William Shatner s Opinion of Star Trek Continues
Four Words: Give It A Chance
The original 1966 series lives on as if it never ended...however the actors are not the same.
An amazing attempt to bring a 50 year old TV series back to life! The sets, costumes, and scores match up so well with the old show.
Four words: give it a chance! The original 1966 series has been a lifelong partner to me so, at first, "Continues" bothered me because it seemed to be playing around with ideas and plots I had spent decades watching and re-watching. At first, I never liked the "Continues" cast, but after a few episodes I began to warm to them all.
At the time of the this review I really have only one issue with "Continues", the forced attempts at humour between Kirk/Spock/Bones. However, in time maybe even those bits will grow on me???
In a nutshell: this will never be as good as the 1966 original, but it makes a pleasing very well thought out copy.
A couple of brief points:
Continues episode, Pilgrim of Eternity, is a sequel to original series episode, Who Mourns For Adonais, and the Continues episode is actually better than the original.
Vic Mignogna plays Captain Kirk, but he did so much more on the show than just star in it - he WAS the show! He directed, edited and gave very interesting interviews (see Youtube) about what was going on. Perhaps his most relatable comment was how very important the music cues to the old show were. He goes into great detail about matching up the old music with Continues.
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What a 4th Season of Star Trek would have looked like
On Twitter, I kept seeing little "Vignettes" from the episodes they had already made. Especially, Michael Forest from "To Morn for Adonis" (that's a pun) reprising his role. Then a green Orion Slave Girl played by Fiona Vroom. Then, I see the crew of the Enterprise wearing full accouterments from "Mirror Mirror".
In those Vignettes, I saw the Bridge, the Hallways, the Transporter room, Sickbay all perfectly recreated. All original uniforms being worn, all original Tricorders, Phasers and Communicators (Thanks to the Wand company) being used.
So then, I look up this crew who was bringing the original Star Trek back to life! And I watched the first episode, "Pilgrim or Eternity". And a rudimentary Holodeck, equipped with a Holo of Star Trek Artist Doug Drexler in "Paladin" outfit shoving a Colt 45 into "Kirk" (Vic Mignogna's) nose, in a set that looked a LOT like "Spectre of the Gun".
So then I watched "Lolani", and along with Fiona Vroom, there was The Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) playing a HUGE Orion Slaver.
So, that was it, I was hooked. Of course, I thought Todd Haberkorn looked like an Odd Spock, but he did in fact talk and act like Spock. And they did change Dr McCoys after Lolani, I don't know why Larry Nemecek dropped out of that role. But then again, I saw Chris Doohan playing the role his father played, and he looks SO much like his father.
Marina Sirtis is the Ships Computer, like Luwaxana, like Daughter. I started seeing all kinds of familiar names from the cast and crew of Next Generation/DS9/Voyager/Enterprise in the credits.
And the Music was perfect, the LIGHTING was perfect, the SOUNDS were perfect, the Props were perfect (Close-ups of the Phaser props show a slight difference from TOS Phasers, but not much). And I have a Wand Company Communicator, and those were being used (Hint: THEY WORK!).
But my posterior was floored by the 3rd Episode "Fairest of them All", or, "What happened when Mirror Kirk, Scott, McCoy and Uhura returned to Mirror Enterprise?".
Eventually I ran out of Episodes to watch, I was amazed that there were FIVE of these episodes (at the time). I left off at "Divided we Stand", which was a great Omega-Glory type of episode, which included BORG Nanites! And we met a Security Chief, "Drake", who had a Mechanical Arm.
Not just Drake, but I met McKennah, Smith (who was holding Gary Mitchell's hand at the Barrier of the Galaxy), and these became as beloved to me as Kirk, Spock, Uhura, McCoy, Sulu, Chekov.
It did not matter to me that I was not seeing Leonard Nimoy, Bill Shatner, George "It's OK to be" Takei. The SPIRIT of the characters they created was there. The chemistry was there, and, the Ship was there.
For those of you who are just joining these voyages, watch the Featurette which shows the construction of the Engineering set. From a Huge, Empty Soundstage, to a perfect replica of the 1701's warp drive. The DILITHIUM Crystals even had that same shape (From "The Alternative factor").
