Star Trek: Renegades (2015–2017) User Reviews

Terrible terrible movie, but don't stop trying.

[fjmsoftware · 4/10 · 16 August 2015]

First off, I'm a backer and I would donate again to see a Star Trek movie made with recognizable Star Trek actors, in the hope that it will spark a good series and revive the franchise (and wrest it back from the hands of Jar-Jar Abrams).

But on to the movie itself:

The aspect that I already knew not to expect much from was production value, as this was a low- budget crowdfunded project. Surprisingly, this is where the movie made a good impression: I fully expected the set and prop quality to be pretty much like it turned out, but I didn't expect a bad-ass Borg hand-cannon animation. That was really good (though the damage done with that cannon in the actual fights was close to nonexistent).

But the aspects I had the most hope for and that this whole project hinged on, really - the script and the dialogues - were really abysmal. The whole thing, from start to finish, felt and sounded like something written by a high-schooler with distant dreams of going to college to study film and maybe, just maybe, become a passable screenwriter or director one day. The over- the-top lines trying to sound dramatic or deep or bad-ass, the perfectly ignorable intrigue, the ridiculous hand-to-hand combat, the ridiculous character development (direct, blatant and boring descriptions of their past), the ridiculous poem-and- flashback stuff... this movie was so boring I walked away from it to do other stuff around the house about 4 times until I finished it.

For the love of all that is Star Trek, please bring in someone who can write and direct next time you try something like this (Tim Russ, by the way, could've stayed behind the camera for all the impact his character had - he barely said anything during the whole thing, he could've easily been mistaken for Chekhov's Imaginary Friend That Only States the Obvious).

And also, since this is a Star Trek review, I feel compelled to add a reminder - because way too many people seem to have easily forgotten - of what true Star Trek is about: "Space -- the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before."

Not war, not spaceships shooting lasers and photon torpedoes at each other, not political intrigue, not special commando teams doing "dirty work" nobody else can or will do, none of this is the essence of Star Trek. These kinds of things can be done under any other random sci-fi title one could come up with. No, Star Trek is about new worlds and new civilizations and about a ship exploring uncharted regions of the universe. That's why they called it a "trek". That's what needs to be brought back to life, not just the "Star Trek" brand name and superficial visual style.

don't give up, please keep trying

[backstage-12360 · 4/10 · 24 August 2015]

So a crowd funded project has created a possible new Star Trek series called Star Trek Renegades. I'm a big fan of star trek so naturally wish them the best.

The quality of acting varied significantly. The use of close ups to hide what i'm sure were barren sets became quite apparent after a while. However their flaws and limitations to their production quality is something i'm sure they were all well aware of and therefore don't need every little detail to be pointed out. However considering that the web series pilot for Battlestar Galactica Blood and Chrome cost 2 million, what these folks accomplished with just $375k is an accomplishment unto itself and they should be congratulated for that.

But the show's inexcusable problems all begin and end with the script. The show lacks any meaningful character development. Am I supposed to be heart broken when an irrelevant character with two lines has died? I'm not sure and the story hasn't given me many clues. The show lacks all humour whatsoever. Light humour, camaraderie and banter is as essential an ingredient to star trek as phasers and vulcan neck pinches. Everyone needs to lighten up.

And finally, each star trek series has to inevitably focus on the elements that will separate them from the others then demonstrate those differences, and I don't think this quite did that, though they seemed to be trying. The differences should be made apparent enough that I don't have to go looking for them. What makes this space craft different and unique from the others? Is it faster? Does have some intrinsic value?

Prove to me in every way possible that this captain isn't going to be anything like anything we haven't already seen. So far she appears to have a chip on her shoulder and can fight an alien twice her size with ease, though I found that difficult to accept. However I was never sold on her ability to captain a vessel or to lead a team. Is she clever? Is she good at her job? I can't tell. I can't imagine why this crew is devoted to her. They don't appear to care about anything. Frankly I'd rather follow the borg into battle than to follow her.

The only character I had any sympathy for was icheb and even there they did the tragic amateur mistake of "telling" not "showing". At least he had a story to tell which was more than anyone else did.

But I shouldn't be too hard on them. They did an impressive job with such little resources. The core idea gave us a rag tag intimate crew like Firefly in the Star Trek universe, and has some strong potential. I hope this is a proof of concept for what could be a decent program if given a proper budget and a better script.

seriously flawed but with potential (very minor spoilers)

[a666333 · 5/10 · 9 June 2016]

Where to start on this? Given its shortcomings, one wonders why it is getting attention. That is easy to explain. There are several generations of people who have been brought up on one version of Star Trek or another. There is definite interest in another TV series based on it. This is exacerbated by the huge shortcomings of the recent Star Trek movies which tore the established time line, characters and precepts apart and have lowered, yes lowered, the franchise to the level of the usual overwrought, adrenalin rush, commercially obsessed material that has pushed plot and idea oriented movies far to the periphery. As a result, there are a lot of people who want Star trek: Renegades to work.

