Star Wars: Revelations

Wow, Cant say how much I'm disappointed with the shooting of this movie. I don't understand why they didn't at least shoot this video in 24fps to make it look more movie-like. Shooting this video with 33fps or what ever they used, has made it look like a cheap homemade video.

The actors are terrible and their dialogs are even worse. I don't understand, did these guys get permission from Lucas arts to make this video?

The CG in this video,,, well can't complain much, in contrast to the rest of the production, it's a master piece. I have seen more professional productions with less CG quality.

It's a shame to leave such a production in the handful of UBER amateurs. But then i guess if your connected you can do anything in Hollywood. The fans curiosity will make them watch it in the end. But don't expect anything and you will not be disappointed.

I give it five stars for the CG work. Good work guys.

I didn't expect much from this film, because I understood it to be a low-budget fan film, created by amateurs. I must also note that I liked the first three films, but haven't really enjoyed the last two all that much.

Revelations was a hell of a lot better than I expected. The fight scenes were fun to watch, the pacing was tight (it's only forty minutes long, but they pack a lot of action into that time frame), and the special effects were jaw-droppingly good. I was very impressed with the cityscapes, chase scenes, and CGI/actor interaction. Later, while watching with commentary, I learned that a number of elements that I'd assumed were real-world were, in fact, computer-generated.

The acting? Well, what the hell, it's not like the last couple of movies set the bar really high... But I thought it was okay. Oscar-worthy? Well, what do you think? Come on, it was shot on weekends for thirty grand. By volunteers. But, I got to confess, the characters grew on me. Some of the performances were obviously done in front of static screens, but some of them were really effective. And Christ, that one guy sounded just like Vader.

Costumes were astounding, the banter had some really good ANH-style one-liners in it, and the DVD was laid out professionally. The full-size MOV download is about 350 megs, but it's so worth getting the DVD version and watching it on a big TV with the sound turned up (sound design was excellent -- the lightsabers sounded perfect, and the music was well done).

Few low-budget movies cause people to pound the arm rest and laughingly yell obscenities at their friends, then shake their heads. This was one of them. Impressive!

I'm trying real hard to judge this movie based on the fact that's it's fan-film and had virtually no budget, but it's tough.

Impressive special effects, the story is OK i guess, and plenty of cool costumes. But trying to watch this movie amidst the horrible acting and dialogue is definitely a test of patience. If I were making a film like this, I wouldn't be in it - because I know i suck at acting. I would find some friend or family member who at least semi-decent and cast them. I'm sure the fame and fortune would be enough to make up for the non-existent salary ;) But seriously, I appreciate the film for what it is - but I can't give it more than 5/10 stars.....

Since I don't believe it is possible or fair to consider this film without at least an introduction to the Fan Film Universe, I decided to visit the many Fan Films sites and view as many of the hundreds of fan films as was bearable. In the surprisingly large catalog of this genre, Star Wars Revelations is among the best. One has to cite what most others already have: good costumes, good CG, good sets, a decent core plot idea (unless you are a canonical Star Wars fan) and a very good score by Chris Bouchard. Bouchard uses a few of the standard Star Wars pieces as jumping off points to some fine musical work of his own that nicely weaves known themes throughout in addition to adding excellent new character leitmotifs. One of the things overlooked in some of the other comments is that the director did quite a decent job staging shots, especially in staging the crowd scenes, which is unusual in the Fan Film World, though the fight scenes near the end are weak and the pacing was slow. I do have to agree that the acting is the weak point, but I think one has to be at least a bit forgiving of that, due to this being a production done gratis by a group of Star Wars fans, likely acting in front of a green screen for the first time in their lives. Take a look at Gwyneth Paltrow attempting to act in front of an effects screen in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" to see how difficult or impossible that can be, even for seasoned performers. Far from being a good movie, one should still consider this a good fan film and applaud all involved for their effort. I would also encourage people to view some of the other fan films out there. As has been noted already, there are some very good ones available (look for "Grayson" as one example).

Since there is no data when I write this, I guess I should add something.

This is a fan-produced movie with professional production values, currently downloadable from the produces.

The story takes place in the time between Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, and Episode 4: Star Wars - A New Hope. It is based around fugitive Jedi being hunted down by Darth Vader and other Imperial agents.

The video is available in a number of file sizes and formats, and as a 3.5GB DVD image that can be burned to DVD and played on a normal DVD player.

I spent the 2 days downloading the DVD image and burning it to disk, and was well worth the time.

The DVD looks as professional as any I've bought at the store, with a full (and perfectly animated) menu, choice of directors or SFX commentary tracks, and even subtitles for all three.

The video effects and CGI are as good as many professional movies. The space scenes are flawless and fit into the Star Wars universe perfectly, and the landscapes, cityscapes and interior shots are equally well done. Many of the CGI sets look completely convincing, nd even when the director's commentary tells you what is real and what is not, you feel like arguing.

The acting ranges from good to fair, for the main cast. Some of the extras are not up to par. The voice acting for Darth Vader does not compare well, and the Emporor is unconvincing both in voice and costume. Fortunately there are only a few scenes with that issue, and the acting for the main part is good enough for most 40-minute big-budget TV shows.

I hope they fill the details out here soon. In the mean time, start up your BitTorrent and grab the DVD image. You'll not regret it, so long as you don't pay for internet by the minute!