In recent years, William Shatner has make several documentaries through which he and others talk about how "Star Trek" has effected them, society, science and more. "The Captains", "Reflections on Spock" and other documentaries have starred him as he interviews many famous folks and in his latest, "The Truth is in the Star"...he interviews A LOT of folks. While the general theme is the future, the documentary really goes all over the place as he interviews a huge Trek prop collector (Be Stiller), actors who have played guest spots on the various Trek series (such as Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg and Stephen Hawking) and a variety of others...astronauts, scientists and the like. All of these interviews, though not obviously related, tend to be very interesting...especially since Mr. Shatner's style has gotten a bit quieter, a bit friendlier and a bit more 'nice'. Overall, well worth seeing.
7 Reviews
Lovely but Scripted to an Extent
raymcneely-189778 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I found the title intriguing but when reviewing the topic caption and learning of Bill "The Shat" Shatner and Dr. Stephen Hawking in the same feature - I had to watch! Of course, we've seen "Capt'n Kirk" in various episodic, pseudo-sci-fi-documentaries over the years, but this one was produced very recently (2017) and highlighted some of the most forward-thinking philosophies and sciences of the universe to-date. It features mini-segue interviews with both Class-A Futurists and Cosmologists with Hollywood B-Celebrities - but tops it all off with the greatest mind of our day, Dr. Hawking.
I must confess, when Bill announces that he'd spoken to Whoopi Goldberg (Quinan ST:NG), I picked up the remote and fast-forwarded through her comments. (It was hardly tolerable to sit through Ben Stiller (showing off his Star Trek collection) and Jason "George from Seinfeld" Alexander (tribute to Mr. Shatner)). Personally, I preferred discussions from Dr. Neil De Grasse Tyson, Dr. Neil Turok, Dr. Michio Kaku & Dr. David Suzuki - which is what you get between the others!
Overall, it is a very satisfying hour-and-a-half and naturally, the time spent with Bill and Dr. Hawking is not spontaneous, but it is well planned, and Bill says as much - but it's the reactions and lack of spontaneity from Bill (that were more so satiating with Dr's Turok, Suzuki and Kaku) that caused me to lower rating to an 8.
The moment when Dr. Hawking laughs at Bill's quip during their introduction is well worth watching. However, the moments as Dr. Hawking watches Bill's reactions to Dr. Hawking's (well in advanced) interview answers - falls flat to Bill and seemed lost. Rather, Bill stays on point - or it may the editing - which causes moments of spontaneity to be lost - especially when Dr. Hawking is awaiting his computer simulated voice to finish the reason we've not heard from other civilizations: the possibility that civilizations destroy themselves due to the instability of technological advances.
Unfortunately, Bill does not react to this or it is not shown. Our love of Shat/Kirk is not lost to Bill or Dr. Hawking, but Bill is not Kirk - and I'd like to believe that Kirk would have listened to every syllable from Dr. Hawking - but then again, Bill has embraced Kirk and we have profited immensely.
I must confess, when Bill announces that he'd spoken to Whoopi Goldberg (Quinan ST:NG), I picked up the remote and fast-forwarded through her comments. (It was hardly tolerable to sit through Ben Stiller (showing off his Star Trek collection) and Jason "George from Seinfeld" Alexander (tribute to Mr. Shatner)). Personally, I preferred discussions from Dr. Neil De Grasse Tyson, Dr. Neil Turok, Dr. Michio Kaku & Dr. David Suzuki - which is what you get between the others!
Overall, it is a very satisfying hour-and-a-half and naturally, the time spent with Bill and Dr. Hawking is not spontaneous, but it is well planned, and Bill says as much - but it's the reactions and lack of spontaneity from Bill (that were more so satiating with Dr's Turok, Suzuki and Kaku) that caused me to lower rating to an 8.
The moment when Dr. Hawking laughs at Bill's quip during their introduction is well worth watching. However, the moments as Dr. Hawking watches Bill's reactions to Dr. Hawking's (well in advanced) interview answers - falls flat to Bill and seemed lost. Rather, Bill stays on point - or it may the editing - which causes moments of spontaneity to be lost - especially when Dr. Hawking is awaiting his computer simulated voice to finish the reason we've not heard from other civilizations: the possibility that civilizations destroy themselves due to the instability of technological advances.
Unfortunately, Bill does not react to this or it is not shown. Our love of Shat/Kirk is not lost to Bill or Dr. Hawking, but Bill is not Kirk - and I'd like to believe that Kirk would have listened to every syllable from Dr. Hawking - but then again, Bill has embraced Kirk and we have profited immensely.
Random/Fandom
kosmasp27 March 2019
Yes is it random ... I mean yes it is random! But it's also fun and light and is about a few things. It is probably about questions you have or thought about. There might be questions you didn't have, but one thing is for sure: there won't be too many answers overall. Not definitive ones that is, because there is still so much we don't actually know.
Truth is out there ... just where exactly is there? The documentary is fast paced, has many segments and has a lot of wit. Which makes it more than watchable. It makes it kind of refreshing. When you have a former Captain of the Enterprise (ok technically future, but you know what I'm saying) at the helm - no pun intended - who doesn't take himself seriously ... well you kinda can guess that it will be a fun ride (or is it flight?)
Truth is out there ... just where exactly is there? The documentary is fast paced, has many segments and has a lot of wit. Which makes it more than watchable. It makes it kind of refreshing. When you have a former Captain of the Enterprise (ok technically future, but you know what I'm saying) at the helm - no pun intended - who doesn't take himself seriously ... well you kinda can guess that it will be a fun ride (or is it flight?)
