Star Trek: New Voyages

Damn! With the faithful and impressive recreations of the sets and costumes, this effort was truly promising. At first, I just assumed it was supposed to be a new crew, complete with a Vulcan and Black female Communications officer, which was fine with me because the show is so visually pleasing. Then - wait - they're supposed to actually be the classic characters? In that case - with the amount of time and money that must've went into this, the creative forces behind it should have thrown the casting net wider - a lot wider. I almost feel bad saying it, but the lame performances and outright bad acting make this a wasted effort (with the exception of Chekov - he's a keeper). Also, the audio is too dry (or are the actors just that flat?) throw in a little reverb on that opening! Also the live action video is too crisp, isn't there an effect used to make digital look like film? Regardless I applaud the awesome resurrection of the Enterprise Bridge, the colorful uniforms - everything that isn't acting! Way to boldly go!

This show is the reason I watched Star Trek in the first place. It definitely has its problems, but it has more good points than bad. The stories themselves are spot on, and "World enough and time" is one of the best written Trek episodes to date. The acting does seem to improve over time, but still, most of these people are doing a better job than many professional actors. The show also has a sincerity to it that has been missing from all of the other post-Roddenberry (post Next Generation) Treks. I hope they are able to continue, and that this project will at least lead to other money-making opportunities for them in the future. I am definitely looking forward to Blood & Fire and would recommend New Voyages to any Trek fan who's become jaded by the giant money-making soulless machine that Star Trek has become. It just might make you remember why Star Trek inspired you in the first place.

(Note: the IMDb.com comment formatter isn't giving me paragraph breaks like it claims to, so I've inserted a note where there's SUPPOSED to be one. Use your imagination, movie fans! LOL) (paragraph break) OK, what up with that HAIRDO, James??? (paragraph break) But anyway, if you enjoy Star Trek and are jonesing now that there's no series being produced on TV, here's a small fix for you. Check out the web site at newvoyages.com and you'll see that while this is a fan-based labor of love rather than a full-blown Hollywood production, more than just Trekkies are getting involved; some of the folks from the "real" Star Trek shows are showing up too, including Walter Koenig making an upcoming appearance in his original role ("with a twist" according to the promo on the site). Why would these folks get involved with amateurs making a low-budget, non-profit ST production? Hey, that's what you need to find out... so go watch the episodes. (There are only 2 so far so it won't take you long!) (paragraph break) I give them high marks for enthusiasm, vision, creativity, music, and cleverness; medium for casting and SFX, and about the only thing I really would like to lose is that HAIRDO on Kirk.

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 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.