Oh Mama, I’m In Fear For My Life From The Long Arm of The Furlong: Fan Film Star Trek: Renegades Trailer Released

We don’t pay a whole hell of a lot of attention to fan fiction here at Crisis On Infinite Midlives, because while there is some good stuff out there, in order to find it, you need to sift through a whole bunch of crap. And frankly, the only time I should be subjected to the image of Angel fucking Spike is three seconds before I wake up screaming.

With that said, sometimes the bigger, more well-produced projects do get our attention, and this is one of them. It’s a Star Trek fan film, set in the original, pre-Abrams reboot universe, called Renegades. And while you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a Trek fan film with cardboard sets that make 70s Doctor Who episodes look like Pacific Rim, it is rare to find one serious enough to being in primary actors not only from Star Trek Voyager, but from the original series as well.

And it also features Sean Young and Edward Furlong! So you know the budget isn’t that big! Or else someone lost a bet!

The project only has a trailer out so far, but it features Walter Koenig reprising his role as Chekhov, along with Tim Russ coming back as Tuvok, and Robert Picardo as Dr. Lewis Zimmerman (the dude the holographic doctor from Voyager was supposedly scanned from). The project’s Web site summarizes the story as:

It is ten years after Voyager’s return from the Delta Quadrant, and the Federation is in a crisis. The Federation’s main suppliers of dilithium crystals are disappearing. Space and time have folded around several planets, effectively isolating them from any contact with outside worlds. And this phenomenon is not natural – someone or something is causing this to happen. This necessitates drastic measures; some of which are outside the Federation’s normal jurisdiction. For this, Admiral Pavel Chekov, head of Starfleet Intelligence, turns to Commander Tuvok, Voyager’s former security officer and current head of the newly reorganized Section 31. Tuvok must put together a new covert, renegade crew – mostly outcasts and rogues – even criminals. This new crew is tasked with finding out what is causing the folding of time and space, and stopping it – at all costs. But will they be able to put aside their differences and stop trying to kill one another in time to accomplish their mission?

So in a nutshell, it sounds like Star Trek: Firefly. Which is fine, and God knows that the old Star Trek universe could have used a little more time dealing with the seamy underbelly of the Federation. It’s all well and good that a replicator can make food instantly, but I always saw that as expensive, upper middle class tech, like a Roomba. I always figured that somewhere in the Federation, someone must be hauling shuttleloads full of real, non-synthahol Scotch across borders to earn enough for a trip to McDonald’s (and no, I don’t care enough to get the Klingon translation for “shitty burger joint.”).

Since this is an independent production, they’re operating on donations and crowdfunded backing. So while principal photography has been completed, if you’re interesting in seeing the final product come to fruition, you can find out how to donate toward the post-production / special effects here, and maybe score yourself some swag. I might just chip in a few bucks, if only for the long-shot opportunity that I might see Mythbuster Grant Imahara incinerate the irritating kid from Terminator 2 with a phaser.

And if you’re interested in a taste of the film, here’s the trailer:

(via The Mary Sue)