written by Carlos Pedraza & David Gerrold
directed by David Gerrold
music by Fred Steiner

Cast: James Cawley (Captain Kirk), Ben Toplin (Mr. Spock), John Kelley (Dr. McCoy), Bobby Quinn Rice (Ensign Peter Kirk), Evan Fowler (Alex Freeman), Denise Crosby (Dr. Jenna Yar), Bill Blair (Commander Blodgett), John Carrigan (Commander Kargh), Charles Root (Scott), Jay Storey (Kyle), Kim Stinger (Uhura), Ron Boyd (DeSalle), Andy Bray (Chekov), Meghan King Johnson (Rand), Nick Cook (Hodel), Paul R. Sieber (Agrens), Patrick Bell (Xon), Debbie Huth (Fontana), Jeff Mailhotte (Sentell), Joel Bellucci (Bren), Anne Carrigan (Le’ak), James Avalon (Klaar)

Notes: Dr. Jenna Yar (full name: Jenna Natasha Yar) is the grandmother of Lt. Tasha Yar from Star Trek: The Next Generation; by this stage she has already had a daughter, presumably Tasha’s mother, who is safe on Earth and isn’t seen in this story. Section 31 is retroactively worked into the classic Trek timeline here; it was actually first mentioned in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the 1990s, and later in Star Trek: Enterprise.

Review: The long-awaited second half of this Trek cliffhanger arrived more than a year after the first part hit the web, and even so, I’m writing this review based on a mostly-complete pre-release edit whose final two acts are still in the “temp edit” stage.

The first part of Blood And Fire was about as good as a fan film’s going to get anytime soon, so all that part two has to do is live up to it. In a strange way, it succeeds and doesn’t quite reach the same level, all at the same time. It succeeds in wrapping up the actual story, bringing Section 31 into the fray and adding a surprisingly low-key celebrity cameo from Denise Crosby, and it barrels toward the inevitable grim conclusion of the happy couple set up in part one (anytime wedding bells are heard aboard the Enterprise, it’s practically the bell of doom for somebody – see also Balance Of Terror).

I hesitate to criticize the pacing or editing of segments of the show that aren’t finalized, because in the end it may not be what everyone else sees when Blood And Fire Part II hits the web in finished form; there’s an element of the story that unfolds in an almost Farpoint-esque way, and it’s given a lot of time to unfold like that. And yet I like, or at least understand, some of the editing decisions – the sheer sense of wonder is palpable, the effects are gorgeous and the part of me that still enjoys the languid FX shots of Star Trek: The Motion Picture doesn’t want them to touch the pacing at all.

Punches are not pulled on telegraphing to the audience the scope of the personal loss that Peter Kirk faces, and Bobby Rice pulls no punches in getting that across. Some of his dialogue is looped in the scene where all of these plot developments come home, and while it may not sound completely naturalistic, it is at least true to the editing style of classic Trek (go back and watch the closing scenes of Charlie X for a similar example).

For the regular cast, Kirk and company and thrust into more conflict than even the movies have foisted upon those characters, particularly between Kirk and McCoy. Bones gets to be a downright irascible bastard in this episode, and John Kelley is up to the challenge of taking him there. High marks are also due for Evan Fowler and for Denise Crosby, who gets something a bit less campy than Sela here. Bill Blair does the best he can in the role of Blodgett, but the character as written stops just short of twirling his moustache in some scenes.

Overall, it’s another outstanding entry for Phase II / New Voyages; I guess my ambivalence about this episode as opposed to Part I is that I’m wondering where the allegory went. For years, tales have circulated about Blood And Fire being an appropriately fiery criticism of the lack of forward motion on a cure for AIDS, with the bloodworms standing in for the disease; Part II really seems to drop that ball. I was ready – and rooting for – David Gerrold to tear into all sorts of social injustices, and somehow it just doesn’t happen. Maybe over the years the legend became bigger than the story itself. In any case, the script as written/rewritten is expertly executed.

written by Paul Ebbs & Gareth Preston
directed by Bill Baggs
music by Mike Neilson and Steve Johnson

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Foot Doctor), Mark Donovan (The Salesman), Nigel Fairs (Geoff / The Licensor), Jo Castleton (Gloria), Nigel Peever (Rassilon), Gareth Preston (Delivery Man / Cyberon), Rupert Booth (Sontaran / Auton), Philip T. Robinson (Auton / Cyberon), Paul Griggs (Auton / Cyberon), Paul Ebbs (Cyberon voice), Steve Johnson (Cyberon voice)

Notes: Despite poking much fun at the unlicensed equivalents of the Doctor and the Cybermen, many of the Doctor Who baddies who appear here are licensed, and their creators are credited: the Sontarans and Autons (both created by Robert Holmes), and the Krynoid (created by Robert Banks Stewart).

