William Shatner's The Captains

_Kaiser_

I came across a rather interesting William Shatner documentary last night. Entitled "Star Trek - The Captains" it follows Shatner as he travels to meet his counterparts from the different series and the latest movie.

[HERE COME THE SPOILERS]
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It's not your typical Star Trek documentary though. Sure there's a few convention scenes (including a very - I thought - moving piece where Shatner greets a guy who is almost kept going entirely going by his love of Trek), but most of the focus is on the effects that the show had on the various actors - at the time and since.

It was interesting to see the various takes the different Captain's had on it, and Scott Bakula came across as a very nice, down-to-earth kinda guy who I ended up feeling kinda sorry for in terms of how he and his series are generally viewed.

Similarly Kate Mulgrew gives an interesting insight into how things were on Voyager for her.

Avery Brooks though was a complete surprise! I won't give too much away, but I went googling after to try and explain it and I still don't know what to make of it.

Patrick Stewart.. or Sir Patrick Stewart nowadays.. what a pro! There's genuine warmth between him and Shatner and you can see the emotion in him at one point of the interview.

Chris Pine probably seemed the most "hollywood" of the bunch (you'll see what I mean) and I got the impression that Shatner would love to change places with him and do it all over again.

All in all an interesting perspective I thought - not at all what I expected! (:p @ Captain Inside tho!)

Anyone else seen it?

DVD-Lots

I had to fast forward the Brooks parts, wrecked my head. Loved the Chris Pine interviews too and especially when Shats was strolling through comic con. Was a huge fan of TNG way back when and was great to get Stewarts insight into it all. Good doc but I felt Shatner was trying too hard with his direction, worth a watch though.

nyarlothothep

Haven't seen the whole thing, have seen Avery Brooks in interview before and he's an angry dude, very politicized which is cool but somewhat arrogant but he is an intellectual actor. I saw the last part, Shatner's aged well, showing us once again as a paragon of excellence how it should be done. I am not William Shatner.

Sad Professor

I liked it, but would have liked it better if Shatner had managed somehow to wrestle that ego of his to the ground long enough to interview the other actors properly. Although he still manages to get some remarkable personal disclosures from them.

The Brooks segments are a bit embarrassing. He had obviously been smoking something the day that Shatner came to visit him. Although I did enjoy how Shatner handled it.

I was most impressed with Mulgrew. She seemed the most confident of the bunch and treated Shatner with the right amount seriousness.

Goodshape

Just watched it. Enjoyed it, nice interviews.

Didn't mind Shatner's unprofessional interview style at all. It was as much about him as the rest of them.

I don't think Shatner and Avery Brooks would have gotten on too well off camera . Looks like he's fond of the aul jazz-cigarettes, never-mind the music.

_Kaiser_

Goodshape wrote: »

I don't think Shatner and Avery Brooks would have gotten on too well off camera . Looks like he's fond of the aul jazz-cigarettes, never-mind the music.

I wasn't sure what to make of it myself, but I noticed Brooks seemed very thin and gaunt. Figured maybe there was a medical reason..

Reg'stoy

Just finished watching The Captains which is written and directed by the good Captain Kirk himself. Is available on the US netflix site and well worth a look.

The Black Oil

Not your typical documentary, perhaps, but enjoyable nonetheless. Shatner gets some pretty honest accounts out of the captains.

OldeCinemaSoz

Captain Christopher Pike should've been there.

Goodshape

OldeCinemaSoz wrote: »

Captain Christopher Pike should've been there.

The actor from The Cage died in the sixties :-/

The actor from the film wouldn't have been interesting, tbh.

Kirby

Just watched it there. Enjoyed it quite alot. A few observations.

The most profound and interesting bit was definately near the end where Shatner told Patrick Stewart how he had always felt a sense of shame about being a part of Star trek and how it wasn't until he met CEO head of the airline company and seen Stewart on tv that it changed for him.

Now obviously that happened during filming and it made for a good part of the documentary so you can argue whether it was genuine or contrived for Shatners own benefit. But I believed it. You can kind of tell. I mean he didn't really get into the convention swing until the 80's.....years after TOS had ended. He obviously resented it. But I thought it was nice that he had changed his view and that it was Patrick stewart that had led him to it.

Stewart came accross brilliantly as always. So did Mulgrew. Hearing them talk about the toll hollywood takes on your family was difficult to hear. Especially when stewart talked about the breakdown in his marriage and how he could never make up for it. I tell ya, I teared up.

I didn't like the way Shatner tried to lead Mulgrew down the path of stating that women shouldn't do certain jobs and have a family. I thought she dealt with it well. I actually agree with him to a point but think it was outrageous for him to say something like that in an interview. That seemed way out of bounds.

Avery Brooks. Jesus christ he was baked! I was so disappointed because we never got anything out of him and as a ds9 lover, I found that a shame. You would think Shatner and the crew would have realised they were wasting their time and rescheduled. Maybe they did though, and he was baked again . I wonder is it a regular thing with him now because he hasn't done much work in the last few years. I wonder is it just a choice or is he ill.

Scott Bakula. Wow. What a guy. I echo the sentiments of the OP. I feel really sorry for him and how the fans will never adore him like they do the others. It's not his fault and you could see him struggle with answering the question of why his show never reached the heights it could have. He was being very diplomatic about it, but you could tell he blamed the casting. I wonder which of the cast he really didn't rate. Probably all of them .

