Pacionsbo
Absolutely Fantastic
Kamila Bell
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
rgcustomer
I'd like to see ST:TAS remade or rebooted.I think some of the first-season episodes (by no means all of them) were written pretty well, and you could attribute any problems with the story or dialog to the ~20-minute length of the episodes. If they were given ~30 minutes that a pay-TV network could provide, problems like that would be solvable. I think Star Trek fans deserve a look at these stories, done right, and I think there would be a lot of interest, if it was treated with respect rather than as disposable children's TV series.In ST:TAS, the voice acting was awful, even though much of the original cast was involved. Doohan's aliens were laughably weak, and Nichols was unable to disguise her voice for her multiple characters. But worst, the idea of all the actors in a scene not being together in the same place at the same time is just toxic to a series like Star Trek, where familiar characters are supposed to have personalities, interactions, and reactions.The music was also awful. A lot of times it was off to the races, trying to stimulate an excitement that the story and animation just weren't delivering. And it wasn't even Star Trek music, really. It sounded very generic to me. If it wasn't generic at the beginning, it certainly seemed that way by the end of season 2. I was glad there wasn't any more to endure. Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duuuuuuh makes me want to stab my ears.The animation? Awful. I'm just not going to say any more than that. Awful.What I HAVE liked, even though the look is very similar to TAS, are the two animated fan shorts Starship Farragut: The Animated Episodes. Because there are only two, I don't call it a series. But their execution based on TAS, is actually better than TAS, and it's just a fan project. Any remake or reboot of TAS would have to be superior to these.
siderite
This series started in 1973, but it is almost the same as Star Trek the Original Series. The drawing is horrible, as the US animation of the time was really primitive, but the stories are fun enough, even if really naive. Imagine a cross between ST-TOS and Snow White and you get this thing.There is something rebellious about this series, though. It's like an organic response to the fan reaction to the closing of the series. It's not enough, but it shows that budget cuts can be fought and executive decisions can be swayed by fan action.Right now the only hope for Star Trek is to be taken by Japanese manga artists and redone with sensible scripts. The stuff Hollywood releases as movie scripts these days is beyond salvation.
johcafra
Imagine the dilemma faced by the producers of this "cartoon show": A series that would entertain and perhaps even educate, without offending the sensitivities of children and their parents, while very closely watched by older viewers with near-eidetic memories.At its broadcast premiere TAS was compulsory viewing for any college-age Trekker if only because there was no other reason for anyone that age to publicly admit their Saturday morning viewing habits. All the same I missed perhaps a third of the episodes broadcast. Years later I passed on buying the series on videotape save for the first two episodes. I couldn't resist the DVD set. Fast forward some decades from its premiere and I can only report how quietly pleased I remain whenever I revisit TAS.Mass-produced animation in the Seventies was what it was, but Filmation had a good track record as an animation studio, showing suitable respect in adapting radio or older TV shows as well as The Cosby Kids.Yet this was anything but standard toonfare, not with the direct participation of Gene Roddenberry and Dorothy Fontana, most of the TOS regulars, and a studio committed to illustrate, storyboard and animate crowded story lines set in a consistent Trek universe, not practically constrained by an effects budget but limited to a general budget and production deadline, utilizing "library" shots and continuity at every opportunity, and fitting each story into 25 minutes or less with two commercial breaks.Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, Doohan, Takei, Nichols and Barrett voiced their TOS characters' animated counterparts and gracefully remained in character throughout. The radio-trained Doohan displayed remarkable versatility for other characters and made Commander Scott quite literally sing, while Barrett, Nichols and Takei deftly joined the hidden chorus. Uncredited voice artists included Stanley "Cyrano Jones" Adams, Ed "U.F.O." Bishop, Roger C. "Harry Mudd" Carmel, sci-fi author David Gerrold, Ted "Caddyshack" Knight, Mark "Sarek" Lenard, and the producers themselves.A writer's strike allowed some TOS scriptwriters to contribute to TAS. Gerrold adapted two scripts he had originally written for TOS. Fellow award-winning author Larry Niven adapted a short story involving his catlike Kzinti to the Trek universe. And even though the budget couldn't add Ensign Pavel Chekov the series got a decent first-time script from the character's actor Walter Koenig.We again met tribbles and Jones, and rollicked with Mudd. Spock got cloned, Kirk breathed water, and giant slugs outsmarted both of them. We first stepped onto a holodeck and visited the center of the galaxy. We revisited Ted Sturgeon's "Shore Leave" planet and the Guardian of Forever, the latter in a moving story that quite literally gave me pause. At least two episodes would turn today's conservative heads halfway round, one episode bears a remarkably prescient title, and another episode carries as much "hard science" as you would expect from a Richard Feynman lecture.TAS appears made out of respect, with love, and displaying no small amount of fun. (Is that a portrait of the producers and Gerrold as Enterprise crewmen in one episode?) It could very well have been the TOS season that wasn't and should have been. Trekkers of any generation should add TAS to their Trek canon and sit back to observe artists at work and play.
rooprect
Some consider this to be the ho-hum followup to a great show. I couldn't disagree more.Aside from the fact that it's a cartoon and the episodes are rushed in 30 mins, I found this to be a philosophical cut above the Trek of the late 60s. Here in the animated series, we catch a glimpse of some amazingly progressive ideas such as non-violence, compassion and tolerance. Kirk & Spock aren't so quick to set phasers on kill as they were before. Klingon/Federation confrontations in space are resolved without bloodshed. In one episode (my favourite), Kirk defends Lucifer's right to live, because Lucifer--for all his past crimes and flaws--is a living entity. Folks, this is some advanced stuff.Of course that means we don't see as much "action". Not many shootouts. Nothing violent really. The red shirts don't get wasted as bad. You may find yourself screaming at the TV, "Kirk, you WUSS! I woulda KICKED HIS ASS!" But that, I believe, is the whole point of Gene Roddenberry's visionary creation--that humans of the future would be a much more evolved, diplomatic and nonviolent species. This was evident in the original '66-'69 Trek, but we get it full force in the '74-'75 animated series.If it means anything to you, both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were vegetarians for ethical reasons during the production of this show, and they still are today. (Edit 7 years after my original post: I'm pretty sure William Shatner has been poundin down the pepperoni pizzas lately, but Nimoy is still a veggie)So if you're looking for zap-zap, kill the monster, good vs. evil stuff, you'll be disappointed. If instead you're ready for a truly philosophical mind trip, bordering on Buddhist spiritualism, then this will rock your socks.And the music is primo.9/10.
