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The greatest adventure of all time begins with Star Trek, the incredible story of a young crew’s maiden voyage onboard the most advanced starship ever created: the U.S.S. Enterprise. On a journey filled with action, comedy and cosmic peril, the new recruits must find a way to stop an evil being whose mission of vengeance threatens all of mankind. The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk (Chris Pine), is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock (Zachary Quinto), was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Damnit, J.J., I’m A Fanboy Not A Relativistic Physicist!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Ever since the crew of the original NCC-1701 Enterprise signed off at the end of “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country”, the film franchise had taken a nosedive. Besides “First Contact”, all the subsequent films only served to facilitate the demise of the franchise, with “Nemesis” seemingly the final shovel-full of dirt into the coffin. With the “Original Series” cast gone, the franchise (at least in terms of box office and TV ratings, not fanboys like me who will watch it regardless of popularity!) slowly died away.
However, after young director J.J. Abrams began building a name for himself with such projects as “Alias”, “LOST”, and “Cloverfield”, he decided to tackle the challenge of making Star Trek relevant again to today’s audiences. By and large Abrams accomplished that goal with flying colors, although not without a few hiccups along the way:
The Good:
-Since the “Original Series” characters are still (some 40+ years removed from their show) the heart of the Star Trek franchise (people don’t flock to conventions to see Scott Bakula!), Abrams resurrects them in this film by showing them in their early years of space exploration. This proves to be the biggest success of the film, as nods to TOS abound throughout the movie. Since those are the characters we care the most about, we hang on the edge of our seats to see a young Captain Kirk get a little feisty, a young Spock raise that eyebrow, or a young Leonard “Bones” McCoy utter his trademark grumbly phrases.
-Along with the time-period (pre-TOS) choice, the casting is also spot-on. On can easily imagine Chris Pine growing into the Kirk popularized by William Shatner, while Zachary Quinto also portrays a very believable Spock. Perhaps the most fun character in the film to watch, though, is
Karl Urban as the cantankerous (even at a young age!) Bones. The actors playing the characters of Uhura, Scotty, Chekhov, and Sulu also turn in performances that easily harken back to their TOS predecessors. An appearance from old hand Leonard Nimoy (which turns out to be a lot more than just a cameo!) also fits right in to the flow of the film, not seeming forced or desperate.
The Bad:
-The main plot of the film, which involves time-travel. While I won’t spoil the entire plot in this review, suffice it to say that trying to figure out all the nuances of the plot is like trying to pin down Season Five of LOST…you can try all you want, but since time-travel is (at best) a theoretical concept, you will not succeed. Too many times during the viewing of this film did I find myself wondering “huh?”.
-Though promised a villain, in Nero, to be the equal of Captain Kirk, instead we get a character with much less development than Shinzon from “Nemesis”. The best of the Star Trek movies (besides part IV) have all featured villains (Khan, Klingons, Borg, etc.) that are just as interesting as the protagonists. Though Eric Bana plays the role of Nero as best he can, there just isn’t enough (any?!) character development to make him a viable and interesting villain.
All in all, although this Star Trek reboot did a few things wrong, it still did many more things right. I compare it to “Batman Begins”, where all the nods to previous Batman films were “gotten out of the system” and thus the franchise could move forward to create the remarkable “Dark Knight”. I can see the EXACT same thing happening to this Star Trek reboot. Though some Trekkies may be a bit peeved at the ending, it still (one way or another) paves the road for (hopefully!) many more Star Trek adventures to come!
Star trek in French????
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
They come out with this great movie and only offer FRENCH with English sub-titles? When can we get the English spoken version?
Star Trek
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
One of the best films of 2009. I went into it with no knowledge of any Star Trek history and loved it. I think if you like a good story, good dialogue, good action, and great characters this is the film for you. It also has one of the best ensemble cast I have ever seen. I would recommend watching it in theaters or at least on a big screen.
Will there be a sequel?
