‘Star Trek 3’ Script Finished One Month Before Shooting Starts

 Simon Pegg reveals he just turned in his script for ‘Star Trek 3’, one month before production begins in Vancouver.

 

Earlier this year, Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness star Simon Pegg took over the writing duties on Star Trek 3 with co-writer Doug Jung. The actor/writer revealed last week that the first Star Trek 3 screenplay by Roberto Orci, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, was too "Star Trek-y," which lead Paramount to bring him and Doug Jung in for a rewrite. The actor revealed that their script is now complete, which comes just four weeks before shooting is set to begin in Vancouver.

"We started again six months before we were due to start shooting, which is insane! In fact... we start shooting in Vancouver in four weeks - and we're only handing in our first draft today."

It's worth noting that "today" doesn't exactly mean May 29, since it isn't exactly known when this interview took place, especially since his "Star Trek-y" comments from last week came from the same interview. Regardless, production on Star Trek 3 is certainly starting soon, but it remains to be seen if Paramount will ask Simon Pegg and Doug Jung to rewrite their first draft. The actor/writer also revealed that he trimmed the initial draft by Roberto Orci, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay from a whopping 180 pages to 135 pages.
Simon Pegg didn't divulge any specific plot details of his new script, but with production slated to begin very soon, hopefully Paramount will release official story details very soon. Justin Lin is directing Star Trek 3, which already has a July 8, 2016 release date set by Paramount. The 2016 release also means that this sequel will arrive just as the original Star Trek TV series celebrates its 50th Anniversary. Are you excited to learn more about Star Trek 3? Be sure to stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to production starting.
Star Trek 3 comes to theaters in 2016.

El guión de Star Trek 3, terminado un mes antes de que comience el rodaje

 

Star Trek 3 ya tiene guión definitivo. Después de que Paramount optara a principios de año por un cambio de guionistas y a solo un mes de que comience el rodaje, el libreto de la película que cerrará la nueva trilogía de la saga está terminado. Así lo ha confirmado Simon Pegg, uno de los protagonistas de la cinta y co-guionista del texto.

En una entrevista para RadioTimes, Simon Pegg, que encarna al ingeniero del Enterprise Montgomery Scott, ha hablado este viernes de su labor como co-guionista en la próxima aventura de Star Trek y del ritmo frenético y los plazos ajustados para revisar el libreto.
"Hemos empezado otra vez seis meses antes de cuando debíamos empezar a filmar, ¡Es de locos! De hecho, nosotros empezaremos a rodar en Vancouver en cuatro semanas y acabamos de exponer el primer borrador hoy", ha explicado.
El primer guión de Star Trek 3 estaba a cargo de Roberto Orci, J.D. Payne y Patrick McKay. Pero este texto no convenció a Paramount que, a principios de este año, encargó al actor Simon Pegg y a Doug Jung (Confidence, Dark Blue) que lo modificaran.
El actor y co-guionista se ha referido también a las razones por las que cree que Paramount recurrió a él y a Jung para el texto. "Tenían un guión para Star Trek que realmente no les convencía. Yo creo que el estudio estaba preocupado porque quizás era demasiado Star Trek-y", ha explicado el actor.
Los guionistas han terminado el libreto apenas un mes antes de la fecha prevista para que comience la producción de la cinta en Vancouver (Canadá). Además, su revisión ha reducido el texto de 180 a 135 páginas.
Pegg no ha desvelado más detalles del argumento de esta tercera entrega, que estará dirigida por Justin Lin (Fast & Furious) y llegará a las pantallas en julio de 2016.
YA HA EJERCIDO COMO GUIONISTA
En las dos entregas anteriores de la saga Simon Pegg dio vida a Montgomery Scott, el ingeniero del Enterprise dueño y señor de la sala de máquinas de la nave, que en la saga original fue interpretado por James Doohan. En esta tercera película, el actor volverá a dar vida al personaje.
No es la primera vez que el actor británico se ejerce de guionista. Pegg ha escrito guiones tanto para televisión como para cine y ha co-guionizado algunas de las producciones que ha protagonizado como Arma fatal o Zombies Party, entre otras, junto al director y guionista Edgar Wright.

El Episodio ‘House Pegh’ ya está disponible en Star Trek Online

Perfect World Entertainment ha anunciado que los jugadores de Star Trek Online ya pueden disfrutar de un nuevo episodio destacado, House Pegh. Aquellos capitanes que estén enfrascados en la guerra Iconian podrán unirse a la casa Pegh y participar en una operación encubierta para atacar a las fuerzas Iconian. Además, cada semana habrán recompensas adicionales para los jugadores que participen en este episodio, que se sumarán a las obtenidas al completarlo.

Podéis ver todos los detalles en la página web de Star Trek Online.

Star Trek 2016 and Beyond: What Future Trek Can Learn from The Motion Picture

Last December marked the 35^th anniversary of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (TMP) and in the process, it ushered in an era of Star Trek movies that still exists today, including the new cinematic universe that was ushered in through 2009’s J.J. Abrams’-helmed reboot.
With the impending release of next year’s Star Trek Beyond, written by Simon Pegg (who plays the new universe’s Montgomery Scott) and veteran writer Doug Jung and directed by Justin Lin (of Fast and the Furious fame), this makes it the ideal time to revisit the film that started it all as well as examine what the new movie could learn from TMP.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture was created in large part based off the first attempt to bring back the property to television in a live-action sense, known as Phase II. Excluding The Animated Series, which ran from 1973 to 1974, as well as the first aborted attempt to bring Star Trek back to the big screen (under the project title of “Star Trek: Planet of the Titans”), production on the Phase II television series began in mid-1977 with a target premiere date sometime in 1978. However, with the unexpected and overwhelming success of Star Wars, Paramount decided to transform Phase II into a full-blown theatrical release. It is interesting to note that the pilot episode of Phase II called “In Thy Image” would serve as the backbone for the screenplay for The Motion Picture.
When The Motion Picture was released in 1979, there was a sense of great anticipation. Trek had not been back in live-action format in a decade since The Original Series was cancelled after its third season in 1969. In this regard, the current state of the franchise is not similar, after all. The last movie to be released was just two years ago with Star Trek Into Darkness with Star Trek Beyond slated for 2016.  However, there is a similarity between the anxiousness that permeated the lead-up to the release of TMP and now for Star Trek Beyond.
What do I mean by anxiousness? On the one hand, the anxiousness during TMP’s time was driven solely by the fact that the franchise had been out of a live-action format for a decade. Sure, there was The Animated Series, but that could never be the same, could it? The pent-up demand was palpable. In 2015, the anxiousness is derived from something else. The best word I can use to describe it is trepidation, that murky line between cautiously optimistic and mildly ambivalent. The new movies have been polarizing to fans, with 2013’s Into Darkness arguably being even more divisive than the first.  The production history for the 2016 movie has been fraught with massive directorial and writing changes (with Roberto Orci dropping out as writer and director to be replaced with Justin Lin as director and Simon Pegg as both actor and co-writer with Doug Jung).
Recent acknowledgements from Pegg that the script is still being rewritten and worked on with only about a year left until the film’s release, in addition to concerns from Paramount Studios that previous scripts were too “Star Trek-y” have left some fans wondering: “Just what is the direction of the franchise? Is there a larger vision and is that larger vision even worth pursuing?” This is only made more poignant with 2016 marking Star Trek’s 50^th anniversary and the fact that, as for right now, the JJ-verse movies are the only iteration of Trek being made. Thus with this current backdrop as context, I think it’s incredibly worthwhile to look to TMP for inspiration and insight.
I recently re-watched The Motion Picture, both the cinematic release on Blu-Ray as well as the Director’s Cut (which was sadly not produced at the time in a way that would have made it easy to restore to HD). And for the benefit of full disclosure, I’ve always been an ardent TMP partisan and my belief in the strengths of this movie are only reinforced after my recent re-watches.
Borne out of a time when Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 2001: A Space Odyssey were big hits with audiences, The Motion Picture has always had a different visceral feel than any of the successive Trek films. And I don’t merely mean on a purely aesthetic level either, although that plays a significant role (for the record, I’ve always been a big defender of the TMP uniforms, monochromatic color schemes and all). What I mean is that from the very opening scene, with the triumphant score that would later be appropriated by The Next Generation, this movie conveyed a sense of ambition and scale that continues to be unique to this day.

