Star Trek III: Redemption

Star Trek III: Redemption is a forthcoming fan-produced CGI film, produced by Brandon M. Bridges as a sequel to the film Star Trek II: Retribution and the final entry in the Specter series. Work on the new movie's plot began as early as March 8, 2012, and writing officially commenced on July 17, 2012. At least a preliminary plot outline seemed to have been completed as of July 24, 2012, as the first teaser trailer was posted on YouTube on that date. A post on 3DGladiators.com indicated that production had officially commenced on Friday, July 27, 2012, and a project thread appeared shortly thereafter. A second poster for Redemption was posted in the Retribution project thread the same day.

Summary
Early script notes made available on 3DGladiators.com (in the Retribution project thread) indicated that the story is set in the year 2399, a few days before the end of the calendar year.

The available summary indicated that the film would be divided into three primary acts, each one set in a different time frame. The first act, set in 2399, would be the shortest and would follow the principal cast aboard the Fitzgerald as they attempt to determine the cause of a massive temporal disaster across the Alpha Quadrant.

The second act, set in 2378, would detail the efforts of the crew to repair the ship following a battle with the Cardassians and a difficult time jump, and to enlist the aid of the original Dr. Garr.

The third act, set in 2367, would involve the crews of two versions of the USS Fitzgerald--along with the original Dr. Garr and the Mark-I ISS Voyager--attempting to track down Drakus and stop him before he can complete his new Mark-II ISS Voyager, and retrieve Borg nanoprobes he needs to repair his physiology (damaged by Captain Prentice at the end of Redemption) and survive.

Act One
In late 2399, the USS F. Scott Fitzgerald is docked at the Starfleet Museum Annexe, the night before she is to be decommissioned. With the ship deserted and almost entirely powered down, Captain Kendra Ronston takes one last look around before disembarking herself.

After wandering through the ship, she finds herself in Ten Forward. After reminiscing alone for a few minutes, Renee Mitchell unexpectedly arrives, followed moments later by Falwell, Hargrove, and Kal, who is now a civilian. After a tense moment between Kal and Mitchell--the two apparently having parted ways prior to the story--the planet below them suddenly begins to break up, and the five crewmembers are barely able to power up the engines in time to escape destruction themselves. Unable to raise Starfleet Command, they rush to Sector 001, only to find Earth a volcanic ruin devoid of life. A short time later, a ship from the Starfleet Corps of Engineers arrives, commanded by none other than Merv Ronston. He explains that what happened in the Alphekka system and at Earth are just symptoms of a much larger problem, that space-time across the quadrant has been "fractured" somehow, and time distortions have devestated almost all of known space. Worse, the effect is spreading, and within five days the present will have been completely obliterated.

Captain Ronston sends him off to conduct a survey of the Federation and look for survivors, while she tracks the distortions to their source in the Vandor system. While investigating the remains of a laboratory on Vandor IV, she makes an unexpected discovery: Admiral Bradley Prentice and Dr. Braiyon Garr are already there, having arrived by shuttlecraft hours earlier. Prentice agrees to join Ronston and assist in their efforts, while Mitchell makes a discovery of her own: DNA traces spread through the laboratory that are weeks old, which apparently belong to Dr. Braiyon Garr, and impossibly, also to the long-dead Captain Gaius Reyf, killed during a mission to Dominion space nearly two decades earlier.

Later, aboard the Fitzgerald, Garr reveals that the distortions in space and time were caused by a massive detonation of Omega particle energy within the laboratory, theorizing that if the explosion was somehow part of an effort to go back in time, it would amplify the molecule's destructive force and cause exactly the kind of devastation now spreading across the quadrant. Unfortunately, he lacks the scientific expertise to reverse the effect, and that even if he did, the only place to stop it would be at the focal point where it began in the first place--meaning they have to go back in time.

Ronston is able to locate a patch of stable space large enough to make the attempt, but getting to it requires crossing into Cardassian space, and even with the unfolding disaster, it's unlikely they would permit the Federation starship to cross their borders. With Prentice's help, the crew prepares to make the attempt, but when they enter Cardassian space they are immediately attacked by a trio of warships. Merv Ronston rescues them at the last minute, and despite taking damage during the battle, the Fitzgerald is able to successfully complete the time jump.