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Yes this Star Trek movie is a somewhat different take on the original, but I think it fits really well. It’s Star Trek movie making brought into the 21st Century. The plot and characterizations are certainly well done, and the energy is kept moving from start to finish. I couldn’t find a dull moment. The movie ended in its well rounded conclusion, and I was left on the edge of my seat thinking only, “and what happens next?” as I found myself impatiently waiting to see what the next adventure would be. It’s like Harry Potter fans who finish the book and can’t think about much else except the next one they hope will be coming out. Though some Star Trek fans do not like the changes made from the original series or movies, the creators of this version paid very due respect to the original and took it into a slightly alternate reality, one that I think fits current sensibilities much better than the earlier versions can now. So, as long as it’s the same team doing it again, you did a great job, let’s see another!
the trek
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This movie was a great adaptation to the original I believe a finer job could not have been done to gap the bridge of entertainment for fans and none fans alike, this will be my next blue-ray movie i cant wait to see it on my HD television
acceptable
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I came to watch this movie with great expectation and came away with a headache. I rate this movie a 5 overall—it is no match when compared to the original–it was interesting but the actors really did not excite me—see it after you drink a six pac and smoke weed then it may make overall sense to you.
Fantastic!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I did not think it possible but they did it! Star Trek 2009 kept the original themes and styles while bringing the Trek into the 21st century. I was thoroughly entertained. The group of people that went with me to see this movie at the IMAX was a mixture of ages from teenagers to senior citizens. We all loved this movie. Best flick of 2009 so far.
It is Star Trek but it isn’t Great Star Trek
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I have struggled with this film for a while and while I love to have Star Trek in any form; my ultimate and final evaluation of this film is: we did not get what we were promised.
For years leading to the release of Star Trek XI (Now conveniently rebadged Star Trek AR) we were told by Abrams and crew the focus here was to make a great film – more so than great Star Trek. The intent was to make a “realistic” space epic and a great film. In trying to do both it may have succeeded in wetting long time Trekker appetites for their film fix but a closer inspection shows a failure on both fronts.
The story was a contrivance of convenience and happenstance, where an untested and inexperienced command crew finds fleet’s brand new flagship falling into their hands. To me these occurrences are not very realistic – are they? The film asks the viewer to suspend belief on two many different levels in order to make Star Trek happen. While to my surprise the cast turned out to be best talent one could have hope for in a Star Trek reboot (even Peg and Urban pulled off their performances despite my early skepticisms), it is rather unbelievable how the story unfolds. Preferred might have been a streamlined, allegorical, version introducing new (or previously unexplored) characters with the center formed around the big three – Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. And, yes, perhaps they could have left the Enterprise out until the very end.
If they were truly making this movie for those who know Star Trek and those who are newcomers to the experience alike, why did the story have to be crammed with unsubstantiated character development? Were they truly trying to make a great film or were they making a great cash cow? The motives are suspect; it comes to mind that Paramount never did have the great financial success with Star Trek that Star Wars brought to FOX; and here, I think we have an instance were maybe they have reached too far with the beloved icons from one legendary genre trying to bridge into another. For me, this just did not work; maybe the next one will seem less contrived.
3 out of 5 Stars.
Lifelong Star Trek fan but, this movie is utter dreck
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I can’t say enough terrible things about this peice of garbage of a movie. I love Star Trek, i own all the seasons of every series on DVD, I like most of the movies but, if you’re a fan of Star Trek save yourself the anger that this pile of crap will instill in you, and give it a miss.
What’s wrong with it? I honestly don’t know where to start… every single scene can be just picked apart and critcised endlessly. They took all existing mythology surrounding the series, everything that was coolo about Star Trek, and dumbed it down into a cutesy, pop-culture mess. From the fact that Spock is about 80 years old in the original series, yet looks as young as Kirk in thios movie (I guess Vulcans just suddenly age a lot between 65 and 80) to the fact that Spock is boning Uhuru, and has STRONG EMOTIONS about whether he should continue with their relationship or devote himself fully to Starfleet, to the fact that the Federation’s Flagship gets it’s ass kick by a danged mining vessel… J.J. Abrams should be hanged for producing this offense to Trek fans evertywhere.
