FanCam: Star Wars - Troops (1997)

This is, hands down, one of the funniest short films I think I've ever seen. Regardless if it is a FanCam project or not, this is FUNNY. It may be generational, though. There are a some things that one need-be prepared with in order to watch this film, from a pop culture standpoint. Not only is this a Star Wars fan film, it is also a spoof on the COPS television program. For those of you too young, or too drunk in the 1990s, to remember, COPS was filmed 'on location, with the men and women of law enforcement.' This was the beginnings of reality TV, and some if it was actually real. Camera crews would follow officers for the night, filming what they did. The show was a lot of fun and provided us law-abiding citizens with entertainment galore as we laughed and cajoled those silly drunks, prostitutes and domestic abusers that filled COPS with a seemingly unending supply of Deplorables (see what I did there?).



Troops was directed by Kevin Rubio and written by Rubio and a cadre of folks: David McDermott (writer on Guardians of the Galaxy, Ben 10, Transformers and more), David Hargrove and Steven Melching (Power Rangers, Max Steel and, get this, Star Wars: Rebels!). Kevin Rubio, being no slouch himself, went on to Ben 10, My Little Pony, Avengers Assemble, Hellboy and many, many more. So, from FanCam to big-time Hollywood animated series writers, not so shabby. From the quality of Troops, one can see exactly why these guys are working consistently.

Troops follows a few stormtroopers on Tatooine on their daily calls. We have a stolen robot call with some Jawas (who don't fare too well) and even a domestic abuse call from Owen and Beru. Seems their nephew, the troopers think his name is Duke, has run away because of Owen's abuse. Of course, Beru can't take it and the entire episode ends with a thermo detonator...

Troops is downright funny, from the Minnesota accents to the Tom Servo robot cameo, this little ten-minute film did the same thing that The Phantom Menace did much quicker: making me laugh until I peed.