"Prelude To Axanar" Trailer

The first trailer for "Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar" is up and live. This documentary-style movie takes place a little over two decades before the original series. You'll recognize several actors from "Enterprise," "DS9," and "The Next Generation." Why, oh, WHY can't we get special made-for-TV/straight-to-DVD movies like this? WAKE UP PARAMOUNT!!! There is a larger universe out there to be mined and portrayed.

I like the way that the ship design, photography and battles show the influence of the Abram's film, as although I may not agree with the direction of that reboot, I think that the way things looked was incredible. Emulating that here makes for exciting space scenes, and fills in the gaps in the TOS universe canon quite nicely. Also the links to Star Trek: Enterprise (like the older Soval character as portrayed by Gary Graham) help bridge the time from that show up to the original series. The effects are up to cinematic standards, and the actors, like the great Tony Todd, raise it above the level of the amateur fan-film. Here is the link to view it on Youtube, where you can see it full-size in all its HD glory!

UPDATE: You can now watch the 21-minute prelude to the proposed feature-length film by going to this site. Make it so!



Below, some screen captures from the video. Click on each one to enlarge.

New Star Trek Continues Episode!

 The third episode of "Star Trek Continues" led by Vic Mignogna has been released, and what an episode it is! A direct sequel to "Mirror, Mirror," taking up literally moments later, it is one that I really, really wish had been done on the series. But, I suppose they never could have done one set in the Mirror universe only, featuring just that crew; I'm sure it would have been considered "too confusing" to people back then just tuning in. The actress portraying Marlena, Asia DeMarcos, has such an amazing resemblance to original actress Barbara Luna that one almost forgets it is a different person. Enjoy!

Star Trek Continues E03 "Fairest of Them All" from Star Trek Continues on Vimeo.

Bonus: A new clip posted by Daren Dochterman of his CGI ST:TMP Enterprise! Because one can never get enough of close-up passes of that beautiful lady. I for one thought that the Spacedock scene in ST:TMP was the best part of the movie, so this is more loveliness to enjoy!
http://blog.darendoc.com/?p=1207

The Red Shirt's Dream

(Click on the image to view full-size.)

 "This is the traditional Earthman greeting, honest!"

 I was finally going through my accumulated emails from my various blogs after the Christmas holidays, and found some neat messages. One was the subject of my last post, the Trekker from Logan's Run. Another one contained a link to a very amusing and well-drawn and animated video, which I am sharing below. I particularly like the humorously exaggerated depiction of the Green Orion Animal Woman! Here's what the email said about the video:

Hey Fred! I love your blog, what an awesome collection to share with the world, I'm really enjoying it! I wanted to pass along a project I'm working on, I hope you enjoy it as I enjoy yours - it's a Star Trek parody about those members of the intrepid space crew who were unlucky enough to don red shirts. In an even unluckier twist, they keep coming back for more..

.(go here to view it full-size:) http://youtu.be/kTr9hR-hfr4

This is the first of the scripts to be animated, more to come! I appreciate the look, and hey, if you love it and want to post it on your site, I'd appreciate that even more!

Best regards, Rich Moyer Creative Director / Animator

www.richmoyer.com




Watch another of Rich's Red Shirt animations here for even more voluptuous G.O.S.G. action! http://youtu.be/JWR_MoZA-9g 

BONUS: want to see something else funny? Watch this trailer for the '09 Star Trek film re-edited using bloopers from the film ! It's priceless!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYnLO-MVRaY#t=93

A Paragon Of A Blog!

"V'Ger seeks the Creator!"  Flash: the creator of the long-lost fan film "Paragon's Paragon" speaks at last!

We fans have been curious about the fan-film "Paragon's Paragon" since reading about it in an early issue of "Cinemagic." (Read the post with that article here, and a followup article with many screencaps from the film here.) Well, after finally tracking down the man primarily responsible for it, John Cosentino, and emailing back and forth several times, I have heard some good news back from him; he has started a blog that gives all the inside info on this early and ambitious fan film!

"Captain, it's Earth! We've found our way home!"

John's email contained this interesting information about the new effort:

I have finally decided to give into the Paragon seekers and have started a blog. Eventually it will have video clips but for now photos and history of Paragon and why it took so long to finish. As much behind the scenes information as I can muster up and never before seen photos. I hope they will like it.

The address is http://www.paragonsparagon.com/

Currently the last series of articles are the projects that kept me from finishing Paragon and are the first ones seen on the blog. Just scroll down and the Paragon stuff is there. The next series of articles will focus on "Paragon's Paragon." I felt it was important to show why I was distracted from Paragon.

Thanks for having a great Star Trek blog!

Your friend, John.

So there you have it, straight from the source. Visit the blog regularly as footage is to come!

Bonus link: Below, a captioned photo from the sci-fi humor page that spins off of "I Can Haz Cheezburger" groups of sites. Lots of fun, even if I have never been successful in getting any of my own captioned pics to post there for some reason.

Rare Pics of Bill Shatner

(Click on images for somewhat larger versions.)

From the Corbis photo website, comes these archival images of Bill in his younger days (See the site for lots more photos of Bill throughout his career).

