
This weekend is the big annual Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. It’s run by Creation and presently branded “The 57-Year Mission” to get around the fact that Creation no longer has the Star Trek license.
I went in 2012 to help promote the then-upcoming La-La Land box set of the Original Series soundtracks.
I sort of wish I was there because it’s a chance to catch up with old friends...but I have to say, a little of it goes a long way. And I’m not a fan of Las Vegas.
Some 20 years ago I was in Vegas and went to Star Trek: The Experience, a motion simulator ride and attraction at what was then called the Hilton.
My favorite part was when we step onto a replica of the Next Generation bridge in the lead-up to the motion simulator.
The bridge was very detailed and because it was fully enclosed and lit, it was probably more “realistic” than the actual set for filming (which would be opened up and full of camera and sound equipment at any given time).
One of the companies that worked on the attraction, De Vos Entertainment, has posted a bunch of archival behind-the-scenes videos, like this lengthy, fly-on-the-wall reel behind the live-action video shoot with Jonathan Frakes and LeVar Burton:
It’s fun to watch all the subtleties that go into something so seemingly straightforward—building it, take after take, until it feels natural, even though it’s completely artificial.
I gotta say...Basil Exposition had nothing on all that clunky dialogue.
You can also see the full motion simulator ride:
I dimly remember the ride, as well as the large Star Trek ship models hanging from the ceiling of “Quark’s,” as in the top photograph of this post.
It’s all part of history now.
All I want to experience is Shatner's Toupee, in all its magnificence. Everything else is non-essential and a damnable waste of time.