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Star Trek PHASE II RELAUNCH

I was not pleased with this episode. The new Kirk was fine (and seeing Crawley in a cameo was fun) but the story was really weak compared with the rest of the series. But we should be getting the next episode pretty soon so I'm not that upset.
 
I thought it was an enjoyable character exploration episode.

Too bad this turned out to be Brian Gross premiere as Kirk (since both Holiest Thing and Bread & Savagery, filmed first, have been delayed) as it did not give me a full appreciation for his interpretation of the character and I am looking forward to seeing him more "in-charge".

Amazing FX and production work once again. I enjoyed the new McCoy, though his southern accent was a bit too strong at times. McCoy's accent usually only become apparent when he is angry or intoxicated... lol.

But honestly, these fan productions are made with such love and devotion (not to mention FREE!!!!!), that to nitpick feels wrong....lol.

Thank You to Mr. Crawley and company, another wonderful Trek experience and I look forward to their next release. :)
 
An update on the status of upcoming episodes....

http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/2015/09/11/upcoming-adventures-from-new-voyages/

Oddly, there is no mention of the already filmed episode "Bread and Savagery"?

I am not sure what has happened to this series production? As an outsider, it really looks like the series has lost its way in the last couple of years. Announced release dates and then nothing. Atleast three known episodes filmed (or partially filmed) sitting idle in the editing bin.

I know it is a Fan Production, and everyone volunteers all their time and talent when available, and I should be just happy when they do release a new episode. And I am. I have followed New Voyages loyally for over 10 years now. I love this series. I love Crawley's passion and devotion to Star Trek.

But as an avid follower of this production, I can clearly see there has been some sort of shift/shuffle going on behind the scenes. It all seems to stem back to the episode of "Kitumba" and Vic Mignogna controversial departure for the fan series. Since then things just have never seem to have been quite the same. One has to wonder if Mignogna was more pivotal to the smooth production of the fan series than was previously known? Things certainly "seem" more chaotic now. It does not help matters when one of New Voyages Executive Producers unprofessionally questions/slights/calls out Crawley over on the Trek BBS.

There definitely seems to be bad blood between Crawley and Mignogna now. And while both openly claim there is no competition between their two respected fan series, one can sense this is not entirely true. It also makes me wonder if the success of Star Trek Continues has caused Crawley to rethink the direction of his series. Originally, the plan was for New Voyages (later rename Phase II and now back to being called New Voyages) was to fill the gap between TOS and TMP, with each episode introducing elements to bridge the gap... from uniform design, new nacelles for the Enterprise, character evolution, a more cinematic widescreen style, etc.... But now it sounds like the series will now be more TOS-centric, even returning to 4x3 filming like ST Continues....

I guess only time will tell....
I eagerly look forward to New Voyages next release and wish them all the best in their creative endeavours. :)
 
Very intrigued by the casting of Colin Cunningham, who as Major Davis played a significant, recurring role on Stargate: SG-1, as Christopher Pike. I too am concerned about the way things have gone, but there's enough (seemingly?) afoot to keep me very interested in what may come next.
 
If one wanted to start watching this and/or Star Trek Continues, which would you suggest going through first? I'd like to but New Voyages seems to have links from their site to weird download sites and then to youtube which links to yet another weird site, and there are 4:3 and 16:9 episodes on youtube, the vimeo channel shows they have episodes with "modern vfx" and the same episodes with "retro vfx", and then they have "vignettes" which are not full episodes, I assume. It's all very confusing.

Anyway, I'd like to watch the original series in full, then these fan productions, then the original cast films (substituting out some of the official cuts with some fan edits). So what's the best order to sort out the fan made episodes?
 
addiesin said:
If one wanted to start watching this and/or Star Trek Continues, which would you suggest going through first? I'd like to but New Voyages seems to have links from their site to weird download sites and then to youtube which links to yet another weird site, and there are 4:3 and 16:9 episodes on youtube, the vimeo channel shows they have episodes with "modern vfx" and the same episodes with "retro vfx", and then they have "vignettes" which are not full episodes, I assume. It's all very confusing.

Anyway, I'd like to watch the original series in full, then these fan productions, then the original cast films (substituting out some of the official cuts with some fan edits). So what's the best order to sort out the fan made episodes?
Click to expand...
"Star Trek Continues", as its title suggests, is meant to be a continuation of the original series as if it never left off. Currently, the series is planned to last 13 episodes (five of which have been released so far and two of which are in post-production now). The 13th episode is planned to be a proper finale to the original series. It's also the more polished and professional of the two fan-made series, and more closely approximates the look and feel of the original series. So I'd recommend watching it first.

