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Check Out This Impressive Star Wars Darth Maul Fan Film

"We always felt that Darth Maul should have had more screen time."

50 Comments

Star Wars Episode 1 villain Darth Maul is front and center in a new fan-movie released this weekend. The film, Darth Maul: Apprentice - A Star Wars Film, is not endorsed Disney. But it looks great, and you have film company T7 Production to thank for that. It's about 18 minutes long. Check it out:

"We worked incredibly hard on this film for almost two years," the filmmakers said in a statement (via Entertainment Weekly). "We always felt that Darth Maul should have had more screen time. So we wanted to create a film just for him with the best lightsaber fights we could do!

The fight choreography and Maul's markeup in particular are quite impressive. Apprentice tells a totally original story, as it's not based on any Star Wars books, comics, or other media.

You may also want to check out the making-of video, which you can find at the bottom of this post. Apprentice was written, directed, and edited by Shawn Bu. Vi-Dan Tran worked on the choreography. It is non-profit, unofficial fan movie that will not be put on sale.

A Star Wars game starring Darth Maul was in development, but--despite recent efforts to revive it--never saw the light of the day and sounds like it never will.

According to a 2014 report, the Darth Maul game was in development for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U. In this game, you would have played as a young Maul, aged 9 or 11; the story would lead up to directly before the events of Episode 1.

"We wanted to show what he went through to become a Sith. Showcase the torture the Emperor put him through," Borth said during the Reddit AMA in October. "Show how you as the player would have made the same mistakes and ended up a Sith."

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lokesc

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Breaking some news of Vader unveiled in this teaser clip

https://youtu.be/NeWP_fCCdO0

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BattleStreak

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Edited By BattleStreak

But is it canon?

No, just kidding, I don't give a shit. Nicely done.

EDIT: Damn. When that Jedi with the mask came out of nowhere! Awesome.

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MirkoS77

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Gamespot, got to be careful with your editing: Darth Maul's "markeup"?

Gave me a good chuckle.

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Lothemar

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The video is pretty good and it was probably very difficult to make it, but it was worth it and it's one of the best Star Wars short movies I've ever watched. It almost matched the real Star Wars. This is something like a sequel of a great movie and I love watching this fan made movies. Sometimes these short movies are better than some movie scenes, but I can't say this is better than a real Star Wars of course.

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AnyaGrimm

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It's pretty cool and I've liked a lot this fan-made. I can see that this video has been difficult to make, and though it doesn't follow the franchise of Star Wars it's one of the best fan-made that I've seen. I've enjoyed watching it, that's the most important.

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ragingfighter1

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Excellent

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Bubbs

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"Darth" Maul didn't get more screen time because "Darth" Maul was NEVER a Sith apprentice. Palpatine was still the apprentice, he trained Maul in basic uses of the Force and had him trained as a warrior by a bunch of other people. Maul was a glorified ERRAND BOY, that's it. People should bother to learn some backstory before pulling s*** like this fan film out their a****.

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BattleStreak

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@bubbs: False.

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deactivated-5d495083aed2b

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@bubbs: lmfao

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Adam_Nox

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@bubbs: palpatine was an apprentice of who?

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blackbetty1974

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@bubbs: Take a breath. It's a silly, pulpy, space western. Fun and entertaining, but nonetheless. Continuity has never been a hallmark of the Star Wars franchise.

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BattleStreak

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Edited By BattleStreak

@blackbetty1974: ???

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ecurl143

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The other thing you have to remember here is that a fan made film based on a skirmish with Jedi Knights lasted 17 minutes, a film director doesn't have the luxury of those kinds of time frames when thinking about a movie as a whole, however, this was really nicely done and shows some character development for Darth Maul, something sorely missing in The Phantom Menace. Such an evil character that was never really expanded upon in the movie.

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Ballroompirate

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Sad a 17 min fan made movie is better than EP7. Mad props to the people who made that fan made film.

