Behind the Mask: The Batman Dead End Story
July. 10,2015Director and Writer Eric Dow ("Honor in the Valley of Tears") brings us his second documentary as he goes behind the scenes of the fan fiction short film, "Batman: Dead End." In the winter of 2003 commercial director Sandy Collora and some of his friends set out to make a low-budget short film for his demo reel. What they wound up actually doing was making one of the most elaborate, most watched, most talked about and most controversial short films ever made: Batman Dead End. Considering the amount of press and admiration Batman: Dead End garnered,
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Reviews
Pretty Good
It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.
This is an astonishing documentary that will wring your heart while it bends your mind
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
I've watched this multiple times and it still interests me. It's the story of a group of guys making a fan film with the intention of launching the career of their leader Sandy Collora.The whole process is really neat to see and I credit the film maker of this documentary with his story telling ability.The short film they make (Batman: Dead End) gets a tremendous amount of buzz and the assumption was that Sandy would go on to get a major study deal. What follows is an absolute train wreck. Every aspiring director should watch this documentary to learn what not to do.I think Sandy Collora is a very creative and talented guy. But if you pressed me to describe him in one sentence it would be "He's Kanye West without the hit records." He passes on movies he deems as garbage showing no respect for other people in his chosen profession while at the same time promoting his own stories and scripts which is all but impossible until you really prove yourself in the industry. For a guy who is in his mid 30s to just say, "ok I'm gonna write and direct films now" with no practical experience and expect things to get handed to him is painfully naïve.Several people in the film also allude to Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy as if they inspired him, also that Heath Ledger's Joker was directly ripped from the guy who played the Joker in this short film which is pure insanity. I mean really. lol I highly recommend watching this documentary, it's on Hulu Plus atm.
I liked this film a lot. It was a very interesting and revealing documentary about someone who I have respect for a long time. In 2003, Sandy Collora made a short film that had Batman against the Joker, aliens and the Predator. It owned SDCC that summer and was an overnight sensation and propelled the brash director into the Hollywood stratosphere. This is as complete a story as anyone could tell about the phenomenon that was "Batman Dead End" and its creator Sandy Collora. It was much more than I expected, Its very detailed and covers a lot of ground. It shows how powerful an artist Collora really is in every way. He made Batman cool again and showed WB the way. He still is the only director to ever put a real Batman on the screen right out of the comics. The studios with all their money still can't get it right. Neil Adams agrees in the documentary. This movie is very inspiring and anyone who wants to be a movie maker or artist needs to see this. It should be required viewing in film schools. I am looking forward to THE CIRCLE!My only 2 gripes are the camera work is not good with the people being interviewed constantly going in and out of focus is totally distracting and not necessary. And why was Sean Clark in this film? Norman Reedus was not in Batman Dead End. What did he have to do with any of this and why are his opinions concerned? Maybe he is friends with the film makers. 7/10 is my rating. If they hired someone to focus the camera it would have been 8 or 9.
The amazing inside story, about the most iconic short film ever. This documentary tells the story of Sandy Collora a special effects artist trying to become a movie director.I did not have a hard time watching this, it felt sincere, heartfelt, and real. If you want to know more about special-effects, what it takes to make movies, and how much drive you have to become a movie director; watch this movie. If you want to support independent movies, watch this movie. If you have seen the short film Batman: dead-end, watch this film. If your a fan of alien, watch this movie. If your a fan of predator, watch this movie. If you seen Hunter Prey, watching this movie. If you're a fan of Comic books and art, watch this movie. Sandy Collora will motivate you just by watching him and his drive for success.
Batman: Dead End is a uniquely amazing fanfilm. Gorgeous production design, solid direction, wonderful cinematography, fantastic practical FX, and so many geek-out moments it's hard to even keep track. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to check it out, its still all over YouTube to this day. Sandy Collora (the director), an industry vet and director's chair hopeful, put together a serious chunk of his own change back in the early 2000s, and assembled a team of highly talented folks within the industry to carry out his vision of an unapologetically comic-book inspired Batman pitted against some of geekdom's greatest icons. This documentary explores what drove him to do it, how it was done, the highs, the lows, and the fallout/aftermath of the whole thing. As a hopeful filmmaker myself, this became my "Star Wars"... a film that inspired me and opened my eyes to a world of possibilities. All I knew was "this was done independently, it's on the internet for everyone to see, and it's freakin amazing". My own fanfilm, "Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness", owes a great debt of gratitude to Sandy and Batman: Dead End. Without his film, mine wouldn't exist, and neither would thousands of others, I suspect. Credit where credit's due, Sandy Collora is the George Lucas of fanfilms, and I mean that with the utmost respect. As the documentary reveals, he might not have catapulted into Hollywood stardom as hoped, but he pioneered the trail and inspired a generation of us. Definitely worth a watch, especially for budding filmmakers.