Throwback Thursday - Fanboys (2009)
Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, this will be the last Throwback Thursday of 2019. Tomorrow, I will be starting a new set of reviews to close out the year with what I'm calling the 12 Reviews of Christmas. After that, I'll be posting two top 10 countdowns: my top 10 favorite films of the year, and also my top 10 favorite films of the decade. After that, I'll be taking a hiatus for a week or so, and will return with new reviews starting on January 16th. But, for Throwback Thursday this week, since I'm still in Star Wars mode, let's take a look at Fanboys.
Released in 2009, this road trip comedy was directed by Kyle Newman, and is a real love letter to Star Wars fans, but also a bit of a middle-finger to Star Trek fans. The story starts off on Halloween Night in 1998, just six months until the release of the newest Star Wars film: The Phantom Menace. Eric Bottler, a car salesman working for his father, reunites with his friends from high school, Windows, Hutch, and Linus. Eric and Linus were best friends back in the day, but Eric grew up and gave up on childish things such as writing and illustrating comics and being a huge Star Wars fan. Linus proposes a plan for them to drive across the country from Ohio to California, break in to George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch, and steal a rough cut of The Phantom Menace, getting to see the movie before any other fans do. Eric shoots it down, as does the guys' other friend Zoe, and Linus, Hutch and Windows walk out of the party.
The next morning, Hutch and Windows show up at the dealership Eric works at, and tells him that Linus has cancer and has only four months left to live. Eric goes to see him that evening, and Linus takes off, still angry at Eric for giving up on their dream to become big time comic book creators. The next day, Eric shows up at Windows and Hutch's comic book shop, just after Hutch kicks out a couple of Trekkies, and shows them a map from Ohio to California, suggesting that the four of them, including Linus, breaks into the Ranch to watch the rough cut, so that Linus can see The Phantom Menace before he's gone. Linus agrees to go, and the four of them, in Hutch's van decked out in Star Wars stuff, with an R2 head on top of the van, head south to go to Texas. On the way to Texas, Hutch makes a stop in Riverside, Iowa, where they crack jokes at the expense of a group of Star Trek fans, even starting a fight with them and destroying a statue of Captain Kirk locked in combat with Khan, all because one of the Trekkies, Admiral Seasholtz (played by Seth Rogen), calling Han Solo a bitch (Seriously, no one calls Han Solo a bitch.). After leaving the scene, their van breaks down and they find a local biker bar, where after a misunderstanding, meet up with The Chief, who fixes their van after they pass out from eating The Chief's guacamole (which was laced with peyote).
They make it to Texas, at a coffee house called Java the Hutt (get it? Java. Jabba. LOL.) Windows heads inside to meet Rogue Leader, a girl he was chatting with online, but to his shock is a ten-year-old girl. After heading back outside, Rogue Leader's uncle, Harry Knowles, beats up Windows, and then when the guys tell them why they were there, tests them on their Star Wars knowledge. After they pass his test, he agrees to set him up with his contact in Las Vegas, who is known as the "scruffy nerfherder." The guys head for Vegas, but after a chase by the police, including having the van go to "lightspeed," they end up in jail, only for Zoe to arrive and bail them out. After a meeting with a judge named Judge Reinhold (played by Billy Dee Williams), they are released and continue on to Vegas. After they arrive, Hutch and Windows meet two girls, who are professional escorts (oops), and get in debt with a pimp named Roach (also played by Seth Rogen), who is a Star Wars fan as well, having several Star Wars tattoos. Meanwhile, Linus and Eric meet with an alien (also played by Seth Rogen. Oh for crying out loud, HOW MANY CHARACTERS DOES SETH ROGEN NEED TO PLAY IN THE SAME MOVIE?!?!?!?!?!), who leads them to the "scruffy nerfherder," who is Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner. After running from Seasholtz and his band of Trekkies, Linus and Eric run into Hutch, Zoe, and Windows, who themselves are running from Roach. Roach himself fights off Seasholtz and the Trekkies for the same reason the guys did back in Iowa, because Seasholtz, once again, called Han Solo a bitch. I would like to point out that seeing Seth Rogen fighting Seth Rogen is pretty funny. I'll give the movie that one.