Review: It’s funny watching Do You Have A Licence To Save This Planet? in retrospect. The whole message of this half-hour send-up of the Doctor Who format – such as it was in the 1980s – and its many easily-pounced-upon foibles is simple: Doctor Who fans don’t need the BBC anymore. Arguably, they don’t even need to license anything from the BBC anymore to make fan films.

Oh, how times have changed.

To be fair, BBV isn’t just mocking the BBC – it’s also mocking BBV. The not-so-licensed Cyberons – BBV’s copyright-dodging answer to the Cybermen (all they’re really missing is the jug-handle ears) – are front and center, and are ripe for the comedic picking, continual voice-modulated utterances of “Excellent!” and all. Helping the whole thing move along is Sylvester McCoy, in full-on silly mode; past Doctors have been more than adept at comedy, but this is a broad farce almost on a vaudevillian level. Short of the late, great Jon Pertwee, the only ex-Doctor who could’ve pulled this off is McCoy. High marks also go to the next-door neighbors – and to some surprisingly good special effects, including a passable CGI TARDIS interior.

It’s all terribly silly, but Do You Have A Licence To Save This Planet? must be viewed with its original context in mind: it was the post-McGann-movie 1990s. The BBC had brought Doctor Who back and then dropped the ball again, effectively leaving the property where it had been in the pre-McGann-movie early ’90s: in the hands of fan novelists, fan filmmakers, and fan comic artists. There are even tongue-in-cheek acknowledgements in the dialogue that the Doctor Who format simply wouldn’t work anymore in prime time.

Again, how times – and Time Lords – have changed. And not just because real, proper Doctor Who returned to TV in 2005, either: by the time this video was released (2001), several of Bill Baggs’ former cohorts broke ranks to do properly licensed Doctor Who for Big Finish’s audio range, something that Baggs was shut out of because he had irritated the BBC for several years with his own audio productions which were “Doctor Who in everything but name”; in that sense, Baggs may be flipping the bird to his old buddies here too.

This is definitely an in-joke for the fans, but it isn’t so obscure that others won’t enjoy it. It’s amazing how cheeky the whole thing is in thumbing its nose at the BBC… which probably explains why it continues to languish in out-of-print VHS obscurity now.

written by Nick Cook
directed by Alan Christison, Stephen Pasqua & Nick Cook
music by Bodo Hartwig / Intrepid theme by Dylan Feeney

Cast: Alan Christison (Commander Navar), Steven Pasqua (Lt. Cole), Gordon Dickson (Kashid-Zar), Jay Clark (PO Jaden Antos), Chris Cassell (Security Guard)

Review: Following on directly from the previous short, Where There’s A Sea…, Turning Point delivers another compact, economic piece of drama that moves the plot – both political and character-oriented – of Intrepid forward significantly. In six minutes and change.

Even moreso than its predecessor, Turning Point is shot entirely practical, with no composite work and, aside from an opening shot of the ship, no CG work whatsoever. In fact, the whole thing’s actually shot on a single set. (Why three directors? I think that’s down to something we used to call the “Jump Cut City method” – whoever wasn’t in a given shot was behind the camera.) The stark lighting works well in this case, and the whole thing is very well performed and put together; even the sound is acceptable this time.

