Star Wars: Crossroads of Destiny -- Released!

Hey everyone,

I just thought I'd mention that Crossroads of Destiny has been released on YouTube.

This film is a "spiritual successor" to Contract of Evil, and was written, produced, and directed by Lou Klein, who created Contract of Evil.

I want to make it clear that this is not my film and all credit is due to Lou. I did the lightsaber effects for him and helped get the final master ready for YouTube release. But I noticed that this had not been mentioned here and, after almost four years of working on this in his spare time, juggling work, family, and a new baby, I thought that the finished project ought to be seen by what is, ultimately, its primary audience.

There was to be a Stage6 version of the film but, well, you know.

So until a higher-quality resource is found (or we can work out the hosting with TFN), enjoy Crossroads of Destiny via YouTube.

Part 1

Part 2

 

I really liked it, even though I'm not a fan of the Prequel Trilogy and Clone Wars stuff. The costumes etc... where cool too. Little confused why you used the Oberon Space Station from Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes remake though instead of an existing Star Wars design, say from a comic book or Art of book etc... ?

 

Good stuff, makes me wanna watch TPM again.

Very complex burnmark stuff. Did you do that, Michael?

 

Looking forward to watching it (I'm at work right now). Can it be placed on Vimeo? If it can be rendered in high quality at less than 500 mb (theres a 500 mb per week limit), he'd be good to go. Otherwise, it could be uploaded in 2 parts, 1 per week.

 

The Planet of the Apes thing threw me off too. [shrug]

The sounds mix for the villain was kinda fun, though I was basically naming creature movies in my head as I went. Still, it was some pretty good sampling.
Actually, while on sounds... I liked the impact noises that were being used when the 'saber would hit someone. Sounded kinda fleshy, rather than just simmering like we usually hear.

Story was kinda cool. The fun thing about something like this where you jump before the films is you can set up certain details in them. That was pretty neat.

It was before even RotS when you were looking for people to help w/ the roto, Dorkman. I remember I had to stop working on my shot since I wasn't going to be able to meet the deadline. Seems like I could've been more of a help now... what took so long?

-Vaportrail

 

I saw it yesterday - the way Even Piell killed off the antagonist was exceptionally cool. However, it's a very flawed film - it gets significantly better in the second half, but if it is to be considered a "spiritual successor" to CoE then I think it's a step in a lot of respects.

 

Cool. Lot's of 'Jedi in a forest' though.

SB

 

Awesome, this is going on my "to watch" list.

 

Very nice tie in: "Piell lost his eye when he was attacked by terrorists, though he never had it healed, instead preferring to wear his scar with pride." (Read More)

The Jedi would cover something up like that.

When all the Jedi come is that Qui-Gon Jinn in the background next to Obi-Wan and Shaak Ti. I saw Kit Fisto their briefly too. Ki-Adi-Mundi, of course.

Qui-Gon Jinn doesn't actually take in Obi-Wan like that though. In Jedi Apprentice (the book) Obi-Wan was actually not meant to be a Jedi because none of the master would take him before he turned 13. So he was going to be a farmer and by destiny was brought to Qui-Gon. I only read the first two books of the series but it was very interesting.

I liked the flick though. I really liked those burn marks too and their placement.

 

Just to clarify (and since my edit time is up) I meant step BACK here.

 

Yeah, that's what Obi meant by the line, "Don't defy the council master, not again."... He went against the councils' orders when he took obi as a padiwan. I liked that series of books. Although, I haven't gotten to read them all.

 

Lou did another excellent job with this film. I do hope we'll see a high def version of it soon.

 

Yeah, Obi-Wan was set to be a super-Farmer. He's was supposed to be "special" farmer who could use the force a bit.

 

its interesting to note that in one of the books, on a mission that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon go on, there's a person that has had dreams of a big rebellion and empire to come (what would become the skywalker saga).

 

Ahh...Jedi Apprentice, I loved that series. Ahh, the nostalgia.

Anyway, Crossroads of destiny was pretty good. The costumes and makeup were simply spectacular, though the lightsaber effects could have been better(just kidding Dorkman, just kidding ). The story was just okay, a bit too much the Sith and Jedi in the woods, but ah well. I must congratulate you, I am now fascinated with Piell, what a cool Jedi! After this, I sure wouldn't mind seeing more of this character. I also like the kinda Phantom Menace feel to this, more of the Jedi of old kinda thing.

