Written, directed and edited by Peter Roberts, “Cold Patrol” marks his follow-up to the celebrated minor fan-film hit “Desert Duel”. While I was some what disapointed with that film, "Cold Patrol" is a different ball game altogether. This time around Roberts and his crew, consisting mainly of dedicated friends and family, have moved out of the desert and into an icy Australian mountainside. enduring the harshness of the cold as well as some overzealous police officers to bring us something great. Roberts has an interesting vision that illuminates his passion, not only for "Star Wars", but also for filmmaking, in general. Made for very little money, this film is quite a feat and will definitely be a huge hit on the fan-film festival circuit.

It’s a few years after the Rebel Alliance blew up the Deathstar and as the Imperial forces regroup, the Rebels have set up a secret installation in a remote of region of the ice-planet Hoth. “Cold Patrol” takes place, specifically, in the few days leading up to the enormous battle sequence that exploded midway into “Empire Strikes Back”. Early on we learn that many of the Rebel land-speeders have broken down, and it’s up to team of disgruntled Alliance soldiers to patrol the farthest outskirts base perimeter. Lieutenant Cutter (Steve Carroll) and Private Buzzby (Russell Wilcox), called snow jockeys by their commander, are sent out to patrol the remote snow-covered wasteland of Section 12. Their Colonel (Tony McGrath) warns them that they’ve been receiving some strange readings out there, and that they should be on their guard.

Even though the two soldiers are patrolling separate areas of the Zone 12 perimeter, they both find themselves running into some serious problems many miles from base. In one instance, Cutter is blown off his feet by an errant meteorite, scaring his taunttaun, and leaving him stranded, while across the way Buzzby finds himself under attack by a Hoth snow-creature, which is out scavenging for a quick meal, namely a taunttaun. Eventually they recover and meet up, only to realize that they are too far from base and that their inadequate communications equipment just doesn’t work properly. As darkness blankets the landscape and a chilly winter storm blasts the area, the two are forced to huddle together inside a small tent for the night. Under the light of a small fire, Cutter is finally able to break silence, making crackly contact with base communications. To Cutter’s shock, the base reports that a strange presence has been spotted inside their perimeter – an Imperial Probe Droid. The next day Cutter, wondering why no rescue team had been dispatched to retrieve them, begins to sense that something is very wrong back at base. After some interesting shenanigans involving their blaster and a run-in with the snow creature, and another chilly night spent out on the wintery Hoth plains, Buzzby and Cutter eventually find themselves facing down the Probe Droid in an exciting sniper battle. Crossing over a mountain, the futility of their Droid battle becomes clear, as they discover that the Empire has launched a full-on offensive against the Rebel Alliance.

What works about the film is the way it depicts the hierarchy of the Alliance, and how it shows the guys at the bottom of the ladder, Rebel combat soldiers like Cutter and Buzzby, as cold, battle weary and quietly questioning the decisions of central command. Roberts makes a point of having McGrath’s Axton character quietly question his own soldiers commitment as well as the role of the Alliance leaders, and what is and isn’t appropriate behaviour for them. Carroll, playing the razor-edged Cutter, is just amazing – the straight man to Wilcox’s character. It is Carroll’s fierce stare and sardonic commentary about the hierarchy of the Alliance, which adds something more to the piece. Russell Wilcox, as the dizzy Buzzby, is probably the only down-side of the film and it has nothing to do with his acting. His acting is quite good, rather, it has more to do with how his character and how it was conceived. In a sense, it feels like he was designed to provide an element of comedy to the piece, however, here, it just flat out just does not work. In fact, many of the scenes, namely one where Buzzby shoots down two Rebel speeders, just seems totally impractical and silly. 

The specific sequence where Buzzy and Cutter stumble upon the escalating Empire offensive against the Rebels, is just awesome though, and makes the whole piece worth a look. Judging from a behind the scenes featurette, much of the combat footage was carried out against a green screen using miniatures and toys. Although some shots look hokey namely a couple of poorly cropped blue-screen sequences, overall, the special effects were quite good, much better than a film with this budget deserves. Also, Roberts and his cinematographer do a proficient job at hiding the film's lacking of budget by framing certain shots to look as though things are more being presented on a grander scale than they really are. 

Overall, a wonderful short film experience that I highly recommend. If you're dying to see this film right now, then head on over to TheForce.net and check it out for free.