YouHeart I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Prelude to Axanar" is a 20-minute science fiction short film from summer last year written and directed by Christian Gossett, whose most known achievement before that was working on the special effects of the Oscar winning "King Kong" 10 years ago. Anyway, as the title of this little movie already tells us, there will probably be a full feature film later this year and this one here is a prequel for that. It switches from interviews with important characters to video recordings of important locations somewhere in space. I may be a bit biased here as I am far from a great science fiction film fan, but I found nothing new in here. It's the usual formula for the genre, but there was no real creativity in my opinion. It also didn't help that none of the actors are particularly known or convincing. Make-up and special effects were fine, but that alone won't cut the cake and I'm really baffled about this movie's IMDb rating. I cannot say I am curious at all about the film that follows this prequel. Not recommended.

sean-mahan13 Until George Takei's Facebook post supporting Prelude, I was unaware of fan-funded Trek films. Truth in advertising, I contributed to both the Kickstarter campaign for Prelude and for the full Axanar movie which will be filmed in 2015. However, if I thought I hadn't gotten my money's worth, I'd say so. That is NOT the case here.This is a great concept that presents a prequel to The Original Series. And despite the shoestring budget for Prelude, the production quality is astounding! It's also cleverly presented as a History Channel-like documentary that reviews the events of the Four Years' War between the Federation and the Klingons.Production quality aside, this is a brilliant collection of on-screen talent with veterans of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, and even the original Battlestar Gallactica. I'm sure I'm missing other projects but you get the idea. This is NOT a bunch of rookies.What makes me an expert at all this? Years of fandom as a viewer, with the elevated expectations that come with that. Bottom line is that this leaves me hungry for the full movie, just as it was intended to do!

jimmorrissey10 Prelude to Axanar- Shows what can be done when you get professionals in front and behind the camera donating their time and skill to something they care about.The clever documentary style is one example of how thought went into this. Old fans respond to the care shown to past episodes-yet its documentary style can make some one new to Star trek join in.Star Trek with its history of 5 TV series and 11+ Feature Films has had ups and downs. Recently with the 2 new films -Star Trek has reached larger audiences But in my opinion these films were more a blockbuster money making effort.That's fine for some, for myself I would prefer more care with story and exploring the trek universe. With Prelude to Axanar, that's what you get -you can tell those making it are fans of Star Trek that's very important. The fans new and old respond to that. Its the fact they are invested in making a professional production (for no profit)that is exploring the rich history of Star Trek that resonates.The other great thing is its all history to explain the origins of one character in the Original Series. Just think how many other great stories are waiting to be revealed.And this is just a prelude! The Full feature awaits and look at the kick starter to see how people are eager for that.

Dan Balkwill Although this short film is a "fan film", the fans involved in creating this film are all professionals in the film business. The entire production is incredibly well done. Incredible writing that leaves you on the edge of your seat. Incredible acting that has me quoting some lines enough that I feel I need to pay the writer royalties! Add in incredible effects that (they tell us) were done on a very limited budget but look as good as any 'professional' or 'studio' production. The story is taken from the Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Destroy" that introduced a legendary StarFleet Captain Garth of Izar, whose tactics and actions in the Battle Of Axanar were required reading for Captain Kirk when he was in StarFleet Academy, and was Captain Kirk's inspiration. This 21 minute short was produced as a 'proof of concept' to show that this crew could produce a full length film concerning the Four Years' War's conclusive Battle Of Axanar. I, for one, can not wait for that film. Spoiler: the Klingons do not defeat the Federation in the Four Years' War, due to Captain Garth's tactical genius at the Battle of Axanar. The actual Battle of Axanar is not seen in this short.