‘Aliens’ Cast Talk About Their Challenges at the Days of the Dead Convention

Posted on September 1 by The Ultimate Rabbit

On August 26, 2023, I found the time to attend the Days of The Dead convention which was held at the Hilton Hotel outside of LAX airport. The main highlight of the day for me was sitting in on the panel for “Aliens,” James Cameron’s classic film from the year 1986 which remains as exciting now as it was when first released. This brought many of the talent who worked in front of and behind the camera, and they were very enthusiastic to be here to discuss a motion picture you would think they have been asked every conceivable question about before this point.

One of the questions asked of everyone was about the biggest challenge everyone faced on set. The first to answer was Tom Woodruff Jr. He is best known as a special effects supervisor who studied under the tutelage of Stan Winston, and he later, along with Alec Gillis, founded Amalgamated Dynamics, an American special effects company specializing in animatronics and prosthetic make-up. “Aliens” was one of Tom’s earliest projects, and he was very direct with the audience about what he dealt with in this science fiction classic.

Tom Woodruff Jr.: For me, the biggest challenge was being on set with James Cameron (audience laughs). He was very specific. He’s a rare guy. He knows exactly what he wants, and he knows exactly what parts you don’t understand. The first time we had the aliens on set, it was a scene where there were a lot of fire throwers going on, and the alien was supposed to be hidden up in the wall and crawls out and reveals itself. We did a run through, and Cameron stopped the whole thing and he said, “Why is this alien brown and the rest of him is black?!” The answer I knew in my head was, I didn’t check it out. I remember he just grabbed a can of black spray paint, shook it up and sprayed it on the head. I also realized at that point we wasted a lot of time painting alien heads when we could have just grabbed a can of spray paint.

For Carrie Henn who plays the orphaned Newt, she had no prior acting experience when she was cast in “Aliens.” Her career as an actress did not last long as she later decided to become a schoolteacher after earning a degree in liberal studies and child development from California State University, Stanislaus. Her response to question given proved to be quite surprising.

Carrie Henn: One of the challenging things was actually being scared of it (the aliens) because, I mean, look at it. Everyone was in the suits at some point, but then they would turn around or I would see them outside of the suit completely or their head would be off. So, I would try to act like I was scared of it, when in reality I knew it was my friend. I was scared of dogs and still am because I have been bitten by many, so I used to just pretend that it was a dog chasing after me.

Ricco Ross portrays Private Ross in “Aliens,” and his most memorable lines of dialogue include “guess she doesn’t like the cornbread either” and “what are we supposed to use, harsh language?” He ended up turning down the opportunity to act in Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket” in order to appear in this film. Since “Aliens,” he has remained a busy actor in both movies and television and does not look to be lacking in work. This would still be the case were it not for the SAG/AFTRA and WGA strike which still rages on as I write this article.

Ricco Ross: The marines would have lunch and hang out in one area and the aliens would hang out in another area, and we didn’t kick it together. But I remember walking by one day and one of the aliens had his head under his arm and smoking a cigarette, and this was before iPhones, and I wish I had a camera because it was an amazing kind of classic photograph.

Cynthia Scott, also known as Cynthia Dale Scott, portrayed Corporal Dietrich in “Aliens,” and her other credits include “Rush” which stars Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh. She has long since left acting behind her and now dedicates her life to working in the visual arts. Her answer to this question reminded me of perhaps her most famous line in this film which is, “Maybe they don’t show up on infrared at all.”

Cynthia Scott: I think I am the only one that was grabbed by the alien, and it was extremely challenging because I did half of my own stunt. If you recall, I was taken straight up in the air, and we were so old school that the stunt was achieved with a gigantic sea saw. It was operated by a bunch of crew members. So, I was standing on the downside, and I say my line and the stuntman in the alien suit landed behind me, grabbed me, and simultaneously the crew members pulled down really fast on the other end and we go shooting up in the air so our whole center of gravity changes. And simultaneously I am lowering my live flamethrower and using it ostensibly on my friend Ricco (audience laughs). The first three or four takes, I fell off. I was so terrified of James Cameron that I thought I would be fired today. I’m telling you; it was really hard.

