DESERT DUEL
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review written 2/23/2003

I'm actually surprised this film is as good as it is. Peter Roberts takes a huge gamble in putting it all together, and it pays off nicely.

No lightsabers? Okay.

No dialogue? Umm...

No humans? Wow.

Somewhere out in the Jundland Wastes we see Jawas and Tusken Raiders and beat-up droids just doing their thing, and the effect is occasionally enchanting. Occasionally. This film's charm only works in small doses, and, like many one-joke films, the joke stops being funny quickly. People have accused the long dialogue-less post-Tantive IV opening of the same thing.

The costumes and on-set production values in Desert Duel are flawless. The Jawas look like they're supposed to, the droids look just like we remember them. Good locations, too. And the CGI effects—while they do look obviously CGI—are still well-done. I'm thinking right now of the camera move coming down on the sandcrawler. Now that's a reveal shot.

This has humor, too—listen carefully to the authentic-sounding Jawa dialogue and you'll hear a Pythonesque "Run away!", and the picture-taking moment is good for a chuckle.

But—again—how much time can we spend with this movie before we feel alienated? (No pun intended.)

As a five-minute flick, this could have been a classic. In the end, it's only interesting. But one thing's for sure—you'll never forget it.