For those you didn’t catch William Shatner’s documentary "The Captains" on Epix, EpixHD.com or on DVD, the documentary is now available to stream on Netflix.
The Captains, which features William Shatner interviewing fellow Star Trek captains Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Jane Mulgrew and Scott Bakula, has been available on DVD since October 18.
You can check out Anthony’s TrekMovie.com’s review of the documentary here.
I heard this was a good show.
It was. Everyone should check it out.
Well worth checking it out. Avery is still living in space…and the part where they’re all talking about how working such long hours etc has effecting them personally is worth the price alone
Who is Jane Mulgrew? ;)
I know I saw Kayla in this and I believe I caught a passing glimpse of Anthony…
Watches this movie last night and Avery Brooks is as weird as they come. He had to have been high as a kite the entire interview.
I loved this minus the stoned Avery Brooks segments. Maybe it was just me, but I felt it went beyond nutty to just plain rude to throw out phrases and expect the interviewer to decipher the meaning. Maybe the Emissary bit went to his head?
Ok now I’ve gotta see this. Getting it 2mrw!
When will Captain Crunch finally get promoted? He should be an Admiral by now.
Excellent. Gonna watch it now.
Some wonderful moments in this documentary. Though I have to say I found the Avery Brooks interview and the schmaltzy piano playing at the beginning very annoying, on the whole this is an inspiring little documentary that Shatner has put together.
Just bought this on amazon.com only cost me just over £4 for international shipping to the UK. Problem is it will take 18-32 days to reach me. It must be going on a rowing boat! Oh well, good job I’m not in a hurry.
It will look good next to my Mind Meld DVD…
Epix has it for free, don’t have to enter any credit card info
I loved it. Watched it last night. Avery is different… But I get him. He thinks about things in a different more philosophical way. He has ALWAYS been that way. I remember him being on the arsenio hall show many years ago and he was just as different. Patrick and Bill and Kate all had me in tears at various points. I had no idea the toll it took.
There is a good panel interview about it, with Shatner, Brooks, and Bakula, at
http://www.epixhd.com/the-captains/
(Scroll down to the right, and click where it says Interviews)
The documentary got better and better as it went on. I felt Shatner had a connection with every single actor, but especially with Patrick Stewart (no surprise) & Scott Bakula. It made me feel even more respect for all the actors that played “captain”, but Avery definitely is a different sort of character…not that I have a problem with it. I just have the feeling he may have been a tough interview-lol.
#6
“I loved this minus the stoned Avery Brooks segments. Maybe it was just me, but I felt it went beyond nutty to just plain rude to throw out phrases and expect the interviewer to decipher the meaning. Maybe the Emissary bit went to his head?”
Yea, but Mr. Shatner certainly handled it well! I’m sure most interviewers would have freaked out …
Regards.
The Brooks stuff made me think he was channeling Darmok at Tanagra.
It was okay, not great. Stewart talking about screwing up his marriages was fine, but he looked so bored when Shat took 5 min to ask a question.
If you want good Shat stuff find the old (often unnintentionally funny, but still compelling) bio SHATNER WHERE NO MAN from 1979. And that has a 40 page conversation with him and Nimoy.
@12
Unfortunately, Epix is only any good if you reside in the United States…. Dagnabbit!
17. kmart – November 5, 2011
—-The Brooks stuff made me think he was channeling Darmok at Tanagra.—-
That’s funny.
And I gotta say…I HATED Darmok at Tanagra — HATED IT!!
“Darmok…when the walls fell…” Oh will you please shut up!!
You & me must be the only ones! The idea is cute, but it falls apart.
Great Documentary!!! If you love trek you will love this. Although my second favorite captain played by Mr. Brooks looked like he has smoked way to much crack… Its actually kind of sad. It was not even an interview with him… Shatner had to salvage is some how by singing…. Other then that it was a great documentary very touching.
Watched it last night on Netflix. Was kind of a let down really. The idea is cool, Shater interviewing the other Captians, but it didn’t really work. Brooks seems kinda crazy to me, Shater askes a question and Brooks just plays piano? And Backlula believes in ghosts apparently. Maybe Nimoy should interview Frakes, Visitor,Beltran and Blalock next?
I enjoyed it–brooks is a bit outthere but seems very high on life n philosophy—my fave moments besides shat bonding with stewart nbakula was arm wrestling pine-hilarious..his touching moments with special needs people–how shat thoroughly enjoyed surprising fans at the conv–and shat admitting trek kinda embarassed him until lately–all great stuff-best shat work in years..
I saw The Captains and genuinely worried whether or not Avery Brooks was okay, but then I saw the Comic Con panel and he was definitely more coherent. He answered the questions in a much more straightforward way.
He says he’s more comfortable at the piano, but maybe the piano is actually a handicap. There is also the possibility that the way the questions were framed, or the way the film was edited, may have affected the way the interview came off, especially since there’s a segment in the film where Shatner speaks at a convention basically roasting Brooks and Stewart, behind Brooks’ back anyway.
Just saw it last night.
