The plot is ok. The actors feel forced. Spock’s makeup is ridiculous. It was cool to see Rand in a promoted position. The idea of a Captain Sulu is cool. There are some nice CGI space scenes (which I think the entire budget went towards). Overall it is very mid, and that is only if you love Trek very much. Despite the names involved, this might have been the hardest to watch “pilot” I’ve ever seen. I’m sharing this because of the archival aspects in doing so. But, seriously, don’t watch this without at least 2 beers and 2 tokes.
Editing to add that we need Alana Sulu as portrayed by that actress. She’s great.
This is great, and I really appreciate you posting it to Lemmy so I could find it.
At first, the lighting of the opening scene was really off putting, and I was preparing to strap into a real cornball of a show, but it seems like they might have just shot that scene first, because the rest of the episode the lighting was much better. The graphics and set design leave much to be desired, but they don’t take away from the overall presentation. The story is great, and the pacing of the episode was similarly fantastic. I’ll admit I cried at the end, because the strength of George Takeis acting is superb, as well as a great job by the actress playing Alana. The “younger self” actors did a fine job, with my only caveat being the accent of Scotty, which seemed a bit forced at times.
Overall, fantastic! Based on this pilot episode alone, if I were the CBS head deciding fall programming, I’d put Captain Sulu smack dab in the center. Loved it, and shared it with my similarly Trek loving father.
