This is some incredible work to be sure. They've really paid attention to details and the actors are both taking it seriously and doing a good job. Even the structure of the episode is just like what you'd expect of the period.
But - just as with Star Trek - The New Voyages (another fan based extension of the original series with a lot of sincerity and high production values) there's just something... jarring... about seeing everything perfect down to the finest detail... and then seeing a different actor in each of the familiar roles. It's not their fault at all. As I said - they're doing a good job with the portrayals! It's simply unavoidable. It's almost akin to the "uncanny valley" effect with in regards to computer animation. To be SO close to perfection, but not quite... It would almost be better if the rest of the production was NOT as good.
I think that's why I buy into the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies so well and don't have the same "almost there but not quite" sense. It's precisely because those movies are largely a re-imagining rather than a re-creation that having different actors in the roles doesn't bother me. There's a mental switch that's flipped. A perspective that's changed. I'm not looking for the ways in which something is not perfect according to the original because that's been thrown out the window. Instead, I'm- if you'll forgive me - fascinated by the differences rather than being jarred out of the story by them.
Mind you - I did largely get over that nagging sense with Star Trek - The New Voyages and learned to like it. And I'm only barely past the first act on this episode so I'm definitely giving it a chance. I just wanted to write about this idea and feeling while it was still fresh in my mind.
Plus... is that Grant Imahara as Sulu???
But - just as with Star Trek - The New Voyages (another fan based extension of the original series with a lot of sincerity and high production values) there's just something... jarring... about seeing everything perfect down to the finest detail... and then seeing a different actor in each of the familiar roles. It's not their fault at all. As I said - they're doing a good job with the portrayals! It's simply unavoidable. It's almost akin to the "uncanny valley" effect with in regards to computer animation. To be SO close to perfection, but not quite... It would almost be better if the rest of the production was NOT as good.
I think that's why I buy into the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies so well and don't have the same "almost there but not quite" sense. It's precisely because those movies are largely a re-imagining rather than a re-creation that having different actors in the roles doesn't bother me. There's a mental switch that's flipped. A perspective that's changed. I'm not looking for the ways in which something is not perfect according to the original because that's been thrown out the window. Instead, I'm- if you'll forgive me - fascinated by the differences rather than being jarred out of the story by them.
Mind you - I did largely get over that nagging sense with Star Trek - The New Voyages and learned to like it. And I'm only barely past the first act on this episode so I'm definitely giving it a chance. I just wanted to write about this idea and feeling while it was still fresh in my mind.
Plus... is that Grant Imahara as Sulu???