7. Escape from City 17: Part One
This four minute vignette, set in the Half Life universe, was made as a showcase for independent filmmakers the Purchase Brothers. With it's clever juxtaposition of live action location filming with in-game graphics and sound, it left fans clamouring for more. The brothers promise that part two is on the way.
8. Batman: Dead End
Not a complete feature or even a complete story. Dead End adds up to little more than a scrap in a back alley, but it's still the benchmark other Batman fan films aspire to. The cinematography, fight choreography, editing, music... it's all pro quality. And Batman duffs up an Alien and a Predator! Download the high quality version.
9. Born of Hope
Lord of the Rings fans will know that the book's appendices are full of enough back story to make a brace of further trilogies. That's where full length fan feature Born of Hope's story comes from. More earnest and earthy than the Hollywood version, Born of Hope is a significant accomplishment and, more importantly, a great little film.
10. Star Wars Revelations
Star Wars has so many fan productions to its name that we could easily have filled this list with them. Revelations gets a shout-out for its high quality sets, effects and story telling. A bit more Ridley Scott than George Lucas in places - and all the better for it.
11. Star Trek New Voyages: Phase 2
Star Trek fan series New Voyages: Phase 2 has a reputation for near-professional production values - and it's well deserved. The sets and CGI are a labour of love. There have been five episodes released for download. Our favourite, "To Serve all my Days" features Star Trek's own Walter Koenig revisit the character of Ensign Chekov, in a story written by Dorothy Fontana - the original series script editor. The pedigree doesn't get better than that.
12. The Hunt for Gollum
A little shorter than "Born of Hope", The Hunt for Gollum raids the same Tolkien scribbled appendices for its story while paying close homage to Peter Jackson's film trilogy. You'll do a double take in the earliest scenes too - the casting of both Gandalf and Aragorn seems calculated to match the movies. Shot in HD, some stunning British scenery and a few very convincing glimpses of Gollum make this a real must-see for fans of the films.