The production obviously suffers from a low budget especially in comparison to the fully funded large studio Star Trek productions. The sound, in particular, is really quite bad. But it is not just a lack of budget. The production crew seems to be learning on the job with camera, costumes, lighting, CG, writing, the whole thing. There is a brew of clichés and lack of skill/time going on. That could improve with further efforts but there is a long way to go.

In terms of basic themes and ideas, again, there is potential but problems as well. We have a diverse crew of misfits being used as a covert operations force. Furthermore, there are people who are out to get them. This provides a huge stream future story ideas. It is a unfortunate that the pilot used an specific idea that is very tired and old in the nature of the threat, the inability of the establishment to deal with it and the techno-babble/quasi-magic solution. Nonetheless, it used that idea to effectively introduce a large number of characters which is a prime purpose of a pilot.

That brings us to the acting and the characters. This is very uneven. One hopes it could be sorted out. There is room for both hope and pessimism.

Here is a rundown of some of them.

Chekov - a useful link to the past.

Chekov's great grand-daughter - a weak character that could evolve into an interesting sub-plot but needs to be handled extremely carefully. A wimpy cadet who has a foot in the door to the highest levels of Star Fleet Intelligence could be a disaster. This could be another Wesley Crusher but worse. When in doubt, leave her out.

Tuvok - another useful link. He didn't have much material but he did fine with it.

Lexxa Singh - This is a major character and as things stand now, a train wreck and thus a serious liability for the whole concept. There was not a single thing about this character that was believably delivered. I don't want to dwell on it too much or blame the actress as the concept is flawed from the start. She came across as a semi-emaciated addict who somehow is supposed to be a fierce renegade with strength, leadership, etc, etc. Not buying it for a second. I'd start with changing the costume and make-up and seriously reworking her lines and delivery. Perhaps it can be salvaged but it is not just a matter of minor changes.

Alvarez - This character is very useful as a good guy who is not in the loop and can both bump heads with the main bunch and alternatively work with them. Furthermore, Corin Nemec did well with the material he had. Why they gave him a name like Alvarez is beyond me as he doesn't look like an Alvarez at all.

Lucien - Sean Young looked very uncertain of herself in this role. I am not sure why she wanted to do it. Over time and with better material, she should grow into it. The character is potentially fine. They just need to keep her technical stuff more realistic.

Zimmerman - Robert Picardo can effectively deliver this character in his sleep but there is not much for him to do and I am not sure why he is there.

Ragnar - Not great material to work with but Gary Graham had good presence and one can have confidence in him.

Icheb - another return from a previous series. This is an interesting character although with too many Borg related abilities. Acted well enough given the material.

Ronara - this one needs development but by no means a lost cause. The head shaking with the mental abilities could be portrayed better. Otherwise, she seemed to be the eye candy (no problems there!) and a few fill-in lines.

Fixer - another one that needs development but could work out fine.

The Breen - Interesting but did not do much. There is a LOT of potential there but they have to stay out of the trap of making him a continuous running joke.

The rest of the potentially returning cast had not much to do, were not paid much if at all and it seemed to show.

Because of some of the people involved, the way it is being funded and the effort made on a low budget, the next "episode" of ST:Renegades will be viewed with a good bit of sympathy and again be given the benefit of the doubt by a lot of people. On the other hand, the chances of a major studio picking this up are slight. If one did, the egos involved would rework it and replace many of the people involved and the result would be hardly recognizable. In many ways that would be good but I am sure the studios already have their own ST ideas and if they were thinking of going with a new series, they would follow up on those.

Terrible, embarrassing and not worthy of the name Star Trek

[dutchrig · 1/10 · 23 August 2015]

I will watch most anything related to Star Trek, so yes I'm a fan. However, this movie should never have been made. Why?

First, Acting: Of the entire cast, only Tim Russ seemed to realize he was acting and delivered his usual Tuvok performance. The other actors? Imagine a group of high school students practicing their lines in an empty hallway before the start of theater class . . . and there you have it. Think, wooden, emotionless, lines/humor that fall completely flat, no connection between the characters, etc. Walter Koenig and Corin Nemic were particularly bad, considering their potential. The main character, Adrienne Wilkinson? She has the look of a meth head stripper. I sure hope the actors donated their time (certainly wasn't their talent) because if they were paid, someone got ripped off.

Second, CGI: On the whole, the CGI was amateurish at best. I've seen better effects in other fan fiction movies of the Star Trek canon. During a couple of the scenes, I laughed out loud!

