Fan films are a mixed bag. Some just don’t have any real appeal outside of the people who made them, and some of their friends. Some show a lot of promise but seem kind of uncooked. The script is there but the acting and production value aren’t, or the acting is solid but the dialogue is just strained, or it shows a lot of promise but the director cast themselves in the lead and they just don’t have the chops. Then you get some fan films that are just pretty solid. “The Force and the Fury” fits into that category. In one week since its release, the video already has over 42,000 views.
Directed by Jason Satterlund and released on the YouTube channel BigPuddleFilms, “The Force and the Fury” stars Aris Juson and Deborah Smith in a seemingly straightforward story that involves little dialogue. A lone Jedi crashes onto a planet, finds himself in the wilderness, and is then confronted by a Sith bent on revenge.
The cinematography by Federico Verardi is excellent and the direction by Satterlund is clean. Like Rogue One, it feels like a grittier side of the Star Wars universe. The lighting and atmosphere are lovely, the action is easy to follow (though could have been sharper in a couple small places). But what helps this fan film stand out is the acting and that their few lines of dialogue let you know there is a larger, wider story behind these two characters. That’s a classic staple of Star Wars, stories that make you curious about a much larger world behind them.
Check out “The Force and the Fury.” Maybe we can get a follow-up film from these folks in the future!
