Details from IMDB:
The Captains
The Captains is a feature-length documentary film written and directed by William Shatner. The film follows Shatner as he interviews the other actors who have portrayed Starship captains within the illustrious science-fiction franchise.
- Director
- Writer
- Stars
Initial Thoughts:
So this is a little bit funny, I saw this movie before but had completely forgotten about it until Rebecca mentioned it on “TV Show in Space.” I found it on Prime Video in the US (and changed my IP, come and get me, Amazon!), and as I didn’t remember, I saw it until about halfway through, and gave it a watch on Sunday morning.
Main Points:
As many of you know, if you’ve read this blog before, I’m a huge Trekker, have loved Star Trek since 1980, and of course, my love began with Shatner, Nimoy, DeForest and everyone else from TOS (The Original Series), so I’m fairly easily persuaded to watch a Trek documentary. This was a great idea for a documentary, but I don’t think Shatner should have been given so much control. You can tell pretty early on that he is not a good interviewer; he interrupts his guests all the time, tries to steer the conversation the way he wants, and, frankly, sometimes asks silly/stupid or blatantly sexist questions.
I loved how Avery Brooks is annoyed with him and just starts playing piano and singing whenever he wants (much to Shatner’s annoyance). I also felt bad for Kate Mulgrew when he essentially asks how a woman could manage her hormones along with an acting job and a family! There is also a bizarre part where he arm wrestles Chris Pine (and they both win one), then says “best out of three wins!” and never shows the third match!
Ok enough Shatner bashing, I do think he is a good actor and has some interesting things in his life/career, but he should not be the one asking questions/directing a movie, as we know from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, that doesn’t go well. I quite enjoyed all of the insights each actor shared on their experience with Star Trek, and it was a pleasant stroll down memory lane seeing clips from all these Star Trek shows. You gain insight into how Star Trek is filmed and a glimpse of the personalities and histories of each star, and, of course, what each brought to being a Star Trek captain.
Final Thoughts:
I would love to see a new version of this done by someone other than Shatner, lots of new Captains to interview, and the questions/interviews would be so much better! I did enjoy this movie, and it was fun (and a little creepy) to see Shatner going around a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. He does seem to have enjoyed himself and grows just a little bit as a person. It is poorly edited and seems a little long/dated, so I can only give it 7 out of 10. I think there was a little coarse language, so ages 14+. If you really love Star Trek and are interested in these actors, I would give this a cautious recommendation, just be prepared to see just how different (and sometimes weirdly similar) Shatner can be from Captain Kirk.