The Captains: Close Up
97 min. & 150 min.
William Shatner
William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, Chris Pine
Not Rated
Any fan of the Star Trek franchise is bound to find something interesting in this second attempt to look at the various actors who’ve played captains in the Star Trek universe, but if you’ve seen William Shatner’s The Captains, a lot of this will seem vaguely familiar.
In 2011, Shatner, the first captain of the Star Trek universe (if you don’t count Jeffrey Hunter who starred in the original, unused pilot episode), has traded on his fame and fan following to become one of the most recognizable fandom figures in television or film history. With Emmy wins and nominations for his roles in various series, Shatner never gained critical attention for his three-year stint on The Original Series. There, his co-star Leonard Nimoy got all of the attention. With The Captains and its follow-up The Captains: Close-Up, Shatner attempts to explore the universality of the captain role in the various incarnations of the franchise and explore the men and women who took on those roles.
The first feature, The Captains, Shatner focuses mostly on the franchise’s popularity and its impact using interviews with the six captains and several supporting actors. The second feature, The Captains: Close-Up goes into more depth on the individual actors, exploring how the series impacted them personally and professionally and examining what went into making their iconic roles. Chris Pine, who plays the new version of Captain Kirk in the latest big screen franchise returns only briefly to the Close-Up production, serving only as a spring-board for part of Shatner’s own interview while disappearing for the rest of the production.
Broken into five chapters, The Captains: Close-Up looks individually at each of the actors with Shatner taking up the first segment; The Next Generation‘s Jena-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart, the second; third-comer Avery Brooks who played Benjamin Sisko on Deep Space Nine; Kate Mulgrew as the first female captain on Voyager as Kathryn Janeway; and the final episode dealing with Enterprise‘s Scott Bakula who portrayed Jonathan Archer.
Shatner explores each actor’s origins, from years working on the stage to taking on the mantle of captain and then looking at how the long production sessions almost (or in some cases did) destroyed their relationships and caused rifts between friends and family. Mulgrew discusses being a working mother while working on Voyager, chatting with Shatner who was forced to do the same during his stint as Kirk. Stewart discusses his father’s violent history and his own inability to make a relationship successful because of that past influence.
While the first film set-up this sequel nicely, it’s hard not to be frustrated with so much re-used footage, but it does create one interesting observation. All of the actors interviewed in Close-Up had lengthy and impressive stage careers prior to taking on their television roles and all began in their 30s or later. Meanwhile, Pine, who’s conspicuously absent from this five-part series, comes off as shallow, inexperienced and too young to bring the natural gravitas required for the role. That isn’t to knock his performance in the films as his he gives a surprisingly mature performance, but in comparison to these other gifted thespians, his collegiate shift towards theater compares unfavorably to the others who all began acting or developed a fascination for acting while children.
If you haven’t seen The Captains, you’re likely to find a great deal of new information here, which adds to the fascination. Even if you aren’t a fan of Star Trek, there are comments on theater, television and the hardships of working in the television industry that should pique the interest of anyone interested in the business. Learning about these actors and their histories, the part that isn’t touched on much in the original feature, adds a layer of mystery that should engage the audience long enough to make it through the individual 30-minute programs.
The Captains: Close-Up could have been more with another director taking responsibilities for guiding the production other than Shatner whose ego makes him the star of each episode even if the focus should be elsewhere, but as an interviewer, few actors could have gotten into the depth with these actors that he could have all because he went through the same turmoil and trials they have. That familiarity keeps Close-Up from becoming a toothless fan-serving interview reel.
September 9, 2013
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