BTDT DVD REVIEW: STAR WRECK

STAR WRECK is a Finnish amateur/fan film made as a spoof to the Star Trek saga. The cast of this film includes a variety of characters who resemble many of the famous faces you might recognize from both classic TREK and TNG stardom. We even find some Star Wars plugs out there (ie the DVD reviewed is labeled the "Imperial" edition).

Fan films hold a special place in our hearts here at BTDT, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, any person (or group of people) who takes on a project like this, and is able to see it through to a complete production status, must be truly commended. These people have to be innovative when it comes to planning EVERYTHING from costumes, to effects, to CGI (if they can find someone to even do it for them)- any movie fan who has ever dressed in costume for a "Con" knows how involved of a process that is just in itself. And that is only one small piece of the puzzle, when it comes to putting together a full-blown fan film.

Even if you manage to bring all of the effects, costumes, and even shooting locations all together, there is still one significant factor remaining: your CAST. With a fan film, more often than not, the cast are all working for free. And you know the age-old adage: "you get what you pay for". During the shooting of the film, cast members can bail at any point, leaving the remaining crew to have to find a way to fill the void (if it's even possible).

In the case of STAR WRECK however, the creators managed to overcome not only all of the aforementioned movie-making blunders, but they even managed to secure a production company here in the U.S. to get their movie out there. In the very near future, copies of STAR WRECK will be spinning in DVD players all across the States. Our hats go off to them!

From a big picture perspective, the creators of STAR WRECK have done an excellent job bringing the film to life. The effects used are creative, and their CGI is way above par.

The plot and characters have their share of cheese, but again: this is a FAN FILM. If we'd seen James Cameron's name out there in the credits as the director, we'd definitely have expected more. But knowing a dedicated group with a small budget and a big dream put this together, we definitely think the folks on the set of STAR WRECK didn't do half-bad.

The only thing beforethedarktimes would have liked to have seen done differently was in regard to the editing of the subtitles. It was followable, but definitely could have used a final review by an American editor. However, we'll say this one more time: not only is this a FAN FILM, it's an INTERNATIONAL FAN FILM! For any hardcore critics out there, think before firing.. How hard might it be for someone born in Detroit to do a fan film going to Tokyo, Japan?? We rest our case!

STAR WRECK will be available the week of November 10th, one week before the release of the 2nd generation STAR TREK on DVD. Buy BOTH and go GLOBAL!

Thanks goes out to Revolver Entertainment for allowing us to be a part of this review.