William Hope portrays Gorman, the inexperienced commanding officer of the Marines who would have been best to listen Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) if he had been quick to think about it. Like Ricco Ross, he turned down a role in “Full Metal Jacket” to appear in “Aliens.” Since then, he has given memorable performances in such movies as “Hellbound: Hellraiser II,” “Shining Through,” the cinematic version of the television show “The Saint,” “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Dark Shadows,” and the recent reboot of a sequel to “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” His words about James Cameron rang very true.

William Hope: Jim in those days was cutting his teeth in more ways than one because he knew everybody’s job better than they did apart from the actors. So, I was just obsessed with don’t screw this up. We knew the script was just something of a masterpiece. We knew it was very, very special. As for you guys (the alien actors), the only direct contact that I had was when the aliens come through the roof. It was just the most exciting scene to play. The big challenge was getting it right and Jim saying, “Good, okay, move on.”

Mark Rolston portrayed Drake, a close friend to fellow badass marine Vasquez who was played by Jenette Goldstein. His other credits include playing Hans in “Lethal Weapon 2,” Stef in “Robocop 2,” and Bogs Diamond in “The Shawshank Redemption.” He also acted in “The Departed” which earned its director, Martin Scorsese, his first ever Academy Award, and co-starred in “Saw V” and Saw VI” as Dan Erickson. On television, he portrayed Gordie Liman on “The Shield.”

Mark Rolston: The thing I remember was the creature creation. I actually came back to set to watch the entrance of the queen alien. It is seared in my memory because she was like a two-story puppet which was controlled by guys on the crew. The smallest guy on Tom (Woodruff Jr.’s) crew was the guy who gets stationed in the head, and his sole job, aside from being dressed in black and trying to hide, was to push the queen alien goo out the tail. Cameron at one moment said, “There’s too much goo! Too much goo! You are pushing on the wrong tube!” I was giggling my ass over that one, but it was such an impressive shot. You look at the film and you believe this is a living monster, but onstage you see it’s just a puppet. Such masterful filmmaking.

We are getting closer to the 40^th anniversary of “Aliens,” and this sequel still holds up all these years later. Some of us got to see when it debuted in theaters back in 1986, and others like myself watched on VHS. But even on the small screen, this still proved to be one of the greatest cinematic roller coaster rides we ever went on, and it is so great to see new generations of movie buffs feel the same from one new year to the next.

No, I Haven’t Seen It Until Now: ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’

Posted on May 4, 2023 by The Ultimate Rabbit

“The Incredible Shrinking Man” comes from a genre I feel I know a lot about but have actually not seen many movies from: 1950’s science fiction. I went into it thinking it would look horribly dated and laughable for all the wrong reasons. What I instead discovered was a film which actually holds up very well after half a century with its terrific special effects and strong performances. It also deals with themes and situations which prove to be as relatable today as they were back in the time this film was released.

Scott Carey (Grant Williams) is spending an enjoyably sunny day on a boat with his wife, Louise (Randy Stuart), when a strange mist passes through him and spills some glittery substance over his body. Louise manages to not get covered by this same substance as she was down below getting a beer for her husband because men can be schmucks when they ask their spouses to get them things they should be able to get themselves (that’ll show him!). Now Scott thinks nothing of what happened until he suddenly notices his shirt is now too big for him, and then his wedding ring falls off his finger which is clearly not a good omen.

After being examined by his doctors, Scott discovers that the glittery substance is not the same kind gay groups doused Newt Gingrich with during his needless run for President of the United States. Whatever is causing him to shrink, his attempts to reverse this unfortunate condition his fail. At one point, Scott becomes so tiny to where he is forced to seek refuge in a doll house for his own safety. This makes sense until the household cat ends up mistaking him for a mouse, and he ends up running into the basement where he is forced to face dangers no human being should ever have to.