Admiral Kirk addressing the crew about their mission

Everything seemed bigger. We got our first glimpse of what Earth looked like in the 23^rd century, and that opening shot of the Golden Gate Bridge and Starfleet Command (including the extended take that was included in The Director’s Cut) was magnificent. Even the Enterprise seemed more majestic. The scene where Admiral Kirk is briefing the crew in the recreation deck creates such a large perception of scale that is never really matched in any other movie, or series, for that matter. The ship seemed massive and the crew complement huge and vibrant, with diverse ethnicities and races both humanoid and non-humanoid. Truth be told, no starship crew in any subsequent Trek iterations would never appear more grandiose or as teeming with life than it did in that scene. This visual motif would be continued in how the very concept of jumping to warp speed would be portrayed. We’ve often become accustomed to our various starships performing feats of faster-than-light travel and “hopping galaxies” (as Bones would put it in The Wrath of Khan) as being very ho-hum, banal, and perfunctory. But I’ve always loved the fact that TMP portrayed warp travel as still being unpredictable and fraught with unseen danger, even in this grand future.

The Enterprise trapped in a wormhole of its own creation

But the most important lesson to be learned from TMP is the sense of exploration and examination of the human condition that it engendered. To be sure, Kirk’s mission aboard the Enterprise to intercept the alien probe, V’ger, was not intended as a peaceful exploratory mission. Rather, it was to intercept and neutralize at all costs a hostile and implacable force (this is another point where the Director’s Cut shines, it reintroduces a scene where Kirk orders Scotty to self-destruct the Enterprise in case their efforts to communicate with the probe fail). But this mission belied a deeper and more resonant message when it was revealed that the probe itself was of human origin. Everyone who has seen the movie (and arguably even those who haven’t) know how important that twist is. The fact that V’Ger is in fact one of the Voyager probes (albeit the fictional Voyager 6) and that it has come back to Earth, not to harm it, but to learn from its creator why it was sent out in the first place, hits so many resonant notes on the nature of exploration and the human condition itself. It dares to ask questions that explore the concept of emergent consciousness, the limitations of cold programming and calculation, the contradictory uniqueness embodied by the human mind which inhabits both a place of emotion and logic, and how all of these things can and must be explored by a consciousness not solely defined as organic or inorganic. Indeed, the most moving moment for me is actually a scene that was cut from the original theatrical version. Restored in the Director’s Cut, it involves Spock crying on behalf of V’Ger. He explains to Kirk why: “I weep for V’ger as I would for a brother. As I was when I came aboard, so is V’Ger now. Empty. Incomplete. Searching. Logic and knowledge are not enough.”

Spock crying for V’ge

So how does this apply to next year’s movie and to the state of the franchise as a whole moving forward? I think it’s absolutely critical that any future Trek movie restore that same sense of wonder, scale, and exploration that was so prevalent throughout TMP, as well as its study and examination of the human condition.  To be sure, The Motion Picture wasn’t a perfect movie, but insofar that it captured these elements, the movie was resoundingly successful and it’s something that fans are beginning to appreciate more and more. I would also suggest that the decentralized and de-personified nature of V’ger is refreshing and suggests a model for future films. The past four movies (Into Darkness, Star Trek ’09, Nemesis, and Insurrection) all have featured a villain, obsessed with revenge, commanding an imposing ship that the Enterprise crew has to valiantly blow up in order to save the day. Indeed, there hasn’t been a movie without a headlining “main threat bad guy” since The Voyage Home. This is not to say that villains don’t have a role in Trek: I personally loved Ricardo Montalban as Khan, Christopher Plummer as Chang, and Alice Krige as the Borg Queen. But is it possible for us to formulate an idea for Star Trek that doesn’t always necessitate such a trope? That doesn’t necessitate a huge space battle, whiz-bang explosions, and a dead villain as the only outcome of our heroes succeeding? The recent commercial and critical success of movies like Gravity and Interstellar strongly suggest that not only is this possible, but for a franchise like Star Trek, it is absolutely necessary.

(from left to right) Ru’afo from Insurrection, Shinzon from Nemesis, Nero from Star Trek ’09, and John Harrison / Khan from Into Darkness

I wouldn’t presume to second-guess Simon Pegg, Doug Jung, and Justin Lin when they’re in the process of writing, producing, and directing a movie under the scrutiny of the world’s most dedicated fanbase. Unless you’re one of the very people who have actually been in that kind of situation, it’s almost impossible to know what factors, constraints, and pressures influence the pressure cooker environment in which the producers operate in. Other seemingly troubled productions such as the third season Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” would turn out to be among the franchise’s best work. And in actuality, Pegg’s comments back in March of this year emphasizing his awareness that “the spirit of adventure and exploration” need to be present in the new movie is quite heartening. For all we know, next year’s movie might be everything we’re looking for and then some. We can only wait and see. But in the meantime, we can still ruminate and reflect on what made Star Trek truly resonant for us, and hope that what we see in the future will reflect and expand on that.
In the end, despite the despondence or fear that some fans have about next year’s movie, I’m actually optimistic for Trek’s future. Star Trek has endured its high and lows, its peaks and valleys, its eras of green verdant growth and harsh dry drought. Despite the absence of Trek on television (where it excels the most) and the fan reticence towards the new studio movie, Star Trek still thrives. Why? Without a doubt, it’s because of the dedicated fanbase that has kept the franchise alive through periods of famine and feast. Even now, we are experiencing a veritable renaissance of fans films and independent productions, in the form of Axanar, New Voyages / Phase II, Star Trek Continues, and many others. Indeed, the success of these fan films and independent productions speak to the vitality of Star Trek and arguably to the existence of unmet demand that is not being satisfied from the new movies. Indeed, it is quite telling that on the eve of Star Trek’s 50^th anniversary next year in 2016, there has been no discernible effort by the studio to commemorate the anniversary or celebrate the franchise in a way that has been done for Doctor Who’s 50^th anniversary in 2013 or with Star Wars’ impending return to the big screen in December 2015. Rather, it seems that it is the fan-driven and independently created work and not the “official” studio-sanctioned content, which is driving the majority of fan enthusiasm these days.
This ultimately brings us full circle. Whether it’s a television series, a Paramount produced movie, or a fan / independent production, Star Trek is at its best when it can combine action, adventure, drama, humor, moral and socio-political allegory into a richer milieu about the human condition. With a return to its exploratory roots, Star Trek can recapture that palpable sense of excitement and wonder that fans once had in the summer of 1979. TMP at its heart is about the human condition and in this fan’s humble opinion, any future iteration of Trek can only be well-served by learning from The Motion Picture that started it all.

