Standard Orbit: A Star Trek Original Series Podcast
131: Go Climb A Rock Monster!

No One Sets Out To Make A Bad Movie.

In this episode of Standard Orbit, your Refit Crew continues their voyage through the Original Series Cast Movies with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier; heading towards July 22 and BEYOND! After the enormous box office success of The Voyage Home, the studio decided to continue the cinematic universe with a fifth production: The Final Frontier. William Shatner, who had a contract that ensured he and Nimoy got equal footing, was given the reins to direct. The Final Frontier was a very challenged production and the Chief and Mr. AtoZ try to unpack the issues that plagued ST:V.

Was the plot an all too familiar and common trope in Star Trek? Did Shatner elevate the screen presence of the “Big Three” - Kirk, Spock and McCoy - at the expense of the rest of his crew and acting comrades? Did Laurence Luckinbill’s portrayal of an emotionally charged Vulcan fly in the face of what we knew of Vulcan canon from TOS Join us as we warp ahead into the finer points of The Final Frontier. We also reflect on the untimely and tragic passing of Anton Yelchin; a brilliant, young actor who will forever be loved by Star Trek fans as the Kelvin Era's Ensign Pavel Chekov.

Hosts
Ken Tripp and Jeffrey Harlan

Feature
Welcome to Standard Orbit! (00:01:08)
Remembering Anton Yelchin (00:03:00)
What Does God Need With a Shatner? (00:06:33)
A Very Familiar Final Frontier (00:12:20)
B…as in Barricade and B Plots (00:20:56)
Going Through the Motions? (00:26:00)
Playing to a Captive Audience (00:30:43)
A Very Volatile Vulcan (00:38:22)
Not So Special Effects (00:46:00)
It Could Have Been SO MUCH MORE! (00:55:45)
Thank You for Listening to Standard Orbit (01:06:54)

Production
C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer), Norman C. Lao (Executive Producer), Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer), Charlene Schmiedt (Executive Producer), Ken Tripp (Editor and Associate Producer), Renee Roberts (Associate Producer), Richard Rutledge (Associate Producer), Aaron Harvey (Associate Producer), Richard Marquez (Production Manager), Will Nguyen (Content Manager)

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Direct download: so-131.mp3
Category:Movies -- posted at: 6:00am MDT

130: Hello Computer!

Voyaging Home.

In this episode of Standard Orbit, your Refit Crew continues their voyages through the Original Series Cast Movies with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, as they head towards July 22 and BEYOND! After the dramatic gravitas of The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock, there is a very obvious and light-hearted approach towards this movie as Leonard Nimoy wanted to take this in another direction. It wound up being the most successful of the Original Series cast movies at the time in 1986. And it was no secret that the return of Nicholas Meyer had a profoundly positive impact as well.

One of the strongest aspects to The Voyage Home was the story itself as the writing contributions of Harve Bennett and Nicolas Myer added to the overall partnership with Nimoy at the helm. Most of the cast got their "moment" in the movie and we discuss several of our favorite. We also discuss several Star Trek firsts in this film: we saw the first female Starfleet Captain, Christine Chapel in the background in charge of Starfleet Medical and, in our opinion, a story where the team is actually trying to make an impact to the timeline instead of restoring a timeline. We hope you enjoy our show!

Hosts
Ken Tripp and Jeffrey Harlan

Feature
Welcome to Standard Orbit! (00:03:02)
A Voyage Within The Voyage Home (00:04:45)
A Return to Trek’s Comedy Roots (00:11:33)
Magical Moments for the Crew (00:17:00)
Getting the Band (of writers) Back Together (00:23:22)
A Few Unfamiliar but Welcome Faces (00:26:24)
There Be Music Here (00:33:12)
Firsts of Many (00:37:36)
Thank You for Listening to Standard Orbit (00:49:32)

Production
C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer), Norman C. Lao (Executive Producer), Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer), Charlene Schmiedt (Executive Producer), Ken Tripp (Editor and Associate Producer), Renee Roberts (Associate Producer), Richard Rutledge (Associate Producer), Aaron Harvey (Associate Producer), Richard Marquez (Production Manager), Will Nguyen (Content Manager)

Send us your feedback!
Twitter: @trekfm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm
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Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact
Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm/
Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

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Direct download: so-130.mp3
Category:Movies -- posted at: 6:00am MDT

129: Revenge for Lost Arguments

Searching for Spock.

Star Trek BEYOND is nearly upon us and your refit crew felt that a “logical” follow-up to Temporal Trailer Park 1 & 2 would be to a return to the Original Series movie franchise starting with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Why Star Trek III? Well after the Chief's and the Commodore's conversation on Standard Orbit 123: TMP vs. TWOK: The Conversational Kobayashi Maru, the team felt that The Search for Spock would be the “logical” choice to continue covering the Original Series movie universe and to tap into all of the listeners’ nostalgia and emotional connection to those legendary stories.

The Refit Crew reminisces a great deal about how this film was Leonard Nimoy's directorial debut, how Harve Bennett wrote the entire script, discuss major themes of death and darkness in this movie starting with Valkris, through to David Marcus and culminating with the destruction of the Enterprise. Was it the right amount of drama or too much? Ultimately, this movie posited the ultimate question: Is Spock back? Join the Refit Crew, as they not only Search for Spock, but for the deeper meaning behind this wonderful contribution to the Original Series cinematic universe.

Hosts
Norman C. Lao, Jeffrey Harlan and Ken Tripp

Feature
Welcome to Standard Orbit! (00:02:45)
The Movies and Beyond towards BEYOND (00:03:43)
Plotting The Search for Spock (00:06:13)
How Do You Feel Mr. AtoZ? (00:10:30)
The Logical Choice for Director (00:15:36)
The Reverend Kruge (00:20:11)
The Excelsior of Comedy (00:27:24)
Bird of Prey-ing it Forward (00:31:00)
The NEW Saavik (00:34:45)
Unable to Cheat Death (00:38:21)
Vulcan Mysticism Brought Full Circle (00:48:14)
Why Not Pick Scotty? (00:54:24)
The Man Who Killed Spock (00:56:51)
A Clash About Klingons (01:04:17)
AtoZ on the Hot Seat (01:10:25)
Thank You for Listening to Standard Orbit (01:15:20)

Production
C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer), Norman C. Lao (Executive Producer), Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer), Charlynn Schmiedt (Executive Producer), Ken Tripp (Editor and Associate Producer), Renee Roberts (Associate Producer), Richard Rutledge (Associate Producer), Richard Marquez (Production Manager), Will Nguyen (Content Manager)

Direct download: so-129.mp3
Category:Movies -- posted at: 6:30am MDT

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