While some fan films’ vignettes are taster pieces – intended to keep the eagerly-waiting fans happy between full-length episodes – I admire the Intrepid team’s willingness to dare to advance the storyline in these short pieces. It all adds up to an intriguing whole.

written by Nick Cook
directed by Steve Hammond
music by David Beukes / Intrepid theme by Dylan Feeney

Cast: Nick Cook (Captain Hunter), Steven Pasqua (Lt. Cole), Lucie Cook (Lt. Caed / Orion), Steve Hammond (Captain Merik), Alain DeMol (Erik De Meyer / CPO D’Gor), Marco Piva (Rafael Batista), David Robertson (PO Josh Taylor), Dave Lees (CPO Alex Quint), Alan Score (Admiral Prentice), Gordon Dickson (Kashid-Zar), Jay Clark (PO Jaden Antos), Gary Paterson (Duffy), Alison Dickson (Kendrick), Nick Beckwith (Orion), Ann Dixon (Orion)

Review: An interesting short subject set in the Intrepid’s “universe”, Where There’s A Sea… advances the complicated political situation introduced in the first episode and delivers a hell of a shoot ‘em up in the space of about 11 minutes.

It’s interesting to note that there’s a bare minimum of virtual set work in this short; almost everything is shot practical on real sets. There are still a few telltale signs that the Intrepid crew is working out some lighting quirks, and despite valiant attempts to redress and disguise it, it’s hard to hide that many of the “sets” seem to be either the same room or the same set of partition walls; planted-on paraphenalia such as Starfleet signage and “screens” help matters a bit. I appreciate the effort to shoot things “real”, however, so I won’t complain much – it certainly speeds up post-production not having to composite every single background in. I’m not expecting a perfect replica of the Voyager bridge to spring up in Scotland somewhere – the virtual sets are a necessary evil. But where they do show up here, it’s also very easy to tell that the Intrepid team is getting better at it.

Another area that could stand improvement is a holdover from Heavy Lies The Crown: sound recording. I had to watch Where There’s A Sea… a couple of times, and a few specific scenes several times, to hear everything that was being said. Not everyone has a boom mic at their disposal, but even if it comes down to hiding a microphone in the setpieces, the sound mix needs improvement. The music is outstanding, and the CG effects are very good, though many of the merchant ship exteriors present a slightly video gamey look.

Overall, a nice effort, crisply edited, well written and acted – I just want to hear all that well-delivered dialogue a bit better.

written by Thomas J. Scott
directed by Michael Struck
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael
Farragut theme by Hetoreyn

Voice Cast: John Broughton (Captain John T. Carter), Michael Bednar (Commander Robert Tacket), Holly Bednar (Lt. Commander Michelle Smithfield), Paul R. Sieber (Lt. Prescott), Tonya Bacon (Lt. Moretti), Amy McDonough (Dr. Holley), Bob McDonough (Galway)

Special Guest Voices: Chris Doohan, Hetoreyn, Jason LeBlanc, Chase Masterson, Vic Mognogna, Ralph M. Miller, Lou Scheimer

Review: A first of its kind in the world of Star Trek fan films, Power Source takes the already well-regarded (and deservedly so) fan series Starship Farragut and turns it into an homage to Filmation’s early ’70s Saturday morning Star Trek cartoon. The result is more than an homage – not only does it look like Filmation’s animated Trek, it even sounds like it, thanks to Filmation producer Lou Scheimer giving the production access to the actual background music and even some artwork elements used in the ’70s. (Hey, Lou, if you’ve got the original music tracks, how about a soundtrack album, even if it’s strictly a digital release?)

With the help of animated Trek fan site webmaster and artist Kail Tescar, Power Source displays almost complete fidelity to the original animated Trek. The plot, while it leaves a bit of a tantalizing mystery, wraps up nicely in a half-hour (meaning a solid half-hour, not 20-or-so-minutes with room left for commercials); the plot also seems to draw just slightly from Clarke’s “2010″ as well, another move that smacks of authentic classic Trek. The biggest fork in the road is that animated Farragut features a couple of “damns” and “hells” where the original animated Trek – despite Gene Roddenberry having some oversight and despite a number of prominent real SF writers having a hand in the writing – was aimed solidly at the kids. I’m not sure it really makes a difference, but less swearing would’ve been more authentic.

The voice acting from the Farragut regulars is on par with their live action performances, but the guest voices are the real treat here: in many cases they’re as goofy and over-the-top as they should be if you’re emulating a children’s cartoon from the early ’70s. Before you ding the show any points for lack of naturalism, remember that it’s accurately reflecting the style of the time. Kudos to Farragut regular Michael Bednar for really grokking just how over-the-top to go when his character was taken over by an alien entity – it’s both funny and right on the money for that ’70s cartoon style.

