User reviews

"Fanboys" is a movie about, well, fanboys. Four childhood friends make a pact on Halloween night in 1998 to infiltrate the Skywalker Ranch in hopes of catching a rough cut of the long-awaited "Star Wars" prequel, "The Phantom Menace." Together in a geeked-out van, armed with dozens of Rush cassette tapes, they make a cross-country trip where they battle with angry Trekkies ("Star Trek" fans, for the uninitiated), stumble into an "all-male" bar, evade an angry pimp and land in jail, while one of their own attempts to make peace with his fate.

The film was pushed back for so long and re-edited so much (re-shoots were done by hack director Steven Brill, which thankfully were dumped from the final product, as directed by Kyle Newman) that it's easy to let the problems that plagued "Fanboys" overshadow the movie. What the movie delivers, though, is an often hilarious, sometimes sentimental and utterly geeky send-up of geek culture. A valentine to "Star Wars" fans, perhaps, it's a film that pokes fun at its core audience without alienating it. There's a wealth of cameos , too, from the likes of William Shatner, Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fisher, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes and three (count 'em, three) roles featuring Seth Rogen. If one thing can be said about the film, it's never a bore.

Sure, the road-trip formula has been used many times before, and yes, the film rarely breaks from the expected, but its subplot revolving around a sick friend keeps it from being just some raunchy teen comedy with a geeky twist. "Fanboys" has heart, and combined with a solid young cast and hundreds of "Star Wars" and other nerdy references, makes it a film worth returning to again and again.

If you're a geek this movie is for you. If you're a Star Wars geek this movie totally is for you. Basically it's a movie about Star Wars geeks made by Star Wars geeks for a target audience of Star Wars geeks. If you are not into all things Star Wars this movie may well miss the mark with you. And even the most rabid of Star Wars fans would have to concede that the movie is certainly not anything spectacular. It's fairly charming and reasonably amusing but never really riotously funny. But it works. More or less.

The movie is set in the autumn of 1998, a time before Jar Jar Binks had been foisted upon the world. Four friends, major Star Wars geeks all, decide to drive across the country, break into Skywalker Ranch and steal a rough cut of The Phantom Menace. The major motivation for this journey is that one of the friends has cancer and will not live to see the movie released. But once that is established the cancer storyline is basically put on the back burner and this turns into a mostly predictable wacky road-trip comedy. Some of the wackiness works, some of it falls flat. There are a bunch of celebrity cameos thrown in, some of which are inspired and some of which are rather random and pointless. So it's a movie which has its ups and downs. But it's enjoyable more often than not and the movie breezes by in a nice, tight, well-paced 90 minutes.

None of the actors playing our gang of four really stand out in any memorable way. Dan Fogler's character is a little more outrageous than the others but that's about it. But the group works together well and they are ably supported by the varied cast of characters who pop up throughout. Seth Rogen's portrayal of a pimp is one of the standouts. Of course this ode to Star Wars fans wouldn't be complete without taking some shots at Trekkies. So there's room for another funny turn by an actor portraying Admiral Seasholtz, an uber-Trekkie. Who is the unrecognizable actor memorably bringing this character to life? You may have to wait until the closing credits roll to figure it out. And in this Star Wars geek universe there's room for one girl and Kristen Bell is both charming and funny in the role as her character gets swept along for the ride. Could the movie be a little more consistently funny? Most definitely. But the movie about Star Wars geeks will probably leave you with a smile on your face. Especially if you're a Star Wars geek yourself.

A surprisingly funny movie about a group of geeks who set off on a mission to break into Skywalker Ranch and view a print of the as-yet-unreleased latest installment in the "Star Wars" saga, "The Phantom Menace."

This is a road trip comedy of the fairly standard variety, with trips to jail and Vegas, some drug use, some Internet hookups and some prostitutes thrown in for good measure. The film looks like it was made for about $20 and certainly doesn't break any new ground. But the cast of actors is game and look like they're having a ball -- there's an especially hilarious sequence that features Seth Rogen in disguise as leader of an army of rival Trekkies. I can't really imagine anyone who doesn't have a pretty thorough knowledge of "Star Wars" trivia enjoying this film, because virtually every shot and line includes some sort of reference to the George Lucas series. But since I'm a "Star Wars" fan, I thought it was a hoot.

