Time to get "Away From it All"

... as narrated by Nigel Farquhar-Bennett in 1979.
And, if you can sit it out, you shall understand all. (I've been looking for this for a loooong time.) This travelogue ran as a film short before Monty Python's "Life of Brian" in some cinemas and has not been seen since. (And it's not on the DVD, much to fans' frustrations.)

Australia continued the tradition of film shorts for much longer that the USA. I think the last genuine film shorts I can recall seeing with main features in cinemas were "Rocking Horse Winner", which accompanied all of our viewings of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", and the black and white short film "Frankenweenie", which accompanied Disney's "Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend" - much to the surprise of "Frankenweenie" director, Tim Burton, who only discovered that it had finally been given a release when my Sydney-based "Batman" fan club, "Battalion", was able to attend a Tim Burton press conference in 1989.

"Da plane! Da plane!"

I loved the bizarre juxtaposition of travelling home with two new toys for the collection yesterday. Grug, on the left, is a toy tie-in to celebrate the re-release of a hugely popular Australian picture book series from the 1980s, Ted Prior's "Grug". The "Grug" books were little miniatures, rather similar to "Mr Men" books. Grug was a cave creature who spontaneously evolved from a native Australian burrawang plant, and in subsequent adventures, began learning about the world around him. I recently met a full-sized Grug HERE. Boxed sets of Grug are popping up in Aussie bookstores as Christmas stocking stuffers.

On the right is Khan Noonien Singh, a rather cool, licenced "Star Trek" plush doll (from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan") by the Toy Factory, a tie-in to IDW's Khan comic mini-series, which serves as a bridge between the episode "Space Seed" and the plot of the second movie. The staff at King Comics hadn't been sure if they were going to be able to source any Khans, but I'm glad I pre-ordered him and had people looking out for him for me!

As Khan knows, who needs a Tattoo when you have... Grug!

Flashback to b/w

Therin of Andor at the gala premiere of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan",
State Theatre, Sydney (1982).





The young guy above is the professional photographer sent along by Paramount Pictures. We'd previously met him at the relaunch of the original TV series on Network 7, and he remembered the Andorian! The photo at right features local "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" identity, Fleetwood Coup de Ville and a feathery friend.

Wearing the uniform

Over on TrekBBS, a poster discussed the practice of Star Trek fans wearing a Starfleet costume in public to show their allegiance to the franchise. (There was that rather bizarre incident during the late 80s with that woman serving on a US jury panel, who turned up in Starfleet uniform, complete with communicator pin and toy tricorder - and then wondered why she received so mych adverse publicity.)


"Where's my fluffer?"

I have worn a Starfleet uniform in public many times since 1980, but I've always been dressed for an event, not because I've had a whim to wear weird, attention-getting clothes that day. Not having a car, I've even traveled on public transport in uniform, sometimes with a group (heading for a ST movie premiere or Halloween party) and twice I have worn a uniform on a plane, alone, going to an interstate Star Trek convention, and needing to travel light, with only carry-on luggage.

Comments are almost always positive, but I cannot fathom the need to wear a Starfleet uniform just for the heck of it. They simply aren't practical for life in the 21st century. No pockets, the need for hidden zippers, no helpers to ensure the uniform is continuing to hang properly.

On TrekBBS, someone else asked: So, what gives? Are the Starfleet uniforms really complicated and difficult to duplicate? Is it a matter of them being prohibitively expensive?

I have many Starfleet uniform incarnations, but if you compared any of them to an actual costume you'd find a few nits to pick. The main difference is that when you wear a uniform in public you don't have the entourage of "fluffers" that an actor making the show would have. During breaks between scenes, the wardrobe people are on hand to tug, pull and pin. The makeup people do touch-ups. The lighting person tweaks the angles of the lights to prevent weird shadows. And a studio photographer takes hundreds of photos and hopes to use just one, which he may then need to airbrush.

Why do you never see one of the actors turn up to an event in a Starfleet uniform, and stay in it all day? Because a fully tailored costume is too damned uncomfortable! For those early TNG spandex numbers, your back would ache, the undersoles of your feet would ache due to the stirrups, you couldn't sit down (because the fluffers weren't on hand), and you'd sweat like crazy - and no one would be around to hold the air blowers under your armpits.

