Star Trek
January 20th, 2010 | 
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J.J. Abrams’ 2009 feature film was billed as “not your father’s Star Trek,” but your father will probably love it anyway. And what’s not to love? It has enough action, emotional impact, humor, and sheer fun for any moviegoer, and Tre…
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First off let me say that I am a devoted Star Trek fan, but not a die hard trecker. I don’t own a Star Trek encyclopedia, never went to an event, don’t speak klingon, and don’t own a uniform. But I grew up watching the original series in reruns (TOS). I was so hooked, I never missed a single episode if I could somehow help it, come hell or high water. I also loved the motion pictures with the original cast. But they lost me with TNG (the next generation). I really tried to like it, but never came to care for the characters. Enter the Borgs and I was so disgusted that at that point I jumped ship. Everything produced after TNG went straight over my head. From what I learned, I am not the only one.
I watched this new movie three times. Then I spent a lot of time online reading reviews and opinions. I carefully read all the the complains, the criticism. And I can’t help but agree. Does this movie carry a message? Other than the hint about water boarding, probably not. Is it about peaceful exploration? No! Does it suffer from ADHD? Is it too fast paced, is there too much action and violence packed in a weak story line, does it have huge plot holes? Is the Kirk character a little over the edge? Does Spock act out of character? Does the whole time travel and alternative universe business stink somewhat? Yes, guilty on all charges. Did I care for this thing between Spock and Uhura? Nay…
Is this Star Trek after all??? Yes, it is!
I loved the movie. In fact, I weeped with joy. This movie makes me feel like being reunited with dear long lost friends that were left behind for dead. Not to mention the fact that it beamed me right back into my childhood.
The key figures of the cast are terrific! Time for a big sigh of relief: Zacchary Quinto was spot on, which is vital for many folks including me who feel that Spock is the character that makes Star Trek truly special. Chris Pine and Karl Urban did a fantastic job too. All supporting characters also are portrayed very well. I admit I didn’t care at all for Ben Cross as Sarek. He somehow always lookes like he was pouting.
Some of the characters come with a slightly different flavor. Spock is still a little green behind the ears (pun intended!). Kirk is over the edge rebellious, constantly hanging over a cliff with a bloody nose, and doesn’t show any interest of classic literature as of yet . But all that makes sense, its an age thing.
The only really regrettable twist concerns Amanda. Her character hardly gets any attention and than gets killed of. Along with the whole planet Vulcan at that. That is really hard to stomach, I am still chewing on that one.
And still this movie feels so GOOD! It’s hard to explain, but I give it a try.
Every once in a while along comes a show or story that simply is somehow…magic. That has the stuff fairy tales are made of. That has something that resonates with a primal common core deep inside. Magic is not just a thing of the distant past; they still make that stuff. Really! Simply by following ancient, time proven recipes.
Walt Disney, for example, knows a thing or two about magic. Cinderella will never go out of style!
Star Trek TOS has that magic. This is why it survived early cancellation in the late sixties. Not only survived, but from there it kept thriving. Despite the painfully cheesy low budget production and reluctant studio bosses who did their best to slash creativity for ratings. Despite the ‘Mary Sues’ in ridiculously short mini skirts, and terrible special effects. Maybe Star Trek TOS survived and thrived not despite but because it was cancelled, who knows?
Don’t take me wrong, many of the episodes contain great drama, good conflict with plenty of thought provoking messages. Reflecting on the war in Vietnam Rodenberry’s Starfleet stands for a military force as it should be, using weapons only as a last option, strictly adhering to the prime directive of non interference but still somehow finding ways to stand its ground. What is not to like?
But the main reason for Star Trek TOS’s huge success is the character constellation and the chemistry between them. Because they all present old, well known stereotypes.
The Kirk, Spock and McCoy troika forms the core. Spock, superior to the mere humans around him, standing for knowledge, science, reason and control, McCoy for expressing and dealing with lower emotions like fear and doubt, but also deep care and nurture as a healer or doctor. The love/hate relationship between those two provides great drama and charming humor. Kirk consults with these two opposites, puts it all together, adds human instincts, intuition and leadership. Now Enterprise is ready to take action.
