Abrams On 'Star Trek XI' Performances

TrekToday · July 16 2008, 09:53 PM

For J.J. Abrams, seeing a cut of Star Trek XI reveals the true artistry of the performances of Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine.

As reported by Hollywoodoutbreak.com, Abrams is very satisfied with what he saw when watching the work that had been assembled thus far. "Right now we have a cut of the movie that has twelve percent of the visual effects near done but the movie is working and that's the thing that is exciting to me. What's amazing about the movie is that the people are awesome and the characters are alive and they're great and you love them. And Alex [Kurtzman] and Bob [Orci] wrote an amazing script and our amazing actors made it more amazing."

The performances of both Quinto and Pine shone through when Abrams could see them in their entirety. "It was really like...the fun of watching Zachary Quinto take a role like Spock which is an incredibly, deceptively, complicated part. When you see the whole performance there are things that he was doing that I didn't even see or realize or that he was doing when we were making the movie. To have Chris Pine come in and embrace this role of Kirk in a way that is so complete and emotional and funny and cocky and yet vulnerable, it's a wonderful thing, so that to me is where the best news is, that without the stuff that you think 'you need that to tell the story,' it works. It is really a testament to the people in the movie and the script."

Abrams revealed as reported by Comingsoon.net that Jennifer Morrison was indeed playing Kirk's mother, adding that "She is so great. She's awesome!" and that Winona Ryder, who is playing the mother of Spock, is "in a great sequence and is so good. I love her."

Working with Leonard Nimoy was "...a dream experience," according to Abrams. "He is everything you want him to be. He's funny and incredibly thoughtful and was surprisingly open and receptive to direction. He's just got an amazing wife and family and working with him was literally...Like the other day we were doing some ADR and he was there and because we weren't shooting anymore I was standing there and I just looked at him while he was doing his thing. I wanted to burn it into my head. It was so great to get to work with that guy. He's just an amazing man and is terrific in the movie."

Abrams went on to add that Nimoy was "a major presence in any scene he's in. He's terrific."

To read more, head to the article located here. The video clip is located here.

Pioneer · July 16 2008, 11:12 PM

If anything's going to lend an air of respectability to this new movie, it's Nimoy. At least for Trek fans.

brian · July 16 2008, 11:31 PM

J.J. Abrams wrote:

Alex [Kurtzman] and Bob [Orci] wrote an amazing script and our amazing actors made it more amazing.

How.. amazing.

T'Cal · July 17 2008, 01:11 AM

Could be worse. He could be saying that, "we are very pleased."

Danoz · July 17 2008, 01:51 PM

I'm sold.

Just release the darn movie

. And you better do a good job promoting it too, because if this flops... trek dies

.

T'Cal · July 17 2008, 02:13 PM

Danoz wrote:

I'm sold.

Just release the darn movie

. And you better do a good job promoting it too, because if this flops... trek dies

.

I hope he takes the "Dark Knight" approach to marketing: advertise the snot out of it with several trailers that are played on every network, numerous product tie-ins, IMAX showings, and lots of hype. The stuff that's available on Comcast's On-Demand is very, very cool. What a great way to get some of the background stories out there and create a lot of interest.

Temis the Vorta · July 17 2008, 09:35 PM

Danoz wrote:

I'm sold.

Just release the darn movie

. And you better do a good job promoting it too, because if this flops... trek dies

.

Even that couldn't kill Trek. But I don't think we have much to worry about.

ancient · July 17 2008, 09:50 PM

Abrams also mentioned that the coffee was amazing, the donuts were amazing, and "that guy who opens the doors" was amzing.

Star Treks · July 18 2008, 06:42 AM

Evidently, Abrams's thesaurus is not amazing.

TJinPgh · July 21 2008, 03:09 PM

Star Treks wrote:

Evidently, Abrams's thesaurus is not amazing.

While part of me worries about script praises from a guy who uses the same adjective a thousand times in one comment, I think it's more evidence that the people he normally has script his comments have run out of ways to recycle the same non-comments so that they sound original.

ancient · July 21 2008, 07:29 PM

Abrams has released a new statement:

Apparently, not only is STXI "amazing", but it is also "astounding, astonishing, mystifying, sweet, awesome, the shit, far out, rad, hip, cool, boss, mind-blowing, aweing, dazzling, stunning, sensational, neato, airwolf, jaw-dropping, appealing, pleasant, fetching, sexy, hot, the win, shiny, charming, exciting, enticing, stimulating, rousing, and fun-wun, silly willy narf.

Abrams then had a ham sandwich.

Star Treks · July 22 2008, 06:20 AM

ancient wrote:

Abrams has released a new statement:

Apparently, not only is STXI "amazing", but it is also "astounding, astonishing, mystifying, sweet, awesome, the shit, far out, rad, hip, cool, boss, mind-blowing, aweing, dazzling, stunning, sensational, neato, airwolf, jaw-dropping, appealing, pleasant, fetching, sexy, hot, the win, shiny, charming, exciting, enticing, stimulating, rousing, and fun-wun, silly willy narf.

Abrams then had a ham sandwich.

You forgot "wizard" and "groovy".