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George Takei To Play Star Trek's Sulu Again
Tycoon Guy writes "TrekToday reports that George Takei has agreed to play Hikaru Sulu in an upcoming episode of the fan series Star Trek: New Voyages. He's the second actor from the original Star Trek series to come onboard; another episode will feature Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov. And here's what really makes this news great: Takei's episode will be written by none other than David Gerrold, the SF writer who also brought us Star Trek's Tribbles."
That looks worse than a spanish telenovella... But I guess the bad acting is just a stab at what the future will actually be like. Points for realism.
Hey, I could be wrong. Maybe that fan series will be the next Twin Peaks. But I'll not hazard a viewing.
Ex nihilo nihil fit.
I just read this as "Google Taxi to Play Star Trek's Sulu Again"
im a fan of the series... but have you seen these things... acting worse than.... well, the original series.
ack, I'm so torn between cool that they are doing it and having fun, but geez.. no dignity. eh, then again, how cool is it that the actors are even interested... thats cool. but its going to be so bad.
eh, its cool. crap.
There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
He was AWESOME last week on Stern as the announcer - I wish him well. 68 years old, just came out of the closet and then goes on The Howard Stern Show after a decade of ribbing... George Takei is Okay. RIP Rein LaBlanche.
This
But somehow it manages to give us a warm fuzzy feeling like...uh...tribbles.
Maybe they can get William Shatner next. The guys from Free Enterprise succeeded in that.
You are reading /.
I sense some tribble trouble.
George Takei is amazing. Now he's on Stern, where he came out of the closet.
i ns/2006/01/13/1137118970418.html
Stern asked him what positions he likes, and Takei went into it. Here's some proof: http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/stern-age-beg
Really funny. Takei sounds like a very earnest guy though -- it is great he gets to work on this stuff.
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_
A) It keeps the community alive and series continuity going
B) Its just a good feeling that the older actors are willing to go back after all this time. Its a warm, fuzzy feeling.
John Lim (Hikaru Sulu in New Voyages) playing the character formally played by actor George Takei, was reportedly pissed. "It's obviously an anti-Chinese thing," he noted. Takei maintained that Sulu was indeed Japanese and not Chinese and that Mr. Lim was just miscast from the beginning.
. jpg
Lim suggested he was still open to reprise his role as Sulu in an upcoming New Voyages episode in which a future Sulu (Played by Takei) would meet his younger self in a time warp created by a worm hole.
http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/images/cast/lim
Sunny
Be my Friend
I heard that George Takei was hiding himself not from just the ignorance and hatred toward homosexuals in the sixties and seventies, but he thought those who employed him would also be prejudicial and deny him opportunities... also more gossip was that he had had sex with Pat Morita in some U.S. Prison camp for suspected Japanese in World War 2... The former is most likely true, the latter, most likely a fib... the only credibility is the dates in the IMDB profiles and Google information/Gossip.
Pat Morita (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001552/)
George Takei (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001786/)
I tried to watch this. I really tried. But the acting was just so horrible...
Please please please, hire real actors for this thing. No more fans-as-armchair-actors, please....
The Final Fun Queer!
Sorry, that's bad. But I couldn't help meself.
I'll get me coat.
The new Uhura's hot and obviously the new Nurse Chapel can give me a sponge bath anytime, but I liked the old Yeoman Rand better.
What, are all the GNAA members asleep or something, or have they all moved to wikipedia now? You'd think they'd jump on an article like this, what with Gay Sulu and all. ...personally, I was convinced ever since the episode where he was running around with the sword and no shirt. linky
I wonder if modern television shows will have that effect. Will future generations look back at Gina Davis' character and say "Yep, that was the start of it". Did South Park make the concept of cursing and the mix of crude and intelligent humor acceptable? Did Will and Grace help the Gay Right's movement?
I look forward to 20 years from now when I'll be able to look back at the television programs of my youth and see the full, historic impact they might have had.
But as a person who preffered Star Trek TOS it is a pretty decent effort. They really try to recreate the feel of the original series.
The acting is... adequate? Passable. Yeah that is it, it is good enough.
If you like cheesy stuff and are fan of the old series give this a try. It won't be the next big thing but I seen far worse. That norwegian star trek/babylon 5 "comedy" for one.
