Prelude to Axanar (2014)

Sometimes, I come across a movie that’s hard to recommend or not recommend.  With Prelude to Axanar, it’s available on YouTube for free.  It’s not a huge commitment.  If you don’t like it, you’re out 21 minutes.  That’s not even a lunch break.  In this case, it’s more to make it known.  Fan projects like these generally don’t have an advertising budget, so there’s a good chance most people would never find out about it.

It’s set up like a documentary.  Several people are interviewed, including Kelvar Leonard Garth.  Yes, it’s Garth of Izar, from Whom Gods Destroy.  The movie details a battle that takes place about 20 years before the start of the original Star Trek.  There was the Four-Year War between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets in which Anaxar was the decisive battle. 

Interestingly, two actors known for playing Klingons in Star Trek play humans here.  Tony Todd (Kurn) plays Admiral Marcus Ramirez, who was instrumental in turning the tide of the war in favor of the Federation.  J.G. Hertzler (Martok) plays Admiral Samuel Travis.   Gary Graham also reprises his role as Ambassador Soval.  From both incarnations of Batlestar Gallactica is Richard Hatch as Commander Kharn.

On one hand, I find it strange that such well-known actors would take the time to work with an independent project like this.  You might hear that it’s not affiliated with Paramount or CBS and think it’s just some guy with a hand-held VHS recorder filming some of his friends.  This is a pretty decent production.  The film quality and effects are on par with something you might actually see in Star Trek.

It’s somewhat difficult for me to say that you shouldn’t watch this.  It’s available for free on YouTube and is only 21 minutes, so it’s not like you have much to lose.  Those that haven’t watched Star Trek probably won’t get as much out of it.  There are no regular characters from any of the TV series.  In fact, I think the only one that appeared in the series at all was Garth.

The only thing I found lacking was the running time.  It looked like it was the first part of a TV show.  It looks just like something you’d find on the History Channel.  It’s as if you caught an episode, but only went from one commercial break to the next.  Prelude to Axanar ends with the building of the Enterprise.

I think that may have been the intent.  It looks like there’s another production, called simply Axanar.  From what I’ve read, Paramount, which owns the Star Trek movie rights, has put a lot of restrictions on independent productions.  One is that films can’t be that long.  (They also aren’t allowed to make money.)  It looks like this faux documentary has to be released in segments.  IMDb doesn’t list many details on Axanar; it does look like several of the actors will be returning, though.  Either way, I’m looking forward to the next installment.

Star Trek The Next Generation - Episode 101 (Redemption: Part 2)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

WARNING:  I’m going to give away major details about this episode, up to and including the ending.  I will also be discussing the previous episode.  If you have a problem with this, now’s the time to stop reading.



One of the disadvantages of a cliffhanger episode is that you have to wait several months to see how it concludes.  With the advent of VHS, DVD and now streaming, it’s possible to wait and simply see everything at once.  With a series like Star Trek: The Next Generation, you could conceivably watch the entire series over a few weeks.

In the last episode, Redemption, some major events unfolded.  Gowron was made Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, which led to a civil war.  Worf resigned his commission in Starfleet to support Gowron.  The opposition?  Toral, a puppet being used by the Romulans, including one that looks a lot like a former Enterprise crewmember.

In Redemption, Part II, some time has passed.  Captain Picard is trying to get the Federation involved, despite it being a Klingon civil war.  This would appear to be a Klingon matter, but the Romulans are involved.  Rather than get involved directly, Chief Engineer La Forge has a plan:  He can use a fleet of ships to create a tachyon net that will expose a cloaked Romulan ship.  The problem is that there aren’t that many ships available.

The shadowy Romulan woman, Commander Sela, takes notice of the plan.  Rather than try to go around the blockade, she uncloaks and reveals herself to a stunned Captain Picard, who realizes that she looks a lot like his former Chief of Security, Lt. Tasha Yar.  She beams over and tells how she’s the daughter of Tasha Yar.  This is difficult to believe, as Yar would have been a young girl when Sela was born.  (She’s the result of an alternate timeline’s Tasha Yar.)

Things aren’t going well for Gowron and his forces.  The Romulan influence is really tipping the scales against him.  Also, Worf is realizing that he’s not fitting in well with other Klingons.  Normally, a Klingon wouldn’t drink with his enemy.  However, his brother, Kurn, has no problem drinking with opposition forces.  Toral’s aunts, Lursa and B’Etor take notice and kidnap him, hoping to turn him.