Third, Musical Score: There was a total disconnection between the score and what was happening on screen. Music should add to the experience of watching a movie--either in a subtle fashion or overt. The musical score of this movie was nothing but a distraction, as in, "Why are they playing that now?"

Net: This movie had potential, With improved CGI and music, and above all, acting, this could have been the start of something worth watching. As it stands now, it is a total waste of 88 minutes. As a contrast, watch James Cawley's Star Trek-New Voyages, and you can get a sense of what fan-funded Star Trek movies can be.

A sad effort, wooden acting, disassociated plot elements

[yitzi · 2/10 · 24 August 2015]

Pretty much like a 2nd rate SyFy Channel made for TV movie, with better CGI effects. Really glad that I did not pay money to see this! Made my popcorn go stale before it was half over. Most of the lines in this hack must have been read from chalkboards just over the shoulder of the person with his or her back to the camera. So much jumpiness in the plot that it seemed as if the bits of the film had been cut to the floor while editing, then swept up with a hoover and reassembled by kids in the daycare around the corner.

Nice to see a few of the old Star Trek faces but what the hell is the assassin guy from the original star wars doing in this movie? You know the guy with the metal helmet that looks like it's long enough to enclose a horse's nose. Oh well, I guess it must have been another bit of film swept up from the cutting floor, just from the wrong movie.

Did anyone read the script first?

[glenister_m · 3/10 · 23 August 2015]

What an amateurish piece of crap. The plot, what there was of it, made no sense, there was no tension in any of the 'dramatic' scenes, the action scenes were boring, and you didn't care about any of the characters - particularly the ones they obviously wanted you to care about.

This appears to be a bad pilot, for what will inevitably be a disappointing series - unless they get better writers and directors. I can only assume the major actors didn't read the script first, or if they did, that they really needed the money. Judging by the special effects, they had some money to spend, but didn't spend it in the right places.

I noticed one of the spaceships had the same name as an important ship in the Babylon 5 series. I'm curious if this was a coincidence, or a connection of some kind.

Interesting concept which I guess is made as a pitch for a new TV-series

[Green_Wolf · 7/10 · 16 August 2015]

This a non-profit movie made through Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns, including several actors from the commercial Star Trek movies and series.

I'm not sure what to make of it. It's obviously much too good to be a "fan movie" but not good enough to be a Box Office Hit. Maybe it fits as a "Pilot" or "Pitch" for a TV-Series? The movie is very uneven. I would say ratings for different scenes range all they way from 3 to 9 out of 10. The transition between scenes could sometimes be smoother and some scenes also seem a bit "out of place".

The acting of the Star Trek alumni in the movie is generally good and I must say that the acting skills of Adrienne Wilkinson has improved from the clips seen in the supporter forums "exclusive clips area". It's actually quite good in the final movie. The casting of other characters is uneven with several persons fitting their roles and others obviously not.

I give Special FX 7/10. Most of the to times they are on par with commercial productions but the movie would for example have been better of without "the fire" in a few scenes in the beginning of the movie.

Background music is fitting most of the time, I would say 7/10. Sound FX are also good, as long as you can stand the sound of spaceships in outer space where there's no sound.

The concept behind the the movie is quite interesting and might, if pitched in the right way, be turned into a TV-series.

From an objective standpoint my overall rating ought to be a notch lower, but because I like the concept I give it 7/10 :-)

Engage...

[daglow-821-68823 · 2/10 · 3 September 2016]

Some things were out of place for a 24th century civilization. The uniforms did not fit. No one (including the hologram) shaved. Glasses? Did anyone look in the mirror while putting on make-up? The plot reminded me of a Chinese western. The background music, oh, please turn it off.

However, the cast of characters, were good to see. I hope they are in the next star trek movie or TV program (and there should be another one, soon). The film was high quality. Next time call me; I work for food.

All in all, In my opinion, the story was not engaging. the only thing that made it watchable for me is: I am a fan!

I am also a Star Trek fan and I loved it.

[keeshessels · 7/10 · 23 August 2015]

To start with the negative, yes it is a low budget made movie, the acting could have been better, the characters should have been more developed (as it stands they are a bit 2 dimensional portrayed), no actor really stands out, the effects.. well the effects are like the old Galactica style TV series, funny but a bit distracting at times and to top it all of, the camera and editing were below par for serious work.

However:

If you are star trek fan, i would definitely recommend it to you. the style is more raw, the atmosphere is less politically correct and has more place for real human emotions instead of that "we have evolved" BS. I love G.R's vision, but I must admit, I think his vision is a bit outdated, maybe even a bit boring anyone at times anyone ?. For real, we have moved away from Kirk and Picard by now.

I see it as a low budget example of how star trek should be continued. The elements for success are there, I hope these guys can get there act together, improve on all the basic fields, camera, acting editing etc..