Journey of sincere personal discovery
teemu-557357 October 2017
Although perplexed at first and somewhat sluggish, this personal journey to discovery showed a genuine desire to learn and understand by William Shatner, aka Captain Kirk. He was sincere and open minded, like a child finally getting to the real questions, and getting deep answers. What a wonderful piece. Some of my favourite people were interviewed in this one, too.
For example, I really liked this quote from Neil deGrasse Tyson: "In the 1960s, we had a Cold War with the Soviet Union, and a hot war in Southeast Asia, and the civil rights movement, and here's Star Trek portraying Earth where all the countries of the world were at peace.
Who makes tomorrow come, if not the dreamers and the scientists and the technologists who enable it?
So, this is an occasion to not feel separate from life, but to feel one."
What I came away with, was that humanity fundamentally needs dreamers, and an optimistic view of the future.
For example, I really liked this quote from Neil deGrasse Tyson: "In the 1960s, we had a Cold War with the Soviet Union, and a hot war in Southeast Asia, and the civil rights movement, and here's Star Trek portraying Earth where all the countries of the world were at peace.
Who makes tomorrow come, if not the dreamers and the scientists and the technologists who enable it?
So, this is an occasion to not feel separate from life, but to feel one."
What I came away with, was that humanity fundamentally needs dreamers, and an optimistic view of the future.
Captain Kirk you are an inspiration.
smassaro-8085516 July 2018
I believe in the positive future. That all is possible. I can explain it in an easy way. I can also explain in it in complicated terms. The truth is in the stars as well as in the imagination. Melding the human heart with the logical laws of the universe. I loved this documentary. Energy and mass are only separated by the giving and receiving of the human heart. May your enterprise go on forever.
A fan, Samuel Massaro
A fan, Samuel Massaro
If you're about to waste time watching this.... read this first!
Sean_Biggins17 August 2019
Listen, I've been a Star Trek and general sci-fi fan for many years and have pondered the 'big questions' about life and the universe etc. all my life and that's why I thought I'd like this, but man, did Shatner ever phone it in on this one!
The show starts off with an aerial view of his farm and his horses and I kid you not; the first thought I had was "I hope this isn't just some dumb show he's done to help pay for his horse addiction", and unfortunately, that's exactly what it is. He goes around asking various people like Seth MacFarlane and Ben Stiller their take on the universe but more importantly, WHAT would they ask Mr. Stephen Hawking if they had the chance. So you're thinking 'COOL' he's going to ask Hawking all these great questions! How exciting!.... but then he goes to Hawking's house, and just... turns into a giddy, star-struck school girl and doesn't end up asking Hawking ANYTHING at ALL!! It's truly UNREAL. I was SO disappointed after this huge buildup and then he just completely drops the ball.
So there you have it - he was one of the last people to see Hawking alive and was going to ask him all these deep questions, but all he could do was blush, act silly and get all emotional. It's too bad Leonard Nemoy couldn't have been there to slap some sense into him.
The show starts off with an aerial view of his farm and his horses and I kid you not; the first thought I had was "I hope this isn't just some dumb show he's done to help pay for his horse addiction", and unfortunately, that's exactly what it is. He goes around asking various people like Seth MacFarlane and Ben Stiller their take on the universe but more importantly, WHAT would they ask Mr. Stephen Hawking if they had the chance. So you're thinking 'COOL' he's going to ask Hawking all these great questions! How exciting!.... but then he goes to Hawking's house, and just... turns into a giddy, star-struck school girl and doesn't end up asking Hawking ANYTHING at ALL!! It's truly UNREAL. I was SO disappointed after this huge buildup and then he just completely drops the ball.
So there you have it - he was one of the last people to see Hawking alive and was going to ask him all these deep questions, but all he could do was blush, act silly and get all emotional. It's too bad Leonard Nemoy couldn't have been there to slap some sense into him.
Waste
jasonod-4536420 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This doc alleges to be about how Start Trek affects others. However, it's at least half Shatner talking about himself, things then and now, instead of actual interviews. He cuts people off in order to talk about himself, both making fun of himself and tooting his own horn. Apparently Shatner is afraid fans don't know what he thinks about Star Trek from the fourty-three hundred and seventy-one other Star Trek docs he's said this stuff in for 30+ years already. Did you know he loves horses? Minutes spent early on showing him driving on his ranch and kissing a horse in case you didn't hear about his horse fetish in 85 to 90% of the previous docs and in all the making of docs on all the Star Trek movies where he rode a horse(s). Did you know Shatner loves horses? I don't know if you heard the past 50 years other than the 5,000 times you've heard, William Shatner has a horse fetish. 15 minutes in and we've seen Shatner sit in a Captain's chair, be denied entrance because he didn't have a ticket to the Star Trek exhibit (very unfunny), playing with a Captain Kirk doll and oh, yeah, he loves horses in case you haven't heard that before. He love horses folks. Folks, he loves horses. Ben Stiller, the first person not Shatner, shows up over 11 minutes in then we see Shatner telling Stiller, a maniac Star Trek fan, things Stiller (and everybody else) already knows instead of letting Stiller finish any thought on how Star Trek affected him, affected Ben Stiller, not The Big Giant Head William Shatner. If you love egomaniac William Shatner, you'll love this, if you love hearing the same stories you've heard him tell 5,000 times before that is. If you're expecting an actual doc on how Star Trek affected anybody other than Shatner, don't hold your breath.
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