Product Description
Chapters: James Stewart, Peter Falk, Scott Bakula, Kyle Maclachlan, Martin Sheen, Hugh Laurie, Sam Waterston, Telly Savalas, Jon Hamm, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Selleck, Don Johnson, Gabriel Byrne, Robert Blake, Edward Woodward, David Duchovny, Ron Perlman, Edward Asner, John Forsythe, Robert Young, Michael Moriarty, Anthony Edwards, Michael C. Hall, James Gandolfini, Dylan Mcdermott, Peter Graves, Anthony Lapaglia, David Caruso, Richard Chamberlain, Ian Mcshane, Michael Chiklis, Jimmy Smits, Richard Jordan, Ken Wahl, Dennis Franz, Richard Kiley, Mike Connors, Daniel J. Travanti. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 318. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart (May 20, 1908 July 2, 1997) was an American film and stage actor, best known for his self-effacing persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime Achievement award. He was a major MGM contract star. He also had a noted military career, a World War II and Vietnam War veteran, who rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force Reserve. Throughout his seven decades in Hollywood, Stewart cultivated a versatile career and recognized screen image in such classics as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Philadelphia Story, Harvey, It's a Wonderful Life, Rear Window, Rope, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo. He is the most represented leading actor on the AFI's 100 Years100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) and AFI's 10 Top 10 lists. He is also the most represented leading actor on the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time list presented by Entertainment Weekly. As of 2007, ten of his films have been inducted into the United States National Film Registry. Stewar...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=16273 ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Scott Bakula, Steve Mcqueen, Wallace Beery, Kathryn Grayson, Vincent Price, John Goodman, Eminem, Jon Hamm, Don Cheadle, Kathleen Turner, Dick Van Dyke, Jenna Fischer, Lucas Grabeel, Kevin Kline, Betty Garrett, William Garwood, Dianne Wiest, Robert Cummings, James Gunn, Chris Cooper, Ellie Kemper, Joe Besser, Della Fox, Don S. Davis, Taylor Momsen, Kevin Nealon, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Jenifer Lewis, Mary Frann, Sidney Toler, Sarah Clarke, Arch Hall, Sr., Paul Stader, Marvin Miller, Robert Lowery, Larry Mccormick, Bryan Greenberg, Sally Rand, Eddie Griffin, Virginia Davis, Noah Beery, Sr., Timothy Omundson, Leslie Charleson, David Rasche, Erin Daniels, Columbus Short, William Smith, Harrison Ford, Dorothy Abbott, Helen Martin, Mykelti Williamson, James Franciscus, John Harkins, Jim Davis, Betty Lynn, Jane Novak, Fred Berry, Martine Bartlett, Barney Phillips, Kate Capshaw, Martha Scott, Jim Byrnes, Edie Mcclurg, Katie Wright, Julia Bruns, Nikki Boyer, Sandahl Bergman, Sean Gunn, Lyle Waggoner, Randy and Jason Sklar, Irving Bacon, Walker Edmiston, Patsy Ruth Miller, Arliss Howard, Mickey Carroll, June Clyde, Dave Giuntoli, Jeanne Carpenter, Frank Faylen, Sally Long, Tava Smiley, Kasey Rogers, Kevin Spirtas, Gregg Berger, Kathryn Adams, Brenda Joyce, Betty Thomas, Lisa Wilcox, Teddy Infuhr, Edward Kerr, Henderson Forsythe, Ken Page, Margaret Campbell, Phyllis Smith, Annie Wersching, Marianne Muellerleile, Dave Sharpe, Jessica Capshaw, Kathleen Nolan, Brandon Barash, John Sterland, Evalyn Knapp, Eva Novak, Rob Benedict, Eric Nenninger, Marguerite Churchill, Pat Musick, Todd Armstrong, Leonard Roberts, Bill Chott, Brent Briscoe, Angelica Bridges, Eddie Steeples, Kate Toncray, Ruth Royce, Jay Kenneth Johnson, Lynn Cohen, Ramon Bieri, Betty Boyd, John Beal, Wendy Moniz, Jeff East, Edwin August, Clarence Burton, Anita Barone, Frank Mcgrath, Mark Patton, Eddie Acuff, Conrad Goode, Otto Fries, Debra Alden, Harry Stockwell, Jun ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=4429395 ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Commonweal, published by Commonweal Foundation on November 6, 2009. The length of the article is 949 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Not quite comedy: The Informant!'.(Screen)(Movie review)
Author: Richard Alleva
Publication: Commonweal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 6, 2009
Publisher: Commonweal Foundation
Volume: 136Issue: 19Page: 31(2)

Article Type: Movie review

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning ... Read more

Product Description
It's a routine mission. The Enterprise-D is in synchronous orbit over a Class-M planet to be surveyed for possible colonization. Commander Riker calls the life science team to its station, then Captain Picard orders a "search for life signs." As the principal investigator on this mission, you're up.

