The Captains

This week I watched, ‘The Captains’ a new documentary by William Shatner about the five actors who played captains in the various incarnations of Star Trek. I really enjoyed the documentary and although I am an avid Star Trek fan I learned a few new things and enjoyed hearing each of the actors reflect on their experiences. William Shatner has a strong and unusual personality and he is admittedly an acquired taste. I tend to like Shatner’s eccentricities, but others may find it a bit distracting. William Shatner interviewed each of the actors one at a time, interspersed with interludes of his own travels and visits to Star Trek conventions. He appears to have a realy friendship with Patrick Stuart, and their interaction felt the most natural. The interview with Kate Mulgrew was good, and he seemed they seemed to get along well enough, although Shatner went off on a bizarre tangent about women not being able to hold high political office. It appeared to be the first time he met Scott Bakula and Chris Pine. I’ve always liked Scott Bakula as an actor, but he seemed to be a genuinely interesting guy and a real fan of classic Start Trek. William Shatner’s interaction with Avery Brooks was very odd, mildly uncomfortable and in some ways it stole the show. Avery Brooks is an accomplished jazz musician and instead of answering interview style he played light jazz on the piano interspersed with answer in song and ‘spoken word’. Shatner couldn’t resist and started interjecting his own improvised song and lyrics. They worked out an uneasy style by the end of the interview, but I swear Avery Brooks was ready irritated and ready to deck Shatner early on. If you are a die hard or causal Star Trek fan, put his on your list. It’s worth a look.