And these are pretty harsh closing words for this review but, it has to be said… if you consider yourself s Star Trek fan and you actually liked this movie? You never understood Star Trek in the first place.
Thsi is Space 90210… not Star Trek. Too bad I coudn’t have given it a negative score… 1 star is more than it deserves.
This is not Star Trek
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I agree with others who have said this is not Gene Roddenberry’s vision of Star Trek. Its frenetic action pace a comic relief was conceived by people who know how to make typical Hollywood blockbusters and who appropriated (quite inappropriately) the Star Trek name. Star Trek, although it has moments of action is a decidedly non-kinetic property; it’s cerebral. This movie is the antithesis of Star Trek. Also, its goofball humor was entirely out of place–like something you might see in a Shrek movie (numb tongue? come on). One of the things that really bothers me is how the movie sucked out all of the mystique from the legend of how Kirk defeated the Kobyashi Maru by making a silly laugh riot out of it. This movie is terrible because it comes from the same soulless mindset that produced movies like Armageddon, and Transformers (Michael Bayism). The producers and writers wanted to make a Trek that would appeal to everyone (and therefore make a lot of money), but original Trek was not a vision MEANT to appeal to everyone. It’s why the Trek films usually did well at the box office but were not exactly “blockbusters.” I’m so depressed about the state of Star Trek. If Brannon Braga was responsible for driving it into the ground, at least he was trying to be faithful to the original vision. He was a fan. J.J. Abrams is an opportunist (not that I dislike J.J. Abrams–he is responsible for some good stuff, but he himself said he was never really into Star Trek, hence the complete disconnect between this film and what Star Trek really is. I wish so much we could have seen Bryan Singer (a fan of Trek) do a film with the Next Generation cast. I’m sick of Hollywood’s crap.
Star Trek always mostly appealed to a certain type of fan. It was a particular science fiction vision that was not, like most summer blockbusters (I’m looking at you Transformers) 75% action and 25% bad humor. It was science fiction that actually had a vision, and some action, yes, but in the service of a broader, more philosophical perspective. Indeed, it WAS a philosophy, not a money-making scheme like this movie. I think Gene Roddenberry would be horrified to see that his creation has been turned into the worst kind of crass, soulless, commercialist hollywood dreck.
I’ve seen the Blu Ray…Ok but not great
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Blu Ray is released Nov 17th. So how am I writing this review on Oct 30th? Well…for some reason Australia’s been getting Star Trek Blu Ray releases well ahead of US dates. We got the Original 6 movie Blu Ray set several weeks before the US release and here we are at nearly 3 weeks ahead of the US with the new Star Trek Movie.
And you’re wondering…how is it?
Not bad…But did it knock my socks off? Nope…not really…no. Should you buy it? YES!
What’s the problem?
Muted colors. The film has a kind of browny, sandy washed out look to it. If I remember correctly, in the cinema the film looked more stunning. The bridge of the enterprise had a clean glassy and super colorful look to it. On Blu Ray, The reds, yellows and blues of the uniforms don’t have the same striking color – they look dull and washed out. Skin tones are more grey and brown here with a hint of blue. Disappointing
The Blu Ray lacks that visual pop of the better recent releases. Think the intro sequence for Watchmen (stylised but stunning). This image is kind of soft and inconsistent. Some scenes are sharper, others flatter and softer. The space battle scenes should look a heck of a lot better. Given the kinetic energy of the movie, especially in combat, the detail can tend to get lost in the softness. You’ll know there’s a problem in the opening scenes with George Kirk with all the worst quaities I describe here.
Lot of people here commented on the lousy image quality of the original 6 movies on Blu Ray. In my book, at least the original Star Trek the motion picture on blu ray looks better than this.
Also, this film wins the award, hands down for the most overuse of lens flair…ever. If you don’t believe me, check it out when you get it. You’ll count at least 75% of the shots with some excessive flare glare on the screen. This is a major distration. Lens flare drowns out detail, overblows contrast frequently, etc etc. Related to this, the film also shows the worst elements of the anamorphic film process (drifting focus, exacerbated by those damned lens flares!!). JJ here’s a tip. Please find yourself a new cinematographer!
