Star Trek Insurrection

In Star Trek Insurrection: The United Federation of Planets is ravaged after the Dominion war. A fountain of youth nestled in the green hills of an alien planet seems too good to be true. What must it be like to never grow old? So the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-E leaps to the rescue. Captain Picard steps in and refuses to let a peaceful, ancient civilization get hi-jacked by the Son'a led by the really freaky guy, Ru'fau. The Son'a wrinkly faces took a lot of trouble creating a flying holodeck ship, just to spare the Ba'Ku's feelings. All the Ba'Ku had to do was get with the program but no. Picard sticks his beak in and discovers Anij's special abilities slow time. Could the environmental anomalies be stimulating Data's instincts to act rebelliously?

Filming began on March 31, 1998 and concluded on July 2. According to Johnathan Frakes, (who playsCommander Riker) half of the time shooting was spent on location. The scenes where the crew of the Enterprise and the Ba'Ku take refuge in the mountains were shot on location in the Sierra Nevada in locations which could only be reached by helicopters. Wheres Scotty when you need him? Why didn't the Enterprise just lock on everyone's co-ordinates and beam them there? Duh!!!

 'Jean-Luc, we're only moving 600 people'

 Who were you rooting for? Picard's crew? Dougherty? Ru'afu? or did your heartbeat slow in time for the Ba'Ku?) Why is Worf feeling aggressive tendencies?

Live Long and Prosper, Trekkers and Trekkies.

Half-breed Origins

H is for Half-breed! Although absent from common conversation today, dictionary.com defines "half breed" as the "offspring of parents of different racial origin, especially American Indian and Caucasians. The term "half breed" which Mr Spock finds insulting, was I believe, in fairly common usage during the 1960's.


Early movie fans heard the term "halfbreed" expressed quite often in big screen westerns and occasionally with classic Star Trek. Although the term is almost never heard of today, its effect once spoken is powerful.

The reason Captain Kirk used "Half breed" in Star Trek's classic episode of "this side of paradise" was to deliberately infuriate his pointy eared First Officer, Spock who had mutinied aboard the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 over a beautiful woman. Spores from Omicron Ceti III infected the vulcan's pure logical reasoning which actually made the unlikely happen. Spock and botanist Leila Kalomi fell totally in LOVE.

Its weird seeing Nimoy smiling in this episode but Kirk has to snap him out of it, somehow, and how poor Spock hated him for it.

In the universe of Star Trek, Spock is biologically, emotionally and even intellectually a son torn between two worlds! Much more diplomatic don't you think!

Mind your own business, Mister Spock. I'm sick of your half breed interference, do you hear?


Live Long and Prosper, Trekkies, and Trekkers.

Star Trek Generations

G is for Generations. Star Trek Generations was released in 1994, directed by David Carson. 78 years after the Enterprise-B's mysterious encounter with a energy portal the past and future collide.  This movie engages TNG in a galactic rescue mission of epic proportions by enlisting the help of Captain Kirk whos stuck in a magical place. The films baddie, Dr Tolian Soran will do anything to re-capture the family he lost by opening a "doorway" in an energy ribbon zipping through space. Kirk and Picard team up in a final battle as the "Captains on the Bridge" determined to defeat the El-Aurian madman Soran. The plot thickens when Klingon sisters Lursa and B'Etor kidnap the USS Enterprise-D's Chief Engineer, Geordi and doctor his VISOR! Its a whole different ballgame now with Picard on Veridian III giving Commander Riker his big chance in the captain's chair without a safety net!

The movie earned mixed reviews from critics, as it currently holds a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 46 reviews. So okay, lets get serious for a second, whoever dreamed up captain 'under the bridge' deserves to be beamed onto an asteroid penal colony infested with hungry Salt Vampires and left there for all eternity. Captain Kirk's death is an ill conceived ending for Star Trek's greatest defender of the galaxy. Kirk's demise was sorrowful and deserved so much more for such a heroic, intrepid, interstellar explorer of the Final Frontier. Jeremy Conrad of IGN gave the film a score of 7 out of 10, calling it "one of the better of the odd numbered Trek films," referring to a belief that even numbered Star Trek films are traditionally of higher quality.