At least this is in a proper language.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Star Trek didn't go anywhere, boldly or not, with this. Takei just came out in the last few months. Good for him, but it's not really shocking world news. When I heard this for the first time, I didn't freak out, I didn't applaud him. It was just another outing. It was at best some interesting tidbit.
Now, what have been really shocking or whatever it might have been, was if the creators of the original series knowingly and purposely hired Takei because he was gay and dedicated a episode to this aspect.
Star Trek shouldn't be applauded because they unknowingly had a gay helmsman, they should be remember for the other civil rights movement, such as having a character Uhura on board.
Now if he had come out during the first run of the series, it might have had an impact, in light of the show, in those years. Now, the original series is 30 years old.
...with all the uproar about Copyrights and legal battles over who owns what idea, do they pay royalties to Paramount or why aren't they already being swarmed by a beehive of lawyers?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
While I am a Star Trek fan, I am also someone who knows when to let something die. I understand that this is Fan Fiction and that from what I hear it is pretty good, but its not Star Trek... I think they should like Star Trek just go into intensive care for about 10 years before wanting to see new Trek like entertainment... ::sighs::
-- Josh
"Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me!" - Pete Conrad
I've got terrible images of the Enterprise causing multiple pile-up driving at half the speed limit the wrong way down a space-highrway, as Sulu misses the one way signs due to his cataracts ...
Anyone else waiting for the big chested blonde to come in and sit on Kirk's lap?
Kudos for trying but...I'll stick to only one genre of bad acting (That needs no sound)
"If it's lost, it'll turn up. Things always do" "I love it when a plan comes together"
He should be applauded for persuing his career in a time when Gay men weren't openly favored in Hollywood. He never came out, but he never let it stop him.
A gay man... acting?
I mean, ya, so what if the gay actor stereotype has been around since man invented fire... Star Trek was the first show to beam a gay man.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Takei coming out was one of those well, geeze of course kind of moments. The big question is why he wasn't a blip on anybody's gaydar screen before. I always thought he kind of stood out, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why.
That said, the actors and the characters are two different things. Having a gay actor (especially a closeted one) play a straight character doesn't count as tackling gay issues. Star Trek in its later editions flirted with lesbian allusions, but so does a lot of porn that is intended for consumption by straight males. It's the idea of masculinity that is the third rail of culture. Most people treat it as too dangerous to go near.
I don't think male homosexuality had a place in Roddenberry's fantasy life. Judging from what he wrote about some of the Kirk-Spock fan fic, I don't think he liked the idea, although I think he was polite and careful not to dismiss the idea of people having gay Star Trek fantasies. Just not with his characters.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
The first inter-racial kiss no-doubt made the concept of inter-racial relationships a little bit more acceptable.
So many TOS fans cite this as a defining moment. It would have happened anyway.
TOS is dead. TNG is maybe dead. ENT is certainly dead. But people like Star Trek, and a new series would be welcomed by the audience, if it was good enough. The problem is not that the world is tired of Star Trek, the problem is that the last Star Trek series were not that good as the first ones (TOS and TNG). I agree with those guys at startrek.com that it is time for a new Star Trek series, in the style of TNG, with new actors and a new ship, set 20-30 years after TNG. Most of the galaxy is still unexplored!
I have seen one episode from this series (It also had an actor from the originial series). It was trash, poorly written, poorly acted and not very entertaining. As a contrast, I really enjoyed the parody "Star Wreck - In the Pirkinning". Stunning CGIs, great look and sound and quite funny story. The actors are mostly amateurs as well, but they seem to be just perfect for this film. I lift my hat to the makers of Star Wreck.
I like David Gerrold, and I've enjoyed some of his recent "lighter" SF books including his Dingilliad trilogy, but c'mon, the guy needs to get a move on and finish the next installment of his masterwork, A Method For Madness. I'm still trapped in the Amazon, wondering what happens next in the War Against The Chtorr.
Last I heard Sulu was still patrolling the Cardassian border in the U.S.S. Excelsior.
Maybe he has moved on to seek out new worlds, but he is definitely still kicking butt at 113+ years old!
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
Star Trek shouldn't be applauded because they unknowingly had a gay helmsman, they should be remember for the other civil rights movement, such as having a character Uhura on board.
What makes me sad is the fact the people have pointed this out... because I never gave it a second thought. I guess it's actually important... the simple fact that they bought all these people together in a situation where it simply was no big deal.