After they get away, Linus is accidentally hurled from the van, and ends up in the hospital, where the doctor (played by Carrie Fisher) suggests that he needs to be sent back to Ohio. Linus and the group, however, press on with their trip to Skywalker Ranch in California. Upon arrival, they sneak in and arrive in the Archives, gazing at all of the Lucasfilm memorabilia, including props from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and even Willow (but no Howard the Duck for some reason. That's a shame, because they really could've had fun with that one.). Unfortunately, security shows up, dressed in the uniforms from THX-1138 (that's a deep-cut Lucas reference), and Windows fights with one of the guards (played by Ray Park). The group escapes and slides down a trash chute into a re-creation of the trash compactor from A New Hope, even down to the guys freaking out when the air duct goes off and they think the walls are closing in on them. After getting out, they arrive in George Lucas' office, where they see a laptop containing the rough cut of The Phantom Menace. Unfortunately, they barely make it past the opening crawl when security shows up and takes them in, but only after a stand-off when one of the guards (played by Will Forte) confesses to being more of a Star Trek fan.
The head of Skywalker Ranch security (played by Danny McBride), after a phone call from George Lucas himself, informs the group that George is impressed and flattered by what they accomplished, so George agreed to drop the charges, after the head of security quizzed them on their Star Wars knowledge and proved that they were, in fact, Fanboys. After proving this is the case, they are let go, but not before Linus alone gets to watch the rough cut of The Phantom Menace. After watching the film, Linus rejoins the others and they take off together. Linus and Eric reconcile their friendship, Windows and Zoe are officially a couple, and everything is right. Months later, Eric, Windows, Zoe, Hutch, and Eric's brother Chaz are at their local theater on opening night for The Phantom Menace. Hutch brought with him a six-pack of beer, and they get ready to watch the movie when Eric asks the others an interesting question: "What if the movie sucks?".
Kyle Newman, the director of Fanboys, truly understands Star Wars fans, as he himself is a Star Wars fan. I do appreciate that he wrote the main characters as real people and not as geek stereotypes (I'm looking at YOU, Big Bang Theory!). Sure Windows is played as a bit of a geek, but it's not played for laughs. He's an actual person, not a caricature. Zoe is the only girl of the group, and is the most level-headed, but again, she's a real person. I do like that the main characters are all multi-layered and three-dimensional, which is important in a film like this. I also liked the various celebrity cameos, aside from the ones I mentioned like Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Ray Park, Danny McBride, Will, Forte, William Shatner, and Seth Rogen. There were also appearances by Danny Trejo, Ethan Suplee (as Harry Knowles), Jaime King, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, and Craig Robinson. The humor is on point and the lead characters area lot of fun seeing together. Sam Huntington and Chris Marquette are terrific as Eric and Linus, Kristen Bell is a lot of fun as Zoe (and seeing her in the Slave Leia bikini at the end of the movie was pretty nice, I gotta say), and Dan Fogler and Jay Baruchel were hilarious as Hutch and Windows. Now, I would liked to mention that this movie will probably appeal more so to Star Wars fans than a general audience, but it's still a fun movie that shows that the Force is strong with the Star Wars fandom. So, I'm going to give Fanboys a rating of 4.25/5.
I should also point out that the DVD for this movie contains an alternate version of the scene with the head of Skywalker Ranch security, who in this version is played by William Katt (from the TV show The Greatest American Hero), who talks with George on the phone, and in this version, George decided not to press charges, and allows Linus alone to watch The Phantom Menace. This scene was cut after a second production team working on the film, headed up by Steven Brill, had cut out the subplot that dealt with Linus having cancer, and adding in more raunchy toilet humor, ruining the film from Kyle Newman's original vision. Fans on the Internet went after Brill, who lashed out at the fans, and the film was handed back to the original team, who restored that cancer plot, made the version of the scene with the head of security (the one with Danny McBride, which ended up in the finished film), and make it the film that Star Wars fans wanted to see. So, kudos to Kyle Newman for doing that.
