A treat for anyone of us who grew up with the show and surely for those who are just discovering it. Revisit the cast in this emotional ride down memory lane, including nuances which were possibly missed. An emotional sit down with our favorite characters, paced by a bonus writer's gathering, who actually put together an impressive episode 1 of an imaginary season 8. They sure don't make them like they used to.
User Reviews
Review this title70 Reviews
Ignored DS9 the first time. Watched the entire series three times in nine years. This documentary is the perfect bookend.
BillyBeefcake7 July 2020
Like a lot of Star Trek fans I grew up watching TNG as a kid. It was one of the few shows my entire family watched every Sunday as a family. Finally, in 1993 DS9 came on and it aired right after TNG every Sunday so we watched it.
By the time season 3 rolled around I was in my mid-teens and was more interested in spending time with friends and playing sports in high school, so I did not watch Deep Space Nine again....until it hit Netflix in 2011 for the first time.
The first show of the Star Trek's that went live on Netflix was Deep Space Nine. Wow...just wow. It was obvious to me my young teen self under appreciated those first two seasons and then the rest of the series. It was amazing.
Then in 2016 I watched the entire series again. One episode everyday when I hit the treadmill. The 44 minute episodes were perfect amount of time for my daily workout with my IPAD.
I finally watched the series for the third time because of the Cornavirus pandemic, and powered through the entire series in about three months.
I just finished the series yesterday and watched the Documentary today for the first time. What a bookend.
Ira did an amazing job on this documentary. It did not feel overwhelming but sweet and sincere and enough to make me feel great again about the franchise. Not a huge fan of Ira's politics, but I am the type that still respects other people's beliefs.
Overall, Deep Space Nine is one of the greatest TV shows of all-time and thee best Star Trek series.
This documentary series is a must watch for any fan. Highly recommend. 9/10.
P.S.
My wife and I asked each other of all the Star Trek crews which one would you want to belong to and hang out with. Both of us simultaneously said, "DEEP SPACE NINE".
By the time season 3 rolled around I was in my mid-teens and was more interested in spending time with friends and playing sports in high school, so I did not watch Deep Space Nine again....until it hit Netflix in 2011 for the first time.
The first show of the Star Trek's that went live on Netflix was Deep Space Nine. Wow...just wow. It was obvious to me my young teen self under appreciated those first two seasons and then the rest of the series. It was amazing.
Then in 2016 I watched the entire series again. One episode everyday when I hit the treadmill. The 44 minute episodes were perfect amount of time for my daily workout with my IPAD.
I finally watched the series for the third time because of the Cornavirus pandemic, and powered through the entire series in about three months.
I just finished the series yesterday and watched the Documentary today for the first time. What a bookend.
Ira did an amazing job on this documentary. It did not feel overwhelming but sweet and sincere and enough to make me feel great again about the franchise. Not a huge fan of Ira's politics, but I am the type that still respects other people's beliefs.
Overall, Deep Space Nine is one of the greatest TV shows of all-time and thee best Star Trek series.
This documentary series is a must watch for any fan. Highly recommend. 9/10.
P.S.
My wife and I asked each other of all the Star Trek crews which one would you want to belong to and hang out with. Both of us simultaneously said, "DEEP SPACE NINE".
Where the hell did they get the DS9 HD scenes from?
technobilder21 May 2020
I just watched this on my 65" TV and besides that its a nice documentary that gets a bit boring in the later 30 minutes I just wondered where they got all those HD quality scenes of DS9 from!
I mean my DSP is just DVD quality and I know theres people rendering that to HD quality since 2019. But this documentary was done in 2018 - and ALL the "old" scenes from DSP shown are perfect 1080 HD on my 65" TV.
So guys, when they could do that in 2018 why didnt they do it to the whole series already?
I mean my DSP is just DVD quality and I know theres people rendering that to HD quality since 2019. But this documentary was done in 2018 - and ALL the "old" scenes from DSP shown are perfect 1080 HD on my 65" TV.
