My friend Mike emailed me about a week ago with information about a free screening for William Shatner’s documentary The Captains. He is upstate stage managing Cooking With The Calamari Sisters: Mangia Italiana with our friends Steve and Jay so he couldn’t go. But when I mentioned it to Quincy she froke out. “WHAT TIME ARE WE GOING?”
Turns out Quincy is a huge Star Trek fan as well. So, we went, taking Mike with us in spirit.
We had a few drinks at Blockheads before heading over to the Intrepid where we knew we’d be last in line for the “first come, first served” event.
And we were… we were ALL THE WAY back at the back of the line and assumed we’d never get on board. The line wrapped around the front of the ship, south along the riverfront and back along the next pier down.
Luckily, being at the back of the line meant we were in the shade of a small building at the end of the pier. Unluckily it meant getting up and down on an already busted knee as the line slowly crawled forward.
But, as with most adventures, the best part was people watching and this was no exception. Like my trip to New Jersey with Mike to a convention in June, this “enterprise” was ripe with unusual characters.
Person after person was dressed in their finest Trek uniform (i.e. costume).
Most costumes were store-bought but others must have taken weeks to put together as the creator has painstakingly hand-crafted electrical rigging to create the illusion of sci-fi laser systems.
In fact, little did we know that there was a costume contest. Before the film started 50 or more fans marched in front of the screen on deck, parading their “look” for the audience to judge. As a 13-year-old kid in a yellow t-shirt walked across, posing momentarily to show off his toy laser, the crowd offered him a smattering of applause. I would be horrified to be judged so luke-warmly by any crowd but this kid grinned from ear to ear, unaware that he was not the star of the show. He happily strutted back and forth pointing his laser and “pew-pew”ing the crowd in his make-believe attempt to stun them.
It wasn’t until this woman marched across the stage that the crowd lost control. Her black one-shoulder cocktail dress has been bedazzled with crystals and her painted face resembled the vastness of space. On her head was a homemade Enterprise… which glowed at the press of a button.
As she hit the lights the crowd nearly leapt to its feet (those that could) and gave her a resounding ovation for her originality. She didn’t dare slip on store-bought costume. She had clearly spent some time constructing her costume and her confidence showed as she took her time parading for the audience.
In the end she and several others won (not sure what… gift certificates? Kiss from Shatner?) and returned to their seats.
Moments later, Shatner appeared at the back of the crowd. He thanked everyone for coming and explained that the documentary we were about to see was a “labor of love” which he hoped we too would enjoy.
Ok, I’m going to be frank with you here. The film was “ok”. It was funny to watch Shatner be Shatner (whether he’s in on the joke or not, I’m not sure). He rambled on, meet the other “captains” of Star Trek and explored how they get the role, what they’ve done since, and so on. But it really felt like this was an opportunity for Shatner to talk about himself using the other captains as the reason for his personal exploration.
After nearly two hours neither of us could take it anymore… and Quincy is a super-fan. We quietly tip-toed through the crowd and headed for the exit.
Did I have fun? Yes. Experiencing the hilarity of the event was fun. Would I recommend the film? To a super-fan who is in an air conditioned theatre (or better yet, in their home) with access to snacks, drinks, etc… yes. Should you run out and see it if you get the chance? Meh. It’ll be on Netflix soon enough.
Live long and… well, you know.
Tommy Karr 