What do you do now? With Life Signs: The Biology of Star Trek, you'll know exactly what to do. In this vastly entertaining and informative volume, a research geneticist at a world-renowned medical center and a noted psychiatrist investigate the myriad questions Star Trek raises about "new life and new civilizations." They draw surprising conclusions about everything from the likelihood that any humanoid could be blue in color to the climate on the Vulcan homeworld to what caused the dramatic physiological changes in the Klingon race between the twenty-third and twenty-fourth centuries (something even Klingons themselves avoid discussing).

Life Signs: The Biology of Star Trek pays special attention to the Federation's astonishing technological advances, probing the accuracy and effects of these developments. How might the food replicators work? (And how would replicated food taste?) Is there any scientific basis for all that hyper-high-tech equipment in sickbay? Will it ever be possible to genetically enhance intelligence (the way Dr. Bashir's wits were sharpened when he was a boy)?

The Jenkinses also chart the remarkable parallels between the Star Trek universe and our own. They find earthly analogues to the Pon farr that puts Vulcans in heat every seven years. They hunt down common creatures reminiscent of the "crystalline entity" and the silicon-based Horta. They even introduce us to the billions of life-forms residing in our own bodies and induce us to wonder whether Jadzia Dax's Trill symbiont is really such a far-fetched notion after all.

Throughout, this engaging and authoritative book bristles with insights on the cutting edge of contemporary biology. Discover how close we are to cloning humans. Examine implants and prosthetics that might make the Borg proud. Watch NASA wrestle with the perils of extended space travel as it plans for a three-year-long manned mission to Mars. And learn where no one has gone beforeor ever will goas the Jenkinses highlight some of Star Trek's more notable biological bloopers.

Whether you run your own genetics lab or you ran screaming from high-school biology class, Life Signs: The Biology of Star Trek will heighten your appreciation for the mind-expanding magic of Star Trek.Amazon.com Review
Claiming inspiration from Lawrence Krauss's The Physics of StarTrek, the Jenkinses focus on the biological logic (or illogic)behind the alien ecologies in Star Trek--the original TV series andall of its sequels and movie spinoffs. The best parts are thebiological bloopers, even though only a fan will truly appreciatethem. For instance, how did the Klingons evolve forehead ridgesbetween the original and the new series ... and why do all the planetslook like California?

The science in the book helps the authorshypothesize about how humanoid life might have evolved throughout theuniverse (panspermia revisited). They offer simple evolutionarytheories to explain the various head shapes and behaviors of fictionalalien species. An entertaining read for a Star Trek sciencenerd. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Science + Star Trek = Fun
A wonderful book, very readable, offering the insight of two scientists who explain the hows and whys of the biology of Star Trek. They do live up to "The Physics of Star Trek" and express how all this is possible, and gently point out where it isn't (i.e. if your space suit ruptured in open space, you'd probably be crushed by the vacuum, so Worf wouldn't have time to repair his suit with some handy Borg tubing).

Regards to the Publisher's Weekly tease ("Why do all planets look like California?"), the authors actually say that the show was filmed in Souther California, hence, it was only able to offer some traditional Earth plant-life, whereas the real galaxy will have plants we cannot even fathom right now. Bush-Cheney '04.

Much Better
If you read To Seek Out New Life, I'm sorry.There Andreadis claims to love Star Trek, and spends most of the book proving how false the science of the show is.She forgets the cardinal rule of a Trekkie- apologize for the show.Yes, it has problems in physics.Yes, there are continuity errors.Yes, the biology isn't always up to snuff.But you love the show, so you try to make it work.You try to find a work-around.And then, if you absolutely can't, you admit there was a mistake.

