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Star Trek Phase II Enemy: Starfleet! Now Released!

Enjoyed this very much. Looking forward to the downloadable version so I can add it to my collection.

On a side note, I really liked the use of musical cues from The Invaders.

Is that what they were? I was thinking Outer Limits.
I'm fairly sure it was The Invaders. We watched the entire series on DVD last year, it's an old favourite of mine.

Now that would make a great subject for a fanfilm. But I digress. :)
 
Enjoyed this very much. Looking forward to the downloadable version so I can add it to my collection.

On a side note, I really liked the use of musical cues from The Invaders.

Is that what they were? I was thinking Outer Limits.
I'm fairly sure it was The Invaders. We watched the entire series on DVD last year, it's an old favourite of mine.

Now that would make a great subject for a fanfilm. But I digress. :)

Definitely 'The Invaders' - that sinister riff has been an ear worm since my childhood.

Wasn't there an Invaders fan film with Scott Bakula? <runs for cover>
 
The thing about The Invaders is that it utilized broad concepts that can - and have - been done again and again as "original content." That series has a lot of the same vibe, for example, as the original Invaders From Mars - paranoia, anxiety about identity, etc. Neither of them is all that far off from Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, either.

Did Trek TOS ever do a "pod people" episode? TNG did a great one - "Conspiracy." "Operation - Annihilate" doesn't count, and I can't think of another that does.
 
I liked the episode overall, but one of the things that constantly brings me out of it feeling like a real episode of the series and screeching to a halt as yet another fan film are the seemingly constant references to things that happened after the original series.

From my understanding, the timeline of these episodes are the 4th and 5th seasons of the original series up until TMP, right? Must we see countless references to things that come after this episode?

I was going to go into detail, but I wouldn't want to spoil any plot points for people that haven;t watched it yet... but think of it this way: If Kirk and co. have already encountered these things and said some of the same exact lines some 2-3 years earlier, what on Earth would be the drama in their reactions to the exact same things in TMP. TWOK, etc.?

And on another note, I think it's a little jarring to hear references to present (21st century) technology in the 23rd century (that was supposedly filmed in the 1960s, no less). I'm obviously not a purist by any means, but doesn't it make more sense to make a more abstract explanation like they did in TOS than to ground it in 2011? How dated would Enterprise sound if suddenly they started talking about myspace -- just because it was then current?

And I use that example just because I wanted to not spoil the superb plot you guys out together. I'd just like to see the scripts advance as much as the rest of the production has.
 
I had some problems with the story, as usual, but would like to say that Paul Seiber did a really nice job. Loved his costume as well! Overall, I found the villain to be a bit unbelievable in her role, and I find myself hating Peter Kirk. The dude is such a drama queen; it's as though he's a junior high school student, not a Starfleet officer. And the hair really bothers me! LOL Overall, I think this one may rate only a C+ or a B-, but I'll have to see it a few more times to be sure.

Note: The Invader theme was really chillingly used.
 
>>And on another note, I think it's a little jarring to hear references to present (21st century) technology in the 23rd century (that was supposedly filmed in the 1960s, no less). I'm obviously not a purist by any means, but doesn't it make more sense to make a more abstract explanation like they did in TOS than to ground it in 2011? How dated would Enterprise sound if suddenly they started talking about myspace -- just because it was then current?<<

Without spoiling it for those that ain't seen it, what are you referring to? I seen it BTW.
 
I don't think there are actually countless references in our episodes to things that take place after the original series; I think you can probably count them pretty easily. (We make sure not to put in very damn many.)

One of the problems with the The Motion Picture is that it had different costumes, different sets, different make-up, different props, different music, different--well--everything. What was annoying to a lot of Star Trek fans was the silly notion that everything in the entire universe was all "TOS" through the three seasons (through the years 2266-2268, if you will) and up through all the years between TOS and TMP and then all of a sudden, in December of the year 2279, the Federation and the entire universe looked different when the new Star Trek art direction "snapped on."

The conceit of our Phase II series is that there is actually a bit of a continuum between the look of 2268 and 2279. We are trying to build a bridge between the two looks to make the change in the universe less abrupt. So, for example, some people might think that there were no Deltans anywhere in Starfleet up until we finally became aware of their existence in TMP. We take the approach that the universe didn't actually change overnight.

And, of course, for every person who says "Why are you constantly making references to stuff that manifests itself in the future of Star Trek?," there's someone who says "Geez Louise, why are you so fixated on the old TOS show? Can't you please make reference at least once in while to something that we know is going to happen? I mean, it's not like Stafleet built an entire fleet of those little yellow one-man workbee repair craft the day before TMP happened. They had to have been around for some period of time before TMP, didn't they?"

So, Phase II tries to expose the viewer to all the things that are changing throughout the galaxy during this time--rather than having no reference to anything other than TOS and then all of a sudden, in December of 2279 have everyone look around when they wake up one morning and say "WTF? What just happened? How did the look of the entire universe change over night?"



I liked the episode overall, but one of the things that constantly brings me out of it feeling like a real episode of the series and screeching to a halt as yet another fan film are the seemingly constant references to things that happened after the original series.

From my understanding, the timeline of these episodes are the 4th and 5th seasons of the original series up until TMP, right? Must we see countless references to things that come after this episode?

I was going to go into detail, but I wouldn't want to spoil any plot points for people that haven;t watched it yet... but think of it this way: If Kirk and co. have already encountered these things and said some of the same exact lines some 2-3 years earlier, what on Earth would be the drama in their reactions to the exact same things in TMP. TWOK, etc.?