I will definitely watch the next version if\when it comes. In the mean time i kind of hope that the "big" guys take notice what a small little gem this crew has set. well done guys, well done.

I think that if you are a Star Trek fan, you owe it to yourself to watch it.

enjoy.

Bad writing, bad enemy, bad star trek

[decoren45 · 3/10 · 24 August 2015]

What's so alarming about this Star Trek Fan funded picture is how so underwhelming it is. A lot of nothing happens with bits of familiar Star Trek Jargon thrown in for good measure. I wasn't expecting Hollywood level special effects or even Next Generation level of production values, but I was expecting the dialogue to at least be good. Some of the acting is pretty bad, but when you are given bad dialogue its hard to say it with much conviction. The story is pretty silly, and the Villain has silly makeup with silly motivations . I didn't care for much of what was happening on screen. There is no one to like, no one to route for. Then, eventually the film just kind of ends. Perhaps Im being too harsh, but I don't think so. In better hands, this could have been soo much better. Again, it comes down to the writing. Give me a good story and all the other things wouldn't have mattered as much.

Star Trek but not as we know it

[alaindemol · 8/10 · 31 August 2015]

Star Trek Renegades

There are some people out there seemingly disappointed about STG. They were expecting a TV/Film product.

What those people seem to forget: all of this was done on a budget. Not a movie or big TV budget. People put their hearts into these projects; people backed this up because they believe in it.

So what is my personal view?

First of all, I happy we finally have Star Trek back, the Real deal. Not something that wants to

annihilate what us Star Trek fans have known since 1966 (1964, counting the original pilot :)).

Some special effects could surely use some improvement. But special effects add to the story. Acting? As always some actors stand out more than others, quite normal.

Story? Could the story be better? Perhaps. Now there is room to elaborate on what's behind all.

Is there room for improvement? Sure, tell me, WHICH show does NOT have room for improvement?

Someone put it out there, let's show CBS we WANT Star Trek back! Let's backup this project.

Hopefully we'll see guest appearances from Star Trek actors, reprising their roles.

Let's go where no Trek has gone before...

Qa'p

Deserves some attention

[deniseamott · 6/10 · 30 August 2015]

TBH, I wouldn't give this a lower score because I really want someone to pick up the ST thread and go with it. This seems as likely a place as any, and was better than I had expected of fan fiction.

So I loved seeing all the familiar faces (I probably need to watch it again just because I was distracted by trying to figure out which ST series each person came from), and I thought sfx were not bad for a low-budget attempt. Even the acting was decent on the part of the veterans.

Really, what's wrong is just in the early and mid-levels of production. Costumes looked like everyone had to make their own to be in the show, with varying degrees of success. Same with make-up and hair -- are split ends a problem in the future? Camera work was also inconsistent, again like everyone took turns.

Post production, tighter editing could have saved some performances and wordy scenes. What it couldn't save was the inconsistent writing, which needed tweaking by someone more experienced in transitions.

So the story line is interesting, and the casting is decent. I did not care for Wilkinson, who seemed more pouty than defiant and not capable of the respect / fear she apparently engendered. But then I remembered her last name and that she's probably an augment and I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I was irritated by Sean Young's performance as seeming out of place, but the scene with Robert Picardo was believable and endearing. I wish there'd been more of him.

Not something I'd pay to go the movies for, but this is a great pitch / pilot, people. Somebody needs to pick it up.

It's a commendable effort, but sadly severely wanting in quality

[quincytheodore · 4/10 · 25 August 2015]

For a low budget movie, it does have merit on costume and several set pieces. Unfortunately, it barely presents the universe of Star Trek in adequate manner. A lot of the scenes are obviously done with little effects, which make them painfully dreary as you can see the disparity in the background. It also tries to introduce a lot of characters who are sadly monotonous and hardly engaging.

Story follows a newly assembled crew to fight the impending doom. It's straightforward in nature, yet the movie overly complicates them with multitudes of subplots. At some points there are about three branching angles to showcase a bunch of tedious characters. It gets muddled very fast and it doesn't necessary explain the lore to audience well.

The worst part is none of the characters are capable of captivating audience, in fact they are honestly forgettable. It has the usual fleet commander, strange alien who cooperates for their own gain and typical femme fatale. All of them are interchangeable to other sci-fi extras. The acting is subpar, so is the script, these are not the material characters able to commandeer a series or movie.

As one might expect the production is not good as well. The only standout is the costumes, make-up, and probably a couple of crafty details here and there. However, what little it has is severely marred with irregular backgrounds and inferior effects. The camera pans too close or even jitters hectically to hide the abysmal surroundings, and it doesn't even hide them well.

