Star Trek: Renegades

First off, I'm a backer and I would donate again to see a Star Trek movie made with recognizable Star Trek actors, in the hope that it will spark a good series and revive the franchise (and wrest it back from the hands of Jar-Jar Abrams).

But on to the movie itself:

The aspect that I already knew not to expect much from was production value, as this was a low- budget crowdfunded project. Surprisingly, this is where the movie made a good impression: I fully expected the set and prop quality to be pretty much like it turned out, but I didn't expect a bad-ass Borg hand-cannon animation. That was really good (though the damage done with that cannon in the actual fights was close to nonexistent).

But the aspects I had the most hope for and that this whole project hinged on, really - the script and the dialogues - were really abysmal. The whole thing, from start to finish, felt and sounded like something written by a high-schooler with distant dreams of going to college to study film and maybe, just maybe, become a passable screenwriter or director one day. The over- the-top lines trying to sound dramatic or deep or bad-ass, the perfectly ignorable intrigue, the ridiculous hand-to-hand combat, the ridiculous character development (direct, blatant and boring descriptions of their past), the ridiculous poem-and- flashback stuff... this movie was so boring I walked away from it to do other stuff around the house about 4 times until I finished it.

For the love of all that is Star Trek, please bring in someone who can write and direct next time you try something like this (Tim Russ, by the way, could've stayed behind the camera for all the impact his character had - he barely said anything during the whole thing, he could've easily been mistaken for Chekhov's Imaginary Friend That Only States the Obvious).

And also, since this is a Star Trek review, I feel compelled to add a reminder - because way too many people seem to have easily forgotten - of what true Star Trek is about: "Space -- the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before."

Not war, not spaceships shooting lasers and photon torpedoes at each other, not political intrigue, not special commando teams doing "dirty work" nobody else can or will do, none of this is the essence of Star Trek. These kinds of things can be done under any other random sci-fi title one could come up with. No, Star Trek is about new worlds and new civilizations and about a ship exploring uncharted regions of the universe. That's why they called it a "trek". That's what needs to be brought back to life, not just the "Star Trek" brand name and superficial visual style.

This a non-profit movie made through Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns, including several actors from the commercial Star Trek movies and series.

I'm not sure what to make of it. It's obviously much too good to be a "fan movie" but not good enough to be a Box Office Hit. Maybe it fits as a "Pilot" or "Pitch" for a TV-Series? The movie is very uneven. I would say ratings for different scenes range all they way from 3 to 9 out of 10. The transition between scenes could sometimes be smoother and some scenes also seem a bit "out of place".

The acting of the Star Trek alumni in the movie is generally good and I must say that the acting skills of Adrienne Wilkinson has improved from the clips seen in the supporter forums "exclusive clips area". It's actually quite good in the final movie. The casting of other characters is uneven with several persons fitting their roles and others obviously not.

I give Special FX 7/10. Most of the to times they are on par with commercial productions but the movie would for example have been better of without "the fire" in a few scenes in the beginning of the movie.

Background music is fitting most of the time, I would say 7/10. Sound FX are also good, as long as you can stand the sound of spaceships in outer space where there's no sound.

The concept behind the the movie is quite interesting and might, if pitched in the right way, be turned into a TV-series.

From an objective standpoint my overall rating ought to be a notch lower, but because I like the concept I give it 7/10 :-)

Before I start Picking.. this is a watchable film, though I feel it will please the 'Trekkers', i feel it will fall short for the general Fans. Still good acting, fair FX, and OK story. Definitely made as a Pilot, of what? possible Web series or another movie?

This fan based film is a film directed by Tim Russ and stars many fine actors including; Adrienne Wilkinson, Walter Koenig, Sean Young, Manu Intiraymi. The story takes place nearly ten years after Voyager's return from the Delta Quadrant. Though I found the story good, inconsistencies with the original Star Trek abounds to even the novice. Voyager for one in the final episode was fitted to take on the Borg, yet the one Star Fleet ship shown, the Averez, seems basically powerless and incapable of rapid firing int eh first battle sequence. This is one dozens of inconsistencies a fan will find throughout this film.One scene has a ship cloaking yet it stay visible.

Sets were fairly good, yet somewhat incomplete and dark. An example is Star Fleet where the room is completely dark to the point there is no walls and actors step into the light. There is even one scene where it appears you can see the stage, whether intended or not. This could be 'Artistic Licensee' but one get the idea after a while that maybe the budget need a few more dollars. Definitely a few props would have helped in some of the green screens.

On the digital side where MUCH better than the typical Asylum Film but somewhat inconsistent, being really good one minute and not so good in other scenes. movie. Though it must be said that some are below standard. The Digital FXs are 'Fair' to 'Great.' Again when thinking overall..inconsistent seems to be only fault.

The music fits most of the time, but definitely not scored for this. Like allot of low budget films, the music is off the shelf. Being so it works OK for background but action or emotions the music needed to be, if not scored, at least enhanced. Also a few scene changes are affected when the background music stays the same. in fact some of the scene changes are a bit poor.. but again I am nic-picking

Overall, this is much more watchable than the typical 'B' movies "pre-produced" such as the 'Asylum Line'of films to mimic hot titles, Asylum's Atlantic Rim comes to mind. But still.... Hats off to all involved. This was a good, watchable film, good acting, FX which if not great, where good and a good story..... Should be interesting to see a follow up .. As for fan based.. hope they continue on....I for one can not wait for AXANAR, hope they overcome the 'low budget' problem of having to cut corners. Hollywood, look out...

I wanted to like this, I kind of did but only because I love all things Star Trek. The acting was wooden (so was voyager at the beginning and the original Star Trek certainly was) the plot was a bit rough too but again so was voyager's pilot as was deep space nine so both of those things were viewed as a loving parent, a bit special currently but will get better with time. However the direction was dire. Weird close ups, rubbish effects, strange angles of shot to name a few things wrong. Frankly it felt a bit amateurish which is illogical captain. When you make a film that mocks other film genres this is how it will look. I'm hopeful it will get better and Tim will get into his stride. I want to like this and I'll be very forgiving due to that

To start with the negative, yes it is a low budget made movie, the acting could have been better, the characters should have been more developed (as it stands they are a bit 2 dimensional portrayed), no actor really stands out, the effects.. well the effects are like the old Galactica style TV series, funny but a bit distracting at times and to top it all of, the camera and editing were below par for serious work.

However:

If you are star trek fan, i would definitely recommend it to you. the style is more raw, the atmosphere is less politically correct and has more place for real human emotions instead of that "we have evolved" BS. I love G.R's vision, but I must admit, I think his vision is a bit outdated, maybe even a bit boring anyone at times anyone ?. For real, we have moved away from Kirk and Picard by now.

I see it as a low budget example of how star trek should be continued. The elements for success are there, I hope these guys can get there act together, improve on all the basic fields, camera, acting editing etc..

I will definitely watch the next version if\when it comes. In the mean time i kind of hope that the "big" guys take notice what a small little gem this crew has set. well done guys, well done.

I think that if you are a Star Trek fan, you owe it to yourself to watch it.

enjoy.