Star Trek: Horizon

Having watched quite a few Trek fan productions, I didn't hold out much hope for this film. It was a pleasant surprise to be able to sit down and watch it from start to finish without any real pain. The special effects are very good. No out-of-perspective CGI, some top-notch cosmology, and an overall nice look that fits beautifully in the Trek Enterprise universe. The "smokey" ship background that some have complained about didn't bother me at all. It was really just a bit of soft-focus designed to disguise some prop flaws and low-budget backdrops... a pretty standard strategy for made-on-a- shoestring flicks.

The acting was a bit wooden at times, as might be expected from amateurs. It wasn't great, but never dipped to MST3K standard. Paul Lang's Capt. Hawke reminded me a bit of Avery Brooks' Captain Sisko. He just didn't fit the classic rugged Starfleet captain mold. That said, he was by no means a disaster.

Most Trekkers will be familiar with the plot. We've seen it all before in bits and pieces. Overall it was nicely assembled and had plenty of action to keep things moving along. As they say, saved the Universe... again.

This is not a great film, but it does show up some of the big-budget flops that seem to occasionally pollute the Star Trek pantheon. It may not be official Trek, but it is pretty darn good.

I am so amazed at all the work that goes into making a fan film. This is one of the best I've seen. This film was made to tie up some loose ends caused by the cancellation of Enterprise. It was very well done and made to look very professional. The special effects and story line complemented each other and it seemed like most of the characters played off each other very nicely. Some people seem to go above and beyond to critique the acting, story, cgi, etc... for those of you who do, why bother watching at all? Me, I am happy to no end that people give their time, talent and money to put together a quality film that could have actually been made into an episode.

It's hard to decide what rating to assign to this Kickstarter-funded Star Trek fan film. The fact that it's been done on an absolute shoe-string budget by commercial Hollywood standards plus that the crew and cast are amateurs means that one is inclined to be generous with the critique.

However, a movie deserves an honest review no matter who made it and I wouldn't want to be generous to the point of patronising.

Given the humble resources from which it was created, this is really quite a good film. Okay yes, the acting is a little awkward and the dialogue a bit stilted. But lest we forget, some of the original Star Trek cast were a bit hammy (I'm looking at you, Shatner). It also has a tiny cast, so you don't really get the sense of Starfleet...more a sort of Starsquad. Overall, though, it's a huge leap forward from earlier fan film efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the film relies heavily on CGI just like its commercial cousins. What is surprising is that it's mostly quite well done, especially the spacecraft. Mostly.

By far, by a veritable country mile, the worst thing about this movie is that it's absolutely saturated with lens flares and an almost constant soft-focus haze - perhaps to help disguise the imperfections in the background CGI or scenery? From what I could tell in the few scenes where the blur and lens flares weren't dialled up to eleven, it still looked okay so I really think it was a mistake to go so overboard with the visual distortions.

This is especially unfortunate because this movie almost...almost...had me suspending belief and becoming immersed but the god-awful continued glare and flare visual overlays just kept breaking the mood.

Final verdict? A flawed but nonetheless very impressive fan film. I doff my hat to Tommy Kraft, his cast and crew.

I'm old enough to remember when Star Trek first came out, and I thought it was fantastic. I was ten years old and easy to impress. This movie has some of those same qualities, it looks cheap, sounds cheap and for what it is not a bad job overall.Yes it has its flaws but it also has its strengths. All in all not bad, considering.

I found this movie to be a worthy effort.

The GOOD: Considering it is crowdfunded, this movie is INCREDIBLE for the shoestring budget that it was made on, and a somewhat enjoyable viewing experience. If you are a fan of Star Trek, then check it out! Special effects are on par and done very well. The plot is well thought out and is intriguing.

The BAD: Some of the acting just isn't there... occasionally a line is delivered and I just sat there saying to myself "Huh". Some line just drop like a rock in the ocean. The seem out of place or lacking any real emotion.

Much of the filming on the "ship" itself leads me to believe that they don't have LED bulbs in the future... they might as well be filming in a cave, everything is SO Dark.

The UGLY: The script is spattered with lines that just don't feel right for Star Trek. Some of the Characters don't feel real, they are a cliché (perhaps more character development was necessary)... I feel like the script needed to be a bit more polished, and some of the acting just isn't on par with the big budget products.

Summary: All and all Star Trek - Horizon, is a worthy effort that is a decent story and worthy of your time if you can forgive some of the bad lines and characters that you just don't connect with. Would I have paid $8 to see this movie?? Probably not, but considering what it is, and how it was made, it is a decent movie.