Not to mention toilet breaks! Many Starfleet uniforms, especially authentic ones, require almost-total nudity just to go to the bathroom.

Floor costumes for a convention need to have comfort built in and, for that reason, collars are a bit looser, shoulders a bit saggier, emergency escape hatches have less-hidden zippers, and the amateur designers use fabrics that are much lighter weight (and may photograph differently to your intentions, too). And you have to maintain the same build every time you put on that particular costume. And "suck in your gut" for photos all day, which may be taken by other con goers who don't warn you when they are about to take a photo!

Commercial costumes always end up looking like they are one-size-fits-all.

Also, most of my homemade uniforms were created from sneak peaks in rare publicity stills (for then-unreleased incarnations of Star Trek). Inevitably, on premiere night, we'd discover that our uniforms had a few nits (see above) but, by then, it is too expensive to remake them, so you end up living with a few faults, fixing a few problems where you can.

The above pic is from the premiere night of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" - and, yes, my badge and belt buckle have my own variation of an insignia, assuming ST II would follow the lead set by the original series. The women have Enterprise (and Reliant) insignias. Our collars were knitted from wool the night before the premiere and the badges were made from gold-painted cardboard and plastic ice cream containers, eventually replaced a few months later by commercially-available metal versions.

The wrath of victims of postal services?

At last! My copy of the newly expanded edition of James Horner's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" original motion picture soundtrack CD has been lost in the post, but it finally arrived today! 23 tracks (in scene order) vs only nine random tracks on the original version.

The new album, from Retrograde Records, includes the eerie track called "Genesis Project" by Craig Huxley (nee Hundley, a child actor in two episodes of the original "Star Trek" series), which was previously only available on a limited LP/CD of assorted music and themes by Huxley.

Mmmmm, just found this on Youtube:



I recall such details being discussed when the film came out. Yes, our sun appears as an extra star in the constellation of the Big Dipper, as seen from Keti Bandar (named after an African river, IIRC), which is in the Epsilon Indi system. (I went wild at the time because the Ballantine "Starfleet Technical Manual" and "Medical Reference Manual" placed Andor in that system, and the old Bantam "Star Trek Maps" put Triacus ("And the Children Shall Lead", TOS) in Epsilon Indi as well!

So for me, writing fanfic about Andorians in the 80s, it was very exciting to have a planet/moon near Andor being selected as the "subject" of Carol's Genesis demo, even if the device had never actually been set off there. Yet.

If that was the only Andorian reference to be in ST II, I guess I was satisfied. Mind you, on opening night a few people asked me if Romulan Ale was actually pureed Andorian - and that was a cameo I didn't need to know about!

Live from Sydney

Australia's TV current affairs show "Today Tonight" showed most of the ST XI trailer footage tonight, and excerpts from TOS and TMP, plus all-new studio interviews with Pine, Quinto, Cho and Abrams, and an interview with Eric Bana in a live (or just-delayed) cross to the red carpet leading up to the Sydney Opera House.

The front cover of Saturday's The Sydney Morning Herald's "Spectrum" arts & entertainment lift-out had a great full page pic of Zachary Quinto doing the Vulcan salute, and the interview with him (and pre-publicity on the premiere), is a double page feature spread on pages 4 and 5.

Let the reviews begin...

By the way, there was also a surprise screening in Austin, TX, with Leonard Nimoy and the writers, before the official one. Fans thought they were attending a retro screening of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", plus ten minutes of highlights of the new "Star Trek" (ST XI), but Nimoy walked out on stage to tell them they'd been punked, and were about to see all of ST XI.

I eventually worked that out, but it wasn't obvious here, in Sydney, when I was seeing all these reviews pop up online (on TrekBBS) before the film had even finished running here - and knowing all the Aussie guests' mobile phones, iPhones and Blackberries had been cloaked by Opera House security.


Star Trek poster in Sydney's CBD this week.

