STAR TREK: THE NEW VOYAGES - MIND-SIFTER(2014)
This one is dedicted to Shirley Maiewski("Grandma Trek")!
She wrote the original book that this story is from!
Captain Kirk just doesn't seem to be himself lately!!
Perhaps it's because James Cawley is gone and we
have a new Kirk(Brian Gross)!! Or maybe it's because
he's been through Hell and has lost his memory!!
There are several other new faces here, including Dr,
McCoy(Jeff Bond), Lt. Sulu(Shyaporn Theerakulstit),
Lt. Uhura(Jasmine Pierce)! Also missing here is
Chekov & DeSalle! All-in-all, except for Charles
Root(Scotty), everyone who started this venture
is now gone!!
The new McCoy is not great!! The new Kirk
OK. The new Uhura, without much to do is
fine! The new Sulu is actually not bad!
Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise, Mr. Spock
is now the Captain of the Enterprise with Kirk
being declared MIA and presumed dead! Of
course he runs into many obstacles while
trying to be in Command!
This episode has, in order of appearance: Commander
Spock, Dr. Leonard McCoy, Lt. Sulu, Lt. Montgomery
Scott, Captain James T. Kirk & Lt. Uhura!
No Lt. DeSalle or Ensign Chekov! B+
From an IMDb.com customer:
"Mind-Sifter" has been a favorite story in fan history,
so when Shirley Maiewski "Grandma Trek" gave her blessing
to Executive Producer James Cawley to film this story,
it was due to be an epic one.
Although Brian Gross has filmed 2 other episodes as James
Kirk, this is the first one released and it is an epic. I
cannot put into words as to how proud of I am of him making
the role his own literally by the time the opening credits
rolled.
Brandon Stacy as Spock, felt more like Spock to me than in
any other episode he has played him, probably since Brandon
has not truly had up this point a spotlight on him. He shines,
with the conflict with the human/Vulcan half, but also with
the crew which leads me to the new McCoy
Bond... Jeff Bond, breakout performance as McCoy, brought De
Kelley to his performance like Karl Urban, but with out the
imitation. His scenes with Spock and Jim (back in time were
inspired)
Rivkah Raven Wood as Jan Hamlin provided the emotion and soul
of the episode, and one of the points I cried during the episode.
I hope she stays around New Voyages/Phase II in some role
Clay Sayre rocked it as Kor... I almost thought John Colicos
was facing off with William Shatner as Kirk in this episode
The bit players Charles Root (Scott), Jasmine Pierce (Uhura)
Wayne W Johnson (Walking Bear), Patrick Cawley (Xon) and Shyaporn
Theerakulstit (Sulu) were all great in their roles for the episode.
The VFX, both the Tobias Richter and Daren Dochterman versions
were great to have but Pony R Horton should get tons of credit
for a lot of the FX shots you didn't notice.
This was an amazing episode and I cannot wait to see more from
these guys! - jasfez25