Out of all the Star Wars fan films on Youtube that have been created by the legions of its fans around the world, here are the 10 greatest live-action fan films that truly enrich the Star Wars universe

While researching my ‘How to Watch The Entire Star Wars Live-Action Universe in Chronological Order‘ article, I discovered there are HUNDREDS of fan films on Youtube, and that is before we even count the animated or AI productions.

It is incredible how much creative energy the Star Wars (SW) community has! I thought I’d share what I think are the very greatest of them. (Updated July, 2025)

Criteria

• Live-action productions only. No animated-productions and certainly not the sacrilege of AI. I know this may not be popular with much of the SW community but, ultimately, it is what it is.

• There is derision around most of Disney’s productions, but outside of George Lucus’ first six ‘Episodes’, Star Wars is owned by Disney; it is their plaything. So my selection of fan films stays faithful to the canon, or is at least harmonious with it, even if some characters or storylines belong to the Star Wars Legends universe.

• They broadly sit within the ‘sci-fi drama’ genre. No spoofs, for example.

What the top 10 ranking is based on

Acting – How good is the acting, given the typically amateur status of the productions?

Production quality – How good are the costumes, props, locations, CGI, camerawork, etc.? How ambitious is it?

Length – Whilst the mantra: ‘the longer, the better’ is not always true, longer fan films can have more in depth characters and sophisticated storylines.

Dialogue/Characters – How charismatic are the characters and their chemistry together?

Storyline – How good a plot is it and how coherent is the story-arc?

Canon value – How much does the fan film build the Star Wars live-action universe?

The 10 best live-action Star Wars fan films on Youtube, starting from 10th…

10. Brightstar

Youtube channel: Archangel Epics

Length: 20 mins

Blurb: “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, a fugitive family living in peace must brace itself when their past has tracked them down.“

This is a very well made fan film and ideal time length, given the budgetary constraints typical of fan films (anything between a ‘zero budget’ to a few thousand dollars). In the nebulous dawn of time, an outcast and unwell Jedi Master is trying to hide with his wife and daughter in a wooded sanctuary from a gang of Siths who have come to kill him and take his powerful lightsaber.

Solid acting performances are topped by Mara Lalli (pictured) who plays ‘Valek’, the leader of the Sith warriors; she manages to bring a real sense of wickedness to her part. It has a production quality with a professional feel; slick camera work; it’s mostly played out in woods but with great costumes and Valek’s convincing-looking facial scarring prosthetics. Scenes include a spaceship, a small droid and other planet locations in the build up to add to its sci-fi credentials. Brightstar climaxes in a dynamic and exciting lightsaber battle. The storyline is straightforward but with a couple of unexpected plot twists towards the end. Brightstar is unimportant to the official canon but it does cover an era little covered onscreen or in the comics.

9. Gray Trials

Youtube channel: Studio 70

Length: 83 minutes

Blurb: “Set in the Old Republic era, three millennia before Darth Vader, Jayma Solvo seeks her path somewhere between The Force and the Dark Side.”

A whopper of a fan film, one force-sensitive girl is taken on by a Sith lord. As she gets older and her rivals try to beat her down, she cannot decide whether she can reach her full force potential with her Sith mentor or a Jedi whom she meets.

What makes Gray Trials stand out is that it’s a high quality fan film (A seven part series amalgamated into movie format) that lasts over an hour – quite a feat of live-action film-making, given most producers only have the resources to make something 5 – 20 mins long. As such, it includes a host of different characters, on different planets and even different species (including a reasonably good wookie outfit.) The acting seems almost professional level with well developed characters. I feel Andre Gordon, who plays Sith master Cade Barrows is not particularly well cast; he plays his part as a sort of benign ‘zen master’ that doesn’t sit well with the fact his character is a Sith, after all, and so is actually a ruthless dude, as we see towards the end. And Nick Puga’s jocular portrayal of the opposing Jedi Master Grenz also doesn’t sit quite right with the sober nature of being a Jedi. Over all, however, Gray Trials‘ major plus is its in-depth story-arc that gives the fanbase insight into the conflict between light and dark that so many force-sensitives struggle with throughout the universe.

8. Cad Bane

Youtube channel: Farrar Film

Length: 19 minutes

Blurb: “Cad Bane teams up with the Jawa Qual Tek in search of an ancient relic, in this fan-made Star Wars film based on the work of George Lucas.“

With minimal crew or equipment, Farrar Films makes excellent use of CGI to create its main guy, plus his accompanying jawa, to deliver a very entertaining story of the bounty hunter’s quest to steal a lightsaber from a garrison of stormtroopers.