Hearing some of the new guys background was interesting but he never had a show so its different for him. He is just a movie actor and he knows the score....trek will just be 3 or 4 movies for him. He won't be pidgeon holed and is still very young.

I'd recommend any trek fan watch it. It's worth it even for the tidbits you see here and there.

Parawind

I saw this a few months ago, really enjoyed it. It gives a very different insight into each actors experiences in the roles. Even if you weren't a fan of any of the shows, it is worth a watch as its less about the shows and more about the the effect it had on each actor.

Kirby wrote: »

Avery Brooks. Jesus christ he was baked! I was so disappointed because we never got anything out of him and as a ds9 lover, I found that a shame. You would think Shatner and the crew would have realised they were wasting their time and rescheduled. Maybe they did though, and he was baked again . I wonder is it a regular thing with him now because he hasn't done much work in the last few years. I wonder is it just a choice or is he ill.

This was the one thing about it that left me feeling very uneasy. I am not sure that he was baked, he seemed like he was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. He kept losing his train of thought which admittedly could be caused by either option. But if you watch that part again, notice how willing Shatner is to play along with everything and is almost handling him. I don't think Shatner would be willing to play along if he was simply baked. If he was baked, i'm very dissapointed in him, especially in the light of the others giving such open and poignant interviews.

That interview aside, all of the others came across great and you could really see the stark differences in their personalities.

Kirby

I doubt it. He wasn't avoiding questions like an Alzheimer's sufferer would be. He was just spouting nonsense. He really looked as high as a kite.

Myrddin

I don't think Brooks actively attends conventions, or embraces his role in DS9 in any way. Such a shame, I'd love for him to open up & talk about it. I rate him so highly as Sisko

downwithpeace

Brooks is doing a convention this year in Las Vegas, I think it's a special convention which might be why he's doing it if he does avoid them normally, he was also in charge of the music used in The Captains.

I don't think he was high during the interview because if you watch some DS9 episodes he comes off very similar when he's trying work out the Prophets, still, a WTF is up with him struck me.

He was nabbed drink driving recently, Defiant suffered no damage.

Daith

EnterNow wrote: »

I don't think Brooks actively attends conventions, or embraces his role in DS9 in any way. Such a shame, I'd love for him to open up & talk about it. I rate him so highly as Sisko

I think it was just another acting job to him. Nothing more really.

Myrddin

Daith wrote: »

I think it was just another acting job to him. Nothing more really.

Yep seems that way. Be nice if he gave a bit more back to the community though, the others are able to do it.

Kirby

Daith wrote: »

I think it was just another acting job to him. Nothing more really.

While thats true with alot of actors and alot of roles, surely not the one that takes such a large part of your life.

He may resent it now, but a show like ds9 defines an actors career. There is no way you treat the job that made you rich and the job you spent nearly eight years doing as "Just another acting job".

When regular people see him they recognise him as Sisko, Hawk, or that bloke from the siemens ad.

Maybe he just doesn't like conventions?

Myrddin

Kirby wrote: »

Maybe he just doesn't like conventions?

I don't think its just that, he never opens up about the role and/or about himself really. He's like the Excelsior class...you just cannot get a decent god damn look at it

downwithpeace

Kirby wrote: »

Maybe he just doesn't like conventions?

Futurama "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" comes to mind, Star Trek cast would rather be heads in a jar then spend more time with an obsessed Trekkie.

Sleepy

I know it's a zombie thread but didn't want to start a new one for it. This is currently available on Irish Netflix and I downloaded it for the commute. The direction is as heavy handed as you'd expect from Shatner but the interviews are still pretty interesting.

I'm not sure that Avery Brooks was just "high" though, he came off as a total fruit-loop.

JayRoc

Sleepy wrote: »

I'm not sure that Avery Brooks was just "high" though, he came off as a total fruit-loop.

I still laugh at that bit. Shatner was so bemused but tried his best to keep up with Brooks.

It was like watching your grandfather trying to have a conversation with someone off their head on yokes

degrassinoel

Keep in mind, this guy at 69 years of age is a full professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the US and has been teaching drama, theatre and music since 1976!

http://www.alumni.rutgers.edu/s/896/index.aspx?pgid=513

He did a great job with Sisko, but i don't think he's ever going to come down and tell us mere mortals what it was all about - i reckon the rational, reasonable part of him is still with the wormhole aliens, but even saying that, there are some small parts of his interviews where he does make sense albeit in a very reminiscent sorrowful way.

Anway, Alamarein! ..

Sleepy

degrassinoel wrote: »

Keep in mind, this guy at 69 years of age is a full professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the US

TBH, given how nuts the American universities seem to have gone, that means very little these days!

Inviere

Apparently, Brooks doesn’t have a lot of time for Shatner.

degrassinoel

Inviere wrote: »

Apparently, Brooks doesn’t have a lot of time for Shatner.

any particular reason or just the obvious one?

Inviere

degrassinoel wrote: »

any particular reason or just the obvious one?

I honestly don't know, I read it a while back. Don't even know if there's truth to it or not, but it stuck in my mind.