Our 2019 ToyFair coverage continues with a look at what’s on the way from gaming company Looney Labs, who broke into the Star Trek arena last year with their Fluxx card game.
As we reported back in January, the company will be expanding their Trek Fluxx line into the Bajoran sector this year, with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Fluxx set to arrive later this spring.
While the packaging is still being signed off by CBS’s licensing team, they were able to show us some final, approved card game artwork featuring some of DS9’s more familiar faces, all part of the Fluxx set.
The Deep Space Nine Fluxx game is expected to hit stores around April or May 2019, but don’t think this will be the end of the line, as we learned that a Star Trek: Voyager edition of the game is also being tentatively planned for 2020.
(We’ll bring you more info on that game if and when it is formally announced.)
The Looney Labs team also gave us an exclusive preview of another new Star Trek card game they have in the works, based off of their existing line of Chrononauts games:ChronoTrek, which brings together every single temporal anomaly and time travel event from across the franchise into one clock-bending game.
In ChronoTrek, a time-travel game similar to Chrononauts but set in the ‘Star Trek’ universe, each player becomes a ‘Star Trek’ character with a unique identity and a secret mission.
During the game, players travel backwards and forwards through history, doing all those things people have always dreamed of using time travel to do: Visiting the great moments of the past, peeking into the future, collecting up artifacts, coming to grips with the paradoxes of time travel, and of course, changing pivotal events and altering the course of history itself.
Explore the history (and alternate history!) of the entire ‘Star Trek’ universe in this version of Chrononauts. Try to alter history to restore your specific timeline! Maybe you need to ensure that the Federation gets founded, or just retrieve the Orb of Time and some tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
While the game does exclude both the Kelvin Timeline and Star Trek: Discovery, ChronoTrek weaves together famous and often-forgotten Trek temporal hijinks into one gameplay adventure — including moments from episodes like “City on the Edge of Forever,” “Time’s Arrow,” “Past Tense,” “Future’s End,” and “Carpenter Street” — while players must struggle to maintain the integrity of the Trek timeline.
The Looney Labs team playtests ‘ChronoTrek’ in November 2018. (Source)
While artwork and official release details are still being ironed out, we expect ChronoTrek to be ready for players by August, just in time for the annual Star Trek convention in Las Vegas.
We’ve got more ToyFair 2019 coverage coming, so keep checking back to TrekCore throughout the week!
It’s been a few months since the last update from production on What We Left Behind, the retrospective documentary looking back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and today we get to go behind the scenes for a small look to the ongoing high-definition processing of the film.
Series producer Ira Behr, who has been leading the way on this documentary project for several years, shows us in this new video update a familiar sight to anyone who followed our coverage of the Star Trek: The Next Generation remastering project in 2012: boxes and boxes of raw 35mm film, straight from Paramount’s deep-storage vaults.
The team at CBS Digital, who also rescanned and processed five of the seven Next Generation seasons for Blu-ray, is working through a selection of almost 400 boxes of Deep Space Nine episodic footage to remaster select scenes to 1080p HD for inclusion in the documentary.
Here’s some more detail, from Ira Behr and the documentary team:
That’s right. We’re nearly through the heavy research-and-scanning stage of our remaster, and with just a few (hundred) more film rolls ahead of us, we’re hard at work replacing the 20+ minutes of new HD sequences — spanning ALL SEVEN seasons of the original run of Deep Space Nine!
We could spend a whole update simply raving about the look and feel of the new film transfer… but until you see it yourself, words just can’t do it justice.
And you WILL see it. Sooner than you may think.
Remastering 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' Footage
1 of 5
Episodic footage from the Paramount vaults, ready for rescanning.
Episodic footage from the Paramount vaults, ready for rescanning.
Episodic footage from the Paramount vaults, ready for rescanning.
An original script for 'The Siege of AR-558' with production notes.
Color mastering rescanned episodic footage.
As for when the actual documentary will be finalized, well, stay tuned, as the documentary team is strongly hinting that the project is getting closer and closer to its final form — and that while there’s no official release date to announce today, more news is yet to come before the end of March.
The restoration process alone is a HUGE undertaking — after all your support in funding this expensive endeavor, it has taken months of work from the CBS Digital team to coordinate, research, find, ship, scan and deliver the original film negatives for us, and more time from our team to clean up, color, and polish the resulting images (and even re-create a handful of effects!).
While we’re still waiting on final elements to arrive and distribution details to lock firmly into place, we don’t want to promise any deadlines we can’t meet with the film not yet entirely complete.
However, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a plan in place that puts you, our most important supporters and DS9 Ambassadors, right at the forefront. We’ve got BIG news in the works and expect you’ll be hearing much more from us later this month.
You can be sure that we’ll bring you all the news as it breaks here at TrekCore — and as soon as there is full-HD footage available for public release, we’ll also keep you covered with our famous SD-to-HD comparison videos.
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine documentary What We Left Behind continues to traverse the Badlands of post-production, but a new announcement today brings the film’s finished project closer to the Alpha Quadrant as the long-gestating project has found a global distributor.
Shout! Studios, the young distribution wing of Shout! Factory, has acquired the worldwide release rights to What We Left Behind, with plans to bring the nearly-finished film to fans across “multiple platforms” including a theatrical release, as Deadline reported today.
“Deep Space Nine has a passionate fanbase,” said Shout! Studios’ vice-president Michael Ribas, “As shown by the successful crowdfunding campaign that brought this movie to life and we’re thrilled share their love of and dedication to the show by bringing the What We Left Behind to an even wider audience.”
Putting in more late night hours this week on @DS9doc. We’re so close! A pleasure to have #DS9 Director of Photography Jonathan West overseeing the color sessions for our HD remastering… pic.twitter.com/cqERjyKrp5
Meanwhile, high-def conversion of the Deep Space Nine episodic footage continues apace at CBS Digital in Los Angeles, with a photo from a late editing session was released on social media from documentary producer Kai De Mello-Folsom last night, with original Trek director of photography Jonathan West present for review of an HD scene from “What You Leave Behind,” the series finale — Quark’s farewell to a departing Odo.
De Mello-Folsom also noted in a follow-up tweet that the team had already HD-ified a full 20 minutes of episodic footage, along with “other minor graphics, music, and editorial tweaks” on the final film since last fall’s public premiere events.
In later seasons, director of photography Jonathan West specifically directed camera team to frame “safe” for possible 16×9. Meaning, they were future-proofing so could still translate well to widescreen presentation! And we’re lucky to have his guidance in coloring & reframing.
While no specific release date has yet been announced, today’s announcement specifies that Shout! Studios plans to have the documentary to wide audiences “by year’s end” — and to backers ahead of the public release, as noted in today’s update sent to IndieGogo backers.
You’ve already been promised a copy of the film back during the campaign. Some of you may even have been lucky enough to see our early previews in LA, NYC or the UK. Distribution doesn’t make a difference to you — right? Well as Joe muses in his video update above, it’s all positive news for us, AND for you.
Firstly, it means we’re nearing a final release date. We’re not allowed to give any more details just yet, but plans are in place to stream the film for you sooner than you might expect.
Secondly, it means a bigger release, and more opportunities for you. And a bigger release means a bigger audience. And a bigger audience means more people talking about DEEP SPACE NINE. And, of course, more people talking about Deep Space nine is a great thing!
If CBS Studios is to ever make the huge leap to remaster the full series of DS9, they’re going to want to see that there is an audience, and a market for this large undertaking. We’ve already sparked their attention through this campaign, and the bigger splash we can make, the better message we can send that Deep Space Nine is still just as relevant today (if not more!) as it was when it first aired.
Now that a formal distribution deal is in place, we’re that much closer to seeing this multi-year voyage finally come to a conclusion.
The long-brewing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine documentary What We Left Behind, which fans have been waiting to see for several years now, is finally headed to theaters for a nationwide screening in the United States this spring.
Revealed this weekend by Fathom Events — the same company who distributed the three Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-ray remastering screenings in 2012 and 2013 — is hosting What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek DS9 in theaters across the country just five weeks from now, for one night only, on May 13.
A new poster image featuring DS9 showrunner – and documentary producer – Ira Behr.
The limited information we can glean from the Fathom Events page indicates that attendees will receive both a limited-edition 11×17-inch poster, as well as get a chance to watch a roundtable discussion about the making of the documentary — the listed runtime of the documentary, expected to be complete with fully remastered, full-HD clips from Deep Space Nine, is set at 2 hours, 10 minutes.
As far as plans for international availability goes, that’s just one of many details yet to be available about the project — the documentary team noted on social media today that this theatrical announcement rolled out to the public ahead of their preferred schedule, so details on worldwide viewing opportunities (including digital and Blu-ray releases to fundraiser backers) is likely to follow sometime soon.
Some of our theatrical partners are a little TOO excited to be sharing the film and have jumped the gun a bit. All of that information – and much more! – will be released officially very soon!!
In the meantime, if you’re in the United States, tickets seem to be available for some venues now for the May 13 screening — you can find pre-sale tickets for showtimes near you at both Fandango.com and AMC Theatres’ website.
We’re only weeks away now from the long-awaited arrival of What We Left Behind, the fan-funded Star Trek: Deep Space Nine retrospective documentary, and today the first trailer for the film has beamed down — with a ton of brand-new high-definition DS9 footage!
