Virtually Heroes

Virtually Heroes
Directed by G.J. Echternkamp
Produced by Roger Corman
G.J. Echternkamp
Dwjuan F. Fox
Screenplay by Matt Yamashita
G.J. Echternkamp
Starring Robert Baker
Mark Hamill
Brent Chase
Katie Savoy
Cinematography James Mann
Production
company
Release dates
  • January 18, 2013 (2013-01-18) (Sundance Film Festival)
Country United States
Language English
Budget $114,000 USD

Virtually Heroes is a 2013 American low-budget gamer film directed by G.J. Echternkamp,[1] starring Robert Baker and Mark Hamill. Produced by Roger Corman, it made its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.[2] Adjusted for inflation, it is Roger Corman's cheapest film to date.

Plot

Two self-aware characters in a Call of Duty-inspired video game battle endless supplies of Vietcong, absurdly powerful level bosses and their own existential crises. With the help of Mark Hamill's Yoda-like monk, they attempt to win the game and get the girl.[3]

Production

Virtually Heroes evolved from Roger Corman's desire to utilize his extensive library of stock footage to create a modern war film.[4] Since the 1970s, Corman produced over 20 war films with Filipino director Cirio H. Santiago. Writers G.J. Echternkamp and Matt Yamashita drew heavily on Corman's library to write their script, developing a video game world to justify the repurposed stock footage.[5]

Production lasted 14 days, with a budget of $114,000. Because of the low budget, most of the film had to be block-shot. Most of the takes were done only twice. Virtually Heroes was the first film of Roger Corman's (dubbed "the Godfather of Indie Filmmaking") to enter the Sundance Film Festival.[6][7] Reviews of the film were in general not positive.[8][9]

Virtually Heroes uses footage from the following Corman pictures:

References

  1. ↑ "Geekscape’s Sundance 2013 Review: ‘Virtually Heroes’"
  2. ↑ Film Guide for the 2013 Sundance Film Festival
  3. ↑ "Meet the 2013 Sundance Filmmakers" from IndieWire
  4. ↑ "Roger Corman, G.J. Echternkamp on Virtually Heroes" from Screen International
  5. ↑ "Review: ‘Virtually Heroes’" Variety.
  6. ↑ "Corman has Sundance Debut" from the Associated Press
  7. ↑ "G.J. Echternkamp's debut feature embraces the Roger Corman ethic by reusing footage from anonymous '80s war films." Hollywood Reporter.
  8. ↑ "Sundance 2013 Review: Virtually Heroes" Crave.
  9. ↑ "Review: 'Virtually Heroes' is a meta-mess of a video game comedy at Sundance Midnights". HitFix.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/21/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.