Fan Service

When I like something, I tend to become hooked on it. I will sit through hours of pap just because I liked something for example (Starship Troopers 2 & 3 and the Transformers (live action) films say hi). I will sit there and do a "run" of something, case in point my recent decision to sit through all Aliens and Predator films due to the release of Predators. Reading through all the Hornblower books in a row (last one now, perhaps to read through the entire Diskworld series in chronological order (bar Eric and Witches Abroad) now Sir Tel has released a new one) and the way I set a target to view/read everything I can get my hands on.


Thing is playing through LEGO Batman and Indiana Jones I realised just how much time and patience fans pulling together can create something that makes a fan smile with a really nice tribute. I'd already encountered TT games' work with LEGO Rock Band and there were elements of it in there. A personal memory is the "hotel" incident in which the bands drummer drives a car into a swimming pool alá Keith Moon, this is closely followed by the band trying to escape from a T-Rex in a jeep through a difficult jungle trail alá the scene from Jurassic Park following a roadie being eaten on the toilet.


It's these little things that show the dedication and that the makers clearly were fans of the source material. Playing Indy I found it funny they latched onto the scene during Raiders in which Star Wars characters are represented in Egyptian hieroglyphics and at various times Indy comes across them (trying to swap the idol following the boulder sequence for C3-POs head) a nice little nod and noting it too was created by George Lucas. Any character and moment that you remember from any films is represented and there's a smile a mile wide as I playthrough and spot all the moments and nods. Random gaming fan service award - Oblivion, which features a suicide note from a troll under the bridge because "Mee wurst troll evurr, nobuddy pay brijj tole, me nott sceary enuf, mee gett drunc an kil sellf, troll droun". Those Billy Goats Gruff have a lot to answer for!


Of course gaming isn't the only place where fans craft tributes it can happen in Hollywood where big money allow people to make huge tributes of their loves. Sometimes you've got to beware of the cash ins, a great case is the aforementioned Transformers (live action) movies where Bay has no real interest and it's just a job. As a result you get Devastator which is a great villain name. Sadly he turns up twice over the two films, once as a tank and once as the combined form of the Destructicons. For a casual observer (probably already turned it off anyway) it means nothing but for a fan it was yet another case of someone asked to make a movie based on a source material he doesn't care about.


On the other hand you can get something like Lord of the Rings in which you can see Peter Jackson was a fan of the book. There are somethings that a "true fan" would object to but the determination to get the project off the ground and some of the changes you can understand why they were done. After all a film maker needs to remember his not making a film for himself and more than fans may want to watch it. The patience was there though and little things still crept in. Another case X-men where those little things for the fans creep through. X2 having the moment when Mystique and Nightcrawler have a quiet friendly conversation, in the story she's his mother but as the films don't cover this it was a nice nod.


The ultimate fanservice though has to be the film "Raiders" which brings me full circle. In 1981 a group of schoolboys in the States saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and rather than writing pornographic fanfiction as is common now they took it upon themselves to remake the film shot for shot with there school friends. They hand made costumes, they burnt down their basements and worked with dedication and adoration for the source material and the end result was something which bar one sequence (fight under the props of an aircraft) was as close as can be made. For some kids to take on a project like that over a period of 7 years just shows the level of fan service people will go to.


Now who wants to help me remake the LOTR films shot for shot? Kate can get that Galadariel costume for a reason now!