"Enemy Starfleet!" Release Date: Thursday, October 21st, 2010

[Captain Randy Hall]

I was fortunate to see a "rough cut" of "Enemy Starfleet" at the Shore Leave convention in July. They're continuing work on the SFX, but even so, the episode shows that the Phase II folks understand Kirk far better than the current movie-makers. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll watch this before they start on Star Trek XII.!

Here's the thing... JJAbrams loved Luke Skywalker and hated Kirk. Phase II loves Kirk.

VERY true. Abrams and others have fallen into the myth that Kirk was forever jumping in the sack for no good reason. (OK, one good reason.)

Most importantly, Phase II UNDERSTANDS Kirk. I hope you catch the scene in "ES" that made me cheer, and it has to do with Kirk and Barbara Luna's character.

I hope that the Abrams films will move toward a more mature Kirk, as we see in "Enemy Starfleet." After all, the captain has to grow up sooner or later.

 

[Barbreader]

I was fortunate to see a "rough cut" of "Enemy Starfleet" at the Shore Leave convention in July. They're continuing work on the SFX, but even so, the episode shows that the Phase II folks understand Kirk far better than the current movie-makers. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll watch this before they start on Star Trek XII.!

Here's the thing... JJAbrams loved Luke Skywalker and hated Kirk. Phase II loves Kirk.

VERY true. Abrams and others have fallen into the myth that Kirk was forever jumping in the sack for no good reason. (OK, one good reason.)
Most importantly, Phase II UNDERSTANDS Kirk. I hope you catch the scene in "ES" that made me cheer, and it has to do with Kirk and Barbara Luna's character.
I hope that the Abrams films will move toward a more mature Kirk, as we see in "Enemy Starfleet." After all, the captain has to grow up sooner or later.

I disagree with your understanding of Shatner's Kirk. I watched TOS first run. Kirk was a space sailor with a girl in every port, like sailors from every time period, he was just passing through and getting what he could. James Bond with a crew. The idea that he was being manipulative of all those women for the sake of the ship doesn't fly (pun intended). This show was aimed at men, and had much the same taste as the soft core porn of Playboy with it's airbrushed monthly foldout. JJAbrams didn't turn Kirk into Skywalker because he hated Kirk, nor did he create that massive launch scene which looked like the launch bay of the death star because he liked North Korean military exercises. He has said many times he was a Star Wars fan, not a Star Trek fan. I understand that in an era when people think it's odd that Uhura doesn't take the bridge when she's the highest ranking officer, Kirk's massive disrespect of women would seem Taliban-worthy. But a lot has changed in civil society since the 1960s, and I think you're trying to rescue him from the 1960s. Roddenbury would have gotten that closer to right if NBC would have allowed him to. But he had to satisfy the Network executives.

That said, I like James Cawley's Kirk better than Shatner's Kirk. He is a better character. I know guys who were in the Navy back then, and Kirk's behavior was not wild compared to their real life behavior.

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this since I became a Trek fan because of Kirk.

I was in college far from home,, doing studies that seemed alien at times and with people I'd never met before. I noticed the similarity between my situation and Kirk's. He was a starship captain far from home (Earth), doing things I'm sure he wasn't prepared for (like hunting down a Horta) and with people he barely knew (the crew of the Enterprise).

So when I was struggling to finish that term paper or study for final exams, I asked myself what Kirk would do. I graduated with honors a couple of years later.

And OF COURSE Shatner's character was using flirting as a strategy. If a man got between him and the ship, Kirk would punch the guy out. But if a woman got between himself and the NCC-1701, he tried a kinder, gentler approach, and if that didn't work, he'd punch her out. Equal opportunity and all that.

I think it was during "The Mark of Gideon" that the only person on the ship besides Kirk was a woman whom the captain had to try and find out why the ship was practically empty. So he laid on the charm, but the woman responded, "I know you must be worried about what's happened to your crew." At that moment, Kirk's facial expression went from gigolo to fury. It took him a moment to get back into the proper mood.

At least when Shatner Kirk laid on the charm, it was either for real (he saw Edith Keeler and Miramanee die right in front of him) or a way to complete his mission.

This Kirk seems to display that behavior 80 to 90 percent of the time and for no other reason than hitting on the poor woman who happened to walk within a parsec of him. He has a LOT of growing up to do, and part of that is hopefully he won't use females for seeking sex and nothing else.

Kirk remains my favorite character in all of Trek. A traveler, a poet, an explorer, a clever strategist and a good friend to have during struggles and quiet times.

 

[doubleohfive]

This Kirk seems to display that behavior 80 to 90 percent of the time and for no other reason than hitting on the poor woman who happened to walk within a parsec of him. He has a LOT of growing up to do, and part of that is hopefully he won't use females for seeking sex and nothing else.

I think you probably missed the part about how the 2009 film was supposed to be a prequel. Its function was, in comparison to all the various Trek productions that came before it, analagous to that between the 2006 Casino Royale and the other James Bond films preceding it. Reboot the franchise, make it modern, but at the same time not only just show us how these iconic characters began but also how they became the iconic characters we know and love.

Yeah, Shatner's Kirk was a ladies man and a shrewd one at that. Nobody's denying this. But he couldn't always have been that way, and Pine's take on Kirk was a refreshing, modern perspective on the character who was very much grounded in 1960s sexual politics and persona. Neither is more inherently "right" than the other, and I think it's kind of foolish to so easily dismiss the potential for anything good to come from Pine's interpretation, solely on the (largely assumed) opinion that he "hit on anything within a parsec."

