MOVIE REVIEW: The Captains (2011)

This review is for Sebastien!

CAPTAINS 1

THE CAPTAINS (2011, directed by William Shatner)

Who else but William Shatner should do a documentary on all the major Star Trek captains and the people who played them? Shatner obviously knows the rigors of a weekly TV series, and the impact that Star Trek has on a career. With that in mind, Shatner boards a Bombardier jet to speak with Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, and Chris Pine.

William Shatner is excellent as an interested, intelligent interviewer. Just watch him with Patrick Stewart. Listen to his questions, as he probes. These are some of the best, deepest Star Trek interviews you will ever see. Shatner clearly has a talent for conversation. This is a remarkable side of the man that has carefully crafted a later image as a funny guy. The only place he awkwardly stumbles is with Avery Brooks.  Brooks, also a very intelligent man, chooses to answer many of his questions by tinkling away at a piano. That must have been strange….

If you are a fan of Star Trek, old generation, next generation, any generation, then this movie is recommended. It will certainly help you get to know and appreciate these great actors who played the captains. William Shatner accomplishes this with an appropriate mix of humour (watch how he meets Kate Mulgrew) and feeling. Mix into that some wonderful footage of him clowning around at conventions, too.

Great film. Shatner’s best directorial offering.

4/5 stars

27 comments

    1. I don’t remember if he’s mentioned at all, truthfully. I don’t think he is. Of course he’s also dead…if you were going to talk about “all” the Star Trek Captains you’d have to include George Takei, Leonard Nimoy and Jimmy Doohan as well I guess.

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        3. I shouldn’t have used the word evil on Rony Cox. He was just disliked. Remember when Picardy was captured by the Cardassians? Ronnie Cox was the captain of the Enterprise at that time.

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        5. I loved those episodes…even better when it is an imposter crew member. Think on all the Treks…how many times did an alien posess or disguise themselves as crew members?

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        7. Oh Scott! Here you give me this great opening to plug Evil Kirk!

          Evil Kirk is a song that I recorded with my sister Kathryn. It is a bass clarinet improvisation with myself narrating a series of Kirk’s best moments from the entire series.

          “How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life.”

          That kind of thing.

          You can buy Evil Kirk in a couple places. You can use the link below to buy a physical CD of her entire album, or iTunes to download just Evil Kirk for the measly price of 99 cents.

          http://kathrynladano.com/?page_id=47

          I don’t make a penny from it, but my sister does, so help independent music!

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        13. The Paradise Syndrome. Kirk goes native. Thinks he’s a local. Insisted that he is Kirok at the end as the Enterprise tries to save him. “I am Kirok!”

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  2. Ach, Scottie (get it?) beat me to the punch. Anyway, this does look really cool. And I’m glad it was a requested review… I was about to ask what the hell this had to do with music!

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    1. Well, there’s more Trek stuff coming in 2013 (definitely will be discussing the new movie in May plus a video from Sebastien and myself) so I guess I’ll just not worry about fitting it all in.

      Well, I do own two Shatner albums, one of which features his cover of “Iron Man”, so that works. Shatner the rock star.

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      1. I have a CD which is a best(?) of Shatner’s and Nimoy’s stuff. Shatner’s stuff is really bizarre. If you think the original Batman television series was camp, check out Shatner’s records! Nimoy is more traditional, not bad, but obviously more an actor than a singer.

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