Saavik - she's half Romulan, Jim

Many fans wonder from whence came the idea of Kirstie Alley's Lieutenant Saavik ("Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan") being a Romulan-Vulcan hybrid. Sure, Vonda N McIntyre used the concept in her movie novelizations, but it was originally a (cut) scene from the actual movie. Lucky fans at a US film industry convention called ShoWest saw the scene in a presentation reel, long before the movie premiered:




Note that in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock", Robin Curtis's Saavik is played as a full Vulcan, a choice made by her director, Leonard Nimoy (Spock) himself.

Epiphany!

Today's the traditional day for taking Christmas decorations down. I was in the local supermarket yesterday - and, of course, the shops are already putting out stocks of chocolate Easter eggs!

As you've dutifully followed my virtual Christmas decorating ritual for these past twelve days, you've now earned the right to see my tree topper:



A US penfriend once sold me his collection of "Star Trek" character Christmas ornaments, originally from the "Star Trek Experience" in Las Vegas and - as I already had a Spock and a Picard from the annual Hallmark range - this new Spock, complete with Vulcan lyrette, ended up at the top of my Christmas tree as the angel. All he needed were some golden wings from Spotlight and a copper wire halo. This year I finally got around to customising the blue uniform shirt to make it reflect the uniform that Spock wore in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", the film in which Spock did end up singin' with the angels. (At least until the next sequel.)



The next batch (below) includes some ornaments I couldn't help but purchase from the beautiful Ahwahnee Hotel, at Yosemite National Park in California. It was the morning of 27th December 1983, if I recall correctly and, after a sumptuous buffet breakfast, we discovered that the hotel was selling off its stock of Christmas ornaments. Okay, so I weakened. So much for "just one ornament per year", my original intention.



Clockwise: Stuffed fabric unicorn handmade by US penpal, Francine; Ahwahnee Hotel bargain bin cloth partridge (without the pear tree); Ahwahnee wooden unicorn/Pegasus; Ahwahnee wooden ballerina; felt Australian Christmas bells (wildflowers), a leftover souvenir/gift of Australia that somehow never found a new owner; and Super Pickle, a cool superhero clip-on I found somewhere in the States! (Every sandwich in USA comes with a pickle on the side, it seems.)




Clockwise: The "Rodney Reindeer" stuffed toy was very popular in that same San Francisco department store that sold the clowns (see previous blog entry); and some items found in my stocking at Rhonda's parents' house on Christmas morning, 1983. These all get put onto the tree each year: a Santa Claus pen; a little toy truck (Rhonda got girly stuff); a miniature picture book called, "Christmas Around the World"; and an aluminium Steadfast Tin Soldier, which was originally filled with unshelled peanuts. (Yep, five grown adults in a room, generating as much Christmas morning present-opening as possible.) The kazoo was sold by Farrell's Ice Creamery somewhere near Martinez, California, where I celebrated a birthday. The staff traditionally sing you "Happy Birthday", accompanied by kazoos.

Thanks for joining me on this virtual tour of my 2006 Christmas tree. Now I have to go pack it all away...

Star Trek movies: then and now

Over on TrekBBS, someone asked for our pocket reactions to each of the "Star Trek" movies, our first reactions and whether the movies had stood the test of time:

ST: THE MOTION PICTURE (1979)
My age then: just turned 21
Where seen: the beautiful retro-art deco Paramount Theatre, Sydney
Note the age above: this film was very much my "coming of age". I'd managed never to have seen "Star Wars" and had just finished up three fun-filled years at teachers' college - including writing and performing in skits, making teaching aids, critiquing kids' TV shows, etc - and along came TMP, a reunion movie of characters I knew mainly only from breakfast television reruns of Filmation's animated Trek series (TAS)!

So TMP, based on a friend's review (at my 21st birthday party) of then-recent gala opening night, became a fascination to me. During that week, the newspaper had carried a serialized "My week on the Star Trek set" item by Aussie journalist Jim Oram.