Top marks for the script and dialogue that puts Cad’s cocksure, nonchalant manner on show, and the dialogue of the other characters fits in perfectly with the film style of the original SW trilogy. It’s a very entertaining movie that is easy on the eye and easy on the brain in the best way possible. The banter between Cad and the cheeky jawa is excellent. The shootout is great. It is set along a dried up rocky river bed that gives it a bit of a ‘wild west’ feel. Some spaceship scenes and use of a droid are also included to give it extra sci-fi credentials. It’s certainly not essential to the SW canon, but is a nice little prequel to Cad Bane’s later appearance in The Book of Boba Fett series.

7. Bossk: Scorekeeper / Boba Fett: No Disintegrations

Youtube channel: Creative Force Films

Length: 33 minutes

Blurb: “An Elite Rebel Team infiltrates an Imperial outpost on a mission of securing an asset that has vital information. Unbeknownst to them, they are not the only ones on the hunt… Bossk and Boba meet up and head to Honor’s Keep; a cantina on Mon Cala. There they reminisce of past hunts and we learn why the dreaded Darth Vader told Boba Fett: “No disintegrations.”“

This pair of fan films gives valuable insight into two side characters in the ‘Skywalker Saga’ who are nonetheless firm fan favourites: the bounty hunter Boba Fett and his reptilian mentor Bossk. Not long before the battle of Yavin, Bossk wipes out an elite squad of Rebels in a film clearly inspired by the movie Predator, before Bossk runs into Boba at a cantina and Boba recollects an event later referenced in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

The Scorekeeper/No Disintegrations films are noteworthy for their props, sets and locations which have a really professional feel to them. They offer good acting, a solid script and excellent dialogue, especially between their two main characters. These films give screen time to Bossk; a character with barely a glimpse in the original trilogy, and No Disintegrations gets top marks for explicitly contributing to SW canon by providing the backstory to why Darth Vader gives Boba Fett the intriguing order in Episode V.

6. Crossroads of Destiny

Youtube channel: Lou Klein

Length: 19 minutes

Blurb: “Young child Obi-Wan Kenobi is ambushed while training to become a Jedi.“

A low-profile production, Crossroads of Destiny depicts how the great Obi Wan Kenobi came to be under the tutelage of Qui-Gon Jinn. A foul monster created by a Sith alchemist tries to kidnap the young padawan in revenge for the death of its own mentor at the hands of the Jedi Order, and badly wounds Obi-Wan’s master Shaak Ti as she defends the child, before they are rescued by a team of Jedi.

This is an old school film, made in 2008 but with picture quality and costume prosthetics that give it a 1990s, power-rangersy feel. But no corners were cut in making this top quality film (except, perhaps, in pixels); talented acting, professional-standard costumes and decent CGI for its time. It mostly takes place in woodland but with some outer-space scenes also. The film mostly revolves around a finely choreographed fight with great martial arts skills on display. Where this film really scores highly is its valuable contribution to the canon; it’s a backstory to one of SW’s most important characters. Plus, included in the Jedi rescue team are Masters Ki-Adi-Mundi and Even Piell, among others, who appear in the Prequel Trilogy later.

5. Birth of a Monster

Youtube channel: Escape Velocity Content

Length: 21 minutes

Blurb: “Birth of a Monster is a story of discovery and friendship surrounding a mysterious young boy and his loyal droid on the desert planet, Tatooine. What they discover will shape future generations in their galaxy.“

A very re-watchable film with a nice contribution to SW canon, Birth of a Monster tells the origin of Jabba the Hutt’s rancor and its handler who is seen crying after Luke Skywalker kills it in Episode VI. On Tatooine, a young slave boy lives under the abusive yoke of his boss and has only a kind protocol droid for friendship. But, he stumbles across a rancor egg one day and rears the baby beast so that he can eventually throw off his shackles and join Jabba’s retinue.

This film’s slick production fits in perfectly with George Lucus’ first six episodes. Its desert locations are well selected to resemble Tatooine; the acting is fine; the props are professional-level, particularly the rancor model, gamorrean guards’ outfits and the outfit of 0-TK – the protocol droid whose dialogue nicely reminds us of C3P0. It really is a lovely story arc the kind that I think all viewers enjoy; the tale of a downtrodden underdog who triumphs in the face of adversity, and that is what puts this film into this top-ten.

4. Wingman – An X-wing Story

Youtube channel: Michaels basement

Length: 50 minutes

Blurb: “A rebel fighter squadron attacks an imperial transport. The new guy carries a heavy load and an ace pilot on a killing spree…. …Lock S-foils in attack position and enjoy 50 minutes of Starwars meets Topgun!“

An ambitiously long fan film, Wingman is about an X-wing squadron which is providing support for a perilous mission to capture a senior officer of the Empire from a transporter. They are joined by an aloof, maverick, hotshot who still carries emotional baggage from a prior mission gone bad. Quickly up to their necks in TIE Fighters, the squadron pilots need to use every trick in their bag to survive the mission.

