The Legend of Zelda: The Hero of Time is a Fan Film produced by BMB Finishes, directed by Joel Musch, and staring David Blane as Link, Hannah Fischer as Zelda, and Adam Boyer as Ganondorf. After a long and rather difficult filming, it was released in 2009, premiering at the Plaza Theatre in Atlanta and then being made available for free download. Unfortunately, Nintendo requested that the group stop distributing and showing the movie after the year was out. The good news, though, is that it is possible to find the movie online, if you know where to look.
The story, which may sound a bit familiar, tells of a boy named Link, raised amongst a race of forest people called the Kokiri. Sent out by the Great Deku Tree to save the land, Link meets the beautiful Princess Zelda, who is unable to convince her father of the evil nature of their new Gerudo ally, Ganondorf. Forced to flee after the king is assassinated, Zelda gives Link the Ocarina of Time and instructs him to get the Master Sword so he can slay Ganondorf. Unfortunately, as any fans of the game can tell you, this does not go at all as planned.
A trailer can be viewed here
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See also The Legend of Zelda: The Sage of Darkness and Majora's Mask - Terrible Fate for other Zelda Fan Films.
Examples:
- Action Girl: Sheik, who doesn't even try to disguise her gender in this and who joins Link on his quest to save the Sages.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Talon is a lot more serious about things than his carefree self and Malon is considerably more shy and nervous when she first meets Link, although both are explained as a result of them recently moving to Hyrule Castle Town and being unused to living in a populated area (which obviously never happened in the game). Five years in the future, Talon has become even more depressed and bitter, due to the fact that Malon died.
- Adaptation Distillation: Because a movie can't go on for as long as a video game can, a lot of the Fetch Quest parts of the game are removed or toned down (most notably, the entirety of the Spiritual Stones quest is removed) as well as some of the puzzles that require going forward and backward in time (instead, Link doesn't go back in time at all until after Ganondorf is defeated). Because there also isn't enough time to introduce the Sages as characters and have Link meet and bond with all of them (as in the game), the Sages are instead portrayed as nameless people (like in A Link to the Past or Four Swords). Also, there's no attempt to hide that Sheik is a woman, presumably because, like with Eowyn, it's not too easy to pass an adult woman off as a man on film.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Instead of being Childhood Friends, Saria is Link's adoptive mother.
- Adapted Out: All of the Zora are left out, presumably for time and the difficulty in the effects for them. There are no named Kokiri besides Saria, no Gorons from the game (the only one who appears is named Dariu), and there are no Gerudo besides Ganondorf.
- Bloodier and Gorier: The violence is more graphic than its E-rated source material, which had little-to-no-blood.
- Canon Foreigner: Talon is shown with a new unnamed wife and daughter in the future, after Malon's death.
- Death by Adaptation: Poor Malon, in the Bad Future, was killed by Ganondorf's soldiers shortly after he took over Hyrule.
- Distress Ball: After spending the movie helping Link defeat monsters, Sheik joins Link in the final battle against Ganondorf's minions and is caught from behind and held with a sword to her throat, to get leverage over Link.
- Foregone Conclusion: For anyone who has played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, quite a few plot elements (Zelda and Impa having to run from Ganondorf, the Master Sword sending Link five years into the future, and Sheik being Zelda's secret identity.
- From Bad to Worse: The king is killed. Zelda has to go on the run. Then, drawing the Master Sword throws Link forward into a Bad Future.
- Honest John's Dealership: Zig-zagged with Honest Ivan. While he comes across as a shady guy, not only do the bow and arrows that he gives Link work fine, but he seems to hand them over for free!
- Large Ham: Quite a few characters.
- Mythology Gag: So many...
- When walking through Hyrule Castle Town, Link sees a man running a card game and asking a potential customer, "Want to play a money-making game?"
- When Honest Ivan gives Link the bow and arrows, he plays the "got item" tune on pan pipes.
- Link's mannerisms while fishing match how he acts and sounds when fishing in the game, right down to the hopping around and the grunting sounds.
- Pinned to the Wall: Link somehow does this with a non-pointed stick on fire, finishing the last enemy at Talon's farm by throwing it at him.
- Post-Climax Confrontation: Link defeats Ganondorf in a Duel to the Death, but comes back severely wounded and having to face the rest of the soldiers, who have taken Sheik hostage.
- Promoted to Love Interest: While Link had a number of girls in the game who had Ship Tease with him, he never gave signs of reciprocating. In the movie, he pretty obviously has a crush on Malon. Later in the movie, he and Zelda share a kiss and she tearfully tells him, near the end of the movie, that she would have wanted to have him at her side as her king.
- Reset Button: In-Universe and like with the game, after defeating Ganondorf and near death, Link manages to put the Master Sword back in the Temple of Time's pedestal and goes back to prevent Ganondorf's rise to power.
- Samus Is a Girl: Subverted. Sheik is confirmed to be a girl right off the bat.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Dariu for Darunia. Both are the leaders of the Gorons ("prince" in Dariu's case) and both become friends with Link after he does them a good turn.
