Finally sat down to watch this. I`d really like to like this series but there are just so many obstacles.
1) Why is this ship a Dreadnought? Apart from having a third nacelle, it behaves exactly like all other Constitution-class ships from every other other fan series. I did a quick search on what the Dreadnought ship series is and it seemed to only refer to Peter Weller`s ship from Star Trek Beyond, but it seemed to imply the Dreadnoughts were warships that were much larger than the Constitutions, require less crew, etc. But everything about this series since the first installment is the same as all others.
2) Twice in this 20 minute film they detour into this comedy bit with Lt. Piper and the redshirt with the non-military ponytail. And this bit goes nowhere, apart from this meta winking at the audience as they acknowledge 'yes, we know he shouldn`t have a ponytail if he`s in 1960s Starfleet'' But there`s ZERO payoff to this bit.
3) There are too many characters jockeying for screentime in this short film, and still none of them have ANY personality. They are all ''generic avatars idealized by the cast of fans''.
4) I`ve watched it twice now and apart from generic right-wing version of Star Trek, this episode is really about nothing I can perceive. And again with the standard go-to Star Trek antagonists, the Klingons or the Romulans...For God`s sake the universe is infinite, come up with new villains!! (At least the Starship Valiant crew did it right in one of their episodes and created a brand new alien race to spar with).
5) Again with outer space dogfights...Star Trek was also about other sci-fi tropes, like body horror (like in Miri and Operation: Annihilate), transmogrified humans, and predatory animals.
6) You should have seen my eyes rolling straight back up into my skull when the bridge officers start rambling a ton of technobabble...
7) Directing: I know this is done by amateurs, but come on!! At the 3 minute mark there is a lo-ooooooooong bridge shot where nothing moves until finally the charisma-less Captain enters by the turbo-lift. At least have an ensign with a clipboard walking from station to station to make this more dynamic. Or do a pan!! And the multiple closer shots on the mute communications officer as she signs her dialogue (she is facing towards the center seat) then cut to the Captain sitting on said seat, but the comm officer is turned away facing back at her console.
I want to enjoy this series since the creators obviously do, but using the ''we`re only fans so be gentle!'' defense will only work for so long before they need to step up. The Farragut and Valiant folks were also amateurs but theirs are still way more polished than this series...