The movie opens with intensity, yet the stuttered development and uninteresting characters make the experience dull. When the most memorable bits are Grant Imahara's cameo and awkward suits that reveal too much cleavage, you know Star Trek: Renegades operates on shoestring budget, wooden acting and unappealing script.

Unsatisfying spin-off that needed more work

[puzzledresearcher · 4/10 · 23 August 2015]

Before diving into critiquing this movie, I think we must ask the obvious - how did Viacom (Paramount, CBS) allow Skyway Productions to distribute Renegades into circulation? At the end of the movie credits there is a notice: "Star Trek and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. CBS Studios has not endorsed nor is affiliated with with Star Trek Renegades. No copyright infringement is intended."

But to my eyes there clearly is copyright infringement. And this is not just a matter of squabbling about getting a few extra pennies from rights-fees into the Viacom accounting sheets. In my opinion ST Renegades damages the Star Trek brand.

This is because Renegades is not a good movie. It is not the worst movie ever made, it just doesn't have the quality needed to carry the "Star Trek" brand name.

In this case the script, especially the dialogue, is groan-worthy and the biggest problem. Some of the directing and post production (cutting) is also very weak. I'm not going to blame the actors for this movie - with a better script and better directing they probably could have carried off a decent bit of entertainment.

Concepts in Renegades' plot are borrowed from the usual canon of the space-cowboy genre with a dose of stealing from the ST canon (e.g., holodeck technology).

I would have given Renegades three stars, but a bonus star was added for the scene of Chekov sitting at the Spock memorial, and Chekov looking wistfully into nothingness, just as old men do as we remember our past glories.

Not recommended for anyone but Star Trek fans who just can't get enough of Chekov and miscellaneous Trek characters, or who need to see it just for completeness of having seen all things Star Trek (even though as I pointed out earlier, this isn't really Star Trek.)

Not good - yet somehow worth watching

[dcbarclift · 2/10 · 22 October 2015]

Star Trek: Renegades is a movie rife with mysteries. Is it worth watching Dr. Lucien (Sean Young) and Dr. Zimmerman (Robert Picardo) make out? (That was not fun.) Why, in the 24th century, is Dr. Lucien wearing eyeglasses?! How did so many Trek alumni plus a host of C list actors sign on to a project with such an abominable script at its core? Was it just for love of the show? Because they didn't do the cinematic legacy of Star Trek any favors. It's difficult to give a low score to any Trek movie because as a die-hard fan, I'm always hungry for new stories, new perspectives, and new lore from at universe. But I can't in good conscience give this movie a higher rating.

With a reported budget of $375,000, we can't really fault Renegades for its amateurish production quality. What was so jarring were the mystifying swings, scene to scene, from fairly decent CGI to what looked like clip art from MS Word 95. Even the lighting was garish and weird in places. I have never before noticed the lighting in a movie. The filmmakers clearly spent money on makeup as there are almost a dozen different alien races on view, including a new reptilian species and a single Klingon with oily skin. They should have thrown some of that money at a couple of decent writers.

Sci-fi fans, trekkers in particular, will forgive most anything except a terrible storyline. I was confused and disoriented ten minutes into this movie. Tuvok now works for Section 31, a secret intelligence division of Star Fleet, he but interrupts a prison fight to recruit Lexxa Singh in the full view of dozens of inmates and guards? So much for covert ops. Once this black ops team is assembled, the movie devolves into a parade of sci-fi clichés and plot holes. The deepest mystery of Renegades is what exactly is going on and why? I gave up the attempt when the Betazoid member of the crew, a woman who establishes early on that she doesn't possess the telepathic abilities of the rest of her race, suddenly uses MIND CONTROL powers (which have never manifested in any member of her species in the history of the Star Trek universe) to escape captivity. Still, I have to give the filmmakers credit for the attempt. It's clear that they love Star Trek and, like me, will always want more. But the writing has got to improve if Renegades is going to survive.

Not the Star Trek we were expecting

[williamvlucasjr · 3/10 · 27 January 2016]

Lots of good points and had lots of good potential, but left me feeling the void because, simply said, this one is not the Star Trek I was expecting. I have read many articles on FaceBook about Star Trek Renegades and each one had left me with the impression, the fans were true to have made this one become possible. So I was expecting a lot more than was delivered.

Acting: 3/10 Some acting was good, but most of it wasn't. Tim Russ was the director. Mr. Russ should have asked for help from Johnathan Frakes. There were parts of the movie that clearly jumped around and cause confusion and a blank in the train of thought during the playback.

Video: 9/10 The movie has great video quality. The darks were just right and colors were correct. However, speaking of Admiral Chekov's uniform, I'm thinking it was made for a dish washer, because the sleeves were way too short. Sort of had reminded me of high waters pants, if you know what I mean.

Audio: 5/10 The audio channels were not as distinctive as one would expect.