This is the tradition the Jenkinses boldly go with.They use Star Trek to have fun with biology, and understand more about new life.What would Horta psychology be like?Why do Gorgons make us uncomfortable?Where do we find Trill-like species here on Earth?The Jenkinses use Trek to help us understand more about life, in the process fully explaining the biology, but not in such detail to bore the unscientific reader.This is what was great about the show.It entertained, yes, but it took us beyond.It made us struggle with philosophy, history, anthropology, and science.It made us think about new possibilities, and use our imaginations to understand the world around us.It is in this tradition that the Jenkinses lead us.

A solid, worthy book, even for non-Trekkers
The doctors Jenkins may not have Dr. Lawrence Krauss's easy way of turning hard science into a page-turner, but their work is an entertaining, informative, accessible book.

The book covers topics from a wide range ofbiological study, including how the structure of faces affect psychology,why 'silicon-based life' is a possibility while 'aluminum-based life' isnot, practical applications of gene therapy, and the traditional chapter ofbloopers committed by the Star Trek writers (including the intriguingquestion of why it is that Captain Picard is the only member of theEnterprise bridge crew who can't seem to grow his own hair back). Thesingle chapter on the biology of love and romance covers such wide-rangingtopics as the possible mating customs of various Star Trek races, thebiology of inter-species reproduction (including the surprising revelationthat you may turn out differently depending on whether your mother or yourfather was the Vulcan), and the distinctions between biological,psychological, and sociological concepts of gender.

If you're looking fora book heavy on information and light on gushing asides about how wonderfulit would be if we all lived in the Star Trek universe, you'll enjoy thisbook.

Fantastic travel : Star Trek's beings, biological vision
A fantastic, professional written book, focusing on the most unbelievable (and unthought) aspects of the Star Trek's beings. Now you can understand the most different behaviors and acts of some aliens of ST universe, oncebelieved illogical and strange for you. And you can see it through the eyesof two medical doctors, which give you complete and comprehensiveexplanation. Recomended for the Star Trek fans (Old Series, New Generation,Deep Space 9, etc.) and everyone who's interest for understanding more howour Terran lifeforms are and how theoretical (????) ET's would be.

Thinking about getting this book? Make it so!
This latest entry in the "Science of Star Trek" series examinesseveral important concepts in the field of biology, with an emphasis ongenetics. While including many references to various Star Trek episodes,the book's primary mission is to educate the reader, particularly in regardto cutting-edge research and theories. The authors do a great job inpresenting this information in a manner that is easily understood, and allTrek fans will be delighted that many glaring "bloopers" (suchas, why do so many aliens look so similar to humans? And what exactlyhappened to the Klingons?) are thoughtfully addressed. In short, this bookis a worthy addition to a Star Trek fan's library. ... Read more

Product Description
The story begins with the launching of the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM NCC-1701-B and the mysterious disappearance of Captain James T. Kirk. Then, seventy-eight years later, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D receives a distress call from a remote scientific observatory.

Picard learns that a newly developed superweapon has been stolen by a desperate scientist with an insane plot. Facing the most difficult task of his career, Captain Picard must seek out the one person with the power to help him, a person long thought dead: Captain James T. Kirk.

Together, the two captains are tested as they've never been before. And both men are forced to make the greatest sacrifices of their careers to save countless millions from a madman with a plan for mass destruction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Ghost ship Reliant?
OK I know I'm a fanboy, but when Kirk is killed in the book they mention the time he was on the ghost ship "Reliant". Reliant was the ship Chekov served on that was commandeered by Khan. The ghost ship was USS Defiant. You would think someone would have caught this. Kinda ruins the atmosphere for me.

A pleasant reminder of the movie...
Star Trek Generations, the movie, was a nifty story of the death of Captain James T. Kirk, followed by his "reunion" over 70 years later with Captain Jean-Luc Picard.Picard needs Kirk's help in saving the lives of 200 million inhabitants, destined to be killed when their sun is extinguished to change the gravitation patterns of the "nexus," an energy ribbon with surprising properties.

It isStar Trek material, through and through.

Star Trek Generations, the book, was based on the movie.Thus, it is true to the movie's plot, but it misses the opportunity to bring in more information about the nexus, the origin of the energy ribbon, El-Aurians, and all those other "missing links" that you get when you check out a movie based on an existing book.It is the movie in print, nothing more.That's not necessarily bad... it is just what you get here.

I enjoyed both the movie and the book.The interaction of Kirk and Picard is music to the Star Trek fan.Now this doesn't rise to the entertainment level of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Trials and Tribble-ations" episode, with Captain Sisko watching Kirk deal with the troubling Tribbles (remember the line from Worf concerning the change in Klingon appearance?"We do not discuss it with outsiders.").And in this book, we learn more about those mysterious El-Aurians (remember Enterprise-D bartender Guinan?)