Now, you just need to come up with an amazing story, and put these great characters and costumes in it, and you'll have it all.

 

Only scrubbed through it quickly for now (my son was eager to watch RvD instead), but I noticed some interesting stuff. For example, and no offence, Michael, but the sabers are awful. They go against everything buy negating the white cores, IMO. Of course, it's a personal preference, but the sabers you did in contract of evil were amazing compared to this. (not saying they sucked though.)

 

That's an issue of the YouTube compression, not the effects.

 

I thought that the saber of the bad guy stand out with being way too colorful compared to the background. But then again, this thread is about the film itself and not mainly about Dorkman's fx work in it, so I didn't mention it the first time.

I also thought that the CoE-sabers were superior to the ones in this film.

 

I enjoyed this. I don't get hung up on forest vs desert, etc. There are only so many locations you can choose from, short of shooting everything in the studio, and they already did the beach which was interesting but seemed less "Star Warsy" to me. I enjoyed the story. Not perfect, but enjoyable. I look forward to seeing a higher definition video, as You Tube defintely ruins sabers and distorts the picture. As Michael said, I have a feeling that the sabers will look quite good when viewed as they were intended.

 

When Even Piell and the other guy showed up, I could barely tell who was speaking due to the compression/YouTube. I won't be nitpicking the effects unless/until a higher res version gets put up.

Looked okay to me. Bright lightsabers are the way to go. They would be.

-Vaportrail

 

Actually I helped out and did the burn effects.

 

Watched and enjoyed thoroughly.
First of all, the story itself was surprising and enjoyable. I thought the idea of Obi-Wan as a young Padawan was very interesting development of him as a character. Despite the noting that this story is incongruent with the Jedi Apprentice series, it could work, especially if Qui-Gon was resistant to the Council's suggestion of Obi-Wan being his apprentice-but now I'm justifying the plot line; it doesn't need that.
The locale works for the story, regardless of it being a forest setting or not. I like the use of rocks (seems like a reference back to Luke's training in Empire Strikes Back)
Actually, that was a part that seemed very dynamic about the whole film's plot line. Instead of just adding to Obi-Wan's story, it sought to explain aspects of him that we see in the saga. His attachment to Anakin is kind of seen in his forming a bond with Shaak-Ti and Qui-Gon. His willingness to risk himself for the sake of his master and taking on a formidable opponent is seen again in this film. A little jarring for me, because I would think such a fighter would be able to handle a 9 year old boy (more or less) with relative ease, even if he was trying to take him captive. Obi-Wan's ability to take him on seemed a little hard to believe.
Visually, the effects are well done, especially the Force manipulation of the rocks, lightsabers and burn marks. Wonderful work all around on the effects
The camera shots and angles captured wonderfully and added to the story. That stood out to me and in a nice way.
The costuming and make up was excellent and definitely with keeping with the quality of Contract with Evil. I found the costuming to be professional and aiding the immersion of the story.
Acting was spot on and excellent, especially using so many known characters. The boy who played Obi-Wan did a great job. I would love to see behind the sceens footage to see how this was made and working with all the actors.
Also, did I see Dragon Dronet in there?
Overall, 9 out of 10, with 1 point being taken away simply because the bad guy seemed a little off and goofy to me. Maybe that was the idea, however, personally, did not work as a villian.

 

I'm waiting for a higher quality version before I watch it through in detail. At a glance it looks pretty good, and as usual, Lou's costumes are incredible. I do feel however that it was a poor choice limit the main villain's facial expressions with such a rubbery mask - in comparison, the CoE villains were much scarier.

I think I'm also seeing an aspect ratio problem on youtube.

-Spiff

 

I thought it was fantastic!!
not sure if i like Contract Of Evil or this more! but heh there both great!
if anyone wants to check out this behind the scenes video

(its not mine obv) i enjoyed watchin it

Peace

PS: nice burn marks Ryan

 

I thought the same thing. I had only read the first two books as well, and I thought they were really good.

For that reason, it's hard for me to enjoy this film much at all. The story line to me is little more than an over-glorified lightsaber battle. And don't get me wrong, the production values and effect work were stellar, but without them, I wouldn't have even watched this. The story really failed to entice me for too long (I skimmed through a lot of the dialogue up until the final scene), and the continuity thing really bugs me with Obi-Wan and Shaak Ti.

Great looking film, weak story.

Not for me. Congrats on the effect work though, Mike (and Ryan apparently). Top notch, as always.

_Max