William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy recently turned 80 and it got me thinking about my life long love affair with the phenomenon known as Star Trek.
I came to “Trek” a little later than most. My Dad loved “Star Trek,” and tried his best to push it on me when I was young, and obsessed with that other science fiction franchise that needs no introduction. Unfortunately for me, it seemed like every time I tuned in I would see an episode from the series’ woeful third season, and was instantly turned off.
Plus, quite frankly, I couldn’t get past the cheesy effects when compared directly to the state of the art visuals of “Star Wars.” It’s reminiscent of how I still feel about the original “Doctor Who,” series, which made original “Trek” look like “T2.”
I was nine when “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” was released, and my Dad took me (and my Mom) to see it. I promptly fell asleep. The film’s leaden pace and dry story did nothing to change my opinion of “Trek,” which again, I directly (and unjustly) compared to “Star Wars.”
Three years later, “Star Trek II” was released, and everything changed – not instantly to be sure – but the film marked the beginning of a shift in my attitude in “Trek” from non-believer to true believer. Again, my Dad took me to see the film in a second-run theater months after its initial release. It was the last time I would wait so long to see a “Trek” film.
The film had everything “The Motion Picture” did not – an exciting, suspenseful story, a scenery-chewing villain, and most importantly, an emphasis on the relationships between the characters, that for me, was the heart of Trek’s success.
Months later, after its cable premiere, I overdosed on “Wrath of Khan.” I seemingly watched it every day. In the interim, the local TV station that aired the original series presented “Space Seed,” the episode that introduced the malevolent Khan as essayed by Ricardo Montalban. My Dad encouraged me to watch it to deepen my understanding for the events in “Trek II.”
This was probably the first time I watched an episode from the show’s first season, and I was impressed. I was also older, and could appreciate the more mature approach to sci-fi that “Trek” presented, instead of the whizbang! visuals of “Star Wars,” which I was still obsessed with.
I was living in the information stone age back then, so I vaguely knew a third sequel was planned. My main source of information was the sci-fi fan magazine Starlog, and I started to hunger for any morsel of information that crept out, or even better, a photo.
Time hunched by ever so slowly back then, and I started to realize that my anticipation for this film, entitled “The Search for Spock,” was reaching “Star Wars”-like proportions. In fact, the last film in the “Star Wars” trilogy was released in 1983, so I needed to redirect all that geeky energy. It was obvious it was going to “Trek,” and I must say, that as much as I love “Star Wars,” my passion for “Trek” eclipsed it many years ago.
The release of “Star Trek III” in June, 1984, was nothing short of…well, orgasmic for me. This film cemented my love for the franchise and its characters, and while “Trek II” is far and away a better film, this story, for me, captured the essence of “Star Trek,” so perfectly. While I hesitate to call it my favorite, it certainly holds the most affection from me.
The day the film was released I made damn sure a friend’s Mom drove us to see it. I bought the official movie magazine, found out the end, and promptly ruined it for a friend who saw it with me (I’m a notorious spoiler lover). The film was geek nirvana for me, and it marked the beginning of a tradition that saw me seeing each film on opening day with my friends.
Shortly after, I started taping every episode of the original series off WPIX in New York. My family had recently got its first VCR and “Trek” was on every night at midnight. I can remember setting the timer each night, and being pissed when there was a Yankee game because I had to wait for the end of each game to know exactly what time to start taping.
Over the course of that summer I viewed every episode of “Star Trek,” with one glaring exception. I came to love the characters and fully appreciated the often brilliant writing of the first and second seasons. I even found something to like in a great many of the subpar third season episodes, with one or two exceptions.
Over the next two years I was fully immersed into Trekdom, which nicely aligned with my other geek tastes, like comic books. At the time DC published an excellent “Star Trek” comic book that sought to fill the gap, quite imaginatively, between each film. Often, each subsequent sequel would blow their storylines to hell, but the writers still managed to find a way to connect their stories to the film’s plot.
Another two and a half years passed between “Star Trek III” and “IV,” and again, the anticipation was more than I could take. Again, the advanced information about the film was sketchy at best. I’ll never forget the first time I heard anything about the plot. It was during a little mini-convention held in my hometown by Creation, the purveyors of sci-fi fandom. The only thing we were told was it had something to do with whales and Eddie Murphy might be in it.
That information did not inspire confidence to say the least, but as time wore on and the details were solidified, I felt much more comfortable with the tone and direction of the film.
During these years an out of town station carried on my cable system began playing beautifully remastered “Trek” episodes from high quality masters, so I began an often-repeated process of obtaining the highest quality versions available. The only problem was these prints sometimes were lacking scenes from my WPIX tapes, so I had to edit them together. Back then I had nothing better to do anyway!
“Trek IV” was released in November, 1986. I was in high school and the whole social life thing hadn’t kicked in yet, so this was as good as it got. By now, the films were all available on videocassette and I had overdosed on all of them (including “The Motion Picture”). I’ll never forget the night I purchased “Star Trek III,” and suffering through a dinner out with my parents before I could go home and watch it.