I encountered the novelization in the local supermarket (read it in a weekend), bought the soundtrack with a birthday gift certificate, and finally went (by myself, when its general run finally started) to see the movie - and was blown away by it. I have since worked out that it had to be a daytime session on Christmas Eve, and I came home with second hand copies of several Blish and Foster adaptations of TOS and TAS episodes. (I recall showing my grandmother my already-expanding collection of Trek stuff on Christmas Day!) With TMP, I felt like I was on that starship; thanks to director Robert Wise, whose direction made the whole film so real to me. I needed to see the movie about four times before finally spotting the cool, new aliens I'd seen in the program book, the LP inner sleeve and Starlog.

Later, discovering organised ST fandom via the monthly ANZAC House episode marathons, I was shocked that most diehard TOS fans hated the movie and called it "boring". For me, I was ready for the sequel the next week, and how did I scream when I realised TMP was originally to have been "Star Trek: Phase II", a weekly TV show! Oh well, I spent the next few years reading ST novels, catching up on old TOS and TAS I hadn't seen and researching details on ST II.

It's still my favourite ST movie (now equaled by the 2009 film), and perhaps my favourite movie of all time.

ST II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982)
My age then: 23
Where seen: the ornate State Theatre, Sydney (preview and gala premiere)

A very solid TOS movie-era outing. I was thrilled this one got critical acclaim, though I really missed the costumes and cinematography of TMP. Saavik (Kirstie Alley) was very cool - and yay, Mr Kyle (John Winston)! - but where were Rand and Chapel? Khan was a very impressive guest villain. Loved the Ceti Eels, but missed McGivers, whom I'd enjoyed so much in "Space Seed". On opening night, they deliberately had no "II" in the title, avoiding the memory/stigma of negativity about TMP as much as possible. Sad to read about Nimoy's directives to Robin Curtis (in ST III) which seemed so intent on blotting out Kirstie Alley's interpretation and popularity with the fan base.

My fan club friends all made new costumes for the premiere of ST II and we booked out a large block of the cinema. This was the beginning (for me) of ST fandom at its most interactive and creative, with plenty of time to build excitement for the next sequel.

ST III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984)
My age then: 25
Where seen: Pitt Centre (aka "the pits centre" by some), Sydney (two previews and the gala premiere). This alternative venue was due to the fact that there was still a giant hole in the ground where they'd torn down the Paramount and Rapallo Theatres in 1983.

I loved all the "will he or won't he" publicity about Nimoy returning as Spock (not to mention directing and, as "Frank Force", the voice of Excelsior's elevator voice) - and it was fun seeking out all the gossip. My friend Jill was a set visitor on the very day (the new) Saavik and David opened Spock's casket, and she came home to tell us that the torpedo tube had been... empty! And that Merritt Butrick, whom she'd hated in ST II, because he was a Kirk wannabe, was actually very cute in person. I was then in New York in January 1984 and saw Paramount's Eddie Egan give his ST III slideshow at a Creation Convention.

Then the agonizing wait: Australian cinemas elected to delay ST III by almost six months, whereas the previous ST films had been an almost-simultaneous release. Although I found the "live on set" planet FX to be rather hokey (fibreglass texture on cactus plants, chunks of earth on hydraulic lifts, falling trees rigged to fall again, multiple shadows from overhead studio lights), the film was exciting, funny, sad, nostalgic and satisfying.

It was a great movie to see on premiere night in a cinema packed with diehard costumed fans. (I took in a box of champagne flutes, after seeing the "absent friends" scene at the first preview, and my whole row clinked glasses with the onscreen heroes and we got a roar of approval from the whole audience. A magic moment, repeated each time we went back that week.) I'd moved into a new apartment only days earlier - and, as the Genesis planet went down in flames on opening night, I remembered I'd left the iron on! Another agonizing wait till we raced back.

ST IV: THE VOYAGE HOME (1986)
My age then: 27
Where seen: Paramount/CIC Theatrette, Sydney (preview: work print!); State Theatre, Sydney ("Buspak" Awards and gala preview); Greater Union Centre, Sydney (finally), on the site of the former Paramount and Rapallo Theatres (opening night)

A very fulfilling film, although a risky first few minutes with yet another giant probe heading to Earth. Great comedy and use of all the main characters, and I thought most of the whales stuff was great. Wonderful to see ST being widely accepted by general audiences, and the renewed interest in licensed ST tie-ins.