So guys, when they could do that in 2018 why didnt they do it to the whole series already?
DS9 was and still is a 10
wht1knight28 October 2019
A wonderfully composed documentary. Seeing the cast, crew and management of any production and learning the history of it is always exciting. The Star Trek franchise seems being doing that with each of its series. What sets this apart, is that we the audience can see how a story arc is developed in parallel to hearing the perspectives of everyone originally involved. Knowing the backstories, the efforts expended, and hearing the passion and humor expressed by all who spoke adds to the show's legacy.
We also can see how audience reaction to the show affected the show's arc and life. This show stands the test of time, and pushed boundaries of scifi, just like Babylon 5 did. It is no coincidence that I make this statement. DS9 can and does stand on its own.
I am struggling with two parts; 1.) Seeing the proposed arc for Aron Eisenberg's character Nog and realizing that it became a foreshadow for the man. 2.) Not seeing Melanie Smith who portrayed Ziyal. Her character had an impact on the story arc, and yet the actress was not even seen.
We also can see how audience reaction to the show affected the show's arc and life. This show stands the test of time, and pushed boundaries of scifi, just like Babylon 5 did. It is no coincidence that I make this statement. DS9 can and does stand on its own.
I am struggling with two parts; 1.) Seeing the proposed arc for Aron Eisenberg's character Nog and realizing that it became a foreshadow for the man. 2.) Not seeing Melanie Smith who portrayed Ziyal. Her character had an impact on the story arc, and yet the actress was not even seen.
For Niners Everywhere!
dwknuj14 May 2019
I am an unapologetic Niner (one of those fans that thinks that DS9 is the best Trek ever). If you love the show, or even if you just sort of liked it, this documentary is for you. I only had one complaint against it. By the time it was over my jaw was killing me. From the opening credits until the close the grin on my face was threatening to split my bcc face apart.
A gift for the fans, especially those of us who have long extolled just how pioneering the show was
Bertaut2 July 2019
Premiering in syndication on January 3, 1993 and ending with the broadcast of its 176th episode on June 2, 1999, the thing that I loved most about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) was that it was something new for the Star Trek franchise. The Gene Roddenberry-created Star Trek (1966) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) were both shows built around idealism, they were about exploration and diplomacy, about idealised characters, about how hope should never be lost. And then came Deep Space Nine, or, to use a moniker originally intended as derogatory, but which has since been appropriated as a badge of honour by the show's makers and fans, "dark Star Trek". And this moniker was not unearned - look at the sixth season episode "In the Pale Moonlight (1998)", regarded by some (myself included) as the finest hour of the entire Star Trek franchise, and by others as the episode where DS9 most egregiously violated the edicts of Roddenberry's creation; an episode in which Capt. Benjamin Sisko (the legendary Avery Brooks) lies, cheats, cajoles, and is a party to murder to ensure the Romulans join the Dominion War. And if that isn't bad enough, not only does he admit in his personal log that he would do it all again if he had to, he then erases the log entirely. This was psychological territory which raised the kind of moral questions one simply never encountered when dealing with such idealised characters as James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard.
Although created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, the real creative force was executive producer and lead writer Ira Steven Behr. Long before the Second Golden Age of Television, DS9 occupied a fascinating middle-ground between episodic storytelling and the serialisation format employed by most shows today. This is one of the reasons why it has proved so popular on Netflix in recent years - it lends itself to watching six or seven episodes at a time so as to get a better sense of the overarching narrative tapestry, a tapestry which TOS, TNG, and Star Trek: Voyager (1995) simply didn't have.