This is a tad off topic but I recently watched the Warner Brothers banned 11 cartoons. Some of these I actually saw as a kid living in the south... and at the time I would have seen them I had no idea they were attempting to poke fun at african americans... I just assumed there were cool cats and cool dogs in a city called Harlem who were big on skat and jazz. Watching them now makes me feel rather ill. I had to ask my self whether I wanted to archive them or not... but without things like this... big names in Warner Brother's animation... creating these strongly racist cartoons because it again was "no big deal"... without these things people like Martin Luther King, Jr. would have had nothing to complain about... and women like Whoopi Goldberg who grew up with Sherly Temple reruns wouldn't have been excited to see Star Trek and exclaim, "Momma, there's a black lady on tv... and she ain't no maid".
So yes... I feel ashamed when I have to think about the fact that "I love Lucy" of all things was groundbreaking... a mixed marriage between I presume an Irish Catholic and a Cuban-born musician. I feel even more ashamed when I have to think about the fact that Star Trek featured the first African American woman who wasn't a maid. But I can feel some pride in the fact that much was accomplished over a period of 40 years... though i'll be another 40 years before we as a people trully understand that we share a planet.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
OH MY!
>Did South Park make the concept of cursing and the mix
;)
>of crude and intelligent humor acceptable?
What a great stride for mankind
Yeah, I'm still waiting for the reality series but it never seems to get off the ground. GWB is talked about Mars, but he went to Iraq instead. We were supposed to have used nuclear rockets to colonize Mars by now but the projects keep getting shut down and all we are left with is fantasy.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Shatner said this on Jimmy Kimmel's show (which is why nobody heard it) when asked if he had known, back in the '60s, that Takei was gay:
"Of course I knew... he kept setting his phaser on fabulous!"
. . . doesn't backfill us on Sulu and Chekov's occasional "fishing trips" all these years.
Sorry - "backfill" was a bad choice of words.
They have come a long way in production and distribution since they first tried this. This is an interesting experiment in Indie movies over the internet. We should all support them just to see how far they can go. Indie music distributors as well as the big companies could learn a thing or two from watching this group. I really hope they stick around.
.mp4? Most often I see things as mpeg-4 AVI files, which is a pretty close approximation to that since it is fully documented and supported on multiple platforms.
I applaud that they now offer their video files via bittorrent. They seem to be surviving the Slashdotting this time (it may even help download speeds). But their download page needs some work. The episodes are in random order, and the formats they offer are kinda weird. For example: 1 episode is a full 4.7GB DVD? And if I want Spanish subtitles it is an entirely different DVD. I don't know what the Special Editions are, and they are only available in a Microsoft proprietary format. That's almost an improvement, since they used to only be available in an Apply proprietary format. When will people start using
Come on. This was announced months ago.
"Mr. Sulu! Set a course for Uranus!"
That's all I've got....=)
With the first link, the chain is forged.
Although, there are some of us who are not racist but also would never consider banning a cartoon because of its content (there would be extreme exceptions of course, like a cartoon showing how to make a real life bomb etc.). I feel this is why you had to consider archiving them or not. They show our cultural history in a way, and are insightful (obviously not insightful for their moral content).
I'm posting this AC because I don't want to karma-whore this little tidbit...
I must agree with the parent post on Roddenberry's vision. Keep in mind, this was the 1960s. He had a black female officer who outranked several of the white male officers. Also, in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren" we witnessed the first ever inter-racial kiss on TV... Kirk and Uhura. (and Nichelle Nichols was _seriously_ cute in the 60s.)
Roddenberry was a visionary. His vision for the future appeared to be a world where men and women of all races were equals. I, for one, think that is a grand and laudible vision. I hope that some day it will be true.
If by Tribbles you mean Martian Flat Cats,
and by David Gerrold you mean Robert Heinlein...
You decide...
kulakovich
Best news to come out about George since he came out.
Awesome to have an openly gay commander of a starship.
As a middle aged gay man you can't imagine how cool it is.
I can't believe how many negative comments there are, especially about the acting. Do you really prefer pap like "Enterprise?" Are slick production, and pretty sparklies all that this is about? This is open source entertainment guys, and Slashdot audiences in particular should value and support it.
Okay.... Gotta get the first part off my chest.
(flamebait post)
All you folks who think this fan series is unwatchable and horrible have been too spoiled by Hollywood's offerings and need way too much eye candy (IMO) to suspend your disbelief.