 

[scifib5st]

Ok sports fans.... Ralph has released the "Hook" or teaser for ESF on youtube, Final Cut form.... its the same teaser footage as you have seen before, but it is cut part way thru and added the opening monalog, "Space the final....." looks and sounds excellent! Plus he added the music cues we all love!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbvGdbIeOVk

 

[Tom]

Looks Good!

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

Looks Good!

What he said.

 

[CaptainSerek]

I am looking forward to it as I always have been.

 

[Captain Mike]

Ithink you probably missed the part about how the 2009 film was supposed to be a prequel. Its function was, in comparison to all the various Trek productions that came before it, analagous to that between the 2006 Casino Royale and the other James Bond films preceding it. Reboot the franchise, make it modern, but at the same time not only just show us how these iconic characters began but also how they became the iconic characters we know and love.

Yeah, Shatner's Kirk was a ladies man and a shrewd one at that. Nobody's denying this. But he couldn't always have been that way, and Pine's take on Kirk was a refreshing, modern perspective on the character who was very much grounded in 1960s sexual politics and persona. Neither is more inherently "right" than the other, and I think it's kind of foolish to so easily dismiss the potential for anything good to come from Pine's interpretation, solely on the (largely assumed) opinion that he "hit on anything within a parsec."

But the counter to your point is that it NOT a prequel in a sense. It's an alternate universe (or reboot if you want to be more precise). This is NOT how the characters in the "prime" universe became who they are, or more so how they came together. Unfortunately, we will have to envision that kind of things with stories we have read.

I am looking forward to it as I always have been.

It does look good. Can't wait!

 

[scifib5st]

Ok, this is from "Kitumba" and just released on youtube. It's great, Good job all.
I hope this link works. Kirk Rumbles.

<object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cc0JBaNcZBw?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cc0JBaNcZBw?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

But the counter to your point is that it NOT a prequel in a sense. It's an alternate universe (or reboot if you want to be more precise).

A trivial difference that will continue to be pretty much unnoticed by most of the audience. This is Star Trek, going forward from now.

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

Wow! It was worth seeing if only for the famous background fight music!

 

[Captain Robert April]

I think James could use some coaching on his swordfighting technique. But that's probably just me.

Otherwise, looking good.

 

[Ssosmcin]

But the counter to your point is that it NOT a prequel in a sense. It's an alternate universe (or reboot if you want to be more precise).

A trivial difference that will continue to be pretty much unnoticed by most of the audience. This is Star Trek, going forward from now.

Well, only until Abrams gets tired of it and moves on to other things. Then someone else will come along with his own vision.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Well, only until Abrams gets tired of it and moves on to other things. Then someone else will come along with his own vision.

Of course. That's how everything works - Spider-Man's being rebooted again after three movies; back in "the old days," Burton's Batman continuity hung on for four.

And so it is and will be with Star Trek from now on. If Paramount gets a successful movie trilogy out of the current approach they'll be ecstatic.

More on-topic: Enemy Starfleet features Paul R. Sieber in a major role. This guy is really, really, really good.

 

[Amaris]

It should be only a couple more days, now. Of course, I won't be able to watch it then, since I'll be out of town!

 

[GSchnitzer]

Well, if word hasn't gotten out yet, our release date for "Enemy: Starfleet!" has slipped a bit.

A number of things have conspired against us. (We usually try to account for everything before we firm up a date, but this one got away from us a bit.)

We have some last minute sound work. (People hate it when we put out an episode with temporary sound, so we wanted to make sure it's all done right.) We've also learned that our IT capabilities (servers and such) need to be ready for the onslaught when the episode is released. So much of our delay revolves around getting our Internet delivery infrastructure ramped up and not so much the production of the episode itself.

At any rate, we're now looking at Thanksgiving weekend (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) sometime--about a month from now. We're not exactly sure when that weekend. We'll know more as our new servers arrive and get installed.

So, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. We hate having our release dates slip--maybe as much as our viewers hate it.

More news as we see how our last minute tasks all shape up. In the meantime, pencil in Thanksgiving weekend.

 

[Amaris]

Well, if word hasn't gotten out yet, our release date for "Enemy: Starfleet!" has slipped a bit.

A number of things have conspired against us. (We usually try to account for everything before we firm up a date, but this one got away from us a bit.)

We have some last minute sound work. (People hate it when we put out an episode with temporary sound, so we wanted to make sure it's all done right.) We've also learned that our IT capabilities (servers and such) need to be ready for the onslaught when the episode is released. So much of our delay revolves around getting our Internet delivery infrastructure ramped up and not so much the production of the episode itself.

At any rate, we're now looking at Thanksgiving weekend (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) sometime--about a month from now. We're not exactly sure when that weekend. We'll know more as our new servers arrive and get installed.

So, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. We hate having our release dates slip--maybe as much as our viewers hate it.

More news as we see how our last minute tasks all shape up. In the meantime, pencil in Thanksgiving weekend.

You do what you have to do to turn out a quality release, we'll be waiting and mumbling under our breath. I'll get the pitchforks.

 

[Barbreader]

I'm glad you've decided to do it right. Take the time it takes. People will enjoy it when you release it, period.

 

[Jptrekker]

Any delays will be forgotten the day its released, and if past work is any indicator, it will be great.