Act Two
Reproducing the temporal energy surge, the crew finds themselves in the year 2378, all but crippled from the battle with the Cardassians and by the rough trip through time. With the replicator system inoperative, Mitchell finds herself unable to make repairs, as all of the ship's emergency parts and supplies had been transferred already due to the ship's impending decommissioning, only two days' worth of emergency rations and 24 hours of life support remaining. A plan is hurriedly hatched to send an away team to the Fitzgerald of this time to obtain parts to make repairs, and one of the ship's remaining shuttlecraft, a team of five departs, leaving Falwell in command while the ship hides in the Azure Nebula.

The away team boards the past version of the Fitzgerald, and at first everything goes smoothly. The away team are able to retrieve the supplies they need, but are discovered while transporting them back to the shuttle. Garr transports Kal and Hargrove off the ship, but before he, Prentice, and Ronston can do likewise, they're discovered and quickly taken to the brig. Meanwhile, the other two members of the away team return to their own ship, and Mitchell begins repairs.

On the past version of the Fitzgerald, Captain Reyf discusses the situation with Lieutenant Erickson and Commander Prentice in his ready room, and over their objections he decides to meet with the future versions of his crewmates and hear what they have to say. They tell him about the disaster in the future, and Prentice recounts his own experiences in the alternate timeline, suggesting this may be their only chance to prevent both disasters from happening. Reyf is suspicious of their account at first, but becomes convinced when Garr tells him it's all about to start all over again, and at almost the exact moment, the transmission comes in from Mellis II advising of the visit by this time period's Dr. Garr, at which point Prentice insists Garr is their responsibility and, citing the Temporal Prime Directive, that this Fitzgerald should avoid becoming involved. Over the objections of a disbelieving Erickson and Prentice, Reyf reluctantly agrees and allows the three to return to their own ship.

Upon their return, they discover Mitchell has completed some repairs and that the ship is at least mostly functional. Garr then reveals that he was able to learn the identity of the perpetrator, and what he's trying to do: their foe is none other than Drakus himself, who somehow managed to escape being wiped from history when the ISS Voyager was destroyed, and is now being aided by the alternate Admiral Reyf. Prentice then recounts his encounter with Drakus on the bridge of his flagship, in which a modified phaser burst damaged Drakus' Borg-enhanced physiology. After spending ten years trying to find a way to survive without the Borg nanoprobes that had been sustaining him, and failing, he has come back in time in search of a new source, since by the year 2399 the Borg have been all but driven out of the Alpha Quadrant, and accordingly no trace of their technology remains in Federation hands. In coming to the year 2378, he sought to avail himself of his past counterpart's access to Starfleet Intelligence files, thus revealing his intentions when he downloaded all records pertaining to the Borg incident in 2367. Prentice and Garr deduce that his plan is to board the Borg cube at Earth during the moments when the Borg are "asleep," retrieve the nanoprobes he needs, and get out again before the cube explodes, leaving Starfleet none the wiser.

With at least a partial plan in place, the Fitzgerald leaves the Azure Nebula, to track down the only other thing they need: the original Dr. Garr, who in this time frame is still collecting parts for his time machine. Thanks to Prentice, they know exactly where he will be and when, and are able to intercept the ISS Voyager at the Alcawell Mineral Refinery, and confront Garr aboard the station after he forces its evacuation. Aboard Voyager, Garr refuses to believe anything they say, until the version of him from 2399 joins the discussion and assures him every word they've spoken is the truth, and that furthermore his attempt to lure Reyf to his cause will fail, and that when he forces his old friend into a confrontation, Reyf will choose to fire on the ISS Voyager, unknowingly setting everything in motion, an outcome which must be avoided at all costs. Garr finally becomes convinced when he learns that as a result of his actions, Reyf will eventually be killed while on the mission to Dominion Space, and agrees to help, on the condition that when the time comes he be allowed to take whatever action is necessary to prevent his friend's death.

Prentice agrees, and together, the Fitzgerald and the ISS Voyager prepare for a second time jump. Thanks to information gained the first time, Mitchell is able to better protect the ship from taking additional damage, and despite the fact that the sensors seem to be picking up an odd sensor ghost moments before, the crew presses ahead and makes a second time jump.

Act Three
Arriving safely in the year 2367, the crew is startled to discover that they are not alone: directly off their starboard beam is the USS F. Scott Fitzgerald, NCC-85107-A, from the year 2378. Prentice and Ronston angrily demand answers from Captain Reyf, who calmly explains that he wasn't about to let a crew of seven take on Drakus alone, and that if he really is responsible for Drakus' existence in the first place, the situation is partly his fault and he can't sit idly by and do nothing.

The original Dr. Garr from 2378 is at first reluctant to trust Reyf, knowing he would ultimately fire on the ISS Voyager to prevent him from completing his mission, but Ronston convinces him that they're all on the same side and reminds him that their ultimate objective is to prevent the disaster in the future.