I'd hate to hear what you folks have to say about classic Dr. Who...
(/flamebait post)
That aside, I've been keeping up with New Voyages for the past year and I think they're heading into a critical point in their existance.
The first movie seemed warmly received and did look a bit amateurish. The second was a vast improvement along with some real characters who played minor roles in the Trek series.
The third, they're all slap happy patting themselves on the back for netting Walter Koenig and at least it's in post production.
They're talking episode 4 and 5 now plus George Takei and they've lost Jack Marshall who I got the impression was one of the key guys who helped launch it and see it through, making it a reality.
From what I've experienced with people who take on a venture with moderate success in the beginning, I'd say it would be possible and probable that they're riding the high of all the media attention garnered so far. They're likely so busy spinning new deals that attention to things such as pre and post production, volunteer/cast/crew relations and all those minor details like the proverbial sidewalk sweeping, bottle washing and etc are falling by the wayside. I'd suspect they're in danger of having the whole thing fall in on itself.
For the sake of this fan who actually enjoys New Voyages, I'm hoping Jack Marshall wasn't the only driving unifying force that kept everything together.
I hear he’s a member of the Film Actors Guild.
(Just teasing people. Sulu is a hero and I am no biggot.)
Join Tor today!
Having seen the fully grown up Walter Koenig play Bester on Babylon 5 He is forever washed clean of having ever been Chekov - Bester was such a great character.
'Only a Barbarian believes that his tribes customs are the laws of nature'
Please folks, let it die with what little dignity it still has left.
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
What distribution? Their mirrors have ignored them.
-The BitTorrent page doesn't work.
-The Official site decided to renumber the episodes by making their pilot episode 0. Meanwhile their mirrors still use the original numbering scheme.
-You can only get the latest episode ("To Serve All My Day's") from ONE site: Official site. And yes, it's crawling.
The kicker is that I told the webmaster about all this a week ago.
Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Roddenberry was a vastly overrated hack. Star Trek sucked when he was involved. Star Trek was at its BEST after he was no longer involved. And the best series of the franchise, DS9, was produced after he died.
Mod me down as flambait if you like, but the man deserves credit ONLY for creating the franchise, nothing more. And there are plenty of writers out there who would argue that his main contribution after he started the franchise was to hold it back.
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
The new episode will be called "Brokeback Planet" after the awarding movie movie. Commander Sulu returns to Star Fleet HQ in San Francisco (some things dont change in three centuries) for his annual fling with an old classmate.
I'm actually reading a book called Blood and Fire which has a preface stating that the original idea was for a Star Trek Next Generation episode which had a gay character in it. Evidently Gene Roddenbury's lawyer read the script, freaked out, and it never saw the light of day. It's a bit of a shame. Blood and Fire would have made a good Start Trek episode.
Not a “bigot” either.
After that news story broke (Takei "officially" coming out) I did a Google Groups search for takei and gay. The earliest hit was a posting in 1985. The earliest hit that related to Takei as the one who was gay? Early '90s, still back in the day when you meant "USENET" when you said "the Internet."
For more information, click here.
They wanted to get James Doohan to play Scotty until Leonard Nimoy told them, "He's dead Jim."
(For those who don't get it "He's dead Jim" is supposedly the most frequently used line of dialog in the original series.)
Insert witty sig here.
Somebody tell David Gerrold to get off his ass, quit screwing around, and finish the next War Against the Chtorr novel. The last one came out in 1992, if I took this long to finish my projects I'd be out of a job!
I'm sure Kirk kissed some green chicks before kissing Uhura.
They are claiming IP on this - they can't keep on going and going and going too! Only the Energizer bunny can do that. What happens if you put the bunnies batteries in backwards? He keeps on ......
Ah, if some knew back then, and he continued despite this, than yes give him all credit due. But in the episodes and films I saw, Sulu was never portrayed as gay. So no need to worship Star Trek itself because one of its actors came out of the closet. Star Trek didn't stand up for gay rights, Takei now does.
I feel this is why you had to consider archiving them or not. They show our cultural history in a way, and are insightful (obviously not insightful for their moral content)
I had to consider archiving them because I had to ask my self two questions.
1. Would I ever watch these again
The jazz and skat ones actually are as you say part of our cultural history. They do actually show a very power influence in American music and are worth it on that note. There are a few in that batch that I would not enjoy watching.
