Movie: The Force Among Us is the brainchild of Christian Macht, a dedicated fan of the series that wanted to do something different by offering up a look at the fans; the first such documentary since the end of the second trilogy. Rather than offer up a hypothesis and cultivating the answers beforehand as some (cough) documentarians are known to do, Christian presents a wide variety of hobbyists, believers, and assorted fans from all walks of life as they explained for themselves the impact the movies and associations made through their appreciation has made in their lives. There have been countless books, articles, theses, posts, blogs, and other forms of communication detailing aspects of the movies and their societal impacts over the years; many of them from all over the world but this was a much smaller scope for a project and as such, became intimate in a way that only another fan could probably understand.

The movie itself lasts only 86:40 minutes and packs a lot of discussion in from a variety of sources such as a sociology professor, the former fan club president, published authors, to a kid not even born until after the first trilogy was over. The documentary itself kind of rambled at times, something that tends to happen in unscripted works, but this worked in its favor as a lot of people had plenty to say (some of them unintentionally funny; like the jerk that wanted to assault George Lucas). Some fans were married, others had huge warehoused collections that amounted to obsessions, still others were engineers or teachers, or gainfully employed in professions one doesn't usually associate with compulsive fandom types. The sheer diversity of the fans and what they get from the hobby defies easy description; even a transcript of the documentary would not cover it all from what I could see.

One of the better points made was by Professor John Tenuto regarding how the media has treated fandom; distancing itself from the "cultish" aspects and suggesting that their objective look at the phenomenon is somehow better than a fan (the analogy being a sportscaster commenting on sports but not knowing the game). Obviously the advent of the internet has had as much impact on the rebirth of the fandom of the series and many of the people interviewed for the movie mentioned a connection to the internet but the credibility of the show was greatly enhanced by Tenuto's participation as well as author Dick Staub (who focused on religious imagery and concepts in relation to the movies).

The Director's travels across the globe to visit movie sets that are still standing years later were a highlight for me too but my overall impression of the movie was not about the specific information so much as the connection I almost automatically felt to the series of completely diverse strangers from all walks of life. I have never felt the desire to travel to Tunisia or Norway any more than I have ever wanted to stockpile as complete a collection of Star Wars toys and autographs as possible but the feeling of belonging so many of these people shared was palatable to me. As a fan, I also immediately recognized the truth that was hammered home about how much our opinions on all things Star Wars will vary; sometimes invoking as much anger as the political discussions many of us engage in (if not more), but the documentary succeeds best at making one consider the impact the series of movies have had over the years for individuals. The movies themselves are full of ideas, concepts, and archetypes that Lucas mined over the years from pop culture sources so it makes a lot of sense to suggest that they would, in turn, impact culture over the years too. The fan community has proven to be fickle at times but ultimately, the free flow of ideas has proven to inspire a great many of them to follow their own dreams, the movie earning a rating of Recommended for the manner in which it covers as broad a topic so thoroughly as it does, albeit making me long for the participation by Lucas for the ultimate validation.

Picture: The Force Among Us was presented in a non anamorphic widescreen color as shot by Director Christian Macht with an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1. The use of such a variety of sources means that many of them were weaker than expected but as a freshman effort, he did better than many experienced in the field, generally capturing the spirit of the people he sought out better than a technically polished effort would have done. There were few compression artifacts, an abundance of light grain, and a soft focus during some of the sequences but I can hardly fault the project for looking as it should, even if future projects will hopefully look better.

Sound: The audio was presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital English with little separation or dynamic range, the theme music used during the montage coming across less adequate than the vocals (which were sometimes too low). The talking head portions of the movie were capably handled much like the visuals. I heard no drop outs or significant changes in volume from clip to clip but keep in mind that the project was a labor of love and your home theatre is not going to get much of a workout.

Extras: The extras section was a bit weirdly presented with most of the extras scattered about under various headings yet under the same 48:25 minute section that could not be played all at once. Much of this were the extended interviews but there were also sections where some of the people were asked about the afterlife, others about desert island choices, some convention material interviewing the director and cast of the movie, a "cut scene" where a fan was "training" his baby as a clone trooper, some photogalleries, and four promotional reels. There was a moderate amount of information on the Finse, Norway footage that included more interview footage of Christian Quast (definitely a quirky character), some fan reenactments of Hoth scenes, talking with locals about the movie shoot that took place there, and a variety of other clips introducing the cast to the wonders of the cold weather in the location. I especially liked the director commentary though as it gave him a chance to expound about certain matters, reinforcing a few of the negative points made by some of the cast (like the guy who wore a Captain Jack Sparrow as a storm trooper get up whining about his misfortune when he foolishly posted material to the internet and was kicked out of the 501st; a group of guys into the whole storm trooper idea).

Final Thoughts: The Force Among Us is a documentary made by fans for fans of the Star Wars universe. This was the 30 year celebration edition and limited to 1977 copies but I hope the director adds to it for future versions, updating and allowing it to evolve much like the fans have over the years. It made some points that should comfort fans and those they care about regarding the bonds the movies create between so many strangers. The Force Among Us did not seek to white wash some of the obsessions a contingent of the cast admitted to but rather seemed a fitting manner of displaying a selection of people from different ends of the spectrum; knocking the concept that all fans are alike. Give this one a look if you're a fan or close to a fan, in the latter case probably giving you some insights as to what the appeal is of the wonderfully interesting set of 6 movies if you somehow missed it inadvertently.