Phil Florian
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2001
- Messages
- 1,188
Howdy!
Where could one discuss the recently posted episode of the fan-created Star Trek New Voyages show? I put it under TV because the work is emulating the approximate length and scope of the old 60's shows. Normally I give fan films a pass (most are horrible) but this New Voyages series was garnering more talent from days of Trek Past. I watched the first episode and it was, frankly, badly done. The set of the old school Enterprise was spot-on, as was the costumes, but the dog-fightin' special effects and poor acting couldn't get me through it (even with guest starring job from the dude who played Admiral Decker in the Doomsday Machine).
But then I heard that Koenig did an episode, playing an aged version of his character infected by that same virus that aged the cast in the original series. Neat! Still didn't watch it, though.
Then George Takei signed on to play an older Sulu again. This gained my attention because while I respect Koenig, now that B5 is gone he hasn't been doing much but Takei, hot on the heels of a great guest role in "Heroes" didn't need to do a fan film to get noticed. But he did and I decided to give it a whirl.
I found this show's acting, special effects and overall story really well done. It wasn't the original by any stretch in certain ways but still captured what made the original show very fun to watch. It had a plausible reason for Sulu to be aged (see it to find out why) and, like all good Treks, had strong allusions to Shakespeare. In this case, they deal with "The Tempest" in more ways than one. Even the title of the episode is from an Elizabethan poem (I had to look it up but it sounded familiar and lo and behold, it was).
Takei doesn't play large. Though the dialog is at times a bit weak and self-referential (another Kobayashi Maru reference??) there are some wonderful dramatic moments framed by quieter and touching scenes, as well. Takei plays this faithfully and does a fine job that actually helps improve those performances around him. While not Shatner or Nimoy, the two leads have settled nicely into their roles leaving behind any attempt to imitate and have found their own voices as Kirk and Spock.
I know it isn't high art but since Paramount pretty much gave up on the Trek ideals long before even Voyager was produced, it is nice to see some of Roddenberry's old visions coming to life once more in a lovingly created homage to the good old days of TV. Some will blast it for being horrible but I am a guy who enjoys professional theater but still can enjoy a well done piece of amateur community theater. This fits somewhere nicely between the two and is worth a download.
If this fits in some other section better (if at all) let me know!
Where could one discuss the recently posted episode of the fan-created Star Trek New Voyages show? I put it under TV because the work is emulating the approximate length and scope of the old 60's shows. Normally I give fan films a pass (most are horrible) but this New Voyages series was garnering more talent from days of Trek Past. I watched the first episode and it was, frankly, badly done. The set of the old school Enterprise was spot-on, as was the costumes, but the dog-fightin' special effects and poor acting couldn't get me through it (even with guest starring job from the dude who played Admiral Decker in the Doomsday Machine).
But then I heard that Koenig did an episode, playing an aged version of his character infected by that same virus that aged the cast in the original series. Neat! Still didn't watch it, though.
Then George Takei signed on to play an older Sulu again. This gained my attention because while I respect Koenig, now that B5 is gone he hasn't been doing much but Takei, hot on the heels of a great guest role in "Heroes" didn't need to do a fan film to get noticed. But he did and I decided to give it a whirl.
I found this show's acting, special effects and overall story really well done. It wasn't the original by any stretch in certain ways but still captured what made the original show very fun to watch. It had a plausible reason for Sulu to be aged (see it to find out why) and, like all good Treks, had strong allusions to Shakespeare. In this case, they deal with "The Tempest" in more ways than one. Even the title of the episode is from an Elizabethan poem (I had to look it up but it sounded familiar and lo and behold, it was).
Takei doesn't play large. Though the dialog is at times a bit weak and self-referential (another Kobayashi Maru reference??) there are some wonderful dramatic moments framed by quieter and touching scenes, as well. Takei plays this faithfully and does a fine job that actually helps improve those performances around him. While not Shatner or Nimoy, the two leads have settled nicely into their roles leaving behind any attempt to imitate and have found their own voices as Kirk and Spock.
I know it isn't high art but since Paramount pretty much gave up on the Trek ideals long before even Voyager was produced, it is nice to see some of Roddenberry's old visions coming to life once more in a lovingly created homage to the good old days of TV. Some will blast it for being horrible but I am a guy who enjoys professional theater but still can enjoy a well done piece of amateur community theater. This fits somewhere nicely between the two and is worth a download.
If this fits in some other section better (if at all) let me know!