Scanning space, they confirm Drakus' presence by locating an ion trail from a 2378-era shuttlecraft, an engine design which wouldn't be perfected for almost a decade. When 2378 Garr sees the vector, he realizes there's an entire part of Drakus' plan that they have missed: his counterpart is not simply here to retrieve a bit of Borg technology, based on the direction of the ion trail, he's heading to the same location where Garr built the ISS Voyager. Prentice realizes he and his crew miscalculated--Drakus wouldn't confront even an inactive Borg cube with just a shuttlecraft, he'd need a starship, and would have gone back far enough to construct his own, in time to be ready for the Borg in 2367. The three ships--two versions of the Fitzgerald and the ISS Voyager--race to the coordinates, hoping to reach the location before Drakus can launch his ship, but arrive too late, just as the newly-completed starship powers up. After a brief firefight, the new ISS Voyager--this one with a blood-red hull--escapes, and makes way for Sector 001. Only able to follow at a fraction of its speed, the three ships from the future pursue.

By the time they reach Sector 001, they have formulated a plan. The crew from 2399 will transport to the Borg cube, as their knowledge of Borg technology is more advanced, to locate and neutralize Drakus once and for all. Meanwhile, an away team from the 2378 Fitzgerald--including the Dr. Garr from that time period--will transport to the Mark-II ISS Voyager and attempt to gain access to its systems in case the first away team fails.

Remodulating their shields to avoid detection by Starfleet, the three ships arrive in Sector 001, and discover the Enterprise-D near the Borg vessel in Earth orbit, with the Mark-II ISS Voyager holding position on the far side of the cube. Taking up station around Drakus' ship, the away teams deploy as planned. With the Borg "asleep" on the cube, the away team is able to move about freely and is able to locate Drakus fairly quickly. Meanwhile, the companion team aboard the Mark-II ISS Voyager unexpectedly encounter the second Reyf, but are able to make it to Engineering and sabotage the main power grid, while Garr goes to the bridge to distract the alternate Reyf.

On the Borg ship, the 2399 away team confronts Drakus, who gleefully tells them that his first act upon getting himself well will be to hunt down their past selves in this time frame, and kill them all, to prevent them from interfering in his plans going forward. Protected by his own Borg personal forcefield, Drakus seems untouchable, until it shuts down as his ship's power systems are disabled. All of the Fitzgerald crewmembers carrying phasers immediately fire, and Drakus falls to the deck, dead. Aboard the ISS Voyager, the alternate Reyf has also been killed, and when the Borg cube explodes, the Mark II ISS Voyager is incinerated.

With Drakus gone and the future altered, the entire timeline resets itself. We rejoin the Fitzgerald in 2378, fresh back from the Gamma Quadrant. As before, a call from Mellis II comes in, but this time Dr. Chellik is simply calling to welcome Reyf home, and reports that all is quiet on the homefront. Reyf acknowledges, and settles into his quarters to finish reading his book, content to enjoy the remainder of the crew's five-day liberty in peace.

Memorable Quotes
"Ronston to Mitchell, we need impulse power now!" "Already on it!"

"Why is it taking so long?"

"The ship was about to be decommissioned, we weren't expecting to have to start them up again!"


 * -Kendra Ronston and Renee Mitchell, during the escape from Alphekka

"This situation is getting stranger by the minute, and I'm not sure I like what all the pieces of this puzzle are adding up to."


 * -Jennifer Hargrove

"We'd thought he was dead twice before that, and turns out we were wrong."

"Twice."


 * -Adm. Bradley Prentice and Dr. Braiyon Garr, discussing Drakus in the alternate timeline

Cast
It has been stated that most of the principal cast from the previous film will return, and that of those, most will be seen alongside their past counterparts from 2378. It has also been stated that at least three different versions of Dr. Garr will appear, presumably the alternate version of him seen at the end of Retribution, the original version in 2378, as well as Drakus, who will play the role of the film's villain.