Below, Bill adds playing the harmonia to his already-full range of accomplishments.

Below, Bill tries out a punching bag, one he might need to keep in practice for punching out beligerent aliens and traitorous starship captains.

Below, relaxing at home with a cigarette and a script. Glad our couches now are more comfortable than those in the 60's!

Below, a photo that looks to be from the late 70's as Bill is in good form on the parallel bars.

Below are a my favorites in the set of new images, as Bill trades massages (!) with Yvette Mimieux, who, as you recall, played "Weena" in 1960's "The Time Machine." Since Captain Kirk was my hero, and I had a teen crush on Weena, seeing them both together is great! They looked as if they were getting pret-ty cozy there...

Bonus update: you may recall reading in some recent posts about the fan film "Paragon's Paragon;" the most recent of which is here. Well, I have finally heard from the filmmaker John Cosentino, and he has told me, "I am going to try getting Paragon's Paragon re-mastered onto dvd over the winter. The super8 film is 35 years old and anything can happen. It is a $500 dollar project. Should it work I will make actual snippits of Paragon available. "

This is good news for fans like me who have been intrigued by the images and info we have seen from this film over the years. I will keep you posted on any news, and when they are ready to premiere! Let's wish John luck as he goes through the process of digitizing the old film.

"Paragon's Paragon" Fan Film Found! Partly...

Readers of this blog may recall a post on the long-thought-lost 70's fan film "Paragon's Paragon," reproducing a Cinemagic magazine article on the production. (Go here to read it, if not.) I ended the post with a note that I hoped someone would read it and supply clues to the whereabouts of the film... and it's happened! Sadly, the actual video is not currently available for viewing; but we do have color images from the film now.

I recently received an email from Robert Long II, that said this:

Dear Fred,

Great article you have on Paragon's Paragon. It does indeed exist as I have the 25 minute convention version of the 100 minute film. I got it from my friend Don Dohler before he passed away. John Consentino is still alive, retired, and lives in the Midwest. I've tried to get in touch with him with no success. As this is not my fan film - I am not posting it on Youtube without his permission. However, if you write back I'll try to send you some screen grabs from it. If you ever find yourself in my area I would be happy to screen it for you. It also has a making of that is very cool.

Regards, Robert Long II
Of course I immediately wrote back and asked for anything he could send regarding this previously lost fan film. He kindly sent the cover of the video, along with 13 screen captures from it, with this note:

Hello Fred,

Here is a hand full of screen grabs from John Consentino's Paragon's Paragon. Made in the early 1970s it is one of the earliest Star Trek fan films to take the sets, costumes, and special effects to such a high level. The full movie deals with two identical Vulcans, attacks from the Klingons, the shuttle craft landing on an alien world, and the Klingons and the Federation meeting up with the Organians. I hope you and your readers will enjoy the screen grabs of this VERY rare production. Robert Long II

We are grateful to Robert for taking the time to capture the images and send them to share with us! Here is the cover of the VHS box...

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Below are the promised screen captures; the first known color images from this early fan effort which adapted the Blish novel "Spock Must Die" for their own original characters (who are really analogs of our familiar crew). Please pardon the attempts a humorous captions, but I love doing that! They do not reflect on the quality of the film, only my weird sense of humor.

"These are the voyages of the AMT Enterprise..."

"Schamba, open hailing frequencies... and go lighter on the minstrel makeup next time, huh?"

"Oh my God, WHERE did you get those shoes, they're FABulous!"

"My symbiont muttonchops and mustache agree that we are in deep trouble."

"I refuse to step into any machine that uses tinfoil as an element!"

#1: "Would you tell that person to stop mocking me?"
#2: "Would you tell that person to stop mocking me?"

"Just because you are handsome and incredibly intelligent does not mean I admire you."

"Please clear the track, the podraces are about to begin!"

"It's funny how much bigger those shuttles are on the inside than the outside."

It's a little-known fact that the Organians were a race of swinging bachelors.

"In this case is preserved the only remaining fart of Kahless."

"Hmm... no, I don't think you look fat in that dress. Not really. I mean, not at all!"

"We are masters of the hand shadow show!"

And, there you have it... looks pretty ambitious! Although we would like to be able to see it, we can understand the reluctance to post it. We can wish, however, and perhaps expressing our desire to see at least some of it might convince Robert, the holder of the movie, to edit and post a trailer, at least. I'll let you know of any further info as it becomes available.

1-20-2012 update: I have heard from Robert, who owns a copy of a convention highlight reel, which are portions of the film shown at cons years back. He graciously allowed me to view it! It has no audio from the film, only Trek music dubbed in, but the footage is interesting to finally see. I have emailed John Consentino for permission to post it, and if he gives it, and if Robert allows, I will post it soon. But all that is pending. However, in any event, I will be posting some behind-the-scenes information about the making of the film from John himself, very soon. He liked my captions, by the way, saying "Your wise cracks under the freeze frame Paragon shots are cute." Hey, if TOS shots get these, "Paragon" is not exempt from my weird humor!

Update for 4-24-12: John Cosentino, due to the input from fans wanting to know more, has begun a blog about the movie! Go here to read more, and get all the inside info! http://www.paragonsparagon.com/