Star Trek Continues (2013–2017) User Reviews

A wonderful achievement, in both style and substance

[adolphe-artin · 8/10 · 8 March 2014]

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.

Lovingly made - watch the whole episode!

[amberm18 · 8/10 · 25 October 2013]

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!

Now this is Star Trek

[Terryfan · 9/10 · 12 November 2020]

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

Four Words: Give It A Chance

[StuOz · 18 July 2018]

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.

Great acting, lighting, directing and (most importantly) *story*

[rmagee-835-481748 · 9/10 · 3 November 2013]

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 :)

The Best Fan-Film Series Ever Created!

[Johnny-the-Film-Sentinel-2187 · 9/10 · 18 May 2017]

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.

Great for a fan film

[mysticzzz-314-529114 · 8/10 · 21 July 2013]

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.

Caught me off guard

[cooper-29 · 9/10 · 4 August 2021]

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.

Accomplishes exactly what it tries to do

[roy_imdb · 8/10 · 23 October 2013]

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.

Wonderful Recreation Of TOS

[lydiagaebe-169-197169 · 7/10 · 12 June 2013]

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.

True to The Original Series

[justinsvalois · 10/10 · 7 November 2013]

OK, Im going to be honest. I grew up on TNG, and am not the biggest fan of TOS. Granted, I want to buy the full TV show and movie series.... cause ST is better than SW hands down, and always will be. Anyways, Now to my review.

I think this episode, was actually very VERY true to the original series. The acting is much the same, the props were well done, and they did a great job. I couldn't think of giving them less than 10/10 just because they aren't the original actors... (DUUH) They did an EXCELLENT job.

I watched the whole episode and enjoyed it very much... now I REALLY want to buy TOS....

Great job, and keep up the great work!

Nice take on what Star Trek supposed to be.

[JamieMarsTheFanFilmMaster · 7/10 · 28 February 2021]

Have been watching bits of it on YouTube, haven't done a full episode yet. Technically it's brilliant, rivaling even the set recreation in the DS9 "Trials and Tribbleations" episode. Lights, sets music, everything is spot on. From an acting standpoint, this show would make a great object lesson in how different actors approach the same character. Michelle Specht comes off best, partly because there are no preconceived notions of her character. Not only does she nail the 60's style actress glamour,she also gets the style of acting while giving honest depth to the role. The other actors do well but none of them quite reach the levels of charisma the original series actors had. Vic has Shatner's physicality down pat, but lacks Shatner's swagger and unpredictable energy. There's a little sense of the show kind of trapping the new actors. Since it's such a faithful recreation of TOS, the expectation to duplicate original performance hamstring the actors. Say what you will about the Kelvin timeline movies,( and I know many of you hate them but I don't,and I'm a first generation Trekkie having seen Spock's Brain" on NBC primetime at 9 years old, and getting hooked for life) I also worked on ST The experience In The 90's and was the director of the original walk around cast) the actors of that iteration were allowed a little creative wiggle room to interpret their characters. But all this is quibbling, the Continues episodes are great fun and do fill in story gaps that fans have imagined for many years. May everyone who put the work into creating it Live Long and Prosper!

Don't

[galahad58-1 · 3/10 · 1 June 2013]

It is really hard to get over all the "soft" voices in this show. The guy playing Kirk sounds like a little boy and has zero charisma and thus will not remind you of the Kirk we all know and love. The guy playing Spock sounds like a little kid also and you lose the command that Leonard Nimoy brought to his lines. James Doohan's son sounds like he is making a joke out of his father's famous role and it doesn't work at all. The sets are cheesy--and they try to be as cheesy as the original--but they are even worse than the 60's versions. The makeup is terrible and it looks like a home video production that someone did in their basement. A better cast may have given this some "umph" that would have made it interesting to watch--instead it is a weak effort that doesn't give the Star Trek universe anything positive.

Never cared for fan series until this....its almost better than original

[sumtim3s00n · 4 December 2017]

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.

A Breath of Fresh Air

[zenmateisshite · 9/10 · 5 September 2016]

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.

Excellent Series that Should be Considered Canon

[wgordon316 · 10/10 · 6 March 2019]

This isn't some green-screen, poorly-acted fanboy production, it's an extremely well done series that looks and feels like the 1960s series. The Ships and scenes in space look like the "remastered" CGI versions from several years ago, which look great in my opinion, and the sets and uniforms are exactly as they should be.