The idea of Captain Kirk's death was originally mooted by writers Brannon Braga and Ronald Moore so Paramount Pictures insisted they consult William Shatner. Everyone was surprised Shatner was cool about his demise except us trekkies, of course. Shatner eventually realised it was too late to back out and admitted he was genuinely saddened by his characters death. Loyal fans vowed to "Bring Back Kirk" with a an exciting internet campaign except resurrecting Kirk was never meant to be, sniff.


Live Long and Prosper, Trekkies and Trekkers.

Star Trek First Contact

F is for Feelings, Fighting and Fear! Star Trek First Contact was directed by Johnathan Frakes in 1996 gaining him the nickname "Two-Takes Frakes" for his fast shooting style.

Captain Picard hunts the borg into the past to prevent them changing the course of Earths history. Meanwhile his crew is fighting and defending its ship from the resilient assimilating Borg. Its funny but all Earth's future hinges on Zefram Cochrane igniting his little warp rocketship in space.  Cochrane's part was offered to trekkie fan Tom Hanks, but he was too busy filming - 'That Thing You Do.'

Image Owner/Creator: Paramount Pictures and or CBS Studios.

Isn't it great when Lily Sloane tries to kill Commander Data with her Calico M960 submachine gun?

This movie has many classic moments like when Data is captured and tormented by the scheming Borg Queen played by Alice Krige. She finds Datas ultimate soft spot by activating the androids human sensations. Feelings! Now the Queen bee can control the poor devil. She's rigs Data's emotion chip so tin man can't turn it off, now thats pure evil! Isn't it?

 In truly epic style Data blurts out precisely what everyone else is thinking.

Data: Captain, I believe I am feeling... anxiety. It is an intriguing sensation. A most distracting... Picard: Data, I'm sure it's a fascinating experience, but perhaps you should deactivate your emotion chip for now.

Who were you rooting for? the Borg, Eastern Coalition or the USS Enterprise-E?

Who said?  "The Enterprise-E is the most advanced starship in the fleet."

Elementary Dear Data

E is for Elementary Dear Data which begins with the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D hanging in space for the USS Victory. In this 28th episode of Star Trek TNG, Chief Engineer La Forge and Commander Data head off to the holodeck for some fun. La Forge suggests playing out a Sherlock Holmes mystery except theres a catch. Data cheats because he jumps to the end! The android accesses his vast memory banks and solves the mystery before it even plays out frustrating La Forge. So Dr Pulaski pipes in professing Data just isn't capable of deductive reasoning. He's a machine, a robot! Right? I mean look at how he talks, walks and computes. Datas got no instinct, so Geordi's determined to prove Pulaski wrong. The fun really begins when Geordi decides to create a new program with a unique mystery capable of defeating DATA!

(Lets think about that for a second. Data has an 800 quadrillion bits "positronic" brain capable of 60 trillion operations per second. Datas impressive positronic brain allows him to interface with other computer systems and process a large number of "thoughts" at once.)



So on the holodeck, Geordi instructs the Enterprise computer to create an adversary capable of defeating the fastest and brightest walking computer on two legs! This was enough to give Picard a meltdown. What this means is Geordi placed the entire Enterprise in peril by creating a super intelligent, sentient "lifeform" with total access to the main computer. Things get real interesting when "Moriarty" tries to leave the holodeck.

Is the definition of life "I think, therefore, I am" the only one that matters?

Will Moriarty cease to exist when the holodeck is turned off?

Trek long and Prosper, Trekkies and Trekkers

D is for Dax

D is for Dax but who is she? Dax is the mysterious Star Trek symbiont who joins with the lovely Deep-space Nine Jadzia, who's a Starfleet lieutenant. Theres no easy way to explain this so I'll blurt it out. We're discussing two separate species here. One is a beautiful 28 year old female humaniod with a series of intricate, freckle-like markings from her temples to her shoulders and the other is a large fat slimey worm aka as Dax the warrior.

The good news is the creature shares with the "Trill" (which is really a humanoid shell), a wealth of life experiences and knowledge. The bad news is "Dax" the symbiote is over 300 years old and has made a number of Klingon friends. When Kang, Koloth and Kor come looking for their ol' pal Curzon-Dax, (previous host and creature) they simply couldn't believe their eyes. I guess you might say Jadzia is the ideal fix for a new life in the "witness protection program." Apparently Jadzia studied all her life to become a brilliant scientist and have a slug stuck inside her. Its the greatest honor a trill can give.

Trill long and Prosper, trekinators.

