Series Finale. Running Time: 1 hours 32 minutes 33 seconds For the past three and a half years, Mike, John and Max have examined the work of Star Trek creators outside of Star Trek. From the series creator Gene Roddenberry to the director of Star Trek Beyond, Justin Lin, we have covered television shows, films, novels, and more from writers, directors and actors who have worked throughout the franchise. But all good things... In the final episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike...

Lin, Part 8: Recap. Running Time: 1 hour 3 minutes 21 seconds Throughout the course of Commentary: Trek Stars, we have covered thirty eight different people who have helped to create Star Trek. We began with the very first Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry, and we end with the current leader of the franchise, Justin Lin. In our penultimate episode, Mike and John recap their series on Lin's career as a film director. We look at all seven of his movies, including Better Luck...

Lin, Part 7: Furious 6. Running Time: 1 hour 21 minutes 34 seconds In 2013, Justin Lin directed his fourth and final installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, Furious 6. The film continues the franchise's trend of creating movies that are bigger and better than what has come before. This time around, the crew needs to stop an international criminal who is  trying to steal a technology which could allow him to take over the world. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John...

Lin, Part 6: Fast Five. Running Time: 59 minutes 33 seconds After reinvigorating the franchise with Fast & Furious, Star Trek Beyond director Justin Lin returned to helm the fifth film in the series, Fast Five. This installment acted as a reunion of sorts, as series regulars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker were joined by stars of the previous films, including Tyrese Gibson, Gal Gadot and Sung Kang for an Ocean's Eleven-style heist movie. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike...

Lin, Part 5: Fast & Furious.   Running Time: 1 hour 9 minutes 17 seconds   In 2009, Justin Lin returned to what would become his marquee franchise with Fast & Furious. The fourth film in the series was a return to basics, featuring a reunion of the original cast, including both Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, in an effort to revitalize the franchise.   In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike are joined by Zach Moore of Always Hold On To Smallville to look at Lin's...

Lin, Part 4: Finishing the Game.   Running Time: 48 minutes 22 seconds   After two consecutive Hollywood blockbuster, Justin Lin returned to the world of independent filmmaking with Finishing the Game. The film is unlike any other in Lin's filmography, a "mockumentary" about finding an actor to replace Bruce Lee in his final movie, The Game of Death.   In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John take a look at Lin's fourth film. We discuss how it differs from the rest...

Lin, Part 3: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.   Running Time: 1 hour 24 seconds   Less than five months after the release of Annapolis, Justin Lin was handed the keys to the Fast and the Furious franchise. His first of four consecutive sequels was The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The film offers and interesting take on the franchise, expanding the mythology by focusing on entirely new characters instead of continuing the story established in the first two. Written by Chris...

Lin, Part 2: Annapolis.   Running Time: 1 hour 27 seconds   After the success of Better Luck Tomorrow, Justin Lin was given the opportunity to work on big studio productions with substantially larger budgets. The first of these was Annapolis in 2006. The film, starring James Franco, Tyrese Gibson and Jordan Brewster, looks at a cadet's first year at the U.S. Naval Academy.   In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John take a look at Lin's second film. We discuss how it...

Lin, Part 1: Better Luck Tomorrow.   Running Time: 1 hour 29 minutes 57 seconds   Over the course of its history, many artists have left their mark on the Star Trek franchise. Back in 1966, Gene Roddenberry was the first. 50 years later, Star Trek is in the hands of The Fast and the Furious director, Justin Lin.   In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike begin their final series, looking at Justin Lin’s career as a feature film director. In Part 1, we are joined by...

Abrams II, Part 7: Recap.   Running Time: 51 minutes 50 seconds   J.J. Abrams may not be returning as the director of Star Trek Beyond, but that should not suggest that his presence will not be felt as a producer. What do his past producing efforts suggest about his contribution to the upcoming movie?   In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John recap their series looking at all of the films which Abrams has produced for other filmmakers. We discuss his work...

Abrams II, Part 7: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.   Running Time: 1 hour 19 minutes 54 seconds   After the unexpected success of Brad Bird's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Bad Robot and J.J. Abrams were asked to return to produce a third installment of the Tom Cruise franchise. This time, Oscar-winning filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie was hired to write and direct Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.   In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike are joined by...

Abrams II, Part 6: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.   Running Time: 1 hour 10 minutes 10 seconds   Happy with the results of Mission: Impossible III, Tom Cruise and Paramount chose to continue their collaboration with J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot for the fourth film in the franchise, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. While Abrams would not direct the film himself, he would oversee it as producer. This production should be especially to fans of Star Trek, as it closely mirrors the...

Abrams II, Part 5: Morning Glory.   Running Time: 47 minutes 35 seconds   After a successful reboot of the Star Trek franchise in 2009, J.J. Abrams put his producer hat back on the following year for Roger Michell's Morning Glory. The film stars Rachel McAdams as the producer of a daily morning news/talk show. In an effort to boost ratings, she hires a legendary reporter played by Harrison Ford to anchor the show, against his better judgment.   In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars,...