This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time when we begin the 12 Reviews of Christmas.
Released in 2009, this road trip comedy was directed by Kyle Newman, and is a real love letter to Star Wars fans, but also a bit of a middle-finger to Star Trek fans. The story starts off on Halloween Night in 1998, just six months until the release of the newest Star Wars film: The Phantom Menace. Eric Bottler, a car salesman working for his father, reunites with his friends from high school, Windows, Hutch, and Linus. Eric and Linus were best friends back in the day, but Eric grew up and gave up on childish things such as writing and illustrating comics and being a huge Star Wars fan. Linus proposes a plan for them to drive across the country from Ohio to California, break in to George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch, and steal a rough cut of The Phantom Menace, getting to see the movie before any other fans do. Eric shoots it down, as does the guys' other friend Zoe, and Linus, Hutch and Windows walk out of the party.
The next morning, Hutch and Windows show up at the dealership Eric works at, and tells him that Linus has cancer and has only four months left to live. Eric goes to see him that evening, and Linus takes off, still angry at Eric for giving up on their dream to become big time comic book creators. The next day, Eric shows up at Windows and Hutch's comic book shop, just after Hutch kicks out a couple of Trekkies, and shows them a map from Ohio to California, suggesting that the four of them, including Linus, breaks into the Ranch to watch the rough cut, so that Linus can see The Phantom Menace before he's gone. Linus agrees to go, and the four of them, in Hutch's van decked out in Star Wars stuff, with an R2 head on top of the van, head south to go to Texas. On the way to Texas, Hutch makes a stop in Riverside, Iowa, where they crack jokes at the expense of a group of Star Trek fans, even starting a fight with them and destroying a statue of Captain Kirk locked in combat with Khan, all because one of the Trekkies, Admiral Seasholtz (played by Seth Rogen), calling Han Solo a bitch (Seriously, no one calls Han Solo a bitch.). After leaving the scene, their van breaks down and they find a local biker bar, where after a misunderstanding, meet up with The Chief, who fixes their van after they pass out from eating The Chief's guacamole (which was laced with peyote).
They make it to Texas, at a coffee house called Java the Hutt (get it? Java. Jabba. LOL.) Windows heads inside to meet Rogue Leader, a girl he was chatting with online, but to his shock is a ten-year-old girl. After heading back outside, Rogue Leader's uncle, Harry Knowles, beats up Windows, and then when the guys tell them why they were there, tests them on their Star Wars knowledge. After they pass his test, he agrees to set him up with his contact in Las Vegas, who is known as the "scruffy nerfherder." The guys head for Vegas, but after a chase by the police, including having the van go to "lightspeed," they end up in jail, only for Zoe to arrive and bail them out. After a meeting with a judge named Judge Reinhold (played by Billy Dee Williams), they are released and continue on to Vegas. After they arrive, Hutch and Windows meet two girls, who are professional escorts (oops), and get in debt with a pimp named Roach (also played by Seth Rogen), who is a Star Wars fan as well, having several Star Wars tattoos. Meanwhile, Linus and Eric meet with an alien (also played by Seth Rogen. Oh for crying out loud, HOW MANY CHARACTERS DOES SETH ROGEN NEED TO PLAY IN THE SAME MOVIE?!?!?!?!?!), who leads them to the "scruffy nerfherder," who is Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner. After running from Seasholtz and his band of Trekkies, Linus and Eric run into Hutch, Zoe, and Windows, who themselves are running from Roach. Roach himself fights off Seasholtz and the Trekkies for the same reason the guys did back in Iowa, because Seasholtz, once again, called Han Solo a bitch. I would like to point out that seeing Seth Rogen fighting Seth Rogen is pretty funny. I'll give the movie that one.