Debuting through IGN today, the trailer for What We Left Behind is loaded with never-before-seen remastered Deep Space Nine episodic footage, including looks at moments from Emissary, The Siege of AR-558, Change of Heart, Shadows and Symbols, The Wire, Wrongs Darker than Death or Night, and more — and interviews with the cast and crew (including archival contributions from Avery Brooks, who declined to participate the film).
The documentary’s being distributed via digital streaming to campaign backers on April 25, the product team announced yesterday, ahead of the May 13 theatrical screenings — and details on DVD and Blu-ray release are set to come next month after the Fathom Events showing.
We also get our first glimpse of the upcoming “Season 8” animated episode concept, developed by some of the original writers of the series — which looks to include older versions of our favorite DS9 characters (including Starfleet officer Molly O’Brien?) and a shrine to the Bajoran Orbs right on the station Promenade.
The aged Deep Space 9 station crew.The Bajoran orbs, on display for the public, held by statues of the Emissary — Benjamin Sisko.
While we’ll be bringing you some video comparisons of this new footage soon enough, here’s a look at some of the upgraded picture from the old Deep Space Nine DVDs.
Terok Nor orbits Bajor in “Wrongs Darker than Death or Night.”Quark and Kira spar in “Emissary.”Kira on the Promenade in “Emissary.”Odo fights to maintain his form in “Broken Link.”Worf laughs with Jadzia Dax in “Change of Heart.”Miles O’Brien leaves his quarters in “Accession.”Ezri Dax arrives on the station in “Shadows and Symbols.”O’Brien and Bashir say goodbye in “What You Leave Behind.”
Interestingly, the trailer also contains a few snippets of footage which appear to NOT be from the as-broadcast cuts of certain episodes, including an alternate angle on the crew in Vic’s Lounge from the “The Way You Look Tonight” performance at the end of “What You Leave Behind,” an unused take of Kira in Quark’s from “Rapture,” and more.
A reverse-angle on the crew, to feature more of the cast in one shot.An alternate take of Kira’s time in Quark’s in “Rapture.”Bashir’s smile comes from a trimmed moment in the opening scene of “Explorers.”Jake Sisko wearing his “What You Leave Behind” costume.
Stay tuned for lots more coverage on the What We Left Behind documentary in the coming days — and share your thoughts at this first look at Deep Space Nine in HD in the comments below!
While fundraiser-backing fans have already gotten a sneak peak at the long-gestating Star Trek: Deep Space Nine documentary, the wide release of What We Left Behind is due in theaters in just two weeks — and today a new clip from the film debuted online, and with it producer Ira Steven Behr shared more details about the breathtaking HD footage that’s included.
Speaking with io9, Behr spoke at length about many of the things followers of the multi-year project are already aware of, including the “Season 8” roundtable discussion with his Deep Space Nine writing partners, sketching out a hypothetical “new” episode of the series.
io9 also debuted a clip from that segment:
But the most interesting part of the long interview is Behr’s comments regarding the newly-remastered high-definition episodic footage which features in the documentary (which looks fantastic, by the way)… noting that he and his team are sitting on a treasure-trove of HD material from the filming of the series, which includes outtakes and other unused material likely never seen outside of the original production team.
The joke is, you know, we have 200 rolls of film, I think, in order to get all the shots we needed. And the reels of film come in these boxes, right? So, if you ask for one reel of film, there’s like 10 reels of film that box. And [CBS] didn’t bother pulling [individual reels] — it’s too much of a production, they just send you the whole box.
So we downloaded everything. We have…I don’t know how many hours, of HD footage of Deep Space Nine. Now, most of it is outtakes that weren’t used, but it’s fantastic and we could sit there for hours and just look at Deep Space Nine in HD. We’d need to add the special effects and blah, blah, blah — but it’s still fantastic.
I wish there was a way to share that. And until there is — I don’t know.
We noted when the first trailer for the documentary arrived earlier this month that a number of shots appear to be both alternate angles on well-known scenes or shots cut from the final edit of episodes — but boy, would we love to dig through the material Behr and his team have uncovered.
While Behr admits that he has “no control” over CBS and any plans the company may or may not have for the series — “I think they’ve been burned on [past] shows, most likely,” he notes, likely referring to the less-than-stellar performance of The Next Generation on Blu-ray — he’s continuing to marvel at the quality of the show once properly remastered.
One of the great moments that I will never forget is coming to an editing bay, and there’s Jonathan West, the DP of the last five seasons of the show. He’s watching as the film has been upgraded, he’s doing color correction. And I walked into that room, and Jonathan is sitting there looking up at a monitor — and literally, his mouth was hanging open like a 10-year-old boy.
Trust me, I’m not over selling this — he was the happiest boy in all of Puppet Land. He was just thrilled to be seeing it, and he said this: “Even back then, I knew how good this show could look.”
And obviously, it did look like that back then, and the DVDs aren’t something to be proud of, but it has looked spectacular, and to see his jaw drop in seeing it…that’s the kind of thing that stays with you.
What We Left Behind hits theaters for one night only on May 13, so if you missed the streaming window you can be sure to catch it there in the USA and in Canada.
For the rest of the world, the documentary team have hopes to expand screenings worldwide, but at present have made no announcements on that front. For wide streaming options, the team is working on that too, as they noted in a recent update emailed to backers:
For those who would not otherwise be able to see the film later on (i.e., not receiving a Blu-Ray/DVD bundle), rest assured that we’re looking into new options to re-release a stream later on through a more user-friendly and less restrictive platform.
We want to make sure everyone who wants to gets the chance to see the film on as big a screen as possible.
As for those awaited Blu-ray / DVD releases of the documentary, further news on those is expected sometime after the theatrical screenings.
We’ll have our full review of the documentary in the days leading up to the May 13 theatrical event, so stay tuned — and if you’ve already seen What We Left Behind, remember… no spoilers!
The long-awaited Star Trek: Deep Space Nine retrospective documentary What We Left Behind finally lands in theaters on May 13, but ahead of that special event, TrekCore has some exclusive new looks into the eye-popping new episode footage, remastered in high-definition for the first time as part of the project!
We’ve known for more than two years that the long-gestating documentary has been aiming to include as much high-def material as possible, including running a second round of fundraising specifically to facilitate the complicated process of rescanning remastering the original film elements from the series to a 1080p presentation — which we covered extensively when CBS Digital, back for this project, took on the Next Generation remastering several years ago.
Garak (Andy Robinson) salutes the Federation in “The Way of the Warrior.” (Shout! Studios / CBS)
While the What We Left Behind documentary is being treated as a standalone effort — meaning that the material converted to HD is not intended to be part of a full-series DS9 remastering — the results of the production team’s efforts, assisted by original director of photography Jonathan West, are no less than outstanding, as you’ll see in some new, exclusive footage we bring you today courtesy of Shout! Studios.
As you may have seen when we broke down the documentary trailer last month, the remastered Deep Space Nine episodic footage has been reframed for a 16:9 widescreen presentation as to be more visually compatible with the lengthy interview segments which fill the majority of the film.
(If the series ever gets a full remastering green-lit, we would expect it to remain in its original 4:3 aspect ratiolike the Next Generation project.)
In this first clip shared with TrekCore, you can see clearly illustrated how this scene between Quark (Armin Shimerman) and Kira (Nana Visitor) in the final moments of “Emissary” have been reframed for the new presentation: by opening up to the picture information available in the full film negative, the editors have been able to adjust the framing for the documentary with minimal top-and-bottom cropping.
There is still some picture information lost around the upper and lower edges of the frame, a limitation of the early years of production on Deep Space Nine. As the series progressed, and DP Jonathan West came on board for Season 3, the filming team protected for a potential future widescreen presentation.
“We have been consulting with director of photography Jonathan West,” de Mello-Folsom told us, “who confirms that, at least from Season 3 on, camera operators were framing ‘action-safe’ for widescreen — in order to future-proof [the episodes] for eventual, possible, widescreen release.”
Framing is one thing, but the biggest impact this remastering project has had on the series footage, as expected, is the remarkable improvement in image quality. We first got a taste of what Deep Space Nine could look like in HD back when “Birthright” arrived as part of the TNG Season 6 Blu-ray set, showing how the physical station model and Promenade sets could look given a proper rescan and regrading.
The earliest episodes of Deep Space Nine contain some of the most difficult-to-watch footage of the franchise, from an image fidelity standpoint — series producer Ira Behr has publicly called the current DVD-quality releases “[not] something to be proud of” — and “Emissary” remains one of the worst offenders.
Details are lost in murky dark scenes aboard the trashed station, the gorgeous matte paintings of Bajor are blurry messes, and familiar settings like the Enterprise bridge and transporter room are full of haze, a notable step down from the TNG Blu-rays we’ve now all grown accustomed to watching.
In this second exclusive moment from What We Left Behind, the infamous first encounter between Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) — set inside the Enterprise conference lounge — bursts to life after a pass through CBS Digital’s remarkable restoration process.
From the bright reds of the officers’ Starfleet uniforms, to the true-white tea set on the table, to the shot of Bajor out the window, this feels like a shot we’re seeing for the very first time. (Also note the new framing in this moment appears to have no cropping at all, just an expansion to the sides of the picture.)
