Review of Trekkies (1997) by Luke B — 30 Sep 2011

I do love a documentary that focuses on weird and eccentric people. Trekkies looks at the fans of Star Trek. It chooses a small group to follow, from a young SFX whizkid that has gone on to much better things, a woman that insists on being called Commander, a dentist with a decorated surgery and so on.

This is all cut together with interviews from some of the stars. Where the film kind of failed was in only showing the most eccentric people, and always surrounded by there memorabilia and/or in costume.

I never really got a sense of who these people were without Star Trek. This can sometimes make them seem sad and lonely and often psychologically damaged. Luckily, they are having so much fun that you kind of get swept up by it all.

The actors seem to take it too seriously though,recounting stories of how the show has changed or saved peoples' lives, from suicide attempts, to how it liberated black people, to how it helped people get over the deaths of their family etc.

It's all a bit much at times and it doesn't really express the kind of fun people are having. Not informative, just a gallery of interesting people.