Savoring ‘Star Wars’ with fans’ guidance
Famed films easy to find, but ‘Chad Vader’ has own elegance
May 4 is “Star Wars” Day. Each year, fans around the globe gather for film screenings, trivia nights, costume contests and art shows — and greet each other with “May the Fourth be with you.” The unofficial holiday also welcomes appearances by the 501st Legion, whose members dress as stormtroopers and other villains from a galaxy far, far way.
But in 2020, May the Fourth will happen during a crisis for the Rebel Alliance: We’re all indoors.
Disney Plus has “Star Wars” fans covered for athome celebrations. In addition to releasing every series and film (including the final chapter, “The Rise of Skywalker,” beginning May 4), the streaming service will premiere two new “Star Wars” entries: an eightpart documentary on the incredible spaceWestern “The Mandalorian” and the longawaited series finale of the “Clone Wars” cartoon.
One would think that’s enough “Star Wars.” Nah. Let’s talk about fan films.
“Star Wars” may have inspired more fan fiction than the Bible, and a lot of it is really good. Here are some to cue up. All are available on YouTube.
“Chad Vader”: “Chad Vader” is a parody series about the Sith Lord’s brother, a dayshift manager at a supermarket who tries to bring Dark Side gravitas to his legion of unimpressed employees. The show continued for four seasons, and it only got funnier.
The show is the closest a fan vehicle has gotten to canonicity. Actor Matt Sloan, who voiced Chad, was so impressive in his James Earl Jones impression that video game de
veloper LucasArts Entertainment hired him to officially voice Darth Vader in several titles, including “Lego: Star Wars” and “Star Wars: Battlefront II.”
Sloan also appeared on the commentary show RiffTrax to make fun of “Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” which is another fun way to spend “Star Wars” Day. “Broken Allegiance”: Nick Hallam’s “Broken Allegiance” (2002) is pretty much the gold standard of “Star Wars” fan films. It takes place a year after the Battle of Yavin (from “Episode IV: A New Hope”) and follows two Sith apprentices who flee the Empire after growing disillusioned. Darth Vader sends a notorious bounty hunter after them, and action ensues.
Visually, it’s a weird film, mixing the pulp sciencefiction style of the original trilogy with the hypercartoonish look of the prequels. It works surprisingly well and adds to the short film’s artifact mystique.
For a movie that only cost $5,000 to make, it’s stunningly beautiful, and the acting is far above par for your average lowbudget film. If any title on this list deserves to sit alongside the official canon, it’s “Broken Allegiance.” “A Dark Redemption”: Disney broke a lot of hearts when it rejected the enormous amount of canon built up in the “Star Wars” expanded universe, told in various comic books and novels.
Some of the characters and lore have slowly worked their way back into the fold, such as the fanfavorite Grand Admiral Thrawn in the “Star Wars: Rebels” animated series. One character that has sadly been left out is Mara Jade, a Dark Side of the
Force user who served Emperor Palpatine and, after returning to the Light, married Luke Skywalker.
You can see a “what if ?” scenario play out in Peter Mether’s “Dark Redemption” (1999). The story is a nightmare for continuity, including lore about the Death Star, Han Solo and Boba Fett that no longer makes sense.
But it does serve as a snapshot of late ’90s fandom. Leah McLeod is a wonderful Jade, and it’s a rare chance to see the character in live action.
“George Lucas in Love”: Of all the “Star Wars” parodies, this is my absolute favorite. Technically, it’s not a “Star Wars” film. It’s a parody of “Shakespeare in Love.”
Martin Hynes is the perfectly adorkable Lucas, who slowly falls in love with a beautiful woman sporting an unusual hairstyle while he tries to write his masterpiece. All around him are the seeds of his greatest work, including a stoned roommate ranting about a force that surrounds everyone, and a blackclad, asthmatic bully dorm mate who lords his finished script over George.
It’s also George Lucas’ favorite. The “Star Wars” creator sent director Joe Nussbaum a thankyou note for his efforts. More than anything, “George Lucas in Love” is the epitome of making art to tell art how much it meant to you.