Denise Crosby hits the convention circuit and tracks down some of the more interesting Trek fans around, ranging from a dentist whose practice (and employees) are dressed from head to toe in Star Trek paraphenalia, to an aspiring teenage filmmaker working on his own epic set in the Trek universe, to "Commander" Barbara Adams, the would-be Whitewater juror who raised eyebrows (both Vulcan and otherwise) by attending pre-trial selection hearings in full Starfleet uniform. Along the way, Denise consults with former co-stars Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner, as well as classic Trek stars Bill Shatner, James Doohan, and De Kelley, and Voyager's Kate Mulgrew, on their views of the following they command.

What a bizarre little movie this is! I never would have imagined that a feature-length documentary could be squeezed out of Trek fandom, but then again, I forgot my own heyday as a Trek fan, circa 1993-95. Some of the fans shown in Trekkies show a great deal of promise - the radio talk show hosts who recognize it as a force for dealing with psychological wounds and other topics, and especially young fan Gabriel Koerner, whose rather advanced plans for a Star Trek fan film include some dazzling CGI sequences created on his home computer. This is a kid who has a bright future - possibly a future at Foundation Imaging or some other computer graphics outlet that services the real Trek series for Paramount. Give that boy a job! (Note: Gabriel actually contacted me after a friend of his e-mailed this review to him. He actually did end up working at Foundation Imaging rather briefly before moving on to the 3DO Company.)

Other fans...well...hey, I've never been to a convention. (This will probably surprise the hell of anyone who has frequented this site, but it's true.) So, in some ways, it's hard for me to absorb such sights as a pack of Klingons in full regalia bidding huge auction dollars on Robert O'Reilly's Gowron makeup appliances (!), much less Little Rock's own Barbara Adams, or a middle-aged man who browses his local grocery store in the full regalia of Starfleet admiralty, or the cross-dressing baritone who sings filk songs. I suppose all of these things are part and parcel of the sweeping, vast spectrum of Trek fandom...but, as so often happens, the media tends to focus on the extreme ones rather than the casual fans. Then again, some little guy like me who sits around and tends to his website on a daily basis isn't very visually exciting, so I can see why the filmmakers took the approach they did.

One major concern to many fans was whether or not Trekkies would be an insult to them. I don't think it is. There are some very amusing illustrations of the outermost limits of good taste, such as an amusing discussion of the creators of K/S fiction, as well as some artwork from someone who painted an artistically accurate, but extremely graphic, series of pictures depicting Data and Yar's rendezvous in The Naked Now. There's a lady who keeps her Brent Spiner memorabilia in a fireproof safe, including a vast collection of photos of the actor's various con appearances. Brannon Braga also bemusedly relates the story of one fan who mails something - anything - to the Star Trek production offices at Paramount every single day. (With all due respect, that fan's probably hoping that Braga will get some real Voyager script ideas from his outpouring of mail...)

But there are also nice, normal people, weekend warriors if you will, as well as people who discuss the implications, storylines, and the real issues behind the adventures - which is all the makers of the original series could have hoped for.

You may just want to pick Trekkies up and watch it. If nothing else, it's interesting to see how other people interpret the art, science, responsibility, and just pure goofiness of being true fans of Star Trek.

• written by Roger Nygard
• directed by Roger Nygard
• music by Walter Werzowa and Jimmie Wood, J.J. Holiday & Billy Sullivan