It doesn’t really matter.  The blockade doesn‘t initially work.  Data, while in command of the Sutherland, is able to devise a plan to expose the ships.  It works and the Romulan fleet turns around, leaving Lursa and B’Etor on their own.  They manage to beam out, leaving Worf to take out the Romulan guards and take Toral to face charges of treason.  Realizing that he may not be cut out to live in the Empire, he returns to the Enterprise to resume his duties.

This is one of those follow-up episodes that didn’t really hold up that well.  We had this nice setup in Part I.  A civil war is starting.  We have this woman that looks a lot like a former Enterprise crewmember.  Worf is on a Klingon ship.  What we get is a kind of wimpy follow up.

First, there’s the issue of Sela.  She’s the daughter of Tasha Yar, a blond, and a Romulan.  Every Romulan I’ve seen has dark hair.  I doubt very much that Sela would be a blonde.  (Genetically, darker hair tends to be dominant.)  Yes, it’s possible that Sela bleached her hair in deference to her mother, but she states that everything human in her died after her mother made a failed escape attempt.  If anything, I think she’d dye her hair to look more Romulan.  Why stand out if you hate what makes you stand out?  Also, I’ve found the convention of using the same actor to play parent and child overused.  I know we’re supposed to recognize her as the daughter of Yar, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Speaking of Sela, how is it that the blockade works?  I’m not sure how big the blockade is that Sela can’t just go around it.  I’m not sure because it’s never mentioned.  This is a valid concern, as she’s already running late.  No one ever says, “It will take us an extra day to go around.  What are we going to do?”  Also, there’s a fleet of 23 ships, all of them making a net with the other ships.  Displays show it as being a net, meaning that there should be gaping holes.  The harder it is to go around the blockade, the easier it should be to go through one of those holes.

For that matter, how did they know exactly where to meet the Romulan ships?  You could probably get a pretty good guess, knowing where the Klingon home world is.  However, if I were a Romulan commander and I saw this fleet of ships going along the border, I’d change course immediately.  Cloaking devices may make them a bit arrogant, but wouldn’t it be better to not risk confrontation?

It is nice to see Data take command of a ship.  This is one of a few times in the series that he questions Captain Picard and gets what he wants.  One of the side stories is him having to deal with his first officer, Lt. Cmdr. Hobson, who doesn’t think that an android would make a good captain.  Data gets to put him in his place and eventually earn his respect.

This may not be the best episode to use to introduce someone to the series.  Those that have never seen Star Trek: The Next Generation before will be confused.  A lot of it depends on knowledge not only of the previous episode but of the previous four seasons.  At least the writers did a good job of incorporating previous story lines and building up to this one.


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Star Trek The Next Generation - Episode 100 (Redemption: Part 1)

Note: This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

WARNING:  This review gives away major details, up to and including the ending.  If you’re not in to that, you may want to stop reading.


The season cliffhangers tended to be problematic.  The first two seasons didn’t use them.  When the third season ended, we had a cliffhanger where Captain Picard had been assimilated by the Borg.  The last scene is Commander Riker giving the order to fire on the Borg cube containing the captain.  The forth season begins with it not working at all.  The resulting episode ended up not being that good.

Here, we have a similar situation.  This is the final episode of the fourth season.  Captain Picard is on his way to finish his role as arbiter of succession when he’s met by Gowron, the man he’s supposed to be installing as leader of the high council.  Gowron informs him that things aren’t going so well.  Before Gowron leaves, Worf makes a proposition:  My brother, Kurn, and  I will support you if you restore our family honor.  Gowron tells Worf that this is not how a Klingon gets his honor back.

Just before Picard is able to install Gowron, a challenger appears in the form of Toral.  Toral is the illegitimate son of Duras, the man who challenged Gowron for the position of chancellor.  With Toral are his two aunts, Lursa and B’Etor.  They ask Picard to consider Toral’s claim.  He does and, while the lineage is not in question, Toral hasn’t done anything to prove himself.  Toral can go take a flying leap for all Picard cares; Picard completes the ceremony.

