Trekkies

Finally, something new and fresh. This documentary needed to be made. It's very funny, scary, weird, touching and always interesting. Although the pace drags at times, it's entertaining and *gasp!* educational.

I'm no trekkie, I do enjoy the movies though. Although I can't relate to the trekkies featured here, one can't help but admire their devotion. Oh sure, we laugh when we see some klingon's going to a fast food restaurant, get a tad freaked out by a transvesite in a Starfleet uniform, and shake our heads at "Spinerfems". But guess what, they aren't hurting anybody! In fact, from what I saw, local Trekkie chapters do a lot of good for their community. Klingons even visit children's hospitals!

Is it weird to see someone in public wearing a phaser and a star fleet uniform? Yes, to so-called 'normal' people. Yet it's considered perfectly acceptable for an armchair jock to wear major-league baseball caps and jerseys of their favorite players in public. Hey, if a trekkie married couple has a succesful dental practice, do they need to "get a life"? Maybe the guy who spends his Sundays at the bar watching football all day needs to get one.

Hey, I laughed at it most of the time. I admit it. The candid interviews of some of the ex-cast members are a riot! And near the end of the video, there was one interview with a Radio-Shack-Trekkie (the worst kind, I think) where I could not stop laughing. I mean it, he was such a GEEK. But then, this guy has invented something useful, I haven't. There you go.

I am not a fan of Star Trek, but I thought this movie was hilarious, and very well made.

I never realized how much Star Trek fans loved that show. Some wear Star Trek uniforms to work. Some wear "phasers" every day. Some are fluent in Klingon. There's a full translation of Hamlet in Klingon language. A dentist has outfitted his entire office as if it were aboard the Enterprise. Who knew?

This is wacky and funny. Trekkies doesn't relentlessly mock its subjects, but shows them sympathetically. Still, it's hilarious.

I recommend it to anyone at all familiar with Star Trek.

It is NOT only for Star Trek fans.

It seems that the dissatisfying depths sunk to by The Phantom Menace have caused the sci-fi pendulum to swing wildly back into the Star Trek camp. First we're given Galaxy Quest, a fictional spoof on the Star Trek convention sub-culture, and now the Trekkies, a dead-pan documentary that manages to take the spoof further than any fiction could. The premise is simple; former Next Generation cast member Denise Crosby wanders the desolate plains of science fiction conventions with camera in tow. What she uncovers is often fascinating, frequently disturbing, and almost without exception, incredibly sad.

In case you've missed one of the best-documented cultural phenomena of the past two decades, convention attendees notoriously devote their time and energy to emulating what they've seen on the screen, which usually means playing dress-up. Some are obviously out to have fun, but most seem to invest a great deal of their self-worth in the creation of their characters. Even this can provide good entertainment, but it often seems unbearably vacant; many of these folks express admiration for the society of equality and freedom depicted by Trek, but instead of actually doing something in the real world to make the vision come to life, they put on a wig, paint their face blue and go to the con.

Not surprisingly, the pretense clung to by the Trekkies (or Trekkers, as some prefer to be called) rings false much of the time. The Star Fleet officers they strive to mimic are members of a hierarchical, pseudo-military organization, in which people presumably ascend in rank through merit and achievement. The sad sacks running around in Trekkies have the luxury of defining themselves as they wish. Logic would dictate that such a scenario would produce many more Lieutenant Commanders than Yeoman, and Trekkies provides ample proof. What's especially hard to comprehend is the gleam of pride so evident in the eyes of these people. What's to be proud of? They did nothing to earn their store-bought uniforms or pips, except, of course, purchase them. I got the impression that 20 years ago, these same folks would have been nudging me on the school bus, offering to tell me tales of their 20th-level Paladin, his +5 Holy Avenger, and the contents of his Bag of Holding.

Thankfully, we are also offered a few brief interviews with many of the cast members of the original series and its progeny. The descriptions of the "original" Trek convention are intriguing. Most admirable is Brent Spiner (Lt. Cmd. Data from Next Generation), whose dry humor and cynicism seem appropriate.

"Trekkies" Two years ago, when I visited a Star Trek convention for the first time I was amazed by the dedication some people have made to this universe that was envisioned by the late Gene Roddenberry. The people I met and the creatures I saw evoked two reactions : awe and embarrassment. I am a very casual fan of the series and movies, and I would never consider learning how to speak Klingon or dressing up in uniform. "Trekkies" is a documentary about the dedicated fans of Star Trek and the lives they lead in support of it. After watching the film, I would like everybody to refer to me as "Captain" of the starship S.S. Ed Rooney. Thank you. Former cast member of "Star Trek : The Next Generation", Denise Crosby, hosts this look into the private lives of Trekkers. Her participation in this film ensures deadly accuracy and the involvement of the casts of all the Star Trek shows, who usually show restraint when the subject of fandom comes their way. Director Roger Nygaard takes us into the underworld of conventions, meeting the fanatics who dress up in Starfleet uniforms, Klingon attire, and each hold dearly in their hearts the mythology of Star Trek. We also go out of the conventions and meet some individuals who have taken the world of Trek into their normal lives. One man runs a Star Trek themed dentist office, another complains about a homemade costume's soul-flattening inaccuracies, each speak with a spooky insistence that this is normal for them. We see homes turned into shrines to the show, men slaving over blow-torches trying recreate props, and one gut-busting moment in which a man is shown rolling around city streets in a recreated wheelchair from the program, something that truly needs to be seen to be believed. This all adds up to a rich portrait of the ways and means Star trek fans go to prove their love. Often, the camerawork is too busy and MTVish for my tastes. The movie also has so much to say in 90 minutes that it sacrifices any real in depth look at this phenomenon. I could sit through 5 hours of this, but all we get here is 90 minutes. This documentary is long overdue and I hope it spawns more like it. This is a population with so much to show us and so many stories to tell. One film seems hardly enough. ------------ 8

I've read many reviews before I actually saw Trekkies and I must admit that I was pleasingly surprised! It isn't as bad as many people want to make you believe... actually I find it very interesting and entertaining. True, there are some really weird people in it, but weird also means NOT boring. And I don't mean only in the film, I also mean in live!

I think, only StarTrek fans who take themselves too much serious, believe that the people who are shown in Trekkies were portrayed as freaks. I agree that they picked up some real extreme examples of StarTrek fandom, but as mentioned by Peanuthead before, that's what makes the film so interesting: "It's capacity to make you think!"

And anybody who thinks that they better had shown some "cooler" fans is missing the point! StarTrek fandom isn't about being cool or stylish, it's about enthusiasm, about devotion and about being what you want to be. It's about being yourself and enjoying it, to stay to yourself and not denying what you are or what you love. Not every fan has to live it out like that, but everybody who wants to, is free to do! Sometimes people actually want to be different, not necessarily to be someone special, just to be not like everyone else...

Sometimes this can cause extreme examples, but think about it, where does the term "fan" come from? ...right, it's the short form of fanatic! (And that's not necessarily always a negative term.)

At one or two occasions of the film I had to bear in mind the StarTrek/X-Men-Crossover-Novel "Planet X", where the character Archangel is pushing it over the edge with Captain Picard to test this unknown community of the future, which claims itself to be so liberal and tolerant...

Think about it and you probably think about yourself.

Greetings LoganSan

P.S.: Don't mind my bad English... :)