Flight of the Protostar fan film makes impressive plea for Prodigy future

“Flight of the Protostar” is the first Star Trek: Prodigy fan film.

It’s one thing to complain loudly online about Paramount’s cancellation of Star Trek: Prodigy and its abrupt removal from the Paramount+ streaming platform. And it’s one thing to create and sign online petitions in hopes of reversing that decision. But it’s quite another to create a brand-new, live-action adventure set in the Star Trek universe to try to convince the powers that be that Prodigy has plenty of potential just waiting to be tapped.

That’s exactly what prolific fan film creator Samuel Cockings and his talented crew at Power543 Fan Films have done. In less than a week, they wrote, filmed, and brought to life a ten-minute live-action take on the animated series, entitled “Flight of the Protostar.”

In “Flight of the Protostar,” the U.S.S. Horizon has made third contact with the planet featured in the Prodigy episode “All the World’s a Stage.” (In a nice touch to franchise continuity, we see a California-class starship, perhaps even the U.S.S. Cerritos itself, nearby, presumably having handled official second contact duties.) The mission over, Lt. Com. William Davis (Cockings) reviews the history of the Protostar in a conversation with Lt. Laura Reed (an off-screen Emma Thorne).

Later, Davis recreates the Protostar’s bridge on the Horizon’s holodeck. But the U.S.S. Dauntless arrives on the scene, with Captain Daniel Hunter (Nick Cook) at the conn. Hunter orders Davis to engage the simulated Protostar’s protodrive. Unable to end the holodeck program, Davis is further flummoxed when a Krenim timeship appears—the cliffhanger on which this fan film ends (except for its lengthy credits, including its backers on Indiegogo).

“Flight of the Protostar” showcases fan talent and passion for Prodigy

I don’t watch a lot of Star Trek fan films, but I’m glad I watched “Flight of the Protostar.” The Power543 Fan Films group clearly poured a lot of creativity, hard work, and love into this project.

The computer visuals in “Flight of the Protostar” are stunning. The green screen work is seamless. The attention to detail in set decoration is delightful, including the model of the U.S.S. Defiant from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on Davis’s desk and the photographs in his quarters of past Starfleet officers in older-style uniforms. And so what if the uniforms the cast wears are a little loose-fitting? They’re still highly accurate replicas of what we see on screen.

But best of all is the plea “Flight of the Protostar” makes for Prodigy’s salvation. Davis and Reed muse about what other adventures the ship might have seen, and we are treated to glimpses of each one. I won’t spoil them for you. Watch the film to see what exciting stories could and should be told, spanning the franchise’s breadth and depth.

Even the creators of Prodigy, Dan and Kevin Hageman, took note of “Flight of the Protostar”:

“It would make a hell of a holonovel, eh?” Davis asks Reed. “It’s a story I’d certainly want to see,” she replies. Davis adds, “It could take you seven years to explore all the adventures of the Protostar.”

The dialogue’s a none-too thinly veiled plea to Paramount, and I fear it will fall on deaf ears. But cheers and kudos to Power543 Fan Films for the labor of love “Flight of the Protostar” so clearly is. This fan film is a wonderful reminder that, even when the movers and shakers behind the scenes lose faith in Star Trek, Star Trek fans never do.