 * Captain Kendra Ronston. Commanding officer, USS F. Scott Fitzgerald.? In the film's opening scenes, she is shown packing up the last of her personal effects prior to the decommissioning of the ship.
 * Admiral Bradley Prentice. Starfleet flag officer, exact role unknown.? Crossed paths with Dr. Braiyon Garr after the space-time continuum in 2399 shattered, and was with him at Vandor IV investigating the source of the disaster when they encountered the Fitzgerald away team.
 * Captain Jennifer Hargrove. Boarded the Fitzgerald for one last look around prior to its decommissioning, then assumed role as Captain Ronston's acting first officer following the temporal disaster.
 * Commander Renee Mitchell. Boarded the Fitzgerald for one last look around prior to its decommissioning, then became acting chief engineer of the Fitzgerald.
 * Lesley Kal. Former Starfleet officer, boarded the Fitzgerald with Dr. Elizabeth Falwell and Captain Hargrove for one last look around, and remained aboard to assist the crew with their investigation.? No longer a member of Starfleet, she is later revealed to have left the Fitzgerald following an unknown incident involving Commander Mitchell and a serious falling-out with then-Commander Ronston.? Shortly after leaving the Fitzgerald, she entered a self-destructive spiral, and if not for Ronston's intervention, would have landed herself in serious trouble on several planets.
 * Dr. Braiyon Garr (2399).  Starfleet officer
 * Dr. Braiyon Garr (2378).  Former Starfleet Intelligence operative and member of Section 31.
 * Drakus. Warlord from an alternate history, whose trip back in time at the start of the film seemingly triggers the temporal disaster across the galaxy.

Themes
Early production notes made available on 3DGladiators indicated that the primary story motif for the film would be the pursuit of personal redemption. The primary focus is on Garr, both his 2399 and 2378 incarnations, seeking to atone for the crimes committed by Drakus. The Garr of 2399 has been haunted by what then-Captain Prentice told him about Drakus. Moreover, when the Federation was ravaged by the time distortions, his wife Kristie, with whom he became acquainted at the end of Retribution, is said to have been killed when Risa was destroyed, and according to Prentice, at first restoring her was his only priority, until the admiral reminded him how badly he'd wanted to prove he wasn't Drakus once and for all.

Secondary plot threads center around the other couples established by the first two films, namely Prentice and Kendra Ronston (as well as Kendra Ronston and Merv Ronston), and Mitchell and Kal.

In the case of Prentice and Kendra Ronston, following an undisclosed falling-out, the two are frigid to each other near the start of the film, but over the course of the story they learn to put their feelings behind them and reclaim the friendship they once enjoyed. Likewise for Kendra and Merv Ronston; near the start of the film, a scene between the two of them shows that while she has kept the name, she displays clear discomfort with him and hints are dropped that they both regret splitting up. When Merv's ship swings in to defend the Fitzgerald from Cardassian attackers, Kendra realizes he still loves her and that she feels the same, and the remainder of the film is spent coming to terms with that and the implications for her and Prentice.

In the case of Mitchell and Kal, several years prior to the start of the film, it is implied that Kal became unfaithful and as a result her relationship with Mitchell was all but destroyed, and it is implied that around the same time she left Starfleet. When the two cross paths at the beginning of the story, they look at each other but do not speak, and Mitchell abruptly leaves the room. Kal is about to leave when the planet below them begins to break up, and Kal remains aboard for the duration of the mission. Over the course of the film, she and Mitchell gradually begin to repair their relationship, and just before the end, they agree that they still care for each other.

Dedication
The first cut of Redemption featured a "For Lesley" dedication. It is unknown to whom this dedication referred, however the dedications for the previous two films were known to have been real people who somehow influenced the development of the plots. It is noteworthy that one character (minor in Specter, principal cast member in Retribution and likely in Redemption as well) is named Lesley Kal, both allusions likely referring to the same individual.

Midway through production, the dedication abruptly changed from "For Lesley" to "For Leila." No information was available from any public source as to why the change was made or to whom the new dedication referred.

Production
Production of Redemption formally began on Friday, July 27, 2012. A new trailer was posted that featured several clips from Specter, newly re-rendered and sporting visual effects not seen in the original film, including what appeared to be a lensflare similar to that seen in Star Trek XI, seeming to indicate that this would be the new visual style for Redemption. Production notes indicated that a new version of the Deep Space Nine station would appear, the version by Jörg Gerlach replacing the original Dave Charnow version.

Like Specter and Retribution before it, Redemption is to be produced as though it were a live-action film, rather than a CGI production. Unlike the remastered versions of episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series or principal effects shots from Star Trek: Enterprise, CG effects shots are very restrained in terms of camera motion, and interior shots continue to utilize depth-of-field and other effects to mimic traits of practical productions. Thus far, Redemption has offered more animated shots of its various elaborate sets than either of its two predecessors, using simplified lighting setups for low-light scenes to decrease render times.

On Saturday, September 22, 2012, the final scene of Act I was posted (Scene 15, "Sector 113"), and it was announced that there would be a production stopdown to correct some errors and inconsistencies seen during Act I, most notably glitches with the uniforms and with the presence/absence of characters' eyebrows from one shot to the next.

