The fan based series "Star Trek-New Voyages" premiered the other night on the Internet. The premise of the show takes place during the original series and basically continues the original 5-year mission. All of the classic characters (except Mr.Sulu) are portrayed by new actors. The people that produce this show obviously have a lot of passion for the original series. The sets were constructed with a lot of attention to detail, and the way the film is shot reminds you of the original series. The way the scenes are framed to match the technique used in the original series is done masterfully. This new series is being produced by individuals completely out of pocket! There is no charge to download the episodes (so far only one exist), but they are asking for donations that are all given to the "Space Shuttle Children’s Fund!" You can find more information about this new series at there web site! It's pretty cool, and reveals what direction Trek probably should have taken instead of bringing about "Enterprise!"

http://www.5yearmission.com/STNV_WEB_files/index1.htm

Wow they must have some serious bandwith limitations for download. Using a cable modem and its downloading at 5 kbps. That really sucks.

www.starshipexeter.com has announced they are making new "classic Trek" oriented episodes too. Check out their first episode if you have not seen it.

heck, I dowloaded the whole thing in 5 minutes. Guess I used up their bandwidth :D.

Quickie review:

A for effort.

The sets, especially the bridge, look fantastic.

The CG effects are phenominal. I'm of the camp that does NOT want to see TOS redone with CG effects, but for a new fan production I have nothing at all against them. 10 out of 10 for effects.

Acting - not one of the cast came close to capturing the character of the original characters. Sorry. And what the hell was with Kirk's hair?!!? Their acting in general was decent ameteur-level.

Script: Okay. Too many references to later Trek for my taste, but it was fun and interesting. But the outright repeating of dialog from "Where No Man has Gone Before" and "Wrath of Kahn" at the beginning was pathetic. 3 points off for that.

Lighting: TERRIBLE! They need to buy more than two light bars. People ooming out of pitch-black elevators and hallways looks terrible.

Speaking of elevators, it was getting pretty silly watching the turbolift go DOWN to the bridge! :freak:

Still, looking forward to the next episode. The "Hidden Frontier" people only got better as they went along.

JP! I'm surprised at you... think out of the box. The camera is viewing the turbo lift from above as it rises to th bridge. (I think)

I thought it was great have only managed to download up to the 3rd act, but I think it has potential. Great stuff :thumbsup: great set, acting will hopefully get better. Chekov still hasn't learned to control himself. (COuldn't stop laughing when he just shot :roll: )

SPOILER:

They were obviously not happy with Kirk's demise in "Generations" as we hear someone say "captain kirk is alive" during his visions of the future. Terriffic! :hat:

OK, just saw the rest of "Come What May". Nothing short of an excellent production. The only constructive thing I would say (and only from a public perspective - nothing professional in my opinions!) was the flow of the story line. But a great effort - better than some "Enterprise" shows I've seen. :dude:

That was just pretty darned impressive, for what it is. I agree with John; the sets were excellent reproductions of the originals. I also enjoyed The Savage Empire from Starship Excalibur, but the sets in that production don't look as convincing as these.

No, the acting wasn't spot-on, but then again, even the most talented actors can't perfectly mimic someone else's portrayal of the same role — witness the continuity problems between Saavik in ST II and ST III; both are good portrayals, but I can't watch Robin Curtis and think her character is the same character as the one played by Kirstie Alley. That's why it would've been impractical for Trek to try to do something like this. With that said, if they continue this effort into a series of multiple episodes, I saw potential for some of these guys to settle into the roles and possibly capture the original characters fairly well. Seeing these guys play the scenes from the movies was oddly discomforting yet satisfying at the same time.

The story was pretty good; the mysterious enemy makes me wonder exactly when the borg assimilated the goa'uld!

The effects were indeed awesome. I didn't at first realize the Enterprise was CG; I was trying to figure out how they got the camera to fit between the dorsal and the pylon in the first fly-by shot.