"Star Trek: New Voyages" is meant to be more like the Phase II series that was planned but eventually scrapped in the 1970s. In other words, it's more of a sequel to the original series than a direct continuation. As for the differences in versions, the "modern VFX" versions have modern-looking special effects shots (with fancy modern camera moves and such), while the "retro VFX" versions have effects shots that more closely resemble the original practical effects of the original series. Which one you would prefer to watch is up to you.

Both "Star Trek Continues" and "Star Trek: New Voyages" have vignettes. The vignettes are short films released in addition to the episodes. In the case of "Star Trek Continues", I'd recommend watching the vignettes before the full episodes, as the first vignette ("Turnabout Intruder") starts exactly where the last episode of the original series ended. For "Star Trek: New Voyages", when you watch the first two vignettes doesn't matter much, but it's best to watch the third vignette ("Going Boldly") after watching all of the episodes featuring James Cawley as Captain Kirk, as this vignette is the first appearance of Brian Gross (who recently replaced Cawley as Kirk).
 
hbenthow said:
[entire post]
Click to expand...

Perfect! Thanks man, that helps a lot. I understood some of the intent of ST Continues but knew very little about all the different versions of ST Phase 2/New Voyages before today. When trying to find the answers myself I just got absorbed in that thread Bob linked to where the Phase 2 producers tried to publicly call out Vic Mignogna about an episode or whatever, as stated several times in the thread by some reasonable posters it's very one-sided and seems rather unprofessional to air dirty laundry in public like that. What do I know though, I just want to eat the burger, I don't want to kill the cow. :oops:

When I watch these in order between the show and the films, I'm going to pretend ST Continues is year 4 and ST Phase 2 is year 5 (unless they literally say otherwise in the episodes). I'll probably try "modern vfx", as my hope in this kind of chronology is for the transition from TOS to the films to be more smooth. Once I do I'll report back with a review of sorts and say what I think worked well and poorly.
And I really hope the different actors aren't too jarring when going from one cast to the next, but I suppose by the very nature of these productions, that can't be helped.

Maybe afterward I'll rewatch Futurama in full. Well, I think I have the next few years of my tv habits planned out! Now I just need to find some of that time I misplaced in my early twenties! :D
 
addiesin said:
Perfect! Thanks man, that helps a lot. I understood some of the intent of ST Continues but knew very little about all the different versions of ST Phase 2/New Voyages before today. When trying to find the answers myself I just got absorbed in that thread Bob linked to where the Phase 2 producers tried to publicly call out Vic Mignogna about an episode or whatever, as stated several times in the thread by some reasonable posters it's very one-sided and seems rather unprofessional to air dirty laundry in public like that. What do I know though, I just want to eat the burger, I don't want to kill the cow. :oops:

When I watch these in order between the show and the films, I'm going to pretend ST Continues is year 4 and ST Phase 2 is year 5 (unless they literally say otherwise in the episodes). I'll probably try "modern vfx", as my hope in this kind of chronology is for the transition from TOS to the films to be more smooth. Once I do I'll report back with a review of sorts and say what I think worked well and poorly.
And I really hope the different actors aren't too jarring when going from one cast to the next, but I suppose by the very nature of these productions, that can't be helped.
Click to expand...

Of the two productions, I still slightly favour NEW VOYAGES/PHASE II. Yes, STContinues is by far more polished (using more professional actors, fantastic lighting and most importantly, perfect sound work) but New Voyages stories I think are more ambitious and better written. Both series feature incredible production values (equal or better than any tv sci-fi show) and the passion of the creators is addicting. New Voyages real weakness is it sound design, you can often hear the sets creak and the echo of the soundstage. But this should be change as Crawley has built an all new improved studio for the web series.

While both web series have had great episodes, NV is the only that has made what I would call "MUST WATCH" if you are a Trek fan, producing some incredible sequel episodes and filling in the missing events between the end of the series and Star Trek the Motion Picture.

I must admit, it takes a couple of episodes to warm up to each new actor's interpretation of such iconic characters and some are better than others, especially in the supporting cast department. I have lost count how many different Sulus, Chekovs and Uhuras NV has had over the years. As for our main hero, I really grew to like Crawley's performance as Kirk. It is too bad be decided to step down. Brian Gross seems good so far. Vic's Kirk took a longer time to like, as first his voice seemed too high and his mannerisms too much of an impersonation rather than a performance.

