Film critic Roger Ebert periodically puts up old articles on his website under the title "first time online". These are apparently from his archive of written pieces (he's been writing for the Chicago Sun Times since 1967) that were written long before his work started appearing on the Internet. He often picks the articles based on current events (for example, when an actor dies he might post an old interview with them). I think the article he put up today was chosen as a positive reminder of the Star Trek franchise's glory days, as we prepare for a new era in its history. The article is from 1986, after the release of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", in which he and Shatner discuss the success of the last three movies and the announcement that Shat will direct the next one.
It's interesting to me to see from this article what the the mindset of the Star Trek cast was at the time, and think about how the public must have been feeling the same way. It looks like the franchise was riding a wave of prosperity, and both the cast and Star Trek fans were excited at the prospect of Nimoy's great work on the series being continued as he passes the torch of Star-Trek-actor-becoming-director on to Shatner. Of course it is also then sad to look at this knowing know what a disaster that risk turned into. Poor Bill, so full of hope and optimism. This makes me wish he'd done better in his shot at directing. On a more positive note, Shatner's revelation of his pitch for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" is hilarious and leads to what I find to be a delightfully charming punchline by Ebert to end the article. Check it out here:
It's interesting to me to see from this article what the the mindset of the Star Trek cast was at the time, and think about how the public must have been feeling the same way. It looks like the franchise was riding a wave of prosperity, and both the cast and Star Trek fans were excited at the prospect of Nimoy's great work on the series being continued as he passes the torch of Star-Trek-actor-becoming-director on to Shatner. Of course it is also then sad to look at this knowing know what a disaster that risk turned into. Poor Bill, so full of hope and optimism. This makes me wish he'd done better in his shot at directing. On a more positive note, Shatner's revelation of his pitch for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" is hilarious and leads to what I find to be a delightfully charming punchline by Ebert to end the article. Check it out here:
