It’s been nearly two years since I first wrote about Star Wars Uncut, the full-length feature consisting entirely of 15 second homemade clips in an attempt to recreate Episode IV: A New Hope as it was meant to be told, complete with campy acting and low-budget special effects. Personally I found the film to be equally hilarious, and painful to watch, but the very concept remains brilliant.  Recently, director Casey Pugh made a special directors cut available to stream online in its entirety. Funny, you’d think a film touting itself as being “uncut,” would, by definition, be the directors cut — I wonder how that works.  You can watch it here, but for more information on the project, check out their official site here.

[via movieviral]

It might not be the same quality you’d expect from a major studio like Pixar, but this is worth checking out. Using a mix of CG and footage from the original film, YouTube user Mylex67 recently tried his hand at recreating some of the battle sequences from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. While it’s my instinct to complain about the lack of accuracy, he notes that the clip is not meant to be a shot for shot recreation, but rather just an alternate take on the battle in the Mutara nebula from the film. Needless to say, I’m a bit impressed, and I hope there’s more to come.

This falls into that category of “too cool not to post.” Ever want to see a bunch of Jedi ninjas battle to the death? Well, thanks to directors James Mark, Justin Lovell, you’ll get to. Featuring the martial arts performance squad Team 2X, this awesome short aims to recreate some of the stylized lightsaber combat featured in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. It’s very reminiscent of those over-the-top lightsaber battles from the latest trilogy, but you have to admit those lightsaber duels were probably the best part of the films. Be sure to watch the clip all the way through, as there’s a pretty funny reveal around two minutes and twenty seconds in.

Most people haven’t heard of the show, but for kids in the early 80s the Japanese-French animated series Ulysses 31 (宇宙伝説ユリシーズ31) left an impression that would mark a generation. A co-production by DiC and TMS, this program would receive brief exposure on American television via the syndicated weekend cartoon block, “Kideo TV” in 1986. This intentionally-cheesy fan-made homage to the show’s famous intro was produced by Dermot Canterbury, a London-based director who also produced work for such clients as the BBC, The Foundation, RDF, and English Heritage.

Shown below is a fan video which features the crew of the Enterprise from the Next Generation enjoying a Star Wars marathon:

And if you can’t get enough here’s a theatrical trailer for Star Trek vs. Star Wars:

Sony likes to joke that their PS3 can do everything. Clearly, they’ve never seen a Sonic Screwdriver. I always thought the Doctor seemed a little too quick to pull one out, but after sitting through this hilarious short, maybe I should give him more credit. After all, if he were to just “sonic” everything in sight, Doctor Who would become the least climatic show on television. You may as well just watch paint dry. Still, the video makes a good point, even if they never really intended to — Sonic Screwdrivers are awesome, and science needs to make them happen, ASAP.

[found via geekout]

I’m impressed. Earlier this month, director Alex Albrecht threw together this live-action short entitled VOLTRON: The End, starring Psych’s Timothy Omundson. I have no idea if this was meant as some sort of series or film pitch, or if it was just something he decided to do for fun, but it’s pretty awesome. The idea of a Voltron live-action film never really crossed my mind, but having seen this, I certainly wouldn’t object. I also want to know how he landed Omundson for the role of Lance. He’s not exactly a huge star, but he is a series regular on a popular show that’s currently airing. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say his involvement was either a favor, or Omundson is just a fan of the animated series. You’d almost have to be to want to film this, wouldn’t you? Either way, it’s pretty cool that he’d take the time to contribute to the short. Let’s hope something good materializes from it.

Or is that to be lunch? This cute video also features Candy the Magic Dinosaur…

We have an exclusive! The fans who put together the first known Angry Birds Motion Comic have followed up with a second video in the series:

…and for those who missed it here’s part one:

Found via Heikki Kareranta!

Jonny Quest fanboy supreme Roger D. Evans put together this amazing video using action figures and a ton of hard work. You can view his behind-the-scenes handy work here…

Found via MetaFilter.

