Star Trek: Action!

by Terry J. Erdmann, Paula M. Block

23,719. That's how many minutes have been committed to film during the thirty year-- and counting-- history of Star Trek. Since its inception as a groundbreaking show, through its current incarnations on television and as a series of motion pictures, more than 395 hours of Star Trek have been filmed. If you watch it all consecutively, you'd be glued to your television set around the clock for more than 16 days.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to create just one sequence of scenes that can last as little as a minute or two? Minutes may not seem like a lot out of thirty years' worth of science fiction magic, but for the thousands of men and women both in front of and behind the cameras, each and every one of those minutes has been a labor of love, blood, sweat, and tears, all created without a net.

With the author as our guide, we will follow the creation of three separate sequences-- one each from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and the upcoming motion picture Star Trek: Insurrection. From the first meetings of the writers to the preproduction meetings, from the concept sketches to the realized set, from the early morning makeup session to the bleary-eyed midnight shooting the author has been there. Peering over the shoulders of the writers, the filmmakers, the graphic artists, and the visual-effects wizards, the author reports each Herculean task as it is accomplished. "Action!" takes you there for each moment.

After reading "Action!", an utterly unique work, you will never watch Star Trek quite the same way again. (Oh, and in case you haven't timed this, it took you about two minutes to read this flap copy.)

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1998

Reviews

[Ian Massey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

First off, this book has a horrible dust-jacket, made out of some sort of acetate (I think). I'm not sure of the the point of it - it's semi-transparent allowing you to vaguely see the lovely cover photo underneath, but it's noisy and ultimately unappealing.

The contents, though, are pretty good. A breakdown of the amount of work that goes into a single scene of an episode of DS9, Voyager and Insurrection, the latter in not quite so much detail as the film hadn't been released when the bok was published and spoilers were deliberately avoided.

Incredibly detailed, sometimes over technical, the text and accompanying diagrams and photos show how it can take months and dozens of people to make just a few seconds of video. Not necessarily a book you can dip in and out of, but one that is fascinating all the same.

[Kristina Moses · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an awesome look into all the work that goes on behind the scenes in a few scenes in Voyager, Deep Space 9, and the movie Star Trek: insurrection. My only complaint was that the movie part focused so much on just the set of the shuttle and not the people. There also was no dialogue mentioned, unlike the chapters from the show which even included pictures of the scripts. I assume this is because the book was written before Insurrection was finished and the author needed to avoid spoilers.

[Ja · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I thought this would be a cool behind the scenes look at what goes into making Star Trek, with interviews and tidbits and all that. Instead, what this book has to offer are in depths looks at the creation of particular scenes from an episode of Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and Start Trek: Insurrection respectively. I'll admit that it did get a bit technical at times, but there were lots of interesting points throughout the text that still made this engaging and enjoyable for me to read.

I'd recommend for any die-hard Star Trek fan…just make sure you've already seen these episodes/movie before reading it.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a bit of overly-enthusiastic series cheer-leading at times, but as a detailed examination behind the creation of two episodes of DS9 & Voyager, and the filming of key scenes in the TNG film "Insurrection", it makes for some interesting reading. A good snap shot of production...but if you're into the behind-the-scenes drama as much as I am, this will only whet your appetite for more coverage.

[Bryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed examination into how much work goes into a single scene.