My first exposure to fan-made movies and trailers was care of a friend of mine named Mike. He showed me Sandy Collora's Batman: Dead End, and it just blew my mind. Since then, I've seen a bunch of them, some better than others obviously. A popular character to turn into a fan film is Batman and his cohorts, which is expected as he's just a guy in a bat suit who can do crazy stuff.
See? Crazy.
Let me list down all the awesome fan-made comic book movies and we'll save the best for last. Let's go.
Bat-movie makers, Bat in the Sun, have been making the absolutely most spectacular videos and here are a few of them.
Batman: Dark Justice
Director: Aaron Schoenke
Starring: Tanoai Reed as Batman, Kim Hunt as James Gordon, Sean Schoenke as Allan Harris
Released in 2004, Batman: Dark Justice stands up well to the test of time. It has one of the better looking Batman costumes to date even though the sound quality and the action aren't as good as Schoenke's other films. And speaking of his other shorts -
Batman: City of Scars
Director: Aaron Schoenke
Score: Sean Schoenke
Starring: Kevin Porter as Batman, Paul Molnar as Joker, Madelynn Rae as Harley Quinn, Guy Grundy as Zsasz
City of Scars was released in 2011, and compared to Dark Justice, this has way better production quality, script and performances. I'm not a huge
fan of the bat logo on the costume, but the suit looks way better than Nolan's Dark Knight movies. Kevin Porter sounds a lot like Kevin Conroy, too, which is always a plus. Rae's Quinn lost what we all love about the character; that feels like a lost opportunity. She could've kept the heavy Brooklyn accent.
Batman: Seeds of Arkham
Director: Aaron Schoenke
Starring: Kevin Porter as Batman, Xango Henry as Killer Croc, Alexa Mey as Poison Ivy and Aaron Schoenke as Nightwing
Seeds of Gotham is the official sequel to City of Scars. I really like Kevin Porter as Batman, and this is no exception. The Batman costume looks a hell of a lot like the Tim Burton 1989 Batman movie suit. I think Aaron Schoenke is great as Nightwing, but that costume really did look like it was from a costumes-r-us thrift store.
Also, check out Batman Legends and Joker and Harley Quinn's Christmas.
Batman VS Wolverine (Super Power Beat Down)
Producers: Aaron and Sean Schoenke
Host: Marisha Ray
Debaters: Damian Beurer and Andy Leigl
Effects: Stalmation
This is just one of the many Super Power Beat Down episodes they've done. This is, however, my favorite. Wolverine's mannerisms, voice and costume are just spot on. Batman is as good as always. They also have Gambit VS Nightwing, Lara Croft VS Nathan Drake, Darth Vader VS Gandalf, and Connor Kenway VS Max Payne VS Cortana VS Lee Everett VS Vaas Montenegro.
There's another set of videos of super powered fights, but by another group.
Ultimate Fan Fights - Captain America VS Batman
Director: James Mark
Producers: John Ho, James Mark, Yung Lee, Avery Chan
Executive Producers: Grant Thompson, Bernard Ho, Mark Boucher
While Cap looks like he forgot to take his super soldier serum, Batman looks ridiculously good in the Nolanverse get up. The effects are brilliant and the choreography is impressive. The difference between these guys and Bat in the Sun is that they shoot two separate endings and you get to pick who wins instead of just voting. They've also made Chun Li VS Tifa (EFFIN AWESOME), Scorpion VS Ryu, Link VS Peter Pan, and Solid Snake VS Ezio (ALSO EFFIN AMAZING).
Batman: Death Wish
Director: Matthew Hiscox
Writter: Jennifer Zhang
Starring: Batman as Batman, Christopher Robinson as Robin, Whitney Moore as Catwoman, Matthew Hiscox as Nightwing, Rayne Biidder as Harley Quinn, Joey Rassool as Scarecrow, Jennifer Zhang as Batgirl, Michael Coleman as Riddler, Ali Williams as Poison Ivy
The story is great, and the action is pretty cool. Unfortunately, the delivery of the lines are a little painful to hear, especially Batman's. Some of the lines were really corny, too. The only one really nailed it is Bidder as Quinn. Everyone's costumes looked like movie replicas, except Nightwing's, which was the coolest one of the bunch.
Deadpool: A Typical Tuesday
Director: Kieth Brooks
Written by: Trevor Gardner and R.K. Brooks
Starring: Trevor Gardner, Jay Peterson, Anthony McKie, Secret Harris, Chris Burns
I absolutely love the humor in this fan film. "Look at me, still talking when there's science to do!" I love the art direction and the dialogue. It gets a little over the top sometimes, but it redeems itself every now and again. Just a great take on the character, overall. This is better than Reynolds' Deadpool, for sure. Had this been given a bigger budget and a great effects team, Deadpool: A Typical Tuesday would have been epic.
G.I. Joe: Red Retrieval
Writer, editor and director: Mark Cheng
Starring: Mack Kuhr as Zartan, Matt Hayek as Flint, Alex Jones as Roadblock, Joe Barbagallo as Beachhead
21 minutes of G.I. Joe awesomeness. Snake Eyes and Roadblock were especially good.
G.I. Joe: Initiate
Couldn't find any details like the director, but the actors are military veterans
Check them out at their website and like their page. Second episode is here. They have Sgt. Stalker, Recondo, Low Light, Mercer, Beachhead and Chuckles. It's a really nice take on the franchise, a lot like the comic books. You can really see the love these guys put into their short episodic films.
Green Hornet (fan film)
Director, writer: Aurélien Poitrimoult
Cast: Emmanuel Lanzi,Patrick Vo
Producers: Aurélien Poitrimoult, Emmanuel Lanzi
This movie is fifty million times better than that Seth Rogen Green Hornet bullcrap. It's got better writing, better fight scenes, better actors and a hell of a lot closer to the actual Green Hornet lore. The fan film shows Green Hornet being a bad ass, and that's just tops in my book.
Batman: Dead End
Director: Sandy Collora
Starring: Clark Bartram as Batman, Andrew Koenig as Joker, Kurt Carley as Predator, Jake McKinnon as Alien
For me, this is where it all started. Collora got Batman RIGHT. In 8 minutes, he made a supremely better Aliens VS Predators and Batman movies. For only $30,000, this might not really be eligible to be called a "fan film," but it sure still beats out those Hollywood budgets.