Star Trek Continues

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.