Film

Trekkies

Name: Trekkies
Genre: Documentary
Released: 1997
Cast: Denise Crosby, Barbara Adams, Majel Barrett, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley

A time capsule from 1997, when convention culture was still a punchline and nobody outside it understood the appeal. Denise Crosby, Tasha Yar herself, wanders conventions and living rooms interviewing Trekkers about the uniforms, the fan fiction, the dentist who did all his patients' teeth in Klingon regalia. Affectionate rather than mocking, it's a genuinely sweet portrait of belonging before fandom went mainstream.

TMDb rating

6.3

If you liked this

Galaxy Quest1999

The funniest, kindest satire of exactly this world ever made — a washed-up sci-fi cast discovers their fans worship them as gospel. It gets the tenderness right, not just the jokes.

But If you want reality rather than affectionate fiction, this scratches a different itch entirely.

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope2011no page yet

Morgan Spurlock's documentary widens the lens from Star Trek to the whole convention ecosystem — costume-makers, aspiring artists, a soldier proposing at the booth. Same devotion, bigger tent.

But Broader scope means less depth on any one subculture; you lose the specificity that makes Trekkies sing.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters2007

Obsession with a rigid, mockable hobby, played completely straight and turned into something gripping and weirdly moving. The villain is a masterpiece of a person.

But Arcade politics and a Donkey Kong high-score feud are a stranger hook than Star Trek, even if they land.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Heavy Metal Parking Lot1986no page yet

Same idea as Trekkies stripped to its studs: turn the camera on the crowd instead of the stage, decades earlier and rougher, proving the impulse to document fandom predates fandom being taken seriously.

A scrappy 17-minute VHS document of Judas Priest fans tailgating before a show — raw, unedited devotion caught a decade before anyone thought to point a camera at fans on purpose.

But It's a curio, not a film — no narrative arc, just vérité chaos, and some will find it thin.

Best in Show2000

Christopher Guest's mockumentary about dog-show devotees is fiction, but it understands obsessive subculture down to the marrow — the earnestness is the joke and the point.

But It's scripted comedy, not real people, so the emotional stakes never quite match a genuine documentary's.

American Movie1999

A documentary about a broke Wisconsin filmmaker chasing his horror-movie dream against all sense. Funnier and sadder than Trekkies, with the same warmth toward people who refuse to let go of a fiction.

But It's about making art badly rather than loving art devotedly — a slightly different flavour of obsession.

The People vs. George Lucas2010no page yet

Fandom's darker cousin: what happens when devoted fans turn on the creator they once worshipped. A fascinating companion piece on ownership and betrayal within fan culture.

But More argument than affection — if you want gentle, this one has teeth.

Elstree 19762015no page yet

Interviews with the anonymous extras and bit-players from the original Star Wars, decades later, grappling with fame's strange residue. A quieter, more melancholy fandom story from the other side of the camera.

But Slow and reflective rather than energetic — this is Trekkies' mellow, middle-aged relative.

Spellbound2002

Kids obsessing over spelling bees with the same all-consuming intensity Trekkies' subjects bring to phasers and Klingon grammar. Warm, funny, and surprisingly tense.

But No fictional universe involved — the obsession here is competitive, not devotional, which changes the flavour.

Star Trek: The Next Generation1987

If you've somehow watched Trekkies without watching the show itself, this is the mothership — smart, humane sci-fi that explains exactly why people built their lives around it.

But Some early seasons are rough, and it's a serious time investment for something you came to a documentary to avoid.

Otaku no Video1991no page yet

It's Trekkies turned inside out — same subject, obsessive fan identity and community, but delivered through the medium the fans themselves consume, animation, collapsing the line between the documentary and its target.

A Japanese anime that alternates real talking-head interviews with animated fictional segments about becoming an otaku — a documentary about fandom that becomes the very thing it's documenting.

But Subtitled anime with dated animation and a self-mocking structure that's confusing if you don't already know the genre it's parodying.

Marjoe1972

Same structural question as Trekkies asked without the fondness: what does it cost, and what does someone gain, when identity and community are built entirely on devotion to something staged.

Oscar-winning documentary following a charismatic child evangelist who admits, on camera, that his revival performances are theatre. A serious, unsettling look at the machinery behind belief and belonging.

But There's no affection here, only exposure — cynical where Trekkies is warm, and considerably heavier going.