This leads to Lursa and B’Etor to start a civil war with the Romulans backing them.  There’s also that shadowy female Romulan from a few episodes ago.   Gowron does end up needing help and Worf does help, leading Gowron to restore his family honor.  Gowron then uses this as leverage to get Worf to lean on Picard for Federation support.  When Picard doesn’t want to get involved in an internal Klingon matter, Worf resigns and joins Kurn on his ship.  In the final scene of the episode, we see the shadowy woman step out into the light…and it’s Denise Crosby playing a Romulan!

As you can imagine, there are certain continuity issues for people just coming in to the series.  Denise Crosby, for instance, played Chief of Security Tasha Yar for most of the show’s first season.  She returned for an episode called Yesterday’s Enterprise which will serve as the basis for her appearance here.  (More on that in the next episode.)  Also, the whole story of Worf’s discommendation took up much of this season and the last.  He took discommendation knowing that calling out Duras might split the empire.  Apparently, it delayed it rather than preventing it, although this is never mentioned in the episode.

I do have issues with the episode.  First, Toral doesn’t realize what a huge tool he is.  This is in addition to being your typical arrogant, self-important teenager.  Lursa and B’Etor have to handle him.  The Romulans want to deal with him as little as possible.  Everyone else seems to recognize him for what he is.  We get the impression that this is the Duras Sisters' last, desperate hope at not seeing Gowron as chancellor.  If it weren’t for the fact that Toral is such a twerp, I’d feel sorry for him.

By other big issue is when Denise Crosby comes out of the shadows.  It seems that this is played for effect.  When the episode first appeared, we had to wait three months for an explanation.  Who was this woman?  She has a Romulan haircut, but she’s a blonde.  How is she related to Tasha Yar?  This will be answered in the season-five premier.

This episode and the next one are probably the most continuity-dependent episodes so far in the series.  For this reason, I’d recommend not getting the VHS, but getting the DVD season sets instead.  Unfortunately, the two episodes will be split.  This will be on the last episode on fourth-season set while Part II will be the first episode on the fifth-season set.  (This shouldn’t be an issue for those that have Netflix streaming, though.) 

IMDb page

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 65 (Sins of the Father)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

Star Trek:  The Next Generation had a few of what the Starburst ads would call contradictions.  There was a android trying to be more human.  You had a blind man piloting a starship, even though that didn’t last very long.  (He was eventually promoted to chief engineer.)  Another notable contradiction was a Klingon serving in Starfleet.  Worf was believed to be the only survivor of an attack on Khitomer by the Romulans.  There are no other Klingons in Starfleet, but there is an exchange program which Commander Riker participated.  Now, it’s Commander Kurn’s turn to serve aboard the Enterprise.

Things aren’t that good for the crew.  Kurn has a surprise inspection of engineering while they’re doing maintenance.   Young Wesley Crusher can’t seem to do anything right.  The only one that has it easy is Worf.  In fact, Kurn is being condescending towards Worf.  Well, Worf has enough and confronts his new commander only to find out that Kurn is actually his younger brother.  Worf had believed he was an only child.  Kurn was left with a family friend, who raised him upon news of his parents’ death.  Much later, he found out the truth.

Why the ruse?  Partly, it was to see what kind of Klingon Worf was.  There’s also some news that was probably better delivered in person:  Mogh, their father, is posthumously being accused of aiding and abetting the enemy.  Specifically, Mogh is being accused of supplying access codes to the Romulans so that they could attack Khitomer.  As the oldest (and presumed only) child of Mogh, it’s Worf’s right and responsibility to challenge the accusation.  Funny that no one on the Klingon High Council mentioned it to him.

When Worf and Kurn go to the Klingon home world, Worf has Kurn say nothing of their relationship, but allows Kurn to be his second.  (Worf won’t be allowed to actually fight.)  After the initial announcement of Worf’s intent to challenge the accusation, Chancellor K’mpec calls a recess and pulls Worf aside.  He tells Worf that everyone knows that Mogh didn’t do it.  They need a fall guy and they figured that Worf, being comfortable in Starfleet, wouldn’t challenge.  He can walk away and they’ll forget all about it.