2. Would I show them to someone else
There are a few in that batch that are down right rude as hell. And i'm not talking Tom and Jerry blackface rude which... well to me isn't offencive but apparently the censors are none to fond of it.
But needless to say they're getting burnt onto cd. Otherwise they could be lost.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
Thanks, you just re-affirmed why Roddenberry was the heart and soul of Star Trek. Deep Space 9 completely detracted from the predecessors. I liked TOS and TNG because of the element of exploration, learning new things, innovation, the inventions, and so forth. Deep Space 9 lacked all of that. I initially thought DS9 had some things going for it (i.e. the wormhole, the shape-shifter, etc.) but unfortunately DS9 did not take advantage of what it had. I couldn't get past the first season after giving up and saying, "This isn't Star Trek."
Takai is gay and the writer of the Tribbles episode is back. Can you say "Wack-A-Mole at warp speed"?
Sorry folks but I couldn't resist. Here is a picture of George Takei that hasn't been seen by anyone but my family for over 30 years
To Serve All My Days hasn't even been released yet, so you know, that might be your problem with trying to download it.
I enjoyed TOS and TNG because of the great writing (by a variety of _writers_ instead of a screenplay mill), the amazing chemistry of the cast, and because of the themes about how good humanity _could_ be. My kind of fantasy.
I stopped watching TNG reruns and started watching _The_West_Wing_ reruns for for the latter two reasons.
It's surprising to me. I mean, I read a lot of sci-fi model-making related forums, and discussion there turns to "Starship Exeter" from time to time, I would have thought there'd be some mention of this thing, too, since it's doing the same sort of thing... Though without doing any actual miniatures, I'm guessing (whereas Exeter started with some miniatures and then switched to CGI - you can see some of Tom Sasser's excellent, though unused work on his site http://www.thomasmodels.com/
---GEC
I'm but the humble pupil, seeking to snatch the scratchbuilt pebble from the master's fully articulated hand
Sulu and Chekov get sued by PriceLine for failing to pay for a room they shared on Rigel 7. PriceLine and the hotel are represented by William Shatner and David Spader. Spader, it turns out, also stayed at the hotel using a Stargate VIP comp. for weekenders only. In and out in the blink of an eye. Sulu and Chekov try to hire the firm of Gould and Romulan to represent them but can't come up with the retainer. Instead, they're assigned public defender Wil Wheaton who can't start 'til Monday because he's out in Vegas playing in a poker tournament.
I'd sit for that.
I worry a bit because a lot of the jokes in more modern cartoons are based on stereotypes.
I do understand that some of those old cartoons would cause a riot if shown, and so I wouldn't really push the issue. It's just that it feels like the thin edge of the wedge to me, because it's so subjective to say what is tasteless and what is a funny jab at a sterotype (e.g. is a "white men can't dance" joke unshowable?).
Alternatively, they could decide that all of Enterprise was non-canon and redo the timeline under the original premise - no transporters, translators, and without every darn TOS race they could squeeze in. With new writers.
Kevin Smith has offered several times to write a new Trek series. Give Smith a crack at this. Make sure Berman and Braga are kept as far away as possible from it. Maybe even allow some humor in the series...what a concept!
My idea of what Enterprise should have been would be a return to the '60s idea of the future from TOS. Captain Archer should be a free-lovin', two fisted prototype for Kirk. T'Pol should be Spock with tits and sexual tension between her and Archer. (Never, EVER allow this to be consummated.) The visual look of the show should be TOS with better production values and '60s retro-futurism. Miniskirted uniforms for female crew members! Bio-engineered Klingons without silly putty on their foreheads! It would rock.
Imagine all that and Kevin Smith directing. Now that is something I'd watch religiously.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Is for serious fans to make their own Firefly series. Forget this Star Trek crap. Firefly is where its at.
MadOgre.com
I think Queer Eye for the Straight Guy should do a special with George Takei at a Star Trek Convention. Most of the guys I've talked to at Star Trek conventions seem like nice people, but some of them would definitely benefit from being shot with a phaser set on "fabulous."
Just kidding, hes a great actor and I was a big fan TOS in my childhood.
As people mentioned, TOS was revolutionary in the 60's. It featured the first inter-racial (black/white) kiss seen on TV.
