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Review: Of Gods and Men, Act 1 |
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Written by Derek Kessler on
Saturday, 22 December 2007
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 What is easily the most anticipated of Star Trek fan productions of all time - Of Gods and Men - made it's debut this evening. OGaM features many familiar faces from Star Trek, including Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Alan Ruck, Tim Russ, Chase Masterson, and JG Hertzler. It is also the first Trek fan film to be staffed almost entirely by professional actors, giving the show a step up in the realism factor over the amateur productions out there. In the making for two years now, Of Gods and Men is also one of the more abitious of Trek fan films, throwing us into an alternate universe while still maintaining the tradition of exploring contemporary social and political issues. Read the review with a handful of screencaps (potential spoilers) after the break.
As seen in the sneak peak released a few months ago, Of Gods and Men opens with Ethan Phillips working in his dingy backwater Starfleet station doing whatever the heck it is you do in a station in the middle of nowhere. The story is placed 12 years after the death of Captain Kirk in Generations and takes us to the dedication of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-M, 'M' for museum. The ship is commanded by Commander Peter Kirk (James Cawley) - the nephew of James T. Kirk - and in attendance are Captains Harriman (Alan Ruck), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), and Chekov (Walter Koenig). In typical Trek fashion, there's a distress call and the Enterprise is the only ship around (despite the fact that the Enterprise-B just warped away a few minutes prior).
They follow the discress call to planet M622 and beam down to find a an old friend from Trek, and he's turned angry against Kirk. And he has a working Guardian of Forever sitting at his side. As you can imagine, there's lots of potential for mischief there.
And mischief you do get. As Uhura says in the beginning, "If you move but one grain of sand, you run the risk of altering history." We're cast into a confusing universe where Harriman now commands a red-accented Enterprise warship, with Klingon Koval (JG Hertzler) and an Orion slave (Chase Masterson) on the brige. Chekov is a character called 'Ketrik,' a self-branded freedom fighter, and a terrorist according to Harriman. Vulcan is a neutral world from the Galactic Order, with Uhura living as the matriarch as a Vulcan family, including characters played by Lawrence Montaigne and Cirroc Lofton.
The sets of Star Trek: New Voyages are used extensively in Of Gods and Men, as both the Enterprise museum ship and Harriman's warship Enterprise. The new universe features much tighter modern-style camera editting than we typically see in Star Trek. The alternate universe also provides a means for Of Gods and Men to explore issues in our current society, including freedoms vs. security, the benefits of neutrality, and the dangers of majority rule.
The CGI effects of Of Gods and Men are spectacular for a fan film, on par with those of the latest of New Voyages (which in turn nearly rivals that of real Star Trek). While some scenes aren't as effective as was likely intended (I imagine that the long shots of Vulcan were meant to establish the peaceful nature of the planet), at times the long shots drag down the otherwise fast-paced action of OGaM. You can tell that a lot of effort was put into the effects, as they were cited for the reason behing the delays the film encountered several months back.
Overall, Star Trek: Of Gods and Men is still very entertaining. And interesting, which is always a good thing for Star Trek. It poses an interesting question - what happens when the Trek universe as we know it is changed (like the 'Mirror, Mirror' originally posed nearly four decades ago)?
Unfortunately, there is one glaring problem with Of Gods and Men. It is easy to look past any CGI blunders, faulty stories, and even bad acting (not that you'll find any of the latter two in OGaM), but the delivery of the completed product can make or break a film. If you've ever been to see a movie weeks after its original debut, you've likely seen dust and hairs and scratches throughout the film, and it tends to distract from the overall viewing experience. While you won't get hair or dust in the frame while watching (unless you haven't cleaned your screen recently), you shouldn't be surprised if you run across skipping or dropped frames.
The Dragonfly delivery system is the same used by New Voyages for their last episode, but this time it fails to deliver. The quality of the picture is sub-par, sometimes as low as that of YouTube videos. The audio also suffers from an apparently low-bitrate delivery system. Sky Conway, the film's producer, tells us that Dragonfly and Renegade Studios are working to correct the issues and release a higher-resolution version of Of Gods and Men, and hope to get it online next week.
Even with the failures of the delivery system, Of Gods and Men still entertains and leaves the viewer wanting more, though there has yet to be an announcement for when to expect act two, let alone act three. You can't rush these things. It's a lot of fun to see our favorite old actors back in uniform, and playing characters that have lived different lives.
Watch: Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, Act 1
Discuss: TrekUnited Forum
Star Trek: Of Gods and Men
Starring:
Crystal Allen
James Cawley
Gary Graham
Walter Koenig
Cirroc Lofton
Chase Masterson
Lawrence Montaigne
Nichelle Nichols
Ethan Phillips
Alan Ruck
Tim Russ
Garrett Wang
Directed by:
Tim Russ
| | Executive Producer:
RH McRoberts
Produced by:
Sky Conway
Written by:
Sky Conway
Tim Russ
Jack Trevino
Ethan H Calk
Music by:
Justin R Durban
Director of Photography:
Doug Knapp |
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