Star Trek: Renegades is a fan film based upon the Star Trek franchise that features several characters from commercially produced Star Trek series, played by the same actors who realized them for film and TV. The story concerns a group of criminals and misfits assembled to undertake a covert mission when suspicion arises that the official military chain of command has been compromised by enemy agents. The film was largely funded through crowdsourcing, and the film's producers claimed they were going to submit it to CBS as a spec TV pilot. The completed pilot film was released for public viewing via YouTube beginning August 24, 2015.[1] Plans have been announced for a web based series.[2]
Premise
Ten years after the starship Voyager's return from the Delta Quadrant, the Federation is in a crisis. The Federation's main suppliers of dilithium crystals (the primary catalyst for the fuel used in faster-than-light travel) are disappearing. Space and time have folded around several planets, isolating them from outside contact. The phenomenon is unnatural – someone or something is causing it to happen. The need to stop this necessitates drastic measures; some of which are outside the Federation’s normal jurisdiction. For this, Admiral Pavel Chekov, head of Starfleet Intelligence, turns to Commander Tuvok, Voyager's former security officer and current head of the newly reorganized Section 31, Starfleet's autonomous intelligence and defense organization. Tuvok must put together a new covert, renegade crew – mostly outcasts and rogues, and even criminals. This new crew is tasked with finding out what is causing the folding of time and space, and stopping it at all costs. But will they be able to put aside their differences and stop trying to kill one another in time to accomplish their mission?[3]
The team behind Renegades had previously produced the fan film Star Trek: Of Gods and Men.[11]Renegades was shot at Laurel Canyon Studios in Los Angeles, utilizing green screen techniques.[4] Principal photography commenced on October 2, 2013 and was completed on October 16, 2013 in Los Angeles.[12]
The premise for Renegades originated on the final day of the Of Gods and Men shoot. Jack Trevino made the suggestion of a series where the cast had to work outside of the boundaries of Starfleet. Writer Ethan Calk later credited this as being the origin of the idea.[13]
The production team announced plans for three possible outcomes from the film: CBS picks it up for a series; it is made into a stand-alone film; or it would be the first episode of an Internet-based series.[4]
Financing
Primary financing was via three successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns in 2012, 2013, and 2014.[4][14][14][15] Total raised for the film now turned into the first episode was $375,038.[4] For reference, the film Star Trek Into Darkness had an estimated budget of $190 million.[16] On November 28, 2015, Renegades reached $300,000 in fund raising according to Kickstarter.[17]
Release
Backers of the film were given a limited-time, online-streaming preview of the unfinished film in June 2015. The official premier took place at the Crest Theater on Saturday August 1, 2015, at 4:30 pm.[18][19] Public release of the completed Star Trek: Renegades film began on its own YouTube channel. on August 24, 2015.[1]
In early September 2015, Star Trek: Renegades will premiere at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto.[20] In mid September 2015, the film will be released at the Alamo City Comic Con in San Antonio, Texas and The Geek Gathering in Sheffield, Alabama.[20] In mid October 2015, the film will premiere at the TRIFI (TCIF3) Film Festival in Richland, Washington.[20] In late October 2015, the film will premiere at Rocket City NerdCon in Huntsville, Alabama.[20]
Plans are afoot for Star Trek: Renegades to be a web series[2][21] The film will be denoted as episode 1 (the pilot) and the screenwiters are actively writing episodes 2 and 3.[2] Originally streaming on September 30, 2015, beginning August 24, 2015, Star Trek: Renegades will stream online on its own YouTube channel.[1]
Home media
A DVD and Blu-ray edition of the first episode of Star Trek: Renegades is available to buy at the official website. With a payment of $50, the purchaser will receive the digital download of the movie poster, access to exclusive web content, the digital download of the film, plus a DVD of Star Trek: Renegades. $5 will be added for shipping in the U.S., $15 for international shipping.[20][22] With a donation of $60, the purchaser will receive the digital download of the movie poster, access to exclusive web content, the digital download of the film, plus a Blu-ray of Star Trek: Renegades. $5 will be added for shipping in the U.S., $15 for international shipping.[20][22]
Casting
The cast of Renegades includes several Star Trek alumni, who in some cases are reprising their former roles.[4]Garrett Wang was to return as Harry Kim, but had scheduling conflicts with his involvement in Unbelievable!!!!!, a comedy film with other Star Trek alumni actors. He has stated, however, that he may return if the film is turned into a series and gets picked up.[23]J. G. Hertzler was originally set to play Borrada, the film's main antagonist, but has since taken political office in New York.[24]
Walter Koenig has agreed to reprise Admiral Chekov in this two-part episode, with Episode 2 ending with a cliffhanger, Koenig decided that Episode 3 will be his final performance as Chekov.[2] In early September 2015, it was announced that Terry Farrell would join the cast, but no details on the character she would portray.[10]
Music
The score for the film turned in to episode 1 is by Justin R. Durban.[25] Total Running Time is 1.3 hours.[25]
Track
Score Listing
01.