My one complaint is that it’s a bottle show! Why have an animated Trek fan film stuck aboard the ship? (Okay, technically we go over to the other ship too, but it’s a Starfleet ship, so guess what? Same background art!) The really great thing about the original Trek toon was that it was now free to explore previously unimagined vistas that were way beyond the scope of the Desilu soundstages. Farragut has the same opportunity if they’ll seize it. A second episode, The Needs Of The Many, is promised around the end of the year, so maybe they’re thinking the same thing I am. Power Source is enormously entertaining in its own right – it’s a brand new episode of animated Star Trek, for cryin’ out loud – so I’m more than willing to sign up for another animated tour of duty with the Farragut.

The animated Farragut episodes are being produced primarily by FX outfit Neo F/X, which also does the live-action Farragut’s FX and CG work; one gets the impression that Neo F/X wanted to have it on hand so they could have a proof of concept of traditional cel-style animation (though this was almost certainly put together with much more high-tech means than camera-ready art). Judging by the results, their “demo” should certainly land them a job or two.

written by Carlos Pedraza & David Gerrold
directed by David Gerrold
music by Fred Steiner

Cast: James Cawley (Captain Kirk), Ben Toplin (Mr. Spock), John Kelley (Dr. McCoy), Bobby Quinn Rice (Ensign Peter Kirk), Evan Fowler (Alex Freeman), Charles Root (Scotty), Jay Storey (Kyle), Kim Stinger (Uhura), Ron Boyd (DeSalle), Andy Bray (Chekov), Megan King Johnson (Rand), Nick Cook (Hodel), Paul R. Sieber (Ahrens), Patrick Bell (Xon), Debbie Huth (Fontana), Jeff Mailhotte (Sentell), Joel Belucci (Bren), Phil Koeghen (Admiral Koeghen), Scott Danni, Rich Lundy, George Wilhelm, Gwen Wilkins, Rick Bruns, Danielle Porter, Robert Mauro, Dan Wright, Melissa Wright, Elizabeth Peterson, Mabel Vilagro, Greg Schnitzer, Betsy Durkee, Jeff Collingsworth, Brian Holloway, Pat Heward, Amanda Root, Ralph M. Miller, Joe Nazzarro, John Hermann, Jessica Mailhotte, Glenn Smith, Ed Abbatte, Giovana Contini, Ron Gates, Ryan Storey, Jerry Storey, Paula Bailey, Erik Goodrich, Tom Brown, Howard Huth, Riva Gijanto, Carol Mazur, Howard Miller (Extras), Majel Barrett Roddenberry (Computer Voice)

Notes: Blood And Fire was originally written by David Gerrold (writer of the classic Trek favorite The Trouble With Tribbles) as an episode for the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, allegorically dealing with AIDS, the search for a cure, and its effect on the gay community. In many an interview and convention appearance, Gerrold has said that Gene Roddenberry verbally agreed to pursue these issues in the then-new show, but would never approve Blood And Fire for production, which eventually lead to Gerrold’s departure from the writing staff. It has also been adapted into a non-Star Trek novel. Fan writer Carlos Pedraza, previously a writer on the fan series Star Trek: Hidden Frontier (which prominently featured gay characters in a way that Paramount’s officially produced episodes and series never addressed), adapted Gerrold’s original script for the Kirk era. This is the first episode to carry the “Star Trek: Phase II” banner, though the opening titles still display “New Voyages” before “beaming” in “Phase II.” (Phase II was a semi-official subtitle applied to the aborted late ’70s TV revival of classic Trek, as chronicled in the excellent book of the same name by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens.) Early publicity indicated that Blood And Fire would feature an original score by Neil Norman, the producer behind many Star Trek soundtracks released on CD in the 1990s by his father’s GNP Crescendo label, as well as a composer in his own right, but the finished episode instead features original series music by composer Fred Steiner.

Review: For years we’ve been hearing about Blood And Fire and how great it would’ve been in the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and after a while it’s natural to wonder how much of the hype is warranted. But after seeing the episode itself, and finding that about 2/3 of the way in I was on the edge of my seat, I think it’s safe to say that this is New Voyages/Phase II firing on all cylinders with no casting gimmicks to use as a crutch. It’s just a good story, told and acted well, with one hell of a cliffhanger.

