Troops (1998)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Kevin Rubio

Writers:

Steven Melching (story) &
David Hargrove (story) ...

Genre:

Short | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Stormtroopers on Tattooine show us what life is like patrolling and law-upholding on the sandy planet.

Plot Keywords:

Star Wars | Part Computer Animation | Spoof | Independent Film

Cast

Dave Myers	...	Jawa (as David Myers)
Steven Melching	...	Jawa (voice)
Matthew Myers	...	Jawa
Paul Pistore	...	Jawa / Capt. Reh Teah / Radio Dispatcher (voice)
Neil Elliot	...	Owen Lars
Susan Hinshaw	...	Beru Lars
Eric Hilleary	...	Capt. Jyanix Bach / Capt. Reh Teah / Boba Fett
Cam Clarke	...	Captain Jyanix Bach (voice)
David Max	...	Officer Demon Mott
Jess Harnell	...	Officer Demon Mott (voice)
Kenar Yegyayan	...	Officer Ayches Ram / Trooper HK-883
Drew Massey	...	Officer Ayches Ram (voice)
Caleb Skinner	...	Trooper HK-888
Kevin Rubio	...	Trooper HK-888 / Radio Dispatcher (voice)
Dave Fouquette	...	Trooper HK-883 (voice)

Runtime:

10 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

El Mirage Dry Lake, California, USA

Trivia:

One of the stormtroopers is wearing high heels.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the beginning, when the Imperial shuttle is first lifting off it is not casting a shadow.

Quotes:

Announcer: "Troops" is filmed on location with the men of the Imperial forces. All suspects are guilty. Period. Otherwise, they wouldn't be suspects, would they?

Movie Connections:

References "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988)

Soundtrack:

Bad Boys

In a way, brilliant.

Many friends of mine belong to that special club: The club that can recite from memory all things "Star Wars". I do not quite have the knowledge of the Blessed Trilogy to join that club, but I still get most inside jokes that jab at that groundbreaking trio of sci-fi fantasies. Still, based on the recommendation of one of the members of that aforementioned club, I downloaded this ten-minute film off of the Internet, and I am so glad that I did.

The premise is rather simple...Take "Star Wars" and filter through the documentary style used by the TV series "Cops". The story centers around stormtroopers ("Troops"...Get it?) who live on the planet of Tatooine, which any amateur "Star Wars" fan can tell you is the homeplanet of the trilogy's hero Luke Skywalker.

The small brilliance of this film, though, is that it takes its premise, and really runs with it. It does not just let the idea be the joke. Instead, it runs an interesting parallel storyline with the first film in the trilogy, suggesting that the so-called sabotage by the Empire was indeed just a big misunderstanding. And when you add some hilarious performances and some surprisingly good special effects, it's a wonderful blend that makes "Troops" near the top of the list of "Star Wars" send ups (and there have been quite a few, believe me).