This book was a easy to read reminder of a fun Star Trek movie.

Better than the movie
This audio-book is great entertainment and is read wonderfully by John DeLancie. What makes it better than the film is that it has additional scenes that deepen the story. One is at the very beginning and it takes place after the end of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as the Kirk and crew return to Earth. Kirk, Spock, and Bones have a touching farewell. Another scene takes place a year after Kirk is lost and presumed killed by the Nexus. It includes Bones and Spock at a memorial service for Kirk. Lastly, We get to hear about what Kirk experiences in the Nexus before Picard happens upon him; it includes Carol and David Marcus and is great as well.

Generations novelization is a must-read Trek book....
Star Trek Generations, J.M. Dillard's third novelization of a Star Trek feature film, is a well-written and exciting tale of two legendary Starfleet captains brought together across the time barrier to save a world from the plans of an obsessive scientist.

Dillard (The Lost Years, Mindshadow) adds texture and context to Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore's screenplay for the seventh Star Trek film (and first of four Star Trek: The Next Generation movies) by starting the book right after the events of The Undiscovered Country: Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the Original Series' crew splits up -- some retiring from Starfleet, while others accept other assignments.While this wasn't in the original screenplay or in the final film, this bit of exposition sets up a recurring reverie about time, transitions and even death.

Star Trek Generations really gets going in Chapter 2, when Kirk, Chekov and Scotty are the guests of honor at the launching ceremony of the NCC-1701-B, an Excelsior-class ship which is the third starship to bear the name Enterprise.With an untried captain and with vital equipment not yet installed, a brief publicity cruise to Pluto and back to Earth turns into a perilous rescue mission when a strange energy ribbon ensnares two El-Aurian refugee ships.Kirk, Scotty and Chekov assist Capt. John Harriman on this life-and-death endeavor, and some of the El-Aurians (including future Enterprise-D bartender Guinan and Dr. Tolian Soran) are rescued...but not without cost.The Enterprise-B is damaged by the energy ribbon, and Capt. James T. Kirk is missing and presumed dead.

After another chapter of original material in which Dillard shows the reaction of Kirk's senior staff to his death, the rest of the novel takes place 78 years later.The Enterprise-D crew is celebrating Worf's promotion to lieutenant commander in the holodeck, but the festivities are cut short when Capt. Jean Luc Picard receives devastating news from home.And to make matters worse, someone has savagely attacked the Amargosa Observatory, leaving only one survivor, Dr. Tolian Soran....the same man rescued from the energy ribbon nearly 80 years before by the Enterprise-B.

Soon, Picard has to overcome his grief to stop Soran from destroying a star (and its orbiting inhabited planets) to cause the mysterious energy ribbon -- known as the Nexus -- to change course.Picard must discover why Soran wants to sacrifice billions of innocent lives in order to "go into the Nexus" -- and he'll need the help of a legendary Starfleet captain from the past to stop the obsessed madman.....

To her credit, Dillard explains Soran's motivations far better than the movie did, and her depictions of the movie's characters are vivid and well-done.Of course, some of her additional material was needed to make up for the non-appearance of Spock and McCoy in the final drafts of Braga and Moore's screenplay (and the final film), and one scene with Kirk -- which was filmed -- was later changed, but those minor detours are to be expected in novelizations such as this.

STNG - Star Trek Generations - An excellent novelization!
Star Trek "Generations" represents J.M. Dillard's fourth Star Trek movie novelization.Of course there's a good reason she's done the novelizations for every movie since Star Trek V "The Final Frontier" and the novelization for Star Trek Deep Space Nine's premier episode "Emissary," she's extraordinarily good at it and this one is no exception!

When a reader picks up the novelization for an episode or a movie, they're looking for a couple of things; some personalization to what the characters are thinking during the scenes and some good "between the scenes" scenes and in every novelization of J.M. Dillard's I've read so far, she accomplishes that with ease.Her writing style is very fluid and the pacing is very good, producing a very engaging story that enhances what was seen on the silver screen or the home television screen.

Credit also goes to Rick Berman, Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga for the original story and screenplay for Star Trek "Generations" which, in my opinion, has been a rather unjustly maligned movie over the years.The overall story is a good one, that is well grounded in what Star Trek is all about and I believe Gene Roddenberry would've been very proud of this movie!