Worf insists that he’s still a Klingon and still cares about honor.  He’ll challenge, even if it means that he’ll be executed.  Kurn is called away and attacked and nearly killed with a ceremonial blade.  He lives only to tell Worf that he’s as good as dead anyway, being the son of Mogh.  It’s curious, though.  Someone supplied the access codes and there’s supposedly proof supplied by a captured Romulan ship, but it doesn’t add up.  So, Captain Picard, now Worf’s new second, finds another survivor of the Khitomer attack:  Khalest, Worf’s nurse.  She’s hesitant at first, but agrees to accompany Picard back to the hearing after he fends off some Klingons.

Once back, we find out that it was actually Duras’s father that was the traitor.  Duras is too powerful and well connected.  If it came out that his father was the traitor, it would divide the Empire.  So, Worf agrees to be the fall guy, accepting discommendation and insisting that Kurn keep his identity hidden.  One day, it may be necessary to have an inside guy.

When I first watched the episode, it was just an episode where Worf is kicked out of Klingon society.  He has to do the wrong thing for the right reason, even though everyone knows what’s going on.  After rewatching the episode and reading about it, people pointed out how several Klingons (including the Chancellor) acted dishonorably.  Not only did they knowingly place blame on the wrong guy, but they weren’t even going to say anything about it.  They were going to quietly place blame on Mogh and assume that Worf was going to sit there and take it.

At first, it seemed kind of ironic.  Then, I realized that even Klingons have political motives.  Just as we assume that all Vulcans are motivated by logic and that all Ferengi are motivated by profit, we assume that all Klingons are motivated by honor.  This adds a certain depth to the race.  It kind of makes sense, too.  The Chancellor has to make a decision for the good of the Empire.  Does he tell the truth and act honorably or does he try to cover it up and protect the greater good?  His only mistake was underestimating Worf.  It takes a while, but Worf eventually comes to realize that protecting the Empire may mean living a lie.

Star Trek: The Next Generation was very episodic.  (It wasn’t until Deep Space Nine’s final season that we’d have something that was heavily serialized.)  This is one of a few episodes that you’d have to view in order.  Those coming into the series with this episode will probably understand what’s going on, but may wonder what becomes of Worf’s honor.  This is something he’s going to have to live with for the rest of this and all of the next season. 

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Final Destination (2000)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

I had originally planned to see this movie when it first came out, but when I got to the theater, I found out that the listings in the paper were wrong and the movie had been playing for a little while. I didn’t get around to watching the movie until recently, when I rented the movie from NetFlix.

It’s an interesting premise. Devon Sawa plays Alex, a student on his way to France with a class trip. Somehow, he’s allowed to see the plane crashing. He and several other people (including two teachers) leave the plane. One teacher gets back on while the other stays with the six students, agreeing to catch the next plane out. As they’re arguing about what went on, the plane actually blows up, as per Alex’s vision.

Understandably, Alex gets the attention of the FBI, but since there’s no real evidence that Alex did anything, they have to let him go. Of the other six people that he saved, very few seem to be appreciative. The teacher is flat out scared of him now. A friend of his wants to remain friends, but has parents that aren’t as understanding. That’s a heck of a way to treat someone who saved your life.

Over a month goes by without incident. Then, the seven people start dying. Is there some sort of master plan? Alex seems to think so. He notices certain coincidences, such as the fact that the people are dying in the order that they would have had they stayed on the plane. Then again, it’s possible that he’s reading too much into it.

It wasn’t a great movie, but I wouldn’t recommend avoiding it, either. It’s just one of those movies where there are a lot of questions. For instance, why allow Alex to see Death’s plan? Once that happened, why wait over a month to start killing the people? Are we to believe that Death was bored? The thing is that before the other survivors are killed, Alex is given new premonitions, meaning that he’s being given the chance to save them again.

The movie was a little slow to start, but I eventually got into it. I was actually debating whether or not to just send it back without watching it. I can’t say that it’s my favorite movie, but it was worth watching. I have to admit that Tony Todd was perfectly cast as the mortician. Also, I noticed that Devon Sawa bears some resemblance to Anthony Michael Hall of The Dead Zone, another show where premonitions play a big part. (Any resemblance is purely coincidental since the TV series had yet to premiere when this movie was released.)

The movie is worth three and a half stars, but I’m rounding up, mostly because it was just an interesting movie. If you’re looking for something to watch and not really think about too much, this is your movie. If you’re looking for something with a little more substance, you might want to look elsewhere. I’m actually debating over whether or not to get the sequel. 

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