Final thoughts: Would I watch the next episode of Star Trek Renegades? I believe the first episode is a good start. I am with high hopes the series will become better and stronger as they continue to be produced.

Rough with Potential

[rench-83321 · 7/10 · 17 August 2015]

Let me first say that I like the idea a lot. The movie itself was a bit odd with random scenes and some pacing issues. The character backgrounds felt crammed. The performances were a mixed bag. They definitely went a little over the top with the cleavage (pun intended). The makeup and music were impressive given the constraints. I thought the special FX were OK, though some were unnecessary (fire, cityscape flyover).

It also seemed like they were trying to be gritty by having random people die and showing ridiculously plunging necklines. It failed because it felt forced. It took me a long time to accept Seven of Nine and T'Pol for this very reason (Deanna Troi for some reason didn't have that problem). That being said I have no problem with it being gritty as long as it is remotely believable for the show I'm watching.

The show definitely has potential. I would like to see this as a show with more even pacing, better editing and some more solid performances. I genuinely wasn't expecting the little surprise at the end with Furlong's character.

A lot of potential completely wasted on abysmal writing and staging.

[domonkos-horvath · 3/10 · 19 April 2019]

I have absolutely no difficulty ignoring every single shortcoming of certain audiovisual aspects of this production that can all be explained away with one of two words: budget and copyright. What I can not ignore however is the amateurishness of several other aspects that do not require a high budget, only talent in writing and staging. The beginning is rushed, the dialogues lack substance - mostly because choreography is almost non-existent, people just stand or sit around awkwardly wherever -, the succession of some scenes is very mechanical - consecutive scenes inorganically delivering mandatory backstories in a manner that is violating rules of writing as basic as "show, don't tell" -, while others have absolutely no relevance for the plot, they just serve to deliver awkward one-liners.

All in all the entire delivery of the plot falls so flat, it fails to convey even a modicum of suspense, danger or urgency despite all the efforts of all those professional actors. Their characters are believable. What happens to and around them is not. If I wouldn't have seen some of the original actors reprising their former roles and some others who played favorite characters in other franchises, I doubt I would've stuck around for more than half an hour, and through all of the first episode (of two?) only four scenes brought forth an emotional response out of me that wasn't indifference or disdain, but actual resonance with the portrayed events.

Then there's the fact that the ever present moral dilemma each and every classic Star Trek episode came with is completely absent here, save for the last few minutes of the episode, which makes it a meaningless footnote instead of a source of tension shaping the episode. Therefore I'm sorry to say, but this is not just not a good feature length film/pilot/whatever, it's also not good Star Trek.

Definitely watchable but corners were cut.

[MennoMan · 6/10 · 23 August 2015]

Before I start Picking.. this is a watchable film, though I feel it will please the 'Trekkers', i feel it will fall short for the general Fans. Still good acting, fair FX, and OK story. Definitely made as a Pilot, of what? possible Web series or another movie?

This fan based film is a film directed by Tim Russ and stars many fine actors including; Adrienne Wilkinson, Walter Koenig, Sean Young, Manu Intiraymi. The story takes place nearly ten years after Voyager's return from the Delta Quadrant. Though I found the story good, inconsistencies with the original Star Trek abounds to even the novice. Voyager for one in the final episode was fitted to take on the Borg, yet the one Star Fleet ship shown, the Averez, seems basically powerless and incapable of rapid firing int eh first battle sequence. This is one dozens of inconsistencies a fan will find throughout this film.One scene has a ship cloaking yet it stay visible.

Sets were fairly good, yet somewhat incomplete and dark. An example is Star Fleet where the room is completely dark to the point there is no walls and actors step into the light. There is even one scene where it appears you can see the stage, whether intended or not. This could be 'Artistic Licensee' but one get the idea after a while that maybe the budget need a few more dollars. Definitely a few props would have helped in some of the green screens.

On the digital side where MUCH better than the typical Asylum Film but somewhat inconsistent, being really good one minute and not so good in other scenes. movie. Though it must be said that some are below standard. The Digital FXs are 'Fair' to 'Great.' Again when thinking overall..inconsistent seems to be only fault.

The music fits most of the time, but definitely not scored for this. Like allot of low budget films, the music is off the shelf. Being so it works OK for background but action or emotions the music needed to be, if not scored, at least enhanced. Also a few scene changes are affected when the background music stays the same. in fact some of the scene changes are a bit poor.. but again I am nic-picking

Overall, this is much more watchable than the typical 'B' movies "pre-produced" such as the 'Asylum Line'of films to mimic hot titles, Asylum's Atlantic Rim comes to mind. But still.... Hats off to all involved. This was a good, watchable film, good acting, FX which if not great, where good and a good story..... Should be interesting to see a follow up .. As for fan based.. hope they continue on....I for one can not wait for AXANAR, hope they overcome the 'low budget' problem of having to cut corners. Hollywood, look out...

