Trekkies 2: How Much is Too Much?

In 1997 the movie "Trekkies" caused outrage among many fans that felt that the film put too much emphasis on `extreme' fans to the detriment of all Star Trek fans. "Trekkies 2" provides a broader and more balanced look at fandom and it's lots of fun to watch. Sure the film introduces us to even more people who had me shaking my head in wonder but it also provides a fascinating look at the multicultural diversity within Star Trek fandom as the filmmakers travel around the world.

"Trekkies" focused on fans in the United States but as you watch "Trekkies 2" you get to globetrot with the filmmakers as they film at conventions in Europe, South America and Australia. The United States isn't neglected though and one of the things that director Roger Nygard choose to do is to revisit some memorable characters from "Trekkies" and see not only what they currently up to, but how appearing in "Trekkies" affected their lives. The memorable Gabriel Koerner, who is now in his early twenties with a wife and a successful career as a special effects modeler, took a lot of grief for his appearance but you can't help but admire his confidence. (Koerner did the opening graphics for the film.) `The Commander', Barbara Adams is back as well.

One of the most amusing segments is the chapter on Star Trek themed bands whose music will be featured on the upcoming "Trekkies 2" soundtrack CD (due out Oct. 5th). Those bands are just as diverse as the fans themselves and play different styles of music but the one thing they all have in common is that they don't take themselves too seriously.

Among the actors who comment on fandom in "Trekkies 2" are Nana Visitor, Cirroc Lofton and Casey Biggs from Deep Space Nine. Ethan Phillips is the lone Voyager regular but the cast of Enterprise is well represented with Vaughn Armstrong, Dominic Keating, John Billingsley and Connor Trinneer.

This film has a much sleeker look than it's predecessor and the special features include almost an hour of deleted footage. Too bad some of this wasn't included instead of all the fan film stuff, my one grumble with this film was that it has too much about fan films. There is also an optional commentary track that features director Roger Nygard, Denise Crosby and producer Michael Leahy.

"Trekkies 2" is so fun and entertaining to watch because of the quirky and interesting personalities and individuals it allows us to meet. It's a shame that the more extreme is what some people will focus on and remember but that isn't what really stood out for me. What did stand out was the theme of acceptance and hope that those interviewed projected so well. One fans comments about Star Trek fans being like a big family sums it up perfectly, "Every family has the nutty Uncle you know. We just have a few more."

The first "Trekkies" film managed to dig up some rather odd characters to give the average person an idea of what makes up a fan of "Star Trek" and all of its offspring. It gave us a cross-dressing dude who explains and performs a little "filk" for everyone. We were introduced to the lady in Arkansas who was made famous by attending Whitewater scandal jury duty in her Starfleet uniform and, alas, who could forget Gabriel Koerner. He was perhaps the uber-geek out of the whole bunch. The film also showed how the fans are very involved in their communities and world.

More of the same is offered up in "Trekkies 2," though this one was a little more emotional than the first. Denise Crosby bounces across the globe in search of more Trek fans. Once again we visit some pretty strange folks, but we are also shown how something as simple as "Star Trek" can have so much meaning to a group of people when Crosby goes to Serbia. Those people were so touched and amazed at how the characters in "Star Trek" lived amongst each other in relative peace even though they were pretty much all from different races, religions, etc. It was heartwarming to listen to these people talk about how their newfound freedom took on a special meaning through "Star Trek." I also noticed that out of all of people in this film, the Serbians seemed to be the least to play "dress up" as their favorite characters, holding more to the ideals of "Trek" and not so much the whiz-bangs and Klingons of it all.

There's one fellow who converts his house into a replica of the Enterprise. We get a better and perhaps more disturbing look into the world of "Filk" music and some of the bands in that genre. We also get a few nice clips featuring stars of the later "Trek" series and how many of their fans reacted to meeting them, funny letters, tattoos, etc.

The most fun part of this flick was when we get to look back on some of the more popular characters from the original film. We catch up with the guy who dresses his dog up in "Trek" costumes. We see Whitewater juror Barbara Adams interact with a group of people who question her about her motives for dressing up in a Starfleet uniform for court, and one individual gets pretty rough with her. Finally, we get to catch up with Gabriel Koerner, and learn that he is married, has steady work as a digital model builder for such shows as the new "Battlestar Galactica" and seems to have stepped back from, just a little, his love for "Trek."

In the end, if you enjoyed the original "Trekkies," you'll like this second helping. It might go overboard with a few of the fans, especially with the "Filk" singers, but we are shown that most Trekkies, Trekkers, etc. are primarily good folks with very big hearts(and many have graduate degrees).

Some folks collect baseball cards, some collect CDs, these folks just love their "Trek." Is that so wrong?

After loving Trekkies I, we ordered Trekkies 2, an obviously PC response to fan backlash from the hilarious portrayal of Trek fans in Trekkies I. Trekkies 2 is a yawn...slow and boring with very few colorful fans other than updates on megafans featured in Trekkies I.