This set of 3 is supported by a framework made of the 4 remaining personalities on the Enterprise bridge, each presenting a different corner and culture of the globe. Uhura from Africa the South, soft spoken and exotic. Scott from Scotland in the North, crafty and energetic. Sulu from Japan in the West, calm with a zen like smile. And Chekov from Russia in the East, the youngest in the lot, eager to please, still an ensign and somewhat low in the food chain, so he doesn’t post any threat to the sixties cold war audience.
They all line up like ducks in a row or the seven chakras. The Enterprise is the shiny powerful vehicle that holds all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Put it all on a new and exciting stage, a promising, positive future, and success is almost inevitable. But if you take away a piece of the puzzle, or the Enterprise, or change the pattern somehow, things get out of balance. This is why things went downhill with all the spin offs. Over time, Star Trek slowly but surely disintegrated.
So cliche, some complain. But that doesn’t always has to be a flaw, Here it is a thing of beauty.
The TOS concept is so simple and elegant, is so immensely satisfying. This is why so many people are fascinated by the Star Trek phenomena. It strikes an ancient cord, it resonates with us.
Now, JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, put the pieces back together, and Star Trek as we know and love it is back. They captured the essence and take us to the very beginning of the Enterprise saga and its unique crew, and despite all this new background noise (plot holes, ADHD and all, see above) the story still flows seamlessly, still feels right. Again. All hands back on deck, everybody is back on station. The spirit of Star Trek is back. For that I am eternally grateful!!!
If cutting edge special effects and an action filled plot with with lots of humor help drawing wider attention and get more people on board, well, that’s even for the better!
Lets hope that in future sequels our friends stay together and are allowed to do some growing up from here, getting a little more reflective and wiser on the way, taking us along for the ride. And that the spirit of Star Trek doesn’t get watered down to oblivion again. And I hope and pray that our new alternate universe doesn’t come with Borgs!!!
To cite Nimoy’s Spock: “Have faith that the universe unfolds the way it should” (Star Trek VI). And: “Go with what feels right” (Star Trek 2009)
Well, that is the way I feel!
Please excuse my english, I am not from your world, ummh continent
If you are quite young and experiencing Star Trek for the first time, you will probably enjoy this movie. But you are not experiencing the real Star Trek in any way.
I am 55 years old, and have been a big fan of the Star Trek franchise since Capt. Kirk and crew first debuted on the small screen on NBC in the late 1960’s. I have thrilled at all of the TV spin-offs of Star Trek. I was whisked away with glorious adventure with all of the Star Trek movies. Gene Roddenberry was and still is a hero to us true Trekkie’s. But I am certain that our old long passed friend, Gene, is turning in his grave at this latest installment of the Star Trek franchise. I know that Gene would not approve of what they have done to his dream. If he were alive today, this movie would have never been made.
The original TV shows and movies were a bright and wonderful adventure. They gave us a positive glimpse into the future, even if it was just fantasy. The shows had great special effects, but they weren’t the whole show. They had real story lines to follow. It was an escape into a better time. The cast members from ST:TOS through ST: Enterprise, became our hero’s. We knew personal details about each character like they were old friends. We got to be involved with their personal lives and careers. They were real human beings that acted their roles well. Even though the look and technology in the shows advanced with time, the original formula that was a Gene Roddenberry signature was always easily recognized, and truly appreciated. When Gene passed away, Rick Berman and his crew followed very closely to Gene’s formula, and kept the feel of Star Trek alive and well. If this is what you are expecting with this new Star Trek movie, you will be greatly disappointed.
Remember the last Ford Thunderbird that was made? It really wasn’t a Thunderbird. It was a completely different car with the name “Thunderbird” put on it to attract buyers. This new Star Trek movie is not really a Star Trek Movie. They just kept the original crew names and the Star Trek label to attract older Trekkie’s.
