There’s a huge market for parody films, most of which were explored in the 2000s and early 2010s. The Scary Movie franchise is probably the most popular, parodying iconic horror movies like Scream, The Ring, and Signs. Then there was Epic Movie, which parodied adventure films like The Chronicles of Narnia and even Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
But the 2013 film Virtually Heroes wasn’t a parody of another film. Instead, it parodied war-themed video games like Call of Duty. The goofy film took it a step further, and made the characters of the film self-aware that they were inside a video game.
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This obviously wasn’t a blockbuster success, but it’s a fun watch, and has a brief cameo from a fan favorite actor: Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker. His time in the film doesn’t last long, but he has a huge impact on how it plays out and concludes.
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Virtually Heroes |
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Director |
G. J. Echternkamp |
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Writer |
Matt Yamashita |
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Cast |
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Executive Producer |
Roger Corman |
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Initial Release Date |
January 18, 2013 |
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Runtime |
84 minutes |
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Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
33% |
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Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
67% |
What is Virtually Heroes About, and Who Does Mark Hamill Play?
Virtually Heroes follows two main characters, Books and Nova, from an untitled video game. They’re fighting a fictional war against Vietnamese soldiers, and their objective is to reach the final boss, Major Merk. Both Books and Nova are aware they’re in a video game, with Books repeatedly mentioning that they’re being controlled by a “pimple-faced kid who works at Subway.”
Books falls in love with a photographer named Jennifer Hardaway, who manages to keep getting kidnapped, prompting Books and Nova to attempt to rescue her. Since they’re in a video game, whenever Books and Nova die, they have to restart from the beginning. Books quickly gets tired of having to redo everything over again, while Nova is more free-spirited and chooses to have fun throughout the campaign. This ultimately pushes them apart after Books finally blows up on Nova and they fight. Nova wins and gives up on playing the game, while Books tries to finish it without him.
Throughout the film, Books keeps seeing a monk character appear in random places. It isn’t until he’s ready to give up on the game that he is able to come into contact with this character. The monk removes his hood, and it’s none other than Mark Hamill, playing a character named Sheng Long. Long teaches Books to let go of his desire to beat the game so badly, and try to have fun while he’s still “alive,” considering no one knows what happens once they beat the game. He also teaches Books a cheat code, but Books doesn’t know what the code is for until the time is right.
The Famous Producer Behind Virtually Heroes
It’s incredible for a low-budget film to score a Mark Hamill cameo. What should be unlikely, but isn’t, is they were also able to receive help from the king of low-budget movies, Roger Corman. Corman, at 97 years old, has been making movies since the 1950s.
Quick Facts
- Roger Corman is listed on IMDb as having credit in over 500 films throughout his career.
- In over 50 of those films, he directed himself.
- He kick-started many famous actors’ and directors’ careers, including Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, James Cameron, and many others.
Corman started his career making horror movies in the 1950s. In the 1960s, he dedicated much of his time to making Edgar Allan Poe adaptation films, such as House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Raven. He’s most known for playing a big role in the exploitation era of cinema: he made films that exploited current trends in the world, and he did it with as little budget as possible.
Some of his most notable low-budget films include The Terror, starring Boris Karloff and a very young Jack Nicholson; The Wasp Woman; and the Carnasour film series from the 1990s. Corman paved the way for future directors to make movies the way they wanted. Talents like Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, and even Martin Scorsese may not have had the freedom to make their iconic movies if it weren’t for the precedent set by Roger Corman.
How Does Virtually Heroes End?
After Books completes his training with Sheng Long (which concludes Mark Hamill’s cameo in the film), he goes to search for Nova and finds him. Books asks for Nova’s help in defeating Merk and rescuing Jennifer once and for all. Nova accepts his invitation, and they set off to go to Merk’s camp one last time.
Books and Nova arrive and rescue Jennifer from Merk’s lair, forcing Merk to send his soldiers after them, something Books has experienced countless times. This time, though, Books has both the help from Nova and the careless confidence to complete the mission to his best ability.
On the verge of losing again, Books decides to use the cheat code the monk had taught him, granting him super strength and invincibility. He defeats Merk with ease before grabbing Jennifer and finally scoring the long-awaited kiss. Nova celebrates and the game comes to an end, thus ending Virtually Heroes.
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