What I found endlessly fascinating about “The Incredible Shrinking Man” is that what people end up enduring after attaining an odd and unwanted fame is not much different from what anyone would experience today. Scott ends up selling his story to the press not to become famous, but because he no longer has a job and needs the money for his wife and himself to survive. The more of a curiosity he becomes, the less human he is seen by the world.

Today, if someone were going through this, we might expect them to be more forthcoming about becoming famous for something they did not exactly want to become known for as there is much money to be made, and an obscene amount at that. In the process, it is easy to forget the humanity of certain people involved, and “The Incredibly Shrinking Man” deals with the inescapable loneliness which results.

Scott clearly does not want all these photographers parked outside his front door, but he is helpless to stop their onslaught. Then again, imagine if he was dealing with this today; he would have no privacy whatsoever. It would not matter if he spent his days indoors because the damn paparazzi would find a way to get inside and snap a picture of him. Even though Scott vents at his wife against his better judgment, you I could not help but feel for him as he goes through a process no one would want to endure. That is, unless they were ridiculously desperate for some kind of attention.

“The Incredible Shrinking Man” really picks up an extraordinary amount of tension when Scott gets stuck in that basement. The special effects up to this point are very well executed, but they take on a bigger challenge when Scott is no bigger than the match box he hides in. The use of forced perspective and real physical structures makes his predicament all the more thrilling and emotionally involving. The simple act of getting food becomes a life-or-death struggle, and I felt for him as he was forced to climb up towards a stale piece of bread using only a needle and thread.

Even the simplest effects make Scott’s struggle all the more brutal as the merest failure will force right back to the start, and we can identify with the infinite frustration this causes no matter how big or small we are. But what makes his fight for survival all the more viscerally frightening is the scary-looking spider (is there any other kind?) he is forced to do battle with. It is moments Scott shares with this spider which had me the most frightened and on the edge of my seat. For a film which is now a century old, this is saying a lot. That, and I cannot stand spiders in general.

Much credit should be given to Williams here as he does not always make Scott the most likable human being. Still, whatever you may think of him, Scott is made to experience something no other human being has. While you may want to chide Scott for the way he unloads his frustrations on those closest to him, watching him makes me wonder if I would have reacted any differently. I would like to think so, but perhaps a lot of wishful thing is involved there.

“The Incredible Shrinking Man” is based on a book by Richard Matheson entitled “The Shrinking Man” (he found the “Incredible” adjective to be unnecessary). Matheson has been responsible for some of the greatest science fiction stories ever told such as “I Am Legend,” various episodes of “The Twilight Zone” like “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” and the short story “Button, Button” which became the basis for “The Box.”

I think “The Incredible Shrinking Man” represents one of the finest adaptations of Matheson’s work as it deals with the humanity of Scott’s situation as much as it does with visual effects. The effects are great, but it is our relation to Scott and what he is going through that makes this movie work so effectively. No one wants a household spider to suddenly become bigger than they are, but this film forces you to deal with these fears to where they are more real than you could ever expect them to be.

This is also a film which has a voiceover narration to accompany its events. When it comes to this way of telling a story, it can go either way; At times, it can tell us things we do not need spelled out to us, but here it also gives great depth to the film’s themes as it makes Scott’s view of his existence change throughout in ways both positive and negative.

The ending still haunts me even long after I watched it. The conclusion is solemn in a way as Scott becomes resigned to his downsized fate, but it is also strangely hopeful as he becomes convinced he will still be a part of this vast universe no matter how small he gets. Even in the 1950’s, filmmakers did not take the easy way out when wrapping up a motion picture. It is not an “everything is going to be okay” ending, but it is not a complete downer either.

I was surprised at just how much I got into “The Incredible Shrinking Man.” The title seems to imply we are about to see something endlessly cheesy, but this film proved to be thrilling and had me on the edge of my seat throughout. I imagine Hollywood will eventually remake it someday and turn it into a comedy, but they will not be able to touch the deeper meanings of what Richard Matheson was getting at. Please feel free to prove me wrong, but you will need a lot of luck in the process.

