"Well, we basically lived out... the history of mankind within this line. We got together. We formed a government. We formed a hierarchy. We had our revolution. It all finally worked out and we're gonna see Star Wars. It's just a great time."
- Jason from the Mann's Chinese Theater line
A global social experiment is about to be set upon the world once again: can Star Wars, a worldwide phenomenon that has legions upon legions of fans, be resuscitated for a new generation after a lengthy absence? Certainly, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has a lot more going for it than The Phantom Menace, but let us take a journey back through time to just before May 1999. A time where when a new Star Wars movie was coming out, anything was possible. The creator himself, George Lucas, was back in the director's chair for the first time in over 20 years and had all of Industrial Light and Magic at his command. As the timely phrase goes, "What could possibly go wrong?" I was 8 years old at the time and was crazy into Disney's The Love Bug, so Star Wars had yet to take its hold on me. However, there is a great documentary produced at the time that chronicles the crazy phenomenon of waiting in line for weeks.
Dennis Przywara's Starwoids is a time capsule of this scarcely remembered period where feelings regarding Episode I: The Phantom Menace was positively at an all-time high. The film opens with a Kevin Smith narration defining what a "Starwoid" is: anyone who takes their fandom of Star Wars to the next level; whether it be cosplaying as a X-Wing pilot, creating Star Wars-themed music or collecting action figures. This is where Daniel Alter enters the story. Alter, who later in life went on to produce the Hitman films, is a young man in high school who decides to bring a chair out to his favorite theater and wait there until opening night for The Phantom Menace. Soon, more people follow suit and a camp is set up outside.
On the other side of town, in front of another theater, members from the now-defunct movie website CountingDown.com are constructing another compound of their own. They have their own TVs, Internet access and even a phone booth set to receive calls from international fans watching on a webcam. This is a more professional setup than Daniel's line. Despite that they are also raising money for charity, many in the group begin to decry the CountingDown line as nothing but a commercial gimmick to promote their website; less about Star Wars and more about cramming TV cameras everywhere.
While the battle of the lines is the center of the film, it also focuses on the general fandom phenomenon of Star Wars. One of which follows Guy Klender, avid collector, as he goes to various toy stores in search of all-new The Phantom Menace action figures. Another centers around the high school production of "Star Wars: The Musical" which takes popular songs from other musicals and gives them a twist from a Galaxy Far, Far Away. It also shows their failed attempt at infiltrating Skywalker Ranch; one ponders if this was where Fanboys was born. One of the more surprising elements is the inclusion of Phil Brown, Uncle Owen from A New Hope. Audiences learn quite a lot of interesting points including he directed a film on The Harlem Globetrotters and was a part of the Hollywood Blacklist (a topical point today because of the new film Trumbo).
The time finally comes to both lines when they can finally see The Phantom Menace. Whereas the official Episode I documentary "The Beginning" shows a few fans gleefully kiss the ground of the theater and run inside like crazed maniacs (a popular clip used in a negative fashion by Harry Plinkett of Red Letter Media), Starwoids shows that proper planning and level heads are not out of the question. Certainly excitement is in the air, but not sheer out-and-out nerdy madness. As they exit the movie after viewing it, everyone is praising it; quite long before popular opinion/sheer utter hatred envelops the planet. Daniel proclaims, "It's my favorite film!" The film then picks up a year later with Daniel looking quite different than he has at the beginning, having undergone a strict dietary regimen. He says that he was glad for the experience and that he may go again for Episode II.
Starwoids is a great look back to a simpler time and place; before the dark times, before the Prequels. Personally, I find things to like about the Prequels, but they are clearly inferior to the Originals. It would be easy to turn these people into stereotypes to laugh at, but the documentary wisely refrains from this; preferring the "laugh with us" approach. Both lines have their dramas, trials and tribulations, but nothing deadly serious (the most serious threats to the lines come from the police and apparently a group of interns from "The Man Show" who had terrorized some line people for laughs). George Lucas may never understand why people do not like the Prequels, but hopefully he takes some comfort in that Star Wars brings people together for positive reasons. We believe in these films and we all hope that Star Wars: The Force Awakens may bring back that effortless sense of wonder we have all been missing.
