Starwoids (2001)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Don't Believe the Hype

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The description of this film is that it's like a Star Wars version of "Trekkies". This is really inaccurate. While I did not love "Trekkies", it was competently made--with a professional host (Mary Crosby), decent production values and something of interest to non-Star Trek fans. However, "Starwoids" is really poorly made--and is only of interest to the most ardent Star Wars fans. Its production values are minimal--just a lot of handicam shots. There isn't any sort of narration. In fact, it looks EXACTLY like some home movies by some die-hard fans slapped together. Why would anyone want to pay for this? Even Star wars fans would expect much more than this--a film which consists of lots of video of folks waiting in line to see "Episode 1" as well as clips of various fan stuff--like a Star Wars musical--complete with fuzzy camera work and completely devoid of editing. I rarely am this mean to an independent film but this one made me mad---I cannot see why anyone would pay for this and it looks more like clips from YouTube.Worst moments in this 'film'? Fans comparing George Lucas to God--and finding God coming up short by comparison. Talk about the expression 'get a life'.

Since I heard about this movie, I was really looking forward to checking it out. I finally got a copy from my online DVD rental company, and boy, was I disappointed!! Not at all what I expected! "Starwoids" basically tells the story about a bunch of losers waiting in line for the first prequel in the Star Wars films.With a cast of losers, what can you like about this film!??! Now, I am a mega Star Wars fan, but these guys are just total geeks!! This film made me feel embarrassed at times to even be a fan of this film series! I wouldn't wait in line a few hours for the chance to sleep with Elizabeth Hurley, let alone wait in line 40 freaking days to see a freaking movie!!! Even if that film is a Star Wars film!! I was hoping that this film would show stuff about the collectors and collectibles. Really, we do not need a 80 minute movie seeing a bunch of virgins waiting in line 40 days to see a movie. Again, this film made me feel ashamed to be a fan of Star Wars.I just have one thing to say about the people in this film....get a freaking life!!

I'll be the first to say, I love the Star Wars films, but to wait days in line???? I admire the people who did this but I pity them until they can line up for episode 2. If you can spend that much time waiting for a movie, you don't have much of a life. Starwoids is a great documentary on people who have nothing better to do. Don't get me wrong, it's really great to watch, because no matter how bad your life is you have something better to do than wait in line for a movie ticket. It's really an uplifting movie in the end.

STAR WOIDSEPISODE I THE FANDOM MENACEI saw this Friday, August 17th in Seattle, along with many fellow "Seattle Star Wars" members. The film was much longer than I expected (which is for the best), and full of interesting stuff, always delivered in a light-hearted, good-humored manner. Perhaps my favorite scene was a priest saying--and I quote--Star Wars is "Cool". I hear so many religious comparisons to Star Wars, but I don't think it's accurate, save that people like to have a mythology, and for our generation, it's Lucas' mythology, and boy do we EVER love it--42 days in line? I'm a fan, but not that die-hard. However, as much as one might have reservations about this film being anything other than a lengthy report on a few people "with no life", it's actually quite different--it's a film about what people like to believe in, what they DO believe in, and I gotta tell ya--I never thought that a 42-day wait simply for a movie would be so inspiring! But it's not just about the line for Phantom Menace, but also about Star Wars fans in all their incarnations, about humans worldwide having fun, and looking ahead to having more fun to come.And it just wouldn't be polite to write this review without one honorable mention--Katie (I won't use her last name for privacy's sake), member of the "Road Squadron", the coolest car piloted by the coolest person, right here in Seattle (if you see the movie, you'll see her). Hi Katie!Yes, Star Wars fans are fun, fun people. We may menace the sidewalk, attack the traffic, give new hope to the local food vendors, strike back at the Trekkies and return for Episode II, but we're just having fun, as this film shows. Go see it, all the better with a good crowd, or, as I like to say, "May the Fans be with you..."