As was the case with its original 1980s version, Blood And Fire is a story that deals with AIDS on an allegorical level, and with homosexuality in a more on-the-nose fashion. It’s all dealt with tastefully though – the one love scene that really seems like it’s trying to go there is more talk and suggestion than any kind of explicit display. The original script would have dealt with two guest-crewmembers-of-the-week, but the drama is heightened here, and given just a hint of awkwardness, by making Kirk’s nephew Peter one half of the couple in question. James Cawley hits one out of the park with Kirk’s sputtering, uncertain reaction to the news, and guest star Bobby Rice (late of fan series Star Trek: Hidden Frontier and Star Trek: Odyssey) does a hilarious impression of Shatner-by-way-of-Cawley later in the episode. Rice is at the forefront of this story as Peter Kirk, and he proves more than capable of carrying the show.

Also guest starring is Nick Cook, the star of the Scottish-based fan series Star Trek: Intrepid, and for some reason – maybe the costume – I couldn’t stop thinking of how Miles O’Brien-ish he looked in his somewhat minor redshirt role. Naturally, this also means that Cook’s character bows out a little bit early, and he goes to town with it in the most shocking scene of the entire episode. I’ve been gently-but-hopefully-constructively-critical in dealing with the standards of acting in the fan films and episodes I’ve seen, but nobody in Blood And Fire lets the side down. How much of this is down to a just plain talented cast, and how much is down to Gerrold directing his own story, I’m not sure, but the acting here is of a very high standard. If this was a for-profit production, everyone in this episode would’ve earned their check nicely. Going back to the shocking scene for a moment, kudos also to the FX animators and composite artists for creating a believable CG menace. It all adds up to a moment where I forgot I was watching a fan production and was instantly accepting of this as a new Star Trek adventure, full stop.

I had a slightly hard time adjusting to Ben Toplin as the new Mr. Spock, but vocally he’s a dead ringer for Nimoy. (Apparently Mr. Toplin’s schedule prevented him from reprising the role after Blood And Fire, so we’ll never know if we would’ve gotten used to his portrayal of the Vulcan or not.) I was also rather disappointed that one thing was missing: early PR announcements mentioning a brand new orchestral score by Neil Norman (who produced all of the Star Trek movie and TV soundtracks released by GNP Crescendo Records in the ’80s and ’90s). But something would appear to have fallen through the cracks somewhere, because we’re instead treated to a score culled from numerous original series episodes. I suppose it feels authentic enough, but I was looking forward to Norman’s addition to the Star Trek musical canon.

Overall, Blood And Fire is a major achievement – it’d be good for a major studio, let alone a fan production. I have only two things to say: part two better get here soon, and hopefully this summer’s big screen take on classic Trek is this good.

screenplay by John Broughton
directed by Mark Hildebrand
music by Hetoreyn

Cast: John Broughton (Captain Jack Carter), Michael Bednar (Commander Tacket), Holly Bednar (Lt. Commander Smithfield), D.D. Hatcher (Dr. Angela Bishop), Jamie Hanna (Klingon Commander), Eddie Lao (Borok), Jake Azachi (Akiva), David Sepan (Baker)

Review: A bite-sized 17-minute chunk of adventure that requires a little less investment of time than a full episode, with slightly less story as a result, Rock And A Hard Place is a neat little adventure, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of the Starship Farragut project as a whole.

Farragut’s strengths are an interesting set of original characters, outstanding production values for a fan-mounted project, and a kind of confident swagger that carries through to the finished product. The weaknesses, on the other hand, have been on display since the first Farragut adventure: the cast – and admittedly, they’re not professional actors – could use a bit of coaching to develop the rhythm of normal conversation, and the editing overall could be tighter. With awkward pauses on both fronts, dialogue scenes come across as stagey: the interactions between characters have the cadence of actors waiting for cues, as opposed to normal conversation. I feel like I’ve used those exact words to describe this quirk of Starship Farragut before, but the criticism – though not meant to be mean-spirited – still applies.

Add occasionally awkward editing to the already awkward pauses in dialogue, and there’s an unusual amount of “dead air”. The impressive shuttlecraft landing sequence displays a prime example of this: the music is great and attention-getting, the composite FX scenes of the CG shuttle “landing” on location are very impressive indeed…and then we cut to an oddly-framed static shot of Carter and Bishop in their shuttlecraft seats, barely doing anything. It takes a close-up of the control panel to show that anything is going on here, but by that time, the awkward wide shot has taken me right out of the story. Each character could have been shown in turn, in close-up, or another exterior angle could have been shown (perhaps from under the shuttle). Farragut still needs to tighten up the pace a bit: Rock probably should’ve clocked in at about 15 minutes.