It is sort of like going to the theatre over the years and seeing your favourite play being done by different production companies. Each bring something new and fresh to a story you think you already know.

But if you love Trek, I think in the end you will enjoy both shows. We can only hope the new 2017 Star Trek television series is made with the same love, devotion and quality. :)
 
Well it now looks like HOLIEST THING is not arriving this month....:-(

However, there is a new trailer!!! :)


--So it looks like the PHASE II subtitle has been permanently dropped.
--Back to 16X9 after the 4x3 MindSifter episode, which I think it is a very smart decision. It separates NV from STC, and NV has always had a more cinematic style that I appreciate and love.
--The timeline of when Kirk and Carol first met seems to have been drastically altered?
--Hey, they are using the Life Support Belts from the Animated Series!!! lol
 
Trailer for another episode, Torment of Destiny, guest starring Richard "Apollo" Hatch!!!


So I guess NV is staying with the 4x8 format???
 
It's HERE!!!!
Star Trek New Voyages episode number 10:
"THE HOLIEST THING" :)

 
So finally watched the newest episode....
Overall it was another ambitious and enjoyable production.


But I think I understand why this adventure was delayed almost 2 years.... it definitely has issues in the sound and lighting departments. NV has always had some minor soundstage production issues, but never to this extant before... the audio suffers from stage echoes, wooden floor noises, etc. They have done an admirable job trying to mask it, as it appears they did not do too much post dubbing, and it does seem to decrease as the episode goes on, but when it is there, it is very noticeable.


They also seemed to have spent extensive time trying to tweak the lighting and colour scheme, and for the most part I think they succeeded. The primary colours really pop, though there some scenes that look too saturated to me.


The FX work is as always gorgeous! The Phase II Enterprise is magnificent. The planet side scenes are beautiful. I love the seamless blending of classic TOS architecture with the movie era. Pony Horton is a genius!


The script imo is probably one of NV best balanced. It some great character development moments for Kirk as he realizes he is falling in love. This episode has the most humour of any NV episode I ever watched, most at the expense of Spock but it all feels very TOS. The dialogue all sounds in character and of the classic series, but all of the tone and emotional strength of the dialogue for the romance scenes seems to be lost or diluted in many of the directorial and performance choices.


Gross and King are married in real life, but the romance between Kirk and Marcus lacks a certain heat. Again, if you just listen to the scripted words, it has all the wonderful pulpy over the top dialogue you expect from the classic series, but the actors themselves do not express the bigger than life energy that the words need and deserve. Their performances are too grounded imo.


This is also Gross first full performance as Kirk (since the most of Mind-Sifter he was crazy town), so it was interesting to watch his interpretation. It is very different from Cawley or Mignogna. He seems to be staying away from any overt Shatner-isms. He seems more laid back and softer spoken than the Kirk I am used to.... though the transporter scene was a nice take command moment.


The rest of the cast works nicely. As usual, Charles Root as Scotty is perfect. And I really love John Kelly's version of Bones, though it appears he has been replaced in the next episode. The TNG Scotty bookends were cute, though they did not connect directly to the main story. I kept expecting Scotty to play a more significant role in the overall plot.


The "B" storyline
with the Ferengi was excellent, a great balance of menace, mystery and humour.


The only thing that really bothers me is Cawley's decision to neglect accepted continuity. By having the Kirk and Marcus romance set during Year Four of the mission, that would make David 12 years old for Wrath of Khan...lol. Though Trek has often played fast and loose with timelines and ages. TNG and DS9 aged Worf's son considerably. And NV has already aged Peter Kirk from child to young man. So it is not unprecedented. And I do agree, sometimes you can not let canon stand in the way of a good story.


And this is a very good story. I would put it in their Top Five. Well worth the wait. :thumb:
 
The original Director's Cut of "The Holiest Thing" has been released. I have not watched it all yet, but I did fast forward to the original ending which I think plays better -- not so forced or awkward -- but still contradicts canon.

 
Is New Voyages officially dead?

While James Cawley has never released an official statement, he has said on Facebook and other sites, that is he done making fan films.  What this means for the 2 or 3 already (or partly) filmed episodes, is unknown.

What we do know is Mr. Cawley has received a licensing agreement from Paramount/CBS to turn his Star Trek studio into a museum tour.  I would so love to visit! 

Here's a brief interview...

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5xy8Avh79I[/video]
 
It would be a shame if the series stopped without being concluded.
 
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