Movie Review: Trek Nation

Trek Nation
Documentary
Director: Scott Colthorpe
Roddenberry Entertainment for the Science Channel, 2010
Run Time: 1 hr 28 min

This film is a story of two stories. Hosted/narrated by Eugene Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, it is first a history of Star Trek and Trek fandom. But it is also the story of a son searching for his father, through the vehicle of the father's greatest creation.

The elder Roddenberry died when Eugene was just 17 years old, so Eugene never really knew his father; this film is an effort to learn about him. In pursuit of this goal, Eugene uses interviews not just with family, friends, Star Trek cast, crew, and fans, but also Seth McFarland, George Lucas, and JJ Abrams (at the time, Abrams was in the process of filming his Star Trek reboot). These are intercut with footage from Star Trek conventions and Roddenberry home movies.

Sitting alone in a planetarium, Eugene tells us the early history of his father's life: World War II bomber pilot turned Pan Am pilot,  then cop and TV writer. When we arrive at the beginnings of Star Trek, the film really hits its stride.

Roddenberry starts his journey with an interview with his own mother, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, who played Nurse Chapel in the Original Series. "She was not as open as I was hoping, " Eugene says in voice over. And the footage used in the film bears that out. She really doesn't say much, and, as she herself admits, doesn't have much to say. We can tell that she loved her husband, but we don't learn anything beyond that.

So, Roddenberry looks elsewhere. Two of the most interesting interviews are with George Lucas and Wil Wheaton.

Roddenberry drove  to the Skywalker Ranch for his talk with Lucas: "The father of Star Wars talking about the father of Star Trek", he says as the passes through the security gate, "this should be interesting." We learn that Lucas is a fan of Trek, but, as always, he has to plug Wars: "Star Wars is an action-based space opera. Your father created science fiction, but it's more than that: Star Trek is about the philosophy of the human condition." When asked about the whole Trek/Wars rivalry, Lucas says he doesn't get into that. " I can't imagine what would happen if the Millennium Falcon went up against the Enterprise".

In Roddenberry's conversation with Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, we hear a story that says alot about Eugene's father: "Your dad and I were at a convention together. I was just 14 years old. Gene was on stage taking a lot of flack about my character. The fans hated Wesley. He stood up there and told them, 'This is my character, he is exactly the way I want him to be. You don't like him, you can go watch something else.' That really meant alot to me." It is fairly well known that Wesley was the most autobiographical of all of the Star Trek characters, in fact Wesley was Gene's middle name, so you can see how he took it personally.

Eugene admits to a bit of jealousy at this, but in the end, he does accomplish his goal. He comes away with alot more knowledge and respect for his father. He understands who his father was, and what he did. On this point, the film gets an A. However, we don't really learn anything new about Trek that hasn't been seen in previous documentaries. While this wasn't the host's main reason for making the film, on this level it gets a C.