"These are the voyages of the starship Exeter..."
Ok, hold on just a second. We all know it's the Enterprise, right?
Well, no. Not if you're part of the crew of the Starship Exeter!
It took them seven years, but these folks create their own Star Trek fan movie, based on the original Series (TOS) timeline. The home base of the movie is the U.S.S. Exeter NCC-1706, commanded by Captain Garrovik. From their website:
"The U.S.S. Exeter, freshly recrewed and commanded by Captain John Garrovick, is on a mission to save a ship infected with the deadly Canopus Plague. The Exeter must travel to the homeworld of Andorian Lieutenant B'fuselek to find the cure. But Andorian rebels have other plans . . . and so do the Klingons!
STARSHIP EXETER "The Savage Empire" is an original self-produced pilot intended as a concept for a new television serial based on the look and feel of the 'Original Series.' With an eye for detail, the sets, props, costumes, and visual effects were all painstakingly reproduced by amatuers on a shoestring budget in exacting 1960's style."
I dropped by their site, and I was very impressed by the quality of their work. The miniatures were made by Thomas Sasser, who created the master for the new Polar Lights U.S.S Enterprise kit currently in toy stores and hobby shops. That kit has been hailed as the most accurate mass-produced kit ever made of the original Enterprise.
You can even watch Starship: Exeter online if you like! So if you're a fan of the original series, run -do not walk- here and check out their great work. Or if you just want to watch the movie, click here.
warning: you need broadband, or a lot of patience. the teaser/titles part is 25 megabytes long all by its lonesome.