Search - William Shatner's Spplat Attack on DVD

Paint-ball fight with Shatner - Need I say more?

Ian A. Chapman | Victoria, Australia | 01/22/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"William Shatner's Spplat Attack: 1:21:45. This is Shatner like you have hopefully never seen him before. In the guise of a paint-ball game, the Klingon, Borg, and Federation will battle fight for possession of an all-powerful weapon controlled by an alien called Big Giant Head. Though this does sound contrived, all is simpler than you might expect. It is just a bunch of Americans shooting paint-balls at each other for the better part of an hour interspersed with strategy and laughs. If this sounds bad, it is not. The program starts off at a bit of a spoof to trek and deals with all things in a light manner. The three teams, the Klingon and Borg in very similar costumes, and the Federation in bright red shirts, battle it out using paint-balls and under-hand plots. You also get to see Shatner's current wife, who does not get to feature much though she does look very apt as shooting things, and his daughter who acts as a war journalist in a lovely yellow top. The outcome of the various battles and sieges are not pre-planned, even though the Federation does tend to do better, despite being in bright red shirts that do not seamlessly blend in with the paint splattered trees. If you like Shatner at his even at his worst, then you really cannot miss this.Shatner's Combat Training: 5:23. This begins with Shatner discussing his plans for the paint-ball game. He mentioners how he wants the Klingon and Borg armies to be fighting among themselves. He is fairly serious while plotting, and appears to talk about the the sides in more their Star Trek terms than team. Next there is a brief bit about safety then you go straight to watching Shatner in a trial paint-ball run. This is fun to watch as he really does look his age and he gets hit in the jaw. The final segment shows the attempted trial launches of the parachute. Fine to watch but this does not really inform, just show what Shatner learnt [hence the training].Extreme Paint-ball: Out-takes and Outrageousness: 5:07. This starts with a couple of accidents involving the camera man, namely him walking into the tent and him being shot in the delicates [he was not wearing lower protection] when he rounded a corner. There is a fun bit where Shatner talks to Welt-Man, a bloke who does not wear protection, and a sequence where he was [in protection] pounded with paint-balls for a good minuet or so. Then there is an extended sequence showing Shatner and co shooting a man after saying they would not and continued to do so as he was down until he cried out in pain for them to stop. It ends with w fun bit with the Big Giant Head caught talking to Yoda on his mobile before going into his warning voice mode.The Arsenal: 16 pages. A lengthy text read on various aspects on the paint-ball gun. Fairly interesting, but best for people who have some interest in the sport. It is nice to include this on the dvd as a little extra.Tom's Tips: 10 Pages. Here are eight frequently asked questions with well informed answers about paint-balling and how to get into the sport. This is useful only if you are interested in participating in paint-balling and have never done so before.Maps of the Course: 5 Pics. This is just a gallery of five areas seen in the main feature. They include the Wastelands, Bedlam, Armageddon, Temple of Doom, and Fort Courage. This is actually good because during the main feature you did not get many aerial shots, so it was hard to see the big picture. Having seen these it does help somewhat.Inside Challenge Park: 1.29. Essentially an add for challenge park. Fairly pointless. They should have just included this with all the ads they placed at the start of the dvd [through which you could luckily fast forward].Photo Gallery: 15 Pics. I do not really see the point in photo galleries on dvds. If you want an image you use freeze frame, unless is it publicity material or behind the scenes - which none of these are. All the photos are good enough and it is worth the thirty seconds it would take to read. Only a couple of them are worth while though. On the third image, press left a couple of times and there is a 0:25 clip of Shatner saying that the other teams will lose the final battle, in a very non-subtle way.Biographies: 17 Pages. The first one is Shatner which provides a fine background but tells you of nothing new. The second one is of Mancow and is much more interesting as you have never heard of him. It also is rather funny when talking how he managed to close off the Golden Gate Bridge. The third, Tom Kaye, is not really worth reading unless you have too much time on your hands. In Creative Light Video there is nothing worth reading, but here is an easter egg lasting for 1:24 with Shatner talking about a couple of battles, his wife, and how he distrusted a borg informant. JJ Brookshire and Forest G. Brown are both of less interest, even when combined, than the CLV one, only this time without the egg. For another egg, you can go the the last page of Shatner's Biography and press right twice. This has a 1:11 clip of a lady making some dreadful noise in the tune of the classic trek theme. She should be shot. I think she is hot on Shatner, who looks a little bemused."

This old man he played paintball.

Ian A. Chapman | 12/12/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Knick knack paddy whack whack whack whack. The paintballs are flying and William ( J T Kirk) Shatner is up to the challenge. This movie is part game and part story. There's sci-fi stuff straight out of Star Trek -even the Borg -but it's like a reality game show too. William Shatner leads his army of about 500 troops against 2 others, Klingons and Borg. He's out numbered two to one. You can't tell how real it is. But it feels real. They keep score. Did they script it so Shatner could lead the Federation to victory? But there are backstabs and double crosses and Shatner leads like a true captain through it all. Often he's on the front lines of fire.In some ways this is a low budget movie like a TV show like Survivor or Fear Factor but then it's like the biggest battle scenes in Lord of The Rings. Except these warriors are all real people. No computer generated invading hordes. Paintball players from all around the country came out to take their shots at Kirk. When you see hundreds of them running over the hill and a cloud of paintballs whizzing by you wonder if the high budget high tech way is all that impressive compared to the real thing.Shatner always brings his smirking sense of humor. Which is good because his enemy makes fun of his singing, his priceline commercials and his job on Star Trek V. And there are lighter moments when he's at the command center with his daughter and wife but most of the action is on the field and he's there too with a smoke gernade, as a tank commander, as a sniper and with a paint gernade.If this movie had a Vulcan army I'd give it the 5th star."

You've got to be kidding

W. Six | 12/11/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To be totally honest I don't have the DVD yet. I saw this on pay per view and ordered it the day it went on sale. I'm not a Star Trek fan so when a friend who played in the game told me about this video I was like "So what." But curiosity got the better of me and I bought the pay per view. This was amazing but it's hard to explain. It's Shatner leading the Federation against a team of Borg and Klingon forces. Each team has to have at least several hundred players because the end scene with everyone rushing that town is insane. If that's all it was I might have only given it 3 stars for the effort but what really makes it great is the behind the scenes stuff. Shatner is a fox on the battlefield. When the Borg and Klingons team up against him he uses that to his advantage and ends up getting them to fight each other while his team cleans up. Like I said, it's hard to describe but it's amazing to watch. The more I think about it the more I come to the conclusion that the reason it's difficult to describe is because it's not like anything else out there I've seen before...."

It's not a movie!

W. Six | 01/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those who are panning this as a low budget movie, you have totally missed the point. This was a film about a scenario paintball game. Essentially, a camera crew chased a bunch of paintball players around. If you get this expecting some grand Star Trek drama, then you will be disappointed. If you get this expecting it to be what it was...a paintball game on film, then you will be pleased."