I feel that McKennah, Smith, Drake, and the other characters and actors that had recurring crew roles, had been there all the time.
There are many things that hint toward things that would happen later in TNG and DS9.
I just finished the final episode today, and in one scene, we see, on an Admirals desk, models of The Pheonix, NX-01, Kelvin, Discovery, and the 1701 as it appeared in TMP. And even that scene was a nod to a scene from "Into Darkness", the ships on Admiral Marcus' desk.
I feel as close to the Actors and Crew who made this show as I do the whole franchise.
This SHOULD be "Official Trek", CBS should buy this show and release it as part of the franchise. In my mind, it already is.
Thank you, Vic, Todd, Thank you Kipleigh Brown for bringing "Smith" back, thank you Michele Specht for creating "McKennah", the original "Counselor Troi", not just the main characters but everyone who worked on this to make it a reality.
I feel that Fan Productions like this should not be hindered by CBS, this one was not, but others were. Nobody is stealing Klingon by wanting to learn it, nobody who wants to help recreate something that we've loved for over 50 years should be discouraged, not sued. CBS may own the show now, but it does not really belong to them, it belongs to US.
I think I need to get in here and edit this review by making a couple of comments about Vic. I have read a lot about this fan series, how it came about, the people involved, and it appears that without Vic, this show never would have happened. He wrote most of the episodes, he wrote some music. He edited some of the episodes. A lot of work was lovingly done by him and he always stayed true to the spirit of the Star Trek universe even though he has a background from Liberty University. Vic never inserted anything into this series that was unrelated to Star Trek, he kept to canon and never veered away from the prime directive.
But I remember a couple of years ago Vic coming under the, what is the proper word, let's just say "stigma" of "Me too". I believe this caused a huge rift and caused a lot of damage between the people that were involved with making this show. This just makes me really sad.
All I have to say about this is that when I watch these episodes, and when I watch Vic, something about these accusations don't ring true.
Most important, it does not affect my enjoyment of this series, my awe of the special effects, my respect toward the people involved. When I would browse through the Star Trek continues YouTube channel and watch the little videos about how they made these episodes, and the unity of the people involved, any complaints come up unfounded. People don't realize what a remarkable thing has been done with this fan series. We were given Eleven Fifty minute episodes of Star Trek, lovingly re-created with stories that do not conflict with any of the other stories from Star Trek feature films or other shows. I don't know how they got CBS to back off from their "new overly restrictive guidelines" for fan series, but they did, and that meant full length episodes, participation of professional actors and people who actually had worked on production crew for several Star Trek series, and these things are basically banned in the new guidelines.
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The Best Fan-Film Series Ever Created!
I'm critical of 'fan-fiction' in general; the stuff can be hockey as sh!t and completely unbelievable and canon-breaking when the writers of those 'stories' want to see characters just f##k each other for no rhyme or reason. Star Trek Continues has NONE of those problems: I can assure you of that. This is a fan-created series that has stories to tell, not sh!t to spew. And this IS the continuation of The Original Series fan have been eagerly waiting for; if they weren't happy with the movies already.
The queerest thing about this series, though, is that Funimation voice-actor Vic Mignogna (FullMetal Alchemist, DragonBall Z and several other animes) created this show and plays Captain Kirk in all of the episodes. And... he's done a thorough job emulating William Shatner's character. Sure it's not perfect and some of the time Vic is just saying lines, but the guy CAN act in front of camera. He's no dialogue-robot. He's a fan of Gene Roddenberry's legacy and wants to do it absolute justice: both on and off the camera. I don't think many fan films can say that the director, producer and co-writer was ALSO the lead actor of the project.
Star Trek Continues: the best fan-made series ever. At least the best Star Trek fan-film series.
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Wonderful Recreation Of TOS
The "Season Four" opener is a perfect recreation of TOS, acting style, writing style,story elements, story theme, story pacing, sets, costumes, lighting, cinematography, SFX, everything is recreated perfectly.
Unlike the reviewer who thought it could have been more "professionally" produced, I think he missed the point. STContinues is a recreation of TOS. It has the look and feel of TOS, and a very professionally done look and feel. The audience should look at ST Continues like the historical recreations seen at Old Colonial Williamsburg or the folks who perform Civil War reenactments. Star Trek Continues is a historical reenactment of a forty-seven year old television show.
