Star Wrek: A Review

Posted by stephen on Monday, 24th October, 2005 @ 17:10

So many of my search engine hits this month have been as a result of my previous mentions of the Finnish sci-fi spoof, Star Wrek: In The Pirkinning. At the time I mentioned I said I'd write a little about it after seeing it, which I've yet to do, so I'm going to take the opportunity now.

First off, this film is available free to everyone. Go to their site and you can download the whole thing, or preferably a torrent file and you'll have it in no time. Lots of my hits have been people looking for the torrent, I guess thinking they want to download a hooky copy. This isn't necessary, it's free, just go to the producer's site linked above and get it!

On to my thoughts about the film itself. I think the thing I most noticed and was impressed by was the CGI. It's incredibly well done and looks 100% authentic compared to Star Trek (ST) and Babylon 5 (B5). In fact, technology has moved on since the B5 days, so this probably looks better than the real thing. The only giveaway in the CGI that this isn't a big budget Hollywood film is that it conbines the B5 and ST franchises, somehow I doubt this would ever happen in a US feature film.

You're definitely going to get more from this film if you're a fan of both ST and B5, the many references to these shows are the basis for a lot of the humour, and I think someone who's not seen either would struggle a little.

Apparently all the scenes set onboard the various ships are shot in the director's living room, one actor at a time and composited together. The bluescreening is occasionally obvious, but the quality of the acting and editing compensates very well.

The film has a definite B-movie feel to it, which I assume is entirely intentional. Sometimes it's hard to tell if the acting is a little wooden or if the cultural and language barriers are an issue. Overall though, the film translates very well, barring the occasional oddity in the English subtitles!

I felt the introduction was a little awkward and hard going, but once the film is up and running it's a hilarious ride through two colliding sci-fi universes.

I'm not going to get into the storyline here. If you're into ST and/or B5 go see it and find out for yourself, it won't cost you anything and you'll have a fun 90 minutes. It's certainly on a par with other sci-fi spoofs such as Galaxy Quest.

All in all, I have to give lots of credit to the guys behind this film. They've produced an excellent product given the budget and circumstances of it's production. Giving it away free is a bold move, but one that will get it great exposure and I hope it pays off for them and will encourage other talented people to have a go at movie production.

The tools are becoming ever more accessible, and there are more and more ways to get your stuff out there. The democratisation of media continues apace!