(Digitally) color me impressed
Robert Rodriguez must be lovin' this. Revelations rocks.No, I'm not talking about the end-of-the-world TV series that's stinking up NBC's non-Law and Order lineup. I mean the cheaply-made, 40-minute, beat-Lucas-at-his-own-game Star Wars fan-film that's now available for free on the net. It took about $20,000, a handful of dedicated people, and a sustained level of motivational commitment, but dammit, these guys pulled it off. Someone said, "Hey, let's make a movie" and they did.
Sure, the script is a little stilted and the acting often befits a typical sci-fi convention ballroom passion play, but then the same is easily said of Lucas' films, and he's got Ewan McGregor and Christopher Lee in his corner. The real eye-popper is the special effects, which is the equal to the first two Star Wars prequels, especially during the space battles.
With fan-movies like Revelations around, made by every day guys like you and me, the "masters" better get off their asses and think of new and exciting ways of giving us something we either haven't seen before or can't do for ourselves. Not only does this 40-minute piece of geekery best Star Wars Episodes I and II, it's better than Spielberg's AI, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It looks better than all of Babylon 5 - put together. Just think if the right gaggle of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fans got together and made their definitive version of the story; think of how much better it could be than that damn movie. And why shouldn't they? It really is their story now.
You can download Revelations - the film, it's soundtrack, posters, trailers, DVD images, commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes documentaries - everything for free here. I strongly recommend it, whether or not you're a Star Wars geek (which, I might add, I'm not). See it if only for a glimpse at the creative democracy technology can bring about when applied with imagination and skill.
The filmmakers have taken their cue from Lucas himself, who has gone on record to encourage fans to create their own works in the Star Wars universe, provided they don't attempt to profit. Fair enough. Slate magazine, in their positive (and slightly shocked) review of Revelations, has gone so far as to call for Lucas to release "Star Wars" under a Creative Commons license.
Under a Creative Commons license, Lucas could license fans to create movies like this one, audio plays, stories, and the like - provided they eschew profit and give Lucas his due credit. I second that call, and would broaded the call to the people at Paramount who own "Star Trek," another cult universe that's been exhausted by its own keepers. And, of course, the aforementioned Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, and all the myriad creative universes where ideas can flourish and stories can propagate without detriment to their copyright holders.
Fanboys (and girls) are doin' it for themselves. There are thousands and thousands of young George Lucases and Peter Jacksons out there, and they don't have to wait or beg for studio money anymore. I can't wait to see what else they come up with. Hey Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola - all you old young lions - how about setting up an institute that encourages this kind of fan experimention? I nominate Robert Rodriguez, the digital fan-filmmakers patron saint, as the first president.
And then all y'all better watch out.
Links:
http://www.panicstruckpro.com/revelations/revelations_movie.html
http://slate.msn.com/id/2117760/
I sawed it!
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