All of which brings us to What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a partly fan-funded documentary directed by Behr and David Zappone. The first point, and one that I simply can't over-emphasise, is that it's worth the price of admission just for the 22 minutes of clips in glorious HD. TOS and TNG have already had their 1080p conversions, but DS9 has only ever been seen in 480i. With that in mind, the documentary offers a unique opportunity for fans to see parts of the show in full HD. Obviously, the space stuff looks truly amazing, with the epic battle scenes from "Sacrifice of Angels (1997)" standing up against anything you'd see in a big budget movie in terms of scope and elaborateness. However, even the smaller character moments really pop - the colours are so much richer (especially the reds and blues in the uniforms), the blacks and shadows so much deeper, the makeup more nuanced, the subtlety of background detail more noticeable. In a roundtable with Behr, Zappone, and producer/editors Joseph Kornbrodt and Luke Snailham, shown after the screening I attended, there are some split-screen comparisons between the clips as they originally aired and as they appear in the documentary, and it's like watching a completely different show.
The film begins with the cast reading extracts from some of the criticisms aimed at the show in its early years (how could it "boldly go" when it couldn't go anywhere, boldly or otherwise). And whilst these criticisms are played for laughs, Behr and Zappone don't shy away from looking at some of the more painful moments - Avery Brooks being forbidden from having a goatee and a shaved head, so as not to appear, to quote then Paramount Television chairman Kerry McCluggage, "too street"; Rick Berman not understanding why Behr wanted to introduce a war storyline, and later complaining that the show had become too violent; Terry Farrell asking to be written out of the show with only one season left because she felt she was being mistreated behind the scenes; the entire cast (except Colm Meaney) not being happy with the arrival of TNG's Michael Dorn in the fourth season; the psychological toll that playing Benny Russell in the sixth season masterpiece that is "Far Beyond the Stars (1998)" took on Avery Brooks.
The film also spends a lot of time looking at some of the series' more politically charged moments. Star Trek has always done political themes very well, but whereas TOS and TNG tended to operate via allegory and metaphor, DS9 was more direct. Terrorism, for example, was built into the show's DNA in the character of Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), a former member of the Bajoran Resistance who had waged a guerrilla war against the Cardassian forces during the Occupation of Bajor, with the show depicting her as suffering from PTSD and crippling survivor guilt. It also reminds us how PTSD was addressed when Nog (Aron Eisenberg) lost a leg in battle. The film presents several military vets attesting how much it spoke to them to see DS9 handling such weighty themes with dignity and grace.
Another important theme was racism, which was addressed many times, but never more explicitly or more successfully than in "Far Beyond the Stars", which is set in 1953, depicting a writer, Benny Russell (played by Brooks), whose science fiction short stories are pulled from publication when word gets out that he's black, leading to what is hands down the most emotionally devastating and powerfully acted moment in the franchise's history. In relation to LGBTQ+ issues, the film points to the lesbian kiss in "Rejoined (1995)" and the long-rumoured but never confirmed theory that Garak (Andrew Robinson) was gay. Indeed, in relation to inclusivity, Behr laments that the show could have done better, arguing that one kiss and one rumour over seven years wasn't enough.
Elsewhere, an issue that illustrates just how little acknowledgement the show has gotten is the importance of black characters. DS9 was not the first TV show with a black lead, that was A Man Called Hawk (1989) (which starred none other than Avery Brooks), but it was the first show to regularly feature scenes with only black characters. When discussing this aspect of the show, Behr is unable to contain his frustration when he relates how an episode of That's So 90s (2012) pointed to Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) as being the first show to feature scenes of all black characters, never even mentioning DS9.
And with that said, if the film has an overriding theme, it's vindication; the sense that the choices the showrunners made, choices which were criticised and often not understood, have stood the test of time, with the show rightfully thought of today as unusually mature and progressive. Another example of this vindication concerns the three-part second season opener; "The Homecoming (1993)", "The Circle (1993)", and "The Siege (1993)". The first three-episode arc in Star Trek history, the idea was met with considerable resistance, with Paramount execs arguing that a three-parter would never work. However, as the show would go on to prove time and again (ultimately doing an unprecedented ten-episode arc in the last season), being on a space station rather than a ship lent itself to multi-episode storylines.