I wonder if the young and generally inexperienced cast studied not only TOS episodes, but other shows from the mid to late 1960s to learn the acting styles of that era? I wonder the same of the technical crew. Did they also study shows from the same era? Although their performances were uneven at times, it looks like they did indeed do their homework.
The guy who plays Kirk is an okay actor, give him some more training and he'd be great. As Kirk, his performance is spotty, not "spot on." As a mimic of Shatner's Kirk, he's got most of the body language down perfectly. His acting style is in the range of the 1960s original show.....borderline overacting! The overacting is part of the recreation of TOS.
The actor who plays Chekov looks like a young Walter Koenig. Physically he's the best match to an original cast member. Christopher Doohan who recreates his father's role as Scotty is okay. His Scottish accent is a bit forced, but with some dialect coaching he could easily perfect it. It's too bad he doesn't look much like his father, but at times I could see his father in some body language and at times I could catch glimpses of his father in his face.
Bringing Michael Forrest back as an aged Apollo was brilliant. (Just like bringing Ricardo Montalban back for "The Wrath of Kahn") For an actor in his early eighties he's still quite sharp and looking at his IMDb resume he's stayed quite active over the years. He was by far the strongest actor on this episode, but he did not overpower the younger and less experienced cast. His Shakespeare and classical training made his Apollo a compelling character.
I am totally, and favorably impressed by Star Trek Continues. I hope it does indeed continue.
I give it a ten for the quality of the production and its incredible recreation of a 1960s television show, but have to knock off three stars for the uneven acting performances.
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Lovingly made - watch the whole episode!
What a treat for fans of the original series. Obviously the trekkies that joined us at the start of the last two movies will be scratching their heads, they have some back watching to do! At first it was very jarring to see the new actors, I thought they were terrible. But when I reached the end everything gelled, the "shock" of the new people had passed, and the feel of the episode was very genuine to watching the original series. Definitely watch to the end before reserving judgement as you will most likely come around.
About the actors - I was very pleased by most of the actors, they fit really well together. I feel very much that they are emulating the old show to continue the mission without mocking or exaggerating. Anyone can do a passable Shatner impression so I'm glad we were spared this. I thought the Spock actor was very much playing Quinto but it still worked and there was a lot of humor in it, he held himself well. Grant Imahara as Sulu is awesome! I just know with him in the show there must be some interesting robots/technology in the future, plus it's safe in his nerdy hands. Scottys son was great also, although he did stray from Scottish into an Irish accent at times but hey, his fathers accent was just as put on back then.
Production value - I feel like people are confused with the amazing productions we have today that it looks so low budget, but honestly it looks true to the original and I love it for that. There would not be a point to make the series without doing that. Having the same radio and com bleeps just takes you right back.
General message - I was ready to laugh at this, thought it might be someones fan fic / wet dream where Kirk dies and Bob nobody becomes the captain. So I was prepared for the worst, and seeing the new actors was hard and I poked fun at slip ups, but I was completely won over by the end. It felt exactly like an episode of the original series, even with the new characters, and the attention to detail was amazing.
So watch it, laugh at how weird it is seeing Grant as Sulu or Spock being far too Quinto, but do watch until the end, because if you are a fan of the original series this will definitely win a place in your heart. Of course it can never touch the original, but unfortunately many of those great actors have passed, so this is a great way to see how that original 5 year mission ends, in the way that the original team would have done it.
And remember old fans! If you are remembering things with rosy goggles of perfect acting, rewatch Spocks Brain!
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Now this is Star Trek
When a fan series does a franchise justice better than its owner you know that's bad.
Star Trek Continues is done by professional actors and voice actors who are sincere fans of Star Trek.
The series takes places following the storyline of the original series with original stories and characters along with paying homage to the original series
The sets look like it did in the original 1966 series along with giving the series a feel of watching the original Star Trek series.
The acting is very strong as the cast do a convincing job as the characters the fans have love throughout the years.
The music is very good as it helps move the series.
Overall out of all the fan series of Star Trek this one has done it right
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Cancel the reboot. Things are fine the way they were.
