Star Trek Phase II

As an old ( and purist) fan of the Original Series, I must say that "The New Voyages" takes us back for what mattters. Pure and good Star Trek. Surely we don't have here Shatner, Nimoy playing Kirk and Spock, but the sets, the stories are so good that the only thing that we can feel is a great sense of satisfaction. In this "New Voyages", these talented people ( fans including) does not only invented a new way to tells stories, but to make them come true. And I really had tears in my eyes when I saw again William Window as Commodore Decker. This enterprise shows us that some fans can make better things than the producers of Paramount. Fans that really understands what Star Trek is.

It took me about 10 minutes to get past not having Shatner and gang in their roles, then I really started to enjoy myself. The snub to NBC gave me a chuckle right off. The objections I've read seem to fall into 1. It's not the original cast. Well it couldn't be now could it? These are characters. For instance how many James Bonds' have their been? Also, I feel its totally unfair to call it a 'rip off' since one of their conditions is to not make a profit. If it would make it easier for you, consider this a parallel universe. 2. The effects are cheap. What they have done is to re-create the essence of TOS by duplicating the plywood sets of the original but replacing models (expensive and time consuming) with CGI (which was adopted by TNG and the successive shows) where feasible. I'm impressed and appreciative that these young people have taken the bull by the horns so to speak and basically said "If they won't make it, we will!" Shades of The little red hen there. Congrats on the effort gang.

I happened to have stumbled onto to STNV totally by accident. I am a long time Star Trek fan and pride myself on my following of all of the series from beginning to end. I watched TOS as a boy from start to finish and then over the years watched each episode many many times. I am one of those fans that, if you were just a smidge MORE of a fan than I, you would have a closet full of federation uniforms and be able to speak conversational Klingon. I did attend a few conventions and I had fun, but never dressed up or anything.

This is all by way of saying STNV really surprised me. I found the stories and scripts to be excellent. Very much on a par with TOS and in some ways it is superior. I was thrilled to see Bill Windom make a final bow as Decker and I marveled at what I saw to be some nice direction and computer graphic work. The two episodes I have watched were far superior to ANY fan film I have ever encountered. As Tim Allen said in Galaxy Quest, "It's usually just some cardboard sets in a garage".

I do need to say a word or two about the acting though. It is, for the most part, patently bad. Some raw talent here and there, but with the exception of the young lady playing Uhura (an NYU Tisch School of the Arts grad) there is not a spec of training amongst the regulars and, for the most part, they are blocks of wood. This is the area in which you see the amateur "FAN" side of this fan film. All other aspects are pretty first rate.

Bravo to all who take part. 7 out of 10

I am an original fan of Star Trek having watched the original series as a boy on my parent's B&W TV. Star Trek: New Voyages has released several new episodes based on the original series with new actors reprising the now legendary roles.

The special effects are excellent for a not-for-profit production and the sound effects and music are dead on the original. These facets combine with some good "campy" script writing to accurately produce a plausible mirror of the original Trek. The story lines capture many of the cherished elements of the original series that helped propel it into cult status. I especially enjoyed the rather well done repartee between Spock, Bones and Kirk. This camaraderie was always a hallmark in the original.

I see that Gene Roddenberry's son Gene Roddenberry, Jr, has joined the production as a Consulting Producer. This reinforces my opinion that the "Great Bird of the Galaxy" would look favorably upon these endeavors. Roddenberry was an extraordinary man who lived an amazing life that helped form his vision of a possible future, that vision became Star Trek. I see much of that grand vision present in Star Trek: New Voyages and I look forward to future episodes.

I have said for years that Paramount should put out a questionaire on obscure Trek topics and conventions, and whoever gets the most right gets to be the series continuity director. As every fan knows, the actural series completely sucks at its own continuity.

The real treat here, is these guys have done it. Taken the most obscure trek lore and worked into the story line that can not help but bring out a chuckle for those "in the know." I saw "in Harm's Way" first, which out of the two available is the better. The storyline is actually quite good considering its an amateur effort. The sets are incredible, the special effects are pretty good, and overall I give this high marks.

The acting is pretty gawd awful though. It very much reminds me of some efforts at a few Star Trek conventions I've been to... however, its not totally without merit. There are some great performances... but the Scotty and Janice Rand need A LOT of work.

Overall, this is a fanboy's dream come true, an incredible accomplishment considering this was done in someone's spare time. Kudos to all those involved! Want more!