In this cute video actress Kaley Cuoco takes on the ever important issue of Slave Leia cosplay at conventions:

Ouch! Sadly it seems that the editor of this fan video finds that there is more wisdom in Star Wars than Star Trek films:

Film references include:

Pirates of Silicon Valley
Swimming with Sharks
The Matrix
Star Trek (2009)
Ghost Rider
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The Iron Giant
Lions for Lambs
The Shawshank Redemption
The Matrix Revolutions
Dead Poet’s Society
Gladiator
Troy
The Matrix Reloaded
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
The Bucket List
The Lion King
Forrest Gump
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Ferris Beuler’s Day Off
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ratatouille
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Catch Me If You Can
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Batman Begins
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Hitch
Phenomenon
The Pursuit of Happyness
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Bicentennial Man
The Incredibles
Under the Tuscan Sun
Kung Fu Panda
K-Pax
Quantum of Solace

Somebody asks their friend who had only caught bits of Star Wars to retell the tale of the trilogy:

Found via Mathew Snyder.

Well, it’s certainly not the worst fan-film I’ve ever seen – Dark Betrayal comes to mind –  but I suppose we can’t really expect much after the hot mess that was John Carpenter’s Escape from L.A. I have a soft-spot in my heart for that film, but even I have to admit that it was terrible. Rather than attempting to follow Carpenter’s ridiculous sequel, director Chris Notarile decided to pen one of his own with his fan-film Escape from New Jersey. I imagine that trying to recreate the feel of Carpenter’s original film would be difficult on a shoe-string budget. Though it’s slow-paced, and lacks polish, the script itself isn’t half bad. While I can’t overlook every issue, I feel the film is a decent attempt worth mentioning. It’s enough to make me wonder if Snake Plisskin will ever make his return. Until then, this might have to do.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, several outlets he’s written for include the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator, and the collectible toy culture site Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

Here’s a fan-made trailer for a non-existent film set in the Tron universe, entitled Tron: Destiny. Not much is known about the clip, but the production quality is pretty spectacular to say the least. The acting is even decent. These fan-produced shorts keep getting prettier and prettier. Not to spoil it, but I’d have to say he did magnificent job of rendering a light-bike, and definitely leaves us wanting more. It’s a shame that nobody has come forward to claim the video yet. But when they do, I expect we’ll find out more about what he may planned. Maybe an actual web series? It worked for Mortal Kombat.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

Every time Mr.Spock peered at that scanner by his station, I always found myself wondering what he was looking at. Well, this fan-edit by BlackMoonCGI lets us get our peek. It never occured to me that he’d spend all his time on Facebook, but that would probably explain the need for the added privacy. After all, it’s always worksafe if nobody else ever gets to look through your scanner.  The video seems to be the first of what may become an ongoing series, so let’s hope for more of these hilarious edits in the future.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

Poor Geordi. This litle edit from Star Trek the Next Generation has been floating around the net for quite some time now, but it never ceases to entertain. I’m not sure what it is about Star Trek that makes it so fun to edit, but I imagine a lot of it has to do with how easy it must be. There’s so much footage that I’m sure someone might be able to create an entirely new episode with little more than a few mouse clicks. On the other hand, every purist out there will look at each of these scenes and be able to tell you which seasons based on Riker’s hair, their uniforms and Troi’s ever-evolving wardrobe selection. Any way, if you’re interested in more edits like these, check out jandrewedits.com — beware, not all of these are work safe.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

This new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan short — I can only hope they’ll be turning this into a full-length film — looks spectacular. A striking brunette, no doubt Apirl O’Niel, sits alone in her apartment having recently photographed members of what appears to be the foot clan. After tracking her down, they attempt to assualt her when she’s saved by Raphael.

Its a very dark, very Christopher Nolan, but also well shot. I’m a little concerned with costumes but I understand they’re probably on a budget and they’re looking for a grungy, realistic look. I suppose, in that sense, it works very well. The video was posted on Friday, and yet I still haven’t been able to find any details on those involved with the project beyond their Facebook and twitter. I imagine they’ll probably discuss the project more in the coming weeks, so if this caught your eye, you’ll want to check those for more information in the weeks to come.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

 

Last weekend I attended MAGfest in Alexandria, Virginia. For those of you who aren’t already aware of the festival, it’s a relatively small convention held annually which features videogame-themed concerts, panels, guests, and more. while I was there I noticed a few posters for an upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog fan film. The movie is being produced by Eddie Lebron, the same man responsible for that nifty Mega Man fan film released last year.I admit the prospect of a Sonic fan film raised some red flags for me. While I loved Sonic the Hedgehog as a kid, the series floundered after numerous attempts to transition into a 3D platformer in recent years. In addition, the fans haven’t exactly struck me as a crowd I’d like to associate with — some of them are very fond of wearing furry suits in public. Needless to say it took quite a bit for me to investigate the project any further.