And one final point. The reveal of the "greatest moment in the history of DS9", which comes during the closing credits, is one of the most epic examples of Rickrolling you'll ever see (albeit with a DS9 twist).
In terms of problems, the most egregious example is the absence of Avery Brooks (there is some interview footage, but it's archival). This leaves a massive lacuna in the film, not just in a practical sense, but in an emotional one as well; he was the heart of the show (and the only actor to appear in all 176 episodes), so for him not to feature is massively disappointing. However, in the years after the show went off the air, Brooks (a tenured Professor of Theatre at Rutgers) has gradually retired from film and TV acting whilst also appearing at fewer and fewer Star Trek events, and obviously, Behr was unable to persuade him to appear here. Another problem is that with Behr conducting the interviews, there's a sense in which he lets both Berman and McCluggage off too easily, especially in relation to the Terry Farrell situation. Another small problem is that Behr occasionally "stops" the film to intercut scripted moments, usually involving himself. As the director and primary subject, this technique crosses the line into self-indulgence, and although the scenes are supposed to be humorous, they're nowhere near as funny as the off-the-cuff moments elsewhere, and are both structurally awkward and thematically unnecessary.
That aside, however, What We Left Behind is an exceptional documentary. DS9's reputation as the "dark Star Trek" is not unearned, but as the film reminds us, it was often bleak but never cynical, often pessimistic but never nihilistic. On the contrary, what the film does especially well is remind us just how humanistic the show really was, and that any bleakness or darkness was earned by the contrasting moments of levity and humanity, by the depth of the characters and their relationships with one another. The film is about what the makers of the show left behind, but so too is it about how the show changed the future of television. The interviews with the cast and crew really drive home just how much it changed their lives, whilst the clips of fans talking about why they love it so much illustrate the extent to which it touched people. And given that Deep Space Nine was so long maligned, considered the "middle child" of the Star Trek family, it's pleasantly ironic that What We Left Behind is about the love which the show has engendered.
Although created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, the real creative force was executive producer and lead writer Ira Steven Behr. Long before the Second Golden Age of Television, DS9 occupied a fascinating middle-ground between episodic storytelling and the serialisation format employed by most shows today. This is one of the reasons why it has proved so popular on Netflix in recent years - it lends itself to watching six or seven episodes at a time so as to get a better sense of the overarching narrative tapestry, a tapestry which TOS, TNG, and Star Trek: Voyager (1995) simply didn't have.
All of which brings us to What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a partly fan-funded documentary directed by Behr and David Zappone. The first point, and one that I simply can't over-emphasise, is that it's worth the price of admission just for the 22 minutes of clips in glorious HD. TOS and TNG have already had their 1080p conversions, but DS9 has only ever been seen in 480i. With that in mind, the documentary offers a unique opportunity for fans to see parts of the show in full HD. Obviously, the space stuff looks truly amazing, with the epic battle scenes from "Sacrifice of Angels (1997)" standing up against anything you'd see in a big budget movie in terms of scope and elaborateness. However, even the smaller character moments really pop - the colours are so much richer (especially the reds and blues in the uniforms), the blacks and shadows so much deeper, the makeup more nuanced, the subtlety of background detail more noticeable. In a roundtable with Behr, Zappone, and producer/editors Joseph Kornbrodt and Luke Snailham, shown after the screening I attended, there are some split-screen comparisons between the clips as they originally aired and as they appear in the documentary, and it's like watching a completely different show.
The film begins with the cast reading extracts from some of the criticisms aimed at the show in its early years (how could it "boldly go" when it couldn't go anywhere, boldly or otherwise). And whilst these criticisms are played for laughs, Behr and Zappone don't shy away from looking at some of the more painful moments - Avery Brooks being forbidden from having a goatee and a shaved head, so as not to appear, to quote then Paramount Television chairman Kerry McCluggage, "too street"; Rick Berman not understanding why Behr wanted to introduce a war storyline, and later complaining that the show had become too violent; Terry Farrell asking to be written out of the show with only one season left because she felt she was being mistreated behind the scenes; the entire cast (except Colm Meaney) not being happy with the arrival of TNG's Michael Dorn in the fourth season; the psychological toll that playing Benny Russell in the sixth season masterpiece that is "Far Beyond the Stars (1998)" took on Avery Brooks.
