Posted in: Star Trek, TV | Tagged: leonard nimoy, star trek, william shatner

Star Trek Short with William Shatner Reunites Kirk & Spock Digitally

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy's widow, Susan Bay Nimoy, and more took part in the Roddenberry Archive and OTOY's new Star Trek short.

As some are rightfully concerned about what the future holds for special effects in the digital age, especially with the slow integration of artificial intelligence, it's become quite a tricky process as we continue to learn its possibilities and potential. Some go practical, some may go strictly digital, and others blend the two. In the case of OTOY and its partnership with the Roddenberry Archive, there's a glimmer of hope for what could have been with at least William Shatner's James T. Kirk and the late Leonard Nimoy's Spock in the short 764874 – Unification, released to commemorate the Star Trek: Generations 30th anniversary. As Paramount provided the ensemble cast of Star Trek: The Original Series, a sendoff in 1991's The Undiscovered Country, fans would see one more adventure of Shatner's Kirk in The Next Generation crossover film Generations in 1994 that saw the character die saving the galaxy one last time alongside TNG's Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Nimoy would take a different path, finishing his journey by passing the torch in the J. J. Abrams 2009 soft reboot of Star Trek featuring a new cast for the Kelvin universe timeline. Nimoy would cameo in the 2012 sequel Into Darkness before passing in 2015, and 2016's Beyond dedicated in his memory.

OTOY, Roddenberry Archive, William Shatner & more give TOS Kirk & Spock a Proper Sendoff for Star Trek Fans, Paramount Never Gave Them

The 10-minute short used a mix of practical and digital effects to make the actors look much younger than their current ages. The audio is predominantly free of dialogue to emphasize the work of franchise composer Michael Giacchino. It begins with a quote from Shatner's Kirk in the 1982 classic Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, "How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life." The opening shot features Gary Mitchell with Gary Lockwood reprising his TOS role in God mode before closing his eyes as we see a vision of Veridian III, the site of Kirk's death, and a robed figure, Spock with his back turned and veering from atop of a mountain.

It cuts away to various shots of Yeoman J.M. Colt, originally played by the late Laurel Goodwin in TOS, now played by Mahé Thaissa. We see that she's very much alive, retaining her youth with the LCARS interface showing the biometric information for Kirk, which was originally introduced in Picard as the crew of the Enterprise-D made their way through Daystrom Station.

We cut away to what appears to be a serene location filled with forests and lush landscapes, the opposite of the mostly desolate conditions of Veridian III; we see boots of Kirk Generations-era Kirk walking across the garden with OTOY doing a superb job recreating Shatner's younger look as he surveys the local foliage. He stumbles upon a variety of familiar faces, including one of Saavik with Robin Curtis, reprising her role from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). The group turns their attention to the mysterious Yor, played by Gordon Parpley, clad in his yellow season one TNG-era uniform, reprising his role from Discovery, who crossed from the Kelvin to the Prime universe.

The environment then shifts for Kirk into a dark space as he peers into his much younger TOS-era self (Sam Witwer), donning his classic yellow uniform. He's also flanked by his older counterpart donning his red uniform cinematic era of Star Trek II-VI. Holding on to the Starfleet insignia that Yor gave him, the older Kirk pins it to his own chest before heading into a light with Shatner's voiceover from the Nimoy film. As he reaches the other end, he sees Spock (Lawrence Selleck) on his deathbed in New Vulcan. The two share a long look, with Kirk cupping at his best friend's left land and Spock meeting the gesture with his right. In his final moments, Spock stares into the sunset as Kirk also looks in the same direction sitting at his side. It would be difficult for ANY longtime fan not to shed a tear considering everything that's happened, the two characters and the actors' lifelong friendship, even more poignantly than their final moment together in the Nicholas Meyers' film.

Before Nimoy's passing in 2015, there was talk about a possible reunion in the 2009 film, but it never materialized since Shatner didn't want his appearance to be a glorified cameo. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman's proposed scene was Kirk wishing his former science officer and lifelong friend a happy birthday (via TrekMovie). Shatner and Nimoy would share the screen a few times for a variety of commercials, including Priceline. Nimoy would also participate in Shatner's 2006 Comedy Central Roast alongside TOS co-stars Nichelle Nichols and George Takei. Sadly, Shatner's rocky relationship with his former castmates was a thing of legend, given his infamous feud with Takei, Walter Koenig, and, at times, Nichols. The one that Shatner regrets the most is falling out with Nimoy before his passing. Adding insult to injury, the Canadian actor claimed commitments prevented him from attending Nimoy's funeral.

It's the type of ending that you wish could be re-edited into the Justin Lin film with Nimoy's Spock given an off-screen death to reflect the actor's passing. Only Zachary Quinto's Kelvin Spock felt the gut-wrenching loss, but it felt a bit cheap at the time because Nimoy represented the soul of the franchise to generations of fans. At the very least, his franchise family should been able to say goodbye in some form, whether it's Shatner, Keonig, Takei, or Nichols, if Spock Prime's passing had to be mentioned.

Shatner and Susan Bay Nimoy, Leonard's widow, served as executive producers. Before 764874 – Unification, OTOY has been releasing a series of related shorts with Thaissa and Selleck which teases how the story picks up from the Rick Berman film. The short was also dedicated to Leonard Nimoy's memory. For more, including a behind-the-scenes look at production, you can check out the report on TrekMovie. Viewers can optimize the experience on the Apple Vision Pro. Here are some notes from Picard production designer Dave Blass, who also worked on the project.

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