Grade: A

Although this product is far from inventive, or full of carefully orchestrated comedy. It is by no matter of means, slow and boring. If anything, it makes the time fly.

The humour is rather stupid and vulgar, but if you're even close to being a sci-fi geek yourself, or able to appreciate how hilarious this kind of archetype can be. You won't be disappointed.

However, there is a failed attempt at adding heartfelt drama to this movie, no doubt trying to inspire people to follow their dreams and remind them that the time for doing so, is limited. Which isn't a bad thing to do, obviously. It just seemed a little bit out of place. On that note; I have no clue as to why drama and crime are added to this film's genre, you might as well add romance and sci-fi.

Disconnect your brain and laugh your aches away!

Here is a film for the Star Wars geeks out there and only them. The story follows a group of five Star Wars obsessed friends in 1998 setting off on their own journey across the country to break in George Lucas's ranch and steal a copy of PHANTOM MENACE for an early screening. The original motivation for the endeavor is that one of the friends, Linus (Chris Marquette), has cancer and might not be around for it's theatrical release. It's a nice touch that could've added extra meaning behind the crazy plan of breaking into Lucas's home, but unfortunately its a fact that's breezed over and rarely mentioned over the course of the film. There had been reports of consistent trouble in the post-production process and studio interference that resulted in a lot of the cancer subplot being removed; if so, that's a shame because I think it could've only strengthened the plot, putting more meaning into their drastic actions.

Nearly all of the humor in the film is related to the original epic trilogy and, while casual fans will understand a good deal of the references, I'm sure even more of the jokes will go right over their heads. A lot of the laughs come from throwbacks to iconic moments (the malfunctioning hyperdrive on the Falcon/Hutch's "lightspeed" on the van failing to function) and from the cameos scattered throughout the movie. All the best parts of the film are from the cameos dropping by in every other scene: Danny Trejo, Seth Rogen (in not one, but three bit parts), Ethan Suplee, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, and a few key cameos that I'm not going to spoil here for those who plan to see the movie (the best being the "inside man" who supplies the information to get into Lucas's ranch).

The cameos really steal the show in this movie (and there's practically one in every other scene) but the core cast certainly does a great job on their own. The central group of actors do such a good job and appear to be having so much fun that I wouldn't be surprised if they were Star Wars geeks off-set as well. It was a good idea casting actors who could almost be considered unknowns, most of them recognizable for past projects but far from being big names (with exceptions). Sam Huntington is the team's straight-man, Eric, who abandoned his friends after high school in favor of a job with his father's used car lot. Chris Marquette is Linus, the cancer-stricken friend providing the backbone for the whole motivation of the film; despite his cancer subplot being brushed under the carpet, his long-standing disappointment with Eric over giving up on their dream to start their own comic remains as the main point of contention to add some sort of conflict to their trip. Dan Fogler is easily the funniest cast member as the friend who continues to live in his mom's garage (sorry, "carriage house") and has the souped-up Star Wars van complete with R2-D2 poking out the top. Finally, Jay Baruchel as über-nerd Windows and Zoe Bell as the fangirl with an attitude round of the rest of the team.

The movie is funny but the problem lies in that it targets a niche audience. People who aren't at least casual fans of the Star Wars movies might watch this and wonder what everyone else is laughing at. It's funny enough for us fans though that it makes for an entertaining movie the first time through, but repeated viewings don't stand up as well because the cameo surprises are old news and the trivia moments don't hold up.

An easy way to measure how much you will or won't enjoy "Fanboys" is how closely you fit to the titular category. The more of a Star Wars fan you are and the more your gender and maturity is on par with 'boy,' the more you'll like this ode to Star Wars fans.

The premise of this film is excellent: In 1998, six months before the scheduled release of "Star Wars Episode I" a group of fanboy friends in their 20-somethings road trip to Skywalker Ranch to try and steal a rough cut of the movie because one of them has a terminal illness and won't live to see the release. The execution, however, is spotty.

