Not too long ago, the last official series of the Star Trek franchise, named “Enterprise” has been terminated due to the lack of audience – so Paramount says. The series ended after only four seasons, the last episode is seen controversial in the fans’ eyes. However, now that the Voyager has come home, and we know what happened before Kirk, what is next? Paramount has so far not announced any other plans to produce another series, all we know is that Star Trek XI comes to the cinemas worldwide next year.
Some fans couldn’t live with the fact that there is a large big void until the next adventure of the Enterprise hits the streets. They took matters in their own hands, and came up with their own ideas and put the entire thing into their own thing. And they gave it the name “Star Trek: Hidden Frontier”.
All in all the project has produced 50 episodes over seven years, divided into seven seasons, respectively. All episodes have been made available for free, you can download them directly from their website. However, as Rob Caves, the executive producer of the series, believes that people might take advantage and produce and sell DVDs with the series, the episodes are released in low-res except for five or six or so, and the series finale.
The USS Excelsior – a Galaxy Class Dreadnought – approaching its home base, the station Deep Space 12
We are in the Briar Patch, otherwise known as the Tikrit Expanse, an area with very unique and unusual properties, introduced in the movie Star Trek IX: Insurrection. In the area is a planet named Ba’Ku, which is surrounded by rings which radiation will heal all life on the surface, and stop the aging process. The Federation wants to find out more about the unique properties of the rings and has set up a base there, Deep Space 12. Soon the station becomes a vital point of operations as new threats arise. New ships are developed and posted at the station, such as the USS Excelsior, a Galaxy Class Dreadnought – a ship design that was only before seen in the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, as an alternative version of the Enterprise-D in an alternative timeline. The story eventually centers around a new enemy named the “Grey”, who do not seem to be willing to communicate with anyone in any way, their ships are massive and far more advanced then other people in Star Trek universe.
The story arc of the show is very well done, spans over all seven seasons and finds its ultimate climax in the very last episode, “Its Hour Come Round At Last”. I won’t tell you anything here that would spoil the fun, but enough said when I tell you that you will be blown away by the work Rob Caves and all his team has put in for the end of the show.
The entire show is filmed in a spare room with a green screen, ultimately resulting in virtual sets, stills taken from other Star Trek shows. However, the costumes and make up are very Star Trek like, so are the dialogues and the wit you have come to known from Star Trek.
From a graphical point of view, the first seasons were experiments, learning curves. As the show progresses, especially in Season 6 and 7, major improvements are made. Ultimately, you will forget about the green screen (almost) and concentrate on what is happening.
I have seen all 50 episodes now, and all I am telling you is one word: Tetrahedron. If you watch the show, you will understand what I mean… alltogether the show was very well done, all actors did their role to the best. I personally have to say that I liked Larry LaVergne as Tolian Naros very much. But all the others did a very great job too.
So if you are a Star Trek fan, and you want to keep on trekking, you better watch this. From Episode 1 – 50. You won’t regret it. Honestly.
Star Trek: Hidden Frontier
All information and episodes available there.
Make it so!
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