I always knew that there were fan films based on Star Trek but never took the time to watch any. After all, with the later series and movies as well as the other sci-fi universes, I thought that I was well fed. Besides, the original series was a thing of the past: before the movies, high definition and CGI. But while listening to Vic Mignogna as a guest on the Mission Log Podcast, I found his zeal for the original series refreshing in how it reminded me of my own love of the original series. So I decided to watch an episode and I am just amazed at what an excellent job that Mr. Mignogna and his crew have done. They have so fluently captured the essence of the original series from the details like costumes and set decoration to the story which for the most part always tried to be a reflection of what was happening today. The blend of situations inspired by scenes we remember from the original series and new characters and story lines are perfect in making you feel that there is absolutely no need for a reboot. The Enterprise and her crew are just fine the way we remember them from the original series. Live long, and keep 'em coming.
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Never cared for fan series until this....its almost better than original
And Im not exaggerating. Usually with fan produced stuff you notice the budged constraints and somewhat beginner approach quickly, the color grading, some actors and their performance, story lines etc...
This however, boy. The guy playing Kirk is indistinguishable from Shatner almost, the mannerism, the stance, the voice pattern. Its all spot on. The camera work is exactly the same as in TOS. While the surroundings are a throwback to TOS, combined with today's CGI, its at the same time a perfect homage to the original and also a polished excellent product as a series. And lets not forget the stories, the core of ST. We all know certain ST series were/are not up to par on that front. The ST stories were extremely witty moral quandaries with exceptional, often completely unforeseen, twists at the end and at the same times often breaking social taboos. This series sticks hard to that in most episodes while at the same times balancing it out wonderfully with enough humour and action as the original TOS and other great ST series.
All in all, please give it a chance if you are a ST fan and especially if you like and cherish the original series with Kirk. This show has none of the drawbacks of other fan made series, there is zero evidence its anything other than 100% studio financed product in terms of production and at the same times 100% loyal to all the core values and elements of ST universe that we love and that made it great.
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Surprisingly entertaining & faithful tribute to TOS
I decided to catch an episode of the fan-made series "Star Trek Continues," mainly because of guest star Lou Ferrigno, who starred in a movie I produced (Liberator). Frankly, I didn't have very high expectations; as most fan vehicles contain a sincerity-to-professionalism ratio of roughly 90 to 10.
Man, was I wrong! They NAILED every technical detail. Sets, costumes, cinematography, & VFX are all so close to TOS that the differences are virtually negligible, even on my 60 inch TV.
"Lolani" concerns the Orion slave trade, capturing the essence of TOS with heavily-laden metaphors. On a scriptwriting level, it falls somewhere between Season 3 episodes "Let That be Your Last Battlefield" (remember Frank Gorshin and his stark B&W makeup???) and "The Cloud Miners." Being that Miners dealt with capitalism and Battlefield dealt with race, for "Lolani" to compare favorably (both thematically and technically) this episode had a really high bar they had to climb.
Lou is formidable (and once again, GREEN!) He would've fit right in as a regular villain in TOS, had he been the right age for the role in 1969. He only has a handful of dramatic scenes, and his fight is not particularly convincing – but that's mainly due to the outcome, not the staging (which reflects TOS to a tee).
Vic Mignogna plays Kirk straight; minus Shatnerisms. He makes excellent dramatic choices that define classic Kirk. I just wish the register of his voice was lower.
Spock & McCoy don't fare as well. Spock has a highly reduced role in this episode, which is fine because Todd Haberkorn really doesn't have the gravitas to pull it off, especially a mind-meld. As Bones, Larry Nemecek also has very little to do, and could have been crankier. Should another episode prove to be heavily dependent on the classic "trio interaction," I think it might get uncomfortable to watch them struggle....
The rest of the acting is *meh.* Keeping in mind that the original supporting cast in TOS were not especially good actors to begin with, I guess I shouldn't be TOO disappointed. While these actors have a far way to go to, it's the OVERALL product I'm reviewing, so I'll give STC the benefit of the doubt and catch a few more. They can only get better!
All in all, STSC is a high quality effort that I enjoyed FAR MORE than the last Trek feature film. Give it a shot!