Also included in the hardback version are some great color photos taken directly from the film.The paperback version has the same photos but they're black & white.Both versions have the "Behind the Scenes of Star Trek Generations" A Special Report by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens which is a great little read entailing some of what it took to make the movie.

The cover art for "Generations" is, of course, directly from the movie posters and is very nice and much better than what was the standard fare for cover art at the time of this novels release!

The premise:

The novel opens up with an extremely poignant scene between Captain James T. Kirk and Spock, set one year prior to the launch of the third ship named Enterprise.The novel then follows up with an exceptional scene with Kirk plunging towards the Earth during an orbital skydive that was planned to have been in the movie but time constraints eliminated it.

In what many thought to be described as a dignified way of ending future possibilities for screen time for Captain James T. Kirk, the next scene in the novel and first, opening scene of the movie shows him saving the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B and "dying," while doing so.

Seventy eight years later we're taken to the holodeck of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D and Lieutenant Worf's rather interesting promotion ceremony to Lieutenant Commander.

What follows from there is a novel that is extraordinarily well written that serves beautifully to enhance what was seen on the silver screen.I highly recommend this novel, whether you can pick it up in hardback or paperback!{ssintrepid} ... Read more

Product Description
Including up-to-the-minute reports from the Star Trek VII, set, the leader of the Enterprise crew tells the inside stories in the making of the first six Star Trek movies. Read by William Shatner. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Easy to pick up...and put down...and pick up...
I picked this up at the library because I enjoy reading the behind-the-scenes of movies & TV shows. Star Trek Movie Memories takes us into the offices and minds of those involved with Paramount and the Star Trek movie franchise.

After reading this book, I can only say, What a bunch of whiny cry babies. If it isn't some studio exec, it's Leonard Nimoy wanting more power or money.

William Shatner and his co-author did a good job bringing in all the minds and ideas behind the controversies and little-known facts of Star Trek movies.

Very entertaining
I bought this book when it originally came out, and at the time, I couldn't really get into it. Like some other reviewers mentioned, I was disappointed that it dealt so much with studio politics, and the rememberances of producers I had barely heard of.

Either I've matured a lot since then, or I have different tastes now, but I was desperate for something to read, so I dug this out. I loved it now, the studio politics are actually pretty intriguing, and you can't help but get into the drama of how friendships lived and sometimes died as a result of those politics.

From what most of the producers, and Leonard Nimoy, had to say, Gene Rodenberry didn't come off well, but even if everything they said about him was true, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy, having his creation wrested from him, and being shut out of the creative process, even though I usually agreed with the suits, it was still kind of sad.

The chapter about the making of Star Trek V was especially interesting, William Shatner wrote and directed it, and you could feel his disappointment at how it turned out, he writes about it in an honest and clear eyed way, he doesn't try to white wash his own failures, but it seems there was plenty of blame to spread around.

Of course, Star Trek fans will enjoy the behind the scenes look at the making of these films, but really, anybody that's interested in the process of filmmaking should really like this book.

I'm an Actor, not a Writer!
William Shatner's STAR TREK MOVIE MEMORIES can be looked at one of two ways. Way # 1 is as a stand-alone book about a classic television series, told from the POV of its biggest star. An by those lights it's not bad. A bit superficial, and at times overly ambitious, but entertaining and informative nonetheless. Way # 2 is as a very derivitive retelling of two much older, and frankly better books. THE MAKING OF STAR TREK by Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry, which came out while the show was still in production (1968 or so), and THE WORLD OF STAR TREK by David Gerrold, which came out a few years after its cancellation (1975).

If you go only by the Shatner version (1993) ghostwritten by Chris Kreski, you won't fail to be entertained. The book opens with an aged Shatner waking up early for his last day of shooting on the very last (so he believd) STAR TREK film, THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY (he actually appeared again in GENERATIONS, of course, never say never in the TREK-verse!). He's conscious that his life-defining role as James Tiberius Kirk was coming to an end, that he's old and tired, and that he's kind of sad about it. He gets reflective about the phenomenon that he has been part of for the last 30 odd years, and starts to do some thinking about it. That thinking, as it's examined in the book, goes along a couple of different lines:

1. The backstory of TREK - which is to say the biography of Gene Roddenberry and the long, painful, years-long process it took to get the show on the air.

