FanFilmFriday: Batman: Dead End

Hey guys and gals,
how are ya doin'?

I've been posting fanfilms on this blog for quite some time...and I see I haven't mentioned nor posted this great 2003 fanfilm yet... Surely most of you probably already know it, but anyways why shouldn't I give it a post here for once?

Here's Batman: Dead End!
Known colloquially on the interwebz as that "Batman Vs. Predator (Vs. Aliens)" fanfilm, it is rather a more professional take than the myriad usual fanmade videos.
And for a reason!~

Batman: Dead End was directed by Sandy Collora. It original aired at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 2003, and shortly after being released on TheForce.net made a big splash amongst fanboys and nerds alike all over the world.

It's about Batman chasing an escaped Joker into a dark alley....when suddenly a random Alien attack them both!
And it gets work when a Predator appears out of nowhere and a duel erupts between the Dark Knight and the Space Hunter....

Check it out:



This "little" movie was done with a budget of around 30'000$ by designer artist Sandy Collora.
He worked for years at Stan Winston Studios and was part of such classic films as Jurassic Park, Men In Black or even Predator 2. He designed various Predators for this flick's cult classic epic ending, many Preds which never made it into the actual movie (including this female egyptian-inspired Pred on the left).

Others more elaborated costume made it into this Batman: Dead End movie though, like that big red-masked Predator leader at the end.

He made another similar fanfilm in 2004 with World's Finest, using most of the same cast and crew. It was this time a Superman/Batman crossover.

Collora made his first debut film feature with Hunter Prey recently.

I loved this "Dead End" project! Loved it first ~6-7 years ago when I first saw it, and still adore it to this day.
Very great pacing, great use of each characters' own movie soundtrack, great angles... I mean even the fight looks better choreographed than most recent action movie scenes!!
(at least you understand what's going on here unlike any of Michael Bay's flicks...)

Kevin Smith himself said this was "possibly the truest, best Batman movie ever made"
And Alex Ross added "Batman the way I've always wanted to see him" which doesn't come as a surprise, I mean just look at him, clearly based on Ross artwork :P

You can check more of Collora's stuff, be it movies or artwork, on his own website here: http://www.collorastudios.com/