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Fans Take New Approach To Bring Back Kirk

New fan-made trailer release, plus an exclusive interview

"Some journeys were never meant to end. There are always possibilities."

Those are the final words spoken by William Shatner in the brand-new, 9-minute movie-quality trailer that features -- you guessed it -- the latest effort to Bring Back Kirk.

The people at BringBackKirk.com spent months putting together its second trailer to promote its effort ... and this time they pulled out all the stops.

Featuring quick pan and scan special effects, CGI, and elements of every Star Trek franchise ever made -- from the original to "Star Trek: Enterprise" -- the new trailer is bound to not only entertain those that take the time to download it, but may also inspire them to join the movement of bringing back the character of Capt. James T. Kirk -- last seen in 1994's "Star Trek: Generations."

"We knew this time around that we wanted to make a story that would not only get Kirk back, but like any good Trek story, would have our heroes facing and defeating adversity," England's Jason Turner -- one of the trailer's creators -- told Airlock Alpha's Michael Hinman. "But we couldn't just write a script and film it. We had to know just what our capabilities (were), and push that bit further. Like Kirk, we would change the rules as we went along. We learnt not to say, 'We can't do that,' and instead, started asking each other, 'can we do this?'"

Turner, along with fellow designers Jay B. and Wil Jaspers, worked for months on the project despite the fact that they were separated by thousands of miles ... on all ends.

"It was basically done with collaboration and team work," Turner said. "And this wouldn't have been possible had we not respected and liked each other. Bear in mind I'm in England, our editor (Jay B.) is in the USA and our other CGI artist (Jaspers) in the Netherlands. This was all accomplished over the e-mail. Each shot would be mailed all round for comments and approval. We told each other when we didn't like something, but we all praised each other when it worked. Without the encouragement of the team, I personally wouldn't have had the enthusiasm to finish this."

The trailer itself is 9 minutes 15 seconds, quite a bit longer than traditional movie trailers. It begins with Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock stating quite matter-of-factly that "Capt. Kirk is alive" while visiting Kirk's grave on the planet he was killed on. Spock later goes into the Nexus -- where Kirk was originally between the time periods of the original Star Trek movies and "Generations" -- and is able to get Kirk out.

Now in the present time of post-"Star Trek: Voyager," Kirk wears a modern Starfleet uniform, and joins Spock and Scotty (James Doohan) as well as a holographic version of Dr. Leonard McCoy (the late DeForest Kelley) on the Enterprise-A.

In the meantime, the Suliban from "Enterprise" are gathering their forces with FutureGuy, and along with the help of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) as well as Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Adm. Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), answer a Suliban attack on Starfleet. They visit the Guardian of Forever, and go back to pre-Federation days where they run into Capt. Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and the NX-01 to fight the Suliban.

But they don't stop there. Kirk and Spock make their way into the wormhole near Deep Space Nine to recruit Capt. Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) as well.

"The ending of ('Star Trek: Deep Space Nine') and 'Voyager' made me a little sad," Jaspers said. "Looking at the trailer the way we made it, you will see elements of these shows again. So I would like the fans of the other shows to support us. This, bringing back Kirk, could be an opportunity to revive the shows and the franchise, and to boost 'Enterprise.' There is no reason for 'Enterprise' fans not to support it, the way it is going, this could be a step in the right direction save that show and boost Star Trek's viewer base."

Jay B. said he jumped on the opportunity to be a part of the new trailer team.

"What we wanted to do was tell a story with a beginning, middle and end, but we had a strict rule of not using voices outside of the Star Trek universe," Jay B. said. "So we decided instead to create a second trailer. This format allowed us to retain actual actor dialogue while giving us the freedom to make the story changeable.

"This tale can jump around and have a fast pace, just like a typical trailer. But we also had the freedom to give it a longer running time than a standard trailer, and thus tells the essentials of the story."

Turner said that those fans who feel that the Bring Back Kirk campaign is against modern Trek shows like "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and the like, should have those concerns alleviated when they see the new trailer.

"Anyone who feels that the Bring Back Kirk campaign is anti-modern Trek needs only to watch this trailer," Turner said. "All five series are included for a reason -- it's not just about Kirk. We've always been inclusive and open to Kirk appearing with the other casts. It's not about re-centering the franchise around Kirk. Kirk is not about death. If anything, he's about humanity finding a way to beat the odds."

The trailer was released on March 22, which is Shatner's 73rd birthday. The trailer can be downloaded at BringBackKirk.com, as well as several mirror sites -- including Airlock Alpha. To make that download, click here.

While Airlock Alpha has agreed to host a mirror, this does not necessarily mean the site endorses the campaign.

In any event, the organizers of Bring Back Kirk are ready to have Kirk resurrected ... and resurrected for good.

"Honestly, I don't think there can be anything worse than bringing him back to kill him again," Turner said. "It's not about giving him a better death. It's about giving him life. (The Original Series) has always been about optimism, and Kirk has always been about finding the next adventure, the next challenge. Finding optimistic solutions to violent situations is the heart of Star Trek. Kirk's death was quite violent and not in the spirit of Star Trek. His final appearance should be riding off into the sunset."

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About the Author

Michael Hinman is the founder and editor-in-chief for Airlock Alpha and the entire GenreNexus. He owns Nexus Media Group Inc., the parent corporation of the GenreNexus and is a veteran print journalist. He lives in Tampa, Fla.
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