Trekkies 2

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the original, but OK
Review: Denise Crosby travels the globe & visits other Trek fans. Also, she checks up on the people from the original "Trekkies" movie. Not too many Trek celebrities this time. That's the downer. Hopefully, in "Trekkies III", they show clips from James Doohan's retirement gala.

Rating:
Summary: I liked the 1st better
Review: I had been so anticipating this film for years, since having seen the first but I did feel a little dissatisfied. First, this film was obviously shot on video as opposed to the first film on reel. It just gave the whole viewing experience a cheapened quality. Also they spent far too much time on the Trek bands. It was fun for the first 5 minutes (and I loved the filkers) but showing the punk bands seemed far too long and drawn out. Positive points have to be awarded for showing fans from across the globe. Seeing a Klingon on a Vespa was enthralling! I also loved how they went back to some of the participants from the first film. Gabe Koerner and his dad were hilarious and also great to see Darryl Frezetti still dressing cats up as McCoy, but the true star of this film is... Commodore Barbara Adams! That's right! The commanding officer of the U.S.S. Artemis is back and with a rise in rank! She still spends her off-duty time working at Sir Speedy, but we also get to see her briefed on 'AUK' the E.T. from her ship's counselor and see her participate in a heated arguement over which is better, Trek or Star Wars? Hopefully by the third film she will be promoted to full-on Admiral!

Rating:
Summary: Lifestyles of the rich and Denise Crosby
Review: I managed to find myself in the weekend posession of a screener copy (fully, 100% legal and bound to be surrendered back to Paramount upon request) and found the film a bit loggy in points, but overall fairly delightful. Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar) hasn't exactly aged in her post-Trek years as, say, Jean Luc -- she's more of a Shatner and the somewhat lofi production values may have cost her a bit more flattering camerawork.

By and large, she's still built like a brick outhouse and does lend a pleasant air to the production, though she is perhaps not the best person to send to interview people who are determined to answer her questions in whatever local moon language they speak. The damned screener thoughtfully reminded us during these moments that this copy was the property of Paramount and seven kinds of restricted, including restricted captioning, apparently.

Pay the full price, kiddies and I'm sure they'll throw in the translations for free. Fortunately I speak Italian and the Trekkies are nothing if not textbook perfect on their pronounciation. I felt like I was back in class again.

Some parts just seem like endless repetition to show Crosby going through someplace interesting and for the most part is a throwaway travlogue. Extra bonus goodness can be found in the Sacramento (local bial), Bakersfield and Serbia(?--I forget exactly) locales. I swore the young man with all the architectural drawings was going to seduce Denise right there in front of his mom and who knows what happened after the camera stopped rolling.

I missed the local show here were Stovokor played and damn if I don't want to drive up to Portland and catch a show after seeing them on the tape. The lead singer is reportedly 6'7 or 6'9 or something and -massive-. The band about the most hilariously good-natured group you have ever seen and are clearly into it. Were the Klingons -actually- have a band, it would -really- be Stovokor.

True fans will be dissapointed that Crosby does not either get spanked nor find herself in a state of poolside undress, though two Brazillian goddesses do.

Good times, 3.5 stars out of five with rounding for a free copy. I hear there's going to be a soundtrack out soon, I recommend as a must-buy.

Rating:
Summary: More balanced than the original
Review: In 1997 the movie "Trekkies" caused outrage among many fans that felt that the film put too much emphasis on `extreme' fans to the detriment of all Star Trek fans. "Trekkies 2" provides a broader and more balanced look at fandom and it's lots of fun to watch. Sure the film introduces us to even more people who had me shaking my head in wonder but it also provides a fascinating look at the multicultural diversity within Star Trek fandom as the filmmakers travel around the world.

"Trekkies" focused on fans in the United States but as you watch "Trekkies 2" you get to globetrot with the filmmakers as they film at conventions in Europe, South America and Australia. The United States isn't neglected though and one of the things that director Roger Nygard choose to do is to revisit some memorable characters from "Trekkies" and see not only what they currently up to, but how appearing in "Trekkies" affected their lives. The memorable Gabriel Koerner, who is now in his early twenties with a wife and a successful career as a special effects modeler, took a lot of grief for his appearance but you can't help but admire his confidence. (Koerner did the opening graphics for the film.) `The Commander', Barbara Adams is back as well.