The film also spends a lot of time looking at some of the series' more politically charged moments. Star Trek has always done political themes very well, but whereas TOS and TNG tended to operate via allegory and metaphor, DS9 was more direct. Terrorism, for example, was built into the show's DNA in the character of Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), a former member of the Bajoran Resistance who had waged a guerrilla war against the Cardassian forces during the Occupation of Bajor, with the show depicting her as suffering from PTSD and crippling survivor guilt. It also reminds us how PTSD was addressed when Nog (Aron Eisenberg) lost a leg in battle. The film presents several military vets attesting how much it spoke to them to see DS9 handling such weighty themes with dignity and grace.
Another important theme was racism, which was addressed many times, but never more explicitly or more successfully than in "Far Beyond the Stars", which is set in 1953, depicting a writer, Benny Russell (played by Brooks), whose science fiction short stories are pulled from publication when word gets out that he's black, leading to what is hands down the most emotionally devastating and powerfully acted moment in the franchise's history. In relation to LGBTQ+ issues, the film points to the lesbian kiss in "Rejoined (1995)" and the long-rumoured but never confirmed theory that Garak (Andrew Robinson) was gay. Indeed, in relation to inclusivity, Behr laments that the show could have done better, arguing that one kiss and one rumour over seven years wasn't enough.
Elsewhere, an issue that illustrates just how little acknowledgement the show has gotten is the importance of black characters. DS9 was not the first TV show with a black lead, that was A Man Called Hawk (1989) (which starred none other than Avery Brooks), but it was the first show to regularly feature scenes with only black characters. When discussing this aspect of the show, Behr is unable to contain his frustration when he relates how an episode of That's So 90s (2012) pointed to Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) as being the first show to feature scenes of all black characters, never even mentioning DS9.
And with that said, if the film has an overriding theme, it's vindication; the sense that the choices the showrunners made, choices which were criticised and often not understood, have stood the test of time, with the show rightfully thought of today as unusually mature and progressive. Another example of this vindication concerns the three-part second season opener; "The Homecoming (1993)", "The Circle (1993)", and "The Siege (1993)". The first three-episode arc in Star Trek history, the idea was met with considerable resistance, with Paramount execs arguing that a three-parter would never work. However, as the show would go on to prove time and again (ultimately doing an unprecedented ten-episode arc in the last season), being on a space station rather than a ship lent itself to multi-episode storylines.
And one final point. The reveal of the "greatest moment in the history of DS9", which comes during the closing credits, is one of the most epic examples of Rickrolling you'll ever see (albeit with a DS9 twist).
In terms of problems, the most egregious example is the absence of Avery Brooks (there is some interview footage, but it's archival). This leaves a massive lacuna in the film, not just in a practical sense, but in an emotional one as well; he was the heart of the show (and the only actor to appear in all 176 episodes), so for him not to feature is massively disappointing. However, in the years after the show went off the air, Brooks (a tenured Professor of Theatre at Rutgers) has gradually retired from film and TV acting whilst also appearing at fewer and fewer Star Trek events, and obviously, Behr was unable to persuade him to appear here. Another problem is that with Behr conducting the interviews, there's a sense in which he lets both Berman and McCluggage off too easily, especially in relation to the Terry Farrell situation. Another small problem is that Behr occasionally "stops" the film to intercut scripted moments, usually involving himself. As the director and primary subject, this technique crosses the line into self-indulgence, and although the scenes are supposed to be humorous, they're nowhere near as funny as the off-the-cuff moments elsewhere, and are both structurally awkward and thematically unnecessary.