* * * ½ out of * * * *

WRITER’S NOTE: This film is now available in a special edition from the Criterion Collection. Click here to find out more.

Star Trek Beyond

Posted on July 26, 2016 by The Ultimate Rabbit

With “Star Trek Beyond,” the rebooted franchise now follows the Enterprise crew on its five-year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations and to boldly go where no one has gone before. What results is a mixed bag of a movie that gets a little too bombastic for its own good at times, but which still entertains better than many of the other summer blockbusters released in 2016. More importantly, this movie remembers what makes “Star Trek” so memorable: the relationships these characters have with one another.

We meet up with James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew in the third of their five-year mission. Kirk finds his duties as captain growing monotonous and becomes increasingly interested in accepting a promotion to Vice Admiral. Spock (Zachary Quinto) is reeling from his breakup with Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and the death of Spock Prime (the late Leonard Nimoy) to where he is considering leaving Starfleet to help New Vulcan. Scotty (Simon Pegg) still loves his warp engines, Sulu (John Cho) and Chekov (the late Anton Yelchin) are still at the helm, and McCoy (Karl Urban) is still eager to remind everyone that he is a doctor and nothing other than that.

The Enterprise’s latest assignment has them traveling through an unstable nebula on a rescue mission, but it turns out to be a trap that destroys the Enterprise and leaves its crew stranded on an alien planet whose inhabitants are quick to enslave them. An alien commander named Krall (Idris Elba) seeks to destroy the Federation of Planets for reasons which eventually become clear as the movie goes on.

As the trailers for “Star Trek Beyond” have long since revealed, the Enterprise is destroyed early on. This isn’t the first time we have seen this famous starship destroyed. We watched helplessly as it self-destructed in “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” and we its lower half explode and its saucer section make a spectacular crash landing in “Star Trek: Generations.” But what’s significant about this movie’s Enterprise is that it is destroyed very early on as opposed to the halfway point. This is a bold move as these films thrive on the presence of the Enterprise for the most part, but here we see it destroyed from the get go to where you wonder how the crew can do their jobs without it. As a result, things in “Star Trek Beyond” feel more unpredictable than usual as everyone is separated from one another and trying to figure out what to do without easy access to the Federation of Planets.

J.J. Abrams stepped away from the director’s chair as he was busy directing “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” In his place is Justin Lin who is best known for his numerous contributions to “The Fast & The Furious” franchise, but I also like to remind people of his 2002 film “Better Luck Tomorrow” which I felt made him a good choice to helm this “Star Trek” movie. Thanks to a script by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, he takes the time to focus on the characters and their evolving relationships with one another. I especially loved the scenes between Spock and McCoy as these two can’t stand one another but still need to rely on each other when danger looms over them. Spock may find the fear of death of illogical, but McCoy rightly points out that it is what keeps us alive. This is reminds me of a pivotal moment from the original “Star Trek” television series when McCoy said, “Do you know why you’re not afraid to die Spock? You’re more afraid of living.”

Having said that, Lin does make the action scenes in “Star Trek Beyond” feel, and I have to say it, a little too fast and furious. It gets to where we threaten to lose sight of the movie’s plot and what its main antagonist is aiming for. I imagine that when I see this “Star Trek” movie again, and seeing any “Star Trek” movie just once is not enough, I will better understand all that is going on, but the fact that I wasn’t able to follow every little detail here did take away from my enjoyment. I liked “Star Trek Beyond,” but I came out of it feeling like I could have liked it a lot more.

Speaking of the main antagonist, he is Krall and is portrayed by Idris Elba, an excellent choice as he is the kind of actor who can elicit fear with just a look of his eyes. Like Oscar Isaac in “X-Men: Apocalypse,” he is covered up with way too much makeup which threatens to take away from his natural charisma, but he still gives us a villain that is in no way, shape or form a one-dimensional character. As “Star Trek Beyond” goes on, we learn that he is a victim of circumstances beyond his control, but while that doesn’t justify his actions, it certainly explains why he does what he does. Elba is one of the best actors out there today, and his performance here is further proof of that.

