Star Wars animation by the fans? Color me intrigued.
Star Wars is a great world with so many stories that can be told within it. It is a galaxy spanning epic with so many elements mentioned or implied that one’s mind can fathom so many possibilities. So here I present three animated stories by the fans for the fans.
I hope you find something you think you can enjoy!
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Clone Wars: Battle of the Heroes-A Star Wars Fan Animation
- December 29, 2023
Voice Lines
- Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Bradley Frew
What an epic bit of animation! Revenge of the Sith was quite possibly the strongest of the prequel trilogy. That ending alone did a good job of setting the stage for everything to come though I have previously said prequels should have started with the second film being the first and the third film being the second with a third where Vader finishes wiping out the Jedi.
This takes a portion of the end of ROTS and essentially animates it with a few tweaks here and there to the story. Nothing that greatly changes the narrative but does do some stuff that enhances it. But it’s oh so good looking. And still as exciting and intense as what we got in the live action version. It takes the existing material and honors it, but judiciously changes elements. You can call it a remake and as good remakes should it improves on the original.
One thing it does feel like to me is Palpatine originally came off as someone concerned that his apprentice was injured and impressed that he was somehow able to still on. Here by not having Palpatine say anything, he comes off as more disappointed that his powerful Jedi was taken down and both are equally effective yet offer something different.
The animation is all original even if it is a little less gory than the live action portrayed. Anakin isn’t nearly as crispy here as he was in the movie. The dialogue itself is cobbled together from various sources rather smoothly.
Clone Wars: Battle of the Heroes-A Star Wars Fan Animation is a fantastic animated reimagining of a previously presented chapter of Star Wars. If you like Revenge of the Sith-and I’m assuming you do-then this is certainly for you!
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The Great Purge-Star Wars Animated Short Film
- September 25, 2023
This is an animated fan film imagining of the purge of Mandalore. The story that we get is excellent. It’s dark and action filled as well as possessing a bit of a downbeat nature as there should be.
Where it falls short is the computer animation used to create this. It looks like early 2000s high-quality videogame graphics with unnaturally smooth movement and lack of detail in some areas and a weird level of polishing in others. And that really bothers me more than anything.
But as I said the story is good and it will get you past that. It shows in heavy detail an incident that was not really shown. It just could have been better if they had used something in style like Clone Wars.
The Great Purge-Star Wars Animated Short Film is not bad, but the animation may be a little off-putting so proceed with some caution.
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Star Wars: Defiant Until Time-A Clone Wars Fan Film
- October 2, 2021
A new clone squad sets out on their first mission to a Republic ghost ship.
This certainly feels as if it was plucked straight the Clone Wars series. And that’s high praise in my opinion. Whatever a fan film does it should feel as if it fits in somewhere in the Star Wars universe either on its own or directly as part of something that has come before. And that this could slip into at the minimum as an episode of the Clone Wars series without seeming out of place is a testament to the hard work and appreciation for the lore that those behind this had.
This is a simple questionable mission that turns into a battle to survive yarn. Safe territory but one generally with potential. Long story short a scientist has gone kind of crazy and decided to commit genocide rather than let the Separatists win and torture everybody on Coruscant. That’s kind of messed up.
There is a creature involved and a gas that stimulates the creature and kills people but then the concept of the creature quickly goes away. I honestly don’t think it was even acknowledged by the end of the film. I don’t even recall it being killed. Maybe I missed something. The dogs were defending the house from some birds at the time and rather distracting.
If you’re comparing this to Clone Wars animation it fits in there nicely. From character design to the ultimate end product it looks like it fits in perfectly with that. But if you are comparing it to anything more recent it’s a little rough looking. But this being a quality story gets you past that.
The voice acting is good enough. The actor for the clones does a passable imitation of Corey Burton as the Clones who himself does a passable imitation of Temuera Morrison as of the clones.
With a great story and all-around quality work Star Wars: Defiant Until Time-A Clone Wars Fan Film is a worthy addition to Star Wars fan films and Star Wars animation. Not a high recommendation but worth looking for.
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After the second film I viewed I was a little hesitant to venture into Star Wars animation for a third time. While the first one was a very strong start the second one I viewed was a bit of a downturn in quality, and I gave some real thought to scrapping this whole thing. That bad animation really started to bother me for inexplicable reasons.
Mercifully I saw the light and continued realizing there is more good than bad in Star Wars fan animation. Dig through YouTube if any of these offerings intrigued you. It is worth your time.
Warren Watched A Movie 