Re-Use of Material from Star Trek: Specter
On Thursday, October 18, the first scene to fully take place aboard the 2378 version of the Fitzgerald was posted, integrating material from Specter, affording viewers the first glimpse of how material from the first film would be presented.

The exterior shot of the Fitzgerald docked at Deep Space Nine has been completely remade featuring new lighting and more ships in the area, and all 3D models except that of the Fitzgerald itself have been updated. Mark Kobrock's DS9 model has been replaced with what appears to be Jorj Gerlach's, the two distinguishable by the different angles of the docking pylons and by the more detailed textures on the latter. In addition, in Specter there was a magenta-colored nebula behind the station, whereas the cloud is notably absent in Redemption.

For interior scenes on the bridge, a number of the original background plates from Specter were re-used (though several had clearly been re-rendered at higher resolution than they were for the first film, to correspond with the resolution of plates already in use for Redemption) with only two completely new background plates of the 2378 bridge set. No changes have been made to the older bridge since its last appearance in Specter, and some known glitches with the original set (which were finally corrected for Redemption) still appear, most notably the fact that several of the workstation LCARS appear "raised" slightly from the glass surfaces beneath them.

Interestingly, although the ability to add video to simulate LCARS monitors on the sets was introduced in Retribution, the monitors on the 2378 bridge remain static displays as they were in Specter, and the producer has indicated that these are deliberate moves to stay true to the original look and feel from the first film.

The same was true for the Engineering set, which was unmodified from its appearance in Specter. Like the bridge, the set continued to utilize only still-motion graphics on the monitors, with animations superimposed onto the still images as needed. Comparison with similar scenes from Specter, however, shows that the animation for the warp core has been re-rendered, as evidenced by the animation of the lights in the power transfer conduits--in Specter a single, 23-frame animation was rendered and then looped to create the core effect, but because the animation of the main core and the power transfer conduits were of different lengths, the loop caused the power transfer lights to "hiccup" midway through their cycle. The updated animation appears to be a single piece of continuous footage.

On Sunday, November 4, 2012, a scene was posted which re-used material from Specter in its original context, specifically an exchange from early in the first film between Reyf and Dr. Falwell as they discussed the Frankenstein holonovel they'd just run. Comparison with the same scene from Specter shows that although the original voiceovers were re-used, the animations of the characters as well as the still shots of the corridor had been re-rendered. The new plates could be distinguished from the originals by the different graphic of the Fitzgerald on the companel display outside the holodeck doors: the original version in Specter had a red hue, while the same graphic in Redemption has a blue hue. Likewise, the new character animations can be distinguished from the originals by improved lighting and textures on the uniforms and combadges.

Interestingly, in Specter, Dr. Garr did indeed appear in the corridor as Falwell and Reyf exit the holodeck, however he was seen working at a different companel with a different configuration, and he deactivated it and hurried away as soon as Reyf and Falwell had passed him.

The set for Lieutenant Erickson's quarters as visited by Captain Ronston were originally constructed for Specter, and first appeared as Lt. Cmdr. Data's guest quarters on the Fitzgerald. A second version was created and dressed to appear as Lt. Erickson's quarters, however the scene was eventually cut from the film and the set was never finished. To help cover that fact, for the set's appearance in Redemption the lights were left at extremely low levels.

Unlike the other 2378 sets, the brig set is newly constructed specifically for Redemption; like several other Fitzgerald interior sets, the brig appears to be a redress of the Voyager brig set, with TNG-style orange doors in place of the typical metallic Voyager doors, and warmer lighting.

A later scene shows the observation lounge set, in its original configuration (featuring the large wall screen opposite the windows) for the first time since Specter. The same scene also features a cameo appearance by the Mark-III EMH--along with the 2378 sickbay set--written specifically because of the character's popularity in the first film. While the sickbay set was unchanged, the observation lounge lighting appeared to have been redone, and the first shot of the comm channel with the EMH was facilitated through the use of a video texture applied to the viewscreen itself, something which was not possible during the production of Specter due to software limitations.

Sequel
Midway through production, rumors began to circulate regarding whether Redemption would be followed by a sequel. Bridges was unequivocal in declaring that Redemption would be the definitive conclusion of the Specter trilogy and that it would be his final Star Trek film outing, adding that the ending of the third film would close out the trilogy in "a very fitting" manner.