Just think of some of the other moments from the early days of Deep Space Nine that might benefit from this treatment: Kira’s first run-in with Julian Bashir in the dark, abandoned infirmary, Sisko’s first encounter with Kai Opaka in her underground Bajoran temple… the list goes on.
Finally today, we have a full minute of documentary footage debuting for the first time here at TrekCore, which centers around some of Odo’s (Rene Auberjonois) relationships with his fellow station residents — from his profit-seeking nemesis Quark to his eventual love interest, Kira Nerys.
Along with brief interview segments with both Auberjonois and Shimerman — as well as a look at some of the new interstitial graphics created for the documentary, this clip also includes full-HD moments like Quark and Odo’s farewell from the series finale (“What You Leave Behind”), and Odo and Kira’s first kiss on the Promenade (from Season 6’s “His Way”).
If you compare two matching frames from the Odo-Kira kiss sequence, you can see that not only is there a clarity and color improvement, but you can see how the original DVD master includes some slight film distortion which occurred during the original processing of the raw footage, now corrected in the HD re-scans.
Note how the picture seems to ‘twist’ when dropping back to the DVD image. (Shout! Studios / CBS)
This ‘twist’ correction is something that we saw occur plenty of times when we created our SD-to-HD Next Generation comparison videos as we matched up the footage frame-to-frame; it’s an issue that viewers would likely never notice without a ‘clean’ film scan to compare it to — and a rarely-discussed benefit of the modern remastering process.
We’ll have much more on What We Left Behind as the days count down to the May 13 theatrical release, including our full review of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine retrospective later this week.
About halfway through What We Left Behind, the years-in-the-making Star Trek: Deep Space Nine documentary, series showrunner Ira Steven Behr just can’t help himself, and he proudly bellows: “Guess what? This is Deep Space Nine. Don’t get too comfortable.”
It’s the perfect tagline for the documentary and the perfect summation of the franchise’s oft-misunderstood “middle child.” It’s the series that never aired alone. The series that executives never had as their main focus. The series that is now widely-hailed by fans as Trek‘s finest hour.
What We Left Behind is a spectacular piece of work that checks every possible box. It has candid and varied cast interviews, pointed conversations with series creatives and network executives, high-definition clips from some of the show’s greatest moments, and a fascinating look at a hypothetical “Season 8” and what might have been.
Benny Russell (Avery Brooks) and company in “Far Beyond the Stars.” (Shout! Studios / CBS)
The entire endeavor is a masterclass in narrative storytelling, and every minute of the documentary is distinctively Ira Steven Behr. From the rotating bright colors on his prolific goatee to the dark nail polish on a single finger of each hand, the dynamic executive producer of Deep Space Nine is known for his counter-culture stylings — and he uses his brash, unapologetic view of the world in crafting this documentary in his own voice.
BEHR’S SINGULAR VOICE
The film is laced with his ironic, self-deprecating humor, jumping immediately into a series of vignettes with the cast reading 1993-era fan letters eviscerating the series and its boring premise and characters. The actors, like their executive producer, relish their “middle child” status in reading the spat of negative reactions from fans. And it’s incredibly funny.
Behr’s DNA can be felt all over the production in small moments like inside the “Season 8 writer’s room” feature — an ingenuous creative decision, weeded throughout documentary — where everyone is trying to pronounce and spell the Klingon home world, ultimately settling with an on-screen graphic that says: “Q’onos?”
Later we see a brilliant tit-for-tat argument between frequent series guest star Marc Alaimo (Gul Dukat) and Behr that is punctuated by a James Darren (Vic Fontaine) eyeroll. (Behr knows that nothing in this world is cooler than James Darren rolling his eyes at you.)
And at the mid-way point of the documentary, Behr answers a self-aware phone call from Andrew Robinson (Garak), who rips the writer a new one for killing off a beloved DS9 character in “Season 8,” and imploring him “to not hurt Julian” — all while punctuating the call by telling him he should have killed Worf instead!
All of these elements give the documentary a flair that compliments its creator in all the best ways. Curiously, where Behr’s style missed the mark was in the somewhat clumsy opening with Max Grodénchik crooning an original standard in full Vic Fontaine mode.
Everyone loves Grodénchik, the fan-favorite actor who portrayed Rom for seven years of the series, and there is nothing wrong with his performance, per se… but after a several-year wait for fans to see this documentary, it was a lackluster way to begin.
But it was also pure Behr – who then wisely doubled down on that opening by having Grodénchik return at the close of the film alongside Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun, et al), Casey Biggs (Damar) and Armin Shimerman (Quark) to sing “What We Left Behind,” an oft-heard standard performed by the actors on the convention circuit.
SEASON 8 WRITERS’ ROOM
Of course, the most unique aspect of the film is another Behr specialty – his construction of a “Season 8” writers’ room, where he brings together Deep Space Nine series vets Ronald D. Moore, René Echevarria, Hans Beimler and Robert Hewitt Wolfe to spend a day building the framework of a mythical season-opening episode of the show… set 20 years after “What You Leave Behind,” the 1999 series finale.
It’s amazing — and in no uncertain terms, you will leave the documentary feeling like you have just gotten a chance to revisit the Bajor sector. It’s fully satisfying and invigorating and will now be at the top of many fans’ Trek wish list — it’s just that good.
The animation accompanying the perfectly-paced Season 8 story is kinetic and exciting, with the story serving up thread after gratifying thread of “where they are now” nuggets. It would be hard to overstate how much fun it is to watch these writers apply their craft, and even though there is a lot here, we know there will be a lot more of it to watch once the Blu-ray extras are released.
HOLDING THEMSELVES ACCOUNTABLE
Of course, the story being told in What We Left Behind is not all fun and games.
Throughout the film, Behr continually holds himself and his series accountable in ways that most creators might be afraid to. While lauding the series’ impressive accomplishments in addressing major social issues of the time (the cost of war, homelessness, religion), he refuses to give himself a passing grade in the area of sexual identity.
Lenara Kahn (Susanna Thompson) returned to Jadzia’s life in “Rejoined.” (Shout! Studios / CBS)
Yes, the series produced the standout episode “Rejoined,” which is rightly hailed for showing two people loving each other regardless of their shifting personal identities, but as Behr says, “One episode in seven years? We could have done better, trust me. We should have done better.” He even goes on to pinpoint what he deems as the “obvious” missed opportunity of making Garak gay. But would the studio have allowed such a thing? “Probably not, but we never asked. That’s we don’t get that [credit].”
This is what Behr does so well — and why Deep Space Nine is such a brilliant series. He’s always in the moment, and always immediately reflective on why they are making the decisions they are making. With that in mind, he sets aside the time to highlight his beloved mentor, the late Michael Piller, at a couple of points in the documentary, remembering him as a man that believed “plot only existed to explain and reveal character.”
“It’s all about revealing the character for who they really are,” said Behr, paraphrasing Piller. “To go deep beneath the surface of the character and reveal them in a way that the audience had never thought of or never expected or just didn’t know.” Behr clearly learned from the best, and it’s evident throughout the film.
Kai Winn Adami (Louise Fletcher) in “When it Rains…” after turning to the pah-wraiths. (Shout! Studios / CBS)
The filmmakers also find the time to examine the studio’s role in many of the battles they faced through the years. Kerry McCluggage, the former chairman of the Paramount Television Group, seems to be aware that his role in the film is not a particularly positive one. The dapperly-attired executive works hard to choose his words as delicately as possible, and he is not entirely successful when discussing the executive level decision to not allow series lead Avery Brooks (Ben Sisko) to shave his head — or sport a goatee — until three years into the show.
“I do think going in, uh, particularly given that he was coming off of Hawk and we were also in the 24th century,” said McCluggage, “that we thought it would be a mistake, to, uh, to, to go, uh, for the lack of a better term, ‘street.’”
Yikes, right? This is just another place where Behr and his co-producers don’t pull any punches, painting a pretty clear picture of the racial overtones they needed to overcome at the executive level to fully realize their vision.
GLORIOUS HIGH DEFINITION
And in crafting this documentary, the filmmakers overcame another monumental challenge, this one on the technical side of things. Instead of taking the easy way out (as if that was something this crew would ever do), the production arm found a way to remaster virtually the entire film in glorious HD. The scores of amazing episode clips laced throughout the film allow the viewer to experience the series in a completely new way, as we addressed in our recent featured article.
The task of bringing the film to HD was no small burden, and became the main reason the documentary took almost three years to release after the first fundraiser kicked off in 2016. The extra production effort and campaigning done by Behr and his lead producers, David Zappone (who co-directed the film with Behr) and Kai de Mello-Folsom, to acquire the time and resources necessary to make sure the film was seen in high definition has been well documented.
Michael Westmore’s alien makeup prosthetics hold up extremely well in HD. (Shout! Studios / CBS)
Sequences like Dukat and Kira’s desert hike in “Indiscretion,” Sisko and Bashir’s stroll through 2024’s San Francisco ‘Sanctuary District’ in “Past Tense,” and Odo’s flashback to the dark and smoky Terok Nor (“Things Past”) are some of the highlights of the restored footage — and while some shots mixing live-action and visual effects elements are simply upscaled from the original standard-def presentation, some brand-new high-def visual effects included in certain scenes are eye-poppingly stunning.
