Energia: from STAR WRECK to IRON SKY

In the early '90s, when they were teenagers, the geekboys of Finland's Energia Productions started making crude Star Trek parodies using spaceship models they programmed on home computers. But while other fans dabble in such things and then move on as they grow older, the Energia crew kept making amateurish Trek parodies in their living rooms, all through their teens and into young adulthood.

Their Star Wreck series became increasingly elaborate with each film, eventually culminating in 2005's Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning, a bizarre, feature-length fan film that pits Star Trek against Babylon 5 in an epic battle that seems like it's maybe supposed to be funny, but it's sort of hard to tell. What it looks like more than anything else is a trailer for a Playstation 1 Star Trek game, and one you wouldn't feel too proud of yourself for beating.



But while most fan filmmakers are content to just keep playing with stuff made up by other people, the Energia boys are actually moving on and creating something of their own. And I'm as amazed as you are when I say that their next film, Iron Sky, looks like it could be kind of brilliant. Check out the trailer:



Yes, the gag with the bird poop was pretty unfortunate, but you've got to admit that up until that point you were grooving on the gorgeous CGI and the Sky Captain-ish steampunk-edness of it all.

While I can sometimes admire and enjoy fan films, there's usually something a little stunted about them. I almost feel like I'm watching adults play house, dressing up like characters from their favorite shows and pretending. It can be cute, but if they're any good I always end up wishing they would either try to get a job working on the real show, or they'd go make something of their own. Why pour all of your talent and passion into something that can never really be yours?

But the Energia guys seem to be moving on from fan films and creating something wholly their own. If they can make the leap from making Star Trek parodies in their kitchens to making actual, worthwhile movies, they will have gone where far too few fans have gone before. Fleets of Nazi warships, flying our way from their base on the far side of moon! Gene Roddenberry himself would've been proud to come up with anything that crazy.

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