By now, a vast swath of Star Trek fans have viewed the new A.I.-enhanced “fan film” 765874: UNIFICATION released by OTOY, THE RODDENBERRY ARCHIVE, WILLIAM SHATNER, and the LEONARD NIMOY estate. It’s already had half a million views in just two and a half days. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look…
Timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the 1994 release of Star Trek Generations, 765874: Unification premiered at the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour in Ticonderoga, NY with WILLIAM (Kirk) SHATNER and ROBIN (Saavik) CURTIS both in attendance. Also present were LAWRENCE SELLECK, who is the stand-in for the A.I.-generated Spock, and MAHÉ THAISSA, who is the stand-in for J.M. Colt from the first TOS pilot, “The Cage.”
For more information on the making of this ambitious production, there is a wonderful article on TrekMovie.com based on information presented on the OTOY website. So I won’t get too into the weeds today discussing how they did it (although I have reached out to OTOY to try to get an interview with someone involved in the project). Instead, I’m going to look at the content of the film itself.
Fan reaction has generally been extremely positive with a few complainers here and there. If nothing else, the quality of the A.I. on both Kirk and Spock (as well as Gary Mitchell) is pretty spectacular, and the musical score by MICHAEL GIACCHINO (recorded at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London) is flawless and emotionally mesmerizing. The costumes, props, make-up, and green screen compositing are all amazing, and it’s obvious that no expense was spared in creating this content that OTOY will be using to demonstrate what their cutting-edge technology can do.
But amidst all the “I had tears in my eyes!” and “This was so beautiful!” plaudits posted to social media were a fair amount of “What the heck was that???” comments from the head-scratchers…which, admittedly, included myself. With only one piece of dialog (an original re-recording of Kirk’s final log from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) the rest of the presentation was essentially silent but for the music. Indeed, I got a very 2001: A Space Oddessey feeling of déjà vu. And just as sci-fi fans are generally confounded trying to figure out what was going on with Dave Bowman at the end of STANLEY KUBRICK’s 1968 masterpiece (I think he was mirroring the evolution of man himself), Trekkers are being left to their own devices to interpret 765874: Unification.
Having now read a wide range of postings on social media, I think I can clear up at least a few things about this film. Some items I’ll be sharing are straight-up facts and pieces of established Star Trek canon. Others require a little more open-mindedness about things that may or may not be canon. And then, of course, I’ve got some theories that could be right or wrong…and we may just never know for certain.
Okay, you ready…?
Continue reading “So you’ve seen 765874: UNIFICATION…but what did it MEAN???”