Ok that’s it for the rant. Let’s get onto the good stuff.
The music mix is subtle and smooth, and striking when it needs to be. Crank it up and you’ve got a great action movie soundtrack.
This movie sounds damn good. Here’s the thing – there’s less surround whiz bang than you would expect but the sound mix is very good and highly effective. Dialogue is exceptionally clear. You can watch this move at a low level and still enjoy the dynamic range and hear every word of what is said. Important for us with a little baby at home.
Despite what I said above the picture is not bad. There’s no edge enhancement, there’s no compression artifacts, there’s no excessive grain and I have not noticed any noise reduction (or at least no excessive DNR). As a result there’s no static grain pattern that I noticed. Shadow detail looks good, without excessive black crush. In summary apart from those damn lens flares (sorry last reference) it’s watchable.
So should you buy it? Absolutely but please don’t expect fireworks on the picture front and it will do the job. Besides, whatever issues there are with the picture, the DVD would be worse and it’s not like you want to wait a few years for this be re-released again. I’m sure Paramount knows this. Whether this disc is an outstanding or an ok transfer, it will sell by the truckload.
Oh, and by the way the movie is really good. But you already knew that from the other reviews…
Enjoy
Not just for Trekkie fans!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I won’t bore you with plot, synopsis, because from what I see you can read all those other reviews that are posted that can help you. All I can say this movie was a blast to see in the Theater! I have never been a Star Trek fan, occasionally watched it, and some of the movies, never identified myself as a hardcore fans like others. I like JJ Abrams and was curious to see what he would bring to this new Star Trek. I was pleasantly surprised!
This Blu Ray seems to be chalk full of goodies! Isn’t this why us noble film geeks have Blu Ray, because when movies like this come along you have to see it on Blu Ray for that crystal clear picture and sound! There are certain movies that one must have in their blu ray collection and this is one! I plan to pick this up when it is released.
Already released in Australia
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
The Blu-Ray version of Star Trek was released in Australia yesterday (28th October), not sure why it is taking so long to be released in the U.S. On a scale of one to ten it is a 6.5 (not the movie but the packaging), you do get the 3rd disc digital copy which allows you to download the entire film to your iTunes (iPod) or PC equivalent, but who cares – you can because you can. this is a film designed for the big screen (it was released for Imax as well), so why bother with an iTunes version. Another stunning revelation – and this rumour is fast tracking the world. … Seems the only two TRUE blu-ray releases are (01) Star Trek and (02) Wall-e – seems (as the rumour goes) all other blu-ray discs have simply been up-scaled from standard definition tape sources. It also seems that Blu-ray sales are floundering bigtime – no one really cares. Majority of folks I chat to about Blu-ray have no idea what it is. Best you purchase an up-scaling standard DVD player for $70, and let it create the sharper images. BTW Star Trek Blu-ray version in Australia sells for $30.00Aust – it sells on Amazon for $17.00US. Paramount are famous in this country (Australia) for excessive pricing.
Better Than It Had Any Right to Be
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
People are passionate about Star Trek, and in particular, Kirk and Spock. I get that. I feel it myself, being a fan of The Original Series since my childhood in the 70s (those of you “in the know” will realize that my screen name bears this out). When I first heard about this project, I reflexively felt that it was going to suck. I felt certain that it was unnecessary, unwise and above all, risky For J.J. Abrams in the extreme. My first thought that it might be something approaching tolerable did not come until I understood that Simon Pegg would be playing Mr. Scott, but even that little enthusiasm was dampened by learning that the original Mr. Spock was making an appearance (???). More and more it sounded like a jumbled mess made by a self-avowed non-fan.