And on another note, I think it's a little jarring to hear references to present (21st century) technology in the 23rd century (that was supposedly filmed in the 1960s, no less). I'm obviously not a purist by any means, but doesn't it make more sense to make a more abstract explanation like they did in TOS than to ground it in 2011? How dated would Enterprise sound if suddenly they started talking about myspace -- just because it was then current?

And I use that example just because I wanted to not spoil the superb plot you guys out together. I'd just like to see the scripts advance as much as the rest of the production has.
 
I think the gradual change is the only way to approach the changes. I think what might be important to note that the look of TOS is actually some 30 to 40 years older than the 2260's. Systems and technology that appears to be in place by TMP would and should already have been in development 10 to 20 years before the 2270's. There would likely be a number of new ship technologies being tested an brought online in that period. Ships being repaired and refitted would begin to feature these new systems. There would and should be a number of Constitution or Starship class ships appear cosmetically like steps in between TOS and TMP. There would possibly be some TNG style ships already going into service.

If you look at TOS like a future historical time period like say the 1940's this make sense. In 1940's we had the P-51 mustang. During the last few years of the war, Germany had already made the jump to jet aircraft. While those planes were too little too late for the Nazis, those very same aircraft were the standard in a few years. The pressure suit that pilots now wear came into use. While this a bit simplistic, I think it illustrates the changes of just a few years in the late 40's and early 50's. This is not too dissimilar from Trek.

Consider the uniform changes. Cammo has changed dramatically in the last ten years and several times over the last 40.
 
Gradual changes are the most realistic approach and if you look at things like Scotty's protective suit or phaser rifles without those exposed coils you'll see they're already starting in that direction.

It's the small details which make all the difference.
Supplies arriving to the ship are of a more modern type, damaged/outdated pieces of equipment are replaced with newer ones from those supplies (e.g. smaller & lighter, more subdued colors, ...).
 
>>And on another note, I think it's a little jarring to hear references to present (21st century) technology in the 23rd century (that was supposedly filmed in the 1960s, no less). I'm obviously not a purist by any means, but doesn't it make more sense to make a more abstract explanation like they did in TOS than to ground it in 2011? How dated would Enterprise sound if suddenly they started talking about myspace -- just because it was then current?<<

Without spoiling it for those that ain't seen it, what are you referring to? I seen it BTW.

If he means the dialog at timecode 12:18 or there abouts, the reason that's there is because if it were not, people would have said, "hey, why didn't he think of that like he does later?" ;) A catch 22. I could have ignored the possibility, but remember when you see that later in Star Trek, the only person surprised at the maneuver is inexperienced. This does two things: shows us Kirk always had that up his sleeve, and that Alersa, who'd had Eagle for 8 years, was a pretty smart cookie herself.

If he's talking about timecode 42:15--it's a joke. I don't know about you, but I constantly goof on my friends for past mishaps. (I still remind Greg Brodeur when we put a kill switch into a friend's car at his request, and Greg accidentally wired it to the turn signal so that whenever he signaled a left turn, the car shut off.)

I can't think of any other references other than timecode 36:20, but that's setup for Kirk not thinking they'd ever do that later, since in his mind it didn't work as more than a one-time thing at high cost.
 
I enjoyed the writing quite a bit, though I could do with less of Chekov and, as others have noted, Peter Kirk. Luna was great, but I liked that the story and plot would have worked with or without the casting of a particular actor. And Paul was, of course, awesome; he has the most genuinely affecting emotional moment in the show.
 
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Re: Star Trek Phase II Enemy: Starfl. eet! Now Released!

One of the problems with the The Motion Picture is that it had different costumes, different sets, different make-up, different props, different music, different--well--everything. What was annoying to a lot of Star Trek fans was the silly notion that everything in the entire universe was all "TOS" through the three seasons (through the years 2266-2268, if you will) and up through all the years between TOS and TMP and then all of a sudden, in December of the year 2279, the Federation and the entire universe looked different when the new Star Trek art direction "snapped on."

I always just figured that the Enterprise and the bases that were visited were on the edge of the frontier and would be the last to see fashion and tech changes. Never once thought that the universe magically changed in 2279.

Mike Barr and Dan Jurgens briefly touch upon this in Star Trek Annual #2. :techman:

By the by... hated the new phaser rifle.
 
Re: Star Trek Phase II Enemy: Starfl. eet! Now Released!

By the by... hated the new phaser rifle.

"Hated the new phaser rifle."

"Loved the cool new phaser rifle!"

You Star Trek fans really need to get your stories straight and get on the same page. ;)

(P.S. The rifle is not new: this is now the third Phase II epsiode in which we've seen it.)
 
Re: Star Trek Phase II Enemy: Starfl. eet! Now Released!

By the by... hated the new phaser rifle.

"Hated the new phaser rifle."

"Loved the cool new phaser rifle!"

You Star Trek fans really need to get your stories straight and get on the same page. ;)

(P.S. The rifle is not new: this is now the third Phase II epsiode in which we've seen it.)

Okay... hated the 'new-old' (hey, it was new to me) phaser rifle. :p
 
I think my absolute favorite scene was the brief exchange between Sulu and Chekov. I almost spewed coffee all over my monitor at work.
 
Very good episode. I agree with the guy that said the Peter Kirk scenes just don't seem to work. They didn't work in the 2 parter, they really don't work here either. Also for some reason I just didn't buy Luna as the villain that well, maybe that's just me. But it didn't hurt the episode that much Very well paced episode though. Probably not quite as good as the one with Sulu but it's definitely near the top of my favorite STNV/P2 eps so far.

I had the opposite experience from yours. Luna was great and the Peter character was probably the best here that he has ever been since his intro. Great work guys-stupendous.
 
I dig the Farragut phaser. I always felt that the rifle we are used to was actually from Pike's era and it was phased out shortly after WNMHGB.
 
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