A Disgrace to Star Trek

[thomas-02506 · 1/10 · 20 November 2015]

This is the problem with unaffiliated projects doing Star Trek, the end result is drivel like this. The production values are low budget cable TV level, which you could forgive if the acting wasn't also painful to watch.

Apparently, the Federation council, Starfleet Command, and all of starfleet's officers have somehow become useless prigs, and only Section 31 has the moral authority to save the universe. Yes, Section 31, the amoral arm of the federation, is the moral authority now, that should tell you all you need to know. They will do this with a band of criminals that in classic Hollywood fashion will immediately become good guys and somehow save the day.

Don't bother watching this, and certainly don't give them any more money to produce more of this filth. Let's await Axanar, which if the trailer is any indication, will be significantly better.

Renegades + The Requiem

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 30 August 2020]

Renegades was an excellent Star Trek story, but with a new reimagined Universe, new uniform designs, ship designs, but many characters from various trek.

As a standalone Star Trek film it was an excellent fan film, qualitywise much better than "of gods and men".

It is about an hour and a half of an interesting Star Trek story, Pavel Chekov as head of Starfleet security needs to try to get into the gist of a problem, but he cannot trust his own department, so he employs a group of renegades, led by the daughter of KHAN, yes, that KHAN. Or, granddaughter, it doesn't really say where she came from, OR how she could be as young as she is 150 years after Khan turned into the core of the Genesis planet.

Maybe her story was planned to be told in a future episode. But shortly after this was made, CBS sued just about everybody who was making fan productions and nobody was allowed to use references to Star Trek. Also, CB has put forth a stupid rule that no fan production could be longer than 15 minutes or so. But this first pre-lawsuit entry included Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, Tuvok, Chekov, Admiral Paris, and Icheb, all played by the actors that played the parts. I thoroughly enjoyed the first entry, although it was a lot darker than any Trek I had seen, but it was done rather well.

After the CBS lawsuit, the second entry, "the Requiem", is not only 30 minutes shorter, but it was cut into two different 25 minute parts, part one and part two. Neither of which could, until recently, be watched at the same time.

Fortunately I was able to obtain both parts which I immediately loaded into my video editing program and Cut out the credits from part one and I joined them both together. So for the first time I was able to watch it as a coherent story. And as I didn't expect it to be as good as the first story with all of the new meddling by CBS, it was still good, although not as good as when they could reference Star Trek characters and stories.

There are even more Star Trek characters in the Requiem, but unfortunately their names all had to be changed, even their alien races had to be changed. But the second entry includes Jadzia Dax freshly cloned and back to life, NOG, Jake Sisko, Tuvok, Chekov, Uhura, Chakotay, Icheb, along with Gary Graham's shape changing "Ragnar". An alien girl which was originally Andorian lost her antenna, and all Vulcans had an ear-ectomy and became either humans or other races.

"The names were changed to protect the copywrong".

As a story it was adequate, but I didn't feel like the special effects or the production value was as good as the first entry.

But I still love these fan funded Star Trek shows, and Tim Russ is a very good director. Sometimes they don't get enough money to do the production as well as they could.

People who have no experience writing stories or directing television shows have come into this IMDb entry with their size 12 Martin boots to stomp all over it, and I just say they can go to blazes.

If you don't like it? Go write your own Star Trek show and find some money to fund it, and then find people who can act in it and directors who can direct it and special effects houses who will cheaply make you starships and other special effects.

Then we can go into your IMDb page and downvote it all to Oblivion. In the meantime, #ShutUp

Not the "Star Trek" we all know and love -- but it isn't supposed to be!

[apultrone-2 · 7/10 · 24 August 2015]

I am a huge fan of Star Trek, especially the original series. And I have been looking forward to this film. I read all the reviews here before I decided to comment.

I think a number of reviewers missed the point of this film being "different" from other Star Trek films, episodes, and so on. It is SUPPOSED to be different. It is SUPPOSED to be a darker film, an alternative perspective on the darker side of Star Fleet and the Federation. Of course it's not "Star Trek" per se as we have all grown to know and love it, and it's not supposed to be. If you really want "Star Trek" as we've grown to know and love it, go watch Star Trek Phase II/The New Voyages or Star Trek Continues.

That said, I did find the story to be a bit trite, but not terrible. And I did find some of the dialog to be a bit boorish. The effects were good, not great, and I did get a feel, like another reviewer mentioned, of something more along the lines of the original "Battlestar Galactica,' sort of intertwined with a bit of "Predator" as well.

The characters were definitely flat; perhaps there were just too many to begin with. And some of the acting was mediocre, though the rest was fine. Not Academy-award winning acting, but not terrible for the most part.

