Fan-Editing a pre-Endshame ending to the series?

[Gaith]

Hello all,

Some time ago, I had a vague idea to do a fan edit of Endgame that would make the story less egregious - something to the effect of having Older Janeway's future be Borg-overrun and bleak, thereby making an extreme circumstances case for her screwing with the timeline. This would require the use of a title crawl similar to "Caretaker's", and the removal of all future scenes, but I ultimately realized that what with the nonsense of the Borg highway straight to Earth preserved, it just wasn't worth saving.

Since then, I've been wondering if footage from the show could be used to make Voyager get back to Earth sooner. I guess the most obvious tack to take would be Timeless, and have Future Harry's new calculations bring them all the way to 001, but maybe there are better potential moments (maybe taken from these eps) that I haven't considered? Also please point out any and all shots that might serve as a fade-out, since Endgame's return-to-Earth shots might not be usable.

 

[froot]

I once made an attempt to do a fake movie trailer as my personal "Endgame" replacement. It wasn't really a remake of the episode, though, just more my own little story.

I think it could be POSSIBLE to fudge up a new ending with help from programs like After Effects and so forth, but you might have a hard time with the dialogue, of all things. It's certainly crossed my mind, though. Messing with existing footage and/or trying to build new footage is definitely a fun challenge, IMO.

"The Gift" has a cool hyper-speed shot, but using the quantum slipstream drive as seen in "Timeless" and "Hope and Fear" might be a good starting point, like you said. There's also offhand dialogue in "Course: Oblivion" about a modified warp core that will get them home in two years. "Bliss" shows Earth on Voyager's viewscreen, and "Pathfinder" has a nice zoom-in shot of Earth you could use as a background. Maybe composite a ship over the top?

With a little clever masking or your own CG, you might be able to fudge up your own final shot that would look the way you want.

 

[Gaith]

Cool, thanks for the ideas. Didn't Q at one point show Janeway Earth, albeit only outside her quarter's windows? Also, for a fade-out shot of Voyager near Earth, there must be some random shots of the ship in orbit around an M-Class planet that could fit.

As for making a coherent narrative, then, it seems as though the choices are "The Gift" and "Timeless". I'll have to revisit the former to see how good it is; I only saw it once when it aired, but it does have an advantage over "Timeless" in that it doesn't star the cast's two weak links, and the Kes focus might make a nice bookend to "Caretaker"...

 

[BillJ]

You could always re-use footage and recast the voices. I'm sure there's an eighty year old smoker on the board who could do Janeway justice.

 

[Gaith]

Har, har. Anyone? Was I imagining that scene in which Q brought 'em home for a moment, or was it just a vision, or... ?

 

[Kadratis]

Do you mean the scene from Deathwish?

I think it was just an optical illusion Q used to tease Janeway. But there are some Earth orbit scenes from Future's End (Part I & II) if you need something like that.

 

[Gaith]

^ Aye, that's it! Thanks for the tips.

 

[number6]

Endgame was fine as a finale the way it was. I don't really get all the hate for this episode.

 

[froot]

I think those of us that do hate it are just really loud about it.

I know I am.

 

[RyuRoots]

Endgame was fine as a finale the way it was. I don't really get all the hate for this episode.

If you've ever read a single thread about the episode in this forum, then you should have plenty of perspective on that. It's a pitiful excuse of a finale, only outdone by These Are The Voyages. The Undiscovered Country, All Good Things..., and What You Leave Behind were all great. Dunno what the hell happened with the last two.

 

[number6]

Endgame was fine as a finale the way it was. I don't really get all the hate for this episode.

If you've ever read a single thread about the episode in this forum, then you should have plenty of perspective on that. It's a pitiful excuse of a finale, only outdone by These Are The Voyages. The Undiscovered Country, All Good Things..., and What You Leave Behind were all great. Dunno what the hell happened with the last two.

I have yet to actually see a cogent, rational discussion of the matter.

 

[Gaith]

Endgame was fine as a finale the way it was. I don't really get all the hate for this episode... I have yet to actually see a cogent, rational discussion of the matter.

Here and here. Done.

 

[number6]

Endgame was fine as a finale the way it was. I don't really get all the hate for this episode... I have yet to actually see a cogent, rational discussion of the matter.

Here and here. Done.

That's the best you've got?? Michelle Erica Green and some hyperventilating sweaty basement blogger??

Yeah.. get back to me on that one.

 

[froot]

I have little love for "Endgame," but Michelle Erica Green was kinda famous for her VOY venom, lol. There were also some very generous reviews of the episode.

In my case, I wasn't keen on the Chakotay/7 pairing and the fact that we didn't get to see some of the aftermath of their arrival.

My mother mentioned that "Endgame" was like baking a cake and then not getting to eat the cake.

That said, I'd be curious to see this fan-made ending.

 

[Gaith]

This ain't a thread for debating the merits of Endgame. You want to do that, read one of the old threads or start a new one.

 

[Gaith]

This ain't a thread for debating the merits of Endgame. You want to do that, read one of the old threads or start a new one.

 

[number6]

I'm not debating the merits of it, but one would be pretty hard pressed to find a cogent, rational, sane argument about what exactly is so "bad" about Endgame.

 

[Blip]

I think this is fairly rational: Endgame was an ill-conceived attempt at rehashing a premise already used successfully elsewhere - that of time travel, within a landmark episode, flipping between multiple timeframes (eg, All Good Things, Timeless, etc).

This smacks of ignorance at best, and utter laziness at worst.

It seems to me number6 that you just refuse to be swayed on your opinion. It's your right of course, but Gaith has already stated he has a different purpose for this thread.

Personally Gaith, I'd have brought them back at Timeless and been done with it. That way they wouldn't have continued to over-expose the fanbase, and possibly have left them wanting more.

 

[number6]

I don't refuse to be swayed at all. How was Endgame an ill-conceived attempt?
How is the decision ignorant or lazy?
They brought in a way to deal a threatening blow to the Borg, they showed what lives they would have led once home, they showed the how Janeway ultimately dealt with her guilt for having stranded her crew there. It's not about getting home. It's about the journey. That was the point of the episode.

My issue with people who didn't like the episode is they don't quantify their argument with how or why they thought it sucked. It sucked because it was stupid. It sucked because the writers were lazy and wanted to give a middle finger to the fans..It sucked because the writers were ignorant and so on. No one knows that any of this is true, just a lot of supposition based on what people think they should have done and some of those ideas are even more ill conceived than what we got.

And you know what? It is my right to have my opinion as much as you are allowed yours. The "proof" that Gaith posted is hardly cogent or rational...this coming from someone who is a member of a SW prequel rejection society?? Puh-lease.. I am sure there is no bias there either.. A blog with someone hyperventilating over what the writers should have done and how talentless and clueless they are isn't going to sway me to their side. Bile is not fact..Merely opinion and a completely unsubstantiated one at that..

Go ahead and have your thread.. I just don't think Endgame was such a horrible thing is all.

 

[RyuRoots]

A lot of people have made their arguments for why it sucks in old threads already. And the two links that Gaith sent earlier in the thread cover a lot of reasons why.