I experienced a great honor today. As luck would have it Vic Mignogna and company decided to have the world premiere of their new web series Star Trek Continues at the Phoenix Comicon which just so happens to be my hometown.
I've seen a couple episodes of New Voyages and so I thought I knew what to expect in regards of the production value, acting and writing. Boy was I taken by surprise. I knew that since Doug Drexler was handling all of the space shots that they were going to look amazing but man...it was just so beautiful. Second, the cast they've assembled for this is perfect. Vic does a wonderful job as Kirk. Grant Imahara was a surprise and delight as Sulu. And Chris Doohan as Scotty just felt oh so right.
The sets were fantastic. They actually bought an entire building and rebuilt all of the original Enterprise sets as they were on the Paramount lot during the production of the original series. They also plan to expand as time goes on.
The script was superb. It dealt with the return of the Greek god Apollo. It was pitch perfect and felt like a real script from the era that had just never been produced.
Vic Mignogna and his team have somehow managed to recreate the magic of the original series in a way I didn't think was possible. Vic in addition to directing, starring and editing also wrote and performed additional music for the episode so that the original series score blended with the episode perfectly. Every facet of the production is filled with so much love and dedication that you can feel it.
The only sad thing about it was they weren't allowed their full two hours because they also wanted to do a signing afterward and there was one last panel scheduled after theirs so the Q&A was cut very short. I hope that didn't cast a pall over the experience for them. I blame Wil Wheaton. =P
They were all so wonderful though. They ended up staying almost two hours after it ended so that they could meet and sign posters for EVERYONE.
With all that said, I highly recommend you check it out for yourself. So without further ado here's Star Trek Continues episode 1 Pilgrim of Eternity.