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Fanboys
A group of friends who are avid "Star Wars" fans travel west to see the Holy Grail of all sci-fi movies, "Star Wars: Episode I." The year is 1999 and for these death star dorks, the "Star Wars" films are more than just movies; they are a way of life. So, after one of the group takes sick, it is nothing short of a moral .. Read more
| Starring | Billy D. Williams, Dan Fogler, Kristen Bell, William Shatner |
|---|---|
| Director | Kyle Newman |
| Genres | Comedy |
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Fanboys
A group of friends who are avid "Star Wars" fans travel west to see the Holy Grail of all sci-fi movies, "Star Wars: Episode I." The year is 1999 and for these death star dorks, the "Star Wars" films are more than just movies; they are a way of life. So, after one of the group takes sick, it is nothing short of a moral imperative that the friends break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch to watch the seminal sci-fi picture together before its release. Enlisting the help of an estranged friend, who has traded in his Darth Vader mask for a proper day job, the adventure lays way to some extremely funny situations, including an outrageous brawl with some hard-core Trekkies.
| Starring | Billy D. Williams, Dan Fogler, Kristen Bell, William Shatner |
|---|---|
| Director | Kyle Newman |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 30 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: not available |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews
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The emperorthat is, George Lucasshould be most pleased. Fanboys, a sweaty, strenuously overgeeked comedy about... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Fan Boys
Fanboys has had something of a troubled life (recounted here) with delay upon delay, a re-edit and a re-re-edit but has now finally found it’s way out of the Weinstein vault. The film itself follows a group of Star Wars fanboys as they drive across country to steal a copy of The Phantom Menace (1999) so that one of their group can watch it before he dies from cancer (a plot point that was ‘cured’ then reinserted during the films time on the shelf) and I must say that whilst I would not wish cancer on anyone (keep reading) I’m glad it’s back because there is barely anything else going on here, and whilst there will no doubt be much discussion about what the film might have been, this is what it is…
One would have thought that with it’s ridiculous but decent enough plot and the wealth of material offered by the world of obsessive fandom there would be a few more laughs but, regrettably, the filmmakers have decided to gently mock it’s main characters instead (Star Trek fans are not treated quite so kindly) and essentially write such people a love letter which, as things go, is pretty dull… and this is from someone who understood all the geek jokes, spotted the references and even had his own god-awful tattoo. Maybe I’ve just grown up a bit since The Phantom Menace showed me that Lucas’ oeuvre was (you know) for kids (although why he thought kids would love tax embargoes is anyone’s guess), or maybe I just realised that dusting a room full of toys is a pain in the bum, either way Spaced (1999 – 2001) nailed this one years ago by giving Tim Bisley a reality check. Now, if the characters in Fanboys had seen the film thirty minutes before the end (heck why not even thirty minutes in), with the acknowledgement of years of life being wasted before a premature death, then the film, and the characters, might have had somewhere to go… I’m not suggesting that you need to dump geeky pleasures in order to grow up into a fully rounded person (I still love the ‘Original Trilogy’) but leaving obsessions behind is definitely a start, as is dumping the skin crawling friend (Dan Fogler) who thinks dry humping stuff is hilarious.
No doubt the Weinstein’s will be blamed by the ‘what if…?’ crowd on the IMDB etc but, as far as I can tell, their wish to remove the cancer plot was, at worst, a case of misunderstanding the fatal flaws in a film that is so lacking in imagination that it is forced to fall back on the awful spectre of ‘gay panic’ (see virtually every scene in Wild Hogs (2007)) in it’s search for big laughs.
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- Wynter from UK
- Posted 18 Aug 2009 18:32
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Most recent members' review
View all -
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Fan Boys
Fanboys has had something of a troubled life (recounted here) with delay upon delay, a re-edit and a re-re-edit but has now finally found it’s way out of the Weinstein vault. The film itself follows a group of Star Wars fanboys as they drive across country to steal a copy of The Phantom Menace (1999) so that one of their group can watch it before he dies from cancer (a plot point that was ‘cured’ then reinserted during the films time on the shelf) and I must say that whilst I would not wish cancer on anyone (keep reading) I’m glad it’s back because there is barely anything else going on here, and whilst there will no doubt be much discussion about what the film might have been, this is what it is…
One would have thought that with it’s ridiculous but decent enough plot and the wealth of material offered by the world of obsessive fandom there would be a few more laughs but, regrettably, the filmmakers have decided to gently mock it’s main characters instead (Star Trek fans are not treated quite so kindly) and essentially write such people a love letter which, as things go, is pretty dull… and this is from someone who understood all the geek jokes, spotted the references and even had his own god-awful tattoo. Maybe I’ve just grown up a bit since The Phantom Menace showed me that Lucas’ oeuvre was (you know) for kids (although why he thought kids would love tax embargoes is anyone’s guess), or maybe I just realised that dusting a room full of toys is a pain in the bum, either way Spaced (1999 – 2001) nailed this one years ago by giving Tim Bisley a reality check. Now, if the characters in Fanboys had seen the film thirty minutes before the end (heck why not even thirty minutes in), with the acknowledgement of years of life being wasted before a premature death, then the film, and the characters, might have had somewhere to go… I’m not suggesting that you need to dump geeky pleasures in order to grow up into a fully rounded person (I still love the ‘Original Trilogy’) but leaving obsessions behind is definitely a start, as is dumping the skin crawling friend (Dan Fogler) who thinks dry humping stuff is hilarious.
No doubt the Weinstein’s will be blamed by the ‘what if…?’ crowd on the IMDB etc but, as far as I can tell, their wish to remove the cancer plot was, at worst, a case of misunderstanding the fatal flaws in a film that is so lacking in imagination that it is forced to fall back on the awful spectre of ‘gay panic’ (see virtually every scene in Wild Hogs (2007)) in it’s search for big laughs.-
- Wynter from UK
- Posted 18 Aug 2009 18:32
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Fanboys
A group of friends who are avid "Star Wars" fans travel west to see the Holy Grail of all sci-fi movies, "Star Wars: Episode I." The year is 1999 and for these death star dorks, the "Star Wars" films are more than just movies; they are a way of life. So, after one of the group takes sick, it is ...
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