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Star Trek, directed by J.J. Abrams, is a sci-fi action film following the crew of the USS Enterprise through their first voyage. It stars Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, and Eric Bana as the deeply disturbed Nero. The film was released nationwide last Friday on the 8th.
Alright if you don't want to know what the film is about yet, skip this next part.
---------SPOILERS---------
The film takes place in sort of an alternate reality from the original series/films. The Spock of the original series is sent to save the Romulans' homeworld from destruction, however, he arrives too late and it is destroyed. A lone ship carrying the remaining Romulans then chases Spock, who opens a black hole. The two ships go through, but come out at different times. The film starts out showing the Romulan ship coming out of the black hole in front of a Federation ship, the USS Kelvin, which they attack and coincidentally, has the Kirk family aboard. The captain is requested from the Kelvin on the Romulan ship. He leaves, putting George Kirk in charge of the ship. The Romulans then attack the ship again and the crew, aside from George Kirk, flee on shuttles. His wife gives birth to their son, James T. Kirk, right before the Kelvin is destroyed.
Kirk grows up, joins Starfleet, and ends up aboard the USS Enterprise. Upon which features Spock, among others. They are sent to the planet Vulcan, which is under attack from the Romulans. They had captured the older Spock and made him witness the destruction of his home world from a nearby planet. The Enterprise gathers the high council of Vulcan just as the planet is destroyed, but Spock is unable to save his mother. The Enterprise leaves, and the Romulan ship heads to Earth, its next target. It is now up to the Enterprise to stop the ship.
-----END SPOILERS-----
If you want to find out more, go see the film. Seriously.
Okay, first off, I am not a Trekker/Trekkie or whatever they want to be called nowadays, but I have to say, it was a great film. Even if you haven't seen any of the older flicks, you still know whats going on.
The acting was surprisingly good, and aside from Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, John Cho, and Eric Bana, I haven't seen one of those dudes in a big role, but they all held their own and made the roles actually believable...well as believable as a sci-fi film can get. The special effects were all top-notch, but what were you expecting? It had a budget bigger than...well it was really f'n big. Anyway, the story, while slightly lame, was still solid and wasn't that confusing, even for someone not familiar with the series. They did seem to pander to the fans a bit more than they should have, though. As an action film, it delivers very well, much better than I would have thought. In other words, lots of 'splosions.
So, was this a great sci-fi film? Sure. Was it an amazing action flick? Absolutely. Will I see it again? Hell no. Once is enough, but considering the very very very disappointing Wolverine, I'd say its a good start to the summer...
Anyway, I give it a very nice 8.5/10. Because it was a great film, but there were a lot of moments when the fans in the theater "geeked out" to say the least. So, go see it. It'll tide you over until Terminator and Transformers after that come out.
__________________ All right, look, there's only one "Return," okay, and it ain't "of the King," it's "of the Jedi." - Randal Graves, Clerks 2
"They misunderestimated me." - George W. Bush, Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
As a common trekker (not geekdom but having watched all of the star treks) I can say that I really liked the film as well. Anyone familiar with the show will understand what is happening long before the story reveals it due to the name of an item they use. I will say however that this film is entirely based on people knowing something about Star Trek and more specifically the personalities of each of the main characters from the original series as it helps tie in to their positions and roles within the film.
This high action version of Star Trek worked well for the film but at the cost of good story telling. They do tell a complete story and do it effectively but it all seemed so rushed. You get almost zero character development and the little you do get is in Kirk and Spock. The movie follows Kirk's origins but only to the point when he was sent out on deployment. After that the movie, with explanation, follows a new story line not in line with the original series. The film shows nothing of the training of Kirk in Star Fleet and the very little story you get seems rushed as it usually is given in 2 - 5 minutes that is sandwiched in between very large amounts of action and this overshadows the story making it seem like it was a secondary objective to watching things blow up or tear apart. In fact the largest amount of story telling you get is done in an exposition through a mind meld which explains what is happening, who the bad guy is, what he wants, why he is the way he is . . . wait no need to spell all that out. . . that exposition explains the entire story line of the whole movie. The character development is far and in between and most of it is unspoken which left room for explosions, explosions, and more explosions.