ONE TOPIC TO THE NEXT
Ultimately, What We Left Behind is impressive for the way it controls the narrative flow, hitting on scores of topics as they seamlessly flow one into another into another.
The section on Sisko transforms into Terry Farrell discussing the ways in which she was able to discover Jadzia Dax’s character beneath Brooks’ shadow. A conversation about Quark and Odo’s verbal sparring flowed into an analysis of Odo and Kira’s relationship, and then into a discussion with Visitor and the ramifications of playing a terrorist on television before 9/11. That segment then moved into a piece about Dukat pursuing Kira romantically, which led to Visitor challenging Behr for even thinking about consummating their relationship.
From there segments on Garak, James Darren, Nog and story arcs, touched on multiple members of the regular guest cast (Biggs as Damar, Chase Masterson as Leeta and Grodénchik as Rom), culminating with a shout-out to Jeffrey Combs and his amazing array of Trek characters.
The addition of Worf in Season 4 quickly evolves into a segment on his relationship with Dax and the emotional departure of Farrell from the show. The disbelief from writers Ronald D. Moore and Rene Echeverria that Farrell would ever be allowed to leave is palpable, and Farrell herself is emotionally raw discussing her decision to not come back for a seventh season, highlighting a conversation with an executive in which he dismissed her by saying “she’d be working at K-Mart” if not for this show.
Other topics in the documentary include Herman Zimmerman’s production design, the evolution of Julian Bashir (everyone hated him early on), and the birth of the Dominion and the creation of the Defiant.
The film also highlights Brooks’ superb direction of “Far Beyond the Stars” and the portrayal of the African-American family dynamic at the front and center of a 1990s-era television show, with an obvious focus on the relationship between Sisko and Jake (Cirroc Lofton).
STAY FOR THE CREDITS
It’s those closing credits, though, that might just be the highlight of the film. They are classic Ira Steven Behr; turning the expectations and disappointments of the viewer against themselves, by slyly detailing everything they know the audience is currently bitching about. It’s a masterstroke. And it’s satisfying in a way that is hard to describe, other than to say you never want it to end.
In five minutes of scrolling credits, Behr and Nana Visitor (Kira) banter back and forth about 12 additional topics that got short-shrift in the documentary, because, as Behr points out, “We had to make difficult choices — otherwise this film would be eight hours long, at least.”
Accompanied by a pitch-perfect rock ’n’ roll version of Dennis McCarthy’s DS9 theme by the popular Star Trek band Five Year Mission, the topics discussed in the credits include fan-favorite episodes like “Trials and Tribble-ations” and “The Visitor,” the Bashir-O’Brien friendship, the crew’s frequent encounter with the Mirror Universe, and many other series highlights that we’ll hopefully see in the to-be-announced Blu-ray release of the film.
And if all of that wasn’t enough, stick around to the very end, where you’ll be treated to one of the greatest moments from all of Deep Space Nine… featuring a plain, simple tailor that some of you may remember.
Ben Sisko (Avery Brooks) bids Kasidy Yates (Penny Johnson) farewell in the series finale. (Shout! Studios / CBS)
In the end, What We Left Behind is now the definitive Star Trek documentary in terms of pure quality. It doesn’t have the tinny, made-for-television feel that has permeated so many of the fine Trek documentaries that have preceded it. It’s a comprehensive evaluation of itself (both good and bad) as a transformative series and its place in both Star Trek history and television history — and an absolute must-see for Deep Space Nine fans everywhere.
What We Left Behind: A Look Back at ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ arrives in theaters for a one-night only screening on May 13 in the United States via Fathom Events, and will play for a limited run in Canada starting the same day through Cineplex.
Plans for additional home-media release options, including streaming and DVD/Blu-ray releases, are in the works but specific details have not yet been announced.
If there’s one quality I look for in a Star Trek comic series, it’s sustainability.
A story can’t stand unless there is a reasonable degree of authenticity that surrounds it. In this case, the pillar of that authenticity is the familiarity with canon. Canon is the lingua franca that all fans speak, and that storytellers in this particular franchise need to be proficient in to reach the fanbase that is their audience.
Scott Tipton, David Tipton, and David Messina have a long-established and successful track record in this regard and have decidedly proven themselves to be an impressive storytelling team in previous Star Trek works from IDW Publishing, and this month’s The Q Conflict #3 continues the story begun in the last two issues, excellent examples of a sustained storyline of recognizable Trek allies forming new partnerships to catch fans’ interest.
Of course, this also takes shape on the antagonist side as well, and we see relationships formed from the most unlikely collection of classic enemies in the Star Trek universe, which I like to call ‘the Infinites’ — Q, Ayelborne, Trelane, and the Metron are all beings with infinite capabilities, and the latter three present enough of a threat to Q that an outside contest is required to settle their differences.
In this particular issue, Trelane — the Squire of Gothos — decides upon a game of “Capture the Flag” amongst starships for this challenge. But, given Trelane’s usual immaturity, this game isn’t enough for him to settle his competitive urges, as he ups the ante by adding the presence of a classic Planet Killer to the mix.
There’s no complaint from me about this change-up; “The Doomsday Machine” is one of my all-time favourite episodes, and it’s very satisfying to see the four captains — Kirk, Picard, Sisko, and Janeway — combine their tactical abilities in a showdown confrontation with such a memorable and deadly foe from one of the best episodes of any Star Trek.
I’ve always wanted to see a re-match with one of these machines and given that the Tiptons have a seemingly inexhaustible repertoire of Trek knowledge to draw on, they not only have the ability to write an entertaining story but to make it an authentic one as well.
Of course, the characters behave as canonically as we’d expect. Q is devious, Trelane is spoiled, and Ayleborne and the Metron prove themselves to be the thoughtful ones in this book as they clearly dislike this situation and openly discuss their misgivings with Q and the whole notion with the humans. Of course, the Starfleet officers behave as we would expect them to, and account for their actions with the distinction of their careers.
David Messina accounts for himself well in this issue also. Lots of action scenes and starship combat; it’s a starship lover’s delight. The entire action against the Planet Killer is an intricate collection of dazzling battle sequences as the planet killer faces down the two Enterprises, the Defiant, and the starship Voyager. I particularly enjoy the coordination of tactics and weapons as well.
One issue I had a question about was the strange speckled patterning on the black portions of the characters’ uniforms or clothing. I wasn’t sure if it was an effect only found in digital versions of the comic or if it was a colouring issue. It would be great to get some feedback from readers to confirm this.
Both of the two regular covers are from artist David Massina. Cover ‘A’ shows the Enterprise-E and Voyager both in flight. It’s quite a dramatic image and showcases both vessels in a good light.
Cover ‘B’ is the same sort of an image yet of the original Enterprise and the Defiant in similar positions. The Original Series and Deep Space Nine are my favourite vessels in the different incarnations of Trek, so I’ve got to give this cover my preference over the ‘A’ design.
George Caltsoudas brings us another spectacular retailer-incentive cover design, inspired by the 1980 Moscow Olympics logo. Both emotional and striking, the highly-abstract design is best suited towards the spirit of starship command, and definitely adds a sense of drama. Caltsoudas has a gift for the stylistic, and this of all three covers would be one I’d hang on my wall.
In short, this is a story that fans love because of the nods to the canon that Star Trek fans are so proud of knowing. Scott and David Tipton are loving fans and it’s that dedication that makes this a Trek story to thoroughly enjoy.
While fans across North America make their ways to see What We Left Behind in theaters tonight, Shout! Studios made some news in the introductory moments of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine retrospective documentary screenings, revealing when the film will be available for widespread viewing.
What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is set for its streaming debut on August 6, 2019, with a physical release in both Blu-ray and DVD formats that same date.
Of course, no further details on the planned distribution of the film have been announced yet, and sensing that a news article such as the one you are currently reading was set to hit the internet this evening, the DS9 documentary team made sure to send out an update to backers of its massive fundraising campaign about the film’s future.
Details on Home Video Release & Disk Shipping
In the coming days, you may see news about home video release plans and dates through our distribution partners at Shout! Factory. Rest assured, we’re currently finishing up bonus content for your Indiegogo backer DVDs & Blu-Ray combo packs, and will be sharing release plans very soon.
As we’ve always intended, these disk sets will start shipping to you BEFORE they are out anywhere else on shelves and released publicly. Stay tuned for final details on this in the next week or so!
Once there’s more official word on when backers can expect their donation rewards — and details on what streaming platforms fans at large will be able to see the film — we’ll be sure to let you know.
Keep checking back to TrekCore for all the latest news on What We Left Behind!
It’s always a convention weekend somewhere, and right now our friends over at Eaglemoss / Hero Collector are on site at the MCM Comic Con in London, showing off some of the next additions to the ever-growing Official Starships Collection fleet of Star Trek model ships, warping into your sector this summer.
First up is the next entry in the larger XL Starships line, the Danube-class runabout as seen on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Unfortunately it seems the company has not chosen to make this the long-lived USS Rio Grande, but instead have set this to be a scaled-up version of the 2014 release USS Orinoco, complete with attached sensor pod and roll bar.
Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection -- XL Runabout
1 of 8
Following the Orinoco is the second Excelsior-class starship in the XL Starships series — following the Enterprise-B — the titular USS Excelsior (NCC-2000) as seen in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
While the model on display was noted as being presented with an unfinished paint scheme, the blue rings around the edge of the saucer section — missing from the Enterprise-B model — are a welcome sight and hopefully will stay in place for the final release.
Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection -- USS Excelsior
1 of 7
Moving on to the Star Trek: Discovery line, another member of the Klingon fleet is on the way: the dragonfly-like Klingon Raider, seen in Season 1 episodes like “Choose Your Pain.” This model includes a transparent canopy, a nice touch which matches the digital version of the ship seen on-screen, and a pair of flight wings which stretch out from the central hull.
Of note, this model is expected to have some assembly required if you purchase it — because of the delicate nature of the ship’s wings, they are expected to be packaged separately from the main model in the box, for buyers to clip them in place upon arrival.
Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection -- 'Discovery' Klingon Raider
1 of 9
Returning to the Star Trek feature films, Shinzon’s Scimitar, the big baddie from Star Trek: Nemesis was showcased in an unfinished prototype form. The heavily-textured model is due to arrive as a special release later this year, with a darker paint wash still expected to be applied to the build to bring the ship closer to its on-screen appearance before final release.
Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection -- 'Nemesis' Scimitar
1 of 7
Skewing slightly sideways, another entry in the ‘not-quite-canon’ bonus series of Star Trek ships comes in the form of the USS Altair, a starship which began life as an Doug Drexler-designed early concept for what later became the USS Voyager.
While this Altair design never made it to televised production, a digital version of the ship did make an appearance in the 2007 Ships of the Line calendar.
Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection -- USS Altair
1 of 6
In addition to these display models featured at the London convention, we’ve also gotten a peak at some later ships on the way from Eaglemoss in 2019, including the Nebula-class USS Melbourne (destroyed at Wolf 359 in “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II), Cardassian freigher Groumall (from DS9’s “Return to Grace”), and the four-nacelled USS Excelsior concept design, based on a model built for Star Trek III by artist Nilo Rodis.
Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection -- Upcoming Releases
1 of 5
Keep an eye out for our next Official Starships Collection model reviews here at TrekCore, coming soon!
MCM Comic Con London model photos courtesy of Dave Combe.
I believe good storytelling depends on characters. Knowing how characters will behave in given situations creates believable dialogue, authentic behaviour and most importantly, reader acceptance. When writing about established franchises, writers need to know their stuff.
Looking at Star Trek: The Q-Conflict #4, Scott and David Tipton have easily achieved that measure in looking at the inter-dynamic relationships among the myriad of Trek characters they have assembled for this innovative Star Trek adventure.
But before we get to the shining examples of this effect in Issue #4, let’s recap the story so far.
Threatened by the existence of Trelane, Ayelborne of the Organians, and the Metrons, Q has designed a challenge among these immortal beings to see who actually has the most power. Rather than extend the conflict through martial means and tearing the fabric of time and space apart, he has assembled four teams of Starfleet crews from various times in history.
Representing Team Q is Captain Picard, Spock, Dr. Crusher, Lieutenant Uhura, Constable Odo, Commander La Forge and Seven of Nine. For the team of Trelane, we have Captain Kirk, Worf, Quark, Miles O’Brien, Tuvok and Dax.
The Metron has on his team Captain Janeway, Commander Riker, Lieutenant Paris, Montgomery Scott, Major Kira, B’Elanna Torres and Ensign Chekov, for good measure. Ayelborne of the Organians claims Captain Sisko, Commander Chakotay, Lieutenant Sulu, Commander Data, Doctor Bashir, Deanna Troi and Ensign Kim.
In his infinite capacity for annoyance, Q has decided that the Bajoran Prophets are to be the subjects of his next challenge for the different crews. There is a wonderful scene drawn by Silvia Califano that places all of the teams on the outer hull of station Deep Space 9, observing the wormhole. He tasks them with simply getting the Prophets’ attention and trusts that “Starfleet ingenuity” will allow each of the teams to accomplish this task admirably. Of course, all of the crews have their own unique ways of doing that.
But even before this begins, there is a true-to-art interaction between Captain Picard and Guinan, who gives Picard the benefit of her own unique near-immortal perception. She knows Q very well and provides him with the notion that he may have more allies than he realizes and that Q may have over-taxed himself this time. This is a completely accurate character trait of Picard. A thoughtful captain, there are at least five episodes of The Next Generation that I can think of where Guinan’s wisdom was completely useful, and especially in their encounters with Q.
First of all, it’s to the Tiptons’ credit that they have such detailed familiarity with the character how to weave her presence into this story so well. It’s applicable, effective and provides the story with a degree of authenticity that Next Generation fans would see immediately and accept.
Second, it not only expertly resonates Guinan’s character with the reading audience but her presence also reinforces and validate both Q and Picard in this story. Q despises Guinan; thus, having her in this story not only adds verisimilitude to the story but an excellent pivot point in the plot for the crews to turn the tables on Q. The addition of this one character basically augments the entire story.
The Tiptons’ knowledge of these characters can even be seen in the crews’ methods of contacting the Prophets. Sisko, as their Emissary, simply chooses a passive and respectful way of contacting them through his thoughts. As they are within proximity of the wormhole, it just naturally falls into place that they will be able to hear his attempts.
Picard decides upon a direct, yet still thoughtful way of communicating with the Prophets. Flooding the wormhole with tachyons should be enough to get their attention but not forceful enough to be considered an attack.
Captain Janeway’s methodology is a bit simpler. Taking stock of the resources she has, she visits Deep Space 9 and with Major Kira’s help, asks the Vedeks to help her open one of the orbs on board the station for direct contact with the Prophets. While this is also a polite method, it is totally in line with Janeway’s character to consider the simplest of options.
But then there is the boldfaced approach of James T. Kirk, surprisingly inspired by Commander Dax. The Tiptons successfully marry the characters of these two personalities so well that they complement each other ideally. As for results, well, you’ll just have to read the book and see who’s the successful team.
In terms or art, Silvia Califano does due justice to all the different characters. She achieves a highly creditable degree of excellence in pulling off likenesses but she also brings a thoroughly good degree of staging, body language and facial expressions that successfully augment the storytelling in this book.
Looking at the three covers for the book, we are treated to the work of David Messina who provides the art for covers ‘A’ and ‘B,’ which are two halves of a single image. Cover ‘A’ has the profiles of Picard, Data, Sisko and Major Kira on the left side of the book, with part of the wormhole in the background. Cover ‘B’ sees profile pictures of Kirk, Spock, Janeway and Seven of Nine on the right side of the cover with the rest of the wormhole likewise behind them.
The retailer-incentive cover by George Caltsoudas really takes the cake here. Another propaganda-style image, this one has a stylized Vulcan holding up a torch with the Latin motto “Sequitur Omnia Astra”, which means “Follow the Stars.” In the four corners of the image, each starship can be seen triumphantly soaring into adventure.
As competition is the main theme of this book, this is another example of how Caltsoudas manages to find an original image that captures the spirit of Star Trek, instead of episodic moments from the story. Caltsoudas has won me over with this one.
This story is an original adventure that uses Star Trek material from four versions of the continuing franchise in a way that shows that regardless of the time period, if authors, like the Tiptons, know their material, they can find new ways of presenting it to already-established audiences.
Knowing canon is essential, but knowing characters is more important. In this, Scott and David have established themselves as expert writers who can create stories that any solid fan of the franchise would expect and more importantly, enjoy.
Anthologies are probably my favourite story formats.
Like a collection of appetizers instead of a full meal, an assortment ofcomic short stories makes for a refreshing change from reading a series. Maybe not all the offerings are to your liking, but there’s always something new to try.
Sad to say, April is always a killer catch-up month for me and for that reason, I missed this particular variety of Star Trek treats. However, it’s definitely time to rectify that oversight and delve into 2019’s Star Trek Waypoint One-Shot without any further delay.
Following up on the original six-issue run of Star Trek Waypoint stories from 2017, the title returned last fall in a four-story special collection spanning the Trek universe — and IDW continues to explore facets of the prime Trek universe in this new one-shot release, touching on the Original Series era as well as the mid-24th century in this year’s new anthology.
The first story up is “Hearts and Bones,” an Original Series story scripted and penciled by the incredibly talented Stephen Mooney. Tapping into the rivalry between Dr. McCoy and Commander Spock, my favourite Chief Medical Officer finds himself enamored of the most unlikely of romantic targets: a visiting Vulcan surgeon.
This is a delightful tale that sees McCoy seeking love advice from both Kirk and Spock. Mooney gives us a wonderful moment in Kirk’s quarters where we see the tables turned. Instead of Kirk leaning on McCoy for advice, it is McCoy on the receiving end of this relationship. Kirk’s impish smile effectively communicates the light humour of this story in a highly effective way, giving us not only a taste of McCoy’s discomfort but also provides for a flavour that is thoroughly TOS in nature.
This was certainly my favourite out of the entire book. Mooney is a rare talent, being able to script and pencil his stories. He also provides the art for the cover which is simply outstanding.