2. The day-to-day mechanics of the show - how it was written, produced, executed, etc. Who did what, and how they did it.

3. Shatner's own memories of getting cast as Kirk, what it was like to be a part of the phenomenon, the internal cast dynamics, his relationship with Gene Roddenberry and with the other cast members, etc.

4. The battle with the networks in regards to the show's cancellation, and the efforts of the fans to keep it on the air. Its legacy.

As far as 1, 2 and 4 go, if you haven't read the Whitfield-Roddenberry or Gerrold books, it's pretty interesting stuff, explaining not merely how TREK came to be and was, but how it "died" and how its death contained the seeds of its ultimate rebirth. If you have, it's a boring and unimaginative retelling of something told much earlier, and much better, by insiders - Roddenberry (the creator of the show) and Gerrold (who wrote "The Trouble With Tribbles" and, while possessing many opinions vis-à-vis TREK I think are wrong, certainly understood its nuts and bolts).

It's # 3 that sells the book. Shatner has some interesting anecdotes and memories pertaining to the show, although one suspects that time, and his relative disinterest in TREK (by which I mean the fact that he's always viewed it as a job and nothing more), have dulled his memory. Kreski seems to rely heavily on the afformentioned books for source material, and Shatner is basically reacting off that material rather than doing a lot of brain-wracking himself. And the book's tone tends to mute its impact. Bill is reasonably frank about being disliked by Walther Koenig (Chekov) and George Takei (Sulu), and hated by Jimmy Doohan (Scotty), but I often got the sense his true attitudes, the ones that led to these bad feelings, are not reflected in this work. My personal take is that he was incredibly insensitive to some of his co-workers, but that he also regarded some of them (Takei, for example) as being delusional about their own place in the scheme of things...only at this age, he's too dignified to say so. He's being polite and political where some really self-scouring honesty would have made for better reading. The real problem witH MEMORIES is that memories are only a quarter of the book -- too much time is spent laying the groundwork for them, and notwhere near enough time talking about them. I don't want a biography of TREK, I want Shatner's personal take on what he experienced.

Don't get me wrong. I like Shatner a lot, and I enjoyed the book, especially when his memory was sharp and his opinions unguarded. I would recommend it to any fan of TREK or to anyone who wants an inkling of why the show refuses to die even after 40 years off the air. But I would qualify it by saying that a great deal of what the book attempts to do - tell the story of the show rather than Shatner's story - has been done before, and better, by other men.

Too much studio politicking - not enough amusing anecdote
The term memoir is a misnomer. It's more a background history of the Star Trek movies. Shatner and Kreski have spent far too much time delving into the backroom fighting and creative disagreements, and not enough time reminiscing. As a useful study on what actually goes into the making of individual episodes of a major motion picture franchise, this book surely has few equals, and I hope it appears on the shelves of all important film schools. It has indeed been well researched. But really that should be a book with Kreski's name alone on it.

Surely what we want from William Shatner, actor, director and Star Trek star, is more a true memoir of his own personal relationships with the other members of the cast (good or bad), and to recall some of the laughter as well as the tears that took place while they were filming. The most we get of this is the tale of how the only two of the original cast to join Shatner in "Star Trek Generations" were his two greatest critics, Walter Koenig and James Doohan, and how Shatner, attempting to rebuild bridges, eventually persuaded them to pose for a photo, all holding hands. Koenig remarked that "a photo of the three of *us* holding hands must be worth at least $500, fifteen hundred if it was signed." Apart from that and one story from George Takei about being referred to as "Tiny" in Star Trek III, the rest is all about Harve Bennett, Nicholas Meyer, Leonard Nimoy (with his director and producer hat on) and (via memo) Gene Roddenberry, all of whom ended on very bad terms with each other. As to the cast, Nichelle Nicholls scarcely features at all, and neither does De Forest Kelley.

"Star Trek Memories", this book's predecessor, managed a better mix of stories from behind and in front of the camera, although in fairness there is already an inherent romanticism about the 1960s television industry which was to that book's advantage. "Movie Memories" generally leaves one with a nasty taste in the mouth.

