TrekHQ » Trek Movies

D.C. Fontana On TAS Canon (and Sybok)

Anthony Pascale — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:00:59 +0000

Dorothy Fontana (aka D.C. Fontana) was with Star Trek since the beginning as both a writer and Story Editor for Star Trek: The Original Series. She had the same job for The Animated Series and went on to write episodes for both TNG and DS9 (and even for the recent Trek game and New Voyages fan series). Fontana is interviewed in the new ‘Focus on Trek’ from IDW Comics. The interview covers a number of subjects, but her comments on the often debated issues of canon were noteworthy. Regarding TAS and canon Fontana says that Gene Roddenberry never took TAS seriously. She also does not seem happy with the makers of Star Trek V who gave Spock a half brother (details below)

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Interview With Nicholas Meyer

Anthony Pascale — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:07:21 +0000

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The film is considered by many (including J.J. Abrams) to be the best of the 10 film series and the benchmark by which other films are compared. The film was directed (and written) by Nicholas Meyer, who went on to co-write Star Trek IV and VI (which he also directed. Meyer recently appeared at the screening of the film (part of Geek Magazine’s ‘1982 Geekiest Year Ever’ Series). I had a moment to talk to Mr. Meyer at the event about his views on the film so many years later, if he would make any CGI changes, why he isn’t credited as a writer and his views of the franchise going forward. (Interview below)

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ST:TMP in 10 Minutes

Anthony Pascale — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 00:00:02 +0000

For our Friday Night Movie we bring you the lazy man’s version of of ST: TMP…but first a commercial break.

…and now for our special feature…ST:TMP in 10 minutes (via the talking book)

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New Commentary For ST:TMP Director’s Edition

Anthony Pascale — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 20:07:14 +0000

A brand new audio commentary for the Star Trek: The Motion Picture Director’s edition is now available at STARTREK.COM. The commentary features the production crew behind the DE: Daren R. Dochterman, David C. Fein and Michael Matessino. The commentary was recorded just last month and covers things not discussed in director Robert Wise’s commentary on the original disks. Go to STARTREK.COM to download it.

If you don’t have it you will need to pick up Star Trek - The Motion Picture: The Director’s Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector’s Edition) at Amazon.

Frakes Skewers Paramount - Praises Abrams

Anthony Pascale — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 07:25:57 +0000

At last weekend’s FedCon 16 in Germany Jonathan Frakes let loose on Paramount and the last Trek movie, but then had some nice things to say about JJ Abrams and the next movie. [video below] Regarding the box office failure Star Trek Nemesis, the director of two previous films joked "there was a perfectly good director available." He then used a couple empty seats reserved for Paramount to poke some fun at the studio. Holding up the chair signs he yelled out "this is a perfect example, see who is not here…Paramount…need I say more? That speaks volumes." To cheers from the audience he continued, "Paramount doesn’t show up. Paramount doesn’t know what to do with the franchise."

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Star Trek Interviews from ‘79 & ‘86

Anthony Pascale — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 06:36:57 +0000

videoholic2007 has more golden oldies…first is a PM Magazine feature on ST:TMP and then a two part ET feature from 1986 (before STIV came out).

25 Years Ago Today…

Anthony Pascale — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 01:13:15 +0000

June 4th 1982 Nicholas Meyer and Harve Bennett saved Star Trek.

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Wrath of Khan and TNG Make EW’s Best Sci Fi List

Anthony Pascale — Fri, 04 May 2007 21:12:25 +0000

The editors of Entertainment Weekly magazine have picked what they consider to be the best 25 sci-fi TV shows and movies of the last 25 years. Two Star Trek items make the top 10: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (#5) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (#8). Topping the list was the 1999 film The Matrix and former TNG/DS9 writer/producer Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica got 2nd place. Star Trek XI producers JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof also made the list via their show Lost coming in at eleventh place.

Excerpts and the complete list below.

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Berman Can’t Figure Out Why Nemesis Failed

Anthony Pascale — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 03:34:35 +0000

Before Paramount handed the Trek keys over to JJ Abrams, Rick Berman produced the last 4 Trek films (Generations, First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis). In the latest issue of Star Trek Magazine, Rick Berman reflects on his time helming the Trek film franchise. Berman’s film tenure certainly hit a high point with the hit film First Contact which he describes as "a delight to work on from beginning to end." But it all came to an end with Nemesis which is the only real bomb of the Trek franchise. Berman considers Nemesis his "biggest and greatest disappointment," going on to say "I think Nemesis was a far, far better film than you’d believe from the way it was received." The former Trek honcho just cannot figure out why it didn’t perform as well as he (and studio tracking) predicted: "I, to this day, don’t quite understand what went wrong." .

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Bennett May Contest Star Trek XI Script

John Tenuto — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 19:56:21 +0000

Issue 4 of Titan’s Star Trek Magazine is a 100 page discussion primarily of the 10 Star Trek films. Each feature is discussed, including filmmaker interviews and trivia (such as how Harve Bennett hoped Ron Howard would direct Star Trek II). Bennett also discusses his views regarding Star Trek XI. It is well known that in 1989 Harve Bennet (along with writer David Loughery) wrote a script called Star Trek The Academy Years which, like Star Trek XI, featured younger versions of Kirk and Spock. Bennett seems to feel that if Trek XI is truly an ‘academy movie’ he should be getting a call.

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