Star Trek V The Final Frontier

Lights, Camera, Action!  C is for close call.

Some say Star Trek V directed by William Shatner nearly killed off the movie franchise, lucky for us trek survived. Granted "The Final Frontier" has continuity errors, Kirk spinning around on wires in his scraps with Sybok and 78 decks in the Enterprise-A instead of 23, which is totally illogical! Searching the universe for God wasn't the cleverest idea either. The bearded guy got very angry when Kirk tried to check out his credentials. It would appear even God has to pass a vetting test before commanding the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-A. Despite awful reviews, this movie isn't a complete flop considering it bagged $52 million bucks in 1989 clearing a $22 million profit.

The good news is William Shatner got his big moment in the Director's chair so five films in, how could it get any worse?

C is also for Connerys Crusades who you might say had a lucky escape. Uh ohh.... Apparently Sean Connery was filming Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at the time saving him from having to play the pointy eared Sybok, Mr Spock's brother in Star Trek V.



I bet Connery got down on his bended knees and thanked his lucky stars. Wasn't it lucky he was behind the camera? You decide. Who's the antagonist in Star Trek V 'The Final Frontier.' Is it the renegade Vulcan Sybok? Or the Klingon Korrd or the God entity?

Crusade long and Prosper, Trekinators.

Beam Me Up, Scotty.

B is for "Beam Me Up, Scotty" The transporter is one of the most exciting concepts in Star Trek. It gives our interstellar heroes speed and the element of surprise without taking up too much "story" time. The way it works is a real sweetie. Take the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 transporters which are entrusted daily to separate life form energy patterns, (thats us) by de-materializing and re-materializing humans into a perfectly stable matter stream.


Without air, trapped starfleet crew members will suffer from boiling blood, radiation poisoning, loss of consciousness and asphyxiation. Sounds lovely doesn't it? Well, try imaging what it was like for Decker being gobbled up by the "Doomsday Machine." So its a good idea The Transporter Chief, is on the ball when energizing.

Here are some top tips from Scotty!

1. Target Scan and Co-ordinate lock. Necessary to avoid beaming the Enterprise crew into solid rock formations or inhospitable environments.
2. Energize and De-materializing is a little tricky sometimes but transporting really is the safest way to travel. The trick is keeping the subjects molecular pattern image intact while the transporter "coils" convert "you," hehe. Fingers crossed.
3. Its reassuring to know there are several safety error checking systems to ensure you get from A to B. For instance each transporter has four molecular imaging scanners which act independently of each other. The next time you're on the Enterprise take it easy and relax with a romulan ale: This might be your big chance to get away from it all!



The burning question has to be did Captain James T. Kirk ever say "Beam me up, Scotty," on Star Trek the original series? He did say, "Two to beam up," and other variations but the best remembered bit of trek dialogue is boldly energizing the hearts of fans everywhere.

Beam Long and Prosper, Trekkies and Trekkers.

Akuta

A is for Akuta but who is he? Akuta is a childlike character who cries in Star Trek's classic episode "The Apple" except something is afoot! When the USS Enterprise crew beam down to a tropical paradise, Poisonous darts, explosive rocks, lightening storms and a spooky native lurking in the bushes greet the away team.


The village leader Akuta is easily recognized by his antennae given to him during the "dim time" by Vaal and looks quite harmless. The "Eyes of Vaal" observe and communicate with an almighty super computer keeping it aware of the strangers activities. Soon the order is given to kill. The question you've got to ask yourself is who's calling the shots on Gamma Trianguli VI?

Spock analysis reveals Vaal's cave is protected by a forcefield! Unless Kirk discovers Vaal's Achilles heel time will run out for the USS Enterprise spaceship trying to break free in orbit. The fun begins when the "Feeders of Vaal" are summoned to the feeding place. What will Spock and Kirk try next? How do you exhaust a super computers power source?

It would appear Yeoman Landon is too distracted with Chekov whispering in her ear to be even even slightly concerned about Vaal. Who could blame them taking advantage of shoreleave, chilling out on in this idyllic setting. Trouble is, Gamma Trianguli VI is not what it appears to be.

Chekov: If you insist on worrying, worry about me. I've been wanting to get you in a place like this for a long time.


Is Vaal really immortal?

Green is Good!

                                                    Heres to you laddie, its uh green!

                                                       Trek long and Prosper Trekkers