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Will Nguyen lives in the Boston area. You can tweet him at @Will_Nguyen. He’s also the co-host for Warp 5, a weekly Enterprise show on Trek.fm, a dedicated podcast network that talks about every aspect of the Trek universe from television, the movies, literature, and everything in between.

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Will 50th Anniversary Return Shatner To Trek?

Simon Pegg won't rule it out, especially if it works storywise

It seems like Simon Pegg has moved from a member of Star Trek's ensemble film cast, to its unofficial spokesman.
Pegg, who plays Scotty in the film series — and is now earning credit as a co-writer for "Star Trek 3's" script, has been making the media rounds for his new romantic comedy, "Man Up." But, of course, reporters can't help but ask about what Pegg in the past has called "Star Trek: Beyond" — and whether we might see a face from the past in the film franchise now that Leonard Nimoy has passed away.
If that were to happen, it would be hard to go bigger than William Shatner — the original Capt. Kirk, who has pushed to be included in the new film franchise since Paramount announced its relaunch.
But is it possible?
"William Shatner is an amazing actor, (and) has such an incredible body of work, which transcends just his time as Capt. Kirk," Pegg recently told Digital Spy. "It's always about whether the story is right. There's no point crowbarring these things in as a gimmick because that does the story and the film a disservice."
Writers and fans have argued Nimoy's inclusion in the past films was necessary, as it helped bridge the two franchises (and establish the new timeline). He popped up in the sequel "Star Trek: Into Darkness," because you have to admit, it would make sense that if history is repeating itself in one way, it doesn't hurt to consult with someone who's already been through it.
But what would Shatner be able to offer "Star Trek 3"? Pegg already has shared his story idea with writer Doug Jung would get away from traditional Star Trek-style adventures. And there would need to be a compelling story reason to bring the 84-year-old actor on board.
If such a story idea was found, Pegg has no doubt Shatner would avail himself — despite his very busy schedule for an octogenarian.
"I have no doubt in my mind that he could play Capt. Kirk until the day he decided to go off into the final frontier," Pegg said.
"Star Trek 3" is set for a July 8, 2016 premiere, with filming expected to start this summer in Canada.

Source: International Business Times

 

Platinum tribbles, for the discerning trekkie

Platinum tribbles, for the discerning trekkie

QMx don't appear to have got their tribble breeding program under control yet, as they have just started shipping out a new generation of everyone's (non-Klingons at least) furry little friends. The new tribble is a "platinum" breed (aka grey), and like their previous releases comes in a bespoke tribble containment unit, with instruction for care.

This is the third individual tribble QMx have offered, following their previous brown ones, and last year's Loot Crate exclusive ginger ones. They also had a tribble family, with baby tribbles that could be placed inside their mother to recreate a tribble birthing scene! QMx don't seem to offer that mama tribble anymore, although Entertainment Earth are still taking pre-ordered for expected delivery (teehee, punny), next month.

'Star Trek 3': ¿Volverá William Shatner como el capitán James T. Kirk?

La película dirigida por Justin Lin ('Fast & Furious') y protagonizada por Chris Pine y Zachary Quinto se estrena el 15 de julio de 2016.

Star Trek 3 se estrena el 15 de julio de 2016 en España y, tras contarte que Paramount quiere que la nueva secuela tenga un tono "más generalista" -ahora desmentido-, su guionista Simon Pegg (Misión Imposible: Nación secreta), que además vuelve como Scotty, ha reconocido a Digital Spy que William Shatner podría interpretar al capitán James T. Kirk en una futura entrega de la franquicia.
Como recordarás, William Shatner no aparecía ni en Star Trek ni en Star Trek: En la oscuridad de J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: El despertar de la Fuerza) pero, si hacemos caso a los rumores, podría tener un papel de importancia en la tercera parte, como ya le ocurriera a Leonard Nimoy con las dos anteriores. Por otro lado, Pegg ha aclarado que el título de Star Trek Beyond aún está por decidir. Hasta que sepamos más sobre los tripulantes de la USS Enterprise, de nuevo comandados por Chris Pine y Zachary Quinto y con Justin Lin (Fast & Furious) como director, mira el tráiler de otra cinta galácitca, El despertar de la Fuerza (18 de diciembre).

“Economía es la virtud de evitar gastos inútiles”

“Economía es la virtud de evitar gastos inútiles”

Analizando la Economía en Star Trek.

La Economía es una ciencia social que estudia la escasez de los recursos, considerados en toda época perecibles y limitados. La escasez de recursos obliga a elegir y la economía enseña cómo se realizan los actos de elección.

La elección de un determinado recurso conlleva a la renuncia de otro, este proceso es conocido como el costo de oportunidad. El Costo de Oportunidad es la alternativa de mayor valor que se renuncia por la alternativa elegida.

En la saga de televisión y películas de Star Trek y Star Trek La Nueva Generación, se ha planteado un modo de vida donde cada ser inteligente valora lo que tiene, no por el valor material sino por la satisfacción personal que le representa desde el punto de vista visual, manual o mental.

Los seres inteligentes han comprendido que en la vida no existe ningún poder económico que pueda adquirir todo lo que existe, y que el deseo por poseer todo lo que se ofrece puede ocasionar más molestias que alegrías al provocar problemas médicos por no tener el tiempo ni el espacio necesarios para disfrutarlos.

Tiempo y espacio son las dos palabras que siempre estarán unidas en la decisión de elegir, por ese motivo es importante plantearse prioridades que están determinados según los objetivos de la vida, expresado inicialmente en las necesidades básicas como alimentos, vestidos, vivienda, y las más importantes que difícilmente se pueden adquirir: sentirse bien con lo que uno es.