William Shatner waxes nostalgic about the "Star Trek" movies
After writing "Star Trek Memories" with Chris Kreski in 1993, William Shatner came back a year later with "Star Trek Movie Memories."Whereas Shatner was uncertain as to the fate of Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship "Enterprise" at the end of the first book, by the time he wrote the second the character had officially died in "Star Trek: Generations."This provided an obvious stopping point for Shatner's memoirs and gives this book more of a sense of finality than the first one, especially since the book's epilogue is about shooting the death scene.There are less "Star Trek" movies to have memories about than there were television episodes and all of the films were made more recently so that the memories are fresher.Shatner also becomes more than just an actor when he directs "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" and is one of three writers who came up with the story.

The format is the same, so that "Star Trek Movie Memories" combines his own reminiscences with in-depth interviews with other actors and various people associated in one way or another with making the movies.As was the case last time, Leonard Nimoy is always thoughtful and insightful, and he shares his feelings on having to shoot Spock's death scene in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" and his anger at the machinations of studios and guilds (it is dangerous to let Nimoy speak for himself because he is always captivating, but clearly Shatner does not mind letting his co-star take the stage to talk about things in his own words).Perhaps the most interesting stories come from David Gautreau, the actor who never really got to play Xon, the Vulcan science officer in the first film (it is a long story and a classical example of the sort of sick joke that happens in the wacky world of Hollywood).The narrative actually picks up after the original "Star Trek" is cancelled in 1969 as Armstrong and Aldrin are walking on the moon.Shatner covers the highlights and lowlights of his career and persona life, played against the undercurrent of fans support for the show that ultimately manifests itself as the space shuttle "Enterprise" and the first "Star Trek" movie.

If you know anything about Shatner it is that he has an omnipresent sense of humor, which is clear from the titles given each chapter devoted to a "Star Trek" movie.The seven films become, in order, "Star Trek: The Emotional Picture," "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Bennett...and Meyer, and Montalban, and Diller, and Eisner, and Katzenberg, and....," "Star Trek III: The Perch for Spock," "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Roams," "Star Trek V: The Frantic Frontier," "Star Trek VI: Discovered Country," and "Star Trek VII: Regenerations."Shatner does devote due consideration to what it was like to be a movie director, but clearly he is much happier talking about his ploy to get Nicholas Meyer to stop smoking his stinking cigars.The book is filled with dozens of black & white photographs throughout and eight pages of color photographs in the middle. However, the attraction here for fans of "Star Trek," whatever nomenclature you feel best describes the group, are the behind the scenes stories, like when Nimoy and Shatner talk about Kirk's finest moment on celluloid in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" when he learns his son David has been killed.I always find it interesting to see how happenstance plays a role in memorable movie moments.So while this book is not definitive, it is an enjoyable read and you should learn enough after the making of these movies to feel it was worth the time. ... Read more

Product Description
Encompassing plot summaries of all seventy-nine TV episodes and the six hit films, "Captain Kirk" shares his reminiscences about the making of Star Trek, a history of the show as a cultural phenomenon, and behind-the-scenes antics. Simultaneous. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (31)

surprisingly modest, fun inside trivia
If you are the kind of ST fan that I am - growing up on it, surviving for many years on re-runs alone, then delighted when the show re-booted with the first film- you will enjoy this book.Shatner, who will forever be my favorite scifi character on TV, gives his point of view on the making of the show.While he can be quite critical and revealing, such as Roddenberry's omnivorous sexual appetite, throughout he strives to sound nice and even to reconcile with fellow cast members who cannot stand him.Indeed, he admits that "actors are children" and jokes about himself as well.Of course, we know he isn't all that nice a guy, but he tries.

When I was young, I wanted to be Captain Kirk, as silly as that sounds.Here you get a wonderful behind-the-scenes peek, not too deep but interesting enough.It is strictly perishable stuff, with a lot of fun tidbits, the kind of thing you might pick up while procrastinating or over a glass of wine for a few minutes on a Sunday afternoon.It is fun for die hard fans.Recommended.

...can't think of a title....
William Shatner does his usual good job of gettng you involved in the story. He is funny and quirky-using Star Trek technobabble to describe waking up in the morning and first thinking about this book-I loved it.Some of the various stories here from other people involved I've heard before but he William Shatner doesn't draw it out word for word so it's diffferent enough in those instances when he does quote people that it's not boring and feeling re-hashed.I just can't believe at the end of the book, he talks with his cast mates and he didn't seem to have any idea until he wrote this book that he was revilved by some and mildly tolerated by others within the cast-I thought he had learned that at a convention from some fans in the bathroom.All in all, a great read-or audio read in this case.If you haven't read or heard this one b4 and you've only gotten Star Trek movie memories, this is a nice companion piece.

