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Force Friday is upon us.  Unlike May the Fourth, which celebrates the release of Episode IV,  Force Friday is the day that many retailers including Disney will release tie in merchandise to coincide for Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming in December.

While some fans will certainly take some time to watch the official movies, there are other fan films that may certainly entertain while you wait.

For the uninitiated, simply put, fan films are created with minimal budgets by indie film makers and fans in appreciation of a source material.  Many are unlicensed, vary greatly in quality, and fill in a great gap when it comes to actual feature films in entertainment value. Some have even gotten recognition by the copyright holders.

If you have gotten your fill of watching Jar Jar, (and realistically, you should never pop that movie into your blu-ray player ever again!),  seeing Han frozen in carbonite again for the millionth time, or watching the gawd-awful Hayden Christensen Force ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi,  here are a few fan films below that you should check out.

Troops

One of the best Star Wars parodies.  See what life is like being a Sandtrooper on the Outer Rim and learn how exactly Beru and Owen Lars wound up dead!

IMPS

Initially a sequel to Troops, IMPS is a semi serious look at troopers serving on the Revenge- Class Star Destroyer Relentless.  For a 10 year old film, it set a standard in production value for a fan film.  The first part is a hoot as troopers settle a deal with Predators and a Mandalorian (we can assume that it’s Boba Fett but he’s not mentioned by name), and try to stop a freighter from leaving.  The second part shows the troopers tracking some illegal activity to an ice planet and their attempts to apprehend the smugglers.

Star Wars: The Lesser Evil

Winner of the 2015 Star Wars fan film award, this one follows a band of Jedi as they team up with a bounty hunter to track down a Sith lord.   You gotta love the sword play here.

Star Wars:  Revelations

Set in between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, this film is about Zhanna – a fallen Emperor’s Hand, who seeks redemption. She has visions that leads her to an ancient artifact that could spell doom to the last of the Jedi Knights scattered since Order 66.

Contract of Evil

If you didn’t get enough of him in The Phantom Menace, here is a story that serves as the origin of Darth Maul. A group of Sith meet on an abandoned world to determine who will be Palpatine’s second and of course a duel ensues.

TIE Fighters Anime

This one has been making the rounds for years.  If Star Wars was an anime, it would look like this.  What makes this one even more intriguing is that it was shot from the Imperial side of the war.

Star Wars: Retribution

A fan film created by Chris Conley, this short film shows a melding between football and the Force.  It features the head coach, Mark Richt, shot on the campus of the University of Georgia and features Conley himself as a Sith.

That’s just a few of the fan films out there.  If you do a google search or scour youtube, you can find a wealth of good, not so good and everything in between.  Happy Force Friday and May the Force be with you!