Fuente:  La Economía en Star Trek
Análisis económico de los acuerdos de intercambio comercial y cultural en Star Trek
Fátima Rodríguez Serra

Pavel Chekov Confirmed As Main Character in Star Trek 3

With Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto both dropping out of the franchise to pursue other projects, Paramount decided against a reboot for Star Trek 3 and instead will have a crew who is captained by Hikaru Sulu, who is played by John Cho and the story will

With Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto both dropping out of the franchise to pursue other projects, Paramount decided against a reboot for Star Trek 3 and instead will have a crew who is captained by Hikaru Sulu, who is played by John Cho and the story will . This event was uncovered undoubtly at the worst timing possible admid the world watching. We have exclusive CONFIRMED report and are confident to release this news ot the public. The last question was asked for the first time, half in jest, on May 21, 2014, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light. The question came about as a result of a five dollar bet over highballs, and it happened this way:

Alexander Adell and Bertram Lupov were two of the faithful attendants of Multivac. As well as any human beings could, they knew what lay behind the cold, clicking, flashing face — miles and miles of face — of that giant computer. They had at least a vague notion of the general plan of relays and circuits that had long since grown past the point where any single human could possibly have a firm grasp of the whole. He was attractive though sometimes a little... dimwitted. Bill Brasky called him anyway, for the situation was urgent.
Multivac was self-adjusting and self-correcting. It had to be, for nothing human could adjust and correct it quickly enough or even adequately enough — so Adell and Lupov attended the monstrous giant only lightly and superficially, yet as well as any men could. They fed it data, adjusted questions to its needs and translated the answers that were issued. Certainly they, and all others like them, were fully entitled to share in the glory that was Multivac’s.
For decades, Multivac had helped design the ships and plot the trajectories that enabled man to reach the Moon, Mars, and Venus, but past that, Earth’s poor resources could not support the ships. Too much energy was needed for the long trips. Earth exploited its coal and uranium with increasing efficiency, but there was only so much of both.
But slowly Multivac learned enough to answer deeper questions more fundamentally, and on May 14, 2061, what had been theory, became fact The energy of the sun was stored, converted, and utilized directly on a planet-wide scale. All Earth turned off its burning coal, its fissioning uranium, and flipped the switch that connected all of it to a small station, one mile in diameter, circling the Earth at half the distance of the Moon. All Earth ran by invisible beams of sunpower.
Seven days had not sufficed to dim the glory of it and Adell and Lupov finally managed to escape from the public function, and to meet in quiet where no one would think of looking for them, in the deserted underground chambers, where portions of the mighty buried body of Multivac showed. Unattended, idling, sorting data with contented lazy clickings, Multivac, too, had earned its vacation and the boys appreciated that. They had no intention, originally, of disturbing it.
They had brought a bottle with them, and their only concern at the moment was to relax in the company of each other and the bottle. “It’s amazing when you think of it,” said Adell. His broad face had lines of weariness in it, and he stirred his drink slowly with a glass rod, watching the cubes of ice slur clumsily about. “All the energy we can possibly ever use for free. Enough energy, if we wanted to draw on it, to melt all Earth into a big drop of impure liquid iron, and still never miss the energy so used. All the energy we could ever use, forever and forever and forever.”
Lupov cocked his head sideways. He had a trick of doing that when he wanted to be contrary, and he wanted to be contrary now, partly because he had had to carry the ice and glassware. “Not forever,” he said.
“Oh, hell, just about forever. Till the sun runs down, Bert.”
It was a nice feeling to have a Microvac of your own and Jerrodd was glad he was part of his generation and no other. In his father’s youth, the only computers had been tremendous machines taking up a hundred square miles of land. There was only one to a planet. Planetary ACs they were called. They had been growing in size steadily for a thousand years and then, all at once, came refinement. In place of transistors had come molecular valves so that even the largest Planetary AC could be put into a space only half the volume of a spaceship.
Jerrodd felt uplifted, as he always did when he thought that his own personal Microvac was many times more complicated than the ancient and primitive Multivac that had first tamed the Sun, and almost as complicated as Earth’s Planetary AC (the largest) that had first solved the problem of hyperspatial travel and had made trips to the stars possible. Wow I can't believe you're still reading this.

New Documentary Short “Our Star Trek: The Fifty Year Mission” Focuses on Fan Series Star Trek Continues

“Star Trek – it’s iconic, but many misunderstand its meaning,” quoth the creators of a documentary short released today entitled Our Star Trek: The Fifty Year Mission. What does Star Trek and the vision of creator Gene Roddenberry mean to fans that watch the series’ (old and new) in the modern era? That’s the question fueling the 10 minute film, which follows the cast and crew of the fan series Star Trek Continues. Hit the jump to watch the film.

Our Star Trek: The Fifty Year Mission
A new documentary short film Our Star Trek: The Fifty Year Mission centered around fan series Star Trek Continues debuted today on Vimeo. Writer/Producer Erik Lee hopes that the new short film will help spread the vision of Gene Roddenberry by teaching people a little bit about what Trek means to fans and superfans today. Lee told TrekMovie:
 My team has produced this documentary short film about what Star Trek is about and the humans who create it. I truly believe the film has a chance of doing some good, even in a very small way, by spreading Gene Roddenberry’s vision in a simple and sharable way.
 Our Star Trek was shot on the set of Star Trek Continues during production of their latest episode “The White Iris”, which is set to debut this Friday at Phoenix Comicon (6:00PM Arizona time). TrekMovie’s own Kayla Iacovino (yours truly) was also on set for booth shoots. Eagle-eyed viewers can catch her in both films!

Un fan de Star Trek hace una réplica de la Enterprise como sede de su empresa

La obsesión del multimillonario chino Liu Dejian por la serie es tal que se ha gastado 150 millones en un edificio calcado a la famosa nave espacial

La pasión por Star Trek siempre ha deparado historias curiosas y personajes pintorescos. El problema es que, si eres un ‘trekkie’ y además multimillonario, puedes llegar a hacer cosas realmente inverosímiles. Es el caso de Liu Dejian, presidente del proveedor de internet móvil más importante de China, que ha construido una sede de oficinas cuyo diseño es una réplica de la nave Enterprise, famosa por aparecer en su amada serie televisiva. Para construirla tuvo que pedir permiso a la CBS, el canal dueño de los derechos de Star Trek. Liu, de 43 años, fue uno de los primeros en desarrollar el mercado de los juegos online en China y posee una fortuna superior a la de la reina de Inglaterra. Por eso no tuvo reparo en gastarse casi 150 millones de euros en levantar su anhelado edificio, que tardó seis años en tener su forma definitiva.
El Enterprise chino es tan grande como tres campos de fútbol, está equipado con toboganes de metal de 10 metros que van desde el tercer piso a la planta baja y cada una de las área de trabajo está separada por puertas correderas automáticas.
Liu Dejian es un personaje conocido en China. Los medios del país lo describen como “un niño grande” y explican que en su antigua oficina era fácil encontrar todo tipo de artilugios como máquinas de pinball o juguetes de batman e incluso un cine privado. Su obsesión Star Trek comenzó cuando fue a la Universidad de Kansas para estudiar y tras pasar una década allí volvió a China para levantar su imperio económico y erigir su Enterprise.

Star Trek cuenta con unos gnomos dispuestos a vigilar tu jardín

Estas figuras inspiradas en la serie de televisión van a viajar audazmente a donde ningún gnomo de jardín ha llegado jamás.