“Star Trek IV” had the same magic of the prior two films, plus a lighthearted dash of comedy, which worked perfectly (and for which I was so worried about!) Again, I saw it with some friends the day of its release. I would often see the films a second time with my Dad. When the VHS version was released I can remember watching the movie twice in the same day.
By this time the dialogue from the films and the TV series became embedded in the speech patterns of me and my friends. A response to agitation would elicit, “Calm yourself, Doctor.” Ricardo Montalban’s exaggerated rants from “Star Trek II,” were perennial faves, but the best was when one of my closest friends heard, “Not in front of the Klingons Captain," when he was being overly affectionate with a chick. He thought he’d died and gone to heaven.
A funny thing happened between “Star Trek IV” and “Star Trek V.” I developed a social life, as did my buddies. Again a two-and-a-half year gap separated the films, and our lives changed radically in the interim. All of a sudden I had a girlfriend, and she didn’t mind I was this huge sci-fi, comic book reading geek. I think she thought I was quaint.
The pursuits of our youth were not abandoned by any stretch of the imagination, but they took a back seat to all the drama surrounding our romantic lives. Still, nothing could tear us away from the opening day pull of “Star Trek V,” in June of 1989, a weaker entry in the series, but one that contained some of its most poignant moments.
To illustrate how badly I treated “Star Trek” in those days here’s an often-repeated story that one friend in particular loves to remind me of. Now forget the fact that in the almost 20 years since this faux pas I have met the entire surviving cast several times over, corresponded with some of them, gotten their autographs, etc.
George Takei, Sulu himself, was appearing on my college campus. And I bailed to pick up my then-girlfriend at her high school. I bailed on Sulu, on what could have been my first meeting with an original cast member – to my eternal shame.
After the failure of “Trek V” there was a brief question about whether or not there would be more films starring the original cast. However, to commemorate the show’s 25th anniversary, Paramount opted to present one last adventure starring the original cast, and I was thrilled. “The Next Generation” had come into its own by then, and I was finally giving it a shot, but nothing could sway me from my old friends.
The day “Star Trek VI” was released I was at school filming a show I co-hosted, where I did movie reviews with another person. As usual, the filming was running late and I had arranged to pick up my friend at a certain time that was fast approaching. I was getting angrier by the minute, and when we finally wrapped I stormed off the set and bolted for home as fast as I could.
“Trek VI” was a wonderful send off for the original cast, filled with many poignant moments. I was barely ten years into my love affair with “Trek,” and it was now time for the originals to fade away. When the film came out, I had a new girlfriend and my graduation from college loomed.
While there would be no more films with the original cast, the producers of “The Next Generation” thought it made sense for a literal “passing of the torch” between the two casts, as they took over the film franchise. I guess they thought it would soften the blow for the original series diehards.
“Star Trek Generations” was released in November, 1994, and my life was in a tailspin. I had quit a lousy job, been fired from another one, and my relationship was hanging precariously in the balance. In the week leading up to the film’s release it collapsed.
The Saturday before my girlfriend told me she needed space - that we had serious problems that I was refusing to address (true). I went berserk, and launched into a tirade – maybe I started speaking in tongues, I don’t remember. It signaled the beginning of the end.
That Monday, I bought advance tickets for my friends and I so we could see a Thursday night sneak preview of “Generations.” My girlfriend and I were not speaking. On the night we saw the film I should’ve worked at the part-time job she and I shared, but I did not. I left her a note explaining where I was, which she missed. Upset that I seemingly blew an opportunity for us to talk she took that as the final straw and lowered the boom the next day. Captain Kirk died on the same day as my relationship.
I guess I had my priorities didn’t I?
Another Trek-related experience was completely ruined for me a month later when she and I had our last, agonizing conversations on the day I saw Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard) do his one-man show of “A Christmas Carol” on Broadway. Nice.
In all honesty, if there was a shred of hope for us, and I wasted it by seeing “Generations,” I’m glad I did.
The Next Generation cast took over the film franchise and the original cast was put out to pasture. Eventually those films faltered, as did the subsequent TV shows, and “Star Trek,” has left the airwaves and the cinemas.
Never one to let a cash cow die, Paramount has handed the reins over to J.J. Abrams and for me, it was a crushing disappointment. The highlight of the experience was seeing Leonard Nimoy don the ears one more time, when I thought there was no hope of that ever happening again. Other than that, it was a loud, overblown, poorly written slapdash blockbuster with little of the wit and thought-provoking themes classic Trek was known for.
Beyond the fact it’s excellent science fiction, like anything else that springs from our youth, “Star Trek” reminds my friends and I of a simpler time when we had no other concerns except would the next film be any good? We came to love these characters and the familial bonds they demonstrated (despite the fact that in real life they fought like children, and continue to do so).
Over the next several months members of our GF Rants team will be recording audio commentaries for the six original series films. We hope you enjoy them!
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