The movie is a Star Wars-themed version of "Road Trip," with the guys heading across America in a van and stopping along the way solely to buy some time before they get to the ranch. My guess would be that Ernest Cline and Dan Pulick are fanboys themselves who came up with the premise of stealing Episode I and then had to find a way to actually make it work. Therefore, the guys stop off in Iowa where the character of Captain Kirk from the Star Trek franchise was born to antagonize some Trekkies, they get caught at a gay biker bar and they have to go to Las Vegas to get security clearance to the ranch from an insider.

The main character and the story are not all that strong, but the small tributes, spoofs and cameos all related to the Star Wars universe is what makes "Fanboys" entertaining. Therefore, the more you know Star Wars -- things like thermal detonators and that Chewbacca is from Kashik -- the more you love "Fanboys."

In addition to appearances from a few notable actors from the Star Wars franchise, director Kyle Newman does some nice homages to Lucas and obviously Star Wars. The infamous side wipes that Lucas uses to transition in those movies appear a couple times and the security at the ranch resemble the ones from THX 1138, one of Lucas' first movies (although that might just be the truth, who knows). The writing also does this too including famous quotes when appropriate and even the movie's funniest scene when the gang ends up in George Lucas' trash compactor.

Other cameos include Seth Rogen, Billy Dee Williams, and Kevin Smith, to name a few without spoiling one of the film's few excellent aspects. Stars Sam Huntington ("Superman Returns"), the rotund Dan Fogler ("Balls of Fury"), Jay Baruchel ("Knocked Up") and Chris Marquette ("The Girl Next Door") are all average, though mostly because their characters are written sloppy.

Bottom line is "Fanboys" states in title alone exactly who it's intended for. I don't know why Harvey Weinstein would fight to try and make this something that would appeal to the masses only to let it come out without making a peep. If Star Wars is going to be the focus of a movie, there's one segment of the population that will like it, no matter what you do. Fortunately, for those fans, "Fanboys" is good. ~Steven C

Visit my site at http://moviemusereviews.blogspot.com

I'm not a movie critic so I'm not going to act like one like many people do on here.

Plain and simple Fanboys was great. The movie had a strong story and was very funny. If your into star wars, comics, movies, pop culture, you will throughly enjoy this movie. Go see it.

Myself, and 4 of my friends took a road trip to Chicago to see it. I think the road trip really made the movie even better.

Its in limited release, but its worth the road trip. It was a lot of fun.

Love this flick.

There are is lot of mixed review floating around this movie, a much of which is calling for a lower rating than what is now around a 7. Most all of them agree though, that this movie provides some laughs, has decent acting, and is decently done. From what I can tell, all those factors add up to an above average movie, which should earn it a seven. Now, it is no masterpiece, and it may not be groundbreaking in any way, but it is an all around solid film. Really, what could have been done to this movie to make it much better? A few things here and there could have been changed, but nothing major. The movie is called Fanboys, about a group of overly zealous Star Wars fans, everyone harshing on the dialogue should realize that a movie about Fanboys would do well to use a script emulating Fanboy lingo and cheesy jokes. Some people say that this movie survives on the cameos. If that is the case, then they must be some good cameos, and maybe that's all they are, just well used cameos, and not a crutch for the movie like some people claim. Give Fanboys a shot and make your own opinions, plus, this movie didn't hit theatres, so don't compare it to films that are out of it's league. Even though I find this much better than some of the garbage gracing the silver screen today.

This was shown today at the Santa Fe Film Festival.

I truly loved it, totally unexpected, as I knew very little about the film. Someone today mentioned a February release, but they also said that was not confirmed, so take that date only as a possible.

I can say that I think you wont be disappointed, it hits a lot of notes, none of them bad. Lots of actors I've never seen before, their interaction was natural, it felt like their relationships were real.

There was a good sized crowd, so it seems there was a lot of interest here at the film festival, and everyone applauded at the end.

Kate

I write this review as a guy that was a kid during the Star Wars hype in the late 70's and early 80's. I can quote all of the Star Wars movies and understood all of the references to them in Fanboys. The bottom line is that, while this movie has some fun moments, overall it is pretty boring. This is largely because the humor isn't inventive, and outside of some cameo appearances, the performances are entirely uninspired.