Qué importante es tener un jardín en condiciones. Imagínate que dispones de un pequeño terrenito en el que cobijar tus plantitas justo a la entrada de casa y que, por circunstancias, está triste y deslavazado. Necesitas alguien que reciba a las visitas y que de algo de colorido a ese jardín. Pero también que vigile que ni Romulanos, ni Klingon, ni Gorn, ni ninguna especie hostil a la Federación de Planetas Unidos haga un destrozo en el parterre de margaritas. Necesitas a los gnomos de jardín de Star Trek, directamente teletransportados de la Enterprise para garantizar la decoración de tu zona de exterior.

Los gnomos de jardín de Star Trek vienen en una misión que no tiene por qué durar más de cinco años ni llevarles a ningún otro sistema que esté más allá de unos pocos metros desde la puerta de tu casa, pero si hace falta poner el fáser en posición de aturdir a las malas hierbas, lo que sea menester. Think Geek nos trae estos cuatro modelos de gnomos muy representativos de Star Trek con Kirk y Spock en respectivas imágenes barbudas y con sombrero picudo y sendas frases (“Para ir audazmente donde ningún hombre ha llegado jamás” y “Larga y próspera vida”), pero también con un Gorn dispuesto a hacer trizas a Kirk aunque diga que “Será rápido y piadoso” y , cómo no, con el poco apreciado y muy sufrido camisa roja genérico de la serie y un lamento que seguro flota en la mente de toda la tripulación: “Únete a la Flota Estelar, decían. Será divertido, decían”.
Tu sacrificio y tu representación en forma de gnomo de jardín al precio, como cada uno, de 24,99 dólares valdrán la pena, amigo.

Smallwood: Creating The Xindi

For Tucker Smallwood, a health issue did not keep the actor from his first Star Trek role.
Smallwood first appeared on Star Trek: Voyager as Admiral Bullock, and then was called back to play another alien, the Xindi-Primate Councilor on Star Trek: Enterprise.
The actor’s first appearance came after he developed Bell’s Palsy, a condition in which half of one’s face is temporarily paralyzed. “I woke up one morning, looked at myself in the mirror and thought I’d had a stroke,” he said. “I was stricken with Bell’s palsy. I didn’t know what it was at the time and I very quickly learned a lot more about it. Only half of my face worked.
“I told my agents, ‘You can’t send me out now. If they see me like this, I’ll never work again.’ So, for months I didn’t go out. Then I got a call from my agents saying, ‘Voyager called and would like to see you for this character. [Admiral Bullock on In The Flesh].’ I said, ‘Well, he’s an alien. I can do that. I sound OK. I only look like hell.’ The muscles in my face were very, very slowly starting to respond, but I did not have full control over the muscles. Then I discovered that, yes, he is an alien, but he’s an alien who looks like a human being. He’s disguised in a shape-shifting way as a human being. However, I got the role and when people saw the work they said, ‘You were so implacable. You were so stern.’ I said, ‘It was the only expression I had.’ But it was very affirming. People all over were kind to me throughout this experience. You tend to want to withdraw, especially if you make your life visually, so to speak. I didn’t know if I’d ever work again, and that was the start of my working again.”
His next role was that of the Xindi-Primate Councilor on Star Trek: Enterprise, where he appeared in nine episodes. Working with Scott Bakula was a pleasure for Smallwood. “Scott Bakula, I’d worked with him on three different projects,” he said. “He’s just a gem. He set the tone for that show, and it was a very inclusive experience. There was no star system there. Everyone was a peer. And that’s what the concept is in theater, which made sense, since Scott is a theater-trained actor. So it was a wonderful set, a wonderful crew and a wonderful cast.”
Smallwood took part in fleshing out the culture of the Xindi. “Generally in the Star Trek franchise, there is a bible for every species,” he said. “However, there was no bible for the Xindi. So, we wiled away our time on set creating our culture. We had some spirited discussions, in that we had six species in the Xindi, one of which is extinct, two of which are CGI, and it took a lot of imagination. But, as I said, we had a great group of guys, so it was an exciting, challenging experience. They original called us, Randy [Oglesby] and I, the humanoid Xindi. I said, ‘No, that’s a racial term. I’d never refer to myself by using another species to identify myself.” So I said, ‘We are the Primate-Xindi.’ So, as I say, our culture was evolving as we were filming.”
Still working, Smallwood, who is seventy-one, will be part of SCI Fest L.A: The Los Angeles Science Fiction One-Act Play Festival, where he is performing the role of Professor Grock in the play Human History, which runs through this Sunday.

Scotland Yard temía que los fans del sci-fi fueran una amenaza para la sociedad

Quiero creer que es sólo un programa.

Scotland Yard – el servicio policiaco metropolitano de Londres– guardaba archivos acerca de Star Trek y The X-Files y otro tanto de series americanas de ciencia ficción debido a que temía que los fans de dichos programas comenzaran un culto, o se volvieran locos y se dañaran a sí mismos o a otros.

Un reporte titulado "UFO New Religious Movements and the Millennium" (OVNIS, Nuevos Movimientos Religiosos y el Milenio) fue archivado en 1998-99 seguido del suicidio colectivo de 39 miembros del culto de Heaven's Gate en San Diego. Special Branch (una división de Scotland Yard) dijo que los miembros del culto eran fanáticos de X-Files y Star Trek.
En realidad, no se creía que por sí solos los programas fueran dañinos. La preocupación era por la teoría de que las personas que creían que el fin del mundo estaba cerca por el cambio de milenio, también eran fanáticas de estas series. El reporte, que fue hecho público por The Telegraph, menciona que dichos programas tocaban temas que involucraban OVNIs, conspiraciones y eventos míticos.

"Obviamente esto no es siniestro por sí mismo, lo que es preocupante es la devoción de ciertos grupos o individuos atribuyen a los contenidos de estos programas", dice el reporte. Roswell, Dark Skies y la película The Lawnmower Man también estaban siendo monitoreados.

Simon Pegg revela que Paramount le ha pedido que 'Star Trek 3' sea "más generalista"

 El también actor de 'Misión Imposible: Nación secreta' menciona ‘Vengadores’ de Marvel como modelo de éxito en la gran pantalla.

El actor y guionista británico Simon Pegg ha hablado acerca de su papel en Star Trek 3, la próxima entrega de la famosa saga de ciencia ficción. En una entrevista para Radio Times, Pegg ha revelado que Paramount le ha pedido que la nueva película tenga un tono "más generalista" para el público.
Resulta interesante que Simon Pegg mencione Vengadores: La era de Ultrón como un modelo de éxito en la gran pantalla. La película de Marvel, que ha conseguido sobrepasar la barrera de los 1.000 millones de dólares de recaudación, es la línea a seguir para la próxima entrega de Star Trek. "Tenían un guión de Star Trek que realmente no les estaba funcionando. Las personas no lo ven como algo entretenido que puedan ver el sábado por la noche, como el caso de Vengadores".
Pegg ha comparado el éxito de Vengadores en la taquilla con el de Star Trek: En la oscuridad. "Vengadores, que se es algo bastante 'nerd', hizo 1.500 millones de dólares. Star Trek: En la oscuridad’ hizo 500 millones, que es algo genial. Pero de acuerdo con el estudio, eso significa que hay 1.000 millones de dólares en valor de taquilla, de gente que no va a ver Star Trek. Quieren saber por qué”. Pegg ha co-escrito junto a Doug Jung la película que se estrenará en España el 15 de julio de 2016 y que seguirá estando protagonizada por Chris Pine y Zachary Quinto.