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Accomplishes exactly what it tries to do
The show does exactly what it set out to do -- recreate the look and feel of the original Star Trek. There are obviously those who will be unable to get past the different actors in the same roles (even more so than with the JJ Abrams films, because the films move in a completely different direction. And therein lies the strength and weakness of this production: the fans.
For this fan, the show was a joy to watch. I don't want to see a parody of James Shatner and the original crew, but rather another take on the same characters. Some are more successful than others, but overall (and especially for a first episode) they did a great job. Heck, go back to the early Next Generation episodes and see how cardboard-thin some of the characters were and how stiff some of the acting ones. OK, so Riker was stiff throughout the season…but I digress.
The more versions of Start Trek there are, the more splintered the fan base will be. Some purists loathe the new films with their blockbuster dependence on CGI, quick cuts and explosions. Some who were raised on Next Generation think everything else inferior. Personally I couldn't stand Voyager. So, watch the episode and decide for yourself.
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Caught me off guard
Me being a Trek fan since the late 60's, I was surprised that I had never heard of this but Was blown away at how good this was and true to the spirit of the Original series. Great scripts and Damn good Actors in this rolls made famous 55 years ago. Stand out here is the Actress who plays the ships Counselor Michele. Specht.
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A fine job
The cast and crew of "Star Trek Continues" have done a really great job of emulating the look and tenor of the original Star Trek series. Their objective is to complete the run of the original 5-year mission (hard to believe we only got 3 years of the original) and they're accomplishing just that.
These are true fans and master craftsmen. The sets and costumes are flawless and the writing and acting styles compliment the original series perfectly. All of the cast mirror their more-famous counterparts well, including all of their famous acting nuances (yup, Shatner's phrasing and pauses are here, but not played for comic effect.) The only weak spot acting-wise was Grant Imahara of Mythbuster's fame as Sulu. Grant's certainly passable but not as strong as Takei (who wasn't brilliant, but better.)
I think the first (and only complete) episode runs a little long for today's web-gen; 30-40 minutes would sit better, but this can sit proudly with the best of trek.
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A Breath of Fresh Air
A bit of background. I'm a huge fan of TNG still watch it today. Watched a few episodes of TOS in my youth when it was rerun on TV and liked it very much. Watched the top rated episodes of DS9, Voyager and Enterprise and did not like any of them very much, didn't bother with other episodes.
To sum up, Picard is by far the best captain, Kirk is also great (to be clear I would personally get along better with Kirk but think Picard is the better captain).
Now Star Trek Continues is really very good. The attention to detail, the way its made to look like TOS, very well written stories, morality and ethics are the prominent themes (and less of the politics and mind games tripe of DS9 et al). Acting ranges from superb to very good. The best thing about it is that its not made by a big studio and they take their time to make very good episodes.
So I believe this series combines the best of what makes the Star Trek franchise so great. Happy watching.
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A wonderful achievement, in both style and substance
I am amazed. This is outstanding stuff. It succeeds thoroughly in its attempt to recreate the style and the substance of the original series from the 1960s. The love and respect for the original is obvious.
If you read the other reviews, you'll notice there seems to be a consensus: Star Trek Continues has outstanding production values. Productionwise, it is an absolutely wonderful, faithful recreation of the original series. It looks the same, it sounds the same, it feels the same. If you casually look at it without paying attention, you won't notice the difference: there is virtually none, apart from the main cast, obviously. A truly impressive achievement.
The general consensus also seems to be that the acting is slightly lacking. I tend to agree. But then again, the acting in the original series was also, quite frequently, rather lacking. And the other reviews here will tell you that while some are happy with say, the new Kirk and Spock, but dislike the new Scotty and Sulu, others feel just the opposite. So maybe it isn't all that bad, after all.
Like everyone else used to the original cast, I naturally felt the casting difference at first. But as everything else is so faithful to the model, it actually didn't take more than 15-20 minutes to accept this cast for what they are. Also, this is a first effort. As others have pointed out, none of the series quite hit the mark in the very first episode.
I especially liked Kirk, once I got used to him. Of course Mignogna isn't Shatner, but nobody is. Likewise, there is only one Nimoy. But if you want your actors to be exactly like the original ones, you can only be disappointed. Considering how excellent everything else is, I could certainly get used to this cast. And unlike a few others, I don't mind the addition of the new crew member at all.