And so it was with this preconception and a skeptical outlook that I went to see this movie when it came out. Imagine how stunned I was to learn that in fact, this is a gripping, loving re-imagining of the series that not only retains most of the important elements of the original, but actually improves upon and delves deeper than Star Trek has ever delved before, albeit in somewhat different directions than its creator would likely have gone. To those who say it is not faithful to Gene Roddenberry’s vision, I have to say I agree. Unfortunately, I also have to say that when a movie gets made that is 100% faithful to Gene Roddenberry’s vision, it ends up being Star Trek The Motion Picture. I therefore patently disagree with the outlook that Star Trek bereft of layers and layers of syrupy self-reflection is not Star Trek at all. Remember that Roddenberry absolutely HATED what they were doing with The Wrath of Khan, arguably the best picture in the series.
Well, it WAS arguably the best. Until now. I cannot praise the decisions made by Abrams and his crew enough in every single casting choice. These people could not possibly be better in their respective roles. They seem like a smart young bunch, and that being the case, I’ll bet you dollars to donuts they were all, to one degree or another, scared to death of what they were doing. They had every reason to be. But they all pulled it off, to a man (and woman) – nailing the roles and yet each one making it their own. How they managed to do this must owe in great part to Abrams’ skillful direction. When the man is tending something, it can be great – the worst Lost moments were when he was distracted, and Cloverfield, well… see what I mean? Chris Pine is to be commended most of all here, his brash portrayal of Kirk is exactly what the character needs… no DEMANDS… without even a HINT of a trace of being a parody of Shatner. I stand in awe of this feat.
I stand in awe of this movie. While some disappointing choices were made (I really didn’t get the Big Planet Moment, it does kind of look a lot like a smack in the face to purists – and yes, Nero’s motivation was weak) nothing can detract from the pure joy of having Star Trek back and on top of its game to the extent that this film has succeeded. In addition, the brilliance of the storyline that takes advantage of Nimoy to veer this series off into an alternate reality not bound to canon is absolutely spectacular. I never saw that coming and it is among the best ideas to be had here. To everyone who has complained that Abrams has turned Star Trek into Star Wars, I’d like you to take a moment to think a bit about that comparison. Star Wars, a franchise run by its creator, makes some prequels – how exactly did that turn out for you? Star Trek is the exact opposite. Its creator is no longer around to bore the socks off of everybody with his “vision,” and instead, younger, more creative minds have succeeded in making this series more relevant than ever. Cheers to J.J. Abrams. I hope he gets to make a bunch more of these movies.
This is not your father’s Star Trek
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
As with the premier of all of the Star Trek movies I made a point to go see this one at the theater. I grew up watching the reruns with my father and still have not stopped. He is such a die hard fan of the original series that he never liked T.N.G. or any of the spin-offs It just wasn’t the same without Kirk, Spock, and McCoy on the bridge to him.
I however have watched every episode from all of the spin-offs and enjoyed most of them. It was a bit strange seeing these new characters emerge and seeing Spock more emotional than I was used to. But I got past that right away. They did a very good job getting some of the characters persona’s and adding a little twist to each of them, Like Uhura hating Kirk at first, Scotty was a little wilder, The actor who played Chekov was trying a little too hard with the Russian accent, it didn’t seem to flow like Walter koenig. Sulu wasn’t bad and Karl Urban did a great impersonation of McCoy hating the transporter. The one scene where he kept injecting Kirk and making him sick was funny The special effect were terrific and I can’t wait to see the movie on blue ray. The main thing I was not impressed with was the design of the Enterprise. It looked a little too much like a hot rod and not like a design you might find in the practical sense. The original is Still my favorite, with NCC-1701A and E comming in as my next favorites. I never really liked enterprise D because I think the saucer section looked like a smashed pancake. Possibly a new series with this new crew might make it. We have been too long without a Star Trek series in prime time. If they come up with some good new material I think the movies and (If) a series might have a chance, But if they try to remake some of the old episodes they might be shooting themselves in the foot.
I hope in the upcoming sequel(s) if there are any, they follow Gene Roddenberry’s morality lessons. he was way ahead of his time with every thing.
I was overall pleased with this remake, Too many times remakes seem to fall flat because we expect the new actors to emulate the originals and they can’t be expected to do that. but sometimes they are better or just as good as their original counterparts.
If all else fails, just sit back and enjoy the alternate universe theme.