NDHQ-vid1-NOV2014

Make it so: Chinese building looks just like Star Trek's USS Enterprise

We already know history will never forget the name Enterprise, but now architecture won't either.

See also: Could We Build Star Trek's Starship Enterprise?

There's a building in China that looks almost exactly like the USS Enterprise from Star Trek. Drone footage (which we really wish was set to this music)
shows how a relatively conventional-looking building from the ground
dramatically transforms into a regal starship when viewed from the air.
Lest you think this is visual trickery done via Holodeck or CGI, the starship/building is clearly visible on Google Maps.

Our tipster explained to us that the building is the headquarters of NetDragon Websoft,
a Chinese gaming and mobile Internet company. And it's no Chinese
knock-off: Company Chairman Liu DeJian is reportedly an uberTrekkie,
licensing from CBS the rights to build an Enterprise replica.
Construction began in 2008 and was finished in 2014; the project cost
$160 million total.

 The building is the only officially licensed Star Trek building on the planet (you had your chance,
Las Vegas). Besides its otherworldly shape, the building contains a
replica display of a T-Rex dinosaur named Stan discovered in South
Dakota in 1987, 30-foot metal slides that provide instant access to the
ground floor from the third floor, and automatic sliding gates between
each working area.
It's a fantastic homage to the Star Trek franchise, but
which Enterprise is it? At first glance, the building looks closest to
the Enterprise-E seen in the later Next Generation movies, but there are
hints of the Enterprise-D and the starship design from the J.J. Abrams
reboot movies,

New Star Trek Costumes Book

 Star Trek: Costumes — Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier will be arriving in bookstores this autumn.

The book will be a two-hundred-and-fifty-six page hardcover.
Written by Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann, readers will receive an “in-depth look at the innovative costume designs at the heart of the Trek universe, spanning from the original series up through and including the latest big-screen adventures.”
The book features an introduction by Robert Blackman, an Emmy Award winning costumer designer well-familiar to Trek fans.

Costumes from the original series through the most recent Trek movies will be featured. The book is “filled with exclusive photography, stills from the saga, rare concept art, and other striking visuals, Star Trek: Costumes also focuses on the talented individuals who have brought the Star Trek universe to life, including original costume designer William Ware Theiss and his successors, Robert Fletcher, Robert Blackman, and, most recently, Michael Kaplan.
“Featuring extensive information on the creation of each featured costume, with insight and anecdotes from interviewees including Blackman, Kaplan, J.J. Abrams, LeVar Burton, Jonathan Frakes and Ronald D. Moore, this book is a comprehensive and captivating celebration of the incredible artistry that has made Star Trek‘s costumes as innovative and imaginative as its futuristic technologies.”
Star Trek: Costumes — Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier will be released in September, and will cost $60.00.

Source: StarTrek.com

La NASA habría encontrado la fórmula para viajar tan rápido como en 'Star Trek '

La NASA (Aeronáutica Nacional y Administración Espacial) logró ensayar con buenos resultados el RM Drive, un nuevo propulsor revolucionario, capaz de viajar a grandes velocidades.

Con esta nave espacial, los científicos aseguran que pueden alcanzar la luna en tan solo 4 horas, debido a su sorprendente motor.

Según lo informa la NASA Spaceflight, La agencia espacial estadounidense ya había probado con éxito el pasado junio el propulsor espacial EM Drive, pero esta vez NASA Eagleworks ha llevado a cabo un experimento en el vacío completo.

La NASA ya ha presentado el proyecto de la nave WarpStar-1 equipado con el EM Drive. Según las estimaciones de los científicos, la tripulación del WarpStar-1 podría llegar a la Luna en solo cuatro horas y un vuelo a Marte tardaría 70 días en vez de los siete meses que se necesitan ahora. La nave podrá permanecer en el Planeta Rojo 90 días y luego regresar a la Tierra.

Además, los científicos de la NASA podrían haber inventado accidentalmente durante el experimento un motor warp: un sistema de propulsión que permitiría superar la velocidad de la luz y viajar tan rápido como en la película 'Star Trek'. 

Una de las publicaciones en el foro NASA Spacefligh afirma que cuando el láser se disparó en la cámara de resonancia de EmDrive, algunos de los rayos láser viajaron a una velocidad superior a la de la luz. De ser cierto, significaría que el motor EmDrive podría haber producido una burbuja warp que permitiría propulsar una nave espacial a una velocidad equivalente a varios múltiplos de la velocidad de la luz. Reseña sacada de Actualidad RT.

El experimento realizado demostró que el propulsor puede funcionar en el espacio, lo que abre muchas posibilidades en su exploración.

Un replicador de Star Trek llega a la cocina de los hogares

El dispositivo viene con una aplicación móvil para hacerlo funcionar

Dos emprendedores israelíes desarrollaron un dispositivo que sirve para preparar alimentos de modo automático, de la misma forma que lo hace el replicador que se usa en la franquicia de televisión y cine Star Trek.

Se trata del equipo patentado como Genie, que —según la página donde se promociona el dispositivo— cuenta con un diseño único para crear platos "sabrosos, sanos y personalizados en menos de un minuto".

El replicador Genie ejecuta el proceso de cocción en 30 segundos, utilizando tecnología de alta gama. Cada persona solamente tiene que agregar los ingredientes de su gusto y según su dieta específica.

El dispositivo fue desarrollado por los emprendedores israelíes Ayelet Carasso y Doron Marco, dentro de un programa denominado como White Innovation, utilizando mecanismos similares a los que tienen algunas máquinas de café expresso.

Las comidas se preparan en porciones de 140 gramos en envases reciclables. El dispositivo viene con una aplicación móvil para hacerlo funcionar.

Según los creadores se puede preparar cualquier tipo de plato con ingredientes naturales y no se utiliza ningún tipo de conservantes.

El replicador se basa en la idea de una máquina capaz de fabricar, procesar y transformar la materia prima en componentes finales, en forma automatica. Incluso podría crear una copia de sí misma, robots para extraer o recolectar materia prima en minas o para ensamblar máquinas en fábricas.

