Articles by Matt Wright

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Feature Films (TMP-NEM), TOS, Viral Video/Mashup/Images | April 5, 2015 | By: Matt Wright 78 comments so far

Spockboy video – Sepia Trek

Long time TrekMovie readers will remember our friend Paul “Spockboy” Sibbald for his hilarious TOS gag edits of episodes. He let us know there was a new creation up on his YouTube channel for our viewing pleasure. He says he was inspired by: the gentlemen who took pictures of the original Enterprise model and Photoshopped them into scenes from the various Star Trek films. That story, plus the recent very sad death of Leonard Nimoy, inspired me to create this video. It is the sequence from Star Trek III when the crew steals the Enterprise. In this video however it is the TOS crew (and ships) and is done as a 1927 silent film. It is certainly unique and I think you’ll like it. It was shot completely with models and required a great deal of rotoscoping to make it work. There’s some major TOS love in this one, Matt Decker is sent after Kirk in this version of events, and there’s a fun homage to the first Sci-Fi silent film – Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon. Click through for the full video.

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DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming, TNG Remastered | January 2, 2015 | By: Matt Wright 91 comments so far

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Seven – Blu-ray review

  With the release of Season 7 we come to the end of rediscovering The Next Generation in high definition. It has been an amazing two years of releases from the CBS Digital team, lifting the veil of edited on videotape standard definition haze. So this release is bittersweet, a new season to go through is always welcome, but knowing this is the last remastered Trek show for the foreseeable future is saddening. Read on for the full review.

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DS9, DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming, TNG Remastered | July 3, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 94 comments so far

See Deep Space Nine in HD from TNG Season 6 on Blu-ray + Will We See DS9 Series on Blu-ray?

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 on Blu-ray last Tuesday gave fans an exciting glimpse at the Deep Space Nine station (setting for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) in high definition. You get to see the station inside and out, even Morn! See below for the DS9 in HD images, plus a discussion about what the future holds for DS9 in HD.

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DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming, TNG Remastered | June 23, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 43 comments so far

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 6 Blu-ray review

Season 6 is arguably the best season of TNG. The writers that we associate with TNG’s better episodes were all present, the production staff had TNG down cold, the visual effects were at their peak technologically, and the episodes covered a diverse group of subjects and genres.  Read on to see how the season looks re-mastered and details of  the treasure trove of deleted scenes the CBS Digital team were able to find, available June 24th in North America.

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DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming, TNG Remastered | June 19, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 33 comments so far

Star Trek: The Next Generation – “Chain of Command” Blu-ray review

Along with the boxed set of Season 6, the single disc release of ”Chain of Command”, the critically acclaimed two-part episode that deals with torture, prisoner’s rights, and handling the change of leadership under a new commanding officer, will also be available to purchase on June 24 in the USA. As with other single-disc releases, both parts have been edited together to make one 90-minute TV movie.

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Celebrity, Trek on TV, Web | June 13, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 12 comments so far

Reading Rainbow Kickstarter funding with Trek alumni

As we reported a couple of weeks ago LeVar Burton had started a Kickstarter fund to bring back beloved children’s show Reading Rainbow. It made their first goal of funding within a day, but the need for funding isn’t over, in an update this week Burton announced that he has enlisted Trek alumni to help him read stories, there will be exclusive Reading Rainbow Live! events for Kickstarter  pledges. Reading Rainbow Live! is a series of one-time-only events where I’m inviting you to bring your child and join us for a few hours. My friends and I will read from a few children’s books. We’ll all watch a classic episode of Reading Rainbow together, and everyone will go home with some special goodies. And afterward, there will also be a smaller Meet & Greet reception where a small number of families can join us to take photos, sign autographs and talk! The first performance will feature the “Men of Star Trek,” which include: Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, and Robert Picardo. The second performance is themed as the “Women of Star Trek,” with Marina Sirtis and Gates McFadden, Jeri Ryan and Kate Mulgrew appearing. There are also two special solo performances planned, one with William Shatner and one with Patrick Stewart. All of the live readings will be Los Angeles, except for Patrick Stewart’s, which will be held in New York City. Read on for the full details.

DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming, ENT | April 28, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 72 comments so far

Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4 Blu-ray review

So we’ve finally come to Season 4 of Enterprise, often considered the best of the series. It is a bittersweet ending, going out on a high note, but it’s sad to think that this is the last TV series of the entire franchise, canceled after only four seasons. What we have in this final season is generally very good, we are treated to excellent multi-part story arcs about the Eugenics Wars, Vulcans, Andorians, Orions, and Klingons (oh my!) plus the mirror universe is revisited one last time. Read on for the review of the excellent Season 4 Blu-ray set.

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DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming, ENT | April 1, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 71 comments so far

Enterprise Season 4 Blu-ray full details

Star Trek Enterprise Season 4 is due out at the end of this month, April 29th (to be exact). With that time fast approaching CBS has now officially sent out finalized details of the Blu-ray discs of this highly anticipated season, widely considered the best season of the series. We have new excellent sounding documentaries. “In Conversation: Writing Star Trek Enterprise,” an exclusive, 90-minute writing staff reunion special, which includes Brannon Braga, Mike Sussman, André Bormanis, David Goodman, Chris Black, Phyllis Strong, and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.  As with the previous seasons there is also a new four-part documentary “Before Her Time: Decommissioning Enterprise,” which charts the last season of Enterprise.  Plus there are new episode commentaries too. Read on for the full details from the press release.

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DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming, Star Trek Into Darkness | March 3, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 446 comments so far

Trekcore’s “Into Darkness” deleted scenes investigation

As many of you may remember, Paramount Home Video and Bad Robot pulled quite the shenanigans on us consumers when it came time to release Star Trek Intro Darkness on home video. Extras were made retailer (and e-tailer) exclusive, if you wanted a commentary the only way to get that was to get it from iTunes, other special features were only available via Xbox Live, and so on. So most people didn’t get to see the deleted scenes. Well Trekcore has vigilantly assembled all the sources of deleted scenes they can get their hands on. This includes the famous “why Carol Markus has a British accent” scene, as well as the meeting of Kirk and Lucille Harewood (the young girl saved by Khan’s blood early in the movie) during the ending commemoration ceremony. There’s lots more to read in Trekcore’s two articles. Part One Part Two

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Trek Franchise, Trek on TV | February 5, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 293 comments so far

Star Trek’s heart is in television, says Ron D. Moore

The web site Digital Spy recently caught up with Ron D. Moore to interview him about his new SyFy Channel show Helix, they couldn’t help but talk a little Trek with him. I think its home and its heart is really in television. That’s really what Star Trek is – the core concept is really a TV show. I think the features are good and I really admire what JJ Abrams has done with the last two films – I think it’s great – but the heart and soul of that franchise demands a return to television. The kinds of stories that you’ll tell in the features space are not the kinds of stories that made that show so popular. The features all have to be action-oriented. The TV shows were morality plays, they were more thematic, they were examining society in different ways. Sometimes the stakes were just one crew member’s life, sometimes the stakes were just one alien world or the Enterprise. On bringing Trek back to TV: The TV show is really what Star Trek is to me. I think the features are great, but I think it has to return to TV if it’s going to remain an ongoing franchise. On being the one to re-launch Trek on TV: I’d love to do Star Trek again, in all honesty, but I also don’t have a great new Star Trek idea. I’m not saying I know exactly how to do a new [Star Trek] TV show – I don’t. Maybe I shouldn’t do it until I have that great epiphany! –Source: Digital Spy

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Trek Franchise, Viral Video/Mashup/Images | February 3, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 32 comments so far

Trek connections in Super Bowl ads

While we don’t have much new on the Star Trek front as far as new movies or TV series, Trek stars and alumni were represented in this year’s Super Bowl commercials. The most obviously Trek influenced commercial was the Comcast XFINITY commercial titled “Bold Explorers.” It highlights Comcast’s upcoming next generation X1 platform technologies. Zachary Quinto as Spock and Anton Yelchin as Chekov beam in to see all the advanced tech details. The other Trek connected commercial was the teaser for the re-launch of Carl Sagan’s beloved edutainment series Cosmos on Fox. Trek alumni Brannon Braga along with Seth MacFarlane are producers, with astrophysicist, and pretty cool guy who makes science fun and interesting, Neil deGrasse Tyson as host. Were there more Trek connections in the Super Bowl adverts?   If so let us know in the comments.

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Celebrity | January 31, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 84 comments so far

Nimoy is okay – but has COPD from years of smoking

On the 28th, Leonard Nimoy was seen being wheeled through New York’s JFK airport with an oxygen cylinder. Thankfully a day or so later he Tweeted that he’s okay, the oxygen was due to his development of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) from years of smoking. He quit during the filming of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Long flights and the wear of traveling seems to have taken a bit of toll on him, but he’s back home and doing fine. I quit smoking 30 yrs ago. Not soon enough. I have COPD. Grandpa says, quit now!! LLAP — Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) January 30, 2014  

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Star Trek Beyond, Star Trek Into Darkness | January 27, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 635 comments so far

JJ’verse news bites

Sadly, we still don’t have anything concrete about the next Star Trek movie. But here are news bits to help try and tide us over in this drought. Orci speaks to the press about Trek 3, but it’s cryptic as usual. Pine says he’d like to see Kirk go even darker in Trek 3, and Into Darkness is nominated for an Academy Award for best visual effects. Read on for all the details.

DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming, ENT, Review | January 11, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 170 comments so far

Star Trek: Enterprise Season 3 Blu-ray review

We have come to Season 3 in the Blu-ray release schedule, this is the season many feel Enterprise became a show worth watching. Season 3 contains the season long arc of the Xindi threat. It also contains some great one-shot stories outside of the main Xindi narrative such as “Twilight” and “Similitude”, and a couple of pretty lame ones too, such as “Extinction” which is called “one of the singularly most embarrassing episodes of Star Trek I’ve been involved with” by Brannon Braga in the documentary on the set. Read on for the full review of this generally excellent season.

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New Voyages/Phase II | January 5, 2014 | By: Matt Wright 511 comments so far

Phase II releases Kitumba as New Year’s surprise

Star Trek: Phase II (formerly New Voyages), the long running fan film project, has released its newest episode, titled “Kitumba”. This is a Klingon centric episode that was developed from an original 1977 Phase II script, when TOS was going to be re-launched as an updated TV series. Originally a two-part story draft for the Star Trek: Phase II TV series in 1977, it was rewritten into a one-part episode for this production. A good deal of the episode takes place on Qo’nos, the Klingon homeworld: which was shot on location at Fort Ticonderoga, New York, and at a local restaurant. Members of the International Klingon Federation helped out with the location shoots. The Phase II team is busy cranking out more episodes, their next episode “The Holiest Thing” is due out in February. And there are two more episodes at various stages in the production pipeline after it. “Kitumba” is the last episode in front of the camera for the founder of the project, James Cawley. He will be replaced by professional actor Brian Gross starting with the next episode due out in February. Click on to watch “Kitumba”

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Fan Productions | December 27, 2013 | By: Matt Wright 303 comments so far

Star Trek: Renegades new 2 minute teaser video

Fan production Star Trek: Renegades has released a new 2 minute preview video. Renegades is from the same group that made the incredibly popular TOS-era fan film Of Gods and Men. The production has multiple Trek alums involved as well as other familiar names from Sci-Fi TV and movies. Walter Koenig, Tim Russ (also directing), Robert Picardo, Gary Graham (Soval in ENT), Sean Young (Blade Runner), Manu Intiraymi (Icheb in VOY) and quite a few more. It is expected to be completed by Summer 2014. It is ten years after Voyager’s return from the Delta Quadrant, and the Federation is in a crisis. The Federation’s main suppliers of dilithium crystals are disappearing. Space and time have folded around several planets, effectively isolating them from any contact with outside worlds. And this phenomenon is not natural – someone or something is causing this to happen. This necessitates drastic measures; some of which are outside the Federation’s normal jurisdiction. For this, Admiral Pavel Chekov, head of Starfleet Intelligence, turns to Commander Tuvok, Voyager’s former security officer and current head of the newly reorganized Section 31. Tuvok must put together a new covert, renegade crew – mostly outcasts and rogues – even criminals. This new crew is tasked with finding out what is causing the folding of time and space, and stopping it – at all costs. But will they be able to put aside their differences and stop trying to kill one another in time to accomplish their mission? Click on to see the new trailer

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DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming, ENT | December 18, 2013 | By: Matt Wright 51 comments so far

Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4 Blu-ray trailer is up!

This really seems to be the day of Enterprise news. After today’s earlier Tweet from Brannon Braga about the Writer’s Reunion special feature that will be on Season 4, CBS Home Entertainment quietly put up their trailer for the Season 4 Blu-ray release. StarTrek.com reports that it is coming on April 1, 2014. See the video after the break, be sure to watch in HD and full screen!

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DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming, ENT | December 18, 2013 | By: Matt Wright 119 comments so far

ENT Season 4 Blu-ray will have Writer’s Reunion feature

Brannon Braga gave Enterprise fans a little gift today when he posted a picture of the just filmed Writer’s Reunion for Star Trek: Enterprise to Twitter. Shooting writing staff reunion for enterprise!! pic.twitter.com/VV189yY9oL — Brannon Braga (@BrannonBraga) December 18, 2013   In the photo are: Andre Bormanis, Chris Black, Phyllis Strong, David A. Goodman, Brannon Braga, Mike Sussman, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. The previous reunions done for the TNG and ENT Blu-ray sets have all been great. Look forward to seeing this on the Enterprise Season 4 Blu-ray set, expected in mid-2014. –Thanks to TrekCore for pointing out Braga’s tweet

Gene Roddenberry

Interview, Trek Franchise | December 18, 2013 | By: Matt Wright 12 comments so far

Unearthed 1973 interview with Gene Roddenberry

A new radio interview with Gene Roddenberry has surfaced on YouTube. Texas Radio Hall of Famer Scott Arthur was cleaning out some boxes of old interviews from his illustrious career when he came across this lost interview he did with Gene Roddenberry from 1973. Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek spent almost a half hour talking with Arthur about Star Trek, pushing boundaries and the future of humanity. Listen below: