Best Fan Films

One of the first real breakthrough successes in fan film, 1997's Troops capitalized on Star Wars fandom but gave it a cheeky twist. Kevin Rubio created the film while working at Fox Kids, and had access to a lot of equipment that made the film possible, as well as some top-notch voice actors. The conceit of the film is simple—it's a COPS parody starring the fine white-armored stormtroopers of the Empire. Laden with inside jokes and cameos, it's a streat to this day. Hell, it's probably better than The Phantom Menace.

Batman is a popular character for fan filmmakers, for obvious reasons: he's just a regular dude, so you don't need to simulate superhuman feats with complicated special effects. Plus building your own Batman costume is fun! 2010's Batman: City Of Scars was obviously inspired by the Arkham Asylum video game, putting Bruce Wayne against the Joker and the demons that lurk within his own mind. This is an incredibly professional-looking production that also features the Black Canary.

Advances in technology have given fan film makers a ton of new tools. One guy who is taking incredible advantage of them is Monty Oum, a video game artist and animator who makes some awesome movies in his spare time. Oum came to fame with Haloid, which pit Master Chief and Samus Aran in a fight to the death. But his magnum opus has to be Dead Fantasy, which takes some of the foxiest females from Square's Final Fantasy games and tosses them in with leading ladies from Ninja Gaiden, Kingdom Hearts and more. All CGI, there's not a real actress to be seen.

With all of the drama surrounding the production of The Hobbit, Hollywood should look to Chris Bouchard, who took a short story from the Appendices to Lord of the Rings and expanded it out to an incredible half-hour short film that debuted in 2009. Taking place just prior to Frodo leaving the Shire for Rivendell, it follows Aragorn as he searches for the troglodyte Gollum to prevent him from delivering information about the One Ring to Sauron. Great action, a classic story and excellent performances combine to make a fantastic film.