And I thought Episode VII was too good to be true.
Was it just me, or did it feel like Darth Maul's awesome, kick-ass appearance in The Phantom Menace was cut in half?
(Yes... Guilty. Pun intended.)
Isn't it ironic that the only force-wielder in the saga with a double-sided lightsaber ended up getting cut into two pieces? Weird that, although he was clearly evil - bwahaha! - when he disappeared down that shoot everyone was like; awwww... Or is it really that weird, given he was so FREAKING AWESOME! That dude knew how to rock the force, but sadly...
...T'was Obi that killed the Beast.
Now imagine my hysteria when I came across a post on my Facebook feed from http://therealstanlee.com which lead me to the most amazing fan-made film I've ever seen.
The film is called DARTH MAUL - APPRENTICE. Straight off the bat the creators made it clear that the film was made 'purely for fun', and it was 'non-profit' feature. What a non-profit feature! I mean these guys literally recreated, not only the Sith himself, but even the Star Wars universe that we fans have come to love and know like the insides of a frozen Tauntaun. (Your welcome).
The locations these guys found just absolutely blew me away. No green screen - well, except for the Sith training facility internal and external shots. But wow! That forest! And how about those Jedi?
I mean, of course you have to pit the Maul against powerful Jedi, and of course he has to slaughter them. Oh, whoops... SPOILER ALERT! But you might as well chuck in a couple of epic force-pushes and lightsaber fights along the way. Seriously, I think the special effects and fight choreography are better than some of the stuff we see in the actual saga. That girl seems more powerful than Rey! Don'tcha think?
My favourite scenes: when they're randomly letting of force-pulses and gouging into the trees, when Maul is fighting off the two Jedi with green lightsabers and there's that tense moment where he's caught in between them and you're like... I think I'm gonna... I actually don't know what I'm gonna do this is so intense. As far as the costume department goes, those guys absolutely paid tribute to material, and then some. Literally, I saw the one Jedi's mask and I thought 'I want one!'. How the hell did they create such convincing lightsabers.
But what I liked most of all about this film was that it not only was in every sense STAR WARS, but it was also a very well thought out, well planned, well paced film. The characters all say next to nothing and if we're being honest here, the dialogue is irrelevant. It was those long drawn out moments where characters are just looking at each other. The acting! The eyes and the faint facial ticks were incredible. Do yourself a favour and watch this. Share it. It's absolutely amazing. Very STAR WARS. It leaves you wanting more, which brings me to the following question:
When are you guys gonna make another one?!!
Your fellow force fan,
- Adino
