Preview & Excerpts Of Star Trek Magazine #26 – including David Warner Interview

Issue 26 of the official Star Trek Magazine arrives on newsstands in the US tomorrow. This issue has a focus on the Star Trek films, with an extensive features on all eleven films. We have the cover, preview pages and excerpts below, including an excerpt from the exclusive interview with David Warner. 

 

STAR TREK MAGAZINE ISSUE 26 PREVIEW

David Warner on Chain of Command

Guest star David Warner is interview about his various roles in Star Trek, where he recalls working on the Star Trek: The Next Generation story "Chain of Command."

It was in Stratford that David Warner first met Patrick Stewart, whom he later starred alongside in The Next Generation’s “Chain of Command, Parts I and II”.
“When I was doing Hamlet in 1965, Patrick was just starting in Shakespeare,” he remembers. “I was playing Hamlet and he played the Player King. I was on stage with him all the time when he did his speeches, and I was absolutely mesmerized. I just couldn’t take my eyes off him. Over the years, I followed his career, and so it was a great thrill to see from a distance him doing Star Trek, and take off with that, and then of course being asked to do two of the episodes.”

However, Warner’s role as the despicable Cardassian interrogator Gul Madred only became his at the last minute. “I took over from somebody who fell out, at two or three days’ notice,” he reveals. “I couldn’t learn the lines, because science fiction is like another language to me, so they very kindly wrote up a lot of the dialogue for me, so I had to read it on boards! I wasn’t thinking at all about ‘acting’ it. I was more concerned about getting the lines out!”

The scenes between Picard and Madred make for uncomfortable but intense viewing. “It’s great to do,” he enthuses. “To play scenes with an old mate, it’s wonderful. I’m not against doing ensemble pieces, but within the context of a thinking person’s action series, to have a two-hander like that – it works!

“But as I say, I was really more concerned about the lines being there! From what I gather, nobody has any idea that I was reading them.”

Of his three Star Trek roles, Warner considers Madred his favorite. “Even though it was an episode of a TV drama, I felt my input with Patrick in The Next Generation was far more than in any of the big-budget films,” he says. “It was a really important character, whereas in the films you seem to get swamped. When there are two of you playing a scene, it’s far more fulfilling than when you’re sitting on the deck of the Enterprise for a reaction shot.”


2-page spread from David Warner interview in STM #26

Dispelling the Myths on Romulans and Klingons

STM #26 has a feature on each of the eleven feature films, all written by Star Trek authors like Larry Nemecek, Greg Cox and Christopher L. Bennett. In addition there are additional articles related to the films, including one a “Dispelling the Myths” column looking at the Romulans and the Klingons and asking who are really "The Honorable Ones"?. Here is an excerpt and preview:

There is a belief in Star Trek fandom that when the franchise returned to the screens for adventures in the 24th Century, it didn’t just add to the existing mythos, but inverted some of it. Specifically, there is a belief that, in-between the original Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation, the attributes, codes and morals of the two big alien empires were deviously switched.

Allegedly the Romulans were once proud warriors with an admirable code of honor, while the Klingons were base thugs who scorned such concepts. Then along came TNG, and suddenly the Klingons are always portraying themselves as being ultra-honorable, while the Romulans are cast as sneaky and dishonorable thugs.

Even the very first book writing about the creation of the show, Gene Roddenberry and Stephen E. Whitfield’s The Making of Star Trek, tells us that to the Klingons ‘honor is a despicable trait.’ It looks pretty conclusive, on a casual first glance: proud, honorable Romulans and sneaky rule-breaking Klingons in the original series, switched for thuggish Romulan warmongers and proud Klingons thereafter.

In truth, we didn’t really see enough of either race in the original series to sufficiently set in stone anything that could then be considered switched later. The Romulans only appear twice in the original series – three times if you count stock footage of a ship in “The Deadly Years” – compared to around 60 appearances in the later shows. Likewise the Klingons only appear in person in seven episodes of the original series, with over 100 appearances following in the later shows, and it is these later shows which focus on their honor.

It is easy to see how the perception came about. The main problem with interpreting these traits is that word ‘honor.’ To most of the people reading this, and most of the people who made the various Star Trek series, ‘honor’ means chivalric honor specifically. No doubt the Klingons would indeed find chivalric honor a complete waste of time, but chivalry is only one particular society’s type of honor, not a synonym for honor overall…


2-page spread from Myths article in STM #26

Speaking of Romulans, there is also an article focusing on how they have ‘risen from the ashes’ to be prominently featured in the last two Trek films. Here is an image of that article:


2-page spread from Romulans article in STM #26


Much more in the Star Trek Magazine


Issue 26 of The Official Star Trek Magazine will be on newsstands May 11th, 2010. It comes with two covers, with one available onlly in comic book shops.


Regular cover


Comic book shop exclusive cover

You can also Subscribe to get all the upcoming issues of Star Trek Magazine.

To receive Star Trek Magazine exclusives, including sneak peeks, interviews, promotional offers, and sweepstakes, visit: titanmagazines.com/mailing/.

To become a fan of Star Trek Magazine on Facebook, visit: facebook.com/StarTrekMagazine

 

32 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

I may have to pick this one up, I loved Warner in ‘Chain of Command’, very good episodes. His character in ST:V – I liked that as much as I liked the rest of the movie which was eh.

Mr. Warner is a very commanding actor.
He knows how to exude either sympathy or contempt.
Chain of Command was excellent and you have to Watch Time after Time with him an Malcom Macdowell!!!

I always thought they should have found bigger parts for David Warner during TNG because he was great as Gorkon and incredible as Madred. I don’t think anyone acted one on one with Sir Patrick that well until First Contact honestly.

