Creators of the Gene Roddenberry Archive released a short Star Trek movie that sees William Shatner return as Captain Kirk, 30 years after his last scene in the Generations movie.
Shatner and the wife of late co-star Leonard Nimoy were executive producers of 765874 – Unification. It makes multiple references across Trek history from The Cage – the first pilot from 1965 – to the final episode of Picard, released in 2023.
Cutting-edge technology was used to unveil a story in which Kirk is reunited with his old friend Spock, with the only speech taken from Kirk’s reflective lines from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: “‘There are always possibilities,’ Spock said. And if Genesis is indeed life from death, I must return to this place again.”
The short, which also stars Robin Curtis as Saavik from Star Trek III, can be seen below.
The production was largely welcomed by Trek fans, with many comments under the clip hailing its emotional effect, despite some reporting an “uncanny valley” effect from watching digital versions of Kirk and Spock.
READ MORE: William Shatner Says No New Star Trek Series Match Original
765874 – Unification continues a story from previous releases by the Roddenberry Archive and production house OTOY, Inc. It’s mainly based around the events of 1994’s Star Trek: Generations, in which Kirk died trying to prevent a massacre along with Captain Picard, the captain of another USS Enterprise 80 years in his future.
OTOY, Inc. said in a statement: “Iconic characters from classic Star Trek history were brought to life through the live-action performances of a talented cast, led by veteran TV and film star Sam Witwer as young James T. Kirk, with Lawrence Selleck as Spock.
“Witwer and Selleck were filmed in costume, performing as Kirk and Spock on set, aided by both physical and digital prosthetics resulting in period-accurate portrayals matching the appearance of the characters as they originally appeared in TV and film at the time.”
William Shatner Would Love to Return as Kirk
In an interview released alongside the short, Shatner discussed various topics concerning Star Trek and how it affected his worldview.
“You know, I would love to be part of a film that brought the character [of Kirk] back to do something,” he said. “But I’m 65 years older … how do you account for that?”
He added: “Science fiction is filled with magic. You could do it. Because we live in science fiction; [it] offers an imaginative look at what could happen. I think it’s beautiful.”
You can watch the new Shatner interview below.
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