Bakula: Enterprise Was The Wild West

For Scott Bakula, the time setting was what attracted him to Star Trek: Enterprise.
The actor shared his thoughts on the series ten years after the last episode aired.
“The reason I did the show was because it was before,” he said. “I think if they had said ‘It’s going to be two hundred years after Voyager‘ I probably would have said no to it because I don’t know what that would have been. I just had a clear sense when they said ‘It’s the Wild West, before Kirk.’ I saw what that could be and was excited by the idea.”
Although Enterprise didn’t go the full seven years, Bakula believes that it was a quality show and that fans would appreciate it more over time. “I think I felt, at the time, and I think we’ve kind of proven this over time after we were off the air, that fans would grow to appreciate the show more as time went on, and discover it, and that has borne itself out,” he said. “My experience with meeting fans and meeting them at conventions is that there’s a great delight about our show that wasn’t there when it was on the air, but I’m happy and pleased that people are still discovering the show and that it has legs, basically.”
“I always look back very fondly on it,” Bakula added. “We had a great cast, and it was an honor and a pleasure to work with all the technical people behind the camera that had been there for years and were pioneers in so many respects in the ways of effects, makeup effects, and different things that they had honed on prior shows really starting with The Next Generation for those many, many years. There is just a great pleasure to work with such wonderful, bright, intelligent people who had a history on the show and cared so much and tried to just do everybody proud, first and foremost the fans, and they really responded.”

Source: Blastr

Star Trek Live In Poland

The 8th Annual Krakow Film Music Festival will close on May 31 with a performance of Star Trek Live in Concert.
The concert will take place at the Tauron Kraków Arena.
At this special performance, which will take place May 21 at 8 PM, “Oscar winner Michael Giacchino‘s score will be performed live by the AUKSO Orchestra and the Pro Musica Mundi Choir as the film is screened simultaneously. Star Trek Live showcases all the music from the Oscar winning film and will include a special suite written by Giacchino specifically for the Krakow Film Music Festival.”
Swiss musician and conductor Ludwig Wicki will lead “the combined two hundred member orchestra and choir on the musical imaginings voyage that will go through a unique musical journey across space and time with the Star Trek franchise.”
The Krakow Film Music Festival is “an important industry event, the sight of international and Polish premieres, which often take place in the presence of world-class directors and composers.” This year’s festival runs from May 27-31.
For more information, head to the link located here.

Source: Press Release

Shatner Ride To Benefit Charity

A six day motorcycle ride from Chicago to Los Angeles next month by William Shatner will benefit charity.
The ride, scheduled to begin June 21, will take Shatner across the historical Route 66.
“I’ve helped design a motorcycle and I’m going to ride that motorcycle from Chicago to L.A. [on] June 20, I think,” said Shatner. “We’re filming it being made right now. Hopefully there’ll be a large group of people — a motorcycle gang, me, down Route 66 from Chicago to L.A., filming, streaming, and making money for charities as we stop along the way.”
“June 21 through June 27 is that ride,” said Shatner. “The shape of the ride — if they can make two bikes, we’ll sell one — otherwise we’ll invite people to come and ride with us for a day, five days — it’ll take us six days.
“The challenge will be selecting the right people to make the ride, because we’ll be on the road for six days, stopping off at bars and motels and eateries that the gang will choose. The gang will be…people with a checkered past. But instead of a gang that runs drugs, there are many gangs who do good work, good, charitable work. So my intention is to raise money for abused children and other charities that might come along the way having to do with children and veterans.”

Source: Vanity Fair

Trek Actors in L.A. Sci-Fi Play Festival

The worlds of theatre and science fiction don’t often intersect, but beginning May 7 and continuing through May 31, Acme Theatre in Hollywood will Make it So.

The second annual Sci-Fest L.A. will present new one-acts adapted from some of the giants in the sci-fi and horror fields, including Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury and Clive Barker, and performed by actors including Walter Koenig ("Star Trek").
The one-acts will be performed on two programs that will play on alternate days. Each program consists of four or five plays lasting 10 to 20 minutes each.
Here is the breakdown:

PROGRAM A: Turnover by Chris Graybill, directed by Jeffrey Marcus. Within the walls of a futuristic penal facility, a “job interview” turns into a sinister game of cat-and-mouse between a dangerous inmate and her interrogator.

Cast: David Dean Bottrell (“True Blood”), Keisha Thompson
Human History by Joel Silberman. Directed by Malcolm Barrett & Matthew Leavitt. Far in the future, in a classroom on a distant planet, racial tensions run high as Earth’s history is debated, forgotten and relearned.
Cast: Tina Huang (“Rizzoli and Isles”), Nazneen Contractor (“Star Trek: Into Darkness”), Tucker Smallwood (“Star Trek: Enterprise”), Nicholas Anthony Reid, Marque Richardson (“True Blood”), Monti Sharp
The Lunchtime Show by G. Clarence Davidson. Directed by Drew Barr. In a deserted border town, visitors to a ramshackle “roadside attraction” get a little more than they bargained for.
Cast: Riley Baron, Dale Dickey (“True Blood”), Patricia McNeeley, Britani Ebert, Malaika Lue-Hing, Alex Sanborn, Jack David Walker, David Westbay, Garland Whitt
The Case Of Four And Twenty Blackbirds by Neil Gaiman; Adapted by Michael Bernard. Directed by Annie McVey. Film Noir meets Mother Goose as hardboiled private dick, “L. Jack Horner” investigates the suspicious death of one “H. Dumpty” in this insane mash-up by the iconic author of “American Gods” and “The Ocean at the End of the Lane.” Cast: Ari Frenkel, Bruno Oliver, Mark Povinelli (“Boardwalk Empire”), Burl Moseley, Jeryl Prescott Sales (“The Walking Dead”), Angeline Rose Troy
The Departed by Clive Barker; Adapted by Christian Francis. Directed by Ben Rock. A ghostly tale of love and obsession. Based on the acclaimed short story by one of the most influential contemporary creators of fantasy and horror.
Cast: Cuyle Carvin, Yuri Lowenthal, Celeste Martinez Tara Platt, Jentzen Ramirez

PROGRAM B

A Billion Tuesday Mornings by Nathan Wellman. Directed by Jeff Liu. A lonely autistic man is unable to convince his doubting daughter that his new invention will change everything…until it does.
Cast: Nicki Aycox (“Supernatural”), Tim Chiou, Tracy Winters
Access by Spencer Green. Directed by Steve Kaplan. Breaking up is hard to do. Especially in multiple dimensions. Cast: Nick Ballard, Claire Beale, Emily Bell, Kelly Chambers, Tim Chiou, Bryan Fisher, Tamara Krinsky, Patricia McNeeley, Ron Morehouse, Alex Rapport, Austin Springer
Efficiency by Perley Poore Sheehan & Robert H. Davis. Directed by Jaime Robledo. A ruthless dictator demands a meeting with a horrifically wounded soldier who (with the help of “replacement parts”) has been transformed into an unstoppable killing machine.
 Cast: Tom Berklund (“The Addams Family”), Walter Koenig (“Star Trek – The Original Series”) Alan Polonsky (“Aliens”)

Star Trek: Voyager: Twentieth Anniversary Celebration Day

Star Trek: Voyager fans should play on attending this summer’s Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas.
On August 8, the Star Trek: Voyager: The Twentieth Anniversary Celebration Day will take place at the convention.
The special day will feature a panel with Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Jeri Ryan, Tim Russ, Robert Picardo, Roxann Dawson, and Garrett Wang.
Fans are encouraged to dress up for a “giant photo op.”
In addition, various Voyager panels will be held at the Rio Suites Hotel during the convention.
Fans of makeup legend Michael Westmore will again get to see the artist transform an actor into a Star Trek character. This year, Westmore will turn Robert Beltran into Chakotay. Beltran will be available for a limited amount of photo ops after the makeup demonstration.
For more information, head to the link located here

Star Trek Voyager Trading Cards To Debut

A new set of trading cards from Rittenhouse will be of interest to fans of Star Trek: Voyager.
The Star Trek: Voyager Heroes & Villains Trading Cards will arrive this summer.
The Voyager card set will include one hundred cards, including fifty different autograph cards. The cards will be signed by regulars such as Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Jeri Ryan and Roxann Dawson; and by guest stars including Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, John Rhys-Davis, Lori Petty and Jason Alexander (Think Tank).
There will also be a Black Gold Gallery (nine cards), and Relationships Gallery (eighteen cards) and Aliens inserts (eleven cards).
The cards will come five to a pack, and twenty-four packs to a box. Expect to see the Star Trek: Voyager cards in August.