It’s great to see how these actors have grown into the roles they were first cast in seven years ago. Pine shows how the years of space travel have worn down Kirk’s soul but not his spirit. Quinto continues to do excellent work as Spock, having made this character his own a long time ago. Urban remains a pitch perfect McCoy, and his delivery of that character’s classic catchphrases is worth the price of admission. Saldana continues to give us a kick-ass Uhura who isn’t about to take shit from anyone, and I mean anyone. With this “Star Trek” movie, Pegg gets to make Scott more than a comic foil as he works to get the support of a particular alien who can help him and the crew defeat Krall. And there’s Yelchin who finally gets to do much more as Chekov here than in the previous films. He’s terrific here, and it makes his recent death all the more tragic as he was a major talent whose life was cut much too short.

Special mention also goes to Sofia Boutella who gives a genuinely strong alien warrior character in Jaylah. This is the same actress who made an undeniably memorable impression as the henchwomen whose prosthetic legs were designed to leave some serious damage. Boutella steals every scene she has here as Jaylah looks to defend herself against those who destroyed her family, and I can’t wait to see what role she will take on next.

While part of me wishes “Star Trek Beyond” was a better movie than it is, it still proves to be better than many of the other summer blockbusters released so far in 2016. Many believe that this franchise is still be converted into one resembling “Star Wars,” but I don’t believe that as the filmmakers involved are fully aware that the characters are far more important in this one than the special effects. It also makes me smile that this franchise continues to live on to further generations no matter what. While some look at Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a hopeful future as nothing but hooey, others see it as one that nobody should stop believing in, and I am one of those people. Here’s to this franchise continuing to live long and prosper no matter what.

*** * * out of * * * ***

Copyright Ben Kenber 2016.

Star Trek (2009)

Posted on July 22, 2016 by The Ultimate Rabbit

I have been into “Star Trek” since I started watching the original series when I was five years old. I reveled in Kirk, Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew hurtling through space and exploring new worlds. I still remember watching the episode “The Return of the Archons” where the Enterprise crew was being held prisoner, and there was this overwhelmingly loud noise which rendered them unconscious. As they fell to the floor, I mimicked what I saw on that ancient Zenith television my parents bought, pretending I was part of this great crew. Back then, I envisioned myself as a character on that show and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as its adventures made up for the dullness of reality.

As “Star Trek” expanded from its original incarnation later became a never ending movie franchise, I stayed with it as much as I could. My dad had to carry me out of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” after I burst into tears at the end. The fact that I kept saying he would come back to life was truly an utter coincidence when “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” came out, and I was in tears after that one as well. I later became determined to be the first person in Thousand Oaks, California to own a copy of “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” on VHS. When my family moved from Thousand Oaks to the Bay Area, I found myself wanting those transporters to be real so that I could beam down south to hang out with the friends I was forced to leave behind.

But somewhere along the line, I found myself losing interest in all things Trek as I started to miss out on the last couple of seasons of “Star Trek: TNG.” Then there were other spinoffs like “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager” among others, and I became increasingly less excited about the franchise as it came to resemble “Law & Order” and its various other incarnations. You knew what you were going to get, so the level of excitement I had for the franchise kept fading away year after year. Still, I believed that the franchise could be resurrected because, as Spock would say, there are always possibilities.

That resurrection has now arrived, seven years after “Star Trek: Nemesis,” thanks to J.J. Abrams. His “Star Trek” movie is the most exciting film this series has seen since “First Contact,” and I fucking loved it! This origin story of the Starship Enterprise and its cast gives the franchise a much needed kick in the ass. By taking the series in new directions, Abrams has succeeded in opening up the world of Trek to an audience that never fully embraced it before.