I helped to organise a huge gala preview for ST IV that had Sydney "A List" celebrities, the first annual "Buspak" advertising awards, a disco after-party and free alcohol. The awards night section was terrible but the ST film was enjoyed by people who'd never seen a ST episode, although I had several diehard friends who felt ST IV "dumbed down" its ST messages for the populace. And it was a shame that Saavik was seemingly shunted aside and forgotten.

Because we were helping to organise the Sydney gala premiere, a small group from our club committee - and our Spock lookalike - got to see the ST IV work print at Paramount's Sydney theaterette a few weeks before the premiere! Several "Scene Missing" slides, and some FX crew members blowing smoke with bellows, crouched under the Bird of Prey model as it slingshot around the sun in a rectangle! And closing credits that had each character's photo in a circle, more like the opening to a TV comedy.

ST V: THE FINAL FRONTIER (1989)
My age then: 30
Where seen: ConQuest '89, Brisbane (gala preview); Hoyts complex at Westfield Eastgardens Shoppingtown, Pagewood (opening night)

I'd have been more accepting of the plot had Sybok simply been a mentor/teacher of Spock's rather than a son of Sarek, since Shatner worried little about flying in the face of complaints from Gene Roddenberry and DC Fontana. However, I did appreciate Shatner's attempts to recapture the format of a ST episode, and I actually liked some of his more unique directing contributions. The "field of holes" scene ("It's all I have...") was so poignant, and the approaching unicorn in a dust cloud.

I have had many belly-laughs reading "Captain's Log: The Making of ST V" by Lisabeth Shatner; an excellent insight into the ego of Shatner. A book which often says much more by what's between the lines. ST V was a disappointing follow-up to ST IV; a very much "contractual obligations" deal. TNG was already doing better FX on a weekly TV budget. Even more ironic: the pre-release poster of the seatbelt on a cinema chair.

ST VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY (1991)
My age then: 33
Where seen: Paramount/CIC Theatrette, Sydney (preview); Ann Arbor multiplex, Michigan, USA (feature)

To think we almost didn't get this film, or almost got a "Starfleet Academy" movie instead. This was a fun experience in many ways, and the many blue-sashed UFP aliens at the end paid homage to TOS aliens we'd seen before. I loved the film's ties to "Unification" (TNG double episode, guest-starring Spock). However, although I'd have been devastated by Saavik being revealed as a traitor, as was originally planned, the Valeris subplot was no surprise at all... because Valeris was the only newbie in the team. (I tried to avoid all spoilers, for the first time. When a big Cinefantastique article came out, I decided to save the article till after the movie. I just read the captions - and that's where the editor chose to reveal that she was part of the conspiracy. Drat!)

Loved Sulu and Rand working together, and loved the big sign-off by the cast at the end. Some minor annoyances: spelling "Uhuru" in the closing credits was bad; forgetting which ship had been cataloguing gaseous anomalies; the phaser in the kitchen; books for translating into Klingon, etc. The local premiere night experience was bittersweet, as a new faction had taken over our ST club, most fans turned up in civvies, and I then went off on a US trip a few days later and missed out hearing about everyone's opinions. Watching the movie with my US penpals was fun, though, but it had been out a few weeks by then and the US Cineplexes were running so many sessions, each tiny cinema was almost empty. Hard to build atmosphere in such a tiny space! Loved photographing Mann's Chinese in Los Angeles (below), decked out for ST VI, although I didn't see it there.

ST GENERATIONS (1994)
My age then: 36
Where seen: Greater Union complex, Bankstown Square, Bankstown (premiere)

Almost the entire script, and most versions of each draft, were being leaked onto UseNet, and a friend used to print it all out for me. I wasn't sure I liked the idea of Scotty and Chekov parroting lines originally written for Spock and McCoy. Malcolm McDowell, whom I'd loved so much in "Time After Time" seemed too much like a bully - and he seemed to keep the silver haircut and angry face for every movie appearance ever after. I'd have loved for the film to explore the alien differences in El-Aurians. After seven fun years of TNG on TV, this movie seemed to have many missed opportunities, not to mention killing off Picard's Earth family, then not even using the same René for the "Christmas in the Nexus" scene.