All in all, it came across as pretty fun. Thumbs up from me!

>even the most talented actors can't perfectly mimic someone else's portrayal of the same role — witness the continuity problems between Saavik in ST II and ST III; both are good portrayals, but I can't watch Robin Curtis and think her character is the same character as the one played by Kirstie Alley.

I don't necessarily disagree with your point, but Robin Curtis didn't try to match Alley's interpretation of Saavik; she never even watched it, at least at the point she made Star Trek III. Big mistake, in my opinion. She squeezed the life out of the character, and the truth is we don't really even know if she could have done better with some familiarity with the character.

Qapla'

SSB

I don't necessarily disagree with your point, but Robin Curtis didn't try to match Alley's interpretation of Saavik; she never even watched it, at least at the point she made Star Trek III. Big mistake, in my opinion. She squeezed the life out of the character, and the truth is we don't really even know if she could have done better with some familiarity with the character.

I didn't realize that she never watched the first incarnation of the character. Maybe she just decided to do it as she wanted, since she couldn't mimic someone else ... interesting thought. That's one thing I have to give the New Voyages actors credit for — it probably would've been painful to watch if they'd painstakingly tried to mimic the original actors to a T. Would've been interesting to see Robin Curtis do the same thing ...

I forgave Robin Curtiss for he Saavik years ago when I saw her at a con and found out she's an absolute sweetheart.

What you have to realize about her performance is that she did whatever Nimoy told her to do. He ordered her to forget the half-Romulan stuff and play Saavik as a pure unemotional pure-bread vulcan. She said "he's THE Vulcan, and the director, and who was I to argue?"

>Maybe she just decided to do it as she wanted, since she couldn't mimic someone else

Yes, as John P noted above, Curtis didn't watch Alley's performance at the direction/urging of Nimoy. Of course, that begs the question of what the heck he was thinking. Of all the Starfleet characters ever introduced in the films, Saavik (as played by Alley) was by far the most interesting. But then, I'm almost certainly preaching to the choir ...

Qapla'

SSB

I'll probably be flamed for not knowing, but why didn't Kirstie continue in the following films?

As I recall, she asked for more money and Paramount got all stingey. Also, I think the chance to do Cheers came up at the same time. She may have wanted to do a series instead of a movie.

Have any of you guys checked out starshipexeter.com? Also with hair and acting challenges, but one thing is fun: They used the old, 18" AMT kit for their starship.

ya, I noticed that ...and they did nothing to correct its now pretty obvious flaws. Interesting how they put the model on a dolly (and a bit bumpy at that) for their moving SPX shots. But hey, they're having fun, so what the heck.

John O.

http://p087.ezboard.com/fcowcreekfilmsfrm39.showMessage?topicID=2.topic

New news about the next episode!! Be amazed! :eek:

And hopefully Fontana will write a story that doesn't involve fanboy time travel wet dreams.

Don't mince words, John, tell us how you really feel! :p

So, New Voyages is TOS related stuff...? Never really paid any attention to it.

^ Another convert? Give in, it is the human thing to do.

I wish they'd make Quicktime versions available. I usually have problems with the others.

Qapla'

SSB

So, New Voyages is TOS related stuff...? Never really paid any attention to it.

Oh, do give it a look. It's worth seeing. they actually have guest stars from the original series! Eddie Passky (Mr Leslie) is an Admiral now. The second one features William Windom and Barbara Luna (who is no less gorgeous now than 40 years ago). The only thing they have to tone down is the everything-including-the-kitchen-sink plotlines, and the Roadrunner cartoon special effects (I swear I heard the Enterprise go "beeee-WOOP!" as it zipped off screen once :lol: ) .. Oh, and Kirk's Elvis hircut. I hear he's losing that for ep 3.

BTW , when did they say eps. will be available? :)

Ah, OK. I've tried to DL stuff from there - as well as the Starship Exeter site - over the last year or so and never have any good luck w/it. Being on Dialup SUXXOR!!1!!

