Phase II: Blood and Fire Part 1 Released!! (SPOILERS)

[sithlord]

Got home 3 hours ago from seeing Duke Spirit at the Roxy (great live band, btw) and figured, "hey, I wonder if the fellas at Phase 2 have released Blood and Fire yet?"

Sure enough, they have and in download-able mp4s instead of streaming video for the time being! I just finished watching part 1 and the streak continues for the Phase 2 crew. A fascinating and compelling first half. Great FX, as always. The shots of the Copernicus and Enterprise in orbit of the solar streamer were sublime. Good acting (Scotty's much improved from WEAT and Ben Tolpin's a good Spock, if just a little too "intense" at times.)

SLIGHT SPOILER - The blood worms initially looked hokey, but Jesus, wait till you see them in "action!"

I'll refrain from final judgment after I see both parts, but I will mention my feelings concerning the "relationship" that will (unfortunately) generate some controversy from more conservative types. Based on the scenes in the episode, I have no problem believing Peter Kirk and Alex Freeman are in love with each other. Having only seen one half of the story, I'm not sure yet what point their relationship will serve the overall story, other than to just... be (although the preview for part 2 has a big whopping clue!) The way Kirk reacts to the news of Peter's relationship and the crew's reactions are what I would expect from the crew of the Enterprise.

But... it still feels a tiny touch... sensational. Even a tad explicit in one scene. That may just be my own personal prejudices, but while Peter's performance felt like a love sick twenty something, Alex kinda came off as a bit of a Lothario in their first scene together.

Portraying characters like this, one can't help but draw attention to their nature. The characters in the show may have grown beyond the failings of hetero-sexuals to accept/deal with homo-sexual themes and characters, but some (if not most) of the audience has not. That said, the Phase 2 producers have done a commendable job in tackling a subject that Gene Roddenberry was afraid to address.

I anxiously await part 2. Mr. Cawley, thank you for creating another hour of classic trek for this fan (and I'm sure a helluva lot of other fans) to enjoy!

 

[Tulin]

Sounds GREAT!

Very much looking forward to seeing it!

 

[Hudson_uk]

I don't think Gene was afraid to address it, I think the studio were.

 

[theARE]

Good episode - the quality keeps improving in every way.
The episode did suffer in being the first of a 2 parter in that it was less fulfilling than previous ones. But I'm sure when part 2 comes out and we're able to see the whole story together that will be rectified.

Really looking forward to Part2

 

[Pingfah]

Wow, that was really good. The quality of the performances, the direction, the lighting, the effects was all excellent.

I'm going to commit the ultimate heresy now and say that as someone who was not alive when TOS was airing, i'd rather watch this

 

[Adagio]

Great work! Every episode gets better. I can't wait for part 2.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I don't think Gene was afraid to address it, I think the studio were.

Both.

GR said one thing about these issues in public but really didn't follow through. If you want some sense of Roddenberry's participation in the "Blood And Fire" debacle read Engels' book "Gene Roddenberry: The Man And The Myth Behind Star Trek." His account was derived from eyewitnesses.

 

[Rat Boy]

Well, Santa Cawley delivered early this year. All right, I'll ask before anyone else does: what's the ETA on Part 2?

 

[TRP]

Well, Santa Cawley delivered early this year. All right, I'll ask before anyone else does: what's the ETA on Part 2?

its next year . . . 2009

 

[Rat Boy]

Well, Santa Cawley delivered early this year. All right, I'll ask before anyone else does: what's the ETA on Part 2?

its next year . . . 2009

That narrows it down a little.

Edit: Forgot to mention how funny the Sulu joke was. Didn't think in this of all episodes that they'd go there.

 

[Eric Cheung]

I believe Part II is in March.

 

[ALF]

Wow!! I just watched the embedded trailer and I'm downloading now.
I must say, the production values for this fan project are really impressive. I think they are really going to finish the "five year mission."
The music and SFX are great, too. There are some battle scenes in the trailer with a K'Tinga that looked very tight.
The new Spock seems very spot-on as well.
And Denise Crosby?? Classic.
Downloading this dandy for sure. Although perhaps some of that awesome stuff I mentioned is only in part 1...

EDIT: As a TNG fan, I've always wanted to see this episode... it's fascinating considering the circumstances. There's something liberating about a Trek series without any constraints whatsoever (and hearing Bones say, "God damned bloodworms!")

 

[Rat Boy]

I'll re-post what I said at Trekmovie:

While I didn’t mind the relationship between Peter and Alex, it felt a little awkward to watch the bedroom scene (though I was laughing hysterically at the Sulu joke). Maybe because the way it was shot, how they were behaving, and how little music there was in it made it feel sort of voyeuristic like you were actually in there in real life; even if it was a straight couple, I’d feel weird being in the same room while they were in bed together.

I also have to disagree with the notion that if Alex was female that it would lose any of the drama. Captain Kirk’s reaction to what Peter had to say has a bit of a layer of subtext to it after finding out his nephew wants to marry a man. How much did he really know about him? Did he even know he was gay? It speaks a lot about the relationship between Peter and his de facto father figure and I’m interested in seeing where this goes and perhaps if Peter is retained as a character beyond the second part.

All in all, an excellent entry into fan film pantheon and I look forward to the next episode. Heck, it almost makes me want to get off my lazy butt and dust off that fan film script I’ve been tinkering with.

 

[BillJ]

Meh.

Visuals were top notch as usual.

The story was yet again lacking. I'll level the same criticism here that I've leveled at JJ Abrams Star Trek: dry humping does not equal sexy. Whether it is guy on girl, guy on guy or girl on girl. Does no one know how to imply sex without the dry humping? I thought Jim Kirk was completely out-of-character at the beginning of Act IV, giving up on his landing party while there was still time.

