Fanboys – so far one of the few nostalgia movies about the 90’s

Title: Fanboys

US Release: 2/6/2009

Directed by Kyle Newman

Written by Ernest Cline & Adam Goldberg

Distributed by The Weinsten Company and Vivendi Entertainment

Cast:

Sam Huntington – Eric Bottler

Chris Marquette – Linus

Dan Fogler – Hutch

Jay Baruchel – Windows

Kristen Bell – Zoe

David Denman – Chaz

Seth Rogan – Prime Trekkei/Roach/Star Trek convention alien.

The Skinny:

                Set about 6 months prior to the release of Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Eric (Huntington), is at a Halloween party where he stumbles upon his childhood friends he’s fallen out of touch with since high school graduation 3 years prior.  Linus, Hutch, and Windows (Marquette, Fogler, and Baruchel respectively), are still a tight knit group of not only sci-fi/comic book geeks, but do or die Star Wars fans.  Though Hutch and Windows seem happy to see Eric after so long, the relationship between Eric and Linus is apparently strained.  Mutual friend Zoe (Bell) is also at the party, and proves to be the tomboy/geek girl who’s on the same wavelength as the boys.  Eric reveals he’s become a car salesman and has somewhat fallen away from his passion of Star Wars, though this is not the only the reason his friendship with Linus has become strained. 

                At midnight, the boys, along with Zoe, enthusiastically announce another day down, bringing the opening of episode I one day closer.  Linus recounts a plan he’s had since 5^th grade to road trip to Marin County California, break into Skywalker ranch, and steal rough cut of Episode I as he can’t wait until the official release.  Eric shoots down the idea, citing that obviously they would be arrested.  Linus and the rest angrily walk out.

                The next day, we see that Eric sells used cars at his father’s dealership, and his older brother Chaz (Denman) also works there, and still tortures him in stereotypical older brother fashion.  Windows and Hutch make a surprise visit to inform Eric that Linus has cancer, and will not make it to the official release date of Phantom Menace.  Distraught at the news, Eric goes to Hutch’s garage (his place of residence, which he vehemently states is a “carriage house” a running gag throughout the film) to try and patch things up with Linus.  Linus abruptly walks out.  Eric stops him and the two argue.  Its revealed that not only were they best friends, but had plans to become “the next big thing in comics”.  Eric defends his choices, saying that such a goal was only a daydream, and he saw no choice but get a real job selling cars for his father and grow up.  Linus states he is really miserable and that he abandoned his love for Star Wars for no good reason.  Linus drives away angry.

                The next day Eric surprises Hutch and Windows at their comic book shop and challenges them to undertake the road trip to Skywalker ranch Linus had always wanted to take.  Through some prodding, the two agree, and manage to talk Linus into coming along as well, though he says it “won’t change anything” between him and Eric.

                The rest of the film is chocked full of Star Wars references, some Star Trek references and a handful of other geek genre references.  In road trip film fashion, the foursome encounters odd and comical setbacks to their quest, such as:

·         Hutch detouring to Iowa, “future birthplace of one Capt. James T Kirk” so he can “pimp slap” some trekkies.  There he starts an ongoing feud with a die hard Star Trek fan (Rogan, in one of his 3 roles in the film).

·         The van gets a flat tire, and the boys unwittingly getting trapped in a gay biker bar to be saved by a Mexican-Indian chief who gets them high on peyote and they all experience Star Wars hallucinations.

·         Windows meeting his online girlfriend only to find out she’s underage and her uncle nearly kills him until Linus pleads their case, and he hooks them up with resources to break into Skywalker ranch.

·         The group try to outrun state troopers as they speed to Las Vegas and Zoe ends up bailing them out of county jail by bankrupting the comic shop.

·         Hutch and Windows unwittingly getting involved with hookers and must flee their Pimp, a fellow Star Wars fan but psychotic (Also Rogan) while Eric and Linus run into the Trekkies again.

·         Linus’s cancer flaring up almost derailing the road trip when Eric, re-discovering his passion for Star Wars, rallies the group to break Linus out of the hospital and head to California.

On the Surface:

                 Definitely a movie for Star Wars fans.  A lot of movie goers would say this is a movie for geeks in general but geekdom is not its own “tribe”.   There is a definite divide between Star Wars and Star Trek, making each fan base unique to its own franchise.  Though there is overlap, geekdom is not all encompassing and some geeks will know all there is to know about X (IE: Star Wars, Stargate, Highlander, etc.) but know little to nothing, or not even care, about Y (IE: Star Trek, Babylon 5, Dune, etc.) Though the film caters to Star Wars fans the most, Star Trek fans will still get a lot of the jokes and references to their beloved franchise, and other lukewarm or genre fans will get the one-off references to their own franchises of interest.