Invictus
02.
Last Kill
03.
Assemble A Crew
04.
Heist
05.
Prison
06.
Cadet Chekov
07.
Pursuit
08.
The Mission
09.
Stay True
10.
Photons, Force Fields and Holo-Matter
11.
Sabotage - Shree
12.
In and Out Fast
13.
Spirit Without Discipline
14.
Battlestations
15.
Renegades
16.
Sacrifice
17.
Tunnels of Syphon
18.
One Way Trip
19.
Out of the Night - Make This Fair
20.
They're Up to Something - We Will Annihilate
21.
Breaking Free - A Slow and Painful Death
22.
I'll Stay
23.
Forward
24.
End Credits
Reception
Drew Turney, of moviehole.net, wrote, "The story of 'Star Trek: Renegades' has quite a cool premise... The execution is a little less successful, the script feeling a bit under-written and too full of corny tropes that went out of fashion in the sci-fi of the 80s," adding, "It's clear the team behind the movie loves the Star Trek name, and diehard fans are likely to be far more forgiving of the flaws than most (when Robert Picardo showed up as the fan favourite holographic Dr. Zimmerman, it prompted cheers in the screening). But it's very hard to be down on what's essentially fan fiction made on a shoestring by people who've given it their hearts and souls."[26]
In his online video review, Nate "Blunty" Burr said, "It is a bit of a mess. The whole thing. It’s got some production values and cast members that you’d think would be in big-budget impressive stuff who know how to do things, and then huge chunks of it come off as this most horrible, awkward, badly delivered fanfilm... My eyes started to hurt from the amount eye-rolling." He concluded, "I feel like hardcore Star Trek fans are going to be scared about saying, 'This is a bit shit.' I want more Star Trek on my TV, but not so much that I won't publish a video saying 'this Star Trek Renegades thing is kind of not fantastic.' [But] Worth watching just for the sake of the spectacle."[27]
In her review, Michelle Toven said, "Some of the effects, particularly space shots and views of the ships, look amazing. The ship designs of the Icarus and the Archer are beautiful. The space battles in general look good, too. It does gradually become obvious that this is a fan film with a limited budget, which is important to keep in mind when judging this. A lot can be forgiven for that reason. Between the good effects with the ships, and some of the cringe-inducing smaller effects, it about evens out. It’s not a homerun, but not a disappointment."[28] "Set and character design, including wardrobe and make-up are pretty hit and miss as well. The interiors of the ships are mostly believable and consistent with the style of other Trek series. Some of the sets, like Chekov’s office, could use a bit more work. The villains’ design and make-up is well done and creative. With some characters, like the Romulan assassin T’Leah, they may have run out of time or money to do much other than slap on some pointy ears and eyebrows."[28]
In his review, Josh Roseman said, "I just wish it had lived up to my expectations."[29] "Overall I really didn’t think the writing on this show was as good as Russ’s previous production. The writers (Ethan Calk, Sky Conway, and Jack Trevino) are the same, so I’m not sure what happened. The story hit all the necessary beats, but none of them were really a surprise, except for a few of the deaths that were somewhat unexpected, and the little coda between Chekov and Tuvok. The problem was that we had to extend our brains past the end of Voyager, meet all these new characters, and somehow care about all of them. And there are a lot. I guess I could care about Singh, given time, but her motivations aren’t anything I haven’t seen (or written myself) before. Shree’s hacking scenes were pretty blah, and the villains’ speeches and actions (both the Syphon and the mastermind behind them) weren’t new either. Oh, and why would the Syphon put the Highlander 2 shield around Earth instead of just destroying it, since they clearly have the power to do the latter? Too much narrative convenience for me."[29] "Russ is a capable director, but the production design I feel limited him in ways I didn’t see in his previous productions — or even in much lower-budget fan productions, such as the Hidden Frontier series. It was especially evident in the bridge scenes (on both the Icarus and the Archer), as well as the Syphon planetary sequences — both when the crew is sneaking around and when some of them get captured. Everything felt small to me, and there’s only so much a director can do with handheld camera work (of which there was a lot)."[29]
