Science Fiction Reviews by Greg

1) Star Trek (The Original Series) Rating: A+

The spirit and adventure of the high seas of the old sailing ships of the 18th century translated well into one of the most revered and beloved science fiction television series of all time. Gene Roddenbury’s extraordinary translation of C.F. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower into a sci-fi fantasy was nothing short of genius. For 3 years the show provided one hell of a wild ride, providing the viewer with unique character development and interactions, philosophical foresight, and a unique perspective of humankind’s character.

The crew of the Starship Enterprise is really the main driving force of this series. In their five-year mission to seek and new life and civilizations, the unique characters developed personalities and interactions that the viewer couldn’t help but become completely taken in by. The extremely dramatized personality types often gave way to some very emotional and self-introspective moments. They also provided us with some highly entertaining and often humorous moments, especially with their comradely

The show was innovative in its boldness to do story lines about subjects not spoken about or that were commonly censored by the television networks. In the future tense, the show could do episodes that were metaphors to current events and concerns of the current time, and could give cleverly concealed opinions and even suggested solutions. Many of the episodes become homilies for anti-war protests, which very much pertained to current events of the 60’s and even today are still most applicable. The idea of no prejudice was also highly addressed in the utopian setting of the future.

Moral character and integrity was also a very noticeable fabric of each episode as well. Doing the right thing was and the concept of the prime directive which called for the non-interference in developing cultures was extraordinarily noble. One could not help admire how the show’s characters were often faced with difficult choices that put the needs of the many ahead of the needs of the one or of the few. Self sacrifice to save one’s fellow man and heroism were commonplace on this show.

The show had its share of faults and there were certainly some episodes that were dogs, but the extraordinary vision and writing of the show’s creator Gene Roddenberry and his ability to provide the viewer with a hope and positive outlook for the future of humankind will perhaps continue to inspire for centuries to come, and will always make this show worthy of watching again and again and again!

Written 8-9-04 By Greg Arbutine

2) Star Trek The Next Generation A++

The popularity of the original Star Trek Series in syndication prompted the creation of a successor series with a somewhat familiar theme from its predecessor. In its first year, the show hob knobbed along with imitative themes and contrived, some what uninteresting characters. However, the next 6 seasons following drew the viewer into a ensemble of outstanding character development, rich special effects and science fiction fantasy store writing that in many ways surpassed the original series by leaps and bounds.
The characters of The Next Generation bestowed on us a sense of honor, loyalty, and friendship that made the viewer feel a special relationship and connectivity that transcended far beyond the love of science fiction fantasy and special effects. One big prevailing theme through out the show was the strong sense of humanity demonstrated on almost every episode. The diversity of the races in the crew and even mankind vs. machine-kind, often lead to a strong knit group standing up for each other time and time again. It also played well for the discovery of new races and interaction with existing ones by allowing the best matched crew members with their certain complexities and abilities to tend to races with specific needs.
Aside from rich characters and alien races, the show was a break through for special effects in particular on a television series. The average episode cost $2,000,000 at the time to produce and it showed. The ships, the galactic settings and incredible alien races derived were of a par excellence far beyond anything television had seen previously. The Enterprise itself was a ship of colorful confidence and strong structural beauty unlike the prior plastic model “battle ships” pieced together in shows of the 60’s and 70’s. The creativity and thought put into each aspect of the show’s design was simply amazing. To put it bluntly, the show was a visual masterpiece of a magnitude known only to a very few art mediums in the world.
The writers of the show took many chances and in the end they wove together a futurist tapestry of intrigue and wonder. Although the show tended to revolve around a beginning to end story line within each episode, it did after a few years incorporate some broader longer term story arcs with extremely complex nuances and riveting climaxes and cliffhangers. The show was extremely intelligently written and took pride in maintaining the integrity and consistency of the rich characters and political climates developed. Often the viewer was left completely blown away and provoked in thought. Never once was an episode written that did not have complete credibility and viewer believability. It was definitely written on a level to appeal to the “thinking man.”
The Next Generation in my book is perhaps the greatest science fiction show of all time. All the elements and ingredients of a great sci-fi show are all here. Entertainment value wise and provocation of thought and fantasy are all at an almost indescribable “high.” When the show ended after its seventh season, I almost felt like I was losing a set of friends and alternate universe in my life. The show was just that good!

