"THE CAPTAINS" COURAGEOUS...

It's the ultimate battle of the Kirk's-William Shatner and Chris Pine- in the revealing STAR TREK documentary, THE CAPTAINS. Picture: EPIX.

With the current economic situation affecting the world (and important real life space exploration no longer a reality), Hollywood and the film industry in general, and despite such massive box office potential, PARAMOUNT PICTURES could now never afford to do one mega STAR TREK motion picture featuring all the main Captains together from the five (so far) TV series alongside the new crew of the Starship Enterprise from J.J. Abrams recent movie re-imagining. And they probably couldn't even afford to have Patrick Stewart and William Shatner back together, either, like they once did in movie seven: STAR TREK: GENERATIONS, from waaay back in 1994, so instead let's all make the most of and enjoy this ambitious, hopefully no-holds barred behind the scenes special indie documentary, of which rising star of the US chat show host circuit, and a certain Mister James T. Kirk himself, William Shatner, pulls the veritable strings he has regarding all things TREK to make a special feature length tribute film-THE CAPTAINS- where he gets to talk in-depth to all the main actors- an accomplished group all- to have sat in the centre stage leather command chair of the beloved Enterprise's, Defiant, Deep Space Nine and Voyager and have a good old fashioned chin-wag about being in the eye of the hurricane of, and acting within, such a global phenomenon, which, despite some veritable ups and veritable downs over the years, remains a thriving entertainment franchise brand to fans of all ages and all around the world, as well as talking about all the things that come with such an iconic association, for good and for bad.

Boldly going....William Shatner as Captain Kirk in the original classic STAR TREK. All TREK series images: CBS PARAMOUNT.

Intergalactic Frenchman Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

Emissary in a harder edged TREK universe: Avery Brooks as Captain Benjamin Sisko in STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE.

Feminine force. A charming smile from Mother-hen Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), protector of her lost in space crew in STAR TREK: VOYAGER.

Back to basics for the STAR TREK universe with the intergalactic pioneer Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) in ENTERPRISE.

Chris Pine brings a youthful edge and vitality to Captain James T. Kirk in the new, re-imagined STAR TREK movie series.

Trailer: William Shatner's "The Captains"‬‏ - YouTube
If you're in the US, which always has been the biggest core fan base for the series anyway, viewers will be able to see THE CAPTAINS on the EPIX channel this weekend (Friday 22nd), as well as it being shown at the all-consuming COMIC-CON convention, happening in San Diego at the same time. Outside of the US, I suppose we'll all have to wait that little bit longer to officially see it, though hopefully SKY-the UK's main home for all things TREK- will make sure that "the needs of the many" don't outweigh "the needs of the few" for too long, and get it for HD treatment in the not too distant future.

Two generations of Kirk, and both terrific: Chris Pine and William Shatner. Image: EPIX

Patrick Stewart politely asks William Shatner for his five pound note back! Image: EPIX

All five STAR TREK series (so far) and the Eleven movies (so far) are available on DVD from CBS PARAMOUNT.