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CptJohnnyRico

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@Ballroompirate: So true ballroompirate, episode 7 was garbage, overrated and lied about reviews, go to the imdb website and read the reviews, alsost every single review is low, but the score is so high and it makes no sense, like they paid to keep the actually rating high, lied about movie.

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H0RSE

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@CptJohnnyRico:
I enjoyed Ep7. It was a bit boring at times, but so was A New Hope, however, I never thought, "man this movie is horrible," like I did when watching the prequels.

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Peekaboobs

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@Ballroompirate: lol the butthurt bs i strong with this one..yea keep bringin on the hate while in the mean time episode 8 and 9 are being made as well as a star wars film every year for the next decade.

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Crypt_mx

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@Ballroompirate: lol? A 17 minute fight with no story or character development is better than a full film? They didn't have to write a plot or tell a story they just do a bunch of saber spins and you're mystified into believing its awesome. As good as the outfits and make up are, this is a cheesy typical fan film , it doesn't have the feel of star wars at all. Plus, episode 7 has a fight with a wounded sith vs a stormtrooper and a scavenger, obviously the fight won't be like this.

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Ballroompirate

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@Crypt_mx: No story? you do realize the reason why those "jedi" are shocked in the fan film, it's cause the Sith are basically extinct before EP1 and this is a brief movie/story would look like showing Darth Maul completing his training as Sidious's apprentice. Even during the ending when Sidious said he lured the Jedi there it shows how brutal the Sith are are.

Also the choreography in EP7 sucked and was worse than ep4 old obi wan vs darth vaders scene 40 years ago. Also that wounded Sith (Kylo) was fraking trained by LUKE FRAKING SKYWALKER and killed Jedi under his training, so no, there's no way Kylo should have sucked that bad even being injured.

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Crypt_mx

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@Ballroompirate: lol you call that story? The sith have a long history of ruthlessness, further proving it doesn't really add to anything. If anything it takes away from the creation, and makes the obi wan and qui gon fight less impactful. Maul can fight five guys and can't handle 2? And why are the Jedi so shocked by sith in ep 1 if they already lost so many Jedi to them earlier? Again it's a fan film and an entertaining one, but it has no story , expands nothing , and even has a few holes in its short span.

You're clearly just a mindless episode 7 hater cause it's edgy since it's been doing well. Episode 4 choreography is in no world better , and the bowcaster isnt just some scratch. We're talking about a cannon that blows everyone else away in one shot, he shouldn't have even survived and was bleeding out. Not to mention he was just toying with Finn and he was trying to turn Rey, so he wasn't fully trying to kill anyone.

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kenpachi212

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@Ballroompirate:I totally agree with you...I've watched all star wars films since they come out and while the prequels were a nice change do to technology (not so much story wise), episode 7 was a total disappointment and had the worst ending of probably all movies I've ever seen. I've been watching films for almost 40 years and this was the first time I fell asleep in the theater.

This fan movie has the action we can only dream about in a star wars movie.

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Skittymiao

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Edited By Skittymiao

@Ballroompirate: What? Just moving lightsabers do not mean they are Jedi. Look at that. Moreover, they aren't one with the Force. And the force looked like some whirlwind or something related to physicality, not the spiritual feeling what the Force is all about, according to Grand Master Yoda. Overall, it's very great comparing pre-requels. But against Episode 7, that's a joke.

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Rufus_the_rat

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This is what should have happened in TFA if Rey wasn't such a Mary Sue character sop.

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Adam_Nox

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@Rufus_the_rat: someone jerks it while crying

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Dilandau88

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Super well done. Love.

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Spaced92

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Edited By Spaced92

"We always felt Darth Maul should have had more screen time", what they really mean is double bladed lightsabers should have had more screen time. Darth Maul is lame.

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Mickeyminime

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Edited By Mickeyminime

First.......

we had Alan Sugars the Apprentice in the UK

then......

we had Donald Trumps the Apprentice in the USA

and now........

now we have Darth Mauls the Apprentice.....