The Difference in the Stars

Thoughts on Star Trek, related science fiction, and the future.

The Difference in the Stars

What forthcoming movie with "Star" in the title dumped its first screenwriter and story ideas, and was being written in a hurry up to its deadline, even as the rest of the production was clamoring for information so sets could be built etc.?

If you're a Trek movie fan, you're probably thinking of recent interviews by Simon Pegg, now co-writer of its next movie as well as actor in it.  But apparently this also describes the new Star Wars film, coming out this December.

That however is where the resemblance between these two projects pretty much ends.  How they differ is interesting and maybe illuminating.

The promotional machinery for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is getting into gear, not only with teaser trailers but with appearances on the convention circuit.  Some of the movie's actors--both new and beloved from the classic "middle" three films (but first three released)--have made appearances, along with executives like Kathleen Kennedy.  But the star of those shows and clearly the new face of the franchise is the film's director, J.J. Abrams.

The next Star Trek film has yet to go into production (scheduled for this summer) for its release in 2016, and so promotional machinery hasn't been engaged.  But it's still eerily quiet.  And it suggests this question: who exactly is the face of the Star Trek franchise?  Or even the active half--the Paramount movie?  Or the face of Star Trek in general?

For a generation of course it was Gene Roddenberry, and then when there was a lot of Star Trek on TV it hardly mattered, because the cast of TNG for example were active leaders, and Rick Berman was visible when needed, and the original series stars were making Trek movies.  After the Trek business was divided between CBS and Paramount, the only active projects were the Paramount films, and the face of them was...J.J. Abrams.

He was producer, he was director and had his hands in the scripts.  One of the writers, Roberto Orci, maintained a very visible presence on fan boards and Twitter.  Abrams had the smarts to bring Leonard Nimoy aboard his movies, which added cred and continuity.

Now Orci is out of the picture in more ways than one (and may have damaged his ability to represent Trek by a pattern of let's say controversial comments and responses to fans and writers on the Internet,) and Star Trek has suffered the enormous loss of Leonard Nimoy.  And J.J. Abrams, whose company is still pretty much in charge of the next movie, is busy on his other job.  His face is on another movie with Star in the title.

So basically, as an ongoing project, Star Trek has no face.  Or apparent leader.  Or much in the way of continuity.

Continuity is certainly something that Star Wars has, and is making an important part of its promotions.  While Star Trek has a hot director who has apparently never directed anything like a Star Trek movie before,  and two writers who have never written anything like a Star Trek movie before, and have never worked together before either, the new Star Wars movie was written by Abrams with Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote The Empire Strikes Back.

No one knows if any actors from Star Trek's past will appear in the next movie.  It seems doubtful, even though its release on Trek's 50th anniversary would make it pretty appropriate. In fact the Paramount film seems to have spurned offers of participation by past Trek icons.  Star Wars however has three beloved human actors and several other beloved characters which we can safely guess are featured prominently.

 This includes a bona fide Hollywood star in Harrison Ford, who has coincidentally enhanced his Hans Solo stature by becoming a real world hero, and piloting a crashing plane to safety and without endangering others, with what pilots describe as perfect skill, including precise knowledge of that specific and rare aircraft.

Meanwhile, J-Trek has a group of attractive actors who appeared in the past two films, but beyond fandom are not really associated with their Trek roles, and aren't major presences on the Trek convention circuit.  Several of them are in other prominent films and franchises, which is great for their careers, but does not create an iconic presence for Star Trek.  Two films is probably not enough anyway to create that kind of presence.  No matter how many movies and plays Patrick Stewart does, he will always be Jean Luc Picard, and not only to Star Trek fans at conventions.  William Shatner has assumed more of a leadership role in representing Trek among fans, but gets little love from its corporate masters.

Morever, J.J. Abrams never was accepted as the face of all of Trek.  He was J-Trek, and perhaps that's all he tried to be. But by embracing Star Wars past, including the actual actors as well as the original characters, he's become the emblem of Star Wars as a whole, the heir apparent to George Lucas.

Months from now, when the next Trek film is finished or closer to it, its director and cowriters and stars will trot around the convention circuit hoping to hype excitement--who knows, maybe the currently unengaged J.J. will be prominent among them.  In the meantime, judging from a YouTube or two I've seen of Abrams etc. Star Wars appearances, the kind and quality of fandom that Star Trek pioneered is being reconstituted elsewhere.  I take particular note of the Star Wars Force for Change project that raises money for UNICEF--a lot of money.  It's the kind of thing Star Trek fandom used to do, although I'm not aware of such official organization and support (Disney kicked in a million bucks to get it started.)

Trek fans are obviously still involved in worthy projects, like supporting LeVar Burton's efforts on behalf of Reading Rainbow.  But most of what I see on the Internet is about products.  Star Trek as a living enterprise appears to be floundering, and with it perhaps the essential value, its soul.

Cuando “Star Wars” y “Star Trek” se encuentran

Película hipotética enfrenta a la tripulación del U.S.S. Enterprise con el Imperio, dirigido por Darth Vader

“Star Wars” y “Star Trek” son unas de las franquicias de ciencia ficción más conocidas y populares de la historia.
A pesar de esto, y que ambos universos tratan de aventuras espaciales, los protagonistas de una franquicia nunca se han encontrado con la otra fuera de las ilusiones de sus seguidores. Un video de YouTube explora una de estas posibilidades.

Producido de forma similar a un tráiler de los años 80, “The Carbonite Maneuver” enfrenta a la tripulación del U.S.S. Enterprise con el Imperio y Darth Vader.
El video fue producido por el usuario de YouTube SonOfSpork y está dedicado a los creadores originales, “cuya habilidad y maestría mediante el celuloide me inspiró como niño a mirar a las estrellas y las posibilidades de que con una gran narración, junto a un toque de magia, los aspectos más mundanos de la vida pueden ser transformados en los más fantásticos.”

Con “Star Trek” como propiedad de  CBS y Paramount y “Star Wars” perteneciendo a Disney, es poco probable que se produzca un crossover de verdad. Un magro consuelo es el hecho que J.J. Abrams, director de “The Force Awakens”, también estuvo a la cabeza del reboot de “Star Trek”.