What I feel should be emphasized, though, is the great script. It's a triumph of substance. The story is incredibly true to the original series. The theme, the pace, the dialogue, all of it rings true. This, combined with the amazing production values, means that if only we had the original cast here instead of the new actors, you wouldn't suspect that this was not an episode of the original series. That's how faithfully they've recreated Star Trek. Only in the very first scene ― an homage to future Star Trek series ― and in a particular exterior scene later do we sense that this is, after all, a 21st century production. And both cases, in my opinion, work rather well.
The negative reviews here so far seem to fall into two categories. A few criticize the fact that these actors don't look and act exactly like the original cast. If you're that demanding, of course, nothing will ever be good enough.
Other critics point out that this is just lame and old-fashioned: it looks and feels like something from the 1960s! Where is all the kewl stuff from the two latest films that modern technology makes possible? Well, I guess that is the point, isn't it?
So if you think the new films are great and the original series sucks, you probably won't like this. And if you think that the new films suck and the original series is nothing less than the Holy of Holies, you will possibly find this recreation blasphemous and sacrilegious. How dare they! Nimoy was 1½ in. taller than this guy!
But if you liked the original series for what it was, for better and for worse, and would like to see it recreated and continued in a thoroughly authentic and clearly respectful and loving fashion, chances are that you'll enjoy Star Trek Continues. Because I feel that it does just that: what its title says. In a time when precious little sci-fi deals with philosophical and ethical themes, and seems to be more concerned with fast pacing, constant action, and CGI effects, it's wonderful to see some refreshingly old-style focus on story, dialogue and characters, just like the original.
The bottom line is that overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this impressive first effort, and hope much more is to come in the future. If they keep up the good work, I wouldn't actually mind calling this Season 4. It's that close to the original ― not just in style, but also, and more importantly, in substance.
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Something rare this days: they made it just as they wanted
I spotted on this serial only couple months ago, and watched so far only 2 episodes. Indeed, they made it well - it is probably only true follower of (original) TOS. And as I see, Star Trek is probably original serial with most of followers - there is most of serials starting with "Star Trek" . I have strong feeling that it is low on budget, although it is not much visible on screen, but fact that there are only few episodes per year may be indicator. Acting may be not on high level, and actors are really unknown, again, probably because low budget. But it is OK. What matters is story. And it is for sure on level of original series.
At moment we have 2 "Star Trek" serials under work and (premiere) airing: this and practically the complete opposite: ... Discovery . While Discovery is high(er) budget, with shiny CGI, lot of action, shooting, it is just not Star Trek. They changed a lot, in not good direction. I stopped to watch it because it is just so shallow. Star Trek Continues goes so far in recreation of original that they even use outdated 4:3 screen format. Effects are not 100% same, but very close to those from some 50 years ago. I will keep watching this. Rating: 8 .
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FINALLY! a Star Trek fan film made by professionals
There are a lot of Star Trek fan films out there, ranging from full-blown semiprofessional productions to computer-animated battles scenes imported from some pimple-faced teen's Xbox. But while the time and effort (and in many cases, expense) involved in making the films can be considerable, the result is often lackluster at best. You can well appreciate the work that went into it but, if viewed objectively, not so much the final result. In many cases, for example, one is left with the suspicion that an actor is involved not because he was the best choice for the role, but because making the film was his idea, and only his Trekkie obsession saw it through to a "completed" form.
Thankfully, "Star Trek Continues: Pilgrim of Eternity" does NOT fall into that category. That's not to say that this was not also a labor of love; Paramount's attorneys jealously prevent anything else. But it doesn't SHOW this time. There's simply very little that has to be excused with a a whine of "well, they're just fanboys, what do you expect?"
After a few semi-experimental efforts in the form of a couple of original vignettes and a slightly lengthened recreation of the final scenes of "Turnabout Intruder," "Pilgrim of Eternity" is an entirely new 51-minute production, a sequel to TOS's "Who Mourns for Adonis?" and guest-starring Michael Forrest, who played Apollo in the original. The look and feel of the production is spot-on, with great writing, and near-perfect sets, lighting, music, and sound (as one would expect with a crew of professionals doing the writing, sets, lighting, and sound.) One high mark: even with a limited budget, the USS Enterprise created by visual effects artist Doug Drexler (veteran of Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise) is absolutely gorgeous!