There’s a derisory stereotype of SW fan films being, as one YT commenter put it: ‘set in the woods and the main character is wearing a parka jacket’. Well this certainly ain’t that! It’s one long, suspenseful, action-filled space battle. The acting and dialogue are not bad. The pilot costumes are A-grade; the script makes good use of the film’s indulgently long span to character-build ‘maverick’ as he learns to drop his barriers and gel with his new wingman for them to make it out alive. Of course, it heavily relies on CGI which is close to Hollywood-standard. Ultimately, Wingman gets top marks for its run time and without a tree in sight.

3. Bucketheads: Episode 1

Youtube channel: Twin Sun Film Foundation

Length: 51 minutes

Blurb: “After the Emperor’s death, an increasingly disillusioned soldier must track down a defector that could swing the tide of war, but instead he discovers a sinister conspiracy within that could spell doom for the entire galaxy.“

A lavish production that gives a rare glimpse into the Empire from its stormtroopers’ viewpoint. After escaping rebel encirclement in the Battle of Endor, a year later ‘Nova Squad’ are facing decimation for having shown cowardice during the battle, until they get a reprieve with a new mission.

First off, Bucketheads‘ opening and closing credits are fantastic. In the first part (it’s officially a three-chapter mini-series), there is a well choreographed infantry battle on Endor. The acting charisma of two of the major characters may not be the strongest aspect of this production, but it has professional costumes and an impressive array of sets, including the inside of a star destroyer and Corusant’s cityscape, which looks excellent. One of the stormtroopers even has this cool little shoulder-mounted droid which is quite unique I believe. There’s a number of space dogfight scenes amidst some major plot developments that the film’s length allows for. Fans will love seeing the Empire’s military from the viewpoint of the humble ‘buckethead’ and during the era in the aftermath of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader’s demise.

2. Shrouded Destiny (Parts I and II)

Youtube channel: Sarwars Starwars

Length: 56 mins

Blurb: “500 years before the Clone Wars the Galactic Republic builds “The Citadel”, which is a maximum security facility designed to keep “Rogue Jedi” imprisoned. Rogue Jedi all over the galaxy are being located and brought back. This is the story of one of these retrievals.“

A very well put together film where unfinished personal business conflicts with one bounty hunter’s job. This suspenseful tale centres around Tulek’s efforts to take prisoner a charismatic Jedi in a hive packed with scum and villainy before facing off against the Jedi’s loyal padawan.

This film’s script builds tension masterfully. It has a cast packed with excellent extras who carry out an intensely choreographed fight in a beautifully designed cantina set; a barren landscape outside that really has the feel of a SW planet; a full-sized spaceship for a prop, plus a variety of alien species. The part of Brin is excellently played by Lauren Okadigbo, and fans will drool at the sight of Okana’s part played by Lars Mikkelsen – the actor who plays Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Disney series Ahsoka. There is an unexpected plot twist at the end also. Shrouded Destiny is very entertaining with lots of buy-in to the plight of its main characters.

1. Darth Maul: The Apprentice

Youtube channel: T7pro

Length: 18 mins

Blurb: “With his training almost complete, Darth Maul must face six Jedi in order to reach his true potential, and become a Dark Lord of the Sith.“

This is a backstory to the mysterious Darth Maul, prior to his introduction in Episode I: A Phantom Menace. Darth Sidious baits a squad of Jedi into attempting to neutralise the Sith acolyte but tragedy strikes and Maul turns the tables, slaughtering the inexperienced Jedi instead.

As far as I’m concerned, Darth Maul: The Apprentice is the perfect fan film. Its story arc is superb for the length of the film. All the actors combine talented acting with brilliant fight choreography in a style that fits in with the prequel trilogy splendidly, and because they act so well, they engage the audience emotionally with their plights and how grave the showdown is, especially with the plucky but doomed padawan. The choreography is perhaps the best in any fan film. The production uses well selected locations and good use of a few props, including Maul’s droid. Sidious’ voice actor sounds very convincing and the actor for Maul really looks the part.

The only slight drawback is that this film contradicts SW official canon slightly; at the end, Sidious declares that Maul has completed his training, thus graduating him from Apprentice to Sith Lord status, yet in Episode I, Sidious introduces Maul as his apprentice. I’m prepared to overlook that however. With this film, we learn how formidable an adversary Darth Maul is going into Episode I. I challenge anyone to name a better SW fan film!

So there you have it, my modest opinion on the best SW fan films in the galaxy. Polite feedback is always welcome. What do you agree or disagree with? Pop it in the comments below!