Star Trek: New Voyages - Come What May
Review by FLAtRich
Federation Stooge

Planet Earth May 15, 2004 (eXoNews) - Safe to say that "Come What May", the first episode of Star Trek: New Voyages, is a must for all Trek fans.

Series producers James Marshall and James Cawley have assembled a die-hard crew and young cast with a stated intention to continue Gene (Eugene Wesley) Roddenberry's vision of what we know as Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS).

The new mission has impressed producer Rod Roddenberry enough to sign on for future voyages.

"Come What May" is available in Windows Media Player format as a free five-part download from selected servers. (Dial-up users should expect a minimum six-hour investment for all 100 megabytes.)

You can optionally pay homage to the Creators by contributing some cash to the project through PayPal. Check out the New Voyages homepage for details.

TOS fans will definitely get a kick out of New Voyages' strict adherence to the Star Trek bible and even post-TOS fans may find some cheer in the idea of reworking Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the original Enterprise for a 21st Century audience.

The opening episode has very impressive special effects for an inexpensive, non-Franchise Star Trek entry, good costumes and a reasonably pre-STTNG plot.

Fans not steeped in TOS lore may have a harder time sitting through "Come What May". Compared to the rather non-Roddenberry universe of the current Star Trek: Enterprise and taken as a work of fans, Star Trek: New Voyages serves a greater good, but there are awkward moments.

I suppose I'm almost a hardcore Trek fan. I watched TOS when it was new. Never missed an episode of STTNG. Danced for joy when Spike TV recently resurrected DS9. I gave Star Trek: Nemesis not one, but two good reviews. I also thought that Michael Piller's script and Jonathan Frakes' direction made Insurrection one of the best Star Trek movies ever.

On the other hand, I don't have full collections of the TV shows or any Spock dolls. I've only been to two Star Trek conventions - one in 1976 and one in this century - and I've never dressed up as a Klingon.

This puts my credentials as a critic somewhere in the Neutral Zone, so I hope I don't hurt anybody's feelings.

"Come What May" suffers in direction and editing, both credited to Mr. Marshall, who also wrote the episode. I'd add individual actors to the bad list, but a good director can make any actor better, so I'll shut up about the cast except to note that some were good and some were not. James Cawley was admirable as Kirk, keeping in mind that John Belushi is the only other actor other than William Shatner that I can remember in the part.

Advice to the Captain - a good officer learns to delineate responsibility.

That said, maybe the direction would have been better with the help of a seasoned director of photography. "Come What May" is rather static and stiff visually (minus the cutaways to special effects.) If the TOS look to the sets and budget restricted his camera, Mr. Marshall the director could have used more imaginative angles and more extreme close-ups, the latter being a trademark of the TOS era of television.

A seasoned editor might have helped too. The editing in "Come What May" is downright frustrating. Scenes begin too slowly and linger too long. TOS was always snappy and quick. "Come What May" lacks pace.

Attempts at humor were far too "Trek". Shatner and the rest of the original cast were casually funny, but not because they were originating their now classic quips and asides. Keep in mind that they didn't think that they were creating anything monumental back in the mid-60s. They were just having fun with their parts. Loosen the reins and New Voyages will find its own humor.

There are some excellent TOS-style "flash forwards" where Cawley and his crew reenact scenes from TOS and various Star Trek movies, but the bows to the past are over the top. "Come What May" is so heavily TOS that it sometimes seems more like a forgotten rerun than a New Voyage. I could have done without recasting Vina the green dancing gal made immortal by the late Susan Oliver, repeated references to the Tribble episode, Spock playing an instrument, and that awful pink backlighting.

Thankfully, Marshall did not write Bones saying "He's dead, Jim."

One nice scene where Kirk complimented Yeoman Janice Rand made up for a lot of pandering to the past. I don't know if Shatner's Kirk ever thanked Grace Lee Whitney's Rand, but he should have. This scene indicates a direction New Voyages should take - moving beyond what has come before while maintaining the original timeline.

Make no mistake: there is great promise here. The entire cast and crew deserve a standing ovation for what they have begun.

I think Gene Roddenberry would have liked the idea of New Voyages and Rod Roddenberry's involvement certainly gives us hope that Kirk, Spock and the rest of TOS may indeed be reborn in the future.

Star Trek: New Voyages - http://www.newvoyages.com

Star Trek: New Voyages Due in August
By FLAtRich

July 18, 2004 (eXoNews) - This August, the USS Enterprise will be lost with all hands!

No, UPN hasn't changed its mind and shoved the cast of Star Trek: Enterprise out an airlock. As many of you may have already come to suspect, Paramount and UPN actually have little to do with what's really happening in the Federation.

Now we can look to the past with Cow Creek Films for a hope of a better Roddenberry future, and Cow Creek's intrepid band of renegade Trekkers is back on the web with a brand new Star Trek episode next month.

Imagine, if you will, a Star Trek where Mr. Spock is young and not played by Leonard Nimoy! Blasphemy? A Romulan plot? No, it's Star Trek: New Voyages!

The second episode of STNV, In Harm's Way, is now orbiting post-production and the "teaser trailer" is available for download on the Official New Voyages site in Windows Media Player (7MB) and High Quality Divx (30MB) formats.

And it is fascinating, Jim. Boldly commanded by James Cawley as Kirk, the original crew of the Enterprise returns looking better than ever.

Series Director/Executive Producer Jack Marshall explains the New Voyages project on the official site board:

"We believe in the type of future envisioned by Gene Roddenberry. We love TOS in varying degrees as it means something different to each of us.

"New Voyages" is our vision of Star Trek. A Star Trek set in the 23rd century and created in the 21st. It's a Star Trek with a familiar look, a familiar crew, but something new, and we think, something special...

"New Voyages is not the Trek of the 60's. It is the Trek of the future; a Trek that looks as modern and flows as fast as any action adventure show on TV today."

The trailer moves fast with spectacular effects. It's easy to see that this new blast from the past future is a million light years ahead of that worn Nazi alien cliché Berman saddled to Star Trek: Enterprise at the end of season three.

Take heart, Porthos. There's hope for the Federation after all!

Download the In Harm's Way trailer now at http://www.newvoyages.com

International Federation of Trekkers - http://www.IFTcommand.com

[I think I got the names right this time, Linda :o)> Ed.]

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