Other than that, this is still one of the best fan-made series out there; some dandy fight sequences (including some impressive phaser effects) and slick location shooting provide the meat of the mini-story. And as much as I lament the pacing of the dialogue and editing, perhaps more dialogue was actually needed to build a slightly more solid foundation for the relationship between Carter and Bishop. I’d bring up points about fraternizing with junior officers, and on the clock/on assignment, no less, but hey, this is the Kirk era – and apparently Kirk wasn’t the only 23rd century captain getting some action.

Farragut still shows that it has some advantages over the other fan series – the shuttle set is quite impressive, relying appropriately on ’60s-style flip-switch control panels – but it also still shows room for improvement. And without more story to distract the audience, Rock And A Hard Place serves only to draw attention to Farragut’s good and bad points.

story by Sky Conway & Tim Russ and Jack Trevino & Ethan H. Calk
teleplay by Ethan H. Calk, Sky Conway & Jack Trevino
directed by Tim Russ
music by Justin R. Durban

Cast: Walter Koenig (Capt. Pavel Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Capt. Nyota Uhura), Alan Ruck (Capt. John Harriman), Garrett Wang (Commander Garan), William Wellman Jr. (Charlie Evans), J.G. Hertzler (Koval), Gary Graham (Ragnar), Tim Russ (Tuvok), Chase Masterson (Xela), Daamen Krall (Gary Mitchell), Crystal Allen (Conqueror Navigator Yara), Ethan Phillips (Data Clerk), Cirroc Lofton (Sevar), Lawrence Montaigne (Stonn), Ralph M. Miller (Computer voice), James Cawley (Commander Kirk), John Carrigan (Klingon Officer Kel’mag), Jeff Quinn (Conqueror Helmsman), Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand), Janet Po (Destroyer Tactical Officer), Herbert Jefferson (Captain Galt), Seth Shostak (Enterprise Communications Officer), Arlene Martel (Vulcan Priestess), Shawn Shelton (voice of the Guardian of Forever), Crystal Conway (Grandchild), Madison Russ (Grandchild), Keith Batt (Navigator), Patrick Bell (Enterprise Helmsman), Giovanna Contini, David deFrane, Ronald Gates, Deborah Huth, Danielle Porter (Enterprise Bridge Crew), Sky Conway, Travis Sentell (Enterprise Security Officers), Jeanine Camargo, Heather C. Harris, Mindy Iden, Luke McRoberts, Moses Shepard (Vulcan Initiates), Elizabeth Cortez (T’Liel), Amy Ulen (Teacher), Rob Leslie, Joanna Mendoza, Linda Zaruches (Vulcan Citizens), Stewart Lucas, Scott Nakada (Conqueror Klingon Officers), Joel Bellucci, Tony Pavone (Conqueror Romulan Officers), Giovanna Contini (Conqueror Science Officer), Jack Donner, Tania Lemani, Celeste Yarnall (Special Wedding Guests)

Review: In the FAQ for theLogBook.com’s Fan Film Reviews, I set out very early that I will attempt to be constructive in my criticisms, and I really intend to stick to that where fan-made productions are concerned. But Gods is obviously at least a semi-pro production, so I’m inclined to be a bit more direct with my criticsm rather than dancing around it verbally. Simply put, having gotten to the end of Gods, I’m having a hard time believing that the fan film community has embraced this thing so whole-heartedly, giving it plaudits over and above what New Voyages, Starship Farragut, Odyssey and Exeter have gotten. Have I been watching the same thing as the rest of fandom?

Put simply, part three completes the dismal fall of this production’s incredible potential. Promised an edgy tale that would have something to say about our modern-day struggle between freedom and security, we instead get a watered-down parabel that pays mealy-mouthed lip service to the idea that, hey, people really ought to be free to choose their own path. Wow. Do you reach, brother? It doesn’t cushion the blow any that this is all set against a backdrop that borrows liberally from Mirror, Mirror and its subsequent sequels (and yet is never in danger of reaching the same level of inventiveness) , and that much of the third and final part of Gods is a relentless CGI extravaganza that doesn’t really enhance the story that much.