We get to see a young James Tiberius Kirk driving a hot rod while blasting the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” on the car’s stereo, and this is the first sign that this “Star Trek” is not going to be the same old shit. We see a young Spock getting taunted by his classmates which makes him use methods other than that famous Vulcan nerve pinch to subdue his enemies. Seeing Spock beat the crap out of others might have been hilarious in any other movie, but Abrams takes the character in fresh new directions we have not seen him go to before. This plays much more intensely on the fact that Spock has always been half-human and half-Vulcan.

The plot of “Star Trek” revolves around the device of time travel which has played a part in the most entertaining and successful films in the series (“The Voyage Home” and “First Contact”). It involves a large mining ship of Romulans commanded by Nero (Eric Bana) who is as thirsty for revenge as Khan was in “Star Trek II.” It doesn’t matter how much you know about Gene Roddenberry’s sci-fi universe because anything and everything you remembered about it previously will seem very different, and that makes this movie all the more entertaining and unpredictable.

One of the key successes Abrams has with “Star Trek” is the actors he has chosen as none of them try to do imitate what the actors who originated these roles did before them. Among the most impressive is Chris Pine who plays Kirk as a hotshot who gets himself in trouble constantly and lacks a father figure in his life. Pine really succeeds in capturing the same cockiness and over confidence that William Shatner brought to the role before him.

But even better is Zachary Quinto who plays Spock at his most emotionally unhinged. Of all the actors here, he has the biggest obstacle to overcome since the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is in this film as well. I admired how Quinto strongly displayed Spock’s inner turmoil and of the fact that he is a child of two worlds. One of his best moments comes when he essentially flips off the Vulcan High Command after he is accepted into their prestigious science academy. By describing Spock as having done well despite the “disadvantage” of having a human mother (played by Winona Ryder of all people), we get a huge thrill out Quinto making “live long and prosper” sound like he’s saying fuck you to the.

Another inspired casting choice in “Star Trek” is Simon Pegg as Engineer Montgomery Scott. As the movie heads to its exciting climax, it is frightening to see just how much Pegg resembles Scotty from the original series, and that’s even more so when we hear him say, “I’m giving her all she’s got Captain!” Pegg gives us a Scotty that is a perfect comic foil, and it will be great fun to see where he will take Scotty in future installments.

As Nero, Eric Bana gives us the strongest and most lethal villain this series has had since Khan. Whereas the previous antagonists seemed more refined in how they acted among their prey, Nero’s fury is so personal and uncontainable, and the fact that he is named after the Roman Emperor whose rule was marked by tyranny, and that he ordered the execution of his mother and adopted brother, should give you an idea of how screwed up he is.

The rest of the cast includes Bruce Greenwood who is perfectly cast as Christopher Pike, and it reminded me a lot of his underrated portrayal of John F. Kennedy in “Thirteen Days.” John Cho of “Harold & Kumar” fame plays Sulu, and he has a great moment where he gets to put his fencing skills to the test. Zoe Saldana plays Uhura with a calm sexiness and an intelligence that is foolishly underestimated by others until she makes you see the big picture. Karl Urban gives us a pitch perfect Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy and captures the character’s infinite crankiness we all know him to have. Anton Yelchin plays Pavel Chekov, and while the character feels underused here, he is still well cast and has a flawless Russian accent. And of course, we have Winona Ryder playing Spock’s mother, and her performance is all the more impressive when you take into account that she is only two years older than Quinto.

What impressed me even more about this particular “Star Trek” is that it was given a budget of over $100 million. There is no doubt that the money is there on the screen, and the effects are remarkable. This is an especially good point to make as special effects have never really been the strong point of the “Star Trek” series, but here they are the best they have ever been. The Enterprise bridge looks so much different than it ever before, and it has a sleek style to it that makes being there all the more inviting.

I’ll be very interested to hear what die hard Trekkers think of this latest adventure of the Enterprise crew. This one does not dwell on big ideas the way “Star Trek” has done for the most part throughout its various incarnations. The main power of Roddenberry’s series was how it dealt with social issues of the day in the realm of science fiction. This one is meant to be more like “Star Wars,” and it allows Abrams to give this aging franchise an invigorated feeling that it desperately needed. While it may not be a “Trek” rooted in philosophy, I think this one leaves the door open for writers to explore present day themes in a future installment.