“Unfathom,” written by Corinna Bechko and drawn by Daniel Irizarri is a story from the earliest days of The Next Generation, where we see Doctor Crusher and Tasha Yar respond to a medical mystery in which most of the crew from a disabled starship have disappeared — both physically, as well as erased from memory of the remaining ones on board.
While I couldn’t find anything critically wrong with the straightforward art, I found the story’s resolution to be a little weak, as I didn’t fully understand how Crusher and the missing crew were able to affect things outside the storage container. I’m open to discussion on this one and be willing to hear what other people thought about it. However, it was a first introduction for me to these creators’ works and it’s always good to be introduced to new things.
The third story, “The Swift Spoke” by Malachi Ward and Matt Sheann, sees an episode from an early adventure in Kathryn Janeway’s career. Serving on board the USS Billings with a then-Lieutenant Tuvok, Janeway leads an away team to a planet known as Arali make first contact with a truly unique alien species known as the Adegeda.
I found this story to be less than satisfying. The away team accomplishes very little due to the differing nature of Adegeda’s reality, and Janeway’s team returns back to the ship with very little to show for their trouble. The story really doesn’t seem to go anywhere and I have to confess to a degree of disappointment.
Ward’s artwork made use of fluid and abstract shapes to represent the Adegeda and their mysterious ship. the background was fairly minimal yet I did like his interpretation of a young, short-haired Commander Janeway.
Finally, Thom Zahler and Andy Price give us “The First Year” – a touching story featuring Worf and Ezri Dax marking the first anniversary of Jadzia Dax’s death on the Klingon homeworld.
This story touched on a significant plot line, making it memorably authentic. After his duties concluded on Deep Space 9, we see Worf in his role as an ambassador in the First City on Qo’noS. However, in the story it is unclear whether he is a Federation or a Klingon ambassador, as even though he seems to have an office in the Federation embassy, he’s also referred to as ‘the Klingon ambassador’ so it’s not quite sure what was intended.
Despite that slight inconsistency, the meat of the story is a friend helping a friend. Ezri counsels Worf into acknowledging his loss and the truth he has kept from himself, as their discussion leads to flashes of Jadzia from within Worf’s memory. This is a touching interlude that sees Klingon angst express itself in the form of personal combat and passion. All in all, an entertaining read with acceptably good artwork.
Like I said, the anthology is an opportunity to try a variety of different flavours. While some are well-known favourites, others are new and are first time experiences.
Variety is the spice of life, after all, and with Star Trek, that’s not such a bad thing — and here’s hoping the Star Trek Waypoint title will be back again soon with more unique stories from around the galaxy.
There have been plenty of Star Trek games over the years, but Deep Space Nine doesn’t get a lot of love specifically — which is why I’ve been so excited about the latest edition of the card game Fluxx: it’s entirely dedicated to Deep Space Nine!
You may already have Star Trek Fluxx, and its 24th century companion Star Trek: TNG Fluxx — both of which we reviewed last summer when they first arrived from Looney Labs.
But if you’re a newcomer to the card game “with ever-changing rules,” here’s a basic rundown of how it works. It starts out simply enough, with the premise that each player will draw one card and play one card. You will be seeking out “Keeper” cards, in an attempt to fulfill the current goal card on the table.
Along the way, rules will change, Keepers will be traded, stolen, or discarded, and “Creeper” cards will try and stop you from — or help you succeed in — winning the game. A good game of Fluxx can take anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes to play, which makes it perfect for taking along to a Star Trek convention to play in line, or when you have a little downtime with some friends.
The new Deep Space Nine edition has some unique cards that help it stand out from the previous Trek versions, and one of my favorites is a “New Rule” card appropriately titled “Rule of Acquisition.” This allows you to take one of your opponent’s Keepers or Creepers, but only if you also allow that opponent to take one card randomly from your own hand to add to theirs. And since this is a rule change and not just an Action card, it means all players can do this on their turn, provided the rule remains in play. “Rule of Acquisition” has the potential to really shake up the game!
There are two action cards that I thought were themed nicely: “Beam Us Back!” and “Dabo!” The first says to return all Starfleet Officers, along with Visitors and Other Personnel, to the hands of their owners, unless there’s a Transporter in play (in which case, the player with the Transporter takes all of those cards and add them to their hand). The second, “Dabo!” lets you draw 3 extra cards. If you also have the Keeper “Gold-Pressed Lantinum,” you can draw another 3 cards.
Speaking of “Gold-Pressed Latinum,” that card lets you steal a Keeper from another player if you discard the Latinum. Two of my other favorite Keepers: “Weyoun” and “Morn.” I won’t tell you the specifics on the Morn card, because I think there should be at least one fun surprise when you play for the first time, but trust me when I say that the Morn card alone is worth purchasing the game for. The “Weyoun” card says that if it is discarded, you can instead place it on top of the Draw pile to be picked up again… you know, since he’s a clone!
There are a number of Goal cards that are interesting, in that they allow you to win by having certain combinations of Keepers. “The Dominion” goal requires any two Keepers from among the “Jem’Hadar,” “Weyoun,” or “The Founders.” Similarly, “Visitors and Other Station Personnel” is a goal requiring any 3 Keepers with the station symbol on them (such as “Morn,” “Jake Sisko,” “Garak,” etc.). There’s a similar goal for collecting any 3 of the Starfleet Officers.
And finally, it wouldn’t be a Fluxx game without Creepers! The “Jem’Hadar” and “The Founders” were natural candidates for these cards. The “Jem’Hadar” card lets you move it to another player if you discard a Keeper. “The Founders” card works the same way. I think it would have been nice to see different mechanisms for these two Creepers, but it’s a small critique in what is otherwise a well themed edition.
In addition, the company continues to grow their Star Trek game library in an upcoming release called Chrono-Trek,which infuses card gameplay with pretty much every temporal event ever seen in the prime Trek universe — to stay tuned for our coverage of that once we get our hands on the time travel-themed set!
As we reported earlier this month, What We Left Behind, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine retrospective documentary which hit theaters on May 13 will be coming to home media this August, and now we’ve got the first details of what special features will be part of the multiple Blu-ray releases of the film when it beams down this summer.
Officially announced today by distributor Shout! Studios, What We Left Behind will be available on both Blu-ray and DVD this August 6, accompanied by nearly ninety minutes of behind the scenes and special content along with the documentary itself, which we reviewed at the beginning of May.
We have learned that Shout! Studios will be releasing two different versions of the film, along with a third version of What We Left Behind being prepared for backers of the Indiegogo fundraising campaign which took off back in 2017.
The STANDARD release of the documentary — the general Blu-ray and DVD release available through Amazon.com and other retailers — will come with six special features, set to include “over a dozen deleted scenes,” additional featurettes with the cast and crew, a discussion about the HD remastering process, and more, totaling nearly ninety minutes.
An Intro from Ira
A Brief History of Deep Space Nine featurette
What We Left Out – Deleted Scenes
Behind the Scenes at the Variety photoshoot featurette
HD Remaster Discussion with the filmmakers
More from the Fans featurette
Theatrical Trailer
The SPECIAL EDITION release of the documentary — a limited-run, two-disc Blu-ray set available only at the Shout! web shop — will come with all the material found on the standard Blu-ray, along with two more exclusive features. (Only 1,500 copies will be produced).
A Musical Reunion with Composers Dennis McCarthy and Kevin Kiner
A Roundtable Look at The Making of the Documentary
A 50-minute discussion with co-director and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine showrunner Ira Steven Behr, co-director David Zappone, producer Kai de Mello-Folsom, producer/editor Joseph Kornbrodt and producer/editor Luke Snailham
Unfortunately, the two Shout! Studios exclusive features are NOT going to be part of the Indiegogo backer campaign version of the documentary Blu-ray, as that material has been produced specifically by Shout! for their special release — and was not put together by the documentary team itself.
Hi Eric, Shout’s special bonus disk will include content produced by them (not the film team directly) so is not the same as the backer disks. Anything our film team produced will be included on Indiegogo rewards. Details on bonus features are yet to be announced, so stay tuned!
In addition, Shout! Studios noted on Twitter earlier this month that sales of their special edition of What We Left Behind is only available in the United States — it is coded Region A for North America players only — as they do not support international shipment.
UPDATE: Since this article was published, new details on the backer release have been announced!
The film production team has statedthat the backer discs are expected to have more content than the standard release, as well as being the only region-free edition of the Blu-ray set expected to be made available:
As promised, our Indiegogo backer disk sets are made specially by our team for eligible backers and will include cover artwork exclusive to the campaign. The sets are the only region-free release currently planned, and will include one Blu-Ray disk and one standard DVD in a single combo-case.
Indiegogo contributors should also plan on seeing their version of What We Left Behind arrive before the August 6 wide release of the other editions, as backer shipments are set to ship in the beginning of July, for both domestic and international campaign donors.
This evening, the documentary team announced the extra content coming to their Indiegogo backer release, which includes:
A Musical Reunion with Composers Dennis McCarthy and Kevin Kiner
Indiegogo Campaign Videos & Video Vault
Technical Trivia Track: A special subtitle text track with detailed technical info and listing of our HD Hero sponsors
It’s good to see the composer segment making its way to the backer release as well, and as for the roundtable special that’s exclusive to the Shout! Studios release, here’s what the documentary team had to say in their announcement:
For those curious about the differences, your backer disk sets already include our Musical Reunion bonus feature and a shortened excerpt of Shout’s roundtable (in the HD Remaster featurette).
