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Starwoids
IndieDVD // Unrated // October 16, 2001
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Dvdempire]
The Movie:
I've seen Trekkies and I'm amused. I've seen Starwoids and I'm rather afraid. While neither are doing anything bad or negative and simply enjoying their hobby, the idea of sitting in front of a movie theater in the middle of a city for over a month straight to catch a movie that may or may not suck and that most were able to get tickets for on the day it opened simply doesn't sit well with me, personally. "Starwoids" covers the serious problems that two different Los Angeles camps faced while sitting in line in front of two theaters to wait for the first showing of "Star Wars: Episode 1". One is lead by teenager and aspiring filmmaker Daniel Alter, who took tests to finish high school early just so he could camp out and the other is lead by Lincoln, whose website countingdown.com received enormous press from his website's involvement in documenting the wait for the show to begin.
The countingdown.com line does become far more organized than the other, creating a small "tent city" of sorts and assigning duties to certain people in line, as well as making those who are waiting find sponsors who will donate based on their time in line. The countingdown.com team eventually brings in more equipment and turns the street into a mini TV studio. While it originally seemed to be a good cause, the countingdown situation eventually seems to be more of a website promotion and not only do security and other problems arise, but arguements between the members of the line begin.
Personally, I watch "Starwoids" and would think that director George Lucas would provide support for those who've decided to spend more than a month of their lives waiting outdoors for the opportunity to pay to see the film, but it doesn't seem as if Lucas ever appeared or sent materials - a group of campers attempt to get into Skywalker Ranch and not only are denied, but security comes out to check out the situation. The group also seemed, in my opinion, to be giving the film free press. The local and national media noticed the campout and gave some of the campers 60 seconds of fame.
I will say that director Dennis Przywara has done a very fine job with the editing of the film. Moving back and forth between the line stories and other various tales of "Wars" item collectors and other "Wars" fantatics. I certainly don't think I'd ever wait in line for a movie for 6 hours (I waited in line for "Phantom Menace" for 3 hours) or 6 weeks, but I suppose I can somewhat admire the devotion of those who camped out in the middle of the city in order to do so.
Director Kevin Smith provides the opening narration.
The DVD
VIDEO: The presentation is shown in its original 1.33:1 full_frame aspect ratio. Shot on video, "Starwoids" actually looks considerably better than I thought it would. Although the presentation does appear somewhat soft, the film generally does look respectably well-defined for a "video" production, depending on the scene - some of the darker night sequences filmed are somewhat undefined. While problems are minor, there were a few scenes that looked slightly "digital" and a couple of slight instances of edge enhancement were noticed. Colors generally looked okay, appearing natural and fairly crisp. Very enjoyable and better than expected for a low-budget presentation.
SOUND: "Starwoids" is presented in stereo and sounds completely fine. Mainly focusing on the interviews and occasional light background music, everything comes through clearly and crisply.
MENUS:: Enjoyable menus with film-themed images and some very slight animation.
EXTRAS:: A commentary from the director and another contributor to the film is included, which is actually quite entertaining. They provide a lot of the behind-the-scenes information that the film itself doesn't cover. They point out a lot of interesting details about the fans and the production of the low-budget feature - the commentary is definitely worth a listen and occasionally quite funny. Also included is a text list of Daniel's diet during the wait, as well as a very funny short interview with "Clerks" director Kevin Smith about the "Star Wars" trilogy, deleted scenes, biographies and a short filmmaker text diary.
Final Thoughts: Strangely, the director didn't capture anyone coming out of the theater and going, "uh, that was ok." Anyways, "Starwoids" captures the interesting phenomenon of those who decided to spend an entire month outdside a movie theater to see the latest "Star Wars". The DVD is a very nice presentation which offers the low-tech film with fine audio/video quality and some solid extras. Recommended for "Star Wars" fans.
I've seen Trekkies and I'm amused. I've seen Starwoids and I'm rather afraid. While neither are doing anything bad or negative and simply enjoying their hobby, the idea of sitting in front of a movie theater in the middle of a city for over a month straight to catch a movie that may or may not suck and that most were able to get tickets for on the day it opened simply doesn't sit well with me, personally. "Starwoids" covers the serious problems that two different Los Angeles camps faced while sitting in line in front of two theaters to wait for the first showing of "Star Wars: Episode 1". One is lead by teenager and aspiring filmmaker Daniel Alter, who took tests to finish high school early just so he could camp out and the other is lead by Lincoln, whose website countingdown.com received enormous press from his website's involvement in documenting the wait for the show to begin.
The countingdown.com line does become far more organized than the other, creating a small "tent city" of sorts and assigning duties to certain people in line, as well as making those who are waiting find sponsors who will donate based on their time in line. The countingdown.com team eventually brings in more equipment and turns the street into a mini TV studio. While it originally seemed to be a good cause, the countingdown situation eventually seems to be more of a website promotion and not only do security and other problems arise, but arguements between the members of the line begin.
Personally, I watch "Starwoids" and would think that director George Lucas would provide support for those who've decided to spend more than a month of their lives waiting outdoors for the opportunity to pay to see the film, but it doesn't seem as if Lucas ever appeared or sent materials - a group of campers attempt to get into Skywalker Ranch and not only are denied, but security comes out to check out the situation. The group also seemed, in my opinion, to be giving the film free press. The local and national media noticed the campout and gave some of the campers 60 seconds of fame.
I will say that director Dennis Przywara has done a very fine job with the editing of the film. Moving back and forth between the line stories and other various tales of "Wars" item collectors and other "Wars" fantatics. I certainly don't think I'd ever wait in line for a movie for 6 hours (I waited in line for "Phantom Menace" for 3 hours) or 6 weeks, but I suppose I can somewhat admire the devotion of those who camped out in the middle of the city in order to do so.
Director Kevin Smith provides the opening narration.
The DVD
VIDEO: The presentation is shown in its original 1.33:1 full_frame aspect ratio. Shot on video, "Starwoids" actually looks considerably better than I thought it would. Although the presentation does appear somewhat soft, the film generally does look respectably well-defined for a "video" production, depending on the scene - some of the darker night sequences filmed are somewhat undefined. While problems are minor, there were a few scenes that looked slightly "digital" and a couple of slight instances of edge enhancement were noticed. Colors generally looked okay, appearing natural and fairly crisp. Very enjoyable and better than expected for a low-budget presentation.
SOUND: "Starwoids" is presented in stereo and sounds completely fine. Mainly focusing on the interviews and occasional light background music, everything comes through clearly and crisply.
MENUS:: Enjoyable menus with film-themed images and some very slight animation.
EXTRAS:: A commentary from the director and another contributor to the film is included, which is actually quite entertaining. They provide a lot of the behind-the-scenes information that the film itself doesn't cover. They point out a lot of interesting details about the fans and the production of the low-budget feature - the commentary is definitely worth a listen and occasionally quite funny. Also included is a text list of Daniel's diet during the wait, as well as a very funny short interview with "Clerks" director Kevin Smith about the "Star Wars" trilogy, deleted scenes, biographies and a short filmmaker text diary.
Final Thoughts: Strangely, the director didn't capture anyone coming out of the theater and going, "uh, that was ok." Anyways, "Starwoids" captures the interesting phenomenon of those who decided to spend an entire month outdside a movie theater to see the latest "Star Wars". The DVD is a very nice presentation which offers the low-tech film with fine audio/video quality and some solid extras. Recommended for "Star Wars" fans.
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