After they get away, Linus is accidentally hurled from the van, and ends up in the hospital, where the doctor (played by Carrie Fisher) suggests that he needs to be sent back to Ohio. Linus and the group, however, press on with their trip to Skywalker Ranch in California. Upon arrival, they sneak in and arrive in the Archives, gazing at all of the Lucasfilm memorabilia, including props from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and even Willow (but no Howard the Duck for some reason. That's a shame, because they really could've had fun with that one.). Unfortunately, security shows up, dressed in the uniforms from THX-1138 (that's a deep-cut Lucas reference), and Windows fights with one of the guards (played by Ray Park). The group escapes and slides down a trash chute into a re-creation of the trash compactor from A New Hope, even down to the guys freaking out when the air duct goes off and they think the walls are closing in on them. After getting out, they arrive in George Lucas' office, where they see a laptop containing the rough cut of The Phantom Menace. Unfortunately, they barely make it past the opening crawl when security shows up and takes them in, but only after a stand-off when one of the guards (played by Will Forte) confesses to being more of a Star Trek fan.
The head of Skywalker Ranch security (played by Danny McBride), after a phone call from George Lucas himself, informs the group that George is impressed and flattered by what they accomplished, so George agreed to drop the charges, after the head of security quizzed them on their Star Wars knowledge and proved that they were, in fact, Fanboys. After proving this is the case, they are let go, but not before Linus alone gets to watch the rough cut of The Phantom Menace. After watching the film, Linus rejoins the others and they take off together. Linus and Eric reconcile their friendship, Windows and Zoe are officially a couple, and everything is right. Months later, Eric, Windows, Zoe, Hutch, and Eric's brother Chaz are at their local theater on opening night for The Phantom Menace. Hutch brought with him a six-pack of beer, and they get ready to watch the movie when Eric asks the others an interesting question: "What if the movie sucks?".
Kyle Newman, the director of Fanboys, truly understands Star Wars fans, as he himself is a Star Wars fan. I do appreciate that he wrote the main characters as real people and not as geek stereotypes (I'm looking at YOU, Big Bang Theory!). Sure Windows is played as a bit of a geek, but it's not played for laughs. He's an actual person, not a caricature. Zoe is the only girl of the group, and is the most level-headed, but again, she's a real person. I do like that the main characters are all multi-layered and three-dimensional, which is important in a film like this. I also liked the various celebrity cameos, aside from the ones I mentioned like Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Ray Park, Danny McBride, Will, Forte, William Shatner, and Seth Rogen. There were also appearances by Danny Trejo, Ethan Suplee (as Harry Knowles), Jaime King, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, and Craig Robinson. The humor is on point and the lead characters area lot of fun seeing together. Sam Huntington and Chris Marquette are terrific as Eric and Linus, Kristen Bell is a lot of fun as Zoe (and seeing her in the Slave Leia bikini at the end of the movie was pretty nice, I gotta say), and Dan Fogler and Jay Baruchel were hilarious as Hutch and Windows. Now, I would liked to mention that this movie will probably appeal more so to Star Wars fans than a general audience, but it's still a fun movie that shows that the Force is strong with the Star Wars fandom. So, I'm going to give Fanboys a rating of 4.25/5.
I should also point out that the DVD for this movie contains an alternate version of the scene with the head of Skywalker Ranch security, who in this version is played by William Katt (from the TV show The Greatest American Hero), who talks with George on the phone, and in this version, George decided not to press charges, and allows Linus alone to watch The Phantom Menace. This scene was cut after a second production team working on the film, headed up by Steven Brill, had cut out the subplot that dealt with Linus having cancer, and adding in more raunchy toilet humor, ruining the film from Kyle Newman's original vision. Fans on the Internet went after Brill, who lashed out at the fans, and the film was handed back to the original team, who restored that cancer plot, made the version of the scene with the head of security (the one with Danny McBride, which ended up in the finished film), and make it the film that Star Wars fans wanted to see. So, kudos to Kyle Newman for doing that.
This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time when we begin the 12 Reviews of Christmas.
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