All-in-all, though, I gave this film a 7 out of 10. I think that, if the producers, writers, and director review these comments and take some of them seriously, the next film could be significantly better, and I look forward to another one!

Not so good. Not so good at all!

[Rob_Taylor · 5/10 · 25 August 2015]

So, I'm going to go ahead and call this what it is - Fanpro. Despite the presence of a number of well-known actors, this movie was crowd-funded (presumably by the fans of Star Trek) and therefore is Fan produced, in my eyes. It also seems the kindest way to view the movie. If this was the result of a big budget production from a studio I'd be much less forgiving of it, trust me.

That said, how does it stand up? Well, not terribly well. I've seen far worse fanpro stuff for Star Trek, but also some much more coherent efforts. This is, to my mind, where Renegades falls down very badly. It isn't coherent.

The script is pretty awful, to be honest. You can see what they were aiming for, but they shot wide of the mark with it by a considerable margin. It just doesn't hold your interest. I'm still not convinced I entirely knew what was going on anyway. The story is by far the weakest part of the whole production.

Not to say there aren't other faults. For a start, when you put actors of varying degrees of ability in the same scene together, then the weaker ones will suffer and stand out as not so good. And, as a result, the whole scene can look amateurish and unrehearsed. In other words, the acting is dragged down to the lowest common denominator, which devalues the whole production.

Effects are, for the most part, decent. There are a few less than advisable choices but, given the budget, I can't moan too much about that. They at least didn't try to be overambitious with the effects, which is a good thing.

Sets are decent enough as well, and some of them were substantially less wooden than the actors in them. There were a few rather cheap looking efforts, which again, brought down the overall level of the movie, but not too many.

Make-up and prosthetics were pretty good, though I did raise a smile when watching the main bad guy trying to get some movement from the prosthetics around his mouth. They weren't very flexible, methinks. He did his best, though.

So that's the negatives. What about positives? Well, everyone seems to be enjoying making the movie. There is clearly love for the source material in spades and I suspect everyone had a good time during the production. In other words... enthusiasm! Despite the bad acting in places, no one looked like they weren't trying.

The space battles were decently done and I suspect a lot of the budget went into them. Very watchable.

And of course, it is always nice to see familiar Trek actors reprising their roles.

Not sure if anyone (Trek fans) wants this kind of thing anyway. I mean, I get that we all want more Star Trek, but this was trying to be something that Star Trek isn't really about. There was too much skullduggery and conspiracy theory in this plot to make it enjoyable.

Overall, the movie isn't one you'll watch twice. Watch it for curiosity's sake, and then move on and hope a new series emerges some time soon.

SUMMARY: Poor script and mediocre acting hamper this production. Don't expect too much and you may get some enjoyment out of it, but it may also just damage your faith in Star Trek.

I can't believe I used to love Star Trek

[iamsaikat-32-962194 · 5/10 · 23 August 2015]

Do not misunderstand the 5/10. That's more sentiment than clarity of judgment. But then again with promises of the old Star Trek in this day and age, a little indulgence can be excused I suppose.

Now coming to the movie, this is pretty much a 4/10 movie in general. Some things are really telling, like the scene where they set up inter-character relationships and background explanations for the audience and it's all at once, everything - like some recap scene from a previous episode. I don't care much for the visuals, I know how expensive good CG effects are, but there was stuff lacking in terms of story and execution. They honestly did try to put in as much content as possible - which might have been a good thing as well as bad.

Chekov and Tuvok are played pretty well, Icheb has anger issues, the Betazoid has that strong-vulnerable thing going on, Zimmerman has a singular role where he shows up to kiss and then leave (though I am joking and I did like his bit) and Lexxa Singh has perfect Kohl in every scene (yes I wrote the entire review to write this last part).

Look honestly it was a nice trip down memory lane but honestly sometimes I had to suspend logic and disbelief way too much to really get into it. I know they are trying to get this picked up by some network for a televised series and I hope they do. I just don't realistically see it happening through this though - though I hope I'm wrong.

Oh Tim Russ!

[HarbingerUK · 5/10 · 20 February 2016]

I wanted to like this, I kind of did but only because I love all things Star Trek. The acting was wooden (so was voyager at the beginning and the original Star Trek certainly was) the plot was a bit rough too but again so was voyager's pilot as was deep space nine so both of those things were viewed as a loving parent, a bit special currently but will get better with time. However the direction was dire. Weird close ups, rubbish effects, strange angles of shot to name a few things wrong. Frankly it felt a bit amateurish which is illogical captain. When you make a film that mocks other film genres this is how it will look. I'm hopeful it will get better and Tim will get into his stride. I want to like this and I'll be very forgiving due to that