                Besides the obviously high number of Star Wars references, and some references to Star Trek (mainly as insults), there are a few references to other geek franchises:

• ·         THX-1138 (George Lucas’ student film from USC, which he would later make into feature film)
• ·         Thundercats-HOOO
•  Wolverine (Hutch screams "Shik{the comic sound effect of the claws coming out his hands}, C'MON BUB!" as he tussles with the trekkies.)
• ·         Beverly hills cop
• ·         Top gun (Jerry Bruckheimer is mistakenly referred to “Terry Bruckheimer”)
• ·         Terminator 2 (“I will hunt you down like a T-1000”)
• ·         Scooby-doo
• ·         The Batman films directed by Joel Shumacher (“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard since Shumacher put nips on Batman”)
• ·         Dirty Dancing (“Nobody puts baby in a corner”)
• ·         Indiana Jones and Blade Runner (“Harrison Ford is the greatest actor of all time”)
• ·         Willow
• ·         Mario Kart (The game the group is playing on the Nintendo 64)
• ·         Back to the Future (“them 1.21 Gigwatts don’t come cheap”)
• ·         And of course Highlander (“there can be only one” is a dead giveaway)  

Also are the many Cameos:

• ·         Carrie Fisher as the ER doctor
• ·         Billy Dee Williams  as “Judge Reinhold” a play on the actor’s name from Beverly Hills Cop.
• ·         Ray Park as Carl the security guard at Skywalker ranch (who plays “Darth Maul” in Episode I. “Time for you to get mauled boy.”)
• ·         Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes at the rest stop.
• ·         Danny Trejo as the Chief.
• ·         Christopher McDonald as Big Chuck Bottler
• ·         Ethan Suplee as Harry Knowles
• ·         Danny McBride as head security guard at Skywalker Ranch.
• ·         Craig Robinson (of “The Office”) and Will Forte (SNL Alum) as additional Skywalker ranch security.
• ·         And William Shatner as himself.

                 

Production Wise:

                The original cut of the film was well received, most importantly by George Lucas himself, who gave it his seal of approval and even offered to let director Kyle Newman use the original sound fx from the Star Wars films.  Life long Star Wars fan Kevin Smith also liked the original cut and was granted a cameo.  This generated more interest in the film which resulted in Newman getting more money to shoot scenes he originally had to cut from the script because of the limited budget.

                 Scheduling the reshoots was tricky as the cast was involved in other projects and could only be reassembled for a less than a month.  For reasons unknown, Newman was not available to direct the reshoots, and another director Steven Brill, directed instead.  His version completely dropped the cancer subplot for Linus and changed the story to appear more like a drunken road trip film for fun, not fandom. 

                Eventually two separate cuts of the film were tested, with Steven Brill’s being received poorly and even creating a lot of conflict online.  Brill’s response was less than professional, and the film’s official release was delayed many times as a result.  Finally, Newman regained control of final cut of the film and included as much of the new material as he felt helped the original story of the film.  Distribution issues with the Weinstein Company cause further delays to its release before finally getting a limited release in February 2009.

Why I like the film:

                A big reason I like this film is its set in the 1990’s.  I really did like Episode I (I even did a blog post on that film), and I remember it being a highlight of my 8^th grade year.  I feel the 1990’s are very overlooked in film.  The 1980’s seem to get more attention, and I remember there being retro 80’s movies being released as early as 1996.  So for very few nostalgic movies about the 1990’s to be released even into the year 2020 seems like a huge missed opportunity and so many serious stories or even fictious stories about the 90’s are left untold.  Seeing the original Nintendo 64 and the song “Lump” by President’s of the United States of America making their way into the film was an extra delight.

                Truth be told, I’m a child of both Star Wars and Star Trek.   Saturday Night’s my family (yes my entire family) would watch 3 hours of Star Trek on TV.   My Mom, a music teacher, would play John Williams films scores on the piano from time to time, and Dad (for reasons I can’t remember) always wanted to watch “A New Hope” for movie time.  I got all the Star Wars jokes and all the Star Trek jokes of the film.   As for all the other film and tv references, I noticed them on the first watch and laughed at a lot of them, so this film spoke to my geekiness.

                Dan Fogler is a genuine comic talent; I keep waiting for him to start his own comedy film franchise. 

Sam Huntington is the clear choice to play the main role of life long geek, but knows he needs a real job to survive.  An unfortunate truth I and a lot of other geeks and nerds have to live with.  I sympathize with Eric Bottler’s struggle.  The underlying message of comradery shown through his relationship with Linus is also poignant: his best friend whom he shares a common love for Star Wars with is dying, meaning his love of geekiness is dying which would leave his life empty once it was gone.  Eric’s geek “redemption” is the classic “find yourself” schtick seen in so many films, but this film conveys it in a way that geeks can understand and is far from sappy.

The many cameos and references make this film enjoyable and constantly remind me that this is a film about Star Wars fandom, not a film “explaining” fandom, which would have killed it.  Casual movie goers will definitely lose interest in the film before it’s done, but miss the opportunity to connect with geeks by writing it off as a movie for “those people”.

Though Harvey Weinstein did not produce this film, because it was distributed by his company bearing his name, it unfortunately gets dismissed, as it gives the impression that to rent, buy, or even view it supports his shameful actions.  Harry Knowles, who’s actions were exposed as part of the #metoo movement, also kills creditability for the film, though he’s portrayed by actor Ethan Suplee in the film and does not himself appear in the film. 

This film can’t seem to get a break, and has been relegated to a genre film only Star Wars and Star Trek fans would know about.  But, that might do the film some good in the end since the truly faithful fanbase of both franchises don’t bother with the watered down mainstream versions and would rather focus on the true to form content and anything focusing on what makes geekdom so far removed from mainstream, no matter what decade, but is also what makes it so great.

               

                                   

The film is rated PG-13 for some crude humor, a scene of drug use, and some other sexual jokes.  Rent or stream where available for some rare 90’s nostalgia and genuine appreciation of Star Wars fandom for the shameless geek, casual geek, and closet Star Wars, Star Trek, etc, geek alike.