I have read other reviews complaining about the acting, or complaining that "there's only one Captain Kirk and his name is William Shatner" and so on. Well, DUH. Unless you can invent time travel and convince the TV executives in the 60s to keep Trek on the air, this is the next best thing. I have watched all 11 episodes, and I plan on watching them again right after my next viewing of the Original Series and Animated Series.

The cast and crew, writers and directors and everyone involved have done a phenomenal job with this project, and I hope they plan on doing more Trek in the future!

Reliving the past

[riccibilotta-167-829847 · 8/10 · 28 September 2018]

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😄.

What a 4th Season of Star Trek would have looked like

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 21 November 2017]

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.

Extraordinary Recreation of TOS

[Jaybird248 · 9/10 · 6 April 2015]

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.

The closest thing to a life long dream come true

[baxter_clete · 10/10 · 9 September 2020]

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.

Superior Trek fan production...

[sykespj · 7/10 · 13 September 2016]

It is really hard to rate a fan production of any kind, let alone one that aims to recreate Trek's original series. It took me a couple of episodes to warm to the characters, but ultimately 'Continues' leaves all other fan series for dead. It is well written and generally well acted, and it is easy to mistake the meticulously crafted sets for the real thing.

Vic Mignogna and Todd Haberkorn put in fine performances as Kirk and Spock. Grant Imahara is a capable Sulu, but looks a bit like he has gone to warp drive a few too many times. Chuck Huber's horrid hairpiece detracts from what is otherwise a very good performance as Dr. McCoy. The other main characters are a mixed lot, but none of them are in the 'total disaster' category (unlike other unnamed fan series). They even manage to nail the 'cornball corner' moments as well as any replicator out there. And there are 60s-looking babes aplenty (need I say more?).

For mine it is the sets, costumes and production design that really distinguish this series from the others. A few CGI-FX tip that the series is well-and-truly beyond the 60s. Other than that, it would be pretty easy to pass the series off as the genuine item if it had of aired in 1970... and that's no mean feat.

Don't expect great Trek, but if you are satisfied with a bit of nostalgic fun, this series is well worth checking out.

Very Pleasantly Surprised

[magnum-ajt · 8/10 · 16 March 2021]

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

The best fan tribute

[nephihaha · 7/10 · 29 November 2018]

I have seen many unofficial Star Trek tributes, and this is far and away the best in terms of acting, attention to detail and production values e.g. music. (The only other contender is the Axanar film, which I have only ever seen clips of and which has been withdrawn)

The series takes two or three episodes to find its stride, but after that it is pretty excellent. It is let down a bit by the intrusion of contemporary political ideas in the later episodes (some might say SJW themes), which are handled ineptly, but otherwise highly watchable, and better than some of the later Star Trek franchises such as DS9 or Enterprise. Despite this, it often feels like watching the original series in a good way.

The casting is excellent, except for Bones. A better Bones was found part way through. The depictions of Kirk, Spock, Uhuru and Scotty are on point. A counsellor called McKennah is introduced, presumably to create a bridge to the Next Generation and the Counsellor Troi character In it. This is less successful, but I can just about put up with the character.

The best episode is "Fairest of them All" which is a sequel to the "Mirror Mirror" episode in the original series, and I recommend starting with that.

The entire series is available on YouTube, should you wish to watch it.

I'm sorry, but this is just bad.

[tangomississippi · 3/10 · 25 August 2015]

Oh, but I wanted it to be good!

The sets, props, costuming, make-up, and special effects are all great. Truly, these capture the original spirit of the show, and this is the reason I was loathe to rate this one star. So, I gave this three stars for the visuals. Unfortunately, this is where my ability to say anything great about this show ends.

I love Star Trek. I am one of the biggest fans. And I know fans like to make fan stuff, and put it up online, and we all high five each other. And that's great. I appreciate the effort. I really do. But, this just made me cringe. Many, many times.

The writing just simply is not very good. The episodes feel like badly written speculative scripts. Much of the dialogue is unnatural, and filled with tropes and clichés that reference the original source work. These don't "prove" to me that the work is any more legitimate, or that the people creating it are "such great fans" of the work that they pepper in little references to the past work - These are annoying, and only serve to remind me that I'm watching something that just isn't remotely as good as the original. There is a difference between CONTINUING something and COPYING something. From what I've seen of this show, it serves as a poor copy of the original, and just doesn't provide anything continuing or new at all.

