film a “thumbs up” rating.
It wasn’t a bad film and for the time in which it was made, not bad special effects. I would rate this as a 4 out of 5.
Short Films – Star Wars – The short (14:06) Star Wars fan film “Shadows and Ice” was published to YouTube in May of 2017 by Apsis Motion Pictures. This film has a story behind it:
In late 2016, we were asked to help make a Star Wars Fan Film for a make-a-wish grantee, Gavin. He was involved in the whole process, a script was written based on his ideas, worked and reworked based on discussions around how to produce it. He was present on all the principle shoot days, and signed off on the edit before visual effects were done. Then, months later, he got to see the finished film at a premiere event.
I thought that this was a very well done fan film, with a good story. I give it a 4.5 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.
Star Wars – Short Films – The short (4:58) Star Wars fan film “The Sable Corsair” was published to YouTube in April of 2017 by Nick Finch. The synopsis:
With bounties on their heads in every system and The Empire in constant pursuit, the crew of The Sable Corsair are among the most elusive smugglers in the galaxy. During a mission to deliver weapons and supplies to a Rebel base on Galidraan IV, the ship encounters a huge Imperial blockade. During the fight, The Corsair’s navigation systems are badly damaged, leaving the ship floating helplessly in space. CAPTAIN ZAC ARRAN, in a desperate attempt to save his crew, makes the jump to hyperspace… but with the navigation systems gone, the ship is flying blind. They emerge in an uncharted system and the damaged vessel crashes on a desolate, seemingly uninhabited planet…
I thought that this was one of the better fan films. It was well produced, pretty well acted and had a different location than the typical forest. It has been well received as it has earned a 9.2/10 on IMDB. It also received the “Audience Choice” award at the 2016 STAR WARS Fan Film Awards held in London,UK.
Star Wars – Short Films – The short (8:08) Star Wars fan film “Vector” combines Star Wars with what appear to be zombies. This film was published to YouTube in January of 2017 by Christopher Velazquez.
I am not sure what to say about this film. I am not a fan of zombies. It is not a bad production and had OK special effects. It claims to be “Part 1 of 3” implying sequels. I’m not sure if I would take the time to watch them or not. That all said, it is clear that a lot of time and effort was put into this production.
Short Films – The animated short (12:06) fan film “Alien Infinity” is set in the world of Alien. It is not the best animation, but it is not bad. It was published to YouTube by creator Darkus Marque in August of 2015. The synopsis:
A group is sent to the colony on Beta Terran when all communications were lost. When the six descend on a drop ship all they find is death and . . . Aliens.
I found it impressive that Marque made this on his own. As he says:
I made this between January 2015 and August 2015, on and off. Sometimes I’d go weeks without working on it, and sometimes I’d go weeks when all I seemed to do was work on it.
I made it on my mid-range laptop using, mainly, Cinema 4d r15 and Adobe After Effects.
It should be stressed that my work on this film was NOT primarily as modeller. Most of the models used in this film were resourced for free from around the internet. You’d be amazed and some of the brilliant stuff put out there by some very skilled individuals.
This isn’t a great movie, but considering it was created by one person, I think it is impressive. If you are a fan of the Alien movies, you will enjoy it. The film is only ‘Part 1’ of the story, so it simply whets the appetite for more to come.
Short Films – Star Wars – The short (23:31) Star Wars fan film “Broken Allegiance” was published to YouTube in July of 2016 by The GreatDeadpoolio. The synopsis:
Set in the Star Wars universe, taking place a few weeks between the events in A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. It tells the story of two Sith apprentices, Ruan and Calis, who have escaped the Empire by fleeing Coruscant in a stolen transport. They must fight for their freedom when Darth Vader sends the vicious bounty hunter Korbain Thor to track them down.
A combination of animation and live acting makes for a decent Star Wars film. Light saber fight scenes were fairly well done. A good mix of space combat and live action between Jedi and troops of the Empire.
John's Notes 