Sith Apprentice
Encyclopedia
Sith Apprentice is a Star Wars
fan film
that made its debut on the internet
on March 29, 2005, directed by John E. Hudgens
and co-written by Hudgens, Denny Humbard, and Men in Black
creator Lowell Cunningham
. Made for around $1000, it is a spoof
of Star Wars
and The Apprentice, with Emperor Palpatine filling the Donald Trump
role in his search for a new apprentice. The final candidates in the film are Darth Vader
, Darth Maul
, Count Dooku
, and Jar Jar Binks
.
While the film primarily spoofs the Star Wars
universe in the format of The Apprentice, there are several other notable targets, including swipes at The Princess Bride
, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
, Dracula
, The Lord of the Rings
, and in the film's standout sequence, Darth Vader
takes to the stage, dancing Riverdance
-style with a squad of stormtroopers.
At one point in the film, Vader cuts off Dooku's head and hands in a scene staged similarly to one in Revenge of the Sith where Anakin, not yet Vader, cuts off Dooku's hands and then proceeds to cut off his head. However, Sith Apprentice was written and filmed months before Revenge of the Sith premiered.
The film has proven popular with Star Wars
fans, and won the Audience Choice Award in the Lucasfilm
-sponsored 2005 Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards
. In August 2010, Time
magazine listed it as one of the Top 10 Star Wars fanfilms.
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
fan film
Fan film
A fan film is a film or video inspired by a film, television program, comic book or a similar source, created by fans rather than by the source's copyright holders or creators. Fan filmmakers have traditionally been amateurs, but some of the more notable films have actually been produced by...
that made its debut on the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
on March 29, 2005, directed by John E. Hudgens
John E. Hudgens
John E. Hudgens is an independent director, producer, and editor noted for his short Star Wars fan films and for many Babylon 5 promotional videos....
and co-written by Hudgens, Denny Humbard, and Men in Black
Men in Black (film)
Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, originally published by Marvel Comics. The film featured the creature effects...
creator Lowell Cunningham
Lowell Cunningham
Lowell Cunningham is an American creator and writer best known for The Men in Black, which became the basis for a media franchise.-Biography:Cunningham created the comic book series The Men in Black...
. Made for around $1000, it is a spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
and The Apprentice, with Emperor Palpatine filling the Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
role in his search for a new apprentice. The final candidates in the film are Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
, Darth Maul
Darth Maul
Darth Maul is a fictional character in the science fiction saga Star Wars. He is one of the main antagonists of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, portrayed by martial artist Ray Park and voiced by Peter Serafinowicz....
, Count Dooku
Count Dooku
Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. Dooku is one of the main antagonists of both Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the events of the Clone Wars and is a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Count Dooku plays a substantial role...
, and Jar Jar Binks
Jar Jar Binks
Jar Jar Binks is a fictional character from the Star Wars Saga , and the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. His primary role was to provide comic relief, but many reacted negatively to his character...
.
While the film primarily spoofs the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
universe in the format of The Apprentice, there are several other notable targets, including swipes at The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride is a 1973 fantasy novel written by William Goldman. It was originally published in the United States by Harcourt Brace, while in the UK it is/was published by Bloomsbury Publishing....
, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
, Dracula
Dracula (1958 film)
Dracula, also known as Horror of Dracula in the United States, is a 1958 British horror film. It is the first in the series of Hammer Horror films inspired by the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Carol Marsh, Melissa Stribling and...
, The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, and in the film's standout sequence, Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
takes to the stage, dancing Riverdance
Riverdance
Riverdance is a theatrical show consisting of traditional Irish stepdancing, notable for its rapid leg movements while body and arms are kept largely stationary. It originated as an interval performance during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, a moment that is still considered a significant...
-style with a squad of stormtroopers.
At one point in the film, Vader cuts off Dooku's head and hands in a scene staged similarly to one in Revenge of the Sith where Anakin, not yet Vader, cuts off Dooku's hands and then proceeds to cut off his head. However, Sith Apprentice was written and filmed months before Revenge of the Sith premiered.
The film has proven popular with Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
fans, and won the Audience Choice Award in the Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Limited is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco, California. Lucas is the company's current chairman and CEO, and Micheline Chau is the president and COO....
-sponsored 2005 Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards
The Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards
The Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards is an annual contest put forth by Lucasfilm and AtomFilms to showcase and acknowledge the growing genre of fan films made by, for, and about fans of the Star Wars saga. The inaugural contest in 2002 was the first time Lucasfilm had officially sanctioned the...
. In August 2010, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine listed it as one of the Top 10 Star Wars fanfilms.
Cast
- Robert Alley ... Darth Sidious
- Robert E. Bean ... Darth VaderDarth VaderDarth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
- Kristen Caron ... Darth MaulDarth MaulDarth Maul is a fictional character in the science fiction saga Star Wars. He is one of the main antagonists of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, portrayed by martial artist Ray Park and voiced by Peter Serafinowicz....
- Patrick McCrayPatrick McCrayPatrick McCray is an American comic book author, actor, director, and voice actor. His most famous work, the comic series Elvis Shrugged was published by Todd Loren's Revolutionary Comics has been cited by Ayn Rand scholars and Elvis scholars alike...
... Count DookuCount DookuCount Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. Dooku is one of the main antagonists of both Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the events of the Clone Wars and is a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Count Dooku plays a substantial role... - Brandon Alley and James W. Williams... JarJar Binks
- Brian Boling ... Boba FettBoba FettBoba Fett is a character in Star Wars. A bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon, he is a minor villain in both Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi....
- Uncredited actor ... Jango FettJango FettJango Fett is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He first appeared as one of the main antagonists in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and later served as the protagonist of the LucasArts video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, played by Temuera Morrison.Jango Fett serves as...
- Amy Earhart ... Pink Five
- Heather Harris ... The FemTrooper
- John E. HudgensJohn E. HudgensJohn E. Hudgens is an independent director, producer, and editor noted for his short Star Wars fan films and for many Babylon 5 promotional videos....
... The voice of Darth VaderDarth VaderDarth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy.... - Denny Humbard ... The Reluctant Jedi
- John Mailen ... The voice of JarJar Binks
- Sarah Mailen ... Emperor's Advisor #1
- Jeff McClure ... Emperor's Advisor #2
- Ziggy McMillan ... Darth Maul (voice)
- Tom Ott ... Imperial Admiral
- Christine Papalexis ... YodaYodaYoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing in the second and third original films, as well as all three prequel trilogy films. A renowned Jedi master, Yoda made his first on-screen appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where he is responsible for...
- Stephen StantonStephen StantonStephen Stanton is an American voice actor, impressionist and visual effects artist. He is well known as an "audio double" or "voicematch" for actors: Alec Guiness, John Cusack, Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Nicolas Cage, Robert Downey Jr., and Peter Cushing among many others...
... The voice of YodaYodaYoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing in the second and third original films, as well as all three prequel trilogy films. A renowned Jedi master, Yoda made his first on-screen appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where he is responsible for...
External links
- Official Site - News, behind-the-scenes info, and more
- Sith Apprentice at Atomfilms
- Sith Apprentice review at Film Threat