That aside, however, What We Left Behind is an exceptional documentary. DS9's reputation as the "dark Star Trek" is not unearned, but as the film reminds us, it was often bleak but never cynical, often pessimistic but never nihilistic. On the contrary, what the film does especially well is remind us just how humanistic the show really was, and that any bleakness or darkness was earned by the contrasting moments of levity and humanity, by the depth of the characters and their relationships with one another. The film is about what the makers of the show left behind, but so too is it about how the show changed the future of television. The interviews with the cast and crew really drive home just how much it changed their lives, whilst the clips of fans talking about why they love it so much illustrate the extent to which it touched people. And given that Deep Space Nine was so long maligned, considered the "middle child" of the Star Trek family, it's pleasantly ironic that What We Left Behind is about the love which the show has engendered.
Interesting. Emotional. Well Done.
SomeBlueDevil14 May 2019
My brother is a Trekkie. His favorite is TNG. He actually missed parts of the DS9 series while it was running and didn't like it enough to get caught up.
Me, I just dig SciFi but missed most of the Star Trek series while they ran on air. I've since gotten caught up and I'm pretty much the opposite of the brother: don't much care for TNG but love DS9. We both went to this documentary and enjoyed it, so that should tell you something.
My guess is that people who watch this may revisit DS9 and give it a second chance. You're no longer just coming off TNG and you've matured, so the experience will probably be somewhat different.
Some reviewers complained about the political aspect of this production. Most anything you watch on TV that has any kind of substance is making a statement about our society. And it influences us or at least tries to. There is nothing wrong with that. It's not like they're telling you what party to join or who to vote for. I'm actually amazed that there are Trekkies out there who break down at the slightest hint that a character may have been anything other than straight. Let's be better than that.
My guess is that people who watch this may revisit DS9 and give it a second chance. You're no longer just coming off TNG and you've matured, so the experience will probably be somewhat different.
Some reviewers complained about the political aspect of this production. Most anything you watch on TV that has any kind of substance is making a statement about our society. And it influences us or at least tries to. There is nothing wrong with that. It's not like they're telling you what party to join or who to vote for. I'm actually amazed that there are Trekkies out there who break down at the slightest hint that a character may have been anything other than straight. Let's be better than that.
Expresses what ds9 was all about
tasev114 May 2019
Loved it. Funny, emotional, entertaining, informative. Got to see the cast and crew as they are and as they were...their struggles, and personalities. Really opens your eyes to why it took so long to accept as a good series, and what the implications could be if it was produced post-911. Some surprising performances, and scenes that we've all wanted to see differently but never could until now. Definitely stick through the credits and into the post doc round table.
Made me realize that I think ds9 was a better series than tng, even though I hated it at first.
Made me realize that I think ds9 was a better series than tng, even though I hated it at first.
So glad that I finally found this documentary!
danrs00000819 September 2020
1. When the first episode of Deep Space 9 was televised in 1993, I was there, eager to see what this new Star Trek was all about. After watching just 4 or 5 episodes I decided that I was not interested. The aliens on board were too, well, alien. Also, the introduction of these Prophets inside a wormhole did not interest me at all, not to mention the Dax character who is "honored" to host a 300 year old worm like creature inside of her. I decided to put this show on the back burner, for a long time. 2. About 25 years later I find DS9 available to stream online. I make it through the first 9 episodes before I give up again. Finally in 2018 I break the 9 episode barrier and I keep on going. The stories and the characters have worked their way into my mind and into my heart. Stories of terror and stories of love. The final episode of DS9 was the most emotional and most complete and most satisfying of any Star Trek finale. I was in tears during the last 30 or 40 minutes. 3. I knew that there was a documentary called "What We Left Behind", but I never found it until 2020. I just finished watching it, and I was moved to tears again.
Exactly what I thought it would be
ziplock9000-566-7304827 June 2019
I had a fairly high-ish bar for this and I wasn't disappointed.
