This evening I watched a film called Fanboys on DVD.  This was another film I got through Amazon’s Vine programme, so the least I can do is link to their product page for it.

The film is about a group of total Star Wars fanatics so keen to see the Phantom Menace that they decide to try and steal an advance copy of it from George Lucas.  The characters are always discussing and quoting from Star Wars, several scenes are pastiches from the films, and a few Star Wars actors crop up in cameo roles.

Unfortunately, and despite being exactly the right age, I didn’t see Star Wars when it came out and in fact didn’t see the films all the way through until the DVD box set came out – in fact I think I may have seen the Phantom Menace before seeing the original films, so I didn’t appreciate the film as much as many of my contemporaries would.  Anyway, here is what I wrote about it:

As might be apparent from even a quick look at the picture on the front of the box and the plot summary on the back, this film is made by Star Wars fans for Star Wars fans and as such it surely has quite a large audience for it out there.

It is a sort of road movie, with a group of Star Wars nerds or fanboys, deciding to drive 2000 miles so they can break into George Lucas’ Skywalker ranch and get a sneak preview of the new Star Wars film. Along the way they meet their arch rivals (Star Trek fans), various people played by Star Wars actors in cameo appearances, and the mighty Danny Trejo.

Unfortunately a lot of the in-jokes and references went over my head a bit as I have only seen the Star Wars films once. I didn’t even spot the cameo by Carrie Fisher or realise that the judge was Lando Calrissian until looking it up on IMDb afterwards.

As a non-fan I thought the film was OK. It was enjoyable enough and it had me laughing out loud a few times, though I’m not likely to watch it again – unless I watch Star Wars a few more times first so I get all the jokes, which is also unlikely. Even so, I did appreciate the cameos by Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes and I thought that Ethan Suplee (Randy from My Name is Earl) as Harry Knowles was an inspired piece of casting and an outstanding performance.

The extras are about average. Several promotional interview films, with the same clips of the film included in all of them. It looks like one big feature split into half a dozen little ones. Not awful, but not fantastic either.

I reckon that Star Wars fans will love this, but even their long-suffering partners will be able to enjoy it albeit in a different way.