‘The Sixty-Year Mission’ Brings the Legacy of ‘Star Trek’ to a New Generation
‘The Sixty-Year Mission’ Brings the Legacy of ‘Star Trek’ to a New Generation
William Shatner wasn’t sure if the audience would approve of his new documentary or not. When the 95-year-old star took the stage at the Regal Times Square theater for the New York premiere of The Sixty-Year Mission: How Star Trek Changed Television and the World he said “maybe you’ll like it, maybe you won’t.” But, the Captain Kirk actor declared, “you’re going to see a lovely film made by people who cared.”
威廉·夏特纳（William Shatner）并不确定观众是否会认可他的这部新纪录片。当这位95岁的明星在纽约时代广场Regal影院出席《六十年的使命：星际迷航如何改变电视与世界》（The Sixty-Year Mission: How Star Trek Changed Television and the World）的首映礼时，他说道：“也许你们会喜欢，也许不会。”但这位饰演柯克船长的演员宣称：“你们将看到一部由充满热忱的人们所制作的精美影片。”
Focusing on the original Star Trek series, which ran from 1966 to 1969, The Sixty-Year Mission is written and directed by Mark A. Altman, creator of the Inglorious Treksperts podcast. The documentary, which screened during New York Comic Con and hit select theaters this weekend, explores the show’s cultural impact and legacy, and also demonstrates how much it was a product of the political climate of the era in which it was made.
《六十年的使命》由“Inglorious Treksperts”播客的创作者马克·A·奥特曼（Mark A. Altman）编剧并执导，聚焦于1966年至1969年播出的《星际迷航》原版剧集。这部在纽约动漫展期间放映并于本周末在部分影院上映的纪录片，探讨了该剧的文化影响力和遗产，并展示了它在多大程度上是其制作时代政治气候的产物。
“I think audiences are pleasantly surprised that Sixty-Year Mission shows how the ‘60s shaped Star Trek,” Altman explains. For the film, Altman interviewed dozens of prominent fans and stars, from Shatner and Simon Pegg to Star Trek: The Next Generation stars Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner. The president’s niece—and Trek fan—Mary L. Trump praises the show’s pioneering representation, specifically Nichelle Nichols’ Lieutenant Uhura. George Takei, who played Sulu, gives a harrowing account of his time in an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. Others discuss how characters like Spock became heroes for queer fans.
“我认为观众会感到惊喜，因为《六十年的使命》展示了60年代是如何塑造《星际迷航》的，”奥特曼解释道。为了这部电影，奥特曼采访了数十位知名粉丝和明星，从夏特纳和西蒙·佩吉（Simon Pegg），到《星际迷航：下一代》的明星乔纳森·弗雷克斯（Jonathan Frakes）和布伦特·斯派尔（Brent Spiner）。总统的侄女——同时也是《星际迷航》粉丝的玛丽·L·特朗普（Mary L. Trump）称赞了该剧开创性的代表性，特别是尼切尔·尼科尔斯（Nichelle Nichols）饰演的乌胡拉中尉。饰演苏鲁的乔治·竹井（George Takei）讲述了他在二战期间被关押在日裔美国人拘留营的痛苦经历。其他人则讨论了像史波克（Spock）这样的角色是如何成为酷儿粉丝心目中的英雄的。
As has been well-documented, these considerations were important for Gene Roddenberry, the show’s creator, who died in 1991. He was a WWII veteran with a progressive bent despite years spent in traditionally conservative spaces like the US Army and the Los Angeles Police Department. Altman insists that “Captain Kirk was ‘JFK: Space Captain,’” and that President Kennedy’s idea of a New Frontier was the final frontier that Trek sought to explore.
众所周知，这些考量对于1991年去世的该剧创作者吉恩·罗登贝瑞（Gene Roddenberry）来说非常重要。他是一位有进步倾向的二战老兵，尽管他曾在美军和洛杉矶警察局等传统保守机构工作多年。奥特曼坚持认为，“柯克船长就是‘肯尼迪式的太空船长’”，而肯尼迪总统提出的“新边疆”理念，正是《星际迷航》试图探索的终极边疆。
Shatner, however, didn’t initially see the show that way at all. “I didn’t think in those terms when they offered me the role,” says Shatner, who served as executive producer on Sixty-Year Mission. “I thought, ‘I got a regular paid job.’ Only later did the magic of Star Trek happen.”
然而，夏特纳最初完全没有这样看待这部剧。“当他们给我这个角色时，我并没有从这些角度去思考，”担任《六十年的使命》执行制片人的夏特纳说，“我当时想的是，‘我得到了一份有稳定收入的工作。’直到后来，《星际迷航》的魔力才显现出来。”
Part of that magic, Shatner adds, is how “Star Trek had an effect on people’s lives.” Those people come from many backgrounds, and the show remained accessible because of the very special tension that existed within its politics, Altman explains. “Roddenberry was liberal on social issues but hard-nosed on defense, and that is absolutely what Star Trek is,” he says. “We need our phasers to defeat the Klingons, but we believe in a diverse crew.”
夏特纳补充说，这种魔力的一部分在于“《星际迷航》对人们的生活产生了影响”。奥特曼解释说，这些人来自各种背景，而该剧之所以能保持亲和力，是因为其政治立场中存在一种非常特殊的张力。“罗登贝瑞在社会问题上是自由派，但在国防问题上立场强硬，这绝对就是《星际迷航》的本质，”他说，“我们需要相位枪来击败克林贡人，但我们也相信多元化的船员队伍。”
Karim Diané, who plays Jay-Den Kraag on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, notes that as the person playing the first openly gay Klingon character in the franchise, he’s playing someone who means a lot to viewers. “I wish I could release the DMs because the love I’ve gotten is overwhelming,” Diané says.
在《星际迷航：星际舰队学院》中饰演杰登·克拉格（Jay-Den Kraag）的卡里姆·迪亚内（Karim Diané）指出，作为该系列中第一个公开同性恋身份的克林贡角色的扮演者，他所饰演的角色对观众意义重大。“我真希望我能公开那些私信，因为我收到的爱是排山倒海般的，”迪亚内说。
Trek even had a point of view on AI that feels incredibly relevant in 2026 as Trump and Silicon Valley leaders talk about a new era of “superintelligence.” The franchise’s most recognizable AI—the android Data from Next Generation—was an ideal version of the technology. In that series Data consistently struggled to be understood, as both smarter than humans and incapable of emotional intelligence. One episode, “The Measure of a Man,” even addressed whether Data was his own being or merely property.
《星际迷航》甚至对人工智能也有过观点，这在2026年显得格外贴切，因为特朗普和硅谷领袖们正在谈论“超级智能”的新时代。该系列中最具辨识度的人工智能——《下一代》中的仿生人Data——是该技术的理想版本。在那部剧中，Data始终在努力寻求被理解，因为它既比人类聪明，又缺乏情感智能。其中一集《人的衡量》（The Measure of a Man）甚至探讨了Data究竟是一个独立的个体，还是仅仅是一件财产。
For Spiner, who played Data, AI’s modern incarnation is far from the thoughtful machine he portrayed. “If only AI could be what Data was: responsible, truly concerned about humanity, considering what serves humans best as opposed to what serves profit best,” he says.
对于饰演Data的斯派尔来说，现代人工智能的化身与他所塑造的那个深思熟虑的机器相去甚远。“如果人工智能能像Data那样就好了：负责任、真正关心人类，考虑什么对人类最有利，而不是什么对利润最有利，”他说。