Madred should have been the 8th Star Trek movie. The Dominion War!!!!

Already planned to get this one! HAD to skip the VOY ish….

was going to buy this until i read the typically trashing article about TMP. of course it was all glowy & lovey about the new one. even 5 got props. wtf..??!?

I don’t think anyone else would have played Gul Madred nearly as well as Warner. Amazing that he was reading his lines on short notice. One of my favorite episodes!

I still cringe every time I see the trio of Kirk, Spock & Uhura representing the new Trek. I seriously hope they get back to the Kirk, Spock & McCoy trinity that we really care about in the sequel. PLEASE!

David Warner is a superb actor and has always been one of my favourites! When people debate who is a good actor and who is not, just look to Warner for someone at the top of their craft!

Shakespeare and Star Trek always mix well, and Warner would have made a fine captain.

Star Trek is fortunate to have had access to him for two flicks and TNG/COC. Loved him Nick Meyer’s ‘Time After Time” as well. A vastly underused resource. IMHO.

The interrogations in Chain Of Command were one of Trek’s proudest moments. Excellent writing, excellent acting, bold and relevant.

Yup David Warner has always been great in anything he does-i was hoping tron legacy would have some kinda role for him-he was incredible in tron-remember him also in time bandits-he makes a great villain-now that was a totally original movie—odd that dw finds it tough to read scifi lines-he is i think best known for them–

Boy, that Chris Pine sure has one BIG HEAD!

I’d rather watch COC than INS or NEM any day.

Fascinating to learn he did most of his lines off of cue cards for those scenes.

Hey, if Brando can read off of cue cards, so can Warner!

I liked Warner as the almighty evil being in Time Bandits.

I second that Andy! It’s EVIL, don’t touch it!

Oh and it was superb as Sark in Tron!

David Warner as Jack the Ripper in Time after Time was awesome.. as Sark in TRON…and Ra’s Al Ghul in al the Batman animated episodes.. not to mention all of his TREK appearances..make him truly a godfather of scifi!!. he is one of those like Patrick Stewart or Ian Mckellan that make scifi respectable!!

Years ago I read an interview the one of the writers of TNG who talked about how the Klingons were fleshed out for the series and how the writers thought it would be interesting to switch the roles of the Klingons and Romulans. I wish I could remember the name of the writer and locate the interview, but in any case I never cared for the “inversion.”

I always liked Warner’s flair for comedy, as witness his role as “The Lobe” in “Freakazoid”.

Also, amazingly comic performances from Mr. Warner in “Time Bandits” and “The Man with Two Brains.”

I got the magazine the in the mail the other day and it is a great issue with the details about all the films.
The article about David Warner is really good. I cannot beleive he has not been invited to a ST CON yet. That makes no sense to me, some one at Creations needs to get on the ball and get him to show up in Las Vegas some time.

The Romulan vs Klingon article referring to who has the most honor or who started out with honor in TOS, I should say. That brings up a lot of good points. You will just have to read it to decide on your own. So the choice is now Romulan Ale or Klingon Warnog Ale…..???

David Warner was nearly the other Emissary in DS9’s “Accession”.

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Accession_(episode)#Background_Information

I wonder why Chris Pine’s head looks so large in that shot? Was the photo altered? :D

David Warner is a great actor. I’ve always enjoyed seeing him in the roles he’s done. I agree. He’s played some epic roles in science fiction/fantasy.

The Romulans appeared 60 times in the later shows?? That seems rather high.

David Warner adds class to all he has done

I like the cover photo.

They should ask Warner about his work in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.

@25 No alteration was made to that shot – it may be that the lighting gives a different impression?

@6 Typically trashing TMP article? There are two TMP articles in the mag: Larry Nemecek’s, which certainly isn’t trashing the film; and Bjo and John Trimble, who were explaining why fans were disappointed with the movie. V didn’t get “props” – David McIntee’s piece in some ways “damns it with faint praise” – in other words, he says it’s a great TV episode… which on the budget V had isn’t exactly a compliment!!

@23 I couldn’t believe it when Dan Berry rang me after the interview with David Warner to tell me about Warner’s lack of convention experience, and I certainly hope he can be persuaded to do something. How about it, Anthony?

Oh and the “From the Ashes” isn’t just about the TV /film appearances of the Romulans – it also includes some exclusive material from Star Trek Online’s Christine Thompson about the role of the Romulans in the game… which isn’t on the spread printed above!

“I” Rudy Alapag Jr,
Hello,
I will be getting my 1st Star Trek Magazine thru Titan Magazines. Well, I did subscribe to Star Trek Communicator Magazine once and I found out that it was going to be cancelled and i’d never had gotten my next one after the one had Seven-of-Nine in the front cover, so,now I’m gonna do it again with my Mom to subscribe to this Magazines of Star Trek.That means, re-subscribing again but its Star Trek The Magazine. Even though I’m gonna get the newest one at Barnes and Noble Bookseller to start off. And with my 1st mag, It will be my 1st in the mail for the 1st time.Don’t worry, I’m not gonna try to bother calling STM about when’s the next issue coming. Welcome aboard, again Rudy

It’s long past time David Warner was recognized for his contributions to the Star Trek legacy–and to sci-fi, fantasy, in general.
While the genre may be “like another language” to Warner, I’ve always thought he was well-suited to it. I can’t imagine anyone else in the role of Stevenson in Time After Time, or as Evil in Time Bandits, nor as Chancellor Gorkon in Trek VI.
And while I’ve never heard any of the audio dramas he’s done for Doctor Who, I’m sure he’s outstanding. He’s simply wonderful, in everything, and I was happy to see him in Star Trek magazine.