Shortly after Act III began production, rumors began to spread regarding possible endings for Redemption. Myriad predictions had already circulated on YouTube, but fueling speculation was a request made via TrekMeshes for a Sovereign-class texture set featuring the registry name and number of the Fitzgerald. A short time later, a modified version of Paul Trenkler's Sovereign-class mesh was made available at Trekmeshes.ch featuring custom-made registry, confirming that future plans for Redemption somehow involve a Sovereign-class USS F. Scott Fitzgerald. No additional details were immediately available concerning the new ship's involvement, though original script notes from Specter archived at Scifi-Meshes.com indicated that at one point, the Fitzgerald was to be a Sovereign-class vessel rather than a Galaxy-class refit.

Fan Involvement
Unlike the preceding two films, when Redemption commenced production, no real effort was made to solicit story feedback from viewers. Scifi-Meshes.com--whose membership was an integral part of the creative process for the first film and most of the second--appeared to be uninvolved with Redemption, and the project thread on 3DGladiators.com seemed less collaborative and more presentational. Bridges has been largely silent on the matter, except for a single comment via Facebook that after what happened with Scifi-Meshes.com towards the end of Retribution's production cycle, input on the story from viewers--while still welcome--would be strictly controlled, and that he was no longer affiliated with SFM. A subsequent post on 3DGladiators.com on another topic confirmed the latter sentiment.

Deleted Scenes
Midway through production, noted emerged detailing several scenes which had been deleted before being made. Most were brief character moments involving Lesley Kal, both the 2378 and 2399 versions, however those were dropped due to pacing concerns. A full scene between Captain Ronston and Admiral Prentice aboard the shuttle while waiting for word from the away team was also scrapped; that conversation would have shown them discussing the failed relationship that Ronston alluded to at the beginning of the film. It too was dropped over concerns about pacing, fearing too much time had already been spent on the Kal-Mitchell love story, and the Ronston-Prentice arc could be developed later in the production.

Script notes also show a major aspect of the time travel/alternate history plot was dropped. According to the notes, at some point, the 2399 and 2378 crews would have compared notes on their respective histories, discovering that in the original history Dr. Garr created a number of holoprograms while at Starfleet Academy, while in the revised history he did not, and that difference would be explained by Reyf never having lost his father and therefore never needing Garr's help to recover, a difference further attributable to the unseen presence of the ISS Voyager at the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2367. In Specter, Garr had offered to take Reyf to that time and place to save his father, as he had been believed killed when the Borg destroyed his ship--however, in the alternate history created at the end of Specter, the ISS Voyager would have destroyed the Goodson before the Borg could, ensuring Thomas Reyf's death as the first act of Drakus' revenge. Understandably, this plot arc was dropped for fear of making the story too complicated for casual viewers.

Additional notes concerning the climax of Redemption indicated that at one point, the Fitzgerald was to undergo saucer separation, however that plot aspect was scrapped when a model of the Galaxy-class dreadnought could not be located that could properly separate.

Voiceovers
In response to inquiries from Star Trek Reviewed and other volunteer groups seeking to contribute voiceovers to Retribution following its completion, Bridges issued a strongly-worded statement discouraging such requests, adding that voiceover casting calls would not be issued until Redemption was completed, if even then, as no final decision had yet been made regarding a voice cast.

Bridges has indicated that should he decide to move forward with voice casting, a single casting call would be issued for all three films--Specter, Retribution, and Redemption--at once, but that until and unless that that point was reached, the subject was not to be broached again. At least nine YouTube users are known to have been blocked from leaving comments as of October 26 for bringing up the subject of voiceovers after this statement was issued.

Reception
Initial reaction to Redemption was overwhelmingly positive, with early scenes generating far more hits than the final scenes of Retribution. Viewers reacted strongly to the destruction of Alphekka IV and to the chilling views of the devestated Earth, as well as the new and underlying friction between the crew.

Early scenes suggested the dynamic would be very different among the principal cast than it has been in the previous two films, and that in addition to the overarching sci-fi plot, a significant subplot would be the different crewmembers attempting to resolve their differences.

Viewers continued to respond positively through the completion of Act I and well into Act II, with many commenting that the production felt like "an old-fashioned Star Trek episode." Viewers have credited the small character moments--in particular the several scenes with Dr. Falwell--as some of the best elements of the film.

Soundtrack
Unlike its predecessors, Redemption draws from a wide variety of sources for its music. Specter and Retribution largely relied on cues from within the Star Trek franchise, while Redemption has ventured into other franchises and even other genres for source music. Along with score from contemporary and mainstream media, lesser-known entries such as Mainframe Entertainment's ReBoot and Disney's DuckTales feature film are incorporated, representing the lighter tone of this film compared to Retribution.

