Star Trek Fan Creations
So I downloaded some episodes of Hidden Voyages. I’m not sure if I’ll download more or not.
Summary: Post-DS9, I think. All original characters, except for Robin Lefler. I think. I’m not quite sure what the overall plot is.. there’s some ships and a space station. I might have had a clearer idea if I’d finished watching DS9. (We’re in season 5 on Spike now.) I might have also had a better idea if I could’ve paid better attention, but more on that further down.
Good Bits:
* The music was really good. It wasn’t familiar to me, so I think it was original or some sort of Trek mesh. Or maybe it was from one of the movies I never saw. (Boycotted the last one because Wesley was cut.)
* Sounds effects were also good.
* Special effects. The shots of the ships and station and things like that are pretty good. Obviously not professional quality, but definitely watchable.
* Costumes. Again, I’m not sure if these were from one of the movies or if they came up with them themselves, or what. They’re like the DS9 station uniforms, but with the color on the inner shirt and grey on the bits where the color is. I vaguely recall the movies had something like this. So maybe they’re from the movies.
Okay Bits:
* The writing has its moments.
* They seem to know their Trek pretty well, though there are a couple things which I question. For example, one of the characters is wearing glasses. That was a questionable point even in the movies! (The Voyage Home is the best one, so that one I know.) Even if you’re allergic to Retinax, surely surgery could fix it. Especially given how they helped out Geordi. And by the time this fan show takes place, Geordi’s got his really cool eyes. If it’s a fashion choice, you’d think Starfleet would have something to say about it. They don’t like Bajoran earrings at first.
Not-So-Okay Bits (I hesitate to say bad, because it’s better than I could probably do.):
* I would’ve preferred a larger file size (and a torrent download). It would’ve made the video better. Also, the dialogue seemed off sync sometimes.
* They’ve made the decision to not use sets, but to film everything with static computer backgrounds. This wouldn’t be quite so bad, if they put everyone in the scene against the same background. As it is, they rarely put even two people in the shot together. As a result, you get a bunch of talking heads interacting with their props — really big on spinning around dramatically in their chairs.
* The Trill’s spots don’t look like they’re in the right place to me.
* Robin Lefler is quoting way too many of her rules. And she keeps hitting her combadge after she says ‘Lefler here’. And is it canon that she doesn’t want to be called ‘sir’? It really ticks me off when the chicks say they don’t want to be called ‘sir’. Heck, ticks me off when O’Brien says it!
* Some of the acting isn’t too bad. Some of it is worse. I don’t like the Captain in particular. He looks like he’s enjoying himself too much.
* I don’t know if it’s the talking heads, the writing, or the acting, but I had trouble paying attention enough to follow the plot. Whenever they’d explain what’s going on, I wasn’t really interested. I was much more interested in the personal plots and interactions and getting to know the characters than in what ship just shot what ship.
Random Question:
Was the Titanic the HMS Titanic? I thought HMS was just military ships and I didn’t think the Titanic was a military ship.
Conclusion:
I haven’t hit any of the gay plotlines that the article said it had, which kind of interests me to try out some more episodes. They’ve also had several years to improve upon the first episodes which I watched, so some of the things I said above may not apply for the later eps. So I kind of wonder if I should just jump in with a later ep, to see how much better they’ve gotten. But then I might be a bit lost. And.. you just have to watch stuff from the beginning, don’t you?
K Said,
June 22, 2006 @ 11:09 am
The grey topped uniforms are S7 DS9 uniforms, so they’re canon. I don’t really like them so much, because they’re very bland.
Your comments are still too giant.
It was the RMS Titanic (RMS = Royal Mail Ship)
Jellyn Said,
June 22, 2006 @ 11:31 am
Seems silly to completely redesign the uniforms for the last season.. but now that I think about it.. I think they used them first in one of the movies, then changed the DS9 ones to conform.