Get ready to beam up to a galaxy where autograph hounds abound, dentists drill in Federation garb and the debate over “Trekkies” vs. “Trekkers” rages on. Denise Crosby of Star Trek: The Next Generation hosts this often hilarious documentary about the Star Trek “fan-nomenon.” Featuring interviews with hundreds of devoted fans and such Star Trek cast members as Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Kate Mulgrew and Brent Spiner, the film creates an entertaining and endearing portrait of the landmark series that has touched the lives of people around the world.

For thoughts on Trekkies, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/1oRS_Cepfbk?t=1562]

Video Quality

Trekkies comes to Blu-Ray featuring material in varying degrees of quality in terms of clips and photos being used as opposed to the interview footage and where it was captured. It can be said with certainty that the film itself and everything within it looks as technically excellent as you would want in high definition. This can partly be attributed to the fact that Shout! Factory has provided the film with a great encode and plenty of room to breathe. The archival material used seems to be the best quality that was available when this was made, with most of it looking pretty strong. Interview segments look incredibly clear and detailed with natural skin tones and detailed facial features. The makeup on display on these fans is nicely textured with no smoothing happening. This transfer remains naturally filmic with healthy grain nicely resolved. There is no evidence of compression artifacts or other digital nuisances of the sort. Colors of costumes and the various environments pop in a pleasant way. I do not see how this film could have been improved visually. It has been presented with great care.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with both a DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 Master Audio track that perfectly suits the source material, but is understandably restrained. As this primarily acts as an interview piece with one-on-one conversations and talking heads abound, dialogue is the focus right up front in the center channel. Some of the interviews are in the midst of a busy convention, but the information is never lacking in clarity. Despite the age of the film, this presentation does not feature much in the way of age-related wear. The score that complements the film brings life to the speakers. The two-channel presentation is enveloping in its own way, and it maintains the artistic intention of the feature. The surround sound track mostly acts to add texture to the proceedings, but the material does not push the speakers anywhere near the limit. These tracks deftly do what they need to do to bring this experience into your living room.

Special Features

A Trek Back with Denise Crosby and Roger Nygard: A new 20-minute interview with Crosby and Nygard in which they discuss the origins of the project, the fly-by-night nature of their first weekend of shooting at a convention, the creative ways in which they dressed one room to look like multiple locations, the joy that came from speaking to fans and learning more about them, how they found their subjects, the release of the film, the reaction of the fans and more.

Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

Trekkies is a hugely entertaining documentary that gently explores the lives of Star Trek fanatics with both love and healthy curiosity. Through the dedication of the fans, you more clearly see the far-reaching impact of the franchise beyond just a piece of entertainment. The stories you hear and people you meet are often quite memorable in good and bad ways, but the film presents both without judgment, ultimately leaving the audience to decide what they want to take away from the experience. Shout! Factory has provided a Blu-Ray with a wonderful A/V presentation and a new worthwhile supplement. Even those who are not dedicated Star Trek fans will appreciate this as an anthropological examination. Recommended

Trekkies will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray on May 24, 2022.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Shout! Factory has supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.