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THE GREEN GOBLIN'S LAST STAND
Written, Produced, Directed, and Edited by Dan Poole
Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Dan Poole
Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin -
Gwen Stacey - Alison AiaksThe best fan-films are ones that truly love their source material. Despite technical shortcomings, that love transcends to the screen and can often produce a film that is remembered more fondly than any commercial adaptations of that very same source material. THE GREEN GOBLIN'S LAST STAND, based on one of the most tragic stories from The Amazing Spider-Man, is just such a film.
Pre-Oscar James Cameron, in the days before Titanic made him a "serious filmmaker", had spent the better part of a decade trying to get a live action Spider-Man to the screen. A few times it actually looked like he was going to get the shooting off the ground before hydra-like legal issues would pull the film back down into production limbo. In 1992, Baltimore-Washington area filmmaker Dan Poole wanted to show Cameron, and the world, that it doesn't take a great deal of money to make a great picture, just a great deal of heart.
To make his film work, Poole adapted one of the most heart-wrenching storylines from the Spider-Man history, The Death of Gwen Stacey. That story didn't just deal with the tragic end of Peter Parker's first great love, it dealt with Peter finally confronting the reasons he became a super-hero in the first place, that "with great power, comes great responsibility." Sometimes that responsibility can cost us all we hold dear, all that makes us human.
Poole put forth every best effort he could muster to do the film right, even going so far as to do much of the dangerous stuntwork himself. Poole swings from building to bridges like Jackie Chan working without a net high above the streets of Hong Kong. The most impressive stunts have Poole, in full costume, holding on for dear life to the roof of a car while the gang of thugs inside race through the streets of New York City at night. One wrong step, one tap of the breaks, and Poole's head could have been one with the pavement. Love makes men go to frightening lengths, and it's easy to see how much Dan Poole loves Spider-Man. I hope Sam Raimi can deliver just one fraction of that very same dedication and love when his Hollywood mega-production is released next year.
While Marvel Comics is known for going after anyone who violates their copyright-protected characters, you find copies of THE GREEN GOBLIN'S LAST STAND at most conventions. Granted you would be buying from bootleggers, but legally Poole can't except any financial reward for his efforts, which is a shame, because the more I see of the upcoming Hollywood Spider-Man, the more I think this little film will blow the Big Dog out of the water.