The main approach to humor here is essentially showing a group of awkward nerds injecting uncomfortable displays of Star Wars fandom into nearly any social situation imaginable. This bit has been achieved to greater effect with many other movies in the past, the only new thing in this movie is the All Star Wars, All The Time bit. Sure, they got in a lot of obscure original trilogy references, but citing pop culture for its own sake is only so funny. Note the miserable failure of movies like Epic Movie. You just require more than these references.

The various plot points are completely uninspired and unoriginal. We've seen the awkward internet girlfriend meet-up before, but it was funnier in Napoleon Dynamite. We've seen the nerd that is too dense to notice the girl right in front of him, but is blowing it, but it was funnier in Sex Drive. And not only are all these plot conventions unoriginal, but they are executed so poorly in this movie, they hard seemed worth including in the script.

The best parts of the movie are some of the clever cameos. William Shatner steals the stage with his 2 minutes of screen time, though the funniest moment in the whole movie is a super brief appearance of Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes (and the punch line had nothing to do with Star Wars, incidentally). A notable appearance by Seth Rogen is also amusing, mostly because he gives his little cameo everything he has, and seems to have a lot of fun with it. But the cameo appearances aren't frequent enough to float the movie and leaves a lot of dry periods where the film simply crawls.

And perhaps another small grievance is that the only nerd girl in the movie happens to be super hot, while all the guys are doofs. Why couldn't the nerd girl be a doof too? What do they really achieve making this super hot girl fall for Poindexter just because he's a nerd? It just seems like an awkward casting decision in the middle of a movie full of awkward direction choices.

I guess if you identify with Star Wars nerds, you will at least enjoy parts of this movie. If you just want to see an awkward comedy about nerds making fools of themselves, you can do a whole lot better than this.

Sam Huntington plays what may be the lead role in the otherwise ensemble Fanboys, not the friend who has been given four months to live but the guy inheriting the father's business and facing a future he equates with the dark side, not unlike George Walton Lucas Jr who did not want to simply inherit his father's stationery store. Huntington also appeared as the lead in another ensemble road movie Detroit Rock City, where he was under the thumb of a domineering religious mother. That film was released in 1999, a year after Fanboys begins its story.

If you like Detroit Rock City, chances are Fanboys will appeal as well. Instead of KISS, these characters are obsessed with Star Wars in a period where there wasn't as much need to qualify those words. One of the guys happens also to be obsessed with the Canadian rock band RUSH. At first some references come from out of nowhere, but they add a texture – people are going to like what they like. In both movies, Huntington has a scene where he has to strip in a bar. It made more narrative sense in Detroit Rock City, but at least he's not alone in the humiliation and one of his friends takes the brunt of it.

I didn't have to be a hardcore fan of KISS to enjoy Detroit Rock City and likely people don't have to be fans of RUSH or Star Wars to enjoy Fanboys but it will help. I enjoyed where the RUSH music ends up being used and it helps put the viewer in the nostalgic mindset of, well, teens of the early and mid nineteen-eighties – exactly the range of time (1982-1984) that four of the five guys were born; Kristen Bell was born in 1980, so she's an Empire Strikes Back baby. Dan Fogler was born in 1976, a year before Star Wars itself, but because he is heavy some in the audience may accept him as a childhood and high school friend of the others. His sensibilities are those of the director and at least one of the writers, all born in 1976, or perhaps closer to people like myself who were fans in their early thirties when the notorious 1999 Star Wars prequel hit us. The characters do seem to show up at a party with teenagers, and yet most own business. Ultimately they aren't meant to be flesh and blood. One happens to look like young George Lucas we've seen in file photos or from the funny short "George Lucas In Love," and Kristen Bell seems to have died her hair dark for one reason only: to look more Leia-like in a later scene. Seth Rogan plays three roles, which helps reinforce the unreality along with cameos by Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mews and Kevin Smith) along with Smith's documentary guy Zack who was known to like donkeys in Clerks II. Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher also pop up in amusing cameos that allow us to assume the interior of Skywalker Ranch in act II of the story may not have to look and work as it does or did in reality. (Much of Lucasfilm's operation has been moved to The Presidio property now.) For all the amusement and invention, and the heartfelt stakes at the heart of it with a friend's dying wish, the movie is a little short sighted in the sense that these young men – characters in their late twenties or early thirties – often talk in outbursts more suitable for thirteen-year olds. There is an over-the-top hatred between Star Wars and Star Trek fans, when in reality whether we like one brand more than the other there is more audience crossover than polarity. For a comic book store owner to throw out a member of the competing fan base and call him a "Kirk-loving Spock sucker" will play as off-putting and mean even if it is a satirical exaggeration meant to expose the absurdity of the Trek versus Wars rivalry. Unlike Ebert, I'm not bothered that the kid with cancer can participate in a fight, since no extraordinary skill is displayed, any more than the idea that he is walking around and simply taking his pills. It upholds the idea that genre trivia knowledge has an inverse relationship to carnal knowledge. The characters can be at once cool and pathetic, or offensively immature and brilliant which are combinations many people like to pretend do not exist in reality. Overly sensitive audiences won't like this movie. There are bumps along the way but I like where it is going, and it has a very appropriate ending line.

