| TROOPS | |
|---|---|
| |
| Director(s) |
Kevin Rubio |
| Producer(s) |
Kevin Rubio |
| Writer(s) |
Kevin Rubio |
| Starring |
Eric Hilleary |
| Music by |
Inner Circle |
| Distributor | |
| Released |
1997 |
| Runtime |
10 min. |
| Timeline |
0 BBY |
| Era |
Rise of the Empire era, Rebellion era |
| Preceded by |
None |
| Followed by |
None |
- "TROOPS is filmed on location with the men of the Imperial forces. All suspects are guilty. Period. Otherwise, they wouldn't be suspects, would they?"
- ―Announcer at the start of TROOPS, parodying the "innocent until proven guilty in a court of law" line in COPS[src]
TROOPS is a fanfilm directed by Kevin Rubio that had its premiere at the Comic Con International convention in San Diego, CA, on July 18, 1997, before becoming more widely available on the Internet later that summer. The film is shot in a documentary (or mockumentary) style, parodying primarily A New Hope and the television series COPS, as well as Fargo and Mystery Science Theater 3000 (by featuring Tom Servo). In the film, stormtroopers from the infamous Black Sheep Squadron on patrol run into some very familiar characters while being filmed for the hit Imperial TV show TROOPS. The running time is approximately 10 minutes. It was filmed at El Mirage, California, in late March of 1997.
The film jump-started the modern fanfilm movement, as it was one of the first short films to bring fan films into the digital age, taking advantange of Internet distribution and affordable production and special effects equipment, as well as fans with movie-quality costumes.
Rubio finished the film while working at the Fox Kids Network, and was able to use well-known voice talent in his cast, including Jess Harnell, Cam Clarke, and announcer Bill Farmer.
The film has proven incredibly popular with Star Wars fans, and was awarded the inaugural Pioneer Award in the Lucasfilm-sponsored 2002 Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards.
In 2005, a new film called IMPS - The Relentless was released, made by several of the actors from TROOPS. Originally planned as a sequel, the film was first billed as TROOPS 2, but was renamed after fans learned that not only was Rubio not involved with the project, but also that over the course of writing and production the film had evolved into something entirely different.
Joel Hodgson's name is misspelled in the end credits.
Cast[]
- "No Jawas were harmed in the making of this parody."
- ―TROOPS End Credits[src]
| Role | Actor | Voice |
|---|---|---|
| Jawa 1 | David Myers | Steven Melching |
| Jawa 2 | Matthew Myers | Paul Pistore |
| Owen Lars | Neil Elliott | |
| Beru Lars | Susan Hindshaw | |
| Captain Jyanix Bauch | Eric Hilleary | Cam Clarke |
| Officer Daemon Mott | David Max | Jess Harnell |
| Officer Ayches Ram | Kenar Yegyayan | Drew Massey |
| Captain Reh Taeh | Eric Hilleary | Paul Pistore |
| Trooper HK-888 | Caleb Skinner | Kevin Rubio |
| Trooper HK-883 | Kenar Yegyayan | Dave Fouquette |
| Radio Dispatchers | — | Pistore & Rubio |
| Announcer | — | Bill Farmer |
| Boba Fett | Eric Hilleary | — |
| Tom Servo | himself | — |
Behind the scenes[]
The name and concept is a spoof of the show COPS.
The Midwestern accents of the stormtroopers is a spoof of the movie Fargo.
The stolen droid is Tom Servo from Mystery Science Theater 3000.
TROOPS has been available on DVD twice. The trailer DVD in the first issue of Total Movie magazine (Oct/Nov 2000) included TROOPS with an optional director's commentary audio track. The Cops: 20th Anniversary Edition DVD (2008) included the film as an extra.