However, because the extended full-length roundtable discussion is produced separately by Shout! Factory, it is only available on their limited edition disk.
Keep checking back to TrekCore for the latest news on What We Left Behind— as soon as we know where the film will be available to stream digitally, we’ll be sure to let you know!
How do you overcome the overwhelming sense of futility when dealing with near omnipotent beings? I’ll bet they never covered that one in Starfleet’s training protocols.
Star Trek: The q Conflict #5 is a a story motif that fans can relate to and expect. While an overwhelming sense of frustration might impede the stories in other series, it’s a phenomenon that the different captains and crews of this franchise are used to, and that sets the sets the background for this part of the story.
After all, we are talking about Q – the most pernicious, annoying but popular villain in the Star Trek franchise. Even though one would think a story about confronting an omnipotent being would be present too many obstacles, Star Trek always seemed to do it. Scott and David Tipton have tapped into that motif and, as they are both creators and fans, they are expertly familiar with giving other fans the type of story a fan would expect to read.
The story so far: Q has enraged the Bajoran Prophets by involving them in his contest with the other immortals. The Prophets have demonstrated their discontent by warping time and space to a corporeally unrecognizable extent that even Q cannot contend with. The timely intervention by his fellow Q (Corbin Bernson’s Q from “Deja Q”) and Q-neophyte, Amanda Rodgers (from “True Q”), manage to bring reality back to a level palatable for the Starfleet crews. Q, however, has been placed on notice: no more irresponsible antics or the contest ends, and the war with the other omnipotents resumes, who sense an opportunity to end this charade.
In this issue, Q and Trelane set the next challenge to be the acquisition of a Borg Queen. Quite a daunting task, even for the most advanced starship crew, but given that the selection of crews in this story are from different eras of Star Trek history, the range of available technology puts most of the ships at a disadvantage.
However, the real story is the overall problem: the existence of the contest itself and how the different crews can conspire to extricate themselves from it. That goes back to the tried and true motif of confronting all-powerful, extra-dimensional beings that is a staple feature of a true Star Trek story.
Star Trek comics work because there already is an established fan-base for the franchise and lovers of the comic medium often make up a good portion of Trekkies. Those readers have expectations for a successful story based on established portrayals of characters and any variation that does not have a valid story rationale, will be popularly derided by that fanbase. What’s required for a successful comic is not just a detailed knowledge of Trek trivia but an understanding of the nuances that have made for successful and well-loved stories in different versions of the franchise.
Both David and Scott Tipton have both of those qualities. In extrapolative stories like this, where we have representative characters from four of the versions of this franchise in different situations, the characters have to be accurate. For example, it’s completely within the realm of expectations that Guinan would counsel Captain Picard, especially when it comes to the Q Continuum.
Captain Kirk’s brash and, for lack of a better descriptor, “bulldozer” tactics against the Borg are completely familiar and acceptable, despite their simplistic and brutish nature, they are completely “Kirk”. These behaviours have already been set and it’s the interaction and the speculation as to how these characters would behave in whatever new situation the writers can dream up that provide the entertainment.
That’s the Tiptons’ shared gift. That’s why books like the TNG Mirror Universe, the Trek crossover with Dr. Who or “The Primate Directive” – the shared story set in the “Planet of the Apes” milieu – have also been fan-favorites. Though perhaps not canonically viable, it’s the speculative spirit that matters to long-time fans.
…and in the end, it’s fun. If you can’t have a bit of fun with your fandom, then where’s the joy in it? I mean, I’m really curious to find out how Guinan’s friends involve themselves in ending this conflict, and that’s fun.
Speaking of which, it’s clear that artist David Messina is having fun with this story too. I find his ability to convey part of the story by accurately depicting the same sort of expression one would see in an episode lends itself expertly well in visual storytelling.
Let’s look at the covers to see some more of that expertise.
Covers ‘A’ and ‘B’ are bookends. Cover ‘A’ is a left-facing perspective of the Borg Queen super-imposed over a Cube, with an attacking Defiant and Enterprise-E in front. Cover ‘B’ is a right-facing perspective with Q taking the place of the Queen over the other half of the Borg Cube and the Enterprise and Voyager in front. Both are by David Messina, and like I said, it’s clear he had a lot of fun with this.
The retailer-incentive cover is by George Caltsoudas and he doesn’t fail to disappoint with his depiction of the myriad of Trek villains set inside a stylized portrait of the Borg Queen, seemingly in repose. It’s definitely a sophisticated piece of art that will cause a viewer to lose him or herself in its complexity.
To answer the original question posed at the start of this review, overcoming an overwhelming sense of futility involves providing a sense of enjoyment. It’s a sure thing that the Tiptons have accomplished that with this story.
Looney Labs is releasing the latest entry in its collection of Star Trek licensed games with Star Trek Chrono-Trek this summer — a themed re-imagining of their existing Chrononauts game, where time travelers jump through alternate histories and attempt to repair paradoxes caused by mischievous meddlers.
The Star Trek universe has no shortage of such time-hopping troublemakers and predestination problems that we’ve watched intrepid Starfleet crews tackle over the years. Now, it’s your turn to slingshot around the sun and change the fate of the multiverse!
Editor’s note: This review contains photos of a pre-production printing of Chrono-Trek provided to TrekCore by Looney Labs. While artwork and other content is final, any text legibility issues on the cards are expected to be resolved for the retail release.
This game boasts 32 possible identities for players to adopt, including the starship crewmembers from your favorite TV series, enemies (the Xindi and the Borg), potential allies (Gary Seven from “Assignment Earth” and Guinan), and folks just along for the ride (Berlinghoff Rasmussen from “A Matter of Time” and Cyrano Jones from “The Trouble with Tribbles”).
Each of them has a way to benefit from a potential alternate timeline – and since player identities are secret, you’ll never know who is working toward what temporal paradox until they drop an “Inverter” card and jump to a world where all tribbles have been eradicated from existence.
Star Trek Chrono-Trek uses the same art style as Looney Labs’ recent Fluxx games and the same core mechanic of Chrononauts; this game exists in a middle ground right between the two in terms of complexity and style of play. You lay out a sequence of 36 “Timeline” cards, forming a sort of central board with events from the history of Star Trek’s wide universe — which covers all the television series and films between from the early days of the Original Series to the final season of Star Trek: Enterprise.
By drawing and playing cards from the deck, you can flip over linked card sequences in the timeline to spawn alternate histories, collect creatures and relics (like humpback whales or Data’s severed head), or throw a self-sealing stem bolt into your neighbor’s warp drive by stealing away their items and cards.
The game has four difficulty levels based on how hard the characters’ goals are to accomplish. Level 1 and 2 are functionally equivalent, requiring one timeline divergence and one item for victory. The Fluxx-like chaos is on full display here, since there are so many cards that allow swiping items or fishing through the deck for specific cards.
In my experience, it was common for the game to end after only one or two rounds — often without some players getting a turn to play.
Where this game really shines is Level 3. The characters at this level require more conditions to be in place to win, preventing games from ending in a flurry of activity in the first few rounds. Players will have a chance to collect and play cards that counter each others’ actions; many goals among these characters are directly opposed or share required items, so there is a lot of built-in interaction that is missing from the lower difficulty levels.
Level 4 has villains who rely on “Fracture” cards for their nefarious plots. These cards represent escalated levels of paradox found when multiple variations in the timeline converge on a particularly extreme future.
For instance, if Quark profits from his trip to Roswell in 1947 (“Little Green Men”) by sharing advanced technology in the past and Benjamin Sisko takes a leave of absence instead of assuming command of Deep Space 9 (“Emissary”), it’s possible for the Federation to be “Conquered By The Dominion” – one of the key conditions for the Founders to win the game.
These Fractures also cause downstream effects through history – if another player relies on an event that takes place later in the timeline, they can no longer win the game as the timeline they need simply disappears from the universe until the events leading to the Fracture are repaired.
It’s possible to play with a mix of difficulty levels, with the harder levels granting players extra cards, but I would recommend keeping 1 and 2 separate from 3 and 4. Even just among level 4 characters, some only require two specific cards to win, while poor Emperor Kor needs a whopping six, the most of anyone in the game by far.
And if you draw Q, you are almost playing an entirely different game from everyone else — Q wins by waiting for the Devron anti-time anomaly (“All Good Things…”) to expand backward through time and prevent humanoid life from forming.
The “Event” cards that trigger the anomaly expansion are scattered through the deck and must immediately be played by any player drawing it, so Q is doing whatever he can to delay others from meeting their goals without having to focus on collecting items or altering timeline events.
The “Q wins” condition is just one great example of the incredible attention to Trek lore that is visible throughout this game. Timeline events, Inverter cards that alter history, and even the specific goals tied to characters, show a remarkable level of knowledge and care that went into crafting each card.
You can see deep cuts spanning all of the Star Trek series, like Andorian officer Thelin from “Yesteryear,” or that the timeline event “Borg destroyed by Voyager” as seen in the episode “Endgame” is technically an alternate history while “Voyager returns home after 23 years” — the original fate of Janeway’s crew — is the default position for the card.