Another major issue I had is there are very few memorable aliens that make an appearance. I only saw Vulcans and one Orion which her scene is a bit more comical and even more so or less so if you know their skill set. For the non-educated the Orion women are sold as slaves to other species and are highly valued for their sexual knowledge however this is a trope. Orion women emit a very powerful pheromone that leaves males helpless to their will. This happens in 1 on 1 meetings when Orion women stay very close to someone else. In large numbers however the air around them is saturated with it. So they are really sold to keep those pheromones in check and the men in charge of their species. Yet even though they do this and it appears men are in charge it is really the women who rule the men even with such few numbers.
Anyway all the other aliens in the film are ones I didn't and/or couldn't recognize. Other moments that people really liked were illusions to other ST series most notably Enterprise with Captain Archer when a reference was made that Scotty was trying to prove a transporter theory and beamed his prize beagle to another world but couldn't actually figure out where he rematerialized.
So overall I would give it a 7 out of 10 for a one time watch film. It just didn't have enough to warrant a second viewing as it is based on having general characters, with generally the same personalities, and then a whole lot of action and really cool graphics. Here I thought this type of movie went out with the 80's and 90's.
On a personal side note I did hate the one major cliche trope they had in which anytime the Enterprise is needed and then has some type of delay always ends up saving their life. They did, however, do a good job of making that cliche moment rather funny though in the way Sulu handles the "issue".
other than the time travel twist, it was a great way to get kirk into the Captain's chair with out have to make a whole news series. If I remember kirk was the youngest to make Captain in starfleet history. 33 or 34 yrs old. in the new movie he makes it at 22?23?24?25?
I'm a fairly avid Trekkie, and I LOVED the new movie. Granted, it did lapse into your common mindless action flick a few times, but that's not always a bad thing. So many action movies forget that they're action movies. The best thing about the whole Star Trek franchise is that it's a fairly optimistic view of the future. I can only take so much of the Terminator-style "Apocolypse next Wednesday" kinds of futures. Star Trek throws us centuries into the future where life is actually pretty good for just about everyone.
If it were free, I'd have seen it 5 times by now. As it is, I'm still campaigning for a splurge on a 2nd viewing. 9.5 / 10 from me!
John Cho has been in both Harold and Kumar movies.
Simon Pegg has been in Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Run Fatboy Run
Eric Bana had Hulk, and Chopper
...I'm surprised you've never seen any of them before.......
I said 'aside from' those actors. I've seen those actors in leading roles before. I was referring to the ones I haven't seen, such as the actors who portrayed the roles of Spock and Kirk in the new film.
__________________ All right, look, there's only one "Return," okay, and it ain't "of the King," it's "of the Jedi." - Randal Graves, Clerks 2
"They misunderestimated me." - George W. Bush, Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
I've seen it twice...once on a regular screen, and then I had to go back for the IMAX effect.
I've gotta say, this was probably the movie that I have most "enjoyed" watching in the last 4-5 years.
I'm an original Star Trek fan (ie. I grew up watching the original series on broadcast TV back in the 60's). I have enjoyed all of the various follow-on series, and movies as well.
I think J.J. Abrams and his cast have done a remarkable job of remaining faithful to the original character set, while re-invigorating the franchise with youth and energy. With their "alternate-reality" plot convention, they have very plausibly re-opened the entire original Star Trek universe for new story-telling.
I think if he were alive today, this is the type of Star Trek movie that Gene Roddenberry would have made.
Having said that, I believe this movie to be the "best" of all of the Star Trek movie projects thus far, and think they have set the bar pretty high for any follow-on projects to come.
On another note....being an original fan...I found it particularly poignant to watch an obviously aged Leonard Nimoy raise his hand one more time and utter those famous words "Live long and prosper" for what may have well been the last time, on film
They reinvented Star Trek while paying homage to and honoring the original and they passed the test with flying warp speed colors. This isn't just a good movie... this isn't just a good remake... this isn't just a good sci-fi movie. This is a brilliant and entertaining movie PERIOD. I loved this film. A few minor flaws here and there that could have been easily corrected, but that's just nit picking. Star Trek is back folks! Live long and prosper!
The movie was great in terms of action and effects. What I find a little bit confusing was the little information about what is happening - more information or talk about an alternative time line from the 'old' Spock.
I am a keen fan of Star Trek so I kinda know about time travel and stuff, even I find it had to understand how the timeline was changed. Only until I read a review somewhere - it mentioned alternate timeline. Imagine you werent a trekkie... confused?
Star Trek (2009) 
Because it was a great film, but there were a lot of moments when the fans in the theater "geeked out" to say the least. So, go see it. It'll tide you over until Terminator and Transformers after that come out. 
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