So, a while ago I wrote about Serenity: Redemption, a feature length live action fan film that continued the Firefly universe. I thought it was pretty neat, if obviously a fan tribute, but also fairly unique in being a fan film with production value. Well, time for me to start eating my words, as just in the last few months, three more live action fan films have been released upon the unsuspecting web: Voltron: The End, Portal: No Escape, and Sailor Moon: The Movie.
Voltron: The End
My kids have recently been watching the original Voltron, and when I commented about this on Facebook, a friend linked this at me. I properly nerdgasmed. The story is, roughly, a small vignette that shows a much older Lance waking up in a heavily damaged Red Lion, adrift in space. With his dying breath, he sends out a warning to the Galactic Alliance: Zarcon has won. Even for being three minutes long, it was amazingly good, and the limited CGI was quite effectively used. The only thing that bugs me is that there are no links or additional information on this project. Will there be more? Who knows.
Portal: No Escape
This short is actually the oldest of the three, posted at the end of August. Like the Voltron short, there is basically no information about this, although I’d imagine if Valve actually had anything to do with it, their name would be plastered all over it instead of it being one of two videos on the creator’s channel, the other being a pretty nifty Behind-the-Scenes feature. The story, in short, is of an Aperture Test Subject who tries to escape after finding the Portal Gun in her cell. No dialogue, but that just makes it all the more awesome.
Sailor Moon: The Movie
Okay, I’m going to get flak for this, but I actually watched the ever-living snot out of Sailor Moon growing up. More so than even Dragonball Z. Now, I know there have been live action adaptations of Sailor Moon before, but that this is strictly a fan man, not-for-profit production is amazing. The above video is the first fifteen minutes of what the production team is planning (according to their facebook page) on being a full length feature, drawing both from the original story and incorporating a new, edgier take. Considering that there are pictures of Sailor Moon fighting “Evil Endymion” on their tumblr, I imagine they plan on taking the story all the way through the Queen Beryl arc.
So, what do you think? Pretty cool, or am I just easily impressed? Any other awesome fan films out there?
Richard Fife is a writer, blogger, and also a closet Brony, as if being a Sailor Moon fan wasn’t bad enough. He writes an illustrated steampunk serial novel, “The Tijervyn Chronicles” and loves being stalked on Facebook and Twitter.