When we were promised a story that would live up to the Roddenberryan ideal of commenting on the ills of society, I feel completely cheated by the time the end credits roll. The best part of Gods can be boiled down to two things: the first of the three segments, which really had a nice atmosphere and didn’t quite fall victim to obvious paint-by-numbers plotting, and the bloopers that accompany part three’s end credits.

The performances are all that keep this thing afloat; I was disappointed to see Gary Graham bow out in the third segment, because he’s consistently one of the most enjoyable and skilled guest actors to have graced numerous hours of ’90s and 2000s Trek. Grace Lee Whitney gets in on the action here, but her appearance really amounts to little more than a cameo.

The real letdown here is that the Hollywood pros behind Gods have enough collective experience that they should’ve been able to craft a better story than this, a zinger of a sociopolitical commentary that would leave the audience thinking long after the show’s over. Tim Russ, who claims to be such a Roddenberry afficionado, surely could’ve done better than this – or at least could’ve ridden the writers a bit harder to come up with something better. In the end, we’re left with something that, for some reason – probably all the superficial CG pizzazz – fandom seems to think has raised the bar for future Trek fan productions. On the contrary, the final installment of Gods has me eager for the next Phase II, Farragut and Intrepid installments, because I know those guys can spin a better yarn than this.

Sorry for the savage review, but I think it’s important to put the cards on the table. One other thing: a recently announced campaign to allow fans to make charitable donations to admittedly worthy causes, which will net them a compiled, re-edited full length DVD copy of Gods in return, seems ill-advised at best. I don’t doubt that people would like to see the whole production uninterrupted, but that’s dancing on a knife’s edge that threatens to give Paramount an opening to shut down all fan-made Trek. Just put an .ISO file out there and let people download it, guys – don’t screw it up for the productions that aren’t backed by Hollywood muscle.

story by Sky Conway & Tim Russ and Jack Trevino & Ethan H. Calk
teleplay by Ethan H. Calk, Sky Conway & Jack Trevino
directed by Tim Russ
music by Justin R. Durban

Cast: Walter Koenig (Capt. Pavel Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Capt. Nyota Uhura), Alan Ruck (Capt. John Harriman), Garrett Wang (Commander Garan), William Wellman Jr. (Charlie Evans), J.G. Hertzler (Koval), Gary Graham (Ragnar), Tim Russ (Tuvok), Chase Masterson (Xela), Crystal Allen (Conqueror Navigator Yara), Ethan Phillips (Data Clerk), Cirroc Lofton (Sevar), Lawrence Montaigne (Stonn), James Cawley (Commander Kirk), Jeff Quinn (Conqueror Helmsman), Seth Shostak (Enterprise Communications Officer), Shawn Shelton (voice of the Guardian of Forever), Crystal Conway (Grandchild), Madison Russ (Grandchild), Keith Batt (Navigator), Patrick Bell (Enterprise Helmsman), Giovanna Contini, David deFrane, Ronald Gates, Deborah Huth, Danielle Porter (Enterprise Bridge Crew), Sky Conway, Travis Sentell (Enterprise Security Officers), Jeanine Camargo, Heather C. Harris, Mindy Iden, Luke McRoberts, Moses Shepard (Vulcan Initiates), Elizabeth Cortez (T’Liel), Amy Ulen (Teacher), Rob Leslie, Joanna Mendoza, Linda Zaruches (Vulcan Citizens), Stewart Lucas, Scott Nakada (Conqueror Klingon Officers), Joel Bellucci, Tony Pavone (Conqueror Romulan Officers), Giovanna Contini (Conqueror Science Officer)

Review: Sometimes I shouldn’t open my big mouth. Remember how I was praising the first part of Of Gods And Men for not “doing a Guinan” and giving us someone who mystically remembers that history has been put out of joint and needs to be fixed? Not even ten minutes into the second segment, Gods did a Guinan.

Having said that, the whole thing is still incredibly well-executed, making such good use of the New Voyages Enterprise sets that you’d almost think they built new ones (well, aside from one up-shot of Harriman where you can clearly see the studio ceiling instead of any kind of ceiling you’d associate with the bridge). A lot of what differentiates Gods from the vast majority of fan films is down to good moody lighting and tight editing. However, this second segment’s insistence on jumpy cinema verite camera movement sometimes works against it – there are moments where I wondered what in the the world they were getting at from a visual standpoint.

