In 2011, William Shater directed the feature-length documentary The Captains, which took a look at the men and woman who have portrayed Starship captains in the various installments of the Star Trek TV franchise. The Captains Close Up is a five-part series that expands the original documentary, incorporatings previously-unseen interview footage. This series originally aired on the EPIX channel, and is now available on DVD for the first time.
Each 30-minute episode features an interview with one of the actors who portrayed a Starship captain, and are presented in chronological order of the television series:
- William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk, Star Trek: The Original Series, 7 Star Trek feature films) featuring Chris Pine (Captain James T. Kirk, J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness)
- Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation,
4 Star Trek feature films) - Avery Brooks (Captain Benjamin Sisko, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
- Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager)
- Scott Bakula (Captain Jonathan Archer, Star Trek: Enterprise)
Kate Mulgrew interviews William Shatner in a theater. He talks about being a working actor, his deepest needs in life, and how he landed the job of Captain Kirk. He also discusses the women and temptation that came to him as he became a successful actor, as well as his relationships and wives. The episode features interviews with Star Trek crew members as well as some actors from other Star Trek films/series. Shatner interviews Chris Pine about playing the new Captain Kirk, and we see footage of Shatner’s opening night on Broadway for “Shatner’s World”.
William Shatner interviews Patrick Stewart on the steps of him home. Stewart talks about his childhood and how he got started in acting. Later on, Patrick Stewart’s son joins his father for the interview. Ronald D. Moore and some of Stewart’s STTNG costars and crew talk about the casting process of Jean-Luc Picard and what it was like working with the actor. Stewart talks about working on the series, the initial intimidation he felt taking on the role of the new captain, and the hard feelings Shatner originally had towards him.
William Shatner interviews Avery Brooks in his home. Brooks initially talks about why he took the role, but then he goes off on some tangents, playing the piano, singing and using complex language that makes his interview a bit confusing and unapproachable. There is also a segment about how Avery Brooks composed the music for The Captains documentary. The interspersed interview clips with the cast and crew of Deep Space Nine provide a behind-the-scenes look at the Deep Space Nine and what it was like working with Avery Brooks.
William Shatner interviews Kate Mulgrew in a theater, in the flip-side of the first episode. The first quarter of the interview the two talking about anything but Captain Janeway—including fried chicken—and Mulgrew often avoids answering the questions by turning them back on Shatner. Mulgrew’s family and friends are interviewed about her childhood and career in general. Only about half the episode is about Janeway, but this part is quite interesting. Mulgrew and the Voyager cast/crew talk about the original actress cast as Janeway who quit after a day of work, and what it was like having the first female captain on Star Trek.
William Shatner interviews Scott Bakula on a ranch—both on horseback and off—discussing Bakula’s childhood and early career, and break out into a performance of “If I Were A Rich Man”. Halfway through the episode, they talk about Quantum Leap and discuss how this affected Bakula’s relationships and what it was like coming off of a starring TV series role. The actual discussion about Enterprise is probably less than 5 minutes—Bakula talks about his audition and initial feelings about the role, and Enterprise cast and crew members talk about working with him.
I was a little disappointed with this documentary series. I was expecting it to be a behind-the-scenes look at the roles of these captains and the actors behind them. However, the series provides a more-generalized look at these actors and their careers as a whole—their time on Star Trek is just a blip. While some of the backstories of these actors are interesting, this is not what I wanted from this documentary.
The first two episodes hardly go into any behind-the-scenes discussion of Star Trek. The first is all things Shatner, while the second is very interesting, but only a small portion is about Picard. It is not until the Avery Brooks/Deep Space Nine episode that the series finally goes in the direction I was hoping—except that this portion of the episode is all of the interview clips without Avery Brooks! Things also picked up with Kate Mulgrew, which is the episode that probably provides the most behind-the-scenes look at one of the captains/roles. There are interesting cast/crew interview segments as well as a lot of on-subject discussion with Mulgrew about Janeway. However, with Scott Bakula, the series once again only touches on anything Star Trek.
As to the video presentation of this DVD, close-ups look great, but the wider shots aren’t as clear. The audio is sufficient, and its easy to understand all of the dialog. The DVD contains a 5.1 audio, but as this is a documentary, there is really no need for surround sound, and I didn’t notice any use of those tracks.
With a title like The Captains Close Up, I wish the series had been a more focused on the Star Trek aspect and less as a general look at these actors and their careers as a whole. I enjoyed the Star Trek behind-the-scenes looks, but these segments were few and far between.
The bonus features included on the DVD just consist of two unrelated 1-minute interviews with William Shatner. So, unless you are a die-hard fan of the original The Captains documentary, and want to see the additional footage in the episodes, I recommend a rental before a blind buy.
What’s Included on the DVD:
Episodes: (2:28:13)
- All 5 episodes of the series: William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula
- Video: 1.78:1 (16×9)
- Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English 2.0 Stereo
- Subtitles: English SDH
Extras:
- Additional Interviews with William Shatner
- Paramount Fire of 1983 (1:12)
William Shatner talks about running from his T.J. Hooker set with a hose to save the Star Trek III set from a fire. - Merger of Desilu and Paramount (1:40)
William Shatner talks with Paramount Pictures’ John Campbell about the tearing down of the wall between the two studio lots.
- Paramount Fire of 1983 (1:12)
Final Thoughts:
While this documentary series is interesting at times, I was expecting more of a behind-the-scenes discussion of these actors’ work on their respective Star Trek series. Instead, the series takes more general look at each of these actors and his or her career as a whole. The discussions seem to jump all over the place—mixed in with the primary interviews are a mishmash of interview clips with family, friends, cast and crew. At times, it seems a bit disjointed, and William Shatner sometimes monopolizes the conversation (this was especially evident during the Patrick Stewart and Scott Bakula episodes).
Those looking for an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the various Star Trek captains and series will not find it here. I recommend a rental—even for the most die-hard of Star Trek fans. However, fans of the original The Captains documentary may appreciate the additional footage contained in this expanded version.
