Cast yourself back to 2003. I know, it's not exactly ages ago. Super-hero movies were not a trend then, because 1997's "Batman & Robin" was one of the most awful things ever put into movie-theaters. It's so painful that it's sometimes entertaining, but it's still an experiment in masochism.
Yet Hollywood loves profits, so it "took a chance" on mediocre franchise offerings like "X-Men" in 2000, as well as "Spider-man" in 2002. Neither movie was particularly good - they were ok, they were "meh." The financial success of each, however, ushered in a new era of comic-inspired pictures.
This wasn't a total success, mind you. X2 was a runaway hit in July 2003, but Ang Lee's "Hulk" came out two months earlier, and it was an amazing disappointment. Nothing was a guarantee, even with a decent cast, a great director, and hundreds of millions in the budget...
Many were still wondering when Warner Bros. would get back in the game; they were the ones who gave us Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne and Christopher Reeves as a mild-mannered alien, after all. People who cared about comics (this did not include me) wanted to see a revival of the Superman and Batman films - even though both franchises had collapsed under the weight of internal stupidity and poor film-making...
And then lots of people found out who Sandy Collora is. A creature designer who had worked with Stan Winston, Rick Baker, and others, Sandy used $30,000 to make a short film to showcase his talents. The designer-turned-director released "Batman: Dead End" at that year's Comic Con, and the feedback was overwhelming positive; "600,000 downloads in the first week" positive. Before twitter.
Enough introduction. Click below to watch what Kevin Smith called "possibly the truest, best Batman movie ever made."
Harsh. "Dead end" indeed.
Impressive, right? Amazing, right? Keep in mind that Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" didn't come out until 2005. And that Collora did this with no studio funding, for less than the cost of a mid-sized sedan (with the options package). This isn't just an advertisement for one guy's talents, this is a creative feat that almost makes up for every Martin Lawrence trailer I've sat through...
Fortunately, "Batman: Dead End" had copyright notices that swore the film was made "for fun" and not for profit. These disclaimers, and the widespread popularity of the short film, probably protected Sandy from the legal version of an angry orgy.
Like any motivated person, Collora struck while the iron was hot. He released "World's Finest" in 2004, again racking up a large number of views and downloads. I still remember sending the link to dozens of people...
Now, Sandy could claim that he beat Warner Bros' to the punch again, putting Clark Kent onto film 2 years before the joyless, dull "Superman Returns." Also, he'd finally made a Superman-Batman movie - the sort of thing that's really an unobtainable "Holy Grail" for film execs and nerds everywhere. Watch "World's Finest" below.
Lois is always either scarily uptight or really loose. Kinda manic, huh?
"WF" isn't as impressive as "Dead End," but it doesn't need to be. The director did a fine job of putting together a trailer that really acts as a short film. The effects and writing are way better than "Superman IV;" and everything in it is better than "Batman Forever." I only wish Sandy Collora experienced more immediate success for his efforts - he finally released his first full feature, "Hunter Prey," in 2009. It's for sale on Amazon, but it's not cheap ($22?), and it's not yet available on Netflix...
The message is pretty clear: ingenuity, hard-work, and creative quality beat a multi-million dollar budget any day. Sandy, I hope you get all the recognition you clearly deserve. Everyone else, I hope you enjoyed these videos and passed them along to your friends. I just feel a little stupid because I should've posted these a long time ago...
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