Fanboys

source: Fanboys

It's the third time I've been tricked to watch the movie that has a solid rating, and turns up to be nothing but retarded movie. Who are these people who give 2 or more vote for this garbage? From the first scene I realized that this movie is not for me, for I never understood star wars(or star track for that matter) fans. OK, you saw a movie, you liked it insanely, you saw it again and move on with your life... I get a feeling that star wars nerds... oops, fans, have reached the climax of their lives and they cannot move on. Maybe there is a curse. If you watch it as virgin, you stay virgin. The fanboys film is for people who are proud to be geeks, and they expect to be normal ever. Hutch, Linus and Windows are guys who like sex as a concept but they don't intend to actually do it. For humor in this movie I have only one word: B A D !!! My conclusion is that this movie should not be seen by anyone. Ever!

You really gotta take yours hats off to the writers of Fanboys, because while one might think it's easy to have the majority of the lines here adapted from some memorable one-liners from various of fan-supported films, contrary by the time you sit through this, you would have gathered new found respect in having to string it all and having them make some sense, though some may have felt a little forced (pardon the pun). Set in 1999 some 3 months before the release of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, Fanboys has relative unknowns Sam Huntington (who snagged the role of Jimmy Olsen in Superman Returns), Chris Marquette (who looks like Paul Rudd), Jay Baruchel (one of those guys in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Tropic Thunder and Knocked Up) and Dan Fogler (Good Luck Chuck, and the lead in Balls of Fury) play a group of buddies who decide to take a road trip from Ohio to the George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch, in order to sneak a peek at the first prequel Star Wars film. The initial few minutes sets up their background, suffice to know that they are some really nerdy geeks who live and breathe everything that Lucas created, and save for one, don't really hold a day job. One's living in his mom's garage, while another runs a comic book store and spends his time interacting with the opposite sex online and oblivious to the hints dropped by store worker Zoe (Kristen Bell, who was in Pulse and as Sarah Marshall herself in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, only now in dark hair). You know the (tired) drill. Things only pick up when the chaps hit the road, and like a typical road movie, it's episodic, with almost everything already seen in the trailer. Each episode allows some geek trivia to be loaded on screen, be it lines of dialogue, a cameo by a celebrity (William Shatner, Billy Dee Williams, Ray Parks and so on...), coupled with the insane arguments within the passionate members of the group as they debate live and death issues like the incestuous relationship between the Skywalker siblings, and to every Star Wars fan who are not Trekkers, the intense rivalry between the two, who in my opinion represent as rabid a fan can get in their allegiance to possibly two of the largest make believe worlds. Unfortunately there are few moments of genuine laughter, and you'll be left quite unsure if you're laughing at the jokes, or at the very lame delivery of the punchline. Suffice to say that the trailer gave away most of the best bits, and there's a slew of the expected twists and turns coming up that would already have been hinted at. I'm not sure how Harry Knowles got himself a short stint at this gig, but again, most guys here are either playing themselves, or show some flashes of flamboyance from their legendary on-screen characters. For example, since there was much talk about Leia kissing Luke, you'd half expect somewhere for Carrie Fisher to pop up playing another character, and locking lips with someone. This film is made for the fanboy in you, or for those who are itching for a challenge in identifying any fan moment or reference, to determine who amongst a group is the bigger geek. Otherwise, there are plenty of situations that'll just fly by your radar, with some folks getting it and guffawing away, and others sitting and staring blankly at the screen. If pop culture is beyond you, then skip this. Otherwise the only kick you'll get is from the trivia pursuit game you'll automatically play.

With all the comedic talent in this mess you would think it could somehow be funny, but the truth is it fails on all levels. The leads are just boring characters who we care nothing for, every joke is seen coming a mile away and I think I laughed twice during the whole thing. The cameos are wasted except for Shatner who was funny. The idea that Kristen Bell would be in love with Jay Baruchel is retarded. Poor script, just unfunny, seems like it was written by nine year old kids who kept saying to themselves "you know what would be really funny?, how about we have the real Princess Leia be a doctor in the hospital!" All in all a good waste of 2 hrs of my life.

Just to get the voting average down to an acceptable level, i.e. that will not lead to more and more Star Wars fans wanting to actually sit through this film...I feel should give this one a 1 out of 10. This film is a waste of talent for the gorgeously cute Kristen Bell and a display of the lack thereof for the other cast as well as the writers. There are literally thousands of references to the best films ever made, but none of them really raise a laugh and at times it gets downright painful or distasteful. The idea of the film is in itself good but executed poorly by people that seem to be aiming at an audience that would rank Porky's and American Pie among the finest films ever made, rather than at real Star Wars fans. So it is kind of an insult. Its just one cheap joke after another followed by dumb fights between Star Wars fans and Trekkies. In reality most fans like both Trek and Wars. If you really want to watch a well-made fan film you should watch George Lucas in Love. It's 10 minutes short but also 10 times better than this garbage. I could not sit this one through but I've seen enough.