From the remastered HD footage, to the behind the scenes gossip, to the perspective of the writers it was very good.
A few times they did blow their own trumpet with "firsts" that had already been done in TOS and TNG, but /meh.
To those complaining about too much politics, there was very, very little.
I don't see this appealing to anyone who isn't a Star Trek fan though.
DS9 Gets Better with Each Year - Remaster it to UHD!
email-051996 July 2021
When DS 9 first came out, I couldn't watch it - because streaming didn't exist, and I couldn't commit to the weekly schedule for an ongoing storyline. It was frustrating.
When I finally bought the full DVD collection some years later, I was blown away. It was the best television I ever watched in my life. Watching it again now, it still is.
It's no surprise in this age of streaming, DS9 is gaining new respect. It covers all the themes of life.
I just wish they would now digitally remaster it for HDTV!
When I finally bought the full DVD collection some years later, I was blown away. It was the best television I ever watched in my life. Watching it again now, it still is.
It's no surprise in this age of streaming, DS9 is gaining new respect. It covers all the themes of life.
I just wish they would now digitally remaster it for HDTV!
Great documentary when they didn't talk about politics.
freshshow27 August 2019
Lots of great interviews, especially of Avery Brooks who is not very visible these days. The best part was when the writers got together and hashed an episode that would have taken place 20 years after the last episode. I really enjoyed this doc, as would any Trekkie. But Ira Steven Behr just couldn't keep the amount of politics to an appropriate level to tell the story. He had to add a bunch of current day news footage that was very slanted on one viewpoint. I also got very annoyed at him and bunch of other white liberals patting themselves on the back for doing so much for black people. And I'm not gay, but I got offended by his stereotyping of Garak as gay (seems that he forgot about the hetero love subplot they had written for the character). So two stars off a well-produced show.
We We Left.
ronmcreynolds30 October 2020
We left behind not what made StarTrek initially famous, not what many think of first, nor give due credit. What we did leave behind with DS9 was the most realistic and believable view of humanity as a Federation of cultures. We left the best overall acting of any ST movie or series, the best written story arc and the most logical method of living in Deep Space. I like all of the ST films and series, but the deepest, most thoughtful one and the one to restart is DS9. There are so many directions to choose from in a potential new presentation. I would love to write stories for this show because it has so much to say about the human spirit as it reaches out in exploration and adapts to renew itself. DS9 is the best way to keep Star Trek alive and honor the original ideas of Gene Roddenberry. Ronald McReynolds, Ottawa, IL.
So brave! So woke! Stunning!
JoeyDiggs21 May 2020
Want to be lectured about Orange Man Bad? Then you've come to the right Star Trek documentary.
I got halfway through but started wondering, "hey, I'm halfway through a documentary on my favorite sci-fi show....but no one's educated me about the Plunderer in Chief! How will I know what to think?"
Luckily, I didn't have to wait much longer. If only nature shows had anti-drumpf montages...
I got halfway through but started wondering, "hey, I'm halfway through a documentary on my favorite sci-fi show....but no one's educated me about the Plunderer in Chief! How will I know what to think?"
Luckily, I didn't have to wait much longer. If only nature shows had anti-drumpf montages...
Just About a Perfect Doc...
jsauve224214 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
While I anticipated liking this documentary, I came away deeply impressed with its honesty, its raw and authentic emotion, its narrative flow, and its creativity (the Writer's Room sequences are fascinating and yield a pretty viable episode one and starting point to a bingeable new season 20 years later). I have to knock it down one star for The absence of new interview footage with Avery Brooks; he only appears via older, archival footage. That's not Behr's fault since Brooks embargoes just about any interviews or appearances regarding DS9 and Star Trek. But this documentary cries out for two or three new scenes with Brooks' deadpan, fiercely intelligent comments and criticism, plus the chance to see him interact with his old cast mates. But damn, even without new Brooks footage this is still good, and I expect the Blu-Ray with extras will be worth purchasing sometime down the road.