Of course, no amount of behind-the-scenes work helps if the cast is not also good. Vic Mignogna, a dead ringer for a young Robert Stack, makes a very convincing Kirk (much better than Chris Pine, in my opinion.) While adopting many of William Shatner's familiar mannerisms and inflections, he does so without becoming a distracting and annoying caricature (sorry, James Cawley of "ST: New Voyages.") Likewise, Todd Haberkorn is also quite good as Spock, though with somewhat less of the air of tightly-restrained humor that Leonard Nimoy brought the character.
I'm less enthusiastic about Larry Nemecek as Dr. McCoy (replacing Chuck Huber, who played the doctor in two of the early "Star Trek Continues" vignettes, and who still appears on many of the website's pages.) I suspect this choice was a case of "gimmick casting" because of Nemecek's deep Star Trek connections. Gimmick casting is fine on its own --everybody needs publicity-- as long as the show doesn't suffer as a result. Unfortunately, Nemecek is a terrible actor, mumbles his lines, never seems to know what to do with his hands, and is far too out-of-shape for the role (unless they decide to recreate "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.") Hopefully, Huber will return in future webisodes (although Nemecek has already signed on again for 2014's "Lolani.")
Aside from the coup of landing Michael Forrest to reprise his role as Apollo, other more-successful examples of "name" casting come in the form of Chris Doohan recreating his father's role as Scotty, and Grant Imahara of "Mythbusters" fame as Sulu. Kim Stinger and Wyatt Lenhart, both professional actors, round out the cast as Uhura and Chekov. And yes, that is Next Generation's Marina Sirtis lending her voice as the Enterprise computer.
This first full-length production webisode takes place two years after the events of "Who Mourns for Adonis?" The new story, written by Steve Fratt and Jack Trevino, provides a very satisfying resolution to the poignant end of the original show: Apollo returns, much older and dying, and with the help of the Enterprise crew finds a new way to live beyond demanding the worship of others. Brief homages to the established Star Trek canon, in the form of an early holodeck prototype and a newly-established position of ship's counselor, are welcome without seeming lazy, gratuitous, obtrusive, or "cute" (something J.J. Abrams has yet to master.) The pacing is good, the characters convincing, and the "feel" of the story, and its ultimately positive message, would have been right at home in the pantheon of the original series.
This is not to say that all is perfect with "Star Trek Continues." The actors, while serviceable, are a weak point. Even though he is better than most, Mignogna may well be one of those "it's my baseball so I get to pitch" fanfilm captains, and needs to develop a bit more charisma in the role next time. Similarly, Imahara and Doohan would both benefit from just a few acting lessons (along with dialect coaching to tweak Doohan's Scottish brogue.) I would fervently hope that musical interludes from Kim Stinger's Lieutenant Uhura will not be a regular feature. Also, next time out, Michele Specht (Mignogna's wife) really needs to dial back her annoyingly over-the-top performance as the new ship's counselor Dr. Elise McKennah, or risk having her character become the "Jar Jar Binks" of the Star Trek universe.
And are we SURE it's not too late to replace Larry Nemecek?
Still, having seen many of the fan films seeking to recreate the original Star Trek series, I am very enthusiastic about "Star Trek Continues." If this first production is an indication of the quality we can expect from all of their work, I look forward to seeing many more. It's not yet perfect, but it is far and away the best out there.
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The closest thing to a life long dream come true
So Unbelievably Awesome! STC is the closest thing to discovering lost episodes of TOST that you could come. At times you forget he's not Shatner. It truly IS the original Star Trek! it just has different actors, but it doesn't matter so much! I am so grateful to Vic Mignogna for achieving this dream come true. And the stories are Great!! It is TOST down to the last detail. I am SO impressed! ...and grateful.