How awful was this movie. The Weinstein brothers tried to bury it. I mean, these are guys who produced garbage like "The Mist", but they tried their best to hide this cinematic stink bomb from the public at large. Well, the plot is that four Star Wars fan-boys get together on a quest to steal a copy of Episode 1 from the Skywalker Ranch because their friend is dying of cancer. Wow, so you want to inflict Jar-Jar Binks onto your dying friend? YOu sadistic fiends! Now, give you an idea of how lame this movie is, you don't believe for a moment these guys are even tepid Star Wars fans, much less hard core ones. Sorry, arguments over whether Leia and Luke had the hots for each other? Boring. Real Warsies get into deep discussions about why the REpublic fell and what the technical capabilities of a Star Destroyer is. They go for the easy, dumb laughs, like Star Wars fans and Star Trek fans hate each other. (William Shatner even makes a cameo.) The rest of the movie is dumb situations that you've seen in Harold and Kumar and American Pie movies... but not executed with a degree of the skill. I couldn't imagine who the audience for this film is.

Don't get me wrong, I love Old School, 40 Year Old Virgin, Pineapple Express and Knocked Up just as much as the next guy, but this movie is something different. Whereas the previously listed titles give you great laughs, they leave you with a storyline that is easily dismissed and forgotten rather quickly. I watched this movie with the same impression, and boy was I surprised. Although this movie is hilarious, it seemed to really relate to me (as I am sure it will to most guys my age) about friendship, ambition, and mortality. I don't want to give anything away, but just expect to laugh as hard as you have at a movie in a long time.

Indeed it was. It was about the fans of Star Wars, this film was practically made for Star Wars fans. It's such a shame that this movie didn't get a wider release across North America..a 6 million dollar budget and only got 760k in gross revenue. The director, Kyle Newman is clearly a Star Wars fan and he knew what he was making. Ever since I saw the trailer for this movie on the Clerks 2 DVD, I knew I was dead set on seeing this since day one. So I waited, and I waited, and I waited and, well, you get the point. The day finally came for me to see the movie. But not in theaters, I waited for it to come to blue-ray. I felt really good after watching it. I was in such a great mood because of this film. I expected it to be funnier because it's a 2006 film that had so many re-adjustments to the script, but I can understand where the director was going with this film. I had a good laugh at all the Star Wars one-liner references to the original trilogy, and I never knew about Harry Knowles, but it is true, he really is a major fan. Apparently, this plot of stealing the rough cut of The Phantom Menace is referenced to Harry Knowles at Aintitcoolnews.com for stealing the actual rough cut of Star Wars and posting it on his website. If he did that, then shame on you Harry, you're a thief, I hope your website gets shutdown for good one day. Fanboys had one little flaw, Seth Rogen playing the southern accent p/imp who also happens to be a Star Wars fan. His character was really annoying in the hotel scene. But Kirsten Bell, that hot beauty makes up for his parts, we get to see her behind. He did play the "Trekkie" part very well though. It was spot-on. I'm sure Trekkies all over are pretty angry, but we all know STAR WARS IS BETTER THAN STAR TREK. Clearly. There was a scene of sadness in the movie, near the end, kinda tore me up inside. I couldn't relate to it, but I do miss my old friends, my first few friends that I used to spend weekends playing Nintendo 64 with and watching the latest Leslie Neilson movie. That's why this movie brings nostalgia into play. You can clearly see it in some of the set designs. The car, that guys garage, oops..sorry, I meant carriage. The last line of the movie was pretty funny, kinda bad to be put there, and kinda good. It was bad because of all the events that lead up to the ending and it was good because it made fun of everyone who hated Episode 1. But it's kinda funny if you hated the first film, which I didn't by the way. In the end result, this movie gets a 10/10 for originality, and for appealing to not only Star Wars fans, but anyone who still has love for the era they grew up in. This movie was for you and me. I'm proud to say that I can watch this movie again and again and still want to continue watching it again the next day. Go buy this movie if you don't have it, it's worth the money and wait. Don't listen to the reviews, especially the Ebert tools. I recommend this for everyone. It manages to have an original plot, with some light humor, but all that makes sense for the situation, and a little sense of nostalgia in it. Kyle Newman, if you're reading this, you made a very good movie, I hope you can make more films like this. This is one of those movies you should watch before you die, clearly.

