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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."— Arthur C. Clarke

Saturday, May 16, 2009

STAR TREK – Awesomeness . . . in Space!

This review contains spoilers. Just wanted to let you know ahead of time just in case you have not seen this movie yet.I went to see this movie this morning and I have to tell you, after I watched it I was sorely tempted to head over to the box office and by another ticket to see it again. I decided not to because I figured my wife and baby would maybe like to see me some time today. I was absolutely blown away by this movie. Oh yeah; it was that good! I think that the way this movie was set up was ingenious. The whole story was based around this idea of an alternate reality. The great thing about this way of approaching a new Star Trek film is that it allowed director J.J. Abrams and writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman to create an alternate version of the Star Trek reality without throwing out the history established in the original show, subsequent series and movies. With the inclusion of the future Spock we have the ability for both the original timeline and history to have been real as well and the version that transpires in this movie. So this was not truly a remake as much as a rather plausible and believable alternate version of the Star Trek universe.Since this was only meant to be a slightly modified, alternate version of the original story it was important that the various characters be essentially the same. I think they did this incredibly well. They managed to give a look to the film that made you feel that though you were seeing at a slightly updated version of the Star Trek world it still clearly reminded the viewer of the original show. As a lifelong Star Trek fan there were a lot of subtle little things from the old show that I was glad to see were included in this film. Scotty yelling: “I’m givin’ it all she’s got Captain.” Dr. McCoy telling Spock: “I’m a doctor not a physicist.” Sulu being trained in fencing. Chekov’s inability to pronounce the letter “v” (“We are looking for the nuclear wessels”). Uhura’s earpiece. The fact that Captain Pike ended up in a wheelchair. The communicators that looked like flip phones. Kirk's liking for green women.Of course, one of the biggest nods to fans was also one of the film’s most subtle. One of the little oddities in the original Star Trek series had to do with red uniforms. When Captain Kirk would lead an away team down to a planet if you saw a guy in that group who you had never seen before, had no idea who he was and he was wearing a red shirt, you could be fairly certain that the team was going to be attacked or there would be an accident and the unnamed, red shirted crewmember was going to die. This became so predictable during the show’s run that once when I was watching a TV special about Star Trek back when I was in high school James Doohan (who played Scotty) actually made a joke about it. Well, in this film Kirk, Sulu and some random crewmember in a red shirt all parachute down onto this giant drill that is cutting into the planet Vulcan. One of them died; I guess you can figure out which one. Did J.J. Abrams do that on purpose? I like to think so.Now, as much as I loved this movie there were a few little things that kinda made me scratch my head. The whole romance between Spock and Uhura was a little weird. I also thought that it was a bit far fetched that in a matter of about a day Kirk would go from being a Starfleet cadet to becoming the captain of the Federation’s new flagship. Of course, I got over those things pretty quickly. All things considered this was a great movie and I really hope that they make another one in the not too distant future.

3 comments:

  1. For someone who has no clue about Star Trek, this was a good review. Especially the funny line parts.

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  2. I also share much of the same feelings. Spock was too emotional for me, and until I saw the "Old -- New" image array that you posted, I thought that his face was too smooth.

    I laughed and commented to Erin about the Red Shirt during the show. I thought that was a great side joke. I would like to think that the director also did it on purpose.

    I felt that the levity and humor in this show were very true to the original Star Trek. I also felt that character adaptations where excellently done.

    I can't wait to see where this goes. I would love to see another movie and a TV series with this group. In another blog I read that the general cast have all signed on for two more shows.

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  3. Also, Was the eyebrow raise for real? Or did the new Spock have to have them Hollywood it in?

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