A MUST SEE for any Trek fan
angelbailey-3334115 May 2019
I never have enought of DS9
elnanuroju13 October 2019
I love this show, and eny good documentary it's welkome ^^
I'm positive that at some point we will have it on HD, may be not in the next 10 years, but at some point we will.
The ones who ranked below 5 stars it's possible that they still live on the 19th century, ecxept the Babylon 5 (that's another whole thing quite interesting to investigate)
Sorry for my poor english.
The ones who ranked below 5 stars it's possible that they still live on the 19th century, ecxept the Babylon 5 (that's another whole thing quite interesting to investigate)
Sorry for my poor english.
Please make the movie!
mindlessmoviemaster3 April 2021
Worth the wait.
jared7926 April 2019
Loved the doco. Well worth the many years since I plonked down some $$ to get it made. My only negative was what they said about Garak. I don't see it and I don't think it's needed. He was perfect the way he was portrayed.
Deep Space Nine: The Only One... Often Imitated, But Never Duplicated!
babyjaguar14 May 2019
After 20-25 years, this TV series, DS9 is getting another rebirth with fans around theworld. This documentary really tries to honor its past actors and storylines making connections to the last evolution of TV genre series. Ira Steven Behr is the host and DS9's head writer interviews the cast and crew surmised the inspiration for the show. Many fans will enjoy this documentary, since crowd funding initiatives were made by DS9 fans!
Wonderful Looking Back
cfans-115 May 2019
I've loved DS9 since it was first broadcast, own the DVDs and have binged-watched it numerous times on Netflix. The documentary reminded me once again why I love these characters as portrayed by actors of incredible talent. The writing staff, whom you view through the doc as they came up with ideas for a new episode, were first-rate. It wasn't all fun and games putting on this great show for 7 years, and you hear from the actors and the producers how very tiring it was, but for the most part, it was upbeat and extremely enjoyable.
Enjoyable but political
jason-mcallister14 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Really liked hearing from both the writers perspective and the actors. It was a well done fan service to a historical show but get ready for a dose of liberal politics and lots of assumptions made by Hollywood types about American society and about DS9 fans in general. DS9 is actually my favorite star trek and they made great choices focusing on characters and serialized storytelling. I was actually watching the series again on Netflix just now even owning the complete series on DVD and having watched it multiple times. I think it was great start it just for too political. I walked out shortly after they talked about making Garret an openly gay character in the show and how they could have posed more LGBT stuff. Can't we just enjoy a well made story without the activism?
I loved DS9, hated this
Nemanja_Banjaluka5 September 2019
While there are quite ok and even good moments in this documentary, all of it is utterly ruined by typical Hollywood leftist philosophy. I enjoyed DS9 because it was good, fun, thought provoking sci-fi. In the current year, however, we are to learn that DS9 was all about empowering women, LGBT rights and fight against the phantom menace of;racism" (with all the predictable cliches that come to mind, such as presenting US president Trump as "racist" and similar nonsense). If this is the direction the show would have taken if it continued, I am glad it is long over. What I left behind, 20 years ago, was a good sci-fi show. Thank you, DS9 crew, for not making it long enough to ruin it with your leftism.
Really Lovely
dafoat21 August 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed this doc about DS9 - my personal favorite of the Star Trek series. There are wonderful interviews with just about every major player from in front and behind the camera. It gave me some wonderful insights, and made me want to watch the whole series over again. And the remastered HD clips from the show look spectacular. The whole series definitely deserves an HD remaster.
Hearing all of the people involved talking about how much the show meant to them reminded me of something I've noticed about some of my other favorite shows over the years. The people who made this show loved each other, and they loved what they were doing. And that's why it's so magnificent. Beautiful things come from love.
Hearing all of the people involved talking about how much the show meant to them reminded me of something I've noticed about some of my other favorite shows over the years. The people who made this show loved each other, and they loved what they were doing. And that's why it's so magnificent. Beautiful things come from love.
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