After looking into it however, some details were worth noting. For example, the character of Sonic — who will be completely rendered in CGI — will be voiced by Steve Urkle himself, Jaleel White. He’s recorded Sonic’s voice several times in the past for various cartoons. As for the plot, the director has stated that he wishes to make it action oriented similar to films like Die Hard and Raiders of the Lost Ark. I’m not quite sure how it’ll work out, but I have faith that if it proceeds on this track, the film will shape up pretty well.

For more, check out the official site.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

A few years back, Star Trek fans got together to produce a series of new episodes featuring the continued adventures of  the USS Enterprise and their five year mission. Star Trek: New Voyages, as they called it, featured decent production values and less-than-spectacular acting, but I had to hand it to them for trying. Of course, that series took far too long for them to produce in a timely manner. Now, it would seem someone else has taken it upon themselves to produce yet another fan series, Star Trek: Phoenix — this time opting for an original approach.

Rather than using established characters, the series takes place 42 years after Star Trek Nemesis. I’m not sure why they decided on such an arbitrary number, but seeing how it’s completely non-canon, I’m sure they’ll be able to have plenty of fun making up the timeline as they go along. The production values are seemingly higher than that of New Voyages – which is probably a good thing — and the acting is about as good as you should expect from a fan production.  If you want to check out the pilot episode, they have that online. Just head over to stphoenix.com for more information.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

The animation isn’t exactly Pixar, but the humor in Warriors of the Unknown will bring a smile to any gamers face. This video (which is available on DVD) was created by the Cosmic Radicals, a team of online gamers who know their subject perhaps a bit too well. Watching the videos I loved the juxtaposition of romantic fantasy elements set against conversations about dog food:

Filled with terrible acting and Trekkie humor, this web-series follows a family of Trekkers — I’d call them Trekkies, but the seemingly made a point to refer to themselves as Trekkers — who, in an attempt to prevent their Cardassian cosplaying neighbor from “shifting the balance of power in the quadrant,” plan a last minute trip to the annual Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. The series started back in late September and they’re already five episodes in with new episodes being released each week. It can be a little much at times, but they’ve peppered the scripts with enough references to keep you mildly entertained at the very least. It’s not quite as off the wall as Chad Vader, but it’s up there. If you’re interested, check out their YouTube channel or follow them of Facebook.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

Much like Eddie LeBron with his recent MegaMan film, a fan has taken it upon himself to create  his own live-action adaption of one of their favorite video games having been failed repeatedly by Hollywood. This time, it’s none other than Nintendo’s kid-friendly Pokémon, entitled Pokémon Apokélypse. Natrually, you’d expect the film to share much of that same aesthetic, however this time, that’s not the case. Instead, we’re given a gritty — almost humorously so — realistic depiction of the original story complete with over-the-top villains, torture, violence, and more. Of course, I can only speculate on just how gritty the film is based on the trailer above, but I’m sure you’ll probably agree when I say that it was probably the last thing I would expect from a Pokémon film — fan-made or otherwise. For more information, including an interview with the film’s creators, click here.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

DungBeetle Comics is a webcomic collective that put together this wonderful parody of the viral Old Spice campaign on YouTube.

Found via sfsignal.com and Lawrence Person.

Let the record reflect that I speak not of the Beach Boys tune, nor the David Lee Roth cover of it, because that song is awesome.

No, I’m talking about Katy Perry’s god-awful ode to girls from the most populous state in the Union, “California Gurls.” I have no problem with Perry, and I have no problem (obviously) with stereotyping California gurls– and I grew up in San Jose, California, so that has to count for something, right? I don’t even have a problem with pop music! If it’s catchy and I can tap my toe to it and let my brain melt away to nothingness when I’m in the mood for it, I’m cool with it. Seriously. I still listen to Ace of Base.

But Perry’s song is actually unpleasant to listen to. There’s nothing for me to latch onto and get stuck in my head, and there’s nothing conceptual for my to appreciate.

As such, rather than post the video for the geeky take on the song, titled “Geek and Gamer Girls,” I’m going to link to it for those of you who want to check it out, and instead post the video for “I Kissed a Nerd and I Liked It,” based on the much-better(/moderately-less-sucky) Perry tune “I Kissed a Girl.”

YOU’RE WELCOME.

Gia Manry is a professional writer specializing in geek culture. She currently writes primarily for Anime News Network, but also likes being followed on Twitter. She can be contacted via her website.