Where else can you find a planet-eating space monster that looks like a roach (half smoked marijuana cigarette). I imagine the writers sitting around the table passing a doobie when they came up wuth that one ;).
Originally there were plans for a character called "Number One" who would be the (female) second in command. The plan was changed by studio execs. Hence the oddness about Spock being both Science Officer and second in command.
Simon's Rock College
Well the given name "Hikaru" is indeed Japanese. But shouldn't "Sulu" be "Suru"?
Or maybe we are to believe that in the distant future, Japanese phonetics will acquire the L sound?
I likeit!! It's cool that they are getting actors from the original series....I like all the star trek series and it's really cool that these new series are being produced!!
After all, we will be getting close to the singularity in about 20 years or so....
Now there's a thought! That would make an interesting TV show... imagine gladiator-style ballroom dancing where the participants wear various armored costumes and wield various medieval or post-apocalyptic style of hand-to-hand combat weapons. Imagine a team composed of Rutger Hauer's character from "The Blood of Heroes (Juggers)" and Tina Turner's character from "Thunderdome" opposing another similar team... all beating the bloody hell out of each other while lovingly choreographed to some exciting Rhumba or Tango music.
Now that would be absolutely British indeed!
What with Takei having "come out," and Gerrold having done so probably 30 years ago, this probably has some, erm, "pretty gay possibilities."
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Yeah, that was in the pilot. Majel Barrett played her, IIRC.
---GEC
I'm but the humble pupil, seeking to snatch the scratchbuilt pebble from the master's fully articulated hand
So how long until this image-laden (poorly optimized) site gets slashdotted?
Horns are really just a broken halo.
You know, it's cool in a way when fan groups make TOS-inspired fan films, replicating cheesy old special effects, or (in the case of Starship Exeter) using some actual, physical models rather than going to CGI for every little thing. (Sadly, they seem to be going to CGI now...) But I really wish they'd do something a little more challenging. Phase 2, and later the original Star Trek movie, tried to take the original show in new directions. Better effects to portray a more tangible world and vaster dangers in it. New characters. But still with strong ties to the original material.
Take Star Trek: The Motion Picture, for instance. It was basically an adaptation of "The Changeling", so the story's quite basic. It shows its 1970's aesthetic in the earth-tones in some of the sets and costumes, which now look dated. It had huge budget and deadline problems, which resulted in the theatrical release being flawed and accounted for some of the movie's dryness and padding. But the thing was a work of art. The Enterprise never before or since (including the sequel Star Trek films) looked more beautiful. The abstract "cloud" art seems like nothing special, but it was a labor of love by talented artists. Considerable time, attention, and money was spent giving the classically flat, cheap world of TOS some depth. One can write off the advantages of better special effects as "flash without substance" but in fact they do count for something. Never in TOS did they succeed in portraying an alien threat as being so vast as to be truly humbling.
Obviously one advantage of replicating the original Star Trek in fan film form is that the original was cheaply produced, so to some extent the fan films are also cheap to produce... But I find it disappointing. All this creative energy, all this effort, could be channeled into making something new and unique. "The New Voyages" even gives a nod to TMP's tagline, "The Human Adventure" and all that, but set, costume, and prop design is at best replicas. Character portrayal at best aspires to mimickry (less so on Exeter, though.) Meanwhile there's about 13 years of blank space in between TMP and Wrath of Khan in which somebody could write a script around another refit Constitution class (or Enterprise Class, or Starship II class, if you prefer) and create their own vision for what "Phase 2" could have been.
Perhaps my logic is flawed, and mimicking TMP is no more creative a goal than mimicking the original Star Trek - merely a more expensive enterprise (pun intended). I guess I feel that TMP was the turning point for Star Trek's future potential. They were willing to pour money into it hoping for a repeat of Star Wars success, but that failed so they went low-budget and low-brow for the next ten years. It was the first "do-over", the first attempt to re-define Trek for a new run, but that attempt gave way to the version given in the sequels. The sequels offered some good innovations as well (Excelsior, Klingon Bird of Prey) but they never again attempted to make Trek more than it had become. As a Star Trek fan, that is what I think would make a cool fan film. As a modeler, that is the period of Star Trek that I think would be most engaging.
---GEC
I'm but the humble pupil, seeking to snatch the scratchbuilt pebble from the master's fully articulated hand
"e.g. is a "white men can't dance" joke unshowable?"