I still have no idea how the Peter Kirk storyline ties in with the Regulan bloodworm story.

 

[dru]

if Peter is retained as a character beyond the second part.

Spoiler: this

As seen on the Phase II site, Bobby Rice is back in "The Child" as Peter Kirk; I don't know about Peter's fiance.

 

[USS Intrepid]

I also have to disagree with the notion that if Alex was female that it would lose any of the drama. Captain Kirk’s reaction to what Peter had to say has a bit of a layer of subtext to it after finding out his nephew wants to marry a man. How much did he really know about him? Did he even know he was gay? It speaks a lot about the relationship between Peter and his de facto father figure....

As someone who was there when that scene was shot, the impression I got from that exchange was that Kirk simply didn't know Peter was in a relationship at all. That the relationship was with another man, wasn't even on his mind. Which still carries the same implication as to how much Kirk knows about his own nephew.

 

[Maurice]

Okay I watched it. Here're my thoughts.

It's a par episode for the New Voyages/Phase II group. It's about on the same level as their other recent efforts, with the same plusses and minuses. In short, the acting is okay for a fan production, but not great. The story is a little weak and suffers from too much cutesyness for its own sake. The effects are good, but overdone. The lighting is too contrasy and there's not enough fill. The direction...well, I'll say that as a director David Gerrold is a good novelist and leave it at that.

Ben Toplin as the new Spock is better than the other Spocks they've had. He brings his own take to it, and makes it his own character. Naturally, he doesn't have the look of effortlessness Nimoy brought to the part, but few could. Andy Bray's Chekov remains the brightest spot in the cast. Charles Root's attempt at Scott's accent remains terrible, and it actually undermines his performance because it makes his line reads mushy. It's especially bad since Nick Cook's Hodel character has an authentic accent. John Kelley's McCoy need to take a sedative, as he plays in pissed mode too much (but, to be fair, it's how the part is written in this script). Patrick Bell's Xon is embarrassingly bad.

The gay relationship was well handled. It didn't come across as either exploitive or agenda laden. That said, the "relationship" scenes were written like fan fiction. The scenes were too long and the conversations too pat. I despise characters in the middle of desperate situations discussing their dating lives. It's unprofessional and tedious. I say this as a gay man who's happy to see gay characters finally represented as just plain folks on a Star Trek show. But no love scene on any Star Trek episode ever went as long as the one in Act One here. Tighten it up!

The severe damage to the Enterprise is to justify the upcoming refit to the Phase II version.

The lighting remains weak. Even on the Enterprise, the sets are criminally underlit. Too dark in most scenes. Too many cases where characters end up virtual silhouettes. *Ahem* fill light *ahem*

The editing is too loose. There's a lot of dead air in it. I kept thinking "cut" "cut!" at various points. The weak editing undercuts the drama.

The script is surprisingly clumsy for something with a pro writer on it. There are logical lapses throughout that make the Enterprise crew look, well, amateur. For instance, they arrive on the Copernicus and they know there's some containment field in place, yet when they find that the bridge is sealed, no one even discusses WHY the crew would have done this. They just decide to go in, without a compelling reason to do so. Excuse me, but if others in your service welded doors shut, and set up some big containment field elsewhere in the ship, you'd think thrice about opening these places without knowing what's on the other side. Then, the first body they see, what do they do? Walk on by. This includes the youthful Freeman, who, as a medic, gives it no more than a glance. Excuse me? The first body you see you ignore? Um, no, you'd stop and examine the body to figure out what the person died of. Why do they wait until they get to the bridge to figure out a body's drained of blood? Why? Why?

The story. Well, I can see where it's going. The sparkle dancers are the answer. The Klingons are there just to add a ticking clock to Act Two and ramp up the melodrama.

In general, it's a good effort, don't get me wrong, but it's too slow, and it feels like an hour story stretched out to a two-parter. Every scene plays out too long. There's no economy of words. Every scene should build the story; even character moments should service the theme and the plot. The sharp, fast pace of a good Trek episode is sadly lacking here. If it were, we wouldn't spend over one and a half minutes playing out a scene in the transporter room which should take 45 seconds.

So, in short: a good fanfilm, but still a fanfilm, warts and all.

 

[Trekwatcher]

I would like to download these segments in quicktime rather than watch them stream. Anyone know a link to do this?

 

[SeerSGB]

Watched it last night, first bit of New Voyages I've watch sense their "pilot" and frankly, totally unimpressed.

This was the big story that Gerrold has whined about wanting to make all these years? This is suppose to be the 'Trek story contrversal for the study to make? The story was unecen and flat. The "A" plot-- a parasite/disease that infects and horrdily kills a crew-- is nothing new for 'Trek and really doesn't stand out from any of those other episodes. The characters, especially Kirk and McCoy, were out of character; willing to give up to easy, and McCoy just comes off douchebag..

It was weak episode all around.

 

[Trekwatcher]

So far so good, IMHO. Very, very similar to the other NV offerings. As always, the use of other actors to play the classic cast does not work for me, but I have opined this before. I like the notion of the landing party being trapped on the doomed ship, andthe regulan bloodworms are appropriately dramatic. Nice homage to "The Doomsday Machine" with regards to the beamover scene (music, set, lights, etc). As always, the effects,costumes, and lighting are strong. The mixing of TOS and movie era elements is jarring, but I see what they are trying to accomplish.

Still looking to download and save these in quicktime or WMP, so if anyone knows a way or an appropriate site please post.