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Reliving the past
When I first heard about this show, I figured I'd give it a try. What I saw was like going back in time. I'm not a big fan of fan made trek shows, but I loved what I saw. Bringing back Micheal Forest to play Apollo was brilliant. The episode kept me intrigued throughout. Vic Mignogna looks so much like a young Shatner. The acting was very good. I don't usually write a review after one episode, but felt I had to. The show was made from 2013-2017, so I thought they had a lot of episodes, but alas, only 11. Too bad, I could've had many to watch. But I love this show. Thank you to those who made it😄.
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Extraordinary Recreation of TOS
If you hadn't watched Star Trek TOS, you'd think you were watching Star Trek TOS. The sets, lighting, music, cinematography, all are top quality and broadcast ready. The Captain does a great job being Bill Shatner, and even looks exactly like him from some angles. The others in the cast are less like the originals, but hey, these are fans working for the fun of it, but with one exception. Chris Doohan is the son of Jimmy Doohan, who played Scotty in TOS, and looks and sounds just like his dad. The fact he was willing to do this, and original actors from TOS and Next Gen have parts show how attractive this is to the ST community. Roddenberry's son called this "The fourth season" of TOS. I concur.
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Very Pleasantly Surprised
I watched not sure what to expect from a fanfic season. For production that is nearly indistinguishable from the original right down to the music and storylines that are extremely Trek-like and compelling I'd give it a 10/10. The only thing knocking it down is the choice of casting. Not that they were bad actors, just was hard to see people with high pitched voices playing Kirk and Spock
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Great acting, lighting, directing and (most importantly) *story*
That is all. Watch it. Watch it again. Sleep, then watch it again the morning after. Any reservations you might have about the actors need another viewing to really understand the 'ethos' of ST:TOS :)
It captures the writing, acting, cinematography of the original series. Some very minor rough edges but of no consequence...
This should be considered canon for 'TOS' (The Original Series). CBS doesn't know what a treasure has fallen in its lap here and they should take advantage of it.
They should back this series officially and continue the voyage. Yes, standard-def and all :)
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Great for a fan film
An impressive work for a fan film. Duplicates the look of TOS, and an enjoyable story. On of the best fan films I have seen. I Like the fact that they brought back the original actor who played Apollo. The sets had that same cheesy look from the original series, the costumes, sets and spacesuits were dead on. They also used the original cues and soundtracks from TOS. Chris Doohan plays his father's role, as Scottie. Grant Imahara from myth-busters plays Sulu. It looks like a lot of time and effort was put into this film, and for no monetary gain. It would be nice if CBS brought this to regular TV again. There are few good SciFi shows on TV. Most shows billing themselves as scifi are actually Fantasy.
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10 times better than any current studio Trek
Honestly it freaks me out how good this show is. Story, characters, production values - all incredibly faithful to trek but great in their own right too. New 'trek' shows spend $50+ a season for unwatchable crap. They need to hire absolutely every single one of these people.
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This is the real deal, proves it doesn't take a huge budget to make excellent Star Trek Episodes
This show is really amazing. It is 100% true to the original series and even though it is made by amateurs and mostly unknown actors, it really feels like these could be missing episodes from the original.
You can also tell this was a labor of love and the acting, story, pacing, dialog, sets, etc... all give you the same atmosphere that you get while watching the original. I saw a few reviews knocking some of the acting, but Shatner and crew were never the best actors either...these guys mimic that same acting so keep that in mind when you are watching this...its such a perfect match in even their mannerisms because they follow the original that closely.
Some of people involved in the recent attempts to reboot ST could learn a lot from watching these episodes..this is how its is done! No butchery here or making something that ignores the rules of the ST universe and then just slapping a ST name on it.
Thanks to everyone involved in the making of this! You made a real work of art that brought me back to the days I would sneak out bed so I could catch the late showing of TOS in the early 70's.
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Superb!
What a truly beautiful production! If you didn't know this was fan made, you would think it was professionally made by Hollywood. I enjoyed this show with fondness so much, I fell in love with each of the actors, they truly grew on me. This show has all of the wonderful traits of the Original Star Trek series just in higher resolution. What a top quality production! I wish we had more. Thank you so much to everyone involved in bringing this masterpiece Star Trek Continues into being! You will be missed but remembered by all Star Trek fans for future generations.
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Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2732442/reviews
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