But I cannot go on without mentioning the welcome return of Leonard Nimoy as Spock (. This could have been a gimmicky cameo that lasted just a few seconds, but Nimoy’s Spock does play a very pivotal role in this movie. Furthermore, he also helps give it a sense of legitimacy that it would not have had without his appearance. Keep in mind, his character was the only one who survived the rejected first pilot of the original series.

Seeing this “Star Trek” brought a lot of happiness to me. My mood seems to get inadvertently sidetracked depending on the health of the franchise. I can honestly say that I am not all surprised at its longevity or constant rebirth. Roddenberry’s message of hope always finds a way to win out, and it is fitting that the movie is getting released around the beginning of the President Barrack Obama’s first term. Granted, this is really a coincidence since the movie was being developed before he made his decision to run for President, but it’s a wonderful coincidence all the same.

All those kids who gave me crap about liking this great series can suck it now, because “Star Trek” is here to stay. Even those who picked on me for being a Trekker, and ironically did much better in science classes than me, won’t be able to pass this one up. “Star Trek” can be seen as the first truly great odd-numbered movie in the long running series, and it is proof that this series will never die.

Live long and prosper? OH HELL YES!!!

*** * * * out of * * * ***

Mad Monster Celebrates The 25th Anniversary of ‘Star Trek VI’ in Hollywood

Posted on July 15, 2016 by The Ultimate Rabbit

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it has now been 25 years since “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” arrived in movie theaters. I still remember watching it with my parents at Blackhawk Cinemas like it was yesterday, thrilled that the original crew of the starship Enterprise managed to get one last adventure in space. For a time, it looked like that would not happen as “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” almost killed the franchise, but thanks to Leonard Nimoy taking on executive producing duties and Nicholas Meyer returning to the director’s chair, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the crew got a wonderful sendoff as they struggled to bring about a truce with their longtime enemies, the Klingons.

On July 13, 2016, Mad Monster hosted an anniversary screening of “Star Trek VI” at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood. It was the perfect place for this screening as “Star Trek VI” had made its debut at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre next door, and the cast got to write their names in the cement outside of it. Appearing for this screening were producer Steven-Charles Jaffe, composer Cliff Eidelman, and Nichelle Nichols whom we all know and love for playing Lieutenant Uhura.

Nichols was asked how she first got cast as Uhura on the original “Star Trek” television series, and she said that she didn’t remember as that this character has been with her for so long and that she likes “the gal” and described her as “nice company.” When it came to getting cast in this iconic role, she replied that she was “just lucky I guess.”

Jaffe pointed out that he previously produced “Ghost” and that Whoopi Goldberg told him if it weren’t for Nichols, she never would have become an actress. Goldberg had watched the original series and felt Nichols was such an inspiration to her and many generations of young actors as her role really represented racial diversity. Jaffe was also eager to add the following:

“The last week of shooting this movie, I was on the bridge of the Enterprise and we were setting up a shot and I was looking at the original cast, including Nichelle, and I had this very interesting flashback of being a little boy in Stanford, Connecticut in my pajamas watching ‘Star Trek’ on television with these same people, and here I am producing this movie and thinking what a lucky guy I am. I don’t know how this happened, but how special was that?”

To this Nichols added, “I was the lucky one.”

Eidelman’s score to “Star Trek VI” remains one of the most haunting of the franchise and helped propel the composer to new cinematic heights. But it turns out that Meyer wanted Eidelman to adapt Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite “The Planets” as opposed to creating an original score. Eidelman said he had studied that piece “a little” in college but lied to Meyer and said he studied it a lot. However, Eidelman had something else in mind.

