Trekkies [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

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Star Trekkin', across the universe..........2006-01-10

This is not a typical film documentary. It is an attempt to go where no one has gone before - into the mindset of the Trekkie, the kind of fan of Star Trek (in one or more of its various incarnations), those people who populate the world of the Sci-Fi convention, stand in line to be the first to see new feature films while wearing Vulcan ears or Klingon uniforms, and can always tell you the points of discontinuity in the shows.

I remember once upon a time when William Shatner was a guest on `Saturday Night Live', one of the `alternative' comedy shows in America, when he played himself at one such Sci-Fi convention, poking fun at people who live in their parents' basements at the age of 40, spending their time trying to decipher codes and learning the Klingon language.

One of the feature stars of this documentary is Denise Crosby, who ironically played one of the few Star Trek major characters to be killed - as the documentary points out, you could almost invariably tell who was going to be killed (un-named red-shirt guard beaming down to a hostile planet), and were reasonably sure that the major characters, though they might die, will be resurrected again before the episode is done. In some ways, Crosby's character of Tasha Yar was resurrected, although not as a regular character.

Here we enter into the world of people like Barbara Adams, `the Commander', a woman who was highlighted on the national news in the United States for being picked for the jury for various Clinton offenses, and insisted upon wearing her Star Trek uniform to court. Silly as it sounds, she had her own sense of integrity, and one of the things that has consistently been praised about Star Trek is its hope in humanity and integrity of the key players in the science fiction drama.

Also highlighted were the dentists who turned their office into a Star Trek exhibit, and dressed also in uniforms to tend to their patients - such surroundings tended to make those nervous about dentistry more at ease.

In 1997, the internet was still very much in its infancy - the ideas of everyone having websites of their own was quite a way off, but Star Trek with its focus on technology for the future was already part of the growing world-wide computer system. Bulletin Boards, chat rooms and listservs galore were dedicated to the theme of Star Trek, and that is highlighted here.

Various of the original series cast members were interviewed and talked about their surprise at the after-the-fact success of this three-year series that was cancelled so long ago. The first convention, to which they were invited, was thought to be a small affair, but it ended up being packed, standing room only, lines around the block. The phenomenon of Star Trek was established, and it was this fan base dedication that prompted Paramount to release the first feature film, and continue the franchise with the television series of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which did its best to incorporate as many of the original cast members along the way. DeForest Kelly, as McCoy, was on the first episode; later episodes would include Leonard Nimoy as Spock and James Doohan as Scotty; the bridge-film Star Trek:Generations provided a link with Chekov (Walter Koenig), Uhuru (Nichelle Nichols) and Kirk (William Shatner).

Cast and crew from the original series, the films and the Next Generation series were included in this documentary, as well as some members of the spin-offs Deep Space Nine and Voyager (this was prior to the current, beleaguered series Enterprise). Majel Barrett gave touching and humourous stories about Gene Roddenberry, her husband, the creator of the series and power that kept the vision alive and consistent, including confirming that Roddenberry's ashes were taken aboard the space shuttle. `Outside notables' such as astronaut Buzz Aldrin and author/newsanchor Robert MacNeill provided glimpses of how the Star Trek phenomenon affected the world beyond it, including the first NASA space shuttle being christened `Enterprise'.

Often hilarious, sometimes hysterical, particularly with the almost cultic devotion bestowed upon the object of adoration that some seem to have, this film looks at life as a Trekkie with a loving eye - those who take Klingon language classes and join their own `starships' as crew members are not ridiculed or mocked. This is a fun film, and is not intended to be serious documentary; issues such as timelines of series and showcases of particular production issues is left out in favour of the more incidental, and often more human, aspects.

One of the common themes of the actors is their surprise not only of the success of the series and film after its cancellation, but the dramatic impact it made on all of their lives. James Doohan was forever Scotty after the series, so much so it became a running theme - the line in Star Trek IV of McCoy to Scotty, when Scotty was `playing' a visiting professor - `Don't lose yourself in the part!' was but one of many inside jokes. Nichelle Nichols being told by Martin Luther King, Jr. that she could not quit the role as she had become a symbol to African Americans is another interesting part of Trek lore.

This is a film that inspires a lot of emotion in Trek fans (not the least being the continuing definitional battle between `Trekkie' and `Trekker'). Love it or hate it, it is now part of the greater corpus of Star Trek media.

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Star Trekkin', across the universe..........2006-01-10

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