I can't even imagine as to what all those poor souls must have gone through just to get to get a top job with Darth Maul as his Apprentice. If they did anything wrong or failed a task. God knows how Darth Maul will fire them and i honestly believe it wont be the typical *points finger* "YOUR FIRED" method.

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xantufrog

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xantufrog  Moderator

Not a Darth Maul fan here - I really felt like he was pandering to the 12-yo boy in me and, unfortunately, 12 was a long time ago... (in a galaxy far far away?)

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LouiXIII

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That was pretty sweet

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drocdoc

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Wow the scenery was amazing. I love to see the dark side be ruthless.

My niece and nephew is still play fighting making light saber noises. We absolutely loved this.

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Trev786

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Edited By Trev786

Very well done. Not a doubt in my mind that there will be a stand alone Maul movie in the next 5 years.

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the_hunger

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Whoa! That was excellent. Kudos to the folks who produced it. I wish that I had skipped Episodes 1 & 2 and just given a donation to this fan movie.

I hope that there is more to come, since this is so well done and I really like the Darth Maul character

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uninspiredcup

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Edited By uninspiredcup

The character had extensive screentime in the Clone Wars series and is returning in Rebels.

Good though, looks like they put a lot of work into it.

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uninspiredcup

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Edited By uninspiredcup

He had extensive screentime in the Clone wars series and is returning in Rebels.

Quite cool though.

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cboye18

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My favorite sith hands down. They should re-introduce him.

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rosinmonkekyx17

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Still better than the prequels

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drocdoc

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@rosinmonkekyx17: Originals are overrated. I far more enjoyed the prequels story wise

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Stiler

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Quite a good video.

I really hope they bring back Darth Maul in Episode 8, he's still alive (according to Disney's own cannon, IE clone wars) and it would be an amazing surprise to see him come back, he was the only good thing to come out of the prequels.

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uninspiredcup

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@Stiler: For marketing reasons they will probably continue to distance themselves as much as possible (Prequels), with smaller spinoff media they will give more leeway.

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Stiler

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@uninspiredcup: Eh? Well if it's a surprise they probably shouldn't market him at all. let people go into the movie and then see it for themselves.

Have him come out of the shadows and people would lose their minds.

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trugs26

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I enjoyed that quite a bit actually. Well done. Much better than Episode 7.

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Crypt_mx

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@trugs26: LOL what? I mean it was a decent fan film, but it didn't really capture the feel of Star Wars at all. The fight was overly spinny, exaggerated and drawn out, not to mention none of it is practical combat (and there are parts where people are standing around waiting to strike). It effectively built no characters, so the battle carried very little weight, and that's where episode 7 is leagues ahead. It's far more true to the original trilogy fights that have weight, whereas this is even more over the top than the prequels.

Great make up, great effects, decent acting, but definitely cheesy and a typical fan film. If you think this is better than 7 you're either fishing for comments, or just don't get star wars.

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Crypt_mx

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@XAGMNINETY: depends on what you like. I thought the prequels choreography was too much and the fights were too drawn out, the sense of scale is one thing, but I don't personally like the fights. Luke vs vader in 6 is still the most powerful and emotional. Also, remember ep 7 was a wounded kylo vs a stormtrooper and a scavenger, an overly intense, super choreographed fight would have been ridiculous.

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cboye18

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@Crypt_mx: episode 7 was boring and the too similar to episode 4. Yeah, this whole scene was better than all fight scenes combined in episode 7.

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Crypt_mx

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@cboye18: I disagree, it was similar yet different enough to stand on its own. Star Wars is about character development , not crazy fight scenes (that's just a prequel thing because the characters and story are so weak). If you're going to compare star wars and say one is better just because of the fighting, then technically episode 1 is better than 4 cause the fight is better. But that's not true and that's not what star wars is about.

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gamingdevil800

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Damn we need that obi wan spin off movie with darth maul.... A final confrontation

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