Sets
The sets for Redemption were mostly the sets from Retribution, retextured to appear more like their TNG counterparts, and with brighter and more natural lighting schemes. Because the plot called for both the 2378 and 2399 versions of the sets to appear side by side, some 2399 sets were modified so as to be readily distinguishable from their 2378 counterparts.

The first trailer released offered glimpses of several original sets from Specter, notably the captain's ready room and the main corridors, and while there appeared to be some improvements in lighting, most of the sets otherwise appeared unchanged from the first film.

Promotional renders made available on Facebook on Friday, July 27, 2012 offered the first glimpse of the set for Dr. Garr's quarters aboard the 2399 version of the Fitzgerald, which differed from the brief look that appeared in the first and second trailers. Instead of a view of the Milky Way galaxy, the large wall monitor displays a view of a blue planet and moon, and the room appears fully furnished. The gold NCC-1701-A model, gold Triforce symbol, Delorean time machine, diplomas, antique television, and Risian Horga'hn remain on the set from Retribution; new additions included the photo of Kristie from the office at Starfleet Headquarters in Specter, a 3D chessboard, a camping lantern, bar of gold-pressed latinum, and large photo or painting on the far wall; and a Green Lantern from the franchise of the same name, and what appeared to be the Touchstone from the Stargate SG-1 episode of the same name on one momento shelf; an Atari and Nintendo Entertainment system on the other. Several photos also called attention to what appeared to be a framed photo autographed by MMA Fighter Tecia Torres, which one caption indicated was featured by special arrangement with Torres herself.



Also, for the first time, a closeup will be featured of the dedication plaque on the bridge set of the Fitzgerald. Because it was never clearly visible in either of the previous two films, a proper plaque was never made and a rudimentary alteration was made to a scan of the plaque from the Enterprise-D. The new version sports the ship's complete name, the USS F. Scott Fitzgerald, and lists the ship as a "Mark-II Galaxy-class" vessel.

Third-Party Contributions
More than its two predecessors combined, Redemption features a number of assets contributed specifically for the production, rather than objects fortuitously located during the production process.

Uniforms
Redemption features a different uniform design for personnel in 2399 than was used in the previous two films. Specter and Retribution utilized the First Contact-style uniform made by Warrior (and available for download at 3DGladiators.com), with Voyager- and TNG-style variants created as needed. Redemption, on the other hand, features uniforms styled after those used in Star Trek: Online. Early clips featured a modified version of Warrior's original texture, however by the time the third scene was completed, new uniform textures had been created specially for use in the film by DeviantArt user DopiusFishius. The new uniforms were introduced in Scene 4, and earlier scenes were re-rendered to reflect the new uniforms during later production stopdowns.

TNG Tricorders
Redemption will feature new props for the scenes in 2378. Specter and Retribution had featured props from the now-defunct DTEMachine.com, including VOY-style tricorders, a hypospray, and a desk computer. For Redemption, new versions of those props would be featured--including for the first time a TNG-style science tricorder in what may be an in-universe retcon--courtesy of DeviantArt user TheMightyZoidZilla (see External Links below), who agreed to provide the props specifically for use in the production.

VOY Tricorder
The scenes set in 2378 and involving the crew from that year will feature the second-generation tricorders from Star Trek: Voyager, and for those scenes, a new and much more detailed 3D model by Tim Davies (DeviantArt user SuricataFX) will replace the previous model, originally from DTEMachine.com.

Type 25 Shuttle
Later planned scenes will involve the use of a 2399-era shuttlecraft, in contrast to the Insurrection-style shuttlecraft already seen during the low-altitude flyover of Earth. Original script notes had indicated that the Volga-class runabout would play the role, however DeviantArt user JamieTakahashi granted the use of his Type-25 shuttle for those scenes.

LCARS
For the first time since Specter, Redemption will feature all-new LCARS console graphics for the starship sets, including the bridge of the ISS Voyager, provided by Robert (Robert Brisson) and Deif (David Kleist), both from The LCARS Community. Adge's LCARs will continue to serve as graphics for animated computer screens.

Robert's improved graphics could first be seen in the Astrometrics set in Scene 12, on the side workstations and their control panels, though the original graphics from 2006 remained in use on the main consoles in the center of the room. Kleist's Future LCARS Concept (FLC) graphics have been slated to replace the more traditional graphics in the Fitzgerald shuttle cockpit, and this change will be introduced in the next full cut of Redemption to be released.

