Or as I refer to it...the William Shatner marathon of self indulgent memories, OK OK I jest. Directed, produced and written by the Shat himself, a one man army exploring the difficulties, struggles, stigmas and sacrifices that accompany the huge responsibility of playing the captain of the starship Enterprise. But as you can guess from the title Shatner travels around the globe (kinda) to seek out the other captains where ever they may be and natter about the past.So as all Trekkies will know the other captains interviewed in this documentary are Patrick Stewart, Scott Bakula, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew and Chris Pine. Obviously this being a Star Trek feature you can't ignore other cast members from the TV shows and movies so you also get to see and hear from people like Christopher Plummer, Johnathan Frakes, Robert Picardo, Rene Auberjonois etc...Its an across the board (across the ages) feature that delves deep...or does it?One by one Shatner meets up with his fellow acting colleagues to discuss all things Star Trek and portraying the various captains...but actually they don't! To my surprise much of the conversations to begin with tend to revolve around their past work, previous jobs and gigs, how they started in acting etc...One or two of them even chat about their other skills and interests such as singing and playing instruments (Bakula and Brooks). Now don't get me wrong this is all quite interesting for the most part (I never knew Bakula was a singer), but I kinda wanted to hear about all things Star Trek, not their personal lives or backgrounds before hand. The whole point to this documentary was for Shatner to express how he and his fellow colleagues coped with the daily pressures of playing the captain in a hit show. The long slog of making many episodes with long hours over many years and then the inevitable typecasting that would follow afterwards. We do get this but it takes a bit of time for the cast to get onto this subject. Like I said at first its mostly about what they did before Star Trek which I personally wasn't too bothered about. Eventually all the stars talk about their own personal demons and hindrances along the way with Stewart mentioning how hard it was to follow on from the original series and the character of Kirk, to Mulgrew talking about how tough it was trying to raise her kids whilst making the show. You do learn some interesting tit bits but nothing overly earth shattering or that you haven't heard before. Its cool to see all the cast members (although this was four years ago now). Bakula still has a youthful energetic persona and looks, Mulgrew is still the same but a little rounder in the face, Stewart never really seems to change, Pine is of course still young so no change there, but the most surprising thing was Brooks coming across as a tad eccentric in his old age...but pleasantly so. He seemed a bit lost in his own world, not really concentrating, distant and as though he was unaware of what was going on, but happy at least.The odd interviews with other stars briefly cover what they experienced on the TV show or movie, depending, again its not all Star Trek as they do touch on their past careers. There is also some convention footage with Shatner which is cool, we hear how Shatner never used to like the conventions and avoided them, but over time realised how important they were and how much attention he got (yep we all the Shat by now). Even though the feature is suppose to be about all the ex-captains it naturally tends to focus more on Shatner and his issues but I guess it is his production. I did get the impression Shatner was kinda fishing for compliments from the other cast members, almost looking for a shoulder to cry at some points. At the end he reveals how much he disliked the character of Kirk but has now come to accept him and enjoy the notion that he will forever be remembered as Kirk. Did Shatner really need to make an entire documentary supposedly about all the Star Trek captains just to show us this revelation? Well I'll let you decide that one.Honesty there isn't much that is discussed that will blow you away, its pleasant listening and viewing but overall it feels a little bit unnecessary at times. I really dunno why Shatner didn't just call the doc 'The Captain' whilst including the other cast members as its really all about him. That's not a bad thing as Shatner is a strangely likable guy despite his large ego. None the less its a must watch for any Trekkies and a solid watch for any sci-fi fanboys like myself. It will make you smile and maybe...just possibly bring a lump to your throat on the odd occasion.7/10

Since the 1960's Star Trek has became one of the most beloved film and television franchises of all times. Each generation has it's own spin off series, with each series having a captain to command the ship to areas where no man has ever gone before. The original series captain, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) goes off to find these actors that play the captains in this darting documentary. The documentary introducts these character actors from their beginnings, how they got to become captain, and how their series has impact the world and it's fans. The first of these captain after the original series, was Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) who captain, the 'Next Generation' Series. The documentary shows how much a serious actor he was, and how he change for the better out of it, with great cost of his personal life. The next captain, William Shatner meets is Avery Brooks who played Benjamin Sisko on 'Deep Space Nine'. Avery, the actor seems a very deep and free thinker, who's mind is out there. Drama came ahead to ahead, with personal philosophy and morals between William Shatner and Kate Mulgrew of 'Star Trek Voyager' captain Katryn Janeaway fame. She nearly bump heads with Shatner over morality, and gender roles issues. It was a bit easier for Shatner to hang out with Scott Bakula, the captain of 'Enterprise' Jonathan Archer. There were a few laughs, and was less taken serious questions. The same goes with his short interview with Chris Pike who plays Captain Kirk in the modern day film 'Star Trek". The interview with both Bakula and Pike were a bit too short. Christoper Plummer guest stars in the documentary talking his part as Chang in the film 'Star Trek VI' was surprising. While his part was interesting, the time he spent on screen would better be serve to explaining more about Bakula and Pike, since the titled is called 'The Captains'. There are a bit weird interjects in the documentary where fans interrupt the filming. It doesn't serve anything to the story, it's better used as a DVD extra then leaving it in the film. There is a bit of a feeling of James Lipton's In the Actor Studio in the interview style. It can be direly, when some of the questions verve off that doesn't have anything to related to 'Star Trek' or their own careers. Last, William Shatner come into the reality about his past as Captain Kirk and overall opinion on himself and 'Star Trek' all together. It's a movie for the die hard Star Trek fans, it's not that interesting for the common fan due to seriousness of the philosophic questions the actors are forced to answer. In the end-- Scotty, have to beam me up to watch it again. It's just felt a one time viewing.

Created with a genuine sense of sincerity this documentary could easily appeal to non die-hard fans of the Star Trek series. I find its human perspective enchanting and very much surpassing every other attempt at portraying the actors standing behind the captains. William Shatner is adding great value to the beloved characters by exploring in a very warm and friendly way their bond with the real persons on the stage. The movie goes beyond the narrative point and gives a sense of completion to the audience - wanting no less and no more - I call this the point of being content. After all, Star Trek aims at exposing our good side as human beings not only by showing our dreams but also our regrets. Mr. Shatner does not run away from this in making The Captains and it deserves my 10/10.

This is not the documentary you are expecting to see. Yes, there is convention footage. Yes there are some "behind the scenes" anecdotes. Yes there are some clips from the episodes and movies.No, this is not a retrospective of the cultural wallpaper of Star Trek.This is an introspective journey into the actors' lives. Into their experiences. Into their observations. Into their souls.And here's the biggest surprise. William Shatner set out to do one thing and did another. (At least that's how it looks in the film.) It looked like Shatner wanted to dig into the other Captains and make each of them admit something or reveal something or discover something. And it was a journey of self discovery *for William Shatner.From the interviews, you will see how strength can be found from within for life. Not just being an actor, and definitely not just being an actor on Star Trek.I can't say any more without getting dry or revealing spoilers. All I can say is this is a documentary for everyone. I don't care if you're a fan of Star Trek or not. I don't care if you're a fan of William Shatner or not. I don't care if you're an actor or not. Are you a human being? Then see this film. You will be better for it.