An easy way to measure how much you will or won't enjoy "Fanboys" is how closely you fit to the titular category. The more of a Star Wars fan you are and the more your gender and maturity is on par with 'boy,' the more you'll like this ode to Star Wars fans. The premise of this film is excellent: In 1998, six months before the scheduled release of "Star Wars Episode I" a group of fanboy friends in their 20-somethings road trip to Skywalker Ranch to try and steal a rough cut of the movie because one of them has a terminal illness and won't live to see the release. The execution, however, is spotty. The movie is a Star Wars-themed version of "Road Trip," with the guys heading across America in a van and stopping along the way solely to buy some time before they get to the ranch. My guess would be that Ernest Cline and Dan Pulick are fanboys themselves who came up with the premise of stealing Episode I and then had to find a way to actually make it work. Therefore, the guys stop off in Iowa where the character of Captain Kirk from the Star Trek franchise was born to antagonize some Trekkies, they get caught at a gay biker bar and they have to go to Las Vegas to get security clearance to the ranch from an insider. The main character and the story are not all that strong, but the small tributes, spoofs and cameos all related to the Star Wars universe is what makes "Fanboys" entertaining. Therefore, the more you know Star Wars -- things like thermal detonators and that Chewbacca is from Kashik -- the more you love "Fanboys." In addition to appearances from a few notable actors from the Star Wars franchise, director Kyle Newman does some nice homages to Lucas and obviously Star Wars. The infamous side wipes that Lucas uses to transition in those movies appear a couple times and the security at the ranch resemble the ones from THX 1138, one of Lucas' first movies (although that might just be the truth, who knows). The writing also does this too including famous quotes when appropriate and even the movie's funniest scene when the gang ends up in George Lucas' trash compactor. Other cameos include Seth Rogen, Billy Dee Williams, and Kevin Smith, to name a few without spoiling one of the film's few excellent aspects. Stars Sam Huntington ("Superman Returns"), the rotund Dan Fogler ("Balls of Fury"), Jay Baruchel ("Knocked Up") and Chris Marquette ("The Girl Next Door") are all average, though mostly because their characters are written sloppy. Bottom line is "Fanboys" states in title alone exactly who it's intended for. I don't know why Harvey Weinstein would fight to try and make this something that would appeal to the masses only to let it come out without making a peep. If Star Wars is going to be the focus of a movie, there's one segment of the population that will like it, no matter what you do. Fortunately, for those fans, "Fanboys" is good. ~Steven C Visit my site at http://moviemusereviews.blogspot.com

If you're a geek this movie is for you. If you're a Star Wars geek this movie totally is for you. Basically it's a movie about Star Wars geeks made by Star Wars geeks for a target audience of Star Wars geeks. If you are not into all things Star Wars this movie may well miss the mark with you. And even the most rabid of Star Wars fans would have to concede that the movie is certainly not anything spectacular. It's fairly charming and reasonably amusing but never really riotously funny. But it works. More or less. The movie is set in the autumn of 1998, a time before Jar Jar Binks had been foisted upon the world. Four friends, major Star Wars geeks all, decide to drive across the country, break into Skywalker Ranch and steal a rough cut of The Phantom Menace. The major motivation for this journey is that one of the friends has cancer and will not live to see the movie released. But once that is established the cancer storyline is basically put on the back burner and this turns into a mostly predictable wacky road-trip comedy. Some of the wackiness works, some of it falls flat. There are a bunch of celebrity cameos thrown in, some of which are inspired and some of which are rather random and pointless. So it's a movie which has its ups and downs. But it's enjoyable more often than not and the movie breezes by in a nice, tight, well-paced 90 minutes. None of the actors playing our gang of four really stand out in any memorable way. Dan Fogler's character is a little more outrageous than the others but that's about it. But the group works together well and they are ably supported by the varied cast of characters who pop up throughout. Seth Rogen's portrayal of a pimp is one of the standouts. Of course this ode to Star Wars fans wouldn't be complete without taking some shots at Trekkies. So there's room for another funny turn by an actor portraying Admiral Seasholtz, an uber-Trekkie. Who is the unrecognizable actor memorably bringing this character to life? You may have to wait until the closing credits roll to figure it out. And in this Star Wars geek universe there's room for one girl and Kristen Bell is both charming and funny in the role as her character gets swept along for the ride. Could the movie be a little more consistently funny? Most definitely. But the movie about Star Wars geeks will probably leave you with a smile on your face. Especially if you're a Star Wars geek yourself.