Well I’ve never moved out of bed so fast, I can tell you. I grabbed the package and (carefully) ripped it open. Sure enough it contained the eagerly awaited Sev Trek “Pus in Boots” video (and the rest of the deluxe pack). Hurrying over to my video player I inserted the cassette, sat back and watched. I was not disappointed.

“Pus in Boots” never contains a dull moment. I don’t think that the movie even knows the meaning of the word ‘dull’. The movie flows smoothly from scene to scene just like a typical Star Trek episode and the graphics even cope well with reflective surfaces, which I didn’t expect or even consider possible - shows how little I know about such stuff! :). The fact that it does just adds to the quality of the work and skill put in by the Sev team. A true testament to the quality of work carried out, despite what I can only imagine to be a low budget. The sets, background characters and noises add to make the whole thing that bit more “real” and enjoyable. The excellent music by Marcos Kleine (whose brilliant CD I am listening to as I type this) also adds to the quality of the 45 minutes of non-stop hilarity, crazy sevdates, one-liners, ensign deaths and pus. The music for the battle scene was perfect, adding to the tense atmosphere, as battle was about to commence. One small request for Sev Trek II - perhaps a little bit more detail on the walls and such; they were a bit bland - but the bookshelves on the bridge can stay, they’re cool! :) How’s about models of past Enterforaprize’s in the conference lounge? :)

The vocal performance of Wally Fields stands out. Not only does Fields do a great and convincing Picard impression for the Sev character Jet Lag Pinchhard, but his performance of Beta (Sev’s version of Data) is equally impressive and funny. I just loved Beta and his deadpan attitude as he plays Pokémon instead of studying his toycorder and Space Invaders while manning Ops during the battle scene, depriving Piker of his much-loved joystick (all together now - “aww!” HEHE!). I could never do what this master does and I don’t see what all the fuss is about regarding Barf and Piker’s voices. They’re good and unique to each character and easy to understand (maybe it has something to do with the conversion between the video formats, I don’t know and don’t have a problem with the voices). Having said that, Macula was very difficult to understand during the first viewing, but in subsequent viewings he gradually became easier to comprehend - except his last part in the battle scene, but I’ll let him off due to the circumstance he was in at the time.

Normally when watching Star Trek, I hit the fast forward button when intro theme starts up because (like everyone else) I've seen it many times before. But just as Robert Hamilton (and I’m sure many others) couldn’t, I couldn’t hit that fast forward button this time either - it’s just too funny to miss! I was momentarily confused by the honking sound during the intro, but soon continued laughing when I realised that it was not a monster truck about to plough through the front wall! :) The bath scene with Pinchhard was funny also, and who could forget the many hilarious deaths of all those ensigns? I counted 15 (assuming Ensign Flyby was killed in his brief, yet had-me-in-another-fit-of-laughter participation) including the one that got on Pinchhard’s nerves one too many times (I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen this excellent video yet) and those in the extra bits at the end. That only leaves 32 other lost ensigns to account for, I get the impression that the “actor” who played Piker had many takes to get the engineering scene done correctly, HEHE! But what a way to go - sliced ensign anyone? Or would you prefer fried? :) The extra scenes at the end of the video just add to the number of laughs, and I was actually surprised to see them considering how much work must have gone into them along with the rest of the film. But that extra work was worth it and very much appreciated - thank you!

Technical problems and issues are solved in the hilarious manner of “Technobabble” (love that!). The scene in the briefing room where Pinchhard leans closer to Piker and says “I don’t understand a word of it.” and Piker replies “Sounds good to me!” is an instant classic along with Beta’s reply to Piker’s “smoothness” and the “going to red alert”. Sev Trek expresses, in an extremely amusing way, what all the Star Trek series overused as a time-filling and plot-moving item which, unlike Sev Trek, was quite boring, often too frequent and unnecessary at times.

All-in-all “Pus in Boots” is excellent. My hat goes off to the Sev Team for producing such an enjoyable product that will no doubt get watched by myself again and again and again (assuming the video tape lasts under the barrage of viewings). The movie, CD, T-shirt, movie print, bookmarks and movie poster are all worth the money that I paid and I will not hesitate to purchase the next Sev Trek (or maybe Sev Wars?) movie when it is released.

I can’t help but give this excellent video 6 out of 5 as the hard-working people of the Sev Team deserve it - I know that I could never produce anything so good as. The rest of the merchandise also gets a 6 out of 5 rating - well done to all involved! However next time, how’s about better protection for the signed print (say have it sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard) as mine came creased. :( Fortunately I have plenty of books around to help flatten it out! :D It’s gonna look cool when I get it laminated! My family enjoyed the video too - it just took a week for us to all get together in one room at one time to watch it - but they were laughing with me too! My mum recommends that you don’t watch the video while eating though! HEHE! ;)

An excellent all-round achievement, which is a must for any Star Trek fans! Here’s yet another person calling for a sequel! Keep on Sevin’!

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