The actors bring a lot to the table, though in some cases, Alan Ruck got a little too petulant as the alternate-universe Harriman – the years just melted away and it almost seemed like a much angstier Cameron Frye was barking orders to his underlings. I guess I expected him to make a slightly different choice with his portrayal, but after all, this is obviously a larger-than-life alternate universe reading of Harriman. I also caught more than a hint of Babylon 5’s Bester in Koenig’s alterna-Chekov, though that’s not a bad thing.

Where it’s all going, no one can tell. I still feel a little bit let down by the numerous hints that this would be a topical-bordering-on-politically-charged piece of Trek – so far, all I’ve really heard are various slogans about freedom, security and whether or not violence is justifiable…but not much in the way of real story examination of these ideas. I’m holding out hope that part three will pull all these disparate threads together without being a letdown.

Part two of Of Gods And Men is, perhaps predictably, the story’s “soft center” before we get back to the main thrust of things. It’s still very stylish, but quite frankly, I’m still waiting for meat and potatoes here. Lay on part three, gentlemen.

story by Rob Caves and Eric Weaver
teleplay by Eric Weaver
directed by David O’Neill
music by Bodo Hartwig

Cast: Brandon McConnell (Lt. Commander Ro Nevin), Michelle Laurent (Subcommander T’Lorra), Matthew Montgomery (Dr. Owen Vaughan), Julia Morizawa (Lt. Maya Stadi), Tim Foutch (Ensign John Gillen), Melodee M. Spevack (Dr. Achiys), Hal Alpert (Dr. Panos), Sharon Savene (Seram), Adam Browne (Caecus), John Whiting (General Morrigu), Jennifer Cole (Grand Majan), Beau Williams (Lt. Dagad), Ryan Keating (Lokell), Jacob Reitz (Melantko), Sam Basca (Lt. Alex Wozniak), Heather Ashleigh (Ensign Kristen Laws), Wayne Wilkening (Estime)

Review: Okay, I think I’ve said before that I haven’t gone back and caught up on Hidden Frontier, the Star Trek fan series that spawned the current spinoffs, Odyssey and Helena Chronicles. Perhaps I really need to go back and catch up on Hidden Frontier…because I was completely lost here.

I barely remember the Omega energy, and its accompanying Starfleet directive, from an episode of Voyager, but I’ll be honest: I don’t remember enough about it that I instantly remembered what’s supposed to happen when they mentioned it. Do they destroy it? Do they collect it? I’ve forgotten – I’ve slept since then (and, to be honest, I’ve forgotten a lot of Voyager, of which I wasn’t the biggest fan in the world). A little bit of filling-in-the-uninitiated wouldn’t have gone amiss – but then again, this is a fan production. If you care enough to download and watch it, it’s probably not beyond the realm of probability that you either remember this plot point, or have the means to look it up for yourself.

I was elated to see the show go out on location for this story; I think I actually exclaimed “Holy cow, they went somewhere!” when I realized I was seeing real grass and real trees. That added a lot to this episode; what baffled me was why some subsequent shots that were supposedly representing outdoor locales were shot with chromakey. (It may have been a pickup shot to replace an actual outdoor shot whose sound went south – who knows?) I know that going outside for a shoot, especially with a production like this, is a major undertaking…but I’d love to see more of it. It added a huge amount of scope to the proceedings.

Character-wise, it was nice to hear Ro at least mention Aster (for the first time since Brandon McConnell took over the role, no less), and nice to get away from the crew bickering that took up so much of the first two episodes of Odyssey. I can accept that T’Lorra and Stadi will always have an urge to take a few cheap shots at each other; it’s just when everyone is going after it that it seems a little disorderly. The Kelvans were an interesting touch; I don’t know if this is the first seed being planted for an ongoing storyline, or another callback to Hidden Frontier, but they’re an interesting enough race to bring back. (For those who have forgotten: the Kelvans were the friendly folks who showed up on Kirk’s Enterprise and turned everyone into blocks of salt as part of an invasion attempt that they later gave up on.)

I’m a little confused by the actual story, but continue to be impressed by the production. It occurs to me that Odyssey hasn’t quite lived up to its pilot yet, but I’m holding out hope that it will.