No, but a "black men can't read" joke is. It's ok to sterotype and make fun of white people no matter what. If you are black you can make fun of black people and stereotypes as well as whites. If you are white you cannot.
It's not just that way for blacks, pretty much the same thing for any minority in the US.
This is called being politically correct.
Sometimes my arms bend back.
It doesn't matter if the acting isn't up to par. It's a fan production, and nobody is forcing you to watch it. I mean, they have fun MAKING it, isn't that enough? And some of us think it is cool to see the enormous amount of former guest-stars, main stars, writers, Roddeberry family, etc, putting on a good show.
;)
Personally, I can look past the acting. The CG is a bit annoying, since while it LOOKS good they have the Enterprise doing loop-de-loops that even the Defiant couldn't dream of pulling off. Watching the 60s show, the ship didn't move very fast. I'd be OK with modern-day trek style ship movement, but it is a bit disconcerting seeing the CG Enterprise move as if somebody is waving it around in front of a camera
Still, I enjoy it.
"e.g. is a "white men can't dance" joke unshowable?"
No, but a "black men can't read" joke is. It's ok to sterotype and make fun of white people no matter what. If you are black you can make fun of black people and stereotypes as well as whites. If you are white you cannot.
It's not just that way for blacks, pretty much the same thing for any minority in the US.
This is called being politically correct.
Basicly. Part of the reason some of the episodes of the banned 11 are so bad is because they sort of cross this line. I know it's hard to imagine, but back in the 1970s and 1980s there was a busing program to help integrate the schools. This was actually important because there were still many towns where the population was not integrated at all.... and education was not equal among all schools. I lived in a town where it was not unusual for highschool graduates to be illiterate. Not talking unread, we're talking can't read a recipe out of a cook book.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
From TFA:
Soylens viridis homines es
In any case, STIV (the novel) lays out clearly that Sulu is Japanese, when he meets his great^N-grandfather Akira in the past; IIRC, there was supposed to be a similar scene in the movie as well but it got scrapped when they couldn't get the Japanese child they had picked for the role to cooperate. On the other hand, despite having lived in Japan for seven years I have yet to come across Suru/Sulu as a family name--and in the Japanese version he got renamed to Kato, says Wikipedia. Maybe Roddenberry didn't do his homework?
I have just finished viewing the 1st episode. Although it was not all that professional, all I can is: congratulations! incredible work! keep it up! at times it felt like a TOS episode. I guess these guys are really lucky that they got to play out their fantasies! and they also have incredible guts in doing this, because they are gonna be measured up against professional actors and big budgets...
I envision the missing years of TOS done in photo realistic CG using the original actors voices from the original series and creating a voice modulation program that would allow voice actors to use their own voice but sound like the original characters. Of course these voice actors would have to be able to convincingly recreate the emotion and acting styles of the original characters.
Is it just me, or does it take everybody three whole days to download the first episode on bit torrent?Or does comcast just suck...? Oh, yeah they do! But what about bit torrent? How can I get these episodes in my lifetime?
I've seen a fair amount of misinformation, here. New Voyages has their own message board, and I would encourage my fellow Slashdotters to check it out. (Batten down the servers! There's an Ion Storm a-comin'!)
The New Voyages team is doing this out of love for the show. As someone correctly pointed out, they can NOT make money at all. It is 100% out-of-pocket from the poeple who are doing it. Considering this, you have to give them a lot of credit... they are making a very watchable version of TOS Star Trek, and even including the actual, original actors.
While some here are complaining about the quality of the acting, don't forget the fact that New Voyages is currently *the biggest* of the Fan-produced Star Trek series. The proof is in the fact that they are getting so many of the well-known original actors and writers from Hollywood to come down and participate. This truly sets it apart from all other Trek Fan Fiction.
Go to the WEBsite http:http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/ and click the link to their message boards. It's a large group of people just like you and me that have gotten together to pool their resources to bring back childhood memories and have a whole lot of fun doing it. I for one enjoyed it, and I am looking forward to the next episode, "To serve all my days" with Walter Koenig reprising his role as Chekov.
Willie...
Crap. Yes and no. Now I have to find my "Making of" paperback out of our moving boxes. The one thing I remember was that Number One was supposed to be a Martian, the ears were for hearing in a low pressure environment. And all the Enterprises originally looked like gas tankers.
Rick DeBay
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.