Despite the very limited release of this movie and relatively little hype for the film itself as opposed to the internet controversy, Fanboys lives up to the anticipation a lot of us may have built up, unlike Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. When movies about 9/11 come out, many people coo "too soon." Maybe ten years after we met Jar Jar Binks we can finally laugh at the summer of 1999. Or maybe the solution ended up being this temporal displacement of a story that is really about being stuck in the late 70's and early eighties whether we had been born then or not, listening to RUSH and worrying only that Yoda sounds a bit like Sesame Street's Grover. Not an entirely unpleasant fog.

Four childhood friends and Star Wars fans decide to go cross-country to steal a copy of 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace' before its release from George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch. Eric (Sam Huntington) is on the cusp of real responsibility with the family car dealership. Windows (Jay Baruchel) has an online fling with a girl who says she has plans to Skywalker Ranch. Linus (Chris Marquette) is really sick and Hutch (Dan Fogler) is the loud-mouth idiot. Zoe (Kristen Bell) is Windows' co-worker at the video store. Seth Rogen plays Admiral Seasholtz, leader of the Trekies, and pimp Roach.

This is definitely best for sci-fi fans. There is a lot of references to Star Wars, Star Trek, and quite frankly various other franchises. The movie just won't work if you don't know any of the references. Of course, there are all sorts of cameos from those series. Not all of the road trip works well. The roadside biker bar isn't that funny. The fight with the Trekkies is much better. When Zoe rejoins the group at the midpoint, she has a lot of fun with the geeks. Probably she should have been the fifth road tripper right from the start. While the constant referencing is funny, sometimes it needs a break to work more on the relationships.

What's nice about "Fanboys" is that it takes us back to that pre-"Episode I" period when Star Wars fans weren't divided along trilogy lines (if you've spent much time on the Internet in the last, let's say 14 years, you'll know what I'm talking about). It was an innocent time, believe it or not.

The charm of this movie is due to its cast. Our five heroes are a likable group of actors. Jay Baruchel, Dan Fogler and Kristen Bell get the best lines, and seeing Bell take down Fogler in a headlock was pretty funny. I do love her character's spunk. And the filmmakers went to some lengths fill out the rest with famous faces (the names here will surprise you). A lot of the humor here rests on cheap gags and a few tired jokes (most of which is aimed at the die-hards in the audience), but for the most part, "Fanboys" is a fun road trip.

6/10

Tagged as "In 1998, five friends stole their way into history." Their choice of going down in history is by a road trip in which they travel West and beginning a quest to see the nerdiest, and therefor most desirable movie in the geek world, movie coming to the big screen. That film is the latest in the Star Wars franchise, Episode I. After one of the group takes sick it is nothing short of a moral imperative that the friends break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranchi to watch the seminal sci-fi picture together before the film's actual release to the public.

