This isn’t going to be a real review. The movie isn’t out yet, and I won’t spoil the fun for you. Today at 1 pm the visitors of FedCon 24 had the exclusive opportunity to watch Star Trek: Renegades. The show on Thursday had to be cancelled – because the movie is still in post production phase, and simply isn’t ready. Until today it wasn’t entirely sure that the film could be shown, and so this definitely was the most awaited item at FedCon. Everybody – especially myself – was incredibly excited.
Manu Intiraymi (Icheb from ST: Voy and Renegades) announced the film to a really overcrowded room – screener version, with still a lot of work to do in the CGI department, the sounds didn’t fit 100% yet – you get the drift. However, it was an exclusive preview of the full movie, and I’d like to say a big “thank you” to the Star Trek: Renegades team for that. We were the first people in the world to see the full movie. This has been an incredible act of trust for the fanbase, since there are still meetings with CBS to be held, so somebody stealing this movie and pre-showing it could well be a catastrophe for Renegades. The atmosphere in the room was just incredible. The excitement, the appreciation, the passion for Trek – words really cannot describe the feeling.
I will say this much about the movie: Renegades is everything I hoped for, and even better. Even with the Starfleet buildings still in the raw form, not yet fully animated and textured, even with a few sounds missing and some effects looking odd, this movie is to be watched out for! Producer Sky Conway and Director Tim Russ did an amazing job. The storyline is captivating, the imagery is really good, and the special effects will be gorgeous once post production is fully done. The cast did an outstanding job, and the mixture between known characters and newly introduced ones is making it easy for seasoned fans to feel comfortably “at home” in their Star Trek universe while having the fun and excitement of meeting new characters.
Now – speaking of the characters. This movie is the pilot for a series, so while the characters are being introduced there is so much potential for their development. This is a bit tricky – if this was a stand-alone movie the characters would have needed more in-depth insights, but for a tv show they are just right. And while I hope so much that CBS will be interested in showing ST: Renegades online, Tim Russ already told me that he thinks chances for this are slim.
Renegades is not your usual “clean” Star Trek. It is edgy. It is dark. The characters are anti-heroes, criminals…. well, they are renegades! The compromised Federation is undermined and rotting from within and the last few honorable men desperately need the crew and their duties. The entire setting is more violent. The “beautiful new world” that thrives on peace and science is only a façade in this Star Trek story, and it is this wonderful world that we all know and love from all the other Star Trek series that needs to be rescued in this show.
All in all the movie just has so much goodness to offer that it’s hard to describe really. I could mention the tribute to Leonard Nimoy incorporated in the movie, or the powerful soundtrack, or maybe Adrienne Wilkinson’s amazing portrayal of Captain Lexxa Singh, Walter Koenig’s impressive reappearance or how happy I was to see Mr. Tuvok and Icheb on the mission. You will have to see for yourselves.
So I will conclude this homage to an outstandingly good movie with a serious request to all Star Trek Fans out there: this film was made for you. You helped bringing it on screen through Kickstarter and Indiegogo. And you received a great movie in return. The producer, the director, the actors – they gave everything to you, so this is your chance to once again pay them back for this. It is you, the customer, that decide what is going to be on screen. The cast and crew can go to the meeting with CBS and show them their movie. But it is your voice that will be heard. It is your influence that matters. No studio wants to produce a show that isn’t going to be watched. So what you can do to make this movie into the pilot it is intended to be is: let your voice be heard in any way you can, social media, websites and word of mouth. There are ten thousands of Star Trek fans out there, and your voice can make the difference!