I dislike saying anything bad about the actors. They're people putting themselves in front of the camera, and they're trying to put on a good show. I also feel badly because they are clearly struggling with poor writing. But, I feel it needs to be said that a MAJOR PROBLEM with this show is the people they have cast in the main roles just are not very talented or charismatic. I hate to call for the entire main cast to be scrapped, but that's the only thing that would get me to watch any more of this. (And to find some better writers, please.) I'm really sorry. Many of the guest actors have done a great job. And, of course they would - They're seasoned actors. Most of the people in the main cast are at the skill level you would expect from a high school production. They're just not very good. Again, I'm sorry. Uhura and Scotty are the least offensive casting choices of them all. What we have is a captain that doesn't look like the captain, act like the captain, or charm like the captain. A Spock that looks kind of like Spock, but is soft spoken, has apparently confused showing lack of emotion with having a complete lack of energy, and stiffly delivers dialogue practically verbatim from TOS. A McCoy that doesn't look, act, or sound like McCoy at all... Sulu is Asian, so they got that right, at least. But, again, many of these shortcomings can be attributed to what is genuinely bad writing. The interaction between the characters was a part of the original TOS charm. (Spock and McCoy's banter, with funny quips and retorts, for example.)

I stopped watching this at the second episode, Lolani. I just couldn't stand another minute of this. SPOILER ALERT: For the better part of the episode, Kirk is wringing his hands about what to do to save the poor little Orion slave girl. This poor girl who stabbed somebody in the neck and killed them, threatened a crewman with a knife, attempted to seduce Kirk, and then seduced a crewman and convinced him to steal a shuttle craft for them to run away together in. (This same crew man is later seen wandering around freely on the ship, and is allowed to man the transporter. Uh huh.) Rather than do the obvious thing (offer to buy her from her master) he decides to invite her master on board the ship, p!ss him off so that he takes great pleasure in NOT selling her to him, and then sends the two of them back to the slave owner's ship. So what we have here is an indecisive captain who walks around moping and whining because he can't do anything, who seems to think insubordination is okey dokey, and then completely bungles an attempt at diplomacy. (This is not the captain... nope.) So I'm pretty irritated at this point with the show, but it isn't over yet! Kirk looks off in the air, kinda' funny (stroke?) and then inexplicably decides to violate direct orders from Starfleet to pursue their ship, to try to transport her from their moving ship onto his moving ship, only BOOM! The ship exploded. (Wow. How convenient.) Did Lolani blow it up? Probably. Nobody really knows. It just goes BOOM and Kirk walks off the bridge, all sad, while everybody sits there, stupidly. Spock doesn't say jack about what caused the explosion. He just stares, too. But how CONVENIENT to blow that ship up, eh? This way we can say Kirk TRIED to do something, but is saved just before he ruins his career. Please....

Terrible, TERRIBLE writing.

Star Trek Continues : A More Than Worthy Attempt

[cryptoscience · 6 May 2015]

Some spoiler alerts. I began reading the initial review for Star Trek Continues and started to agree here and there then re-read the review. I suppose the reviewer must have more than a bit of Vic Mignogna envy.

Let's cover points I do agree with. Mignogna does lack the firm, deep tone I would want from a Kirk character. It would be nice if he did some post production audio work. However, his characterization is spot on, especially in the follow up Mirror, Mirror episode Fairest of Them All. I can easily see Shatner acting with the same panicked frustration.

All of the actors and actresses were fairly shot down with their acting abilities. Nemecek as McCoy could use improvement. Yes, a lack of southern drawl and a huge chunk of being an active role in the Kirk/Spock/McCoy pyramid. Unfortunately a good deal of what would have been his roles go to Ms. Specht as the Counselor. She could certainly be dropped and I would not be sad. However, I have seen worse acting.

Scripts - yes, could be better. I was not a fan of Imahara as a crying Sulu in the first episode when his buddy was lost. Sorry, I can't picture Sulu crying like a little girl. Nor was I a fan of Lolani. The "Big Green Machine" of Lou Ferrigno would have made a great villain in later episodes. However, I am more than willing to give the group more than a 3 episode run before condemning their efforts. And you have forgotten that the series is being filmed in such a way that it looks as though it "continued" from the original.

Whining about Lenart being a blue-eyed Chekov reached hypocrisy at warp speed.When did Shatner's eyes turn blue like Chris Pine? All in all - I have seen worse. Mignogna and crew are doing a pretty good job. If you can do better, give us the URL so we can see, otherwise, give the guys and golden tribble for at least trying. I rather see their episodes than a JJ Trek production any time.