Abrams II, Part 4: Cloverfield.   Running Time: 1 hour 9 minutes 6 seconds   After successfully launching his directing career with Mission: Impossible III, J.J. Abrams' name had become a brand. The first movie to be heavily marketed as a "J.J. Abrams Production" was Matt Reeves' Cloverfield.   Cloverfield, is a giant monster film in the vein of Godzilla, but with a twist: The entire film is seem through the camcorder of our unexacting protagonists.   In this episode of Commentary:...

Abrams II, Part 3.   Running Time: 52 minutes 46 seconds   In 2001, the first Bad Robot production was released. Joy Ride tells the story of two brothers on a cross-country road trip who prank the wrong truck driver, with deadly results. The film stars Paul Walker, Steve Zahn and Leelee Sobieski. It was directed by John Dahl and co-written and co-produced by JJ Abrams himself.   I this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike look at Abrams' third production. We discuss the...

Abrams II, Part 2: The Suburbans.   Running Time: 54 minutes 21 seconds   In 1999, J.J. Abrams produced his second feature film, The Suburbans. The movie, directed by Donal Lardner Ward, looks at a one-hit wonder from the 80s which is attempting to stage a comeback in the 90s. The cast features Ward, Abrams favorite Tony Guma (who co-wrote the script with Ward), up-and-coming star Will Ferrell, and 90s icon Jennifer Love Hewitt.   In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John...

Abrams II, Part 1: The Pallbearer.   Running Time: 48 minutes 14 seconds   As the trailer proudly states, Star Trek Beyond is produced by J.J. Abrams. We all know that Abrams directed the last two Star Trek films, and we all know that he is not directing this one. So what does it mean when we see that Abrams is producing the new movie?    We try to answer that question in this new series on Commentary: Trek Stars, where we will be looking at each of the films which Abrams produced for...

Doug Jung: Confidence.   Running Time: 46 minutes 9 seconds   Much has been made of Simon Pegg's contribution to the screenplay for Star Trek Beyond. So much so, that people tend to forget that Pegg has a partner on the project, co-writer Doug Jung.   In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John take a look at Jung's first movie, Confidence. We discuss the film's intricate structure, its similarity to other films from the time period, and what it tells us about Jung's...

Abrams, Part 5: Star Wars: Episode VII--The Force Awakens   Running Time: 1 hour 27 minutes 5 seconds   Many have criticized J.J. Abrams for turning Star Trek into Star Wars with his 2009 film.  But what happens when Abrams make a Star Wars movie for real?   In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike add a postscript to their series on J.J. Abrams with a look at his latest directorial effort, Star Wars: Episode VII--The Force Awakens. We discuss the movie on the whole,...

Pegg, Part 7: Recap.   Running Time: 1 hour 4 minutes 52 seconds   Over the course of the last decade, Simon Pegg has come to prove himself not only as a fine, but also as one of the best writers in the movie business.    This week on Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John take a look at each of the five films which Pegg has co-written, including Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Run Fatboy Run, Paul, and The World's End. We also discuss Bad Robot's restoration...

Pegg, Part 6: The World's End Running Time: 43 minutes 4 seconds Six years after the release of Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg finally reteamed with Edgar Wright on the screenplay for the final film in the Cornetto Trilogy, The World's End. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike take a look at the film, which is last script to be penned by Pegg prior to the release of Star Trek Beyond. We discuss how Pegg has grown as both a writer and an actor, how this film fits in with the other...

Pegg, Part 5: Paul. Running Time: 47 minutes 13 seconds In 2011, Simon Pegg teamed with his on-screen partner, Nick Frost, to write his fourth screenplay, Paul. The film, directed by Greg Mottola, stars Pegg and Frost as two British sci-fi geeks who take a road trip across America to visit UFO hotspots. Along the way, they meet Paul, an alien played by Seth Rogen, who is on the run from government agents. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John take a look Paul. We discuss...

Pegg, Part 4: Run Fatboy Run. Running Time: 56 minutes 33 seconds After the success of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg became a sought-after commodity for both his acting and writing. David Schwimmer's Run Fatboy Run featured both of those talents. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike take a look at Pegg's third screenplay, which was co-written with Michael Ian Black. We discuss how accurately the film portrays a marathon, the changes that Pegg made to...

Pegg, Part 3: Hot Fuzz.   Running Time: 39 minutes 56 seconds   In 2007, Simon Pegg re-teamed with Edgar Wright to create the second film in the Cornetto Trilogy, Hot Fuzz. Much like its predecessor, Shaun of the Dead, is to Zombie movies, Hot Fuzz is an homage to Cop movies, in all their forms.    In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John look at Pegg's second screenplay, which he co-wrote with Wright. We discuss how the film compares to Shaun of the Dead, how it...