I really believe there is something seriously wrong with Avery Brooks. And I agree with Eric above (#24); I wonder if he’s on some kind of bipolar/anti-psychotic medication and forgot to dose up for the interview. His appearance on The Captains was genuinely weird in an Andy Kaufman-uncomfortable kind of way. If he needs help, I hope he gets it.
And yes, Shatner came off like a schmuck for talking about Brooks behind his back at the Vegas con. That was not cool; especially if Brooks’ has a genuine disorder (I refuse to believe he got hired on DS9 in that state). I did, however, appreciate the scene where Shatner comforted a very disabled (and courageous) fan. I know it was largely for the doc’s cameras, but I’m sure it made that fan’s day and for that it was a very good thing (whatever the motive; who cares? It did some good…).
Scott Bakula and Chris Pine came off as the most balanced of the bunch. I was a little surprised at how melancholy Patrick Stewart seemed. He seemed to lack so much of “Picard’s” confidence…
All in all, the Captains doc was nothing special. A lot of dull, plodding, wildly self-indulgent actor-ish bulls**t. An ‘Inside the Actors Studio’ wannabe, but without that show’s discipline and probing interview style. As a documentary I really didn’t learn anything terribly new from it (you work long hours, family life suffers… big revelation there).
I doubt I’ll ever want to watch this again…
I think it is important to illustrate how difficult life in TV, film, or anything really is. I think if you take nothing else away from that segment it at least provides some insight into why the divorces are so common in professions that taxing. It’s not as frivolous as the media makes it sound.
I did find the segment with the fan in the wheelchair was kind of maudlin, but yeah, the guy did get what he wanted, so props there.
The Avery stuff did kind of remind me of David Byrne’s early interviews or Harrison Ford later ones.
I saw it last week on Netflix. It’s a great concept for a documentary… but I didn’t like how Shatner made everything about himself. “Oh you were classically trained? Me too!” I give Shatner credit that is due – he’s 80 and still kick’n butt… but please don’t try to compare yourself to the likes of “Sir” Patrick Stewart, or any of the rest – It just ain’t happening. That doesn’t mean we don’t love The Shat. Cause we all do… deeply.
I just don’t know what to say about Avery Brookes. Yeah he was out there all right. He sounds like one of two things: Either he’s gone Yoda, or he sounds like one of those people that try to use big words to make themselves sound smart but they sound like a cracked out idiot instead. Of course Shatner must do his best to come up with a way to say “Me too!.. This is really all about me!!”… and he does. Gotta love the Shat!
I picked this up on DVD the other day. It was better than I thought it was going to be. Definately worth watching.
As for Avery Brooks… *shakes head* he is incredibly talented on the piano. I would love to see him play live. But… I’m not sure I could handle having a conversation with him. :D
I ordered this presale with Amazon and got it a few weeks ago. It is well worth it. The stuff filmed at the 2010 Vegas con I remember so well, especially the part my wife and I are in.
But the main thing that Shatner was trying to get across to us, is that each actor had their own challenges to deal with and while we as fans enjoy their work and the shows we sit through for an hour (42 minutes if you watch on DVD), they worked long, hard hours each week to get that out to us. It make me grateful for my plain 8 hour a day/ 5 days a week job.
Still it would be nice to be on any Star Trek set…. if only to dream.
Funny what Shat got outta his talk with Stewart….in his new book he essentially just used that speech to tell us fans “F**k You” if we yell out a star trek phrase to him on the street. Lovely. That book was a kinda odd read in its own.
Worth watching — just remember it’s not so much about Trek as about the impact of it on the actors’ lives.
I still harbor the feeling there’s a method to Brooks’ madness.
Neat to have Shat and Bak finally meet; they’re the most what-you-see-is-what-you-get of the actors involved.
Much better than I anticipated. It’s about the actor’s lives, not necessarily about Trek, so much. Great convention footage.
I don’t think Avery would be a tough interview. All Shat had to do to make it easier would have been to take out the bong and pass it back and forth. I seriously doubt Avery is like this normally. He had to be on something…something really GOOOODDDD!!!!! I have to say I was impressed with Shatner…might have made me think he is human after all. He really went out of his way to be kind to the fan in the wheelchair. He looked really touched and went the extra mile for the man. I am disabled myself so that moment meant a lot to me
After hearing about what he said about James Doohan during his fairwell con appearance, I can’t bring myself to watch anything Shatner has done.
I also find it very funny that a documentary made in Canda, Funded by a Canadian companies (Chorus Entertainment, The Movie Network, and Movie Central), and most likely supplemented by the Canadian National Film Board tax credit (meaning my Tax dollars help pay for it), isn’t available on Netflix Canada.
34 – yes checked Netflix, nada. And where’s all the Trek TV series? Ah well, long as I watch 1-2 movies off it each month it pays for itself I guess. Latest was Hellboy, Ron Pearlman did a good job in that!
Rosario do you have new articles i would love another hollywood movie’s update.
I was there at the Vegas convention when Bill was talking about making this. I didn’t know what he was talking about when he said Avery was out there. After watching it, I know exactly what he meant. WTF? I always hated DS9 and thought he over-enunciated so many of his lines, but this is just ridiculous.