Photo credit: Lucasfilm
The are currently a lot of Star Wars fan films circulation around the internet. Here are five films that fans need to check out.
While Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian series are each still months away, Star Wars fans do have a wealth of content right at their finger tips.
Right now is the best time to be a Star Wars fans, as we receive tons of content of our beloved franchise in the forms of movies, shows, video games and comics. While you may not necessarily be a fan of all of it, I truly believe that there is something for everybody.
More from Editorial
- How animation changed Star Wars: Ewoks and Droids
- The Acolyte might change Star Wars storytelling
- No Star Wars for Feige, and I’m ok with that.
- 3 major ways the Star Wars Holiday Special changed canon
- If Jon Favreau remakes the Holiday Special, it needs to star Peli Motto
One of the least talked about forms of Star Wars media however is the wealth of fan-created films currently circulating around the internet.
While they may not necessarily match up to the quality of movies we see in the theaters, these fan films have a lot of heart behind them and are made by people who truly love the franchise and just want to create something good.
Dozens of these fan films have been created over the years and are currently available to view online, and while they may vary in quality, there are many of them which are well worth checking out.
Especially with the recent announcement that following the release of The Rise of Skywalker in December of this year, live action Star Wars films will take a hiatus for a few years until December 2022, fans may look to other mediums to get their Star Wars fix in the future.
While many may first turn to cartoons like The Clone Wars or Rebels, fan films are an excellent alternative to the official live-action movies, offering something new to the fan base, while still holding onto that same charm that made us fall in love a galaxy far, far away.
Without further a due, here are five Star Wars fan films that you need to see.
**DISCLAIMER: This list is in no particular order and is my own subjective opinion**
The Millenium Falcon in STAR WARS: EPISODE IX.
Star Wars: Destroyer
One thing that the Star Wars franchise is known for is fun Space Battles, and the fan film Star Wars: Destroyer is perhaps the best independently made space battle.
The film starts off with an Imperial Star Destroyer falling out of orbit toward the planet of Bespin as two rebel X-Wing pilots take on a squadron of TIE fighters.
Despite being a fan film, the CGI and special effects used in it border on movie quality, and the care and attention to detail that went into making it are very evident in the final product.
While this fan film is a visual marvel, it also has an interesting premise to go along with it.
Typically in Star Wars space battles, the objective is either to destroy the opponent’s ship or to escape capture, but Star Wars: Destroyer provides a new conflict yet to be seen in the movies.
The two X-Wing pilots succeed in their mission to take out the Imperial TIE fighters and disable the Star Destroyer, the Destroyer falls out of orbit and ends up on a collision course with the Cloud City above Bespin, forcing the rebel pilots to figure out of way to change its course so it doesn’t hit the city.
The fan film is only six and a half minutes long so it is a brief watch, but the creators clearly were going for quality over quantity, and I have yet to see a fan film set in space that can top this.
Photo Credit: [Star Wars Rebels] Lucasfilm, Cartoon NetworkDARTH MAUL: Apprentice (Watch here)
The Prequel Trilogy remains a divisive subject among Star Wars fans, with many finding enjoyment out of the films and accepting them for what they are, while the rest have disdain for them, seeing them as a sharp contrast and a disservice to the Original Trilogy of films that we remember more fondly.
Despite the differing opinions on the prequel trilogy, fans all have a general consensus that one of their most redeeming features is the inclusion of Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.
Darth Maul was an intimidating antagonist for the first entry into the prequel trilogy, had an amazing look, and to that point, was arguable the most skilled lightsaber duelist that Star Wars fans had ever seen, as his lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn was one of the highlights of the entire trilogy.
However, despite Maul being one of the highlights of the Prequels, he only appeared in the one movie, spoke a grand total of two lines, and aside from his duel with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, his only noteworthy moment was briefly attacking Qui-Gon and Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine.
While the character has returned in the cartoons and in the comics, Maul’s only other live-action appearance was a brief cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story, which sadly, is a story line unlikely to be revisited in the foreseeable future.
For those longing for more of Darth Maul, the fan film titled Darth Maul: Apprentice provides us with just that.
Released back in 2016, the film follows Maul’s training as a Sith Lord on a remote forest planet prior to the events of The Phantom Menace, where he is directed by Darth Sidious to eliminate a small group of Jedi who have tracked a signal to his location.
Maul is faced with the task of defeating several trained Jedi in a six-on-one battle, in what is an intense action sequence which borders on movie quality.
