IMPERIAL CHOPPER
creators' Web site
Web site for downloading @ TheForce.Net
director's cut on YouTube here

review written 3/12/2008

Bringing a touch of a galaxy far, far away to American Chopper guarantees a fan film that's a little out of the ordinary, and it's fun to mash the world we know and love into a small garage with colorful characters of its own. The filmmakers rather cleverly create a 22-minute piece mirroring (more or less) the arc of a TV documentary episode: we pick up the same rhythm as we do watching actual television.

It's rare to see such props as swoop bikes and Sith probe droids in a comedy, and I enjoyed seeing the hardware on display, but where this film really shines are the costumes; not just the usual go-to guys of Vader and Fett, which are impressive enough, but a non-Chewbacca Wookiee (shaggier and cooler than most), a somewhat-depressed-looking Mon Calamari and a Rodian who's finding all this no way to earn a living. Note my attribution of characteristics to the costumed folk; the most is made of their characterizations and what they bring to the dynamics of the workshop. An R2-D2 (not named as such, but hey) also steals the show on more than one occasion, not just for being there and looking well-built but performing as a character.

There's a heavy dose of digital effects as well, and these vary drastically in quality. Some work beautifully and some just don't work at all. I liked the sky replacement over the garage, which didn't look quite real but nonetheless made for a striking image, and I liked seeing various spacecraft and gear parked outside said garage, which did the same. Sometimes, there's something to be said for an effect working as comedy even if it doesn't come off as photorealistic.

Least successful is the filmmakers' use of text and graphics, very important in a project dipping into the well of documentary television. A few early things sort of work--I can accept all-caps with a lot of shiny filters thrown at it as a joke on low-rent overproduced TV intros, and a bumper of a burning Imperial logo looks pretty snazzy, but there are so many different transitions and texts and lower-thirds used, many of which don't look good and too many of which aren't consistent. If the television industry understands one thing, it's the importance of consistency and 'branding' a show, even to the point of blandness. (Sadly, I've edited reality TV. Don't try this at home.)

It's an entertaining project and worth a look for some of the things it tries. Of course, I'm still just amused by a droid spinning round.