By now we have become inundated with Seth Rogen humor in a series of first run films. The movie feels a lot like Rogen humor only less refined. Which is what it is. Actually Rogen is in the film and plays Admiral Seasholtz and perhaps another character or two. Fanboys has had a wild ride as an indie film with the director traveling to multiplexes and comic cons to stir a fan base. The film has gone through some re-shoots and re-edits and comes out in limited release on February 6.

Anyone who the film is really marketed to may have already seen this movie either at one of the many film festivals around the country or among the masses that attended Comic Con this year. There are some very funny and inspired moments in the film such as an outrageous brawl with some hard-core Trekkies, but overall the film is a tad flat and slow at times. I laughed and for that I think the film is worth seeing somewhere. 6/10*

* The poster of hands holding a blue light saber towards space is great and one I will add to my collection. The inspiration for the poster concept, or should I say copying, is of the 1983 teaser poster for Return of the Jedi. The Jedi poster was actually an artist rendering of George Lucas's hands with the light saber in the same manner. This poster will be linked to the Jedi by geeks forever. Purpose served.

Fanboys is a comedy to be treasured and, although it was a complete flop at the Australian box office, it deserved a lot better, and was grievously underrated. The (relatively unknown) main stars are perfectly cast, and the plot is a fun and hilarious road trip. The story follows 5 die hard star wars fans in 1998, who have been waiting since they were children to see star wars episode 1 (the phantom menace). One of the 5, Linus, is due to die in the next few months, and it has been his lifelong dream to see star wars episode 1. So the 5 create a plan to travel to George Lucas's film studio in Texas, Skywalker ranch, and steal a rough cut of episode 1 from the editing room. What results is one of the best and funniest road trip movies of the past 10 years, and one even trekkies will enjoy! Also look out for cameos by Danny Trejo, Seth Rogen, William Shatner, Kevin Smith and Danny MacBride

8/10

Fanatical culture deserves not one low-budget indie, but many low-budget indies, whether they be comedies, documentaries, dramas, etc. I've long stated in reviews and in essays that cult behavior and fanaticism is something I wish I could be a part of rather than be on the outside. As hard as I try, I can't find the pleasure in watching Lord of the Rings and Star Wars enough times to debate the deeper meaning of the lengthy trip, or if Luke Skywalker actually liked kissing Princess Leia. It's not in my blood.

It's certainly in the blood of the four main characters of Kyle Newman's Fanboys, a predictable but jolly comedy about the four traveling across the country in order to obtain the print of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace from Skywalker Ranch. The trip is commenced because the gang's best pal is being eaten alive by cancer and his last wish, if he were to make one, would be to watch The Phantom Menace. The fact that the film is six months away from premiering doesn't stop them.

The gang is pretty faceless and are predominately vessels that talk in witticisms, movie quotes, and insults. They are nice-guy Eric (Sam Huntington), "Windows" (Jay Baruchel), nicknamed for his large glasses, the chubby ball-of-fun Hutch (Dan Folger), and Linus (Chris Marquette), the unfortunate, cancer-stricken soul. They also have a galpal named Zoe (Kristen Bell), who could likely take all of these geeks on at once. She even shows her brawn in one scene of the film, proving her dominance in a league of ordinary gentleman.

This is the kind of comedy I find myself smiling at more than laughing at. Its attitude is comfortable and lax, its material is pretty basic but often quite favorable, and its approach to fandom and oppressive fanatical behavior is equal parts loose satire and appreciation. It's not hard to tell Newman and writers Ernest Cline and Adam F. Goldberg are Star Wars superfans themselves. The only drawback is that the humor is largely foreseeable, and even the film reference-humor becomes a bit of a muchness.

Nonetheless, this is serviceable fare, likely to excite many Star Wars fans who recall the days of camping out in front of the multiplex to witness the new trilogy, or the lucky ones who saw the originals on the silver-screen. I can't speak for non-enthusiasts of the films; they might enjoy it on a more basic level, but the question simply is without a discernible answers. Just like the question, why did Kevin Spacey choose to donate money to the project?

Starring: Sam Huntington, Dan Folger, Jay Baruchel, Chris Marquette, Kristen Bell, Seth Rogen, Danny Trejo, Ethan Suplee, William Shatner, Jason Mewes, and Kevin Smith. Directed by: Kyle Newman.