Also great are subtle details in the character art, such as characters originating in alternate timelines (Admiral Janeway or Evil Spock from “Mirror, Mirror”) having slightly different lighting and texture to their illustrations when compared to crew from the original realities.
That same level of specificity put into every card also leads to a drawback, however: many “Action” cards allow you to search for a particular card by name from the deck, the discard pile, or another player’s hand. There are characters like Dr. Phlox, who needs to accumulate a collection of “Lifeform” or “Beverage” artifacts, and you may not know the names of every card in those categories off of the top of your head.
Similarly, every Inverter card does the same thing (flip a timeline card) but each one has a unique name of a time-travelling tool associated with it, like the Timeship Aeon (“Future’s End”). A cheatsheet for events necessary to trigger each Fracture card is included for players using Level 4 characters – a card listing all Artifacts or Inverters would be useful for players at every level of difficulty.
Star Trek Chrono-Trek offers a chance to take a ride through the twists and turns of the Star Trek timeline, with the art (and chaos) you know from Looney Labs’ editions of Fluxx.
Keep and eye out for Chrono-Trek at your local game store this August, or look for it on sale at the FanSets booth at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention if you’re attending the event!
We’re inching closer to the home release of What We Left Behind, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine retrospective documentary that’s been making theatrical appearances around the world over the last month and a half — and its next stop is San Diego Comic Con, where new footage not seen in theaters is set to debut.
Announced yesterday by US distributor Shout! Studios, What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine will appear at SDCC on Friday, July 19 at 7:00 PM (Room 23AB), where Deep Space Nine cast members Andy Robinson (Garak), Aron Eisenberg (Nog) Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko), Chase Masterson (Leeta) and Penny Johnson Jerald (Kasidy Yates) will join executive producer Ira Steven Behr and the production team for an hour-long discussion on the film… and showcase new material not seen in the touring theatrical release.
What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Friday, July 19th — 7:00 pm Room 32AB
Join Star Trek: Deep Space Nine showrunner Ira Steven Behr, filmmaker David Zappone and select DS9 cast members (including Andrew Robinson, Aron Eisenberg, Cirroc Lofton, Chase Masterson, and Penny Johnson Jerald) for an in-depth journey into What We Left Behind, the critically acclaimed documentary feature film about Star Trek’s dark and often overlooked ‘middle-child’ series.
Moderated by Brian Ward (Shout! Factory), the panel will also feature NEW footage not included in the film’s theatrical release.
In addition, the first retail availability of the Deep Space Nine documentary will be at the Shout! Factory booth on the SDCC show floor (Booth #4118), where visitors will be able to pick up copies of What We Left Behind on Blu-ray and will include a free poster (likely the same one distributed at the theatrical screenings, the imagery on the Blu-ray set above).
Fundraiser campaign backers are still expected to receive their copies in “early July,” ahead of SDCC.
This past weekend at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention, our friends over at Hero Collector gave us a comprehensive preview of everything the Eaglemoss team has lined up for the next several months of model starship releases!
Hero Collector’s Matt Buss and Chris Thompson lead Saturday’s presentation.
Hero Collector brand managers Matt Buss and Chris Thompson took the stage on Saturday morning to walk the assembled audience through the next additions to the Star Trek and Star Trek: Discovery model starship lineup, along with some new larger-scale XL Starships and even a few bonus and special releases set to leave Spacedock soon.
The team announced that the larger-sized XL Starships line of models has been extended to a total planned run of 22 models — of which 15 have been formally announced to date — and they revealed two of the next mystery models at the event.
Hero Collector 'XL Starships' Model Previews
1 of 5
USS Thunderchild
USS Excelsior
Romulan Warbird
Deep Space 9
After debuting the delayed Akira-class USS Thunderchild (#12) at their convention sales booth — and showing off a product image of the already-announced USS Excelsior (#15)– Buss and Thompson announced that the next two XL-sized releases will be the D’Deridex-class Romulan Warbird (#16)and the first station in the collection: Starbase Deep Space 9 (#17) which will come with a stand for display use.
The remaining five XL Starships models weren’t yet ready to be revealed, but the audience had plenty of suggestions for the Hero Collector team — hopefully we’ll learn more about their remaining plans soon.
Hero Collector 'Official Starships' Bonus & Special Releases
1 of 3
SS Conestoga
Son'a Flagship
Vulcan Warp Sled
Moving on to the bonus and special releases, the team gave us a first look at the next bonus edition, the SS Conestoga from “Terra Nova” (#20), a mid-21st century colony ship from the first season of Star Trek: Enterprise, and expanding the special-edition model line is the first alien ship from Star Trek: Insurrection — the Son’a flagship (#19) — followed then by Spock’s Vulcan warp sled (#20) from The Motion Picture.
Hero Collector 'Star Trek: Discovery' Model Previews
1 of 5
Class-C shuttle
USS Hiawatha
Klingon Oblisk
ISS Charon
ISS Charon
Next up, the Star Trek: Discovery subscription line continues on with four new announcements. Release #19 is the Discovery-era Class-C shuttle, the long-awaited first shuttlecraft model from the new series.
Hero Collector 'Official Starships' Model Previews
1 of 9
Batris
Nilo Rodis Concept II
Sarajevo
Void ship
SS Lakul
Orion Interceptor
Nilo Rodis Concept III
Karemma starship
For those of you who subscribe to the ongoing Official Starships Collection, the Hero Collector team announced that the series has been officially extended out to 180 issues — so start clearing out some more shelf space now!
STAR TREK ONLINE’s Thomas Marrone announces the new ship line.
Finally — as if that wasn’t enough — the Hero Collector team announced that yet another line of starship models will be coming from the collectibles company… and we aren’t talking about tie-ins to the next round of television shows.
At the end of the panel, Star Trek Online lead artist Thomas Marrone came on stage to announce that Hero Collector will be launching an official Star Trek Online subscription program for starship models based on the long-running multiplayer game.
While specific ships were not detailed at the panel, fans of the game can expect many of the dozens of established Star Trek Online vessels to be included when more details are released.
We’ve got several reviews on the way for some of the recent Official Starship Collection releases, but in the meantime: do any of these new announcements already have places in your personal fleet?
Let us know what’s got you excited in the comments below!
Like many other attendees, we’re still recovering from our week-long away mission to the 2019 Las Vegas Star Trek convention, and while we shared with many of you our favorite costume efforts from the STLV floor last week on social media, we wanted to make sure the rest of you got to share our joy in these wonderful fan creations!
STLV 2019 had a great balance of cosplay from all the television shows and many of the feature films — and even one of the most complicated recreations of on-screen Trek characters we’ve seen in a long time, with a working-wing Red Angel outfit!
We also had a handful of fans representing twists on familiar characters and aliens, and some who even brought some non-Star Trek sci-fi fun to the show floor.
Beauty and the Beast — Jadzia and Worf.Futurama representationA visitor from ‘The Orville’
There were also a few Star Trek franchise guest stars putting on their old Starfleet uniforms for panels and fan interaction.
Robin Curtis in ‘Star Trek III’-era Saavik uniform and makeupNatalija Nogulich as Admiral Necheyev
Here’s our full gallery of all the great Trek costumes we saw over the convention week!
STLV 2019 Cosplay Gallery
1 of 47
'Star Trek: Picard'-era Seven of Nine
Commander Saru
'Personal leave' Burnham
'The Vulcan Hello' desert gear
'Discovery' character mash-up
'Discovery' space suits
Emperor Georgiou
'Discovery'-era Enterprise crew
Number One
Section 31 Georgiou & Odo with bucket
A pair of Kira Nerys
'Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang' Ezri Dax
Dr. Honey Bare
Odo's security team
'DS9' producer Ira Behr, times two
'Enterprise' decon chamber crew
A scene from 'The Lorelei Signal'
'Animated Series' Klingon
A Benzite and a TAS Klingon
A casual Klingon warrior
The smallest warrior of the Empire
A funky Orion
Parrises Squares players
Acting Ensign Crusher
Lwaxana Troi
Roga Danar
Dr. Alyssa Ogawa (from 'Parallels')
Species 8472 Boothby and his garden
Seven and Chakotay
Whale Probe and Gracie
Whale Probe and Gracie
Team Whales with Bob and Gillian
Humpbacked people
Bob and Gillian Taylor from the Cetacean Institute
'Star Trek IV' Amanda Grayson
Starfleet and Gorn, together at last
Gary Seven and Isis
Losira
Gymnastics Kirk
A MEGO Mugato
Captain Pike
Captain Planet Killer
'Star Trek III'-era Dr. McCoy
TOS-era dress uniform
T'Pring of Vulcan
General Trelane, retired
A transporter malfunction
Which of the dozens of outstanding costume ideas is your favorite? Sound off in the comments below!
The Looney Labs team also gave us an exclusive preview of another new Star Trek card game they have in the works, based off of their existing line of Chrononauts games: ChronoTrek, which brings together every single temporal anomaly and time travel event from across the franchise into one clock-bending game.
OrderThe DS9 CompanionToday!
Order theStar Trek: DS9 DVD collection!
OrderThe DS9 Technical ManualToday!
All of that information – and much more! – will be released officially very soon!!
(@TrekCore) 