“The truth is I didn’t want to adapt ‘The Planets,’” Eidelman said. “As a young composer I wanted to write an original score that would be original for this project, but I didn’t say that to Nick and I kind of played along. Not long after we started talking about it I started writing original themes, and at some point I think the people at Paramount started to inquire about the cost of licensing ‘The Planets’ from the Holst kids. I think the cost was apparently very expensive. But anyway, you (pointing to Jaffe) came by my apartment along with some people from Paramount and Nick, and I started to play these themes of mine on my old upright piano, and I was humming what the strings would do and what the brass would do. And at some point I think Ralph Winter or somebody turned and said, ‘Well why are we licensing ‘The Planets’ when we’ve got this theme?’ So that was the end of ‘The Planets’ and I was able to go off and write my own score.”

Nichols spoke at length about Gene Roddenberry, the man who created “Star Trek” and set the whole franchise in motion.

“I knew Gene before I went on the show, and he told me what he was planning and what it was going to be and that it would be on television,” Nichols said. “He wanted me to be a part of it, and I got nervous (laughs) because I loved working for him and he is very particular. But I think that was why I liked working for him because you didn’t have to guess what was going on and you didn’t have to guess what you were going to do. If you had something that you wanted to give beyond what you thought he was talking about, he was very open to listen to it and say yes or no just like that. Fortunately, he said yes more than he said no to me.”

In addition to producing “Star Trek VI,” Jaffe was also the movie’s second unit director. He said he has directed second unit on every movie he ever produced and that this started on Meyer’s first movie, “Time After Time.” The first thing Meyer had Jaffe shoot on “Star Trek VI” was the ice planet in Alaska, and in the process he said he experienced “premature global warming.”

“I went up to Alaska on this glacier three weeks before we started filming,” Jaffe said. “I storyboarded everything, I had every shot, every location I thought locked down, and three weeks later I came back with a full crew and several helicopters and everything was gone. They said, ‘Well, glaciers do move.’ And I said, ‘They don’t move that quickly.’”

“My job was to not stand out,” Jaffe continued. “It was weird because I had never shot second unit before the movie began, and I was very nervous because the studio would see my dailies before anybody’s. I figured somebody is probably doing this to get me fired off this movie really quick. Fortunately, Leonard (Nimoy) who was one of the producers and the studio liked what I did, and that was that.”

Jaffe also talked about how he and Meyer had finished making a movie in Germany before “Star Trek VI” (“Company Business”) when the Berlin Wall came down. Unfortunately, the studio they did it for was having a hard time and the movie got a horrible release. The two of them were hanging out at Meyer’s house in London when Nimoy called and told Meyer, “I got a new idea for ‘Star Trek;’ the wall falls down in outer space!” Jaffe said Meyer hung up on Nimoy and that they were both very drunk at the time, and Jaffe encouraged Meyer to call Nimoy back.

“Wait a minute, you don’t get this opportunity too many times,” Jaffe remembered telling Meyer. “It isn’t the same movie, but it’s the same theme as the film we just made. ‘Star Trek’ will get a release. We’re crazy not to do this.”

Before the Q&A ended and the movie began, Nichols had the last word of the evening as she talked about her most important addition to the character of Uhura before the cameras were rolling on the original “Star Trek” show.

“They hadn’t named her yet and I said, ‘What about Uhuru?’ And they looked at me funny and I said, ‘It means freedom.’ They said, ‘Well it’s kind of harsh.’ And I said, ‘Well, make it Uhura.’ And he (Roddenberry) says, ‘I like that.’ And I said, ‘I do too!’ And I became then and there for the rest of my life Uhura, and I’m glad to be here with you.”

Technically, the 25^th anniversary of “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” doesn’t occur until December 5, 2016, but it’s never too early to celebrate. This “Star Trek” movie succeeded in rejuvenating the movie franchise and helped give the original Enterprise crew the sendoff they richly deserved. After all these years it remains one of the best in the series as its themes of war, peace and change still resonate deeply in our everyday affairs. With “Star Trek Beyond” coming soon to theaters and a new “Star Trek” television series on the way, there is no doubt that this franchise will continue to live long and prosper from one generation to the next.