My Star Trek Marathon

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.”

My Star Trek Marathon has come to the end. I would like to thank my girlfriend and her daughter for putting up with this indulgence.  I would like to thank Netflix without you this would not have been possible. I should also add that I am dictating this into my phone which parallels the inventions shown on the Star Trek series and how they have become part of everyday life.

A little while ago I decided to watch the entire Star Trek series from beginning to end in order they were aired are released. It began with the original series which is uneven at times, but thoroughly enjoyable.  The original for all its faults is great sci-fi.  When I re-watched the original series I saw the remastered episodes with new CG elements.  I thought with with CGI look great and fit in well for the most part. I would however have been happy watching the series in its original state with its original effects . I know some people have a hard time with the original series having issues with the F/X, campy action and cheesy stories. I feel those moments and episodes are few and far between. For the most part it is an entertaining and thought-provoking series that broke boundaries and proved that Sci-fi was a legitimate genre.

The original series was followed by the animated series which I had never seen until my Stat Trek marathon.  I had always assumed that it was a throwaway 70’s cartoon. However I discovered it was a well written entertaining program. I was surprised to find the stories were intelligent the voice acting was top notch and done by the original cast of the show.  Being an animated series it was able to show something the original series could not do such as have a alien creatures that truly looked alien.   I was shocked by the appearance of the holodeck, which I did not think of appeared until The Next Generation.

I may be in the minority here, but having just watched the original series all the way through I believe that’s the motion picture is totally consistent with the original series.   yes it is uneven and slow at points.  Visually it is a feast.

Wraith of Khan was night and day from the motion picture.  I have to agree that it is one of the best of the Star Trek movies. The return of Khan one of the best Star Trek villains.  Ricardo Montalban embraced the roll embodied and the part. The nebula battle at the end was a revelation its its use of three-dimensional three-dimensional space due to there two dimensional portrayal in a three-dimensional arena.

Search for Spock is another uneven film. The first act is slow, the second act picks up and it is quite enjoyable, then the third act slows down again.  It is more of a filler metaphysical journey bridging the gap between “The Voyage Home.”
“The Voyage Home” is a fun campy romp.  It explores the environmental issues of the day.

“The Final Frontier.” Was poorly received, but I love the line ” what does God need with a starship”

“The Undiscovered Country” political intrigue, cold war paranoia, bigotry. What’s not to love.  Some cutting edge CG. The soon to be overused shock ring and the zero-g blood.

Star trek the Next Generation heralded the return of the Starship Enterprise to TV.  It was and is one of my favorite of the franchise.  It began with a poor star, but it just got better and better as it went on. Characters we fell in love with.  The TNG movies ere okay.  None of them were great except for maybe Final Contact. Generations had two lackluster endings for Kirk.

Deep Space Nine was good, but not my favorite. It was slow. Its a tough one.  People either found it painfully dull or the most groundbreaking of the them all.  I did find it slow and sometimes a chore to get through, but it was an excellent series. Great characters.

Voyager was one of my favs. Great Captain.  Great ship. I really did like this cast.  I loved the stories.

Enterprise.  Not well received for the most part at the time.  But it is one of my favorites. 

The new movies I don’t hate. There not my favorites. I liked “Into Darkness” better.

Now I Have started watching the fan films. I must say I was shocked at how good Star Trek : Continues” was.  Amazing how spot on it is in every respect. Starts of great and keeps it up.  I wish there were more than three episodes. I hope the produce more. I also really liked “Star Trek: Phase II” also known as “New Voyages.” It didn’t star of great , but really got good as it went on.  I hope too see more of both if them.

I feel an emptiness now after my marathon ended.  Knowing I’ve seen it all.  Revisited old friends.  Although I do Star Trek CG a lot I haven’t watched Star trek like I used to in along time.  It’s not just that it event off the air. I had a person in my life that was very special to me and it was something we shared.  Afterwards it was hard to watch again. I’m glad I have done this.

I had forgot the end of my journey had a special show to watch. I will watch it soon.  “Galaxyquest” .  Love GQ. Such fun. Such love for ST. 

I don’t feel I’ve said or capture what I would have liked too about ST in this blog post.  Maybe I’ll write again.  Was kind of sensory overload with 40 plus years of ST.