While it doesn’t offer much in the name of dialog or story, the choreography of the actors in phenomenal, the digital effects and sounds are solid as well, and is well worth watching for any fans of either Darth Maul or speedy lightsaber duels.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JUNE 05: Stormtroopers attend adidas Host The Street Party at Coronation Street, ITV studios on June 5, 2010 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images for adidas)
Bucketheads: A STAR WARS STORY (Watch here)
In contrast to the Darth Maul fan film, which focuses on force users and expands on an already established character, this fan film showcases a side of the Star Wars universe that the movies have to this point left untouched.
Bucketheads was released back in 2018 and follows the story of a group of Stormtroopers escorting a prisoner to an Imperial base after their ship crash lands in a forest, when they are ambushed by a group of rebels.
While traditionally in Star Wars films, Stormtroopers are primarily used as nameless cannon fodder whom are all easily expendable, this fan film starts off by showing the camaraderie between the squadron.
Members of Stormtrooper squadron are shown trying to comfort each other as their ship crash lands, and later on talk about what they plan to do in their personal lives after their mission is over.
Beyond this, the film takes this dynamic of taking you inside the mind of a Stormtrooper one step further when the group is being ambushed by the rebels, as it shows the nerves and stress of a trooper when faced with battle, the anger of losing a comrade in the aftermath, and a decent twist at the film’s conclusion.
The action is aided by some excellent VFX and is also shot very well, making it come across more like a war film rather than a traditional Star Wars.
Regardless, the film showcases a different side of the galactic war from the original trilogy, and adds a new element to the story by helping to show the personalities of the Stormtroopers, making them seem much more human than any of the official movies did.
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
Star Wars SC 38 Reimagined (Watch here)
While this isn’t technically a fan film, and would more accurately be described as a re-imagining of a scene from the original trilogy, I feel that given the time and hard work that went into creating Star Wars SC 38 Re-Imagined, and the final product that was released, this is well worth including on the list.
For those unaware what Scene 38 refers to, it is the 38th scene of Episode IV: A New Hope, which includes the first lightsaber duel in Star Wars history, pitting Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi against his former apprentice Darth Vader.
As this movie was released back in 1977, this scene was very limited due to the technology of the time, and the age of actor Alec Guinness, who was in his 60s at the time of filming and was not capable of performing many stunts.
This led to the duel between Kenobi and Vader to be very lackluster, and as time has progressed and the action in the new films has continued to improve, this scene has not aged well at all.
This fan film re-imagining was in development for well over a year before being released in May 2019, and utilized a combination of reference footage from the original scene, along with CGI and stunt actors to develop a new version of the duel, and cuts in old footage from A New Hope to help make it feel like a piece of the original film
The effects may not be perfect, but the action is not over the top and would not feel out-of-place in this scene was inserted into the original movie. Vader and Obi-Wan have a battle much more akin to the one they did in Revenge of the Sith, as it is much more intense with John William’s Duel of the Fates playing over the top.
It really feels like all of the hatred that the two had for each other from decades prior had finally boiled over, and each clash of their lightsabers looked like they were legitimately trying to kill each other.
While many fans are traditionalists and don’t like seeing any changes to the original trilogy, especially after George Lucas’s changes to it in the 2000s, this re-imagining of the duel does not feel out-of-place from the original film, and I feel that it would be worthwhile for every fan to go and see.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story..Darth Vader..Ph: Jonathan Olley..© 2016 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
VADER EPISODE I: SHARDS OF THE PAST (Watch here)
The Darth Vader Fan Film was created by the popular Star Wars Youtuber Star Wars Theory, and was released by him in late December of 2018.
The film was created on a budget of $160,000 and looked stunning, with terrific special effects, costumes, props, and a very convincing actor portraying the Emperor. Its run time ended up being just over 12 minutes and was received very well by fans.
Vader Episode 1 takes place eight months after the events of Revenge of the Sith, and it showcases the inner struggle of Darth Vader, with his hatred and desire to kill the Emperor, as he blamed him for the death of his wife Padme.
The best portion of the film is at its beginning, where Vader engages in an epic duel against the Emperor and several Clone Troopers, with effects that border on movie quality, and concludes with a cliff hanger, as Vader is sent to the planet of Naboo to confront and kill one of the last surviving Jedi who is hiding out on the planet.
As anyone who has ever watched one of his videos would know, Star Wars Theory is a very passionate fan who put a lot of time and effort into creating this film. He has spoken very openly that Darth Vader is his favorite character and would not have released his fan film unless he thought that he was doing the character justice.
Additionally, while all the other entries on this list were one-offs and will not be receiving a sequel, this film was the first entry in a series of Darth Vader fan films, and Star Wars Theory has already released a teaser for Vader Episode II, confirming that the fan film will pit Mace Windu against Darth Vader, although no release date has been announced?
Do you have a favorite fan film? Hit the comments and let us know.