11 Star Trek "fan films" make history by bringing in past familiar faces and voices....

IF YOU'RE A FAN OF STAR TREK, THERE ARE FILMS OUT THERE ON YOUTUBE THAT WERE MADE BY THOSE INSPIRED BY THE ORIGINAL SERIES 

And here is an amazingly accurate quote on this 1st episode of an 11 run Star Trek fan-funded "sequel" series from Fan Film Factor:

"The moment I first “felt” it…

At the midway point of the episode, where the god Apollo suddenly strengthens and turns his powers on Kirk, in that moment I suddenly forgot I was watching a “fan” film and immersed myself in the belief that I was watching a never-before-discovered episode of the original Star Trek!

Of course, I knew in my head that the actors were different (except for Apollo).  But in that moment when I heard Apollo’s voice reverberate, saw Kirk tossed into the air like a rag doll, and listened to that familiar music, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t William Shatner hitting the floor and being levitated. In those 90 seconds, in my heart, I was watching “pure” Star Trek.

I was hooked."   Jonathan Lane

https://fanfilmfactor.com/2017/10/20/a-history-of-star-trek-continues-feature-part-1/

 

Pilgrim of Eternity, about 51 minutes 

https://youtu.be/3G-ziTBAkbQ

Apollo returns to wreak havoc on Kirk and the Enterprise in the first episode of the new series. (Michael Forest — original series actor who played Apollo — reprises his role.)

Joe V essays: 

As a child I watched EVERY Star Trek episode during its first airing.  At 13 years old I thought it a big deal and that the entire world was watching...little did I know that it would take syndication for the rest of the universe to catch on. But the show's creator - Gene Rodenberry, involved with TV long before Star Trek, certainly knew.

Watching The Search for Spock the other night - a free movie on the cable company we subscribe to here, I realized it is probably the best film in the series, greater than The Wrath of Khan which spawned that particular sequel.    Leonard Nimoy - as director - crafted a beautiful film with the scenes on Vulcan inspired - consciously or unconsciously - from the Wizard of Oz classic film.   Where Khan was a series of vignettes that all fit together, Search for Spock rolls on seamlessly.  And the point I'm making here is that when the Star Trek movies re-worked the plots from the original series, it made the fans happy, and made for the best films.  

(Side note: a motion picture that was kinda sorta original, the Undiscovered Country, didn't rely on re-working the old series, and that's fine, and an anomaly.  Underrated and good is the Undiscovered Country and nice to have a different plot and be able to pull it off.)

What's problematic is that these cable companies want to charge now for all things Star Trek, Star Wars, Matrix, years after they aired...and since you are already paying for cable WITH annoying advertising, the greedsters take the fun out of re-watching some of these classics.

So last night, 11/27/2020, I stumbled on YouTUBE on the cable provider's list of things "TV for free."   I've been watching THE INVADERS on the Computer off YouTube since MeTV decided to put it at 4 AM on Sunday mornings...no thank You!  But it is fun watching on "the big screen" and that TUBI has dreadful "B" and "Z" films, for the most part, having access to science fiction on YouTube is a delight. (NO, I haven't accessed my Visual Radio or my Marty Balin documentary on YouTube...like John Lennon, my art is out there for YOU to enjoy.)

And on YouTube there's a plethora of Star Trek fan-made movies.  You don't have the Hollywood funding - thank you I Love Lucy - the cash that Lucille Ball and Desilu put behind it, but some of the scripts are well thought out, while some of the acting can drive you crazy.  Sometimes bad actors resembling the imbeciles on local city councils appear, trying to wind their way through plot lines with good potential.  What is terrific about all the Dick Wolf Law and Order series is that the acting is sublime, even when the scripts go south.  Great acting is a key to a series' longevity.  So there is so much potential to re-work elements of Star Trek left on the cutting room floor by picking up these fan films, extending the plots by adding great acting and additional scripting.  With all the CG capabilities out there, the powers that be would be well advised to enhance these ideas (or take the Star Trek cartoons, put real actors on the set, and utilize the original voicings from the cartoons! for new episodes with the old stars front and center.)

What do I mean by "enhance these ideas?"  I would love to direct good actors in key scenes, replace the awkward moments in the fan films, and come up with something more substantial.   

If you are a Trekkie (the sci-fi politically correct term "Trekkar" I find  annoying) the historical link to the old series by resurrecting actors before they die off in the real world is something to applaud.

----------------------------

here are a couple of random thoughts prior to the writing of this essay:

Michael Forest returned to Star Trek in 2014...and though it was a fan film it got enough funding to mirror the original series. Best Actor award has to go to the son of Scotty - Chris Doohan plays his father's character, and James Doohan should be very proud wherever he is these days in the cosmos...rip

 

 The sets are great, the scripts are good....the acting, not so much. I didn't realize it was Doohan's son that was doing the best acting job of the crew until I did some investigating...interesting. 

 

Paramount would do well to pick up these episodes, enhance them and bring them in as part of the catalog, especially with enough past cast members to make it legit.Look at Forest from the 1960's episode to the 2014 episode. http://christopherbowsman.blogspot.com/2014/02/star-trek-continues-pilgrim-of-eternity.html

 

First thoughts on it from a Facebook post: 

 A fan Star Trek film has Marina Sirtis from TNG as the computer voice, and got an actor from the original series to reprise his role: Michael was a film and television actor, notably playing the part of Apollo in the 1967 Star Trek episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?" and most recently reprised this role in the Star Trek Continues episode "Pilgrim of Eternity" 47 years later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Forest

 

 

TREKYARDS and VIC MIGNOGNA go behind-the-scenes of STAR TREK CONTINUES!

 

Although STC has completed its 11-episode run, fans still cherish this labor of love and the careful attention to detail that went into it.  And while STC has released a few special features here and there focussing on things like the music scoring, editing, and VFX—and Fan Film Factor published this exhaustively-researched complete history of STC—there hasn’t been a real “deep dive” into all of the  behind-the-scenes production secrets of this amazing series.

Until now, that is!

 

 

https://fanfilmfactor.com/2018/06/21/trekyards-and-vic-mignogna-go-behind-the-scenes-of-star-trek-continues/