One of the most amusing segments is the chapter on Star Trek themed bands whose music will be featured on the upcoming "Trekkies 2" soundtrack CD (due out Oct. 5th). Those bands are just as diverse as the fans themselves and play different styles of music but the one thing they all have in common is that they don't take themselves too seriously.

Among the actors who comment on fandom in "Trekkies 2" are Nana Visitor, Cirroc Lofton and Casey Biggs from Deep Space Nine. Ethan Phillips is the lone Voyager regular but the cast of Enterprise is well represented with Vaughn Armstrong, Dominic Keating, John Billingsley and Connor Trinneer.

This film has a much sleeker look than it's predecessor and the special features include almost an hour of deleted footage. Too bad some of this wasn't included instead of all the fan film stuff, my one grumble with this film was that it has too much about fan films. There is also an optional commentary track that features director Roger Nygard, Denise Crosby and producer Michael Leahy.

"Trekkies 2" is so fun and entertaining to watch because of the quirky and interesting personalities and individuals it allows us to meet. It's a shame that the more extreme is what some people will focus on and remember but that isn't what really stood out for me. What did stand out was the theme of acceptance and hope that those interviewed projected so well. One fans comments about Star Trek fans being like a big family sums it up perfectly, "Every family has the nutty Uncle you know. We just have a few more."


Rating:
Summary: Wow!!
Review: Round 2. If you loved the first one, then you'll more than love this one. It's even better than the first because everyone in it has seen the first movie. Plus, this one shows fans from around the world, and not all of the fans are nerds. The two sisters from Brazil are impressive. Anyway, buy this film, no questions asked. You will not be disappointed. It's absolutely magnificent.

Rating:
Summary: Some serious obsession here....
Review: You have to hand it to the Trekkies....they love their Star Trek. They love it to the point of obsession, as in the case of the lady in Arkansas who goes to court in her uniform! This movie was good, but not as hilarious as the first outing. I do like how they showed Trekkies from all over the world though. It gives one a good sense of just how large the phenomenon is. Denise Crosby is great as the host too....she's just weird enough to be very entertaining. This is definitely great cheesy entertainment. Watch it...love it...live long and prosper!

Rating:
Summary: Who's On This DVD?
Review: You may want to decide whether to buy this, or buy it used, or find it at some library or convention based on who is featured on this DVD.

Keep in mind that they taped or filmed twenty minutes to an hour or more of each of these people and used a few sound bytes scattered here and there to make their point, not our points. The really interesting things (to veteran Trekfen) got cut out. I know because I am one of those interviewees and I remember what I said.

trekkies2.com gives the lists of all the fen whose interviews were used, but here below I'm listing what that website calls "stars" because they're shown more than once. You should go look at the huge list of fen from around the world before deciding not to buy this.

STARRING

Vaughn Armstrong
Richard Arnold
Robert Meyer Burnett
Casey Biggs
John Billingsley
Brannon Braga
Lolita Fatjo
Leslie Fish
Michael Forest
David A. Goodman
Richard Herd
Dominic Keating
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Cirroc Lofton
Phil Morris
Ethan Phillips
Tracey Scoggins
Connor Trinneer
Nana Visitor
Joanie Winston
Ben Yalow

Among the names you might not recognize are

Leslie Fish -- famed Trek fanzine author and even more famous for her filk singing. This is one absolutely amazing woman and you really have to see her on this DVD.

Jacqueline Lichtenberg -- (me) author of Star Trek Lives!, founder of the Star Trek Welcommittee and creator of the ST fanzine universe called Kraith (now online) as well as a prof. sf/f writer. Put my name into amazon search or google.

Joanie Winston was a contributor to Star Trek Lives! with a chapter on the first Star Trek Convention in New York that started all this. She went on to write a whole book -- The Making Of The Trek Conventions: Or, How To Throw A Party For 12,000 Of Your Most Intimate Friends by Joan Winston. And she edited Star Toons -- Trek cartoons -- and has some other book credits.

Ben Yalow has been involved in running cons since I've known him -- and he is still active in sf fandom. This is a man who was and is one of the primary movers and shakers in fandom and we all owe him a debt of gratitude.

This DVD is worth owning (no, I don't get a percentage of the sales!) simply to have the living faces of fandom as of 2003.

Let's see how many of us are still Trekkin in 2013!

Live Long and Prosper,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
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