Written by Greg Arbutine 8-14-04

3) Star Trek Deep Space 9 Rating: A+

I'm often surprised when a fellow Trek fan refers to DS9 as the one they didn't watch or the one they just couldn't get into. I think if anything, this third spin off of the Star Trek family was one of the ones most worth watching. In fact having viewed it more than once now, I've concluded that it is definitely an iconic and integral portion of the Star Trek odyssey at large.

This was the first Star Trek that mixed a little chuch and state so to speak. The state being the federation and the church being the mysterious and powerful "worm hole aliens" and their spiritual worshipers the Bajorans. This dynamic spun a lot of unusual tension and intrigue, the focal point being of course the dark and alluring Deep Space space station which guarded the newly found worm hole to the unexplored Gamma Quadrant of the galaxy.

One of the keystones of the show was Captain Benjamin Cisco. He had dual role as both the commander of Deep Space 9 and also as the appointee of the all powerful worm hole aliens as their intermediary with the newly liberated and terrorist prone people of Bajor. This ambiguous role necessitated a very dichotomous leadership style and also led to many contentious situations. Cisco brought an integrity and order that could not be ignored or denied.

The show also had a wealth and plethora of other amazing and unique characters not previously seen in science fiction. They were all also a little less "utopian" in nature and somewhat dark and flawed in many cases. This was really the "B" team that you just could not help wanting to cheer on to greater victories and evolutions! The actors portraying these underdogs were also supberb and transcendental!

The writing of course in this show was of the highest calibur and this was the first Star Trek series that fully utilized the "serial episode" format. There were many long story arcs. A lot of time was spent building up characters and intriguing political situations into their fullest possible potential. Climatic multi-ship battle scenes and often shocking and explosive revelations were not uncommon. The real fireworks on the show were not so much enhanced by the amazing special effects but more so by the incredible build up perpetuated by the sublime story writers.

To say the show was a slow starter would not be an untruth. However, I can only say that many good books that I've read over my lifetime have had a lot of time devoted in the beginning to set the stage for the characters and the circumstances and once the story really kicked in you're enveloped and can't stop reading. The same holds true for this show, and I seriously think that this is the main reason many a Trek fans out there have deprived themselves of taking this more esoteric journey. DS9 is a masterpiece worth watching and I would strongly recommend any Star Trek fans or Sci-Fi fans alike to place this un-sung hero of Star Trek shows on mission critical priority list of viewing.

Written 10-9-05 By Greg Arbutine

4) Star Trek Voyager Rating A+

This "Lost is space" space saga had one major thing going for it from the get go, Captain Katerhyn Janeway plate by Kate Mulgrew. The rest of characters with the exception of "The Doctor" played by Robert Picardo, were extremely slow in their progresssions throughout the series. Had not the most popular character "Seven of nine" played by Jere Ryan come along in season 4, I sure doubt that the successful show would have made it through to its exposive climatic 7th season.

I honestly don't think that the story writers had a true idea of where the show was going in the first three years. In fact it is my suspicion that they were not 100% certain of ever returning the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager back home to Earth. However, I think in year four a decision was made that the ultimate conclusion of the series would be to take it to the max and bring the ship and its crew back home to Earth along with a lot of troublesome encounters with the ultimate evil "Borg" race that sought to take over the galaxy by assimilating mankind into half human cyborg like creatures.

When Seven of Nine, a borg restored to a somewhat natural human state again, was brought on to the show at the beginning of season four, this was a the major tunraround that catapulted a once "okay" show into one that will be immortalized by science fiction fans for generations to come. The synergy between her, Captain Janeway and the Doctor made for some of the most emotionally gripping and interesting interactions ever seen on a sci-fi show.

The writing also improved tremendously as the show matured. It's not to say the writing was terrible in the first 3 years, but it just was not quite as grand and glorious as when the Borg were introduced as enemies and potential road blocks to the journey home. Also to the credit of the shows writers, there were many amazing episodes written purely about science and physics theories and notions not currently proven one or the other right now. They took many bold stabs into the theoretical side of astronomy and astrophysics that many a scholar like Stephen Hawkings and Carl Sagan no doubt would have high praise for.

Written 10-23-05 by Greg Arbutine