^^ I have dialup. With 56K modem I get 24K on my line. I have downloaded New Vovages,Exeter, Hidden frontier, and many SW fan films. The key is to download while you sleep, or not at home.

Well, I have a broadband connection and I still had to let New Voyages download overnight. Their bandwidth limitation is horrible. I tried several of the mirror sites and they were the same or worse.

However, after a long wait, I finally saw "In Harms Way" and was mostly impressed. The acting is the weak link here. What the hell were they thinking with Kirk's hair?!?! Please lose it. I think the actors for Kirk, Spock and McCoy are frankly too young. Perhaps they should have taken the Exeter route and utilized a new crew and new ship.

The effects were good if a bit too "animated." I just don't see Constitution class ships maneuvering like F-16s, but that's their take.

Barbara Luna is such a hottie! It was great seeing her again as well as William Windom. Unfortunately for the production, the small scene with Luna and Windom illustrated the vast chasm between true actors and fanboy actors. They came off as more natural and genuine in their very small bit. It was actually moving to see Windom as Decker again. His was always one of the best guest actor spots on TOS. I loved the shuttle in the garage as well as the uniform for Will.

The story had its high points, but I agree that there was too much emphasis on tieing in with every conceivable reference to TOS and beyond. I expected to see Picard and the Enterprise D pop in at the last minute.

So, this is listed as episode 2 and they're working on episode 3. Where is episode 1? It's not available on the site unless I'm missing something.

The hair is there because the guy who plays Kirk is a profesional Elvis impersonator. Me, I thought it was because they were simulating what TOS would have been like if Jack Lord had been cast :).

The ships don't maneuver like F-16s. An F-16 would fly apart if it maneuvered that severely! They maneuver more like Warner Bros cartoon characters :lol:.

The hair is there because the guy who plays Kirk is a profesional Elvis impersonator.

"Ah one for the money."
"Ah two for the show."
"Ah three to get ready, now fire torpedoes!" :tongue:

The ships don't maneuver like F-16s. An F-16 would fly apart if it maneuvered that severely! They maneuver more like Warner Bros cartoon characters :lol:.

Point taken. It looks like several different animation styles were utilized. Some were quite good and some were just awkward. I hope they maintain more consistency with TOS in future CG. The models themselves looked very good. Slow them down a bit so we can get a look at them.

There's much discussion over at TrekBBS.com (in the General Trek forum) with the actual actors and producers of the series. Trust me, they've been WELL informed of the various criticisms! :lol:

http://p087.ezboard.com/fcowcreekfilmsfrm39.showMessage?topicID=6.topic

More surprise news on guest star! Really amazing!! :eek: :thumbsup:

http://p087.ezboard.com/fcowcreekfilmsfrm39.showMessage?topicID=6.topic

More surprise news on guest star! Really amazing!! :eek: :thumbsup:

Great news, but it sounds like it'll have to be yet another time travel story. :rolleyes:

Great news, but it sounds like it'll have to be yet another time travel story. :rolleyes:
One of these days, you'll go back in time and eat those words! :D

Sounds cool. But that bio of Koenig ... I began to think it would tell me which elementary school plays he was in, and where he buys groceries! ;)

Qapla'

SSB

I'd rather see these guys...
http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/500/16Newtrek1.jpg

...words fail. Freakish that Clooney makes a pretty good Vulcan.

This is a few years old, but clearly we've been thinking along similar lines...

I'd rather see these guys...
http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/500/16Newtrek1.jpg

Who is that as Kirk?

Timothy Olyphant from HBO's "Deadwood."

This is a few years old, but clearly we've been thinking along similar lines...

So we're agreed, then. Get me Sinise's agent on the phone...

Timothy Olyphant from HBO's "Deadwood."

He looks funny without the facial hair and cool hat.