I admit to feeling underwhelmed by "the franchise" after all the fun and excitement generated by TOS movies every few years and the launch of TNG on TV. The premiere night I attended was run by a fledgling ST club recovering from all the old, long-running big ST clubs being obliterated by an Australian version of the Official ST Club, who were holding a rival screening in a different location. Although the movie was fun, I'd enjoyed "All Good Things" much more, and I think TNG on the big screen might have been more compelling if the characters had been unseen in all-new adventures for a longer chunk of time, a la the TOS crew in TMP.

ST: FIRST CONTACT (1996)
My age then: 38
Where seen: Hoyts Entertainment Centre in George Street, Sydney (gala preview); Greater Union complex, Parramatta (premiere)

People certainly came out of this movie feeling like they'd gotten plenty of bangs for their bucks. It was an excellent grafting of: personal drama with SPFX space battles; TNG with its TOS roots; and use of popular themes (time travel and Borg) in fresh ways to maximise opportunities of pleasing audiences.

Again, nearly everything got leaked way before time - even preliminary sketches of the possible looks for the Borg Queen. Alice Krige, James Cromwell and Alfre Woodard all gave excellent performances. The cameos were funny (and welcome) too: the EMH, Ogawa and Barclay.

ST: INSURRECTION (1998)
My age then: 40
Where seen: Hoyts complex at Broadway Centre, Sydney (premiere)

I loved this, even though many slammed it as "like a double episode of the TV show". The cinematography and music were beautiful, and everyone gave strong performances, except maybe the development of Ru'Afo. The idea of two subjugated races - the Tarlac and the Ellora - to keep afloat what was actually a very small number of Son'a, was excellent, and would have been fun to explore in other films (or novels).

Once again, the scripts were leaked to the Internet - and I really wish I had not read the part in the script where it's revealed that the Son'a are just very wrinkled up exiled/renegade Ba'ku children, because I may not have realized until the film's Big Reveal. Gates McFadden must be wondering by now why she gets so little to do in these TNG movies.

ST: NEMESIS (2002)
My age then: 44
Where seen: Hoyts complex, Penrith Plaza (opening night)

Oh, so sad. The fans' ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy? This movie was castigated on Internet forums before more than a sentence or two had been written - and then to prove how much a failure it would be, US ST fans joined the general public to go see the opening weekend of J-Lo in "Maid in Manhattan" instead of supporting "Nemesis".

I'm talking about the many thousands of people in the USA who prejudged this movie. They had no intention of going to its first screenings, waiting for friends to tell them whether it was okay or not. Every previous ST movie had queues of fans to see it as soon as they possibly could, whether it turned out to be their favourite film or not. Many fans never even saw "Nemesis" once on the big screen, making their decisions from Internet rumours, or by a reading of the bootlegged script. So it's not just a drop-off in repeat attendees after opening weekend (such as with ST V or "Insurrection"). They didn't go even once! At least "Nemesis" won its opening in Australia, and performed well in the USA on DVD. We see more recent comments like, "Well, I finally saw 'Nemesis' on DVD and it's not as bad as I'd been dreading".

Data is my favourite TNG character and, under a more sensitive director than Stuart Baird, I might have enjoyed torturing myself by watching my favourite character sacrifice his eternal life for his captain, but ultimately the scenes fell flat. The lighting of the sets was dark and gloomy, too, and it would have been fun to get a little more canonical detail on the Romulan/Reman connection, but I actually liked Tom Hardy's performance as Shinzon, and how ironic/cruel the whole thing was turning out for still-lonely Picard. I'd have preferred more links to "Unification", and perhaps the involvement of Ambassador Spock? No big gala opening - just one work colleague who went with me to the local cinema on opening Thursday night...

This movie was no worse than other ST films (esp. ST V), but the whole exercise proved how jaded and bitter a large number of ST fans had become. After "Nemesis", they turned their ire on "Enterprise", and will no doubt lie in wait for JJ Abrams to put (any) foot wrong with his upcoming ST movie project.