Starwoids is available on Amazon.com.
A global social experiment is about to be set upon the world once again: can Star Wars, a worldwide phenomenon that has legions upon legions of fans, be resuscitated for a new generation after a lengthy absence? Certainly, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has a lot more going for it than The Phantom Menace, but let us take a journey back through time to just before May 1999. A time where when a new Star Wars movie was coming out, anything was possible. The creator himself, George Lucas, was back in the director's chair for the first time in over 20 years and had all of Industrial Light and Magic at his command. As the timely phrase goes, "What could possibly go wrong?" I was 8 years old at the time and was crazy into Disney's The Love Bug, so Star Wars had yet to take its hold on me. However, there is a great documentary produced at the time that chronicles the crazy phenomenon of waiting in line for weeks.
Dennis Przywara's Starwoids is a time capsule of this scarcely remembered period where feelings regarding Episode I: The Phantom Menace was positively at an all-time high. The film opens with a Kevin Smith narration defining what a "Starwoid" is: anyone who takes their fandom of Star Wars to the next level; whether it be cosplaying as a X-Wing pilot, creating Star Wars-themed music or collecting action figures. This is where Daniel Alter enters the story. Alter, who later in life went on to produce the Hitman films, is a young man in high school who decides to bring a chair out to his favorite theater and wait there until opening night for The Phantom Menace. Soon, more people follow suit and a camp is set up outside.
On the other side of town, in front of another theater, members from the now-defunct movie website CountingDown.com are constructing another compound of their own. They have their own TVs, Internet access and even a phone booth set to receive calls from international fans watching on a webcam. This is a more professional setup than Daniel's line. Despite that they are also raising money for charity, many in the group begin to decry the CountingDown line as nothing but a commercial gimmick to promote their website; less about Star Wars and more about cramming TV cameras everywhere.
While the battle of the lines is the center of the film, it also focuses on the general fandom phenomenon of Star Wars. One of which follows Guy Klender, avid collector, as he goes to various toy stores in search of all-new The Phantom Menace action figures. Another centers around the high school production of "Star Wars: The Musical" which takes popular songs from other musicals and gives them a twist from a Galaxy Far, Far Away. It also shows their failed attempt at infiltrating Skywalker Ranch; one ponders if this was where Fanboys was born. One of the more surprising elements is the inclusion of Phil Brown, Uncle Owen from A New Hope. Audiences learn quite a lot of interesting points including he directed a film on The Harlem Globetrotters and was a part of the Hollywood Blacklist (a topical point today because of the new film Trumbo).
The time finally comes to both lines when they can finally see The Phantom Menace. Whereas the official Episode I documentary "The Beginning" shows a few fans gleefully kiss the ground of the theater and run inside like crazed maniacs (a popular clip used in a negative fashion by Harry Plinkett of Red Letter Media), Starwoids shows that proper planning and level heads are not out of the question. Certainly excitement is in the air, but not sheer out-and-out nerdy madness. As they exit the movie after viewing it, everyone is praising it; quite long before popular opinion/sheer utter hatred envelops the planet. Daniel proclaims, "It's my favorite film!" The film then picks up a year later with Daniel looking quite different than he has at the beginning, having undergone a strict dietary regimen. He says that he was glad for the experience and that he may go again for Episode II.
Starwoids is a great look back to a simpler time and place; before the dark times, before the Prequels. Personally, I find things to like about the Prequels, but they are clearly inferior to the Originals. It would be easy to turn these people into stereotypes to laugh at, but the documentary wisely refrains from this; preferring the "laugh with us" approach. Both lines have their dramas, trials and tribulations, but nothing deadly serious (the most serious threats to the lines come from the police and apparently a group of interns from "The Man Show" who had terrorized some line people for laughs). George Lucas may never understand why people do not like the Prequels, but hopefully he takes some comfort in that Star Wars brings people together for positive reasons. We believe in these films and we all hope that Star Wars: The Force Awakens may bring back that effortless sense of wonder we have all been missing.
Starwoids is available on Amazon.com.
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