Star Trek: Of Gods and Men

It is the year 2306. Thirteen years have passed since Captain James T. Kirk was swept away by the Nexus, after saving the crew of the USS Enterprise-B. The remaining crew members of the original USS Enterprise have gone their separate ways. Captain Nyota Uhura and Captain Pavel Chekov, along with Captain John Harriman of the Enterprise-B, come together for a special dedication in honor of Kirk’s Enterprise. Their reunion is cut short when they receive a distress call from a mysterious planet, that presses the three friends to embark on a mission that will change their lives forever.

Star Trek: Of Gods and Men is a noncanonical and unofficial Star Trek fan film, which contains many cast members from the Star Trek TV series and movies. Its backstory is Charlie X, the second episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. Described by the producers as a “40th-anniversary gift” from Star Trek actors to their fans, it was filmed in 2006, but its release was delayed until 2007–08. It was not endorsed by the rights-holders of Star Trek, but has been covered on the official Star Trek website.

Star Trek: Of Gods and Men features an enormous slate of well known talent. Below is a rare poster for the film, which started out as a Star Trek “fan-film” Directed by Tim Russ of Voyager. There is only (one) other Trek-branded film made by the same team of filmmakers (Atomic Network.)

Directed by Tim Russ
Screenplay by Ethan H. Calk Sky Conway Jack Treviño
Story by Sky Conway Tim Russ Jack Treviño Ethan H. Calk
Produced by Sky Conway
Starring Nichelle Nichols Walter Koenig Grace Lee Whitney Alan Ruck Chase Masterson Tim Russ
Garrett Wang Ethan Phillips J. G. Hertzler Cirroc Lofton Gary Graham

Cinematography Douglas Knapp
Music by Justin R. Durban
Release date June 15, 2008 Running time 89 minutes

The film starts in 2305, when a mysterious man (William Wellman Jr.) with mind-powers approaches a station manager. (Neelix, Ethan Phillips from Voyager is in this scene!) I won’t give it all away, but suffice to say that later in the film Chekov (under the nom de guerre “Kittrick”) and his shape-shifting companion Ragnar (Gary Graham), lead a movement of freedom fighters…

It’s important to note that although this film was very promising, and it’s fun to watch, it was good enough to ramp up the Crowdsourcing campaign for the next film “Renegades.” Before we get into that second film Directed by Tim Russ, here’s some more details about Of Gods and Men.

Walter Koenig as Captain Pavel Chekov / Kittrick

Nichelle Nichols as Captain Nyota Uhura

Alan Ruck as Captain John Harriman

Garrett Wang as Commander Garan

William Wellman Jr. as Charlie Evans

J. G. Hertzler as Koval, a Klingon

Gary Graham as Ragnar

Tim Russ as Tuvok

Chase Masterson as Xela, an Orion

Ethan Phillips as Data Clerk

Cirroc Lofton as Sevar, a Vulcan

Lawrence Montaigne as Stonn

James Cawley as Commander Peter Kirk (James T. Kirk’s nephew)

Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand

Herbert Jefferson as Captain Galt

Daamen Krall as Gary Mitchell
Crystal Allen as Conqueror Navigator Yara

Bobby Quinn Rice as G.S.S. Conqueror Klingon Officer/Romulan Officer
John Carrigan as Klingon Officer Kel’mag / G.S.S. Conqueror Klingon Officer
Jeff Quinn as Conqueror Helmsman, a Romulan[3]
Arlene Martel as Vulcan Priestess
Jack Donner as Wedding guest
Tania Lemani as Wedding guest

Celeste Yarnall as Wedding guest

Production

The series was directed by Tim Russ and conceived and produced by Sky Conway. Best known for playing Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, Russ had directed one episode of that series. The series was shot on the Star Trek: New Voyages sets in Port Henry, New York. Scenes were also shot around the Los Angeles area, including at Vasquez Rocks, a popular site for Star Trek location footage.[Scenes set at the Vulcan Science Academy were filmed in the San Fernando Valley.[6] Principal photography began July 12, 2006, and finished in October 2006.

The series was produced with a budget of $150,000. Actors were paid according to SAG guidelines, but others involved in the making of the miniseries helped to produce it with little or no pay as “a labor of love”.

Returning Star Trek cast and crew

Recap of talent: The miniseries starred Nichelle Nichols as Nyota Uhura, Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov, Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand, and Celeste Yarnall as Yeoman Martha Landon, (here, as special wedding guest) from the original series.[8] Alan Ruck also reprised his role as Captain Harriman from Star Trek Generations, and Tim Russ appeared as Tuvok. Other regular Star Trek actors appeared in new roles, including Garrett Wang (Harry Kim) and Ethan Phillips (who played Neelix from Voyager), J. G. Hertzler, Cirroc Lofton, and Chase Masterson (Martok, Jake Sisko, and Leeta from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and Gary Graham (Ambassador Soval from Enterprise). The series was written by DS9 writers Jack Treviño and Ethan H. Calk. Douglas Knapp, the director of photography, had worked on Voyager.

Co-writer Jack Treviño explained how so many actors from the series had been willing to participate:

Trek actors have a special relationship with their fans … they regarded the project, not only as the ultimate thank you to Gene Roddenberry and the original stars of Trek, but [also] as a thank-you to [the fans] who supported the series over the last 40 years.

Executive producer Douglas Conway had tried to assemble more of the original series cast, but when George Takei (Hikaru Sulu) was not available, this led to the idea of including Ruck’s character as captain.[10]

Three actors from Star Trek: New Voyages, James Cawley, Jeff Quinn, and Bobby Quinn Rice (Kirk, Spock, and Peter Kirk), also featured.

Release dates

The press releases in July and October 2006 anticipated a Christmas 2006 release.[8] On January 6, 2007, the first part of the series was announced as delayed until April. This was to allow the three parts of the miniseries to be released closer together, with the second part following in May, and the third in June.

On April 15, 2007, the planned release date of part one, the official website announced that the release of the films had been delayed yet again. On October 31, 2007, the official website announced that part one would be released on December 22, 2007.[12] On February 20, 2008, part two was announced to be released on March 15, 2008.[13] On May 22, 2008, part three was announced to be released on June 15, 2008.

In a May 2007 interview with Houston Chronicle blogger J. Kevin Tumlinson, director Tim Russ said the producers were attempting to distribute the project through current Star Trek franchise owner CBS, and if successful, they would sell the production as either a download or a DVD. The producers then clarified on the official forum that while “plans to release the series as a free download remain in place”, licensing by CBS would be required for any versions for sale, e.g. DVDs.[15]

In November 2008, Renegade Studios began giving free DVDs of the film as thank-you gifts to their online customers. As of December 2009, a new edition of the DVD with pop-up commentary trivia was being offered.

Reception

The film won the 2008 Best Web Production award from SyFy Portal.[16]

Follow-up

Star Trek: Renegades, a series directed by Russ and with many others of the series team, was released on a nonprofit basis in 2015.

Watch Star Trek: Of Gods and Men on our Martian Poop Roku channel!