 |
Movie Synposis:
Follow the lives of
Australia's most passionate Star Wars fans as the moment they've waited
16 years for is suddenly upon them. See the amazing costumed, trivia soaked
brains, vast collections and unconditional dedication that makes these
fans a breed apart. Be stunned by the shockwaves that echo through the
Star Wars fan community at the dawn of the new prequel era.
DVD Features:
The main selling point
of this disc is the feature itself. It is an extremely entertaining documentary,
one that anyone who is a Star Wars fan would mark out for, but I'll go
into my thoughts on that a little later on.
This disc really didn't
need any extras, but it did have them , which says a lot about the dedication
that went into this disc. All of these extras are worth your time, they
compliment the disc amazingly.
- Directors / Cast
Commentary
This is an extremely entertaining extra. It is not all that often that
a documentary has commentary tracks, reason being that with most documentary
you garner your enjoyment strictly out of the spoken word, while with
movies you can get a lot from the costumes, the sets, so on and so forth.
This commentary gives the feature a great boost. It gives insight into
the lives of these people that comes from outsiders and from these people
themselves. Normally I am not a huge fan of commentaries but this one
is definitely worth your time.
- Outtakes
Why these were cut from the feature I will never know. These are extra
and extended scenes from the film, if you enjoyed the film ( and I'm
sure you will ) you will enjoy these scenes.
- Complete Soundtrack
This is a nice little extra . It is difficult for me to describe it
, I honestly think you have to experience it for yourself to appreciate
it. I would definitely give it a whirl.
Overall Assessment:
I have heard comments
from people along the lines of " George Lucas can start his own religion
if he wanted. ". By viewing this disc, that is a point that would
be difficult to argue. I automatically made the comparison of this disc
to the documentary Trekkies , as this shows the enthusiasm of Star Wars
fans much like Trekkies did for Star Trek fans. Phandom however treats
the fans enthusiasm with more respect however than Trekkies did with theirs.
While Trekkies ridiculed the fans in my opinion, Phandom shows their pride
and takes their obsession very seriously.
Within five minutes
if you are watching this with someone else you will be able to understand
whether or not they fully grasp how much people love and live for Star
Wars. If you get comments along the lines of " get a life "
and " what a loser " then you know that the person flailing
those comments is not aware as to how big this fan base really is, but
after watching Phandom they hopefully will.
I am a long time Star
Wars fan , and I was one of those " freaks " out front on opening
day , the first showing of Episode 1. My love however pails in comparison
to the dedication that these fans have. This is a glimpse into their obsession,
you follow them around, you understand their love. You follow Starwalking
Inc. ( the fan club ) from months before the opening of Episode 1 to weeks
afterwards. It is fun to listen to the wide array of comments in anticipation
to the premiere , and the much wider array of comments that are spewed
after the viewing.
You have to be a Star
Wars fan to enjoy this disc, and if you are just that then you will enjoy
it thoroughly. You have to have a grasp as to how large the Star Wars
fan base is, and you have to go into this disc understanding and on a
level appreciating the love that these people have for this saga. If you
go into this disc thinking these people are losers with no life, and plan
on being your own little MST3K then you will finish the disc thinking
that you wasted an hour of your time. If you don't do that however, if
you are a fan of Star Wars or just go into this disc with an open mind
you will be entertained and enjoy it. I seriously think that this disc
is worth your time either way.
|
|
9 / 10 |
OVERALL SCORE
90 %
|
 |
8 / 10 |
 |
9 / 10 |
 |
10 / 10 |
|
|
|
|