Ships
In addition to the USS F. Scott Fitzgerald, the ISS Voyager returns. The original, the Mark I, as seen in Specter and in Retribution, and a new version, the Mark II, being constructed by Drakus in 2367. The Mark II features a dark red hull and an overall darker color scheme in contrast to the Mark I.



It was stated during the production of Specter that the overall blue color scheme of the ISS Voyager'' was based on the character of Megabyte from the TV series ReBoot. The Mark II ISS Voyager seen in Redemption seems to have drawn its color scheme from the character Hexadecimal, from the same series.''

In Specter'', the ships' warp engines glowed a solid blue color, much like the visual effects of the TV series and films. Beginning with Retribution, however, the engines were shown to have a subtle shifting pattern to them, similar to the visual effects for the warp cores in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek: Voyager. Clips shown in the trailer depict the engines as operating both ways, so it was not immediately apparent which standard (or both) would be featured in Redemption.''

Trailer
On July 24, 2012, the first teaser trailer for Redemption was posted to YouTube. The trailer appeared to depict scattered bits of story from the film, some out of order compared to the script notes from 3DGladiators. Notable details:
 * The Starfleet uniforms for the 2399 time frame strongly resemble the uniforms from "Star Trek: Online," with the "Future Imperfect" combadge.
 * The liquid in the glasses the officers are drinking from in Ten Forward is blue, strongly hinting that it might be Romulan ale.
 * For the first time, the viewscreen of the Fitzgerald has functioning indicator lights, or "blinkies."
 * When the three Fitzgerald crewmembers encounter Garr and Prentice, they appear to be in a room identical to one of the rooms of Garr's original laboratory on Beta Reticuli IV.
 * Hargrove's line "now wait just a damn minute" is identical to a line spoken by Dr. McCoy in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. In both cases, the line was spoken in reference to an audacious plan to travel back through time.
 * In the brief glimpse of Kendra Ronston's ready room, the painting on the wall is of an alternate and unused Phase II USS Enterprise
 * The shots of the Alcawell Mineral Refinery and the ISS Voyager docking are re-used from the first film, Star Trek: Specter, as is the excerpt of the song "Cosmic Castaway," hinting that the events depicted are those shown in the first film. The shot of Garr entering the corridor is partially re-used but with improved lighting, and the animation of the doors opening has been adjusted so that the timing with the sound effect is correct.
 * The sound effect of the Fitzgerald traveling back in time is the sound of an outgoing time shift from the film Back to the Future III; specifically, the one at the conclusion of the scene with the train
 * The shot of the Fitzgerald docked at DS9 is re-used from the beginning of Specter.
 * The brief glimpses of the 2399 Main Engineering show that the "pool table" has been moved next to the warp core, as seen in the TNG episode "Parallels," with the large schematic frame from "Booby Trap" in its place in the center of the room. The small utility lights that appeared in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country can also be seen.
 * Shots of the bridge and main corridors from 2399 show a return to TNG-style color and lighting schemes, with sets lit much more brightly than in the previous two films. Shots on the 2378 versions of the sets can thus be distinguished by their more dramatic lighting schemes.
 * Ronston's line to Garr, "Bad enough to be living in the past that was, much less the past that might have been", is a reference to the alternate timeline seen in Retribution, which from the perspective of everyone except for Admiral Prentice, never occurred.
 * An ISS Voyager with a red hull can briefly be seen, inside a Generations-style drydock. This new version can thus be distinguished from the original via its different hull color.
 * Prentice's line "Never put off for tomorrow what you can do yesterday" is a nod to the animated Men in Black cartoon series, in one episode of which an identical line was spoken by Agent K.
 * The exterior shot of the Borg cube is re-used from Specter. In that film it was seen in Reyf's flashback to Wolf 359.
 * Garr's line "If he manages to heal himself, he'll be unstoppable" is an homage to the TV series "Mutant X;" a nearly identical line was spoken in the first episode of that show's third season.
 * Drakus' line near the end of the trailer ("No more games, no more riddles...") is an homage to the film Batman Forever, in which an identical line was spoken by Two-Face.
 * Drakus is seen wearing an admiral's version of the same dark blue uniform as he wore in the first two films. Gaius Reyf can be seen in the background wearing an identical uniform.
 * Ronston's declarative "Drakus must be stopped, once and for all" line is a nod to the film Star Trek Nemesis, echoing the end of Picard's speech about the importance of stopping Shinzon. Like Picard, she stands up to deliver the last part of her line.

Vimeo

 * Vimeo: Star Trek III: Redemption (Pt. 1)