Trek Nation

source: Trek Nation

Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry, Jr.'s narration of this wonderful documentary for all the trekkies (or trekkers) highlights his father's vision and brilliance in creating one of the most fascinating show on American television. But most importantly, the documentary presents a complex and bittersweet relationship between Rod and his father. Through the webs of the nostalgia - from the history of Gene's life (a war veteran, a PanAm's pilot, a police officer and then becoming the genius behind "Star Trek") to Gene's successes and failures with his foresight of the future through the medium of television - the film digs deeper on the son's craving to know how millions of people were influenced by the same father whom he had very few things in common. It is very touching to see how Rod somehow struggle emotionally on his interviews with people close to or admirer/fans of his father and how life has passed years after his father died, and how now he craves for so many questions that he failed to ask his dad when he was still alive. Every human being can definitely relate to this principle. The whole film is not only intriguing but a revelation even to those fans who know most things about Star Trek. Die hard trekkies will find few things that they will never know of unless they watch this documentary. Jessica Brunetto did a great job in writing and director, cinematographer and producer Scott Colthorp captures a very inspiring and yet emotional journey of all the entities surrounding the well-loved "Star Trek."

*Spoiler/plot- Trek Nation, 2010. A journey of exploration, discovery, and realization for a young man who never really knew his father, his work, or legacy. *Special Stars- Rod Roddenberry, Majel Barret Roddenberry *Theme- Spoiled sons of TV moguls often mature to adulthood and only then realized they have missed out on family matters. *Trivia/location/goofs- Documentary, *Emotion- I prejudged this film to be some silly white-wash further canonization of Gene by his son. There is some of that which is boring in this film and that has been done to death by the studio PR departments, the fans, and the media, already. However Rod did explore the many flaws his father had with his close relationships with women, actresses, and the Hollywood scene. I enjoyed a balanced coverage of the good with bad. It should have made the subject more interesting and human instead of the cartoons most Star Trek fans have in their limited perceptions. Also Rod spoke to George Lucas about science fiction writing and project production during the time of the 70's. That was very enlightening and informative. The same interview exposed the meaningless debate of fanboy sci-fi fans 'Ad Nasuem' have between Star Wars VS Star Trek. Mr. Lucas and Rod Roddenberry saw such things as totally selfish, masturbatory, fictional and meaningless to most prudent people.

This film did a better-than expected job exploring the history of Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek from beginning through the reboot. What makes it fascinating is that it is done by his son who never really developed a deep relationship with him and distanced himself from the Trek universe until well after his father's death while he was still a teenager. We share his journey to discover his father and his father's creations. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be the rebellious non-Trekkie son of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett, here's your answer. And it's fascinating. Mr. Roddenberry Jr's multi-year journey to understand his father and the phenomenon that is Star Trek includes interesting interviews with series-related people (from DC Fontana to Ronald D. Moore and Scott Bakula) as well as others like George Lucas, Seth McFarlane and JJ Abrahams. Well-placed historic footage and vintage interviews give it a broad scope. The film does well on several levels: as a Gene Roddenberry biography, as a son's exploration of a largely unknown father, as a film exploring why Star Trek resonates, and a history of how Star Trek came to be produced over the years. Nicely done and well worth watching for anyone, especially for fans and anthropologists. This would fit well as a documentary on PBS's POV or Biography or similar show. 9/10 if you're a Trekkie, 7/10 if you're not.

Trek Nation