This latest Star Trek movie is very different in every way. I can only think that the writers and producers did this to attract a whole new younger, texting, video game playing generation. JJ Abrams has turned Star Trek into a dark version of itself. It looks fake like a video game turned into a movie. The old Roddenberry formula has been thrown out the window, and replaced with a dark “What if” version. In other words, what if Star Trek had not began and played out the way it was originally written and portrayed over the last 45 years? Kirk, McCoy, Chekov, Sulu, Scottie, and Uhura were never on the Enterprise under Capt. Pike. But they are in this movie. The entire design and layout of the Enterprise from bow to stern is completely changed. The bridge has technology that resembles the 24th century episodes, except the main viewer is now a glass window instead of the original electronic screen. Engineering looks like an old factory with water pipes running everywhere. Even the transporter beam now looks like cutesy swirling sparkling stars, instead of the original color beams that faded the person away. In this version, it seems that Uhura and Spock have the hots for each other. What’s up with that? And Vulcan has been destroyed. This movie depended completely on CGI special effects and very little story line for the characters. For all of us true Star Trek fans, Star Trek ended with the movie “Nemesis”, and the TV series, “Enterprise”.
On the technical side, the BluRay version is no better than the standard DVD. Many scenes are in a haze, some look grainy like an old movie. I have standard DVDs that look better. Also, way too much editing. Scenes are constantly changing, making it hard to follow the actors and action.
The Amazon.com details for the BluRay DVD claim it is in Dolby Digital 5.1 Extended surround. But it is actually in True HD surround. This means if your audio system is like most systems, you will not hear it in Dolby Digital 5.1. Instead you will hear it in Dolby Pro-Logic only. The real joke is, you can switch to the French or Spanish audio tracks and hear the audio in full Dolby Digital 5.1. But the English track is in Pro-Logic for most people. I have a full digital 7.1 surround system, but I had to hear it in Pro-Logic. I was very disappointed in this. I am going to return the BluRay version and get the standard DVD instead. It is the only way I will get to hear the audio in Dolby Digital 5.1, and I know the picture quality will be as good. Standard DVDs do not carry True HD audio, so it will be in Dolby Digital 5.1 EX or DTS-ES6.1, or both.
Overall, the movie was filled with excitement, had a few good moments, and it was nice to see the older Mr. Spock from the future. He was the only sign that reminded me I was actually watching a Star Trek movie. Just don’t waste your money on the BluRay version. Only buy the Standard DVD. If future Star Trek movies look anything like this one, I probably will just wait for it to get on HBO to check it out.
Growing up watching the first `Star Trek: The Original Series (Remastered) – Three Season Pack‘ series, I was always transported by the voyages of the USS Enterprise. During the late sixties the show was enticingly different and bound to reach its cult status. It was always a wonderful departure from the endless inane sitcoms and the TV treadmill of rehashed Westerns, variety shows, and other drivel. ‘Star Trek’ did for TV during the sixties what ‘Twilight Zone: The Complete Definitive Collection‘ did during the late fifties.
How does the Prequel to the series add up? Of course the technology makes this outing as worthwhile as most of the ‘Star Trek’ movies since the first one in ‘79, so we have to evaluate the other elements. This time Chris Pine (who reminded me that Paul Walker could have taken the helm) plays a callow Kirk, and the prologue sports scenes of barroom brawls and drag racing in highway space vehicles. More interesting is Spock’s evolution as a vulcan valedictorian+. Young Spock (Zachary Quinto*) is half human, half vulcan, so his apprenticeship to the enterprise gives us an offering of a hot-tempered maverick to go with the cool-headed logician–a conflicted young man who has to choose his own destiny.
The plot and places we visit are more familiar than the character exposition. Although these elements are somewhat suspenseful, they are also less worthwhile. In one scene when our heroes are out on a precipice, I felt the camera shots were vertiginous enough to carry the adventure–even if I felt I had been there before. The menace of the villain (aptly named Nero [Eric Bana]) is palpable enough, but not necessarily distinctive. The visuals and methods of their weaponry aren’t entirely original, either, but there’s enough thrill in the chase to find yourself clinging to your seat.
My favorite aspect-besides Spock’s coming-of-age deliberations–is a wrap around time element that is quite effective. I won’t give away the guest star, but I got goose-flesh when time warp came into fruition. Indeed, I should mention that with Bruce Greenwood, it is a bit of an indictment that the elder members of the cast carry the show far better than their younger counterparts.
As escapist adventure, `Star Trek’ more than satisfies, but the beginning adventure doesn’t always “Go where no man has gone before”. Especially for the ones in the audience.
+ figuratively, not literally
* source IMDb