Happy
This movie and case were perfect.Not a thing wrong with them.Glad to have it in our collection.Thanks.

The Welcome Reprint of Shatner's ST Experiences...
With the amazing longevity of William Shatner as a media celebrity, and the release of the reimagined "Star Trek" in theaters and on DVD, it's a pleasure to see Shatner's own insights of his best-known television series back in print. "Star Trek Memories" may be the chattiest, most entertaining of all the "Trek" books, with Shatner's wit, understanding, and, occasionally, his ego, wonderfully unrestrained!

To the movers who made "Trek" happen, he is remarkably fair and supportive, particularly to those who have passed away. While Gene Roddenberry is de-mythicized (his errors and often bizarre quirkiness are not glossed over), the vision and legendary audacity that created a unique series is not shortchanged, either...and the vital importance of Gene L. Coon, Robert H. Justman and Matt Jeffries in making a nearly impossible concept 'work' on a weekly basis is gratefully given the attention it deserves.

Shatner is magnanimous in sharing the performance credit with his castmates (particularly Leonard Nimoy and Dee Kelley), but admits it could be a battle getting screen time and scripts that played to the actors' individual strengths. He acknowledges that he could 'walk over' others in this, but I suspect it was more of an issue than he presents it, on the basis of the ill will James Doohan, George Takei, and others, had, and in some cases, still have towards him (and in his revelation of Nichelle Nichols' affair with Roddenberry before her own book was released, he effectively broadsided the actress, which reveals a lot about his being occasionally self-serving). Still, you end up feeling that Shatner, by and large, is a pretty terrific, likable person, and deserves the credit he's received for the show's extraordinary longevity. He never 'signed on' expecting the series to become the touchstone of his 50-year career as an actor, but has come to accept it with humor and grace.

This is certainly a 'must have' book for "Trek" fans!

Fascinating (Pun Intended)
I began reading "Star Trek Memories" after recently bearing witness to J.J. Abrams truly awful reboot of the "Star Trek" franchise. Eager to resurrect the memories of the "Star Trek" of my childhood, I ploughed into William Shatner and Chris Kreski's memoir of the creation, production and eventual cancellation of the series with gusto, and, in so doing, discovered a story that is worthy of a HBO miniseries all of its own. Seriously, the shenanigans that occurred in the course of attempting to get the "Enterprise" off of the ground would give anything that you've seen on Mad Men - Season One a run for it's money.

From traffic-cop-and-wannabe-screen-writer Gene Roddenberry's subtle menacing of legendary Hollywood producer Irving "Swifty" Lazar in order to break into the TV writing industry, through to the notoriously troubled production of the third season of the show, it is a story which is never less than fascinating, and one which takes in nervous breakdowns, network plagiarism, egomania, bicycle theft, alcoholism, racism, some truly chilling allegations of rape, and a grinding Sisyphian production schedule which would have tested the diplomacy of Kofi Annan and the patience of Job.

Roddenberry, who had passed on by the time the book was written, is an intriguing figure who appears to have been equal parts visionary, workhorse, genius, egomaniac, huckster, philanderer, shill and skinflint; a man who aspired to produce a television show which celebrated the loftiest ideals of human ambition whilst indulging in, shall we say, the slightly more baser elements of human nature himself. Suffice it to say, prior to reading this book I had always considered Leonard Nimoy to be somewhat curmudgeonly in his attitude towards "Star Trek", but after learning what he went through during and after the production of the series and subsequent films (which are chronicled in the follow-up to this book, " Star Trek " Movie Memories, which I'm currently reading), one wonders how he didn't take to going to the set with a gun. Similarly, debts of honour are also repaid to the likes of Gene L. Coon, Robert H. Justman and Matt Jeffries (unsung heroes of "Trek" who were apparently as intrinsic to the series as Roddenberry himself) and amends are made to Fred Freiberger - the man who was wrongly vilified and maligned for the death of the series.

As a narrator, Shatner is conversational and avuncular and clearly attempts to play the diplomat. That said, he is completely open about his fraught relations with the rest of the cast, and the fact that James Doohan refused to be interviewed for the book, in its closing chapters.

If you haven't read it and are intrigued by the history of this classic series, I doubt you'll find a better account. Similarly, if you're only looking for a lightly humourous and scandalous insight into the world of television in the sixties, I suspect you'll thoroughly enjoy it.
... Read more