brilliant actors, brilliant editing

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

On Twitter, I kept seeing little "Vignettes" from the episodes they had already made. Especially, Michael Forest from "To Morn for Adonis" (that's a pun) reprising his role. Then a green Orion Slave Girl played by Fiona Vroom. Then, I see the crew of the Enterprise wearing full accouterments from "Mirror Mirror".In those Vignettes, I saw the Bridge, the Hallways, the Transporter room, Sickbay all perfectly recreated. All original uniforms being worn, all original Tricorders, Phasers and Communicators (Thanks to the Wand company) being used.So then, I look up this crew who was bringing the original Star Trek back to life! And I watched the first episode, "Pilgrim or Eternity". And a rudimentary Holodeck, equipped with a Holo of Star Trek Artist Doug Drexler in "Paladin" outfit shoving a Colt 45 into "Kirk" (Vic Mignogna's) nose, in a set that looked a LOT like "Spectre of the Gun".So then I watched "Lolani", and along with Fiona Vroom, there was The Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) playing a HUGE Orion Slaver.So, that was it, I was hooked. Of course, I thought Todd Haberkorn looked like an Odd Spock, but he did in fact talk and act like Spock. And they did change Dr McCoys after Lolani, I don't know why Larry Nemecek dropped out of that role. But then again, I saw Chris Doohan playing the role his father played, and he looks SO much like his father. Marina Sirtis is the Ships Computer, like Luwaxana, like Daughter. I started seeing all kinds of familiar names from the cast and crew of Next Generation/DS9/Voyager/Enterprise in the credits.And the Music was perfect, the LIGHTING was perfect, the SOUNDS were perfect, the Props were perfect (Close-ups of the Phaser props show a slight difference from TOS Phasers, but not much). And I have a Wand Company Communicator, and those were being used (Hint: THEY WORK!).But my posterior was floored by the 3rd Episode "Fairest of them All", or, "What happened when Mirror Kirk, Scott, McCoy and Uhura returned to Mirror Enterprise?".Eventually I ran out of Episodes to watch, I was amazed that there were FIVE of these episodes (at the time). I left off at "Divided we Stand", which was a great Omega-Glory type of episode, which included BORG Nanites! And we met a Security Chief, "Drake", who had a Mechanical Arm.Not just Drake, but I met McKennah, Smith (who was holding Gary Mitchell's hand at the Barrier of the Galaxy), and these became as beloved to me as Kirk, Spock, Uhura, McCoy, Sulu, Chekov.It did not matter to me that I was not seeing Leonard Nimoy, Bill Shatner, George "It's OK to be" Takei. The SPIRIT of the characters they created was there. The chemistry was there, and, the Ship was there.For those of you who are just joining these voyages, watch the Featurette which shows the construction of the Engineering set. From a Huge, Empty Soundstage, to a perfect replica of the 1701's warp drive. The DILITHIUM Crystals even had that same shape (From "The Alternative factor").I feel that McKennah, Smith, Drake, and the other characters and actors that had recurring crew roles, had been there all the time.There are many things that hint toward things that would happen later in TNG and DS9.I just finished the final episode today, and in one scene, we see, on an Admirals desk, models of The Pheonix, NX-01, Kelvin, Discovery, and the 1701 as it appeared in TMP. And even that scene was a nod to a scene from "Into Darkness", the ships on Admiral Marcus' desk.I feel as close to the Actors and Crew who made this show as I do the whole franchise.This SHOULD be "Official Trek", CBS should buy this show and release it as part of the franchise. In my mind, it already is.Thank you, Vic, Todd, Thank you Kipleigh Brown for bringing "Smith" back, thank you Michele Specht for creating "McKennah", the original "Counselor Troi", not just the main characters but everyone who worked on this to make it a reality.I feel that Fan Productions like this should not be hindered by CBS, this one was not, but others were. Nobody is stealing Klingon by wanting to learn it, nobody who wants to help recreate something that we've loved for over 50 years should be discouraged, not sued. CBS may own the show now, but it does not really belong to them, it belongs to US.

I'm critical of 'fan-fiction' in general; the stuff can be hockey as sh!t and completely unbelievable and canon-breaking when the writers of those 'stories' want to see characters just f##k each other for no rhyme or reason. Star Trek Continues has NONE of those problems: I can assure you of that. This is a fan-created series that has stories to tell, not sh!t to spew. And this IS the continuation of The Original Series fan have been eagerly waiting for; if they weren't happy with the movies already.The queerest thing about this series, though, is that Funimation voice-actor Vic Mignogna (FullMetal Alchemist, DragonBall Z and several other animes) created this show and plays Captain Kirk in all of the episodes. And... he's done a thorough job emulating William Shatner's character. Sure it's not perfect and some of the time Vic is just saying lines, but the guy CAN act in front of camera. He's no dialogue-robot. He's a fan of Gene Roddenberry's legacy and wants to do it absolute justice: both on and off the camera. I don't think many fan films can say that the director, producer and co-writer was ALSO the lead actor of the project.Star Trek Continues: the best fan-made series ever. At least the best Star Trek fan-film series.

Of course Im used to the TOS Characters and Actors, so I was very sceptical about this series. Still as the Trekki that I am of course I gave it a try. And the series is great. Already with the second episode it caught me fully, it delivers the same sense and feeling as the Orig. Series(n thats what is intended) n sticks to the philosophical and idological aspects of "Human" Nature as I guess was intended by mr. roddenberry.It didn't only braught back childhood memories, but also made me reminisince and rethink my actions and since I first watched the series as a youngster. (i know that thats totally personal and has nothing to do with the series, except using as a testemony to the quality it has.)Im impressed and delighted, and i hope they keep up the good work."Excuse my bad English, enjoy the show"

Seriously, I've never even bothered to write a review before, but this series is the bees knees. At the risk of committing sacrilege, I'm going to admit that Vic Mignogna does Jim Kirk even better than William Shatner did...or at least just as perfectly. They have the essence of the series to the bone. I am so happy that they created this reboot. I wish we could get new episodes every week like we would with a commercial production, but perhaps that is part of what makes this so special. Each episode is a carefully crafted work of heart.One of the things that I love most about the series is the loving resurrection of Scotty with his son Chris Doohan. Not only is he a dead ringer, but he has the character dead to rights. Also, Todd Haberkorn brings new life to the friendship between Kirk and Spock with